William Blathwayt
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William Blathwayt (or Blathwayte) (1649 – 16 August 1717) was an English diplomat, public official and Whig politician who sat in the
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...
and British House of Commons between 1685 and 1710. He established the
War Office The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...
as a department of the British Government and played an important part in administering the English (later British) colonies of North America.


Life

Blaythwayt was baptized in the parish of
St Martin-in-the-Fields St Martin-in-the-Fields is a Church of England parish church at the north-east corner of Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, London. It is dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours. There has been a church on the site since at least the mediev ...
in
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on 2 March 1649, the only son of William Blathwayt, barrister, of the Middle Temple, and his wife Anne Povey, daughter of
Justinian Povey Justinian Povey (d. 1652), held office as Auditor of the Exchequer and administrator for Anne of Denmark. Justinian Povey was the son of John Povey, an embroiderer in London. His sister Joan married William Angell, a fishmonger. A brother, John Pov ...
of Hounslow, Middlesex, who was accountant-general to Queen
Anne of Denmark Anne of Denmark (; 12 December 1574 – 2 March 1619) was the wife of King James VI and I; as such, she was Queen of Scotland from their marriage on 20 August 1589 and Queen of England and Ireland from the union of the Scottish and Eng ...
. He was born to a well-to-do family of
Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...
merchants and lawyers. After his father's death, his mother remarried Thomas Vivian, of the prominent Cornish family. In 1665 he was admitted at
Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn ...
. Blaythwayt joined the diplomatic service in 1668 when his uncle
Thomas Povey Thomas Povey (1613/14 – in or before 1705) FRS, was a London merchant-politician. He was active in colonial affairs from the 1650s, but neutral enough in his politics to be named a member from 1660 of Charles II's Council for Foreign Plantat ...
, an influential London lawyer, found him a post as Clerk of the English embassy at
The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...
. He followed this in 1672 with a year as Clerk of Embassy at Copenhagen and Stockholm. From 1672 to 1673 he travelled in Sweden, Germany, Italy, Switzerland and France and in the course of his tour, he studied at
Padua University The University of Padua ( it, Università degli Studi di Padova, UNIPD) is an Italian university located in the city of Padua, region of Veneto, northern Italy. The University of Padua was founded in 1222 by a group of students and teachers from B ...
. Blaythwayt returned to London in the early 1670s, and was assistant secretary of trade and plantations from 1675 to 1679. He became a Clerk of the Privy Council in Extraordinary in 1678 and in 1679 was promoted to secretary of trade and plantations. Also in 1679, he was considered "as a very fit person" to be assistant to the secretary of the council, being heavily involved in the administration of England's colonies in North America. In 1680, he became the first surveyor and auditor-general of royal revenues in America. He became under-secretary of state (north) in 1681 until he obtained by purchase in 1683 the office of
Secretary at War The Secretary at War was a political position in the English and later British government, with some responsibility over the administration and organization of the Army, but not over military policy. The Secretary at War ran the War Office. Afte ...
which he held to February 1689. His role as Secretary at War was originally merely the role of secretary to the Commander-in-Chief of the
British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
but under Blathwayt the remit of the Secretary was greatly expanded to encompass all areas of Army administration. He effectively established the
War Office The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...
as a department of the government, although he had very little input into the actual conduct of wars. Issues of strategic policy during wartime were managed by the Northern and Southern Departments (the predecessors of today's Foreign Office and Home Office respectively). At the
1685 English general election The 1685 English general election elected the only parliament of James II of England, known as the Loyal Parliament. This was the first time the pejorative words Whig and Tory were used as names for political groupings in the Parliament of Englan ...
Blathwayt was returned as
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 Newtown in the government interest. He was not active in the Parliament, and was appointed to only one committee to examine the disbandment accounts. In October 1686, Blaythwayt became a Clerk of the Privy Council in Ordinary. He became the secretary of the Privy Council's committee on trade and foreign plantations — in effect, colonial under-secretary. It was in this capacity that he became a key figure in American affairs. He was responsible for establishing the charter of the Crown colony of the
Province of Massachusetts Bay The Province of Massachusetts Bay was a colony in British America which became one of the thirteen original states of the United States. It was chartered on October 7, 1691, by William III and Mary II, the joint monarchs of the kingdoms of ...
, the predecessor of the state of
Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...
. He did much to promote trade in America and benefited considerably from gifts and bribes received in connection with his office (as was the usual practice in his day). His rise was noted by many of his contemporaries; the diarist
John Evelyn John Evelyn (31 October 162027 February 1706) was an English writer, landowner, gardener, courtier and minor government official, who is now best known as a diarist. He was a founding Fellow of the Royal Society. John Evelyn's diary, or ...
commended him as "very dexterous in business" and as one who had "raised himself by his industry from very moderate circumstances." On 23 December 1686, he married Mary Wynter, daughter of John Wynter of
Dyrham Park Dyrham Park () is a baroque English country house in an ancient deer park near the village of Dyrham in South Gloucestershire, England. The house, attached orangery, stable block, and accompanying parish church are Grade I listed buildings, w ...
. Blaythwayt was a witness for the prosecution at the Trial of the Seven Bishops in 1688 and he lost the politically sensitive post as secretary at war after the Glorious Revolution. He was restored to the post in May 1689 and held it to 1704. Blaythwayt was returned as a Whig
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 Bath in 1693 and held the seat until 1710. He was appointed Lord of Trade in 1696, holding the post until 1707. Blathwayt retired to Dyrham in 1710 (his wife had died in 1691). He remained there until his death on 16 August 1717 and was buried in the local churchyard.


Art collection

Blaythwayt built a large mansion house for himself at
Dyrham Park Dyrham Park () is a baroque English country house in an ancient deer park near the village of Dyrham in South Gloucestershire, England. The house, attached orangery, stable block, and accompanying parish church are Grade I listed buildings, w ...
near Bristol, which he decorated with numerous Dutch Old Masters and sumptuous fabrics and furnishings. His descendants sold a large part of his art collection in 1765, but some of the paintings have been purchased back or remain at Dyrham Park.A View of Heiligewegspoort
by Beerstraten (but listed as ''Vangowan'' aka Jan van Goyen), on the National Trust website


References

;Attribution


Further reading

*"The Lords of Trade and Plantations, 1675–1696", Winfred T. Root (American Historical Review 23 (October 1917): 20–41) *''William Blathwayt: a late 17th Century English Administrator'', G. A. Jacobsen (New Haven 1932) *


External links

* William Blathwayt Papers. The James Marshall and Marie-Louise Osborn Collection, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.
Chronological Listing of Documents and Events relating to the Massachusetts Mint
Louis Jordan
Committees of the Privy Council for trade and plantations 1675–96
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blathwayt, William 1640s births 1717 deaths People from Westminster British MPs 1707–1708 British MPs 1708–1710 British Secretaries of State Clerks of the Privy Council Members of the Middle Temple Members of Parliament for the Isle of Wight Ambassadors of England to the Netherlands 17th-century English diplomats English MPs 1685–1687 English MPs 1690–1695 English MPs 1695–1698 English MPs 1698–1700 English MPs 1701 English MPs 1701–1702 English MPs 1702–1705 English MPs 1705–1707