William Coventry, 5th Earl of Coventry (c.1676 – 18 March 1751), of London and later

Croome Court Croome Court is a mid-18th-century Neo-Palladian mansion surrounded by extensive landscaped parkland at Croome D'Abitot, near Upton-upon-Severn in south Worcestershire, England. The mansion and park were designed by Lancelot "Capability" Brown for ...

, Worcestershire, was a British Whig 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. ...

from 1708 to 1719.

Early life

Coventry was the son of Walter Coventry and his wife Anne (née Holcombe), daughter of Humphrey Holcombe, merchant, of St. Andrew's Holborn. He succeeded his father in 1692. He was admitted at

Pembroke College, Cambridge Pembroke College (officially "The Master, Fellows and Scholars of the College or Hall of Valence-Mary") is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college is the third-oldest college of the university and has over 700 ...

on 13 April 1693, aged 16. His grandfather Walter Coventry was the youngest brother of

Thomas Coventry, 1st Baron Coventry Thomas Coventry, 1st Baron Coventry (157814 January 1640) was a prominent English lawyer, politician and judge during the early 17th century. Education and early legal career He entered Balliol College, Oxford, in 1592, and the Inner Temple in ...

Career

Coventry was returned unopposed as Whig Member of Parliament for

Bridport Bridport is a market town in Dorset, England, inland from the English Channel near the confluence of the River Brit and its tributary the Asker. Its origins are Saxon and it has a long history as a rope-making centre. On the coast and withi ...

at the

1708 British general election The 1708 British general election was the first general election to be held after the Acts of Union had united the Parliaments of England and Scotland. The election saw the Whigs finally gain a majority in the House of Commons, and by November ...

. He voted for naturalizing the Palatines in 1709 and for the impeachment of Dr Sacheverell in 1710. At the

1710 British general election The 1710 British general election produced a landslide victory for the Tories. The election came in the wake of the prosecution of Henry Sacheverell, which had led to the collapse of the previous government led by Godolphin and the Whig Junto. ...

he was again returned unopposed. He voted for the amendment to the South Sea bill on 25 May 1711 and for the motion for ‘

No Peace Without Spain No Peace Without Spain was a popular British political slogan of the early eighteenth century. It referred to the ongoing War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714) in which Britain was a leading participant. It implied that no peace treaty cou ...

’ on 7 December. He also voted against the French commerce bill on 18 June 13. At the

1713 British general election The 1713 British general election produced further gains for the governing Tory party. Since 1710 Robert Harley had led a government appointed after the downfall of the Whig Junto, attempting to pursue a moderate and non-controversial policy, b ...

he was returned again unopposed for Bridport. He voted against the expulsion of Richard Steele on 18 March 1713. Coventry was returned again as MP for Bridport at the

1715 British general election The 1715 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 5th Parliament of Great Britain to be held, after the 1707 merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland. In October 1714, soon afte ...

. He voted for the Administration in all recorded divisions. Early in the parliament, he applied for the office of clerk of the Parliaments, but Sir Robert Walpole kept upping the price to him until he angrily refused. He was appointed Keeper, the bailiwick of Frisham, New Forest by 1717 and was appointed Joint

Clerk Comptroller of the Board of Green Cloth The Clerk of the Green Cloth was a position in the British Royal Household. The clerk acted as secretary of the Board of Green Cloth, and was therefore responsible for organising royal journeys and assisting in the administration of the Royal ...

in 1717. His only known speech was in December 1717, when he supported a motion to maintain. In 1719, he accompanied the King to Hanover. On 27 October 1719, he unexpectedly succeeded Gilbert Coventry, his second cousin once removed, as fifth

Earl of Coventry Earl of Coventry is a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of England. The first creation for the Villiers family was created in 1623 and took its name from the city of Coventry. It became extinct in 1687. A decade later, the second ...

, the fourth Earl having died at the age of 51 without a male heir. Accordingly, Coventry vacated his seat in the

and entered the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

where he became a 'malcontent', and signed many protests. He was appointed to the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

on 22 March 1720 and was appointed

Lord Lieutenant of Worcestershire This is a list of people who have served as Lord Lieutenant of Worcestershire. Since 1719, all Lord Lieutenants have also been Custos Rotulorum of Worcestershire. Lord Lieutenants of Worcestershire to 1974 *''see Lord Lieutenant of Wales for pre- ...

in the same year. In 1724 he was successfully sued by Anne Coventry, the widow of the fourth earl, for her inheritance.Matthew Kilburn, 'Coventry, Anne, countess of Coventry (1691–1788)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 200
accessed 28 Nov 2014
/ref>

Later life and legacy

Lord Coventry married Elizabeth Allen, daughter of John Allen of Westminster, in 1720. He became High Steward of Bridport in 1727. Lady Coventry died in 1738. He survived her by thirteen years and died in March 1751. He had three sons and as his eldest son

Thomas Henry Coventry, Viscount Deerhurst Thomas Henry Coventry, Viscount Deerhurst (27 March 1721 – 20 May 1744) was a British Tory Member of Parliament. Deerhurst was the eldest son of William Coventry, 5th Earl of Coventry, and his wife Elizabeth (née Allen), and was educated at W ...

, predeceased him he was succeeded by his second son

George George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presiden ...

, who extensively redeveloped Croome Court. His third son was John Bulkeley Coventry, who succeeded George as MP for

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see His ...

References

*Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990, , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Coventry, William Coventry, 5th Earl of 1670s births 1751 deaths Lord-Lieutenants of Worcestershire Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1708–1710 British MPs 1710–1713 British MPs 1713–1715 British MPs 1715–1722 Members of the Privy Council of Great Britain Earls of Coventry