John Mordaunt, 1st Viscount Mordaunt (18 June 1627 – 5 June 1675) was an English royalist. He was born in

Lowick, Northamptonshire Lowick is a village and civil parish forming part of the district of North Northamptonshire, England, about north-west of Thrapston. It appears in the Domesday Book as ''Luhwik'', and later as ''Lofwyk'' and in 1167 as ''Luffewich''. The name d ...

, the second son of

John Mordaunt, 1st Earl of Peterborough John Mordaunt, 1st Earl of Peterborough (died 1642) was an English peer. Life He was the eldest son of Henry Mordaunt, 4th Baron Mordaunt, a Roman Catholic kept for a year in the Tower of London on suspicion of complicity in the Gunpowder Plot ...

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 Spa ...

.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 educa ...

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 A marquess (; french: marquis ), es, marqués, pt, marquês. is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman w ...

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 Colonel Thomas Pride (died 23 October 1658) was a Parliamentarian commander during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, best known as one of the regicides of Charles I and as the instigator of Pride's Purge. Personal details Thomas Pride was born ...

, 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 The Sealed Knot was a secret Royalist association which plotted for the Restoration of the Monarchy during the English Interregnum. The group was commissioned by King Charles II between November 1653 and February 1654 from his exile in Paris for ...

) 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 o ...

ordered his arrest. The rising, in

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

, 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 was the English Parliament after Colonel Thomas Pride commanded soldiers to purge the Long Parliament, on 6 December 1648, of those members hostile to the Grandees' intention to try King Charles I for high treason. "Rump" n ...

, 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, South East 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 south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...

on 25 May 1660. He was appointed

Constable of Windsor Castle The Constable and Governor of Windsor Castle is in charge of Windsor Castle in England on behalf of the sovereign. The day-to-day operations are under the Superintendent, who is an officer of the Master of the Household's Department of the Roya ...

, keeper of

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

and

Lord Lieutenant of Surrey This is a list of people who have served as Lord Lieutenant of Surrey. Since 1737, all Lords Lieutenant have also been Custos Rotulorum of Surrey. Lord Lieutenants of Surrey *William Parr, 1st Marquess of Northampton 1551–1553? *William Howard, ...

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 (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) 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 ...

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, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

. He died there of a fever in 1675, and is buried at

All Saints Church, Fulham All Saints' Church is the ancient parish church of Fulham, in the County of Middlesex, pre-dating the Reformation. It is now an Anglican church in Fulham, London, sited close to the River Thames, beside the northern approach to Putney Bridge. ...

, London.

Family

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

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

(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 and first cousin of Queen Elizabeth I, and Anne Morgan, daug ...

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

Charles Mordaunt, 3rd Earl of Peterborough Charles Mordaunt, 3rd Earl of Peterborough and 1st Earl of Monmouth, (1658 – 25 October 1735) was an English nobleman and military leader. He was the son of John Mordaunt, 1st Viscount Mordaunt, and his wife Elizabeth, the daughter and sole h ...

(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 House of Commons, English and House of Commons of Great Britain, British House of Commons between 1692 and ...

(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 King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William and Harry. Her ac ...

. *Osmond Mordaunt (d. 1 July 1690,

Battle of the Boyne The Battle of the Boyne ( ga, Cath na Bóinne ) was a battle in 1690 between the forces of the deposed King James II of England and Ireland, VII of Scotland, and those of King William III who, with his wife Queen Mary II (his cousin and ...

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

Bangor, County Down Bangor ( ; ) is a city and seaside resort 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 which it is linked ...

; through her granddaughter Anne Ward, who married

Sir John Parnell, 1st Baronet Sir John Parnell, 1st Baronet (c. 1720–1782), was an Irish politician and a baronet. Biography He was the only son of John Parnell (1680–1727), Esq., MP and later Judge of the Court of King's Bench (Ireland), and Mary, sister of the Lord C ...

, 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 (MP) from 1875 to 1891, also acting as Leader of the Home Rule League from 1880 to 1882 and then Leader of the ...

*Anne Mordaunt

References

, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Mordaunt, John Mordaunt, 1st Viscount 1626 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