Sir William Soame, 1st Baronet (also Soames) (c.1645–1686) was an English translator and diplomat.

Life

The Soame family was based in East Anglia, and in the commercial world of London, where

Stephen Soame Sir Stephen Soame (c. 1540 – 23 May 1619) was an English merchant, landowner and politics, politician who sat in the House of Commons of England, House of Commons in 1601. He served as Lord Mayor of London for the year 1598 to 1599.A.M. ...

had been Lord Mayor. Soame was his great-grandson, second son of Stephen Soame of Little Thurlow; his mother was Mary Dynham, daughter of Sir John Dynham of Borstall, who had previously been married to Lawrence Banastre. He was admitted a fellow commoner of

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corpo ...

in 1660. Soame was

High Sheriff of Suffolk This is a list of Sheriffs and High Sheriffs of Suffolk. The Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown and is appointed annually (in March) by the Crown. The Sheriff was originally the principal law enforcement officer in the county a ...

in 1672–3. The office brought him into conflict with

Sir Samuel Barnardiston, 1st Baronet Sir Samuel Barnardiston, 1st Baronet (1620–1707) was an English Whig Member of Parliament and deputy governor of the East India Company. He was the defendant in some high-profile legal cases and involved in a highly contentious parliamentary ...

over the handling of the by-election for caused by the suicide of

Sir Henry North, 1st Baronet Sir Henry North, 1st Baronet (c 1609 – 29 August 1671) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons variously between 1656 and 1671. North was the son of Sir Roger North of Mildenhall and his wife, Elizabeth Gilbert, daughter ...

. Sir Samuel was a relation, being a grandson of Stephen Soame. He was also an opponent of the court, and Soame sent in a double electoral return when Sir Samuel stood as candidate, against Lionel Tollemache (courtesy title Lord Huntingtower), one return discounting many of his supporters. The matter was pursued vigorously through the courts, as a vendetta, by Sir Samuel Barnardiston, even after Soame's death against his widow. Soame was knighted in 1674. Soame was an envoy to the

Kingdom of Savoy The Kingdom of Sardinia,The name of the state was originally Latin: , or when the kingdom was still considered to include Corsica. In Italian it is , in French , in Sardinian , and in Piedmontese . also referred to as the Kingdom of Savoy-S ...

, around 1680. He was created a baronet by Charles II in 1685. 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 ...

, he was allowed to retain his membership in that year, despite being in arrears with his subscription. Made Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, Soame died on

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

in June 1686, having called at

Algiers Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques ...

and

Tunis ''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois , population_note = , population_urban = , population_metro = 2658816 , population_density_km2 = , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 ...

to renew treaty agreements. His appointment had been political, going back to the Oxford Parliament of 1681. James Brydges had been the choice of the

Levant Company The Levant Company was an English chartered company formed in 1592. Elizabeth I of England approved its initial charter on 11 September 1592 when the Venice Company (1583) and the Turkey Company (1581) merged, because their charters had expired, ...

, but Charles II took against his political sympathies, and imposed Soame by prerogative in 1684.

Works

Soame made a translation, ''The Art of Poetry'', of

Nicolas Boileau Nicolas or Nicolás may refer to: People Given name * Nicolas (given name) Mononym * Nicolas (footballer, born 1999), Brazilian footballer * Nicolas (footballer, born 2000), Brazilian footballer Surname Nicolas * Dafydd Nicolas (c.1705–1774), ...

's ''L'Art poétique''. According to

Jacob Tonson Jacob Tonson, sometimes referred to as Jacob Tonson the Elder (1655–1736), was an eighteenth-century English bookseller and publisher. Tonson published editions of John Dryden and John Milton, and is best known for having obtained a copyright ...

, it dated from 1680. It was later revised by

John Dryden '' John Dryden (; – ) was an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who in 1668 was appointed England's first Poet Laureate. He is seen as dominating the literary life of Restoration England to such a point that the per ...

, and published in 1683. The Dryden revisions included substitutions, for example

Thomas Duffett Thomas Duffet (Floruit, fl. 1673 – 1676), or Duffett, was an Irish playwright and songwriter active in England in the 1670s. He is remembered for his popular songs and his burlesques of the serious plays of John Dryden, Thomas Shadwell, El ...

for

Charles Coypeau d'Assoucy Charles Coypeau (16 October 1605 Paris – 29 October 1677, Paris) was a French musician and burlesque poet. In the mid-1630s he began using the ''nom de plume'' D'Assouci or Dassoucy. Life From the time he was eight or nine, Charles Coypeau b ...

in speaking about

burlesque A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects.

, and Samuel Butler for

Clément Marot Clément Marot (23 November 1496 – 12 September 1544) was a French Renaissance poet. Biography Youth Marot was born at Cahors, the capital of the province of Quercy, some time during the winter of 1496–1497. His father, Jean Marot (c.&n ...

;

Ben Jonson Benjamin "Ben" Jonson (c. 11 June 1572 – c. 16 August 1637) was an English playwright and poet. Jonson's artistry exerted a lasting influence upon English poetry and stage comedy. He popularised the comedy of humours; he is best known for t ...

replaces

Molière Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (, ; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, , ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the greatest writers in the French language and world ...

. A derived work was published by

John Ozell John Ozell (died 15 October 1743) was an English translator and accountant who became an adversary to Jonathan Swift and Alexander Pope. He moved to London from the country at around the age of twenty and entered an accounting firm, where he was s ...

in 1712. Another version from

Charles Gildon Charles Gildon (c. 1665 – 1 January 1724), was an English hack writer who was, by turns, a translator, biographer, essayist, playwright, poet, author of fictional letters, fabulist, short story author, and critic. He provided the source for ma ...

's ''The Complete Art of Poetry'' (1718) changed Thomas Randolph to

Thomas D'Urfey Thomas d'Urfey (a.k.a. Tom Durfey; 165326 February 1723) was an English writer and wit. He wrote plays, songs, jokes, and poems. He was an important innovator and contributor in the evolution of the ballad opera. Life D'Urfey was born in Devonshi ...

to remain topical.

Family

Soame married Lady Beata Pope, daughter of

Thomas Pope, 3rd Earl of Downe Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...

(connecting Soame with

Francis North, 1st Baron Guilford Francis North, 1st Baron Guilford, PC, KC(22 October 1637 – 5 September 1685) was the third son of Dudley North, 4th Baron North, and his wife Anne Montagu, daughter of Sir Charles Montagu of Boughton House and Mary Whitmore. He was created ...

who married another daughter); and then Mary Howe, daughter of Sir Gabriel Howe. He died without issue. His kinsman Peter Soame became 2nd Baronet, by special remainder. Little Thurlow went to his uncle Bartholomew Hunt, a patron of John Howe.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Soame, William Year of birth missing 1686 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of England English translators English diplomats Fellows of the Royal Society Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge