John Mordaunt, 1st Viscount Mordaunt (18 June 1627 – 5 June 1675) was an English military officer and peer.

Biography

He was born in Lowick, Northamptonshire, the second son of John Mordaunt, 1st Earl of Peterborough and Elizabeth Howard (d. 1671), daughter of

William Howard, 3rd Baron Howard of Effingham William Howard, 3rd Baron Howard of Effingham (27 December 1577 – 28 November 1615) was an English nobleman, the eldest son of Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham (who as Lord Howard of Effingham famously led the English fleet against the S ...

.Stater, Victor
Mordaunt, John, first Viscount Mordaunt of Avalon (1626–1675)
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press (2004), In June 1648, he joined his brother,

Henry Mordaunt, 2nd Earl of Peterborough Henry Mordaunt, 2nd Earl of Peterborough (15 November 1621 – 19 June 1697) was an English soldier, peer and courtier. Early life Styled Lord Mordaunt from 1628, he was the eldest son of John Mordaunt, 1st Earl of Peterborough. He was educ ...

in leading a Royalist uprising, and fled with him to the Continent when it failed. He had returned to England by 1652, and married Elizabeth Carey on 7 May 1657. He again engaged in Royalist conspiracy, and met the Marquess of Ormonde on his secret trip to England in 1658. Mordaunt was betrayed and arrested on 1 April 1658. Released and re-arrested on 15 April 1658, he was charged with treason. Thomas Pride, one of the commissioners to try him, fell ill, and a key witness escaped (possibly due to the efforts of his wife), and Mordaunt was acquitted by a vote of 20 to 19 by the commissioners. This narrow escape did not deter his secret efforts on behalf of Charles II. However, although trusted by the King, Ormonde, and Hyde, many royalists (including the members of the Sealed Knot) disliked and mistrusted him. He was created Viscount Mordaunt of Avalon and Baron Mordaunt of Reigate on 10 July 1659 by Charles, who considered him the leader of his cause in England. However, the new rising he planned in June was several times delayed, partly because of friction with other royalists, and the

Council of State A council of state is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head ...

ordered his arrest. The rising, in

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

, drew only thirty followers, and Mordaunt narrowly escaped to France in September. He returned to England again in October after the expulsion of the

Rump Parliament The Rump Parliament describes the members of the Long Parliament who remained in session after Colonel Thomas Pride, on 6 December 1648, commanded his soldiers to Pride's Purge, purge the House of Commons of those Members of Parliament, members ...

, and was planning another rising, but his connections with Hyde occasioned suspicion and he received little favour from any party. He returned to France again in November, then to England again in January. His attempts to discredit Monck and promote French intervention were fruitless: he and Monck were both knighted by Charles at

Dover Dover ( ) is a town and major ferry port in Kent, southeast England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies southeast of Canterbury and east of Maidstone. ...

on 25 May 1660. He was appointed Constable of Windsor Castle, keeper of

Windsor Great Park Windsor Great Park is a Royal Park of to the south of the town of Windsor, Berkshire, Windsor on the border of Berkshire and Surrey in England. It is adjacent to the private Home Park, Windsor, Home Park, which is nearer the castle. The park ...

and Lord Lieutenant of Surrey upon the Restoration, but played little role at court. In 1666, he was charged in the House of Commons with having imprisoned William Taylor, surveyor of Windsor Castle, and raped Taylor's daughter.John Mordaunt, 1626–75
. British-civil-wars.co.uk (24 August 2008). Retrieved 2012-07-15. He was impeached by the Commons in December, but Parliament was

prorogue Prorogation in the Westminster system of government is the action of proroguing, or interrupting, a parliament, or the discontinuance of meetings for a given period of time, without a dissolution of parliament. The term is also used for the period ...

d in February, and the King pardoned him in July. He resigned his offices at Windsor in September 1668, and went abroad to

Montpellier Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...

that year. He did not return to England until 1669, and thenceforth lived in retirement in his house at Parson's Green,

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

. He died there of a fever in 1675, and is buried at All Saints Church, Fulham, London.

Family

Mordaunt married Elizabeth, the daughter of Thomas Carey of Sunninghill Park in

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

(a younger son of

Robert Carey, 1st Earl of Monmouth Robert Carey, 1st Earl of Monmouth (ca. 1560 – 12 April 1639) (or "Cary") was an English nobleman and courtier. He was the youngest son of Henry Carey, 1st Baron Hunsdon, Chamberlain (office), chamberlain and first cousin of Queen Elizabeth I, ...

), by whom he had eleven surviving children, among whom were: *

Charles Mordaunt, 3rd Earl of Peterborough Charles Mordaunt, 3rd Earl of Peterborough, (1658 – 25 October 1735) was a British army officer and Whig politician. He was the son of John Mordaunt, 1st Viscount Mordaunt, and his wife Elizabeth, the daughter and sole heiress of Thomas ...

(c. 1658–1735) *Lieutenant-General

Harry Mordaunt Lieutenant-General Harry Mordaunt (29 March 1663 – 4 January 1720) was an English Army officer and Whig politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons between 1692 and 1720. Early life Mordaunt was born at Parsons Green, Fulham ...

(1663–1720) *Brigadier-General Lewis Mordaunt (b. 1670, d. 2 February 1713); through his daughter, Anna Maria Mordaunt (1715-1771), he was the great-grandfather of Georgiana Spencer, Duchess of Devonshire and her brother,

George Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer George John Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer, (1 September 1758 – 10 November 1834), styled Viscount Althorp from 1765 to 1783, was a British Whig politician. He served as Home Secretary from 1806 to 1807 in the Ministry of All the Talents. He was ...

the ancestor of

Diana, Princess of Wales Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997), was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William, ...

. *Osmond Mordaunt (d. 1 July 1690,

Battle of the Boyne The Battle of the Boyne ( ) took place in 1690 between the forces of the deposed King James II, and those of King William III who, with his wife Queen Mary II (his cousin and James's daughter), had acceded to the Crowns of England and Sc ...

) *Rev. George Mordaunt *Charlotte Mordaunt, married Sir Joseph Alston, 3rd Baronet *Sophia Mordaunt, married James Hamilton of

Bangor, County Down Bangor ( ; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in County Down, Northern Ireland, on the southern side of Belfast Lough. It is within the Belfast metropolitan area and is 13 miles (22 km) east of Belfast city centre, to whic ...

; through her granddaughter Anne Ward, who married Sir John Parnell, 1st Baronet, she was the ancestor of the leading Irish statesman

Charles Stewart Parnell Charles Stewart Parnell (27 June 1846 – 6 October 1891) was an Irish nationalist politician who served as a Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom from 1875 to 1891, Leader of the Home Rule Leag ...

*Anne Mordaunt

References

, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Mordaunt, John Mordaunt, 1st Viscount 1627 births Lord-lieutenants of Surrey Viscounts in the Peerage of England Younger sons of earls 1675 deaths People acquitted of treason People from Parsons Green Burials at All Saints Church, Fulham