Sir Robert Long, 1st Baronet (c. 1600 – 13 July 1673) of Westminster was an English courtier and administrator 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. ...
at various times between 1626 and 1673.
Background
Long was the son of
Sir Walter Long of
South Wraxall
South Wraxall is a village and a civil parish in Wiltshire, England, north of Bradford on Avon. The village is to the east of the B3109 road from Bradford on Avon to Corsham.
The parish includes the village of Lower Wraxall, to the south of Sou ...
and Draycot in Wiltshire, and his wife Catherine Thynne of
Longleat
Longleat is an English stately home and the seat of the Marquess of Bath, Marquesses of Bath. A leading and early example of the Elizabethan era, Elizabethan prodigy house, it is adjacent to the village of Horningsham and near the towns of War ...
. He matriculated at
Magdalen Hall, Oxford
Hertford College ( ), previously known as Magdalen Hall, is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It is located on Catte Street in the centre of Oxford, directly opposite the main gate to the Bodleian Library. The colleg ...
on 1 February 1622, aged 16.
['Alumni Oxonienses, 1500–1714: Lloyd-Lytton', Alumni Oxonienses 1500–1714 (1891)]
pp. 921–955.
Career
Long 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
Devizes
Devizes is a market town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. It developed around Devizes Castle, an 11th-century Norman architecture, Norman castle, and received a charter in 1141. The castle was besieged during the Anarchy, a 12th-century ...
in 1626 and in 1628.
[History of Parliament Online – Long, Robert]
/ref> He sat until 1629 when King Charles decided to rule without parliament for eleven years. He held minor administrative offices in the service of King Charles I of England
Charles I (19 November 1600 – 30 January 1649) was King of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until Execution of Charles I, his execution in 1649. He was born into the House of Stuart as the second son of King James VI of ...
before 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 ...
. He attached himself to Queen Henrietta Maria
Henrietta Maria (french: link=no, Henriette Marie; 25 November 1609 – 10 September 1669) was Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland from her marriage to King Charles I on 13 June 1625 until Charles was executed on 30 January 1649. She was ...
and held the office of surveyor of the Queen's lands.
In April 1640, he was elected MP for Midhurst
Midhurst () is a market town, parish and civil parish in West Sussex, England. It lies on the River Rother inland from the English Channel, and north of the county town of Chichester.
The name Midhurst was first recorded in 1186 as ''Middeh ...
in the Short Parliament
The Short Parliament was a Parliament of England that was summoned by King Charles I of England on the 20th of February 1640 and sat from 13th of April to the 5th of May 1640. It was so called because of its short life of only three weeks.
Aft ...
.[ In 1644 he became secretary of the council for the ]Prince of Wales
Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...
and in effect became the Queen's representative in the Prince's entourage.
Long was not popular with Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon
Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon (18 February 16099 December 1674), was an English statesman, lawyer, diplomat and historian who served as chief advisor to Charles I during the First English Civil War, and Lord Chancellor to Charles II from ...
, who in his ''History of the Rebellion'' was critical of the role Long played during the Civil War and later in exile. Clarendon suggested that Long loved money too much and was accused, together with 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 ...
, of improperly retaining prize money and disposing of cloth, sugar and other merchandise for their own benefit, resulting from a financially disappointing Royalist naval blockade of the Thames that they had been involved in. Clarendon also asserted that Long was not well thought of.
When King 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 ...
and Scotland went to Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
after his father's execution, Long went with him again acting on behalf of Queen Henrietta Maria. The Scots however did not accept him, so he returned to the continent.
After the Commonwealth
A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...
forces captured 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 ...
, where Long had been based for a time, they found a trunkful of compromising correspondence. It seems he was not trusted by either side, as he subsequently lost his place in the exiled court and had already had his land in England confiscated by Parliament.
At the restoration
Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to:
* Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage
** Audio restoration
** Film restoration
** Image restoration
** Textile restoration
* Restoration ecology
...
in 1660 Long pleaded poverty to the now extremely powerful Clarendon. He regained his place in the service of the Dowager Queen as well as receiving posts in the Exchequer. In 1661 he was elected MP for Boroughbridge
Boroughbridge () is a town and civil parish in the Harrogate district of North Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is north-west of the county town of York. Until a bypass was built the town lay on t ...
, Yorkshire 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 ...
and sat until his death.[ He was 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 ...
on 1 September 1662 when he became auditor of the lower exchequer.
In April / May 1663, Charles II granted him a long lease of the Great Park, Great Park Meadow, and a house called Worcester Park House
Worcester Park House, built in 1607, whose ruins are in Surrey, in the United Kingdom, was one of the residences of the 4th Earl of Worcester, who was appointed Keeper of the Great Park of nearby Nonsuch Palace in 1606.
During the English Co ...
, all at Nonsuch, Surrey. An additional life, probably for his great nephew James Long Esq., was added in 1670. He became a privy councillor in 1672. He died in 1673 and was buried in Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...
. He died an extremely wealthy man.
Family
Long never married and he arranged a special remainder to his baronetcy, so it was inherited by his nephew of Draycot, Sir James Long, 2nd Baronet
Sir James Long, 2nd Baronet (c. 1617 – 22 January 1692) was an English politician and Royalist soldier.
Born at South Wraxall, Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire, the son of Sir Walter Long and Anne Ley (daughter of James Ley, 1st Earl of Marlborough ...
, of Westminster in London.
References
*Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
*Charles the Second in the Channel Islands – Samuel Elliot Hoskins 1854
*
Further reading
Inheriting the Earth: The Long Family's 500 Year Reign in Wiltshire; Cheryl Nicol
*''Hand of Fate: the history of the Longs, Wellesleys and the Draycot Estate in Wiltshire,'' Tim Couzens 2001
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Long, Robert, Sir, 1st Baronet
Long, Robert
Long, Robert
Year of birth uncertain
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English MPs 1626
English MPs 1628–1629
English MPs 1640 (April)
English MPs 1661–1679