Sir Cheney Culpeper (1601–1663) was an
English
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Peoples, culture, and language
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landowner, a supporter of
Samuel Hartlib
Samuel Hartlib or Hartlieb (c. 1600 – 10 March 1662)
M. Greengrass, "Hartlib, Samuel (c. 1600–1662)", ''Oxford D ...
, and a largely non-political figure of his troubled times, interested in technological progress and reform. His sister Judith was the second wife of
John Colepeper, 1st Baron Colepeper
John Colepeper, 1st Baron Culpeper ( – 11 July 1660) was an English peer, military officer and politician who, as Chancellor of the Exchequer (1642–43) and Master of the Rolls (1643) was an influential counsellor of King Charles I during t ...
.
Landowner
He was the eldest son of Sir
Thomas Colepeper of
Hollingbourne
Hollingbourne is a village and civil parish in the borough of Maidstone in Kent, England. The parish is located on the southward slope of the North Downs to the east of the county town, Maidstone. The parish population is around 900 and has th ...
,
Kent and Elizabeth Cheney of
Guestling,
Sussex. After legal training, he was
knighted in 1628. He had an estate at
Great Wigsell, which he bought from his brother-in-law Lord Colepeper, but had possession of it only briefly. He bought in 1650
Elmley
Elmley is the local name for the Isle of Elmley, part of the Isle of Sheppey in Kent, England. It was also the name of a very late 19th century industrial village on the isle. Edward Hasted describes, in 1798, the isle as two-eighths of the Isle of ...
,
Worcestershire
Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see H ...
. He lived mainly at
Leeds Castle
Leeds Castle is a castle in Kent, England, southeast of Maidstone. It is built on islands in a lake formed by the River Len to the east of the village of Leeds.
A castle has existed on the site since 857. In the 13th century, it came into th ...
, which his father had purchased for his sons in 1632. Being later
disinherited by his father, he became heavily indebted. During the English Civil War, he was a convinced
Parliamentarian, unlike his father who was a staunch
Royalist
A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of governm ...
, and sat on the County Committee for
Sequestration. This clash of opinions no doubt explains his father's decision to disinherit him. He never regained possession of his estates, and died a ruined man only a year after his father.
Family
He married his cousin Elizabeth Stede, daughter of Sir John Stede of
Harrietsham
Harrietsham is a rural and industrial village and civil parish in the Maidstone District of Kent, England noted in the Domesday Book. According to the United Kingdom Census 2001, it had a population of 1,504, increasing to 2,113 at the 2011 Cen ...
(the common ancestor was Joan Pordage, who married firstly William Stede and secondly Francis Colepeper). They had two surviving daughters, Cicely, who married William Cage (died 1676) of
Milgate House, Thurnham
Milgate House, previously Milgate Park, is an English country house in Thurnham near Maidstone, Kent. The oldest parts of the house were constructed in the mid to late 16th century and alterations and additions were made in the 17th and 18th cen ...
, a lawyer, by whom she was the mother of the politician
William Cage (died 1738), and Elizabeth, fourth wife of Christopher Milles of
Herne Bay
Herne Bay is a seaside town on the north coast of Kent in South East England. It is north of Canterbury and east of Whitstable. It neighbours the ancient villages of Herne and Reculver and is part of the City of Canterbury local governmen ...
. Elizabeth was still alive in 1710, when we find her corresponding with her cousin, the writer
Elizabeth Freke (who was the daughter of Sir Cheney's sister, the elder Cecily).
[''"The Remembrances of Elizabeth Freke 1671-1714"'' edited by Ralph A. Anselment ]Cambridge University Press
Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press in the world. It is also the King's Printer.
Cambridge University Pre ...
(2001) p.154
Hartlib circle
Of the
Hartlibians, he had most to do with
Benjamin Worsley Benjamin Worsley (1618–1673) was an English physician, Surveyor-General of Ireland, experimental scientist, civil servant and intellectual figure of Commonwealth England. He studied at Trinity College, Dublin, but may not have graduated.Newman a ...
. He was interested in
alchemy
Alchemy (from Arabic: ''al-kīmiyā''; from Ancient Greek: χυμεία, ''khumeía'') is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in China, India, the Muslim world, ...
, but most of all in agricultural topics. While on the Parliamentarian side, he was a moderate, against the more theocratic tendencies. He had contacts in Parliament; but insufficient influence to make a real difference to the attitude to Hartlib's projects.
[''That Cheyney Culpeper and John Sadler were committed supporters and promoters of Hartlib and his schemes is beyond dispute, but their personal influence was not vast.'' Young, p. 248.]
References
* Stephen Clucas, ''The correspondence of a XVII-century 'chymical gentleman': Sir Cheney Culpeper and the chemical interests of the Hartlib circle''. Ambix 40, 1993. p147-170
*M. J. Braddick and M. Greengrass, editors, ''The Letters of Sir Cheney Culpepper 1641-1657'' edited by in Seventeenth Century Political and Financial Papers, Camden Fifth Series volume 7 (1997)
Notes
External links
Culpepper Connections! The Culpepper Family History Site: Sir Cheney Culpeper of Leeds Castle 1601-1663(biography)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Culpeper, Cheney
1601 births
1663 deaths
English alchemists
Alumni of Hart Hall, Oxford
English landowners
17th-century alchemists