Sir Nicholas Slanning, 1st Baronet FRS (June 1643 – April 1691) of

Maristow Maristow House in the parish of Bickleigh (formerly Tamerton Foliot), Devon, England, is a large country house set in landscaped parkland, on the River Tavy to the north of Plymouth. It was built in about 1560, rebuilt in the mid-18th century an ...

in the parish of

Tamerton Foliot Tamerton Foliot is a village situated in the north of Plymouth, England, that also lends its name to the ecclesiastical parish of the same name. Situated near the confluence of the rivers Tamar and Tavy, the village is situated in a valley ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

, was an English courtier and politician who sat in 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. ...

between 1667 and 1689.

Life

Slanning was the eldest son of Sir

Nicholas Slanning Sir Nicholas Slanning, 1 September 1606 to August 1643, was a soldier and landowner from Devon who sat in the House of Commons from 1640 to 1642. He served in the Royalist army during the First English Civil War and was mortally wounded at Bri ...

and his wife Gertrude (née Bagge), daughter of Sir James Bagge.History of Parliament Online - Slanning, Sir Nicholas, 1st Bt.
/ref> His father was killed in 1643 fighting for the Royalist cause in the Civil War. His mother remarried Richard Arundell, 1st Baron Arundell of Trerice. After the

Restoration of Charles II The Restoration of the Stuart monarchy in the kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland took place in 1660 when King Charles II returned from exile in continental Europe. The preceding period of the Protectorate and the civil wars came to be ...

Slanning was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

in 1661 and made 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 ...

in 1663. His first marriage to the influential Cartaret family brought him for a time into the inner Court circle. He was appointed Cupbearer to Queen

Catherine of Braganza Catherine of Braganza ( pt, Catarina de Bragança; 25 November 1638 – 31 December 1705) was List of English royal consorts, Queen of England, List of Scottish royal consorts, Scotland and Ireland during her marriage to Charles II of England, ...

(1663) and Commissioner for Assessment for

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

(1661–1678), Devon (1661–1662, 1665–1680). He was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

in 1664. Like his father, he had some interest in

chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

. In 1669, Slanning was elected

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

Plympton Erle Plympton is a suburb of the city of Plymouth in Devon, England. It is in origin an ancient stannary town. It was an important trading centre for locally mined tin, and a seaport before the River Plym silted up and trade moved down river to Pl ...

in the

Cavalier Parliament The Cavalier Parliament of England lasted from 8 May 1661 until 24 January 1679. It was the longest English Parliament, and longer than any Great British or UK Parliament to date, enduring for nearly 18 years of the quarter-century reign of C ...

. He was a diligent MP, sitting on some 70 committees. He was elected MP for

Penrhyn Penryn is a Cornish word meaning 'headland' that may refer to: *Penryn, Cornwall, United Kingdom, a town of about 7,000 on the Penryn River **Penryn railway station, a station on the Maritime Line between Truro and Falmouth Docks, and serves the to ...

in 1679 and in 1681 and 1685. He was expelled from the Royal Society in 1682. He was appointed Standard-bearer to the Band of Gentleman-pensioners (1676–1684), Commissioner for Rebels' Estates, Devon (1686), Vice-Warden of the Stannaries (1686-death) and Deputy-Governor of

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

(1688). He was Commissioner for Assessment for Cornwall and Devon from 1689 to 1690. He supported 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 ...

, but retired from politics the following year. Slanning died in Tamerton Foliot, Devon in 1691.

Family

Slanning married four times: firstly in 1662 Anne (died 1668), daughter of Sir George Carteret, Bt, of St Owen's,

Jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label=Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west F ...

Treasurer of the Navy The Treasurer of the Navy, originally called Treasurer of Marine Causes or Paymaster of the Navy, was a civilian officer of the Royal Navy, one of the principal commissioners of the Navy Board responsible for naval finance from 1524 to 1832. T ...

and his wife Elizabeth. Anne was remembered as a "pious and sweet-tempered lady":

Samuel Pepys Samuel Pepys (; 23 February 1633 – 26 May 1703) was an English diarist and naval administrator. He served as administrator of the Royal Navy and Member of Parliament and is most famous for the diary he kept for a decade. Pepys had no mariti ...

refers to her affectionately in his celebrated

Diary A diary is a written or audiovisual record with discrete entries arranged by date reporting on what has happened over the course of a day or other period. Diaries have traditionally been handwritten but are now also often digital. A personal ...

. He married secondly in 1670 Mary, daughter of James Jenkin of Treseny,

St Columb Major St Columb Major is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. Often referred to locally as ''St Columb'', it is approximately southwest of Wadebridge and east of Newquay Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 200 ''Newquay ...

, and thirdly in 1673 Mary, daughter of

Sir Andrew Henley, 1st Baronet Sir Andrew Henley, 1st baronet (1622–75), of Bramshill, Hampshire was an English politician and the first of the Henley baronets. He is best remembered for his celebrated quarrel with the future Duke of Bolton, which is recorded in the Diary ...

, of Henley,

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

, and his first wife Mary Gayer. Mary Henley was the mother of his only son, Andrew. He married fourthly in 1679 Amy, widow of

Sir John Davie, 2nd Baronet Sir John Davie, 2nd Baronet (1612–1678) of Creedy in the parish of Sandford, Devon, was Member of Parliament for Tavistock, Devon, in 1661 and was Sheriff of Devon from 1670 to 1671. Origins He was baptised on 6 December 1612, at Sandford. H ...

, and also of Walter Hele of

Newton Ferrers Newton Ferrers is a village and former manor and ecclesiastical parish in the English county of Devon; it is now in the civil parish of Newton and Noss. It is situated on a creek of the River Yealm estuary, about south-east of the City of Plym ...

, and daughter of Edmond Parker of

Boringdon Hall Boringdon Hall is a 16th-century Grade I listed manor house in the parish of Colebrook, about two miles north of Plympton, Devon. Description The oldest parts of the present house were said by John Britton (1771–1857) to have been built about ...

Plympton Plympton is a suburb of the city of Plymouth in Devon, England. It is in origin an ancient stannary town. It was an important trading centre for locally mined tin, and a seaport before the River Plym silted up and trade moved down river to Plym ...

, Devon. His only son, Sir Andrew Slanning, inherited his title. Andrew was

murdered Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse, especially the c ...

by John Cowland in 1700, following a drunken brawl in the Rose Tavern, Convent Garden, and the title died with him. The Slanning estates passed to the heirs of Sir Nicholas's sister Elizabeth, Lady Modyford.''State Trials'' Vol.18 p. 305

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Slanning, Sir Nicholas Slanning, 1st Baronet 1643 births 1691 deaths Fellows of the Royal Society Baronets in the Baronetage of England Members of the Parliament of England for Plympton Erle English MPs 1661–1679 English MPs 1680–1681 English MPs 1681 English MPs 1685–1687 Members of the pre-1707 English Parliament for constituencies in Cornwall