Sir Philip Gell, 3rd Baronet (6 July 1651 – 15 July 1719) of

Hopton Hall Hopton Hall is an 18th-century country house at Hopton, near Wirksworth, Derbyshire. It is a Grade II listed building. The Manor of Hopton, anciently the seat of the de Hopton family, was acquired by the Gell family in 1553 by Ralph Gell (1491� ...

near

Wirksworth Wirksworth is a market town in the Derbyshire Dales district of Derbyshire, England. Its population of 5,038 in the 2011 census was estimated at 5,180 in 2019. Wirksworth contains the source of the River Ecclesbourne. The town was granted a mark ...

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

was a lead-mining magnate and an English politician. Philip Gell was the son of Katherine Packer (daughter of John Packer of Denington Castle,

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

) and

Sir John Gell, 2nd Baronet Sir John Gell, 2nd Baronet (1613 – 8 February 1689) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1654 and 1689. Early life He was baptised at Kedleston in October 1613. Gell was the son of Sir John Gell ...

of Hopton, Derbyshire.John Burke, John Bernard Burke ''A genealogical and heraldic history of the extinct and dormant baronetcies''
/ref> The family's fortune was founded on the local lead industry, through their ownership of the lead tithes in the mines of

Bakewell Bakewell is a market town and civil parish in the Derbyshire Dales district of Derbyshire, England, known also for its local Bakewell pudding. It lies on the River Wye, about 13 miles (21 km) south-west of Sheffield. In the 2011 census, ...

Hope Hope is an optimistic state of mind that is based on an expectation of positive outcomes with respect to events and circumstances in one's life or the world at large. As a verb, its definitions include: "expect with confidence" and "to cherish ...

and

Tideswell Tideswell is a village and civil parish in the Peak District of Derbyshire, England. It lies east of Buxton on the B6049, in a wide valley on a limestone plateau, at an altitude of above sea level, and is within the District of Derbyshire Da ...

. Gell was working as a trading agent in

Smyrna Smyrna ( ; grc, Σμύρνη, Smýrnē, or , ) was a Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to promi ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

in 1674 when his elder brother died. On his journey home to England, he was captured by

privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

s and marched across the desert to

Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis may refer to: Cities and other geographic units Greece *Tripoli, Greece, the capital of Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in ...

. He was freed by the English fleet of

Sir John Narborough Rear-Admiral Sir John Narborough (or Narbrough, c. 1640–1688) was an English naval commander. He served with distinction in the Anglo-Dutch Wars and against the pirates of the Barbary Coast. He is also known for leading a poorly understood e ...

. In 1678 Phillip married Elizabeth Fagge, of the wealthy Sussex Fagge family and in 1681 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

Steyning Steyning ( ) is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Horsham District, Horsham district of West Sussex, England. It is located at the north end of the River Adur gap in the South Downs, four miles (6.4 km) north of the ...

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

. He inherited the

baronetcy 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 ...

on the death of his father in 1689, succeeding his father as MP for Derbyshire in 1689 during the Convention Parliament. However, the Gell's staunch Presbyterianism was at odds with now Anglican voters and he was ousted in 1690. The Gell family had been left in deep financial debt when the monarchy was restored in 1660 after the

English Civil war The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...

, due to expenditure supporting the Parliamentary cause. Losing important mineral rights in 1661 further added to their monetary problems. To overcome this, and continue enjoying the gentry lifestyle, the family borrowed heavily, sold off assets of land and lead mines, and controversially enclosed - took and fenced off - local common land to use as collateral for further loans, which caused ongoing conflict with their neighbours. By 1708 Phillip had succeeded in getting the estate debt free, but 2 years later defaulted on a large loan which took until 1718 to pay off, one year before his death.https://calmview.derbyshire.gov.uk/calmview/ D258/38/11/30; D258/33/2/14 Philip Gell died in 1719 without any children and the estate passed on to John Eyre, son of Sir Philip's sister Catherine (who had married William Eyre). John Eyre assumed the surname Gell and he died in 1739 and the lands of Hopton Hall were inherited by his son Philip Eyre Gell (1723-1795), who was

High Sheriff of Derbyshire High may refer to: Science and technology * Height * High (atmospheric), a high-pressure area * High (computability), a quality of a Turing degree, in computability theory * High (tectonics), in geology an area where relative tectonic uplift t ...

in 1755. Philip Eyre Gell left the Hopton estate to his son Philip Gell MP (1775-1842). The archive of documents from the Gell family of Hopton Hall, including Phillip's meticulous financial accounts and letters from his sister Temperance, is held by the

Derbyshire Record Office The Derbyshire Record Office, established in 1962, is the county record office for Derbyshire, England. It holds archives and local studies material for the County of Derbyshire and the City of Derby and Diocese of Derby. It is situated in Matl ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gell, Philip 1651 births 1719 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of England English MPs 1689–1690 Gell, Philip