Charles Talbot, 1st Baron Talbot, (168514 February 1737) was a British lawyer and politician. He was

Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain The Lord Chancellor, formally titled Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom. The lord chancellor is the minister of justice for England and Wales and the highest-ra ...

from 1733 to 1737.

Early life

Talbot was the eldest son of Rt. Rev. William Talbot,

Bishop of Durham The bishop of Durham is head of the diocese of Durham in the province of York. The diocese is one of the oldest in England and its bishop is a member of the House of Lords. Paul Butler (bishop), Paul Butler was the most recent bishop of Durham u ...

, a descendant of the 1st Earl of Shrewsbury, and Catherine King. He was educated at Eton and

Oriel College, Oxford Oriel College () is Colleges of the University of Oxford, a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford (a title for ...

, and became a fellow of

All Souls College All Souls College (official name: The College of All Souls of the Faithful Departed, of Oxford) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Unique to All Souls, all of its members automatically become fellows (i.e., full me ...

in 1704.

Career

He was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

in 1711, and in 1717 was appointed solicitor general to the

prince of Wales Prince of Wales (, ; ) is a title traditionally given to the male heir apparent to the History of the English monarchy, English, and later, the British throne. The title originated with the Welsh rulers of Kingdom of Gwynedd, Gwynedd who, from ...

. Having been elected a member of the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, 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 ...

in 1720, he became

Solicitor General A solicitor general is a government official who serves as the chief representative of the government in courtroom proceedings. In systems based on the English common law that have an attorney general or equivalent position, the solicitor general ...

in 1726, and in 1733 he was made Lord Chancellor and raised to the peerage with the title of Lord Talbot, Baron of Hensol, in the County of Glamorgan. Talbot proved himself a capable equity judge during the three years of his occupancy of the

Woolsack The Woolsack is the seat of the Lord Speaker in the House of Lords, the Upper House of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Before 2006, it was the seat of the Lord Chancellor, who presided as the presiding officer of the House. The Woolsack� ...

. Among his contemporaries he enjoyed the reputation of a wit; he was a patron of the poet James Thomson, who in '' The Seasons'' commemorated a son of his to whom he acted as tutor;

Joseph Butler Joseph Butler (18 May 1692 Old Style and New Style dates, O.S. – 16 June 1752 Old Style and New Style dates, O.S.) was an English Anglican bishop, Christian theology, theologian, apologist, and philosopher, born in Wantage in the English count ...

dedicated his famous ''Analogy'' to Talbot, as was Upton's edition of

Epictetus Epictetus (, ; , ''Epíktētos''; 50 135 AD) was a Greek Stoic philosopher. He was born into slavery at Hierapolis, Phrygia (present-day Pamukkale, in western Turkey) and lived in Rome until his banishment, when he went to Nicopolis in ...

. The title he assumed derived from the Hensol estate in

Pendoylan Pendoylan (, , ) is a rural village and Community (Wales), community (parish) in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales. The village has won many awards in Best Kept Village competitions and contains 27 entries in the Council's County Treasures database, 1 ...

Glamorgan Glamorgan (), or sometimes Glamorganshire ( or ), was Historic counties of Wales, one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974. It is located in the South Wales, south of Wales. Originally an ea ...

, which came to him through his wife. Talbot is remembered as one of the authors of the Yorke–Talbot slavery opinion, as a crown law officer in 1729. The opinion was sought to determinate the legality of slavery: Talbot and Philip Yorke opined that it was legal. The opinion was relied upon widely before the decision of

Lord Mansfield William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield, (2 March 1705 – 20 March 1793), was a British judge, politician, lawyer, and peer best known for his reforms to English law. Born in Scone Palace, Perthshire, to a family of Peerage of Scotland, Scott ...

Somersett's Case ''Somerset v Stewart'' (177298 ER 499(also known as ''Sommersett v Steuart'', Somersett's case, and the Mansfield Judgment) is a judgment of the English Court of King's Bench in 1772, relating to the right of an enslaved person on English soi ...

Personal life

Tomb_of_Cecil_Talbot_in_the_churchyard_of_St_Nicholas

Talbot married, in the summer of 1708, Cecil Mathew (d. 1720), daughter of Charles Mathew of Castell y Mynach,

Glamorganshire Glamorgan (), or sometimes Glamorganshire ( or ), was one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974. It is located in the south of Wales. Originally an early medieval petty kingdom of varying bo ...

, and granddaughter and heiress of David Jenkins of Hensol. There he built a mansion in the Tudor style, known as the Castle. They had five sons, of whom three survived him: * William Talbot, 1st Earl Talbot (1710–1782), who married Mary de Cardonnel, daughter of Rt. Hon. Adam de Cardonnel, in . * Hon. John Talbot (d. 1756), who married Henrietta Maria Decker, daughter of Sir Matthew Decker, 1st Baronet, in 1737. After her death, he married Hon. Catherine Chetwynd, daughter of John Chetwynd, 2nd Viscount Chetwynd, in 1748. * Rev. Hon. George Talbot (d. 1782), who married Hon. Anne Bouverie, daughter of

Jacob Bouverie, 1st Viscount Folkestone Jacob Bouverie, 1st Viscount Folkestone (bapt. 14 October 1694 – 17 February 1761) was an English politician, known as Sir Jacob Bouverie, 3rd Baronet from 1737 to 1747. Early life Lord Folkestone was born Jacob des Bouverie and baptised on ...

. They had four children, but only their sons lived to adulthood one of which was the Ver. Rev. Charles Talbot. After an illness during which the King and Queen enquired after his health every day, Talbot died on 14February 1737 at his home in

Lincoln's Inn Fields Lincoln's Inn Fields is located in Holborn and is the List of city squares by size, largest public square in London. It was laid out in the 1630s under the initiative of the speculative builder and contractor William Newton, "the first in a ...

. He was succeeded in the title by his second son, William (1710–1782).

References

* * * * Lord Campbell, ''Lives of the Lord Chancellors and Keepers of the Great Seal'' (8 vols. London, 1845–69) * Edward Foss, ''The Judges of England'' (9 vols. London, 1848–64) * Lord Hervey, ''Memoirs of the Reign of George II'' ( 2 vols. London. 1848) * G. E. Cokayne, ''Complete Peerage'', vol. vii. (London, 1896)

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Talbot, Charles Talbot, 1st Baron Lord chancellors of Great Britain Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for the City of Durham Members of the Privy Council of Great Britain Fellows of All Souls College, Oxford People educated at Eton College Alumni of Oriel College, Oxford Peers of Great Britain created by George II 1685 births 1737 deaths Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Tregony British MPs 1715–1722 British MPs 1722–1727 British MPs 1727–1734

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''* ...

Barons Talbot