Sir Charles Gawdy, 1st Baronet (c. 1635 – September 1707) was an English

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 ...

politician.

Early life

Gawdy was the son of Sir Charles Gawdy and Vere Cooke. He travelled to

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

in May 1660 with his cousin,

William Gawdy Sir William Gawdy, 1st Baronet (24 September 1612 – 18 August 1669) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1661 to 1669. William Gawdy was the son of Framlingham Gawdy of West Harling, Norfolk (who had himself been MP fo ...

, to pledge loyalty to

Charles II of England Charles II (29 May 1630 – 6 February 1685) was King of Scotland from 1649 until 1651, and King of England, Scotland and Ireland from the 1660 Restoration of the monarchy until his death in 1685. Charles II was the eldest surviving child of ...

. He was knighted while in the Netherlands. Following the Stuart Restoration, Gawdy was created a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

, of Crow's Hall in the

Baronetage of England Baronets are a rank in the British aristocracy. The current Baronetage of the United Kingdom has replaced the earlier but existing Baronetages of England, Nova Scotia, Ireland, and Great Britain. Baronetage of England (1611–1705) King James I ...

on 20 April 1661, in recognition of his loyalty to Charles II. He was appointed a

justice of the peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

for

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

in 1660. In October 1675 he presented the Suffolk petition against the

Royal Africa Company The Royal African Company (RAC) was an English mercantile (trading) company set up in 1660 by the royal Stuart family and City of London merchants to trade along the west coast of Africa. It was led by the Duke of York, who was the brother o ...

Political career

In 1678, Gawdy was elected as a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for

Eye Eyes are organs of the visual system. They provide living organisms with vision, the ability to receive and process visual detail, as well as enabling several photo response functions that are independent of vision. Eyes detect light and conv ...

. He soon emerged as an opponent of the Earl of Shaftesbury, who labelled Gawdy as "vile" and a "

papist The words Popery (adjective Popish) and Papism (adjective Papist, also used to refer to an individual) are mainly historical pejorative words in the English language for Roman Catholicism, once frequently used by Protestants and Eastern Orthodox ...

". During the

Exclusion Crisis The Exclusion Crisis ran from 1679 until 1681 in the reign of King Charles II of England, Scotland and Ireland. Three Exclusion bills sought to exclude the King's brother and heir presumptive, James, Duke of York, from the thrones of England, Sc ...

, Gawdy voted repeatedly against excluding the

Duke of York Duke of York is a title of nobility in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Since the 15th century, it has, when granted, usually been given to the second son of English (later British) monarchs. The equivalent title in the Scottish peerage was Du ...

from the throne. In Suffolk, the local magnate, Lord Cornwallis, led moves to oust Gawdy from Parliament, and Gawdy was defeated in the 1679 election. However, Gawdy regained his seat in 1681. Upon the accession of James II in 1685, Gawdy was returned to parliament as a known loyalist of the king. He was appointed to sixteen committees and helped to draw up the loyal address of the Commons to James II during the

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 ...

. In September 1688, Jacobite agents reported that Gawdy would probably be elected again in Eye and that he would likely remain loyal to James. After the

Glorious Revolution The Glorious Revolution; gd, Rèabhlaid Ghlòrmhor; cy, Chwyldro Gogoneddus , also known as the ''Glorieuze Overtocht'' or ''Glorious Crossing'' in the Netherlands, is the sequence of events leading to the deposition of King James II and ...

, Gawdy did not stand for re-election and he was removed from the lieutenancy of Suffolk in 1690. His name ceased to appear on the assessment commissions after 1692, when he probably sold his estate.

Marriage and children

On 4 September 1657, Gawdy married Lady Mary Feilding, the second daughter of

George Feilding, 1st Earl of Desmond George Feilding, 1st Earl of Desmond (c. 1614 – 31 January 1665) was an English aristocrat, awarded the title of Earl of Desmond in the Peerage of Ireland by Charles I of England under the terms of a letter patent issued by James I of Englan ...

. Together, they had one son and two daughters. Gawdy was succeeded in his title by his only son, Framlingham, who is recorded as "not being of sound mind". The baronetcy became extinct upon the second baronet's death in 1720.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gawdy, Charles, 1st Baronet 1630s births Year of birth uncertain 1707 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of England English justices of the peace English MPs 1661–1679 English MPs 1681 English MPs 1685–1687 Tory MPs (pre-1834)