Sir Richard Fanshawe, 1st Baronet PC (June 1608 – 16 June 1666) was an English

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wri ...

and

translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transl ...

. He was a diplomat 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. T ...

from 1661 to 1666. During 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 supported the

Royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of governm ...

cause and served Charles II of England in battle and in exile.

Early life

Fanshawe was the fourth and youngest son of Sir Henry Fanshawe, of Ware Park, Hertfordshire and his wife Elizabeth Smythe, daughter of

Thomas Smythe Sir Thomas Smythe (or Smith, c. 1558 – 4 September 1625) was an English merchant, politician and colonial administrator. He was the first governor of the East India Company and treasurer of the Virginia Company from 1609 to 1620 until envel ...

, of Ostenhanger Kent and was baptised at Ware on 12 June 1608. His father, who was Remembrancer of the Exchequer, died in 1616.George Edward Cokayne ''Complete Baronetage, Volume III, 1649-1664'' 1902
/ref> Fanshawe was admitted at

Jesus College, Cambridge Jesus College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college's full name is The College of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint John the Evangelist and the glorious Virgin Saint Radegund, near Cambridge. Its common name comes fr ...

in November 1623 and was admitted to

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and ...

on 22 January 1626. He travelled on

the Continent Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous continent of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, by ...

, and in 1635 was Secretary to the Embassy at the Court of Spain. In 1638, he was Chargé d'Affaires there. He was an accomplished linguist, whose knowledge of "modern languages" like Spanish and Italian is said to have been a great advantage to him in his diplomatic career.

Civil War

When the Civil War broke out, Fanshawe sided with the King. He was Secretary of War to the Prince of Wales in 1644 and in 1648 had credentials for Spain, where he was sent to obtain money for the cause. From 1648 to 1650, he was Treasurer of the Navy under Prince Rupert. He was created 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 14t ...

on 2 September 1650, and soon afterwards was Secretary of State in Scotland to the young King Charles II. He was captured at the

Battle of Worcester The Battle of Worcester took place on 3 September 1651 in and around the city of Worcester, England and was the last major battle of the 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Three Kingdoms. A Parliamentarian army of around 28,000 under Oliver Cromwell d ...

on 3 September 1651. He was knighted at Breda in April 1660, and made Latin Secretary and Master of Requests for King Charles when in

Holland Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former province on the western coast of the Netherlands. From the 10th to the 16th c ...

Restored monarchy

After the Restoration Fanshawe held various appointments. He represented James, Duke of York at the Coronation on 23 April 1661. In 1661 he 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 o ...

for

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...

for 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. History of Parliament Online – Fanshawe, Sir Richard
/ref> From 1662 to 1666, he was Ambassador to Portugal and from 1664 to 1666 was also ambassador to Spain. In 1666 Fanshawe was making preparations to return to England when he died suddenly at ''Siete Chimeneas'', his house in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

at the age of 58.

Memorials

His body was returned to England from Spain. He was initially buried at Allhallows, Hertford, and a few years later removed to St Mary's Church, Ware, where there is a monument (a marble aedicule). A portrait of Richard Fanshawe is on display with other portraits of the family at

Valence House Museum Valence House Museum is the only surviving of the five manor houses of Dagenham. The timber-framed museum building, partially surrounded by a moat, is situated in Valence Park off Becontree Avenue, in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, L ...

in east London.

Works

Fanshawe translated

Giovanni Battista Guarini Giovanni Battista Guarini (10 December 1538 – 7 October 1612) was an Italian poet, dramatist, and diplomat. Life Guarini was born in Ferrara. On the termination of his studies at the universities of Pisa, Padua and Ferrara, he was appointed pr ...

's ''

Il pastor fido ''Il pastor fido'' (''The Faithfull Shepherd'' in Richard Fanshawe's 1647 English translation) is a pastoral tragicomedy set in Arcadia by Giovanni Battista Guarini, first published in 1590 in Venice. Plot summary To redress an ancient wron ...

'', '' Selected Parts of Horace'', and '' The Lusiad'' of Camoens, the first English translation of the latter work (circulated from 1655 or earlier).

Family

Fanshawe married at Wolvercot, Oxfordshire on 18 May 1644, his second cousin Anne Harrison daughter of Sir John Harrison, of Ball's Park, Ware and Margaret Fanshawe, daughter of Robert Fanshawe of Fanshawe Gate in Holmesfield, Derbyshire. His wife, described as "devoted and able", wrote

memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based in the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobiog ...

s of her own life. They had fourteen children, but only five reached adulthood. His brother

Thomas 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 ...

was created

Viscount Fanshawe Viscount Fanshawe, of Dromore, was a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created on 5 September 1661 for Sir Thomas Fanshawe for his services to the House of Stuart during the English Civil War. He previously served as Member of Parliament fo ...

References

External links

*
Richard Fanshawe, The Online Books Page, University of Pennsylvania

The Fanshawe archives
at the

, Dagenham , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Fanshawe, Sir Richard Fanshawe, 1st Baronet 1608 births 1666 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of Ireland Ambassadors of England to Spain Ambassadors of England to Portugal English MPs 1661–1679 17th-century English translators Portuguese–English translators 17th-century English poets 17th-century male writers Cavaliers People from Ware, Hertfordshire Alumni of Jesus College, Cambridge 17th-century diplomats Burials in Hertfordshire English male poets English expatriates in Spain Fanshawe family