}
Sir John Courtenay Throckmorton, 5th Baronet (27 July 1753 – 3 January 1819), was a member of a prominent English family of
Roman Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
dissenters and "its only published author of any significance."
Early life
Throckmorton was born on 27 July 1753 into a wealthy and staunchly
Roman Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
family.
He was the second son of George Throckmorton and Anne Maria ( Paston) Throckmorton. His elder brother, Robert Throckmorton, died unmarried in 1779. Among his siblings were Teresa Throckmorton (wife of Thomas Metcalf),
Sir George Courtenay-Throckmorton, 6th Baronet (who married Catherine Stapleton),
Sir Charles Throckmorton, 7th Baronet (who married Mary Margaretta Plowden), William Throckmorton (who married Frances Giffard and was the father of
Sir Robert Throckmorton, 8th Baronet).
His father was the eldest surviving son of
Sir Robert Throckmorton, 4th Baronet and, his first wife, Lady Theresa Herbert (a daughter of
William Herbert, 2nd Marquess of Powis
William Herbert, 2nd Marquess of Powis DL ( – 22 October 1745) was an English peer and Jacobite supporter.
Early life
Herbert was born in .G.E. Cokayne; with Vicary Gibbs, H.A. Doubleday, Geoffrey H. White, Duncan Warrand and Lord Howard de ...
and the former
Mary Preston).
His maternal grandparents were William Paston of
Horton Court and Mary (née Courtenay) Paston.
Through his father's marriage to his mother, the Throckmorton family acquired the
Manor of Molland
The Manor of Molland was a Middle Ages, medieval manor house, manor in North Devon, England. It was largely co-terminous with the parish of Molland, where it was situated the village of Molland. More accurately, it consisted of two separate ma ...
in
Devon
Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...
.
Throckmorton went to school in the 1760s with the English Benedictines at
St Gregory's in
Douai
Douai ( , , ; ; ; formerly spelled Douay or Doway in English) is a city in the Nord (French department), Nord département in northern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the department. Located on the river Scarpe (rive ...
, France before embarking on the
grand tour centered on Rome in the 1770s.
He was awarded the honorary degree of
Doctor of Civil Law
Doctor of Civil Law (DCL; ) is a degree offered by some universities, such as the University of Oxford, instead of the more common Doctor of Laws (LLD) degrees.
At Oxford, the degree is a higher doctorate usually awarded on the basis of except ...
by
Oxford University
The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...
on 15 June 1796.
Career
On 3 June 1782, Throckmorton was elected as a member of the
Catholic Committee which sought to further the achievements of the 1778
Papists Act through "emphasizing the independence of
English Catholics from papal control".
He succeeded his grandfather as the 5th
Baronet Throckmorton, of Coughton on 9 December 1791.
After inheriting the baronetcy, Sir John set up home at
Buckland House in Berkshire, and his younger brother,
George
George may refer to:
Names
* George (given name)
* George (surname)
People
* George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George
* George Papagheorghe, also known as Jorge / GEØRGE
* George, stage name of Gior ...
, moved into Weston Underwood.
In –1797 or 1811, Sir John's portrait was painted by
Thomas Phillips
Thomas Phillips (18 October 1770 – 20 April 1845) was a leading English portrait and subject painter. He painted many of the notable men of the day including scientists, artists, writers, poets and explorers.
Life and work
Phillips was bor ...
, RA. The painting is a "three-quarter-length portrait" while Sir John is "in brown coat and buff breeches. He is seated in landscape holding his hat and stick and possibly wearing the Throckmorton coat."
In 1806, Sir John published a book entitled ''Considerations arising from the debates in Parliament on the petition of the Irish Catholics by Sir John Throckmorton, Bart.''
He was also a "prodigious diary keeper, many of which remain in the
Warwickshire County Council
Warwickshire County Council is the county council that governs the non-metropolitan county of Warwickshire in England. Its headquarters are at Shire Hall in the centre of Warwick, the county town. The council's principal functions are county ro ...
– County Record Office."
Freemasonry
In 1791, Throckmorton was installed as
Master
Master, master's or masters may refer to:
Ranks or titles
In education:
*Master (college), head of a college
*Master's degree, a postgraduate or sometimes undergraduate degree in the specified discipline
*Schoolmaster or master, presiding office ...
of the Royal Lodge before he went on his second European Tour. During the Tour, he left Paris only two days before the
Insurrection of 10 August 1792
The insurrection of 10 August 1792 was a defining event of the French Revolution, when armed revolutionaries in Paris, increasingly in conflict with the French monarchy, stormed the Tuileries Palace. The conflict led France to abolish the mona ...
, when armed
revolutionaries
A revolutionary is a person who either participates in, or advocates for, a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective to describe something producing a major and sudden impact on society.
Definition
The term—bot ...
in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
stormed the
Tuileries Palace
The Tuileries Palace (, ) was a palace in Paris which stood on the right bank of the Seine, directly in the west-front of the Louvre Palace. It was the Parisian residence of most French monarchs, from Henri IV to Napoleon III, until it was b ...
. Sir John and his wife escaped to Switzerland and, eventually, returned to England by August 1793.
In 1796, Throckmorton, an active
Freemason
Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...
, was appointed the first
Provincial Grand Master
Provincial Grand Master (abbreviated PGM or PrGM), sometimes called District Grand Master or Metropolitan Grand Master, is a fraternal office held by the head of a Provincial Grand Lodge, who is directly appointed by the organisation's Grand Maste ...
of Buckinghamshire. Before his death in 1819, the only lodge in Buckinghamshire was the Etonian Lodge, which had been formed in 1813. He was also appointed as Provincial Grand Master of Berkshire, in 1817, although the two Provinces continued to operate separately.
Personal life
In 1778 Throckmorton took up residence at Weston House,
Weston Underwood,
one of his family's estates in Buckinghamshire.
On 19 August 1782, he was married to Maria Catherine Giffard (1762–1821), a daughter of Thomas Giffard, 22nd of
Chillington and Hon. Barbara Petre (a daughter of the
8th Baron Petre), at Ilmington, Warwickshire. His aunt, Barbara Throckmorton, had been married to Thomas Giffard, 22nd of Chillington.
Sir John died, without issue, on 3 January 1819 at age 65. He was succeeded in the baronetcy by his younger brother,
George Courtenay-Throckmorton.
References
;Notes
;Sources
External links
Sir John Throckmorton, 5th Baronet and Lady Throckmorton.at the
National Archives
National archives are the archives of a country. The concept evolved in various nations at the dawn of modernity based on the impact of nationalism upon bureaucratic processes of paperwork retention.
Conceptual development
From the Middle Ages i ...
Sir John Throckmorton, 5th Bt (1754-1819)at the
National Trust Collections
{{DEFAULTSORT:Throckmorton, Robert, 4th Baronet
1753 births
1819 deaths
Baronets in the Baronetage of England
John
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Second E ...
18th-century English people