Admiral William Feilding, 1st
Earl of Denbigh
Earl of Denbigh (pronounced 'Denby') is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1622 for William Feilding, 1st Viscount Feilding, a courtier, admiral, adventurer, and brother-in-law of the powerful Duke of Buckingham. The title is ...
(c. 15878 April 1643,
Cannock
Cannock () is a town in the Cannock Chase district in the county of Staffordshire, England. It had a population of 29,018. Cannock is not far from the nearby towns of Walsall, Burntwood, Stafford and Telford. The cities of Lichfield and Wolv ...
)
was an English naval officer and courtier.
Biography
![William Feilding 1631](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/50/William_Feilding_1631.png)
William Feilding was the son of Basil Fielding of
Newnham Paddox
Monks Kirby is a village and civil parish in north-eastern Warwickshire, England. The population of the parish is 445. Monks Kirby is located around one mile east of the Fosse Way, around 8 miles north-west of Rugby, seven miles north-east of ...
in Warwickshire (
High Sheriff of Warwickshire
This is a list of sheriffs and high sheriffs of the English county of Warwickshire.
The Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most ...
in 1612) and of Elizabeth, daughter of Sir
Walter Aston (1530–1599) and his wife, Elizabeth (née Leveson).
Feilding matriculated at
Queens' College, Cambridge in 1603. In 1606 Feilding married
Susan, daughter of Sir
George Villiers and sister of George Villiers, who became the favourite of King James I and was made
Duke of Buckingham
Duke of Buckingham held with Duke of Chandos, referring to Buckingham, is a title that has been created several times in the peerages of England, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom. There have also been earls and marquesses of Buckingham.
...
. With the rise of (the younger) George Villiers, both William and Susan received various offices and dignities.
Knighted on 4 March 1607,
William Feilding was created Baron and
Viscount Feilding
A viscount ( , for male) or viscountess (, for female) is a title used in certain European countries for a noble of varying status.
In many countries a viscount, and its historical equivalents, was a non-hereditary, administrative or judicial ...
in 1620. Two years later he was appointed
Master of the Great Wardrobe
The King's Wardrobe, together with the Chamber, made up the personal part of medieval English government known as the King's household. Originally the room where the king's clothes, armour, and treasure were stored, the term was expanded to des ...
and
Custos Rotulorum of Warwickshire
This is a list of people who have served as Custos Rotulorum of Warwickshire.
* Sir George Throckmorton bef. 1544–1552
* Sir Ambrose Cave bef. 1558–1568
* Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester bef. 1573–1588
* Sir Fulke Grevil ...
and
Earl of Denbigh
Earl of Denbigh (pronounced 'Denby') is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1622 for William Feilding, 1st Viscount Feilding, a courtier, admiral, adventurer, and brother-in-law of the powerful Duke of Buckingham. The title is ...
on 14 September 1622.
He attended
Prince Charles on the Spanish adventure, served as
admiral in the unsuccessful
Cadiz Expedition in 1625, and commanded the
disastrous attempt upon Rochelle in 1628, becoming the same year a member of the
Council of war
A council of war is a term in military science that describes a meeting held to decide on a course of action, usually in the midst of a battle. Under normal circumstances, decisions are made by a commanding officer, optionally communicated ...
, and in 1633 a Member of the
Council of Wales and the Marches
The Court of the Council in the Dominion and Principality of Wales, and the Marches of the same, commonly called the Council of Wales and the Marches () or the Council of the Marches, was a regional administrative body based in Ludlow Castle wi ...
. In 1631, Lord Denbigh visited the East
as erstwhile ambassador to the court of
Safi of Persia
Sam Mirza ( fa, سام میرزا) (161112 May 1642), better known by his dynastic name of Shah Safi ( fa, شاه صفی), was the sixth Safavid shah (king) of Iran, ruling from 1629 to 1642.
Early life
Safi was given the name Sam Mirza when ...
as well as toured the
East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and South ...
's fledgling Indian possessions.
On 6 July 1641 a barge carrying Feilding, his daughter Elizabeth, Lady Kinalmeaky, Lady Cornwallis, and
Anne Kirke capsized while shooting the rapids at
London Bridge. Kirke was drowned but the other passengers were rescued.
[''HMC 12th Report, Part II: Coke MSS'', vol. 2 (London, 1888), p. 288.]
On the outbreak of 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 served under
Prince Rupert of the Rhine and was present at the
Battle of Edgehill
The Battle of Edgehill (or Edge Hill) was a pitched battle of the First English Civil War. It was fought near Edge Hill and Kineton in southern Warwickshire on Sunday, 23 October 1642.
All attempts at constitutional compromise between ...
. On 3 April 1643 during
Rupert's attack on Birmingham he was wounded and died from the effects on the 8th, being buried at
Monks Kirby
Monks Kirby is a village and civil parish in north-eastern Warwickshire, England. The population of the parish is 445. Monks Kirby is located around one mile east of the Fosse Way, around 8 miles north-west of Rugby, seven miles north-east of ...
in Warwickshire. His courage, unselfishness and devotion to duty are much praised by
Edward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon.
Family
Sir William and his wife, Susan Villiers, had six children:
*
Basil Feilding, 2nd Earl of Denbigh
Basil Feilding, 2nd Earl of Denbigh (c. 160828 November 1675) was a diplomat, politician and parliamentarian army officer during the English Civil War. He was the eldest son of William Feilding, 1st Earl of Denbigh and Susan Feilding, Countess o ...
(c. 1608–1675)
*
George Feilding, 1st Earl of Desmond
George Feilding, 1st Earl of Desmond (c. 1614 – 31 January 1665) was an English aristocrat, awarded the title of Earl of Desmond in the Peerage of Ireland by Charles I of England under the terms of a letter patent issued by James I of Englan ...
(c. 1614–1665)
* Mary (1613–1638), married
James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Hamilton
James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Hamilton, KG, PC (19 June 1606 – 9 March 1649), known as The 3rd Marquess of Hamilton from March 1625 until April 1643, was a Scottish nobleman and influential political and military leader during the Thirty Year ...
.
[
* Lady Anne (died 1636), married ]Baptist Noel, 3rd Viscount Campden
Baptist Noel, 3rd Viscount Campden (1611 – 29 October 1682) was an English politician. He was Lord Lieutenant of Rutland, Custos Rotulorum of Rutland and the Member of Parliament for Rutland.
Early life
Baptist Noel was born at Exton Hall ...
[
* Lady Elizabeth, Countess of Guildford (died 1667), married Lewis Boyle, 1st Viscount Boyle.][
* Henrietta Marie (died young)][.]
His daughter, Lady Margaret Feilding (1613–1638), also known as Mary, was married to James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Hamilton
James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Hamilton, KG, PC (19 June 1606 – 9 March 1649), known as The 3rd Marquess of Hamilton from March 1625 until April 1643, was a Scottish nobleman and influential political and military leader during the Thirty Year ...
, one of the heirs to the throne of Scotland after the descendants of James VI (James I of England). Her portrait was painted by Anthony van Dyck and Henry Pierce Bone
Henry Pierce Bone (6 November 1779 – 21 October 1855 London) was an English enamel painter.
Life
Bone was the son of Henry Bone, the notable enamel painter, and Elizabeth Van der Meulen, a descendant of the distinguished battle-painter Ad ...
. His eldest son, Basil, inherited the title of Earl of Denbigh. His second son, George Feilding, was awarded the right to the title of Earl of Desmond
Earl of Desmond is a title in the peerage of Ireland () created four times. When the powerful Earl of Desmond took arms against Queen Elizabeth Tudor, around 1578, along with the King of Spain and the Pope, he was confiscated from his estates ...
at the same time as his father was made Earl of Denbigh in 1622. George Feilding was around eight years old at the time. Earl of Desmond was a lesser title than Earl of Denbigh, being a title in the Irish, rather than English, peerage.
Ancestry
Notes
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Denbigh, William Feilding, 1st Earl of
1643 deaths
1580s births
16th-century English nobility
17th-century English nobility
People from Warwickshire
William
William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...
17th-century Royal Navy personnel
Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge
Cavaliers
Earls of Denbigh
Royal Navy admirals
Knights Bachelor