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George Sondes, 1st Earl of Feversham KB (November 1599 – 16 April 1677) was an English politician who sat in 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 ...
at various times between 1626 and 1676 and was then created a peer and member of the
House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...
.


Life

Sondes was born at
Lees Court Sheldwich is a village and civil parish in the far south of the Borough of Borough of Swale, Swale in Kent, England. Geography Sheldwich is a rural parish situated south of the market town of Faversham, north of Ashford, Kent, Ashford and 12 m ...
, in the parish of Sheldwich, near
Faversham Faversham () is a market town in Kent, England, from Sittingbourne, from London and from Canterbury, next to the Swale, a strip of sea separating mainland Kent from the Isle of Sheppey in the Thames Estuary. It is close to the A2 road (Great ...
in Kent, the son of Sir Richard Sondes (1571–1645) of
Throwley Throwley is an English village south of Faversham in the Borough of Swale in Kent. The name is recorded in the Domesday Book as Trevelai, which corresponds with a Brittonic origin, where "trev" means a settlement or farm house and "elai" typica ...
and his wife Susan Montagu, daughter of Sir Edward Montagu of
Boughton House Boughton House is a country house in the parish of Weekley in Northamptonshire, England, situated about north-east of Kettering. It is situated within an estate of . The present house was built by Ralph Montagu, 1st Duke of Montagu (d.1709) ...
. He was educated at
Queens' College, Cambridge Queens' College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Queens' is one of the 16 "old colleges" of the university, and was founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou. Its buildings span the R ...
, where he entered in 1615, and where his tutor was John Preston; but he does not appear to have proceeded to a degree. He entered the
Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...
in 1619. Sondes was created a
Knight of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior British Armed Forces, military officers or senior Civil Service ...
at the coronation of
Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...
on 2 February 1626. In 1626 he was elected Member of Parliament for
Higham Ferrers Higham Ferrers is a market town and civil parish in the Nene Valley in North Northamptonshire, England, close to the Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire borders. It forms a single built-up area with Rushden to the south and had a population of 8,82 ...
. He was re-elected MP for Higham Ferrers in 1628 and sat until 1629 when King Charles decided to rule without parliament for eleven years. History of Parliament Online – Sondes, Sir George
/ref> He was
High Sheriff of Kent The high sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown (prior to 1974 the office previously known as sheriff)."Sheriffs appointed for a county or Greater London shall be known as high sheriffs, and any reference in any enactment or instru ...
for 1636-37, and
Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...
of the St Augustine Lathe Trained Band at the time of the
First Bishops' War The First Bishops' War was a conflict that took place in Scotland in 1639 between a Scottish political movement known as the Covenanters and forces loyal to King Charles I, who at that time was the king of both Scotland and England. Military acti ...
in 1639.St Augustine Lathe Trained Band at British Civil War Project.
/ref> On the outbreak of the
First English Civil War The First English Civil War took place in England and Wales from 1642 to 1646, and forms part of the 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Three Kingdoms. An estimated 15% to 20% of adult males in England and Wales served in the military at some point b ...
, he was named a deputy lieutenant for Kent, and was on 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 gove ...
committee for the county in 1643. As a result, he suffered greatly in his estate, and was imprisoned from 1645, first in
Upnor Castle Upnor Castle is an Elizabethan artillery fort located on the west bank of the River Medway in Kent. It is in the village of Upnor, opposite and a short distance downriver from the Chatham Dockyard, at one time a key naval facility. The fort was ...
and then in the
Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic citadel and castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamle ...
. He was released from the Tower in May 1650, but not finally discharged until 25 June following, after compounding for his estate by a payment of £3,350. On his release, he began rebuilding Lees Court from the plans of
Inigo Jones Inigo Jones (15 July 1573 – 21 June 1652) was an English architect who was the first significant Architecture of England, architect in England in the early modern era and the first to employ Vitruvius, Vitruvian rules of proportion and symmet ...
. Whilst both were youths, one of Sondes' sons killed the other in 1655. Freeman, the youngest murdered his elder brother George whilst he was asleep in his bed. Freeman was taken to Maidstone to be tried before the
Assizes The assizes (), or courts of assize, were periodic courts held around England and Wales until 1972, when together with the quarter sessions they were abolished by the Courts Act 1971 and replaced by a single permanent Crown Court. The assizes ex ...
. He was convicted and executed for the crime at Pennendenheath a fortnight after the crime. The body was then laid to rest in the church of
Bearsted Bearsted ( , ) is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish with a railway station in mid-Kent, England, two miles (3.2 km) east of Maidstone town centre. Geography The village was historically concentrated around Church Lan ...
. Sondes was blamed for moral remissness. He had failed (it was said) to continue the endowment of Throwley free school as purposed by his father, had improperly executed the will of his father-in-law, Sir Ralph Freeman, and had generally mismanaged his sons' education. Sir George answered the charges in a 'Plaine Narrative to the World, of all Passages upon the Death of his Two Sonnes' (London, 1655). At the
English Restoration The Stuart Restoration was the reinstatement in May 1660 of the Stuart monarchy in Kingdom of England, England, Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland, and Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland. It replaced the Commonwealth of England, established in January 164 ...
in 1660, Sondes was again made deputy lieutenant of Kent. In 1661, he was elected MP for Ashburton in the
Cavalier Parliament The Cavalier Parliament of England lasted from 8 May 1661 until 24 January 1679. With the exception of the Long Parliament, it was the longest-lasting English Parliament, and longer than any Great British or UK Parliament to date, enduring ...
. He sat for that constituency until 1676, when he was created Earl of Feversham, Viscount Sondes, and Baron of Throwley. Feversham died at Lees Court, without male issue, at the age of about 77. Thomas Southouse dedicated his ''Monasticon Favershamiense'' to Sondes in 1671.


Family

Feversham was twice married: first, in 1620, at St. Michael, Cornhill, London to Jane Freeman, daughter and heiress of Ralph Freeman of
Aspenden Aspenden is a village and civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district of Hertfordshire, England. It is just to the south of Buntingford. The Prime Meridian passes just to the east of it. Its name, which means 'valley of aspen trees', was fir ...
,
Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...
,
Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the Mayors in England, mayor of the City of London, England, and the Leader of the council, leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded Order of precedence, precedence over a ...
in 1633–4 and his wife Joan Crouch, by whom he had three sons: Freeman, (born 1629, died 1634), George (born 1633, died 1655) and a second Freeman (born 1635, died 1655). He married, secondly, on 25 February 1656, at St Paul's, Covent Garden, Mary Villiers, daughter of Sir William Villiers, of
Brooksby Brooksby is a deserted village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Hoby with Rotherby, in the Melton district of Leicestershire, England. It was the ancestral home of the Villiers family. Brooksby and surrounding villages were served ...
. By his second wife he had two daughters: Mary, baptised in Sheldwich church on 15 March 1657 and Catherine, baptised on 20 April 1658. On 7 August 1655, the younger son, Freeman, aged nineteen, apparently actuated by jealousy, killed his elder brother George, while he was asleep in an upper room in Lees Court, by a blow on the back of the head with a cleaver. The murderer, who at once told his father of his crime, was taken to
Maidstone Maidstone is the largest Town status in the United Kingdom, town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town, l ...
the next day and arraigned at Maidstone assize on 9 August. He pleaded guilty, was sentenced to death, and was hanged at Penenden Heath, near Maidstone on 21 August. The fratricide proved a theme for the pulpit: Robert Boreman at once issued 'A Mirrour of Mercy and Judgment, or an exact true narrative of the Life and Death of Freeman Sonds, Esq.,' 1655. There followed from other pens 'The Devils Reign upon Earth, being a Relation of several sad and bloudy Murthers lately committed, especially that of Sir George Sonds his son upon his own brother ....' London, 1655; and 'A Funeral Elegie upon the Death of George Sonds, Esq. ... by William Annand Junior of Throwllgh, whereunto is annexed a Prayer compiled by his sorrowful Father,' 1655.. Sondes was succeeded in his titles by special remainder by his son-in-law,
Louis de Duras, 2nd Earl of Feversham Colonel Louis de Duras, 2nd Earl of Feversham, KG (19 April 1709) was an English Army officer. Born in the Kingdom of France, he was marquis de Blanquefort and sixth son of Guy Aldonce, Marquis of Duras and Count of Rozan, from the noble Durf ...
, who had married his daughter, Lady Mary Sondes, on 9 March 1676. His other daughter, Lady Catherine Sondes, married Lewis Watson on 17 July 1677. Watson became Baron Rockingham in 1689, and upon the death of the second Earl of Feversham, was created Baron Throwley, Viscount Sondes of Lees Court, and Earl of Rockingham (19 October 1714).


References

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Feversham, George Sondes, 1st Earl of 1599 births 1677 deaths Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge Members of the Middle Temple Deputy lieutenants of Kent Knights of the Bath High sheriffs of Kent Kent Militia officers English MPs 1626 English MPs 1628–1629 English MPs 1661–1679 Prisoners in the Tower of London 1 Peers of England created by Charles II Members of the Parliament of England for Ashburton People from the Borough of Swale