Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer,
KG PC FRS (5 December 1661 β 21 May 1724) was an English statesman and peer of the late
Stuart and early
Georgian
Georgian may refer to:
Common meanings
* Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country)
** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group
** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians
**Georgian scripts, three scrip ...
periods. He began his career as a
Whig, before defecting to a new
Tory
A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. Th ...
ministry. He was raised to the
peerage of Great Britain
The Peerage of Great Britain comprises all extant peerages created in the Kingdom of Great Britain between the Acts of Union 1707 and the Acts of Union 1800. It replaced the Peerage of England and the Peerage of Scotland, but was itself r ...
as an
earl
Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form ''jarl'', and meant "chieftain", particular ...
in 1711. Between 1711 and 1714 he served as
Lord High Treasurer
The post of Lord High Treasurer or Lord Treasurer was an English government position and has been a British government position since the Acts of Union of 1707. A holder of the post would be the third-highest-ranked Great Officer of State in ...
, effectively
Queen Anne's chief minister. He has been called a ''
prime minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
'', although it is generally accepted that the
de facto
''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...
first minister to be a prime minister was
Robert Walpole
Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford, (26 August 1676 β 18 March 1745; known between 1725 and 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole) was a British statesman and Whig politician who, as First Lord of the Treasury, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Leader ...
in 1721.
The central achievement of Harley's government was the negotiation of the
Treaty of Utrecht
The Peace of Utrecht was a series of peace treaties signed by the belligerents in the War of the Spanish Succession, in the Dutch city of Utrecht between April 1713 and February 1715. The war involved three contenders for the vacant throne o ...
with France in 1713, which brought an end to twelve years of English and Scottish involvement in the
War of the Spanish Succession
The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict that took place from 1701 to 1714. The death of childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700 led to a struggle for control of the Spanish Empire between his heirs, Phil ...
. In 1714 Harley fell from favour following the accession of the first monarch of the
House of Hanover
The House of Hanover (german: Haus Hannover), whose members are known as Hanoverians, is a European royal house of German origin that ruled Hanover, Great Britain, and Ireland at various times during the 17th to 20th centuries. The house orig ...
,
George I George I or 1 may refer to:
People
* Patriarch George I of Alexandria (fl. 621β631)
* George I of Constantinople (d. 686)
* George I of Antioch (d. 790)
* George I of Abkhazia (ruled 872/3β878/9)
* George I of Georgia (d. 1027)
* Yuri Dolgor ...
, and was for a time imprisoned in the
Tower of London
The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is separa ...
by his political enemies.
He was also a noted literary figure, serving as a patron of both the
October Club
The October Club was a group of Tory Members of Parliament, established after the 1710 general election. The Club was active until approximately 1714. The group took its name from the strong ale they reportedly drank.Pat Rogers, βOctober Club ('' ...
and the
Scriblerus Club
The Scriblerus Club was an informal association of authors, based in London, that came together in the early 18th century. They were prominent figures in the Augustan Age of English letters. The nucleus of the club included the satirists Jonathan ...
.
Harley Street
Harley Street is a street in Marylebone, Central London, which has, since the 19th century housed a large number of private specialists in medicine and surgery. It was named after Edward Harley, 2nd Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer.< ...
is sometimes said to be named after him, although it was his son
Edward Harley who actually developed the area.
Early life: 1661β1688
Harley was born in
Bow Street
Bow Street is a thoroughfare in Covent Garden, Westminster, London. It connects Long Acre, Russell Street and Wellington Street, and is part of a route from St Giles to Waterloo Bridge.
The street was developed in 1633 by Francis Russell, 4 ...
, London, in 1661, the eldest son of
Sir Edward Harley, a prominent landowner in
Herefordshire
Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthshire ...
and his wife Abigail Stephens and the grandson of
Sir Robert Harley
''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English language, English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist i ...
and his third wife, the celebrated letter-writer
Brilliana, Lady Harley
Brilliana, Lady Harley (1598 β 29 October 1643), ''nΓ©e'' Brilliana Conway, was an English letter writer.
Her name was coined by her father, Sir Edward Conway, English governor of Brielle (called Brill in English) in Holland with the suffix ...
. He was educated at
Shilton Shilton may refer to:
Places
*Shilton, Oxfordshire, England
*Shilton, Warwickshire, England
**Shilton railway station, a former station
Other
*Shilton (surname)
*Earl Shilton, a town in Leicestershire, England
*Chilton (disambiguation)
*Shelton ( ...
, near
Burford
Burford () is a town on the River Windrush, in the Cotswolds, Cotswold hills, in the West Oxfordshire district of Oxfordshire, England. It is often referred to as the 'gateway' to the Cotswolds. Burford is located west of Oxford and southeas ...
, in
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...
, in a small school which produced at the same time a
Lord High Treasurer
The post of Lord High Treasurer or Lord Treasurer was an English government position and has been a British government position since the Acts of Union of 1707. A holder of the post would be the third-highest-ranked Great Officer of State in ...
(Harley himself), a
Lord High Chancellor (
Lord Harcourt) and a Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas (
Lord Trevor). Harley then spent some time at
Foubert's Academy, but disliked it. He entered the
Inner Temple
The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wal ...
on 18 March 1682, but was never
called to the bar
The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...
.
The principles of
Whiggism
Whiggism (in North America sometimes spelled Whigism) is a political philosophy that grew out of the Parliamentarian faction in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms (1639β1651). The Whigs' key policy positions were the supremacy of Parliament (as ...
and
Nonconformism
Nonconformity or nonconformism may refer to:
Culture and society
* Insubordination, the act of willfully disobeying an order of one's superior
*Dissent, a sentiment or philosophy of non-agreement or opposition to a prevailing idea or entity
** ...
were taught to him at an early age, and he never formally abandoned his family's religious opinions, although he departed from them in politics.
His father was wrongly imprisoned for suspected support for the 1685
Monmouth rebellion
The Monmouth Rebellion, also known as the Pitchfork Rebellion, the Revolt of the West or the West Country rebellion, was an attempt to depose James II, who in February 1685 succeeded his brother Charles II as king of England, Scotland and Ir ...
. Harley wrote afterwards that "we are not a little rejoiced" at Monmouth's defeat.
[Hill, p. 10.]
Glorious Revolution: 1688β1689
During 1688 Harley acted as his father's agent in promoting support for William, Prince of Orange and the Protestant cause against the policies of
James II.
When William
landed in England on 5 November, Sir Edward Harley and his son immediately raised a troop of horse in support of the cause of
William III, and took possession of the city of
Worcester
Worcester may refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England
** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament
* Worcester Park, London, Engla ...
on his behalf. Harley was sent to report to William, meeting him at Henley. Harley obtained a commission as a major of militia foot in Herefordshire, which he held for several years.
Backbench member of parliament: 1689β1701
This recommended Robert Harley to the notice of the Boscawen family, and led to his election, in April 1689, as the parliamentary representative of
Tregony
Tregony ( kw, Trerigoni), sometimes in the past Tregoney, is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Tregony with Cuby, in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It lies on the River Fal. In the village there is a post office (now ...
, a borough under their control, whilst at the same time acting as
High Sheriff of Herefordshire
This is a list of Sheriffs and, since 1998, High Sheriffs of Herefordshire
The position of Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in each county, but over the centurie ...
. He sat for Tregony for one parliament, after which, in 1690, he was elected by the constituency of
New Radnor
New Radnor ( cy, Maesyfed) is a village in Powys, Wales, to the south of Radnor Forest, and was the county town of Radnorshire.
In the 2001 census, the community's population of 410 was split evenly between male and female, in 192 households. ...
, which he represented until his elevation to the peerage in 1711. From an early age, Harley paid particular attention to the conduct of public business, taking special care over the study of the forms and ceremonies of the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...
.
Harley supported the
Toleration Bill during its passage through the Commons and he hoped for "an equal settlement of religion" to be achieved by the inclusion of Presbyterians in the Church of England. However, this was not adopted. He also helped to defeat a Tory amendment to the
Bill of Rights
A bill of rights, sometimes called a declaration of rights or a charter of rights, is a list of the most important rights to the citizens of a country. The purpose is to protect those rights against infringement from public officials and pri ...
that would have enabled James II's son
James Francis Edward Stuart
James Francis Edward Stuart (10 June 16881 January 1766), nicknamed the Old Pretender by Whigs, was the son of King James II and VII of England, Scotland and Ireland, and his second wife, Mary of Modena. He was Prince of Wales from ...
to inherit the crown if he converted to Protestantism. On 14 May, Harley delivered his
maiden speech
A maiden speech is the first speech given by a newly elected or appointed member of a legislature or parliament.
Traditions surrounding maiden speeches vary from country to country. In many Westminster system governments, there is a convention th ...
in which he reminded the House of recent Tory persecutions (such as the harsh punishment of Monmouth's followers) and said that this injustice must be remedied.
After a series of French victories in Flanders during the early years of the
Nine Years' War
The Nine Years' War (1688β1697), often called the War of the Grand Alliance or the War of the League of Augsburg, was a conflict between France and a European coalition which mainly included the Holy Roman Empire (led by the Habsburg monarch ...
, Harley believed that the subordination of English soldiers to Dutch officers was the cause of the heavy English casualties. He, therefore, proposed a motion that future appointments of English foot regiments should be manned by Englishmen, which the House passed on 23 November 1692. He also opposed
Lord Somers
Baron Somers, of Evesham in the County of Worcester, is a title that has been created twice. The title was first created in the Peerage of England in 1697 for Sir John Somers, so that he could sit in the House of Lords and serve as Lord Chancel ...
' proposed Abjuration Bill. If passed, this would have compelled office-holders to take an oath against recognising James II as the lawful king upon penalty of dismissal and imprisonment on the first refusal, with the penalties of high treason upon the second refusal.
[Hill, p. 31.]
During the early 1690s, Harley became a leader, second only to
Paul Foley, of the 'Old Whigs' who were willing to cooperate with Tories in pursuing 'Country Party' measures against the ministerial or court Whigs in office, the so-called
Whig Junto
The Whig Junto is the name given to a group of leading Whigs who were seen to direct the management of the Whig Party and often the government, during the reigns of William III and Anne. The Whig Junto proper consisted of John Somers, later ...
. In December 1690 he was elected to the Commission of Public Accounts to "examine, take and state" the accounts of the realm since William's accession, as expenditure had ballooned.
Harley supported a Bill to exclude from the Commons holders of government office and
placemen
In the political history of Britain, placemen were Members of Parliament who held paid office in the civil service, generally sinecures, simultaneously with their seat in the legislature.
William and Mary
Placemen exerted substantial influence ...
in an effort to weaken court patronage. In taking part in the debates, Harley wrote: "I hope we have shown the parts of honest men and lovers of our country".
He also supported the
Triennial Bill to limit the maximum life of a Parliament to three years. In the Commons in early 1693, he claimed that long parliaments were not as representative as short-lived ones and he drew from his pocket a copy of King William's Declaration of 1688 in which he had promised frequent parliaments.
In 1696 Harley advocated the founding of a Land Bank that would serve the agricultural interest as the
Bank of England
The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the English Government's banker, and still one of the bankers for the Government of ...
served the monied interest.
After the
general election of 1698, Harley emerged as the leader of the combined Country Whig-Tory opposition alliance against the Junto, or what Harley called the 'New Country Party'. Also in this year, he began his association with
Sidney Godolphin
Sidney Godolphin is the name of:
* Sidney Godolphin (colonel) (1652β1732), Member of Parliament for fifty years
* Sidney Godolphin (poet) (1610β1643), English poet
* Sidney Godolphin, 1st Earl of Godolphin (c. 1640β1712), leading British poli ...
, and through him ultimate entry into the circle around Princess Anne.
In November 1698 and in January 1700 Harley was approached by the ministry to accept office in the government, on the latter occasion being offered the Secretaryship of State. He refused on both occasions as he did not want to serve with the Whigs. Upon the death of Anne's only surviving child,
Prince William, Duke of Gloucester
Prince William, Duke of Gloucester (24 July 1689 β 30 July 1700), was the son of Princess Anne (later Queen of England, Ireland and Scotland from 1702) and her husband, Prince George of Denmark. He was their only child to survive infanc ...
, in July 1700, King William III became concerned with the succession. William believed it was imperative that the crown should go to
Sophia, Electress of Hanover, or her descendants, should Anne die without child. He wrote to Harley and summoned him to an audience, where he asked Harley what demands the Commons would make in order to be persuaded to pass a Bill incorporating the new line of succession. It was agreed that the Bill would include further limitations of the monarch's power. Afterwards, William approved his election as Speaker of the House of Commons.
Speaker of the House of Commons: 1701β1705
After the general election of February 1701, he held the office of
Speaker
Speaker may refer to:
Society and politics
* Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly
* Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture
* A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially:
** I ...
during three consecutive Parliaments until March 1705. From 18 May 1704, he combined this office with that of the
Secretary of State for the Northern Department
The Secretary of State for the Northern Department was a position in the Cabinet of the government of Great Britain up to 1782, when the Northern Department became the Foreign Office.
History
Before the Act of Union, 1707, the Secretary of St ...
, displacing
The Earl of Nottingham.
As Speaker of the first Parliament, Harley oversaw the passage of the
Act of Settlement 1701
The Act of Settlement is an Act of the Parliament of England that settled the succession to the English and Irish crowns to only Protestants, which passed in 1701. More specifically, anyone who became a Roman Catholic, or who married one, bec ...
, as previously agreed with King William. Harley was pleased that both the Whigs and the Tories had agreed on placing further limits on the power of the crown and he was reported to have said that "he hoped in a little time our infamous distinctions and parties, but particularly
Jacobitism
Jacobitism (; gd, Seumasachas, ; ga, SeacaibΓteachas, ) was a political movement that supported the restoration of the senior line of the House of Stuart to the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, British throne. The name derives from the first name ...
, should be wholly abolished and extirpated".
Northern Secretary: 1704β1708
Harley was an early practitioner of 'spin'; he recognised the political importance of careful management of the media. In 1703 Harley first made use of
Daniel Defoe
Daniel Defoe (; born Daniel Foe; β 24 April 1731) was an English writer, trader, journalist, pamphleteer and spy. He is most famous for his novel ''Robinson Crusoe'', published in 1719, which is claimed to be second only to the Bible in its ...
's talents as a political writer. This proved so successful that he was later to employ both
Delarivier Manley
Delarivier "Delia" Manley (1663 or c. 1670 β 24 July 1724) was an English author, playwright, and political pamphleteer. Manley is sometimes referred to, with Aphra Behn and Eliza Haywood, as one of " the fair triumvirate of wit", which is a ...
and
Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 β 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish Satire, satirist, author, essayist, political pamphleteer (first for the Whig (British political party), Whigs, then for the Tories (British political party), Tories), poe ...
to pen pamphlets for him for use against his many opponents in politics.
During the time of his office, the
union
Union commonly refers to:
* Trade union, an organization of workers
* Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets
Union may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Music
* Union (band), an American rock group
** ''Un ...
with
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
was brought about. At the time of his appointment as Secretary of State, Harley had given no outward sign of dissatisfaction with the Whigs, and it was mainly through
Marlborough's influence that he was admitted to the ministry.
For some time, so long indeed as the victories of the great English general cast a glamour over the policy of his friends, Harley continued to act loyally with his colleagues. But in the summer of 1707, it became evident to
Sidney Godolphin
Sidney Godolphin is the name of:
* Sidney Godolphin (colonel) (1652β1732), Member of Parliament for fifty years
* Sidney Godolphin (poet) (1610β1643), English poet
* Sidney Godolphin, 1st Earl of Godolphin (c. 1640β1712), leading British poli ...
that some secret influence behind the throne was shaking the confidence of the Queen in her ministers. The sovereign had resented the intrusion into the administration of the impetuous
Lord Sunderland, and had persuaded herself that the safety of the
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...
depended on the fortunes of the Tories. These convictions were strengthened in her mind by the new favourite
Abigail Masham (a cousin of the
Duchess of Marlborough through her mother, and of Harley on her father's side), whose coaxing contrasted favourably in the eyes of the Queen with the haughty manners of her old friend, the Duchess of Marlborough.
Both the Duchess and Godolphin were convinced that this change in the disposition of the queen was due to the influence of Harley and his relatives, but he was permitted to remain in office. Later, an ill-paid and poverty-stricken clerk,
William Gregg, in Harley's office, was found to have given the French enemy copies of many documents which should have been kept from the knowledge of all but the most trusted advisers of the court, and it was found that through the carelessness of the head of the department the contents of such papers became the common property of all in his service. The celebrated author
Daniel Defoe
Daniel Defoe (; born Daniel Foe; β 24 April 1731) was an English writer, trader, journalist, pamphleteer and spy. He is most famous for his novel ''Robinson Crusoe'', published in 1719, which is claimed to be second only to the Bible in its ...
, then an employee of Harley's, had warned that his lax security was an invitation to treason. The Queen was informed by Godolphin and Marlborough that they would no longer serve with Harley. They did not attend her next council, on 8 February 1708, and when Harley proposed to proceed with the business of the day the
Duke of Somerset
Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are rank ...
drew attention to their absence. The Queen found herself forced (11 February) to accept the resignations of both Harley and
Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke
Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke (; 16 September 1678 β 12 December 1751) was an English politician, government official and political philosopher. He was a leader of the Tories, and supported the Church of England politically des ...
.
Thomson criticizes Harley's tenure at the Northern Department, calling him "culpably negligent in the conduct of his business". In addition to citing the lax security already mentioned, Thomson writes that Harley "so arranged matters that the unhappy clerks in his office could not begin work until midnight or a little before and so were unable to leave till dawn. Even where there was nothing to do, they were kept in attendance until about three in the morning".
Opposition: 1708β1710
Harley was forced from office, but his cousin Abigail, who had recently married, continued in the Queen's service. Harley employed her influence without scruple, and not in vain. The cost of the protracted war with France, and the danger to the national church, the chief proof of which lay in the prosecution of
Henry Sacheverell
Henry Sacheverell (; 8 February 1674 β 5 June 1724) was an English high church Anglican clergyman who achieved nationwide fame in 1709 after preaching an incendiary 5 November sermon. He was subsequently impeached by the House of Commons and ...
, were the weapons which he used to influence the masses of the people. Marlborough himself could not be displaced, but his relations were dismissed from their posts in turn. When the greatest of these, Lord Godolphin, was ejected from office on 10 August 1710, five commissioners to the treasury were appointed; among them was Harley as
Chancellor of the Exchequer
The chancellor of the Exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and head of His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, the Chancellor is ...
.
Chancellor of the Exchequer: 1710β1711
It was the aim of the new chancellor to frame an administration from the moderate members of both parties, and to adopt with but slight changes the policy of his predecessors; but his efforts were doomed to disappointment. The Whigs refused to join an alliance with him, and the Tories, who were successful beyond their wildest hopes at the polling booths, could not understand why their leaders did not adopt a policy more favourable to the interests of their party.
The clamours of the wilder spirits, the country members who met at the October Club, began to be re-echoed even by those who were attached to the person of Harley, when, through an unexpected event, his popularity was restored at a bound. A French refugee, the former
abbΓ©
''AbbΓ©'' (from Latin ''abbas'', in turn from Greek , ''abbas'', from Aramaic ''abba'', a title of honour, literally meaning "the father, my father", emphatic state of ''abh'', "father") is the French word for an abbot. It is the title for lowe ...
La Bourlie (better known by the name of the
Marquis de Guiscard), was being examined before the
Privy Council of Great Britain
The Privy Council (PC), officially His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its membership mainly comprises senior politicians who are current or former members of e ...
on a charge of treason, when he stabbed Harley in the breast with a penknife (8 March 1711). Fortunately for Harley, he had a taste for fine clothes, and on that occasion was wearing an ornate gold brocade
waistcoat
A waistcoat ( UK and Commonwealth, or ; colloquially called a weskit), or vest ( US and Canada), is a sleeveless upper-body garment. It is usually worn over a dress shirt and necktie and below a coat as a part of most men's formal wear. I ...
: it seems that the knife stuck in one of the ornaments. Why Guiscard was allowed to enter the room carrying a weapon is still something of a mystery, but, as the Gregg affair demonstrated, Harley was notoriously lax in matters of security, and it is likely that Guiscard had not been properly searched. To a man in good health, the wounds would not have been serious, but the minister had been suffering from ill health and
Swift
Swift or SWIFT most commonly refers to:
* SWIFT, an international organization facilitating transactions between banks
** SWIFT code
* Swift (programming language)
* Swift (bird), a family of birds
It may also refer to:
Organizations
* SWIFT, ...
had penned the prayer, "Pray God preserve his health, everything depends upon it". The joy of the nation on his recovery knew no bounds. Both Houses presented an address to the crown, a suitable response came from the Queen, and on Harley's reappearance in the Lower House, the Speaker made an oration which was spread by broadsheet through the country.
One of the most pressing problems at this time was the major crisis in public finance caused by the need to pay for the war against France.
[Hill, p. 134.] The architect of Great Britain's finance was
Lord Halifax
Edward Frederick Lindley Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax, (16 April 1881 β 23 December 1959), known as The Lord Irwin from 1925 until 1934 and The Viscount Halifax from 1934 until 1944, was a senior British Conservative politician of the 19 ...
, and he wrote to Harley on the day that the new Treasury board met: "Your great abilities and your knowledge of the Revenue, will soon make you master of all the business, but how you will restore credit, and find money for the demands that will be upon you exceeds my capacity". Harley in 1711 created the
South Sea Company
The South Sea Company (officially The Governor and Company of the merchants of Great Britain, trading to the South Seas and other parts of America, and for the encouragement of the Fishery) was a British joint-stock company founded in Ja ...
to handle the national debtβit proved highly successful (at firstβthe notorious "bubble" began in 1720). He succeeded in restoring confidence under his tenure; whereas the Jacobite invasion scare of 1708 and the alarm caused by the Queen's illness in early 1714 both caused runs on the bank, Godolphin's fall did not precipitate one.
Lord High Treasurer: 1711β1714
On 23 May 1711 the minister became Baron Harley, of Wigmore in the County of Hereford, and Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer (the latter, despite its form, being a single peerage). Harley claimed the title of Oxford because of his relationship through marriage to the previous holders, the De Veres. The title of Earl Mortimer was added in case a claim was laid to the Oxford earldom. On 29 May he was appointed
Lord Treasurer
The post of Lord High Treasurer or Lord Treasurer was an English government position and has been a British government position since the Acts of Union of 1707. A holder of the post would be the third-highest-ranked Great Officer of State i ...
, and on 25 October 1712 became a
Knight of the Garter
The Most Noble Order of the Garter is an order of chivalry founded by Edward III of England in 1348. It is the most senior order of knighthood in the British honours system, outranked in precedence only by the Victoria Cross and the George ...
.
A further attempt was made on his life in November with the
Bandbox Plot
The Bandbox Plot of 4 November 1712, was an attempt on the life of Robert Harley, Earl of Oxford, the British Lord Treasurer, which was foiled by the perspicacity of Jonathan Swift (author of '' Gulliver's Travels''), who happened to be visitin ...
, in which a hat-box, armed with loaded pistols to be triggered by a thread within the package was sent to him; the assassination attempt was forestalled by the prompt intervention of
Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 β 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish Satire, satirist, author, essayist, political pamphleteer (first for the Whig (British political party), Whigs, then for the Tories (British political party), Tories), poe ...
.
With the sympathy which these attempted assassinations had evoked, and with the skill which the Lord Treasurer possessed for conciliating the calmer members of either political party, he passed several months in office without any loss of reputation. He rearranged the nation's finances, and continued to support her generals in the field with ample resources for carrying on the campaign, though his emissaries were in communication with the French King, and were settling the terms of a peace independently of England's allies. After many weeks of vacillation and intrigue, when the negotiations were frequently on the point of being interrupted, the preliminary peace was signed, and in spite of the opposition of the Whig majority in the
House of Lords
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...
, which was met by the creation of twelve new peers nicknamed
Harley's Dozen
{{short description, Event in British politics
Harley's Dozen were twelve new peerages created in December 1711 by the British Tory government of Robert Harley which was struggling to gain a majority in the Whig-dominated House of Lords. This cam ...
, the much-vexed
Treaty of Utrecht
The Peace of Utrecht was a series of peace treaties signed by the belligerents in the War of the Spanish Succession, in the Dutch city of Utrecht between April 1713 and February 1715. The war involved three contenders for the vacant throne o ...
was brought to a conclusion on 31 March 1713. The Whig cry of "
No Peace Without Spain
No Peace Without Spain was a popular British political slogan of the early eighteenth century. It referred to the ongoing War of the Spanish Succession (1701β1714) in which Britain was a leading participant. It implied that no peace treaty cou ...
", was not sufficient to block Parliamentary approval of the Treaty.
While these negotiations were under discussion, the friendship between Harley (Oxford) and
St John, the latter who had become
Secretary of State in September 1710, was fast changing into hatred. The latter had resented the rise in fortune which the stabs of Guiscard had secured for his colleague Harley, and when he was raised to the peerage with the title of Baron St John and Viscount Bolingbroke, instead of with an Earldom, his resentment knew no bounds. The royal favourite, Abigail, whose husband had been called to the Upper House as Baron Masham, deserted her old friend and relation for his more vivacious rival. The
Jacobites found that, although the Lord Treasurer was profuse in his expressions of goodwill for their cause, no steps were taken to ensure its triumph, and they no longer placed reliance on promises which were repeatedly made and repeatedly broken. Even Harley's (Oxford's) friends began to complain of his dilatoriness, and to find some excuse for his apathy in ill health, aggravated by excess in the pleasures of the table and by the loss of his favourite child. The confidence of Queen Anne was gradually transferred from Oxford to Bolingbroke; on 27 July 1714 the former surrendered his staff as lord treasurer, and on 1 August the queen died.
Imprisonment: 1715β1717
On the accession of
George I of Great Britain
George I (George Louis; ; 28 May 1660 β 11 June 1727) was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1 August 1714 and ruler of the Electorate of Hanover within the Holy Roman Empire from 23 January 1698 until his death in 1727. He was the first ...
, the defeated minister retired to
Herefordshire
Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthshire ...
, but a few months later his impeachment was decided upon and he was committed to the
Tower of London
The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is separa ...
on 16 July 1715. He was accused of
high treason
Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...
and
high crimes and misdemeanours
The charge of high crimes and misdemeanors covers allegations of misconduct by officials. Offenses by officials also include ordinary crimes, but perhaps with different standards of proof and punishment than for non-officials, on the grounds th ...
, with the
death penalty
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...
a distinct possibility. Many of the charges related to his negotiation of the
Treaty of Utrecht
The Peace of Utrecht was a series of peace treaties signed by the belligerents in the War of the Spanish Succession, in the Dutch city of Utrecht between April 1713 and February 1715. The war involved three contenders for the vacant throne o ...
. Further charges were added regarding his alleged secret plotting with the
Jacobite claimant
James
James is a common English language surname and given name:
*James (name), the typically masculine first name James
* James (surname), various people with the last name James
James or James City may also refer to:
People
* King James (disambiguat ...
. His political allies St John and Ormonde both fled to France before they could be arrested on similar grounds and entered the service of James. Initially, he was in ill health, suffering from
pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...
and was cared for by his wife Sarah who remained with him during the first weeks of his imprisonment.
Not long after he was detained a major
Jacobite Rising
, war =
, image = Prince James Francis Edward Stuart by Louis Gabriel Blanchet.jpg
, image_size = 150px
, caption = James Francis Edward Stuart, Jacobite claimant between 1701 and 1766
, active ...
occurred and was defeated. Interrogators of Jacobite prisoners tried to discover if there was a connection with Harley in the plan, but none could be established. This significantly delayed Harley's trial, as priority was given to the leading rebels, several of whom were executed. This may have benefited him as the angry mood amongst Whigs against him had calmed by 1717.
Harley also benefited from the
Whig Split
{{short description, Event in British politics from 1717-20
The Whig Split occurred between 1717 and 1720, when the British Whig Party divided into two factions: one in government, led by James Stanhope; the other in opposition, dominated by Rob ...
between rival factions led by
James Stanhope and
Robert Walpole
Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford, (26 August 1676 β 18 March 1745; known between 1725 and 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole) was a British statesman and Whig politician who, as First Lord of the Treasury, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Leader ...
. Walpole and his supporters went into opposition and joined with the Tories to attack Stanhope's government on many issues.
After an imprisonment of nearly two years, Harley was formally acquitted of the charges of high treason and high crimes and misdemeanours for which he had been impeached two years earlier, and allowed to resume his place among the peers.
Later life: 1717β1724
Immediately following his release Oxford was informed by George I that he was no longer welcome at court. He joined with the Tory lords to oppose the new
Whig Oligarchy
Whig or Whigs may refer to:
Parties and factions
In the British Isles
* Whigs (British political party), one of two political parties in England, Great Britain, Ireland, and later the United Kingdom, from the 17th to 19th centuries
** Whiggism ...
in Parliament, in alliance with the Opposition Whigs. In 1719 they joined together in opposition to Stanhope's
Peerage Bill
{{short description, Proposed British law of 1719
The Peerage Bill was a 1719 measure proposed by the British Whig government led by James Stanhope, 1st Earl Stanhope and Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl of Sunderland which would have largely halted the ...
which was defeated. After this Lord Oxford increasingly took little part in public affairs, and died almost unnoticed in London on 21 May 1724.
Literary importance
Harley's importance to literature cannot be overstated. As a patron of the arts, he was notable. As a preservationist, he was invaluable. He used his wealth and power to collect an unparalleled library. He commissioned the creation of ballad collections, such as
The Bagford Ballads, and he purchased loose poems from all corners. He preserved
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
literature (particularly poetry),
Anglo-Saxon
The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...
literature that was then incomprehensible, and a great deal of
Middle English
Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English p ...
literature. His collection, with that of his son
Edward, 2nd Lord Oxford and Mortimer, was sold to Parliament in 1753 for the
British Museum
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
by the Countess of Oxford and Countess Mortimer and her daughter, the Duchess of Portland; it is known as the
Harley Collection
The Harleian Library, Harley Collection, Harleian Collection and other variants ( la, Bibliotheca Harleiana) is one of the main "closed" collections (namely, historic collections to which new material is no longer added) of the British Library in ...
.
When he was in office, Harley promoted the careers of
Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 β 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish Satire, satirist, author, essayist, political pamphleteer (first for the Whig (British political party), Whigs, then for the Tories (British political party), Tories), poe ...
,
Alexander Pope
Alexander Pope (21 May 1688 O.S. β 30 May 1744) was an English poet, translator, and satirist of the Enlightenment era who is considered one of the most prominent English poets of the early 18th century. An exponent of Augustan literature, ...
, and
John Gay
John Gay (30 June 1685 β 4 December 1732) was an English poet and dramatist and member of the Scriblerus Club. He is best remembered for ''The Beggar's Opera'' (1728), a ballad opera. The characters, including Captain Macheath and Polly Peac ...
. He also wrote ''with them'' as a member of the
Scriblerus Club
The Scriblerus Club was an informal association of authors, based in London, that came together in the early 18th century. They were prominent figures in the Augustan Age of English letters. The nucleus of the club included the satirists Jonathan ...
. He, along with
The 1st Viscount Bolingbroke, contributed to the literary productions of the Club. His particular talent lay in poetry, and some of his work (always unsigned) has been preserved and may be found among editions of Swift's poetry. Additionally, he likely had some hand in the writing of ''
The Memoirs of Martinus Scriblerus,'' though it is impossible to tell how much.
In the opinion of the historian
David C. Douglas
David Charles Douglas (1898β1982) was a historian of the Norman period at the University of Cambridge and University of Oxford.Douglas, ''The Norman Episcopate before the Norman Conquest'', Cambridge Historical Journal, Vol. 13, No. 2. (1957), p. ...
, in Harley's time "the whole company of scholars looked up to Robert Harley, Earl of Oxford, as the great
Maecenas
Gaius Cilnius Maecenas ( β 8 BC) was a friend and political advisor to Octavian (who later reigned as emperor Augustus). He was also an important patron for the new generation of Augustan poets, including both Horace and Virgil. During the rei ...
of English medieval learning, and they were right to do so, for he was the correspondent and benefactor of very many of them, and he deserved their gratitude as surely as he earned through his book-collecting the thanks of posterity".
[David C. Douglas, ''English Scholars. 1660β1730. Second, revised edition'' (London: Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1951), p. 263.]
Family
In May 1685 Harley married as his first wife Elizabeth, a daughter of
Thomas Foley, and they had four children before she died in November 1691:
* Abigail (1685? - 15 July 1750), who married
George Hay, later 8th Earl of Kinnoull in 1709.
*
Edward
Edward is an English given name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Δadweard'', composed of the elements '' Δad'' "wealth, fortune; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protectorβ.
History
The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-Sa ...
(2 June 1689-16 June 1741), who married
Henrietta Cavendish Holles and succeeded as 2nd Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer.
* Elizabeth (2 June 1689-20 November 1713), who married
Peregrine Osborne, later 3rd Duke of Leeds in 1712; and
* Robert, who died in infancy in 1690.
They lived at
Brampton Bryan Hall
Brampton Bryan Hall is a 17th-century English country house in the village of Brampton Bryan, Herefordshire. It is still owned by the descendants of Robert Harley, Earl of Oxford, chief minister under Queen Anne and is a Grade II* listed buildin ...
, which he inherited from his father in 1700.
After Elizabeth's death, Harley married Sarah (died 17 June 1737), daughter of Simon Middleton of
Edmonton, London
Edmonton is a town in north London, England within the London Borough of Enfield, a local government district of Greater London. The northern part of the town is known as Lower Edmonton or Edmonton Green, and the southern part as Upper Edmonto ...
, on 18 September 1694. They had no children.
He died in 1724 at his house in
Albemarle Street
Albemarle Street is a street in Mayfair in central London, off Piccadilly. It has historic associations with Lord Byron, whose publisher John Murray was based here, and Oscar Wilde, a member of the Albemarle Club, where an insult he received ...
,
Westminster
Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster.
The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...
, and was buried in the churchyard of St Barnabas,
Brampton Bryan
Brampton Bryan is a small village and civil parish situated in north Herefordshire, England close to the Shropshire and Welsh borders.
Brampton Bryan lies midway between Leintwardine and Knighton on the A4113 road. The nearest station is Bu ...
, Herefordshire.
See also
*
Early-18th-century Whig plots
Notes
References
*
Brian W. Hill, ''Robert Harley: Speaker, Secretary of State and Premier Minister'' (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1988).
*E. S. Roscoe, ''Robert Harley, Earl of Oxford, Prime Minister, 1710β14'' (London: Methuen, 1902). Appendices: I. Swift's character of the Earl of Oxford.--II. Money lent to the Queen by the Earl of Oxford.--III. Note on the manuscripts and letters of and relating to Robert Harley, Earl of Oxford
online*
W. A. Speck, β
Harley, Robert, first earl of Oxford and Mortimer (1661β1724), ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Oct 2007, accessed 18 January 2011.
Further reading
Biographies
* Biddle, Sheila. ''Bolingbroke and Harley'' (London: Allen & Unwin, 1975).
* Downie, J. A. ''Robert Harley and the Press'' (Cambridge University Press, 1979).
* Hamilton, Elizabeth. ''The Backstairs Dragon: A Life of Robert Harley, Earl of Oxford'' (Hamish Hamilton, 1969).
* McInnes, Angus. ''Robert Harley: Puritan Politician'' (Littlehampton Book Services, 1970).
* Miller, O.B. ''Robert Harley Earl of Oxford. The Stanhope Prize Essay, 1925''. Oxford. Blackwell, 1925.
Background studies
* Bennett, Gareth Vaughan. "Robert Harley, the Godolphin ministry, and the bishoprics crisis of 1707." ''The English Historical Review'' 82.325 (1967): 726β746
in JSTOR* Cobbett, William, Thomas B. Howell, and J. Thomas, ''State Trials'' (London: 1809β26, part of a 34 vol. series).
* Feiling, Keith. ''A History of the Tory Party, 1640β1714'' (1924).
* Davies, Godfrey. "The Fall of Harley in 1708." ''The English Historical Review'' 66.259 (1951): 246β254
in JSTOR* Gregg, Edward. ''Queen Anne'' (1980)
*
Geoffrey Holmes
Geoffrey Holmes (19 February 1894, Toronto– 7 May 1964, Woking) was a British ice hockey player who competed in the 1924 Winter Olympics. He was a member of the British ice hockey team, which won the bronze medal.
Holmes attended the Roy ...
, 'Harley, St John and the Death of the Tory Party', in Geoffrey Holmes (ed.), ''Britain after the Glorious Revolution 1689β1714'' (London: Macmillan, 1969), pp. 216β237.
* Holmes, Geoffrey S., and William Arthur Speck. "The Fall of Harley in 1708 Reconsidered." ''The English Historical Review'' 80.317 (1965): 673β698
in JSTOR* Holmes, Geoffrey. ''British politics in the age of Anne'' (A&C Black, 1987).
* Hoppit, Julian. ''A land of liberty?: England 1689β1727'' (Oxford UP, 2000).
* Johnson, Richard R. "Politics Redefined: An Assessment of Recent Writings on the Late Stuart Period of English History, 1660 to 1714." ''The William and Mary Quarterly'' (1978): 691β732
in JSTOR*
William Edward Hartpole Lecky
William Edward Hartpole Lecky (26 March 1838 β 22 October 1903) was an Irish historian, essayist, and political theorist with Whig proclivities. His major work was an eight-volume ''History of Ireland during the Eighteenth Century''.
Early ...
. ''History of England in the Eighteenth Century''. London, 1878β90
*
Thomas B. Macaulay
Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay, (; 25 October 1800 β 28 December 1859) was a British historian and Whig (British political faction), Whig politician, who served as the Secretary at War between 1839 and 1841, and as the Payma ...
, ''History of England'' (London, 1855).
* McInnes, Angus. "The Appointment of Harley in 1704." ''The Historical Journal'' 11.2 (1968): 255β271
in JSTOR* MacLachlan, A. D. 'The Road to Peace 1710β13', in Geoffrey Holmes (ed.), ''Britain after the Glorious Revolution 1689β1714'' (London: Macmillan, 1969), pp. 197β215.
* Roberts, Clayton. "The Fall of the Godolphin Ministry." ''The Journal of British Studies'' 22.1 (1982): 71β93
in JSTOR*
Philip Stanhope, 5th Earl Stanhope
Philip Henry Stanhope, 5th Earl Stanhope, (30 January 180524 December 1875), styled Viscount Mahon between 1816 and 1855, was an English antiquarian and Tory politician. He held political office under Sir Robert Peel in the 1830s and 1840s b ...
, ''History of England, Comprising the Reign of Queen Anne until the Peace of Utrecht'' (London: 1870).
* Snyder, Henry L. "Godolphin and Harley: A Study of Their Partnership in Politics." ''The Huntington Library Quarterly'' (1967): 241β271
in JSTOR* Sundstrom, Roy A. ''Sidney Godolphin: Servant of the state'' (University of Delaware Press, 1992).
* Trevelyan, G.M. ''England under Queen Anne'' (3 v 1930β34).
External links
*
Works relating to Robert Harleyat the
Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oxford And Mortimer, Robert Harley, 1st Earl Of
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The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''HrΕΓΎiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, HrΓ³Γ°r) "fame, glory, honou ...
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