John Roper (died 1618) was an
English peer, created
Baron Teynham
Baron Teynham, of Teynham in the County of Kent, is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1616 for Sir John Roper. The family seat is Pylewell Park, near Lymington, Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Cere ...
in 1616.
Early life
John Roper was the eldest son of
Christopher Roper, Esq. of Lynsted,
Kent
Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...
, and his wife Elizabeth Blore.
[History of Parliament: Christopher Roper](_blank)
/ref> The Ropers (whose original surname had been Musard)["A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire"](_blank)
pg. 1092 were an old Kentish family with origins in Derbyshire
Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...
. Bearing strong Catholic connections, his uncle's
''Uncle's'' (Swedish: ''Stampen'') is a 1955 Swedish comedy film directed by and starring Nils Poppe, Ann-Marie Gyllenspetz and Holger Löwenadler.Qvist & Von Bagh p.126 It was shot at the Råsunda Studios in Stockholm. The film's sets were desi ...
wife, Margaret Roper
Margaret Roper (née More; 1505–1544) was an English writer and translator. Roper, the eldest daughter of Sir Thomas More, is considered to have been one of the most learned women in sixteenth-century England. She is celebrated for her filia ...
, was the daughter of Sir Thomas More
Sir Thomas More (7 February 1478 – 6 July 1535), venerated in the Catholic Church as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, judge, social philosopher, author, statesman, theologian, and noted Renaissance humanist. He also served Henry V ...
.["The Lady is a Catholic: Lady Lovell's Reply to Sir Edward Hoby"](_blank)
/ref>
Later life and peerage
Roper succeeded to his father's manor of Badmangore on the latter's death.[ Ireland, William Henrybr>"England's Topographer: A New and Complete History of the County of Kent, Vol. 2"]
pg. 704 In 1599, he had a new house, Lynsted Lodge, built at Lynsted
Lynsted is a village in Lynsted with Kingsdown civil parish in the Swale borough of Kent, England. The village is situated south of the A2 road between Faversham and Sittingbourne and the nearest M2 junction is Faversham three miles east. L ...
.["Historic England: Lynsted Park"](_blank)
/ref> Upon the accession of James I James I may refer to:
People
*James I of Aragon (1208–1276)
* James I of Sicily or James II of Aragon (1267–1327)
* James I, Count of La Marche (1319–1362), Count of Ponthieu
* James I, Count of Urgell (1321–1347)
*James I of Cyprus (1334� ...
, Roper was the first of the gentry in his county to proclaim the new king, for which service he was knighted in 1616 (although according to other sources he may have already been knighted by Queen Elizabeth Queen Elizabeth, Queen Elisabeth or Elizabeth the Queen may refer to:
Queens regnant
* Elizabeth I (1533–1603; ), Queen of England and Ireland
* Elizabeth II (1926–2022; ), Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms
* Queen B ...
in 1587) and raised to the peerage as Lord Teynham on the same day.
His contribution of £10,000 to the new king's coffers may also have played a role in his elevation to the nobility.[Childs, Jessi]
"God's Traitors: Terror and Faith in Elizabethan England"
/ref> Ned Wymarke joked that he was "Baron of Ten M", 10 thousand pound. According to Gardiner Gardiner may refer to:
Places
Settlements
;Canada
* Gardiner, Ontario
;United States
* Gardiner, Maine
* Gardiner, Montana
* Gardiner (town), New York
** Gardiner (CDP), New York
* Gardiner, Oregon
* Gardiner, Washington
* West Gardiner, ...
, however, Roper's ennoblement was not any sort of sign of gratitude from the king; rather, it was granted (after the payment of £10,000) as a way to induce Roper to relinquish an office he held in the King's Bench
The King's Bench (), or, during the reign of a female monarch, the Queen's Bench ('), refers to several contemporary and historical courts in some Commonwealth jurisdictions.
* Court of King's Bench (England), a historic court of common law in t ...
. King James hoped to grant the office to his grasping favourite, George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham
George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham ( ; 20 August 1592 – 23 August 1628), was an English courtier, statesman, and patron of the arts. He was a favourite and self-described "lover" of King James VI and I. Buckingham remained at the heigh ...
, and viewed Roper as an obstacle to the plan.[ Gardiner, Samuel Rawsonbr>"History of England from the Accession of James I to the Outbreak of the Civil War, Vol. 3"]
pp. 31-34
Marriage and family
He firstly married Elizabeth Parke, daughter of Richard Parke, Esq. of Malmaine. They had three children, including;
* Christopher
Christopher is the English language, English version of a Europe-wide name derived from the Greek language, Greek name Χριστόφορος (''Christophoros'' or ''Christoforos''). The constituent parts are Χριστός (''Christós''), "Jesus ...
, who would succeed to the barony.
* Elizabeth, who married George Vaux, son of William Vaux, 3rd Baron Vaux of Harrowden
William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...
, and was the mother of the 4th Baron Vaux
* Jane (or Mary), who married Sir Robert Lovell of Martin Abbey, and was questioned on suspicion of involvement in the Gunpowder Plot
The Gunpowder Plot of 1605, in earlier centuries often called the Gunpowder Treason Plot or the Jesuit Treason, was an unsuccessful attempted regicide against James VI and I, King James VI of Scotland and I of England by a group of English ...
. After July 1606, she lived as a widow in Brussels, and her house was robbed during religious processions at Easter 1610.[William A. Shaw, ''HMC 77 Report on the manuscripts of Lord de l'Isle & Dudley: Sidney Papers 1608-1611'', vol. 4 (London, 1926), p. 192.]
John Roper's first wife Elizabeth died in 1567. Roper married a second time to Elizabeth Dyon some time between 24 September 1583 (when her first husband died) and 4 April 1584. His second wife also predeceased him, dying prior to 22 September 1593, they had no children.
Death
John Roper died in 1618, and was succeeded in his title by his son Christopher. He was buried in the south chancel of the church at Lynsted Lodge.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Teynham, John Roper, 1st Baron
1618 deaths
1
English Roman Catholics
17th-century English nobility
17th-century Roman Catholics
John
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Second E ...
People from Lynsted