Robert Pierrepont, 1st Earl of Kingston-upon-Hull (6 August 158425 July 1643) was an English nobleman who joined the Royalist side in the

English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...

after some delay and became lieutenant-general of the counties of Lincoln, Rutland, Huntingdon, Cambridge and Norfolk. He was killed in a

friendly fire In military terminology, friendly fire or fratricide is an attack by belligerent or neutral forces on friendly troops while attempting to attack enemy or hostile targets. Examples include misidentifying the target as hostile, cross-fire while ...

incident after being captured by Parliamentary forces.

Early life

Pierrepont was the second son of Sir Henry Pierrepont of

Holme Pierrepont Holme Pierrepont is a hamlet and civil parish located south-east of the city of Nottingham in Nottinghamshire, England. It is in the Gamston ward of the Rushcliffe local authority in the East Midlands region. The population of the civil parish ...

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...

, and his wife Frances Cavendish,Grace Pierrepont
ThePeerage.com, Retrieved 27 December 2008 a daughter of Sir William Cavendish and Bess of Hardwick. His sister became Grace, Lady Manners, of

Haddon Hall Haddon Hall is an English country house on the River Wye, Derbyshire, River Wye near Bakewell, Derbyshire, a former seat of the Duke of Rutland, Dukes of Rutland. It is the home of Lord Edward Manners (brother of David Manners, 11th Duke of Rut ...

. In 1596 he became an undergraduate of

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 was later a benefactor in the rebuilding of the college's Front Quad.

Career

Pierrepont was one of the two Members of Parliament for

in 1601. He became a JP for Nottinghamshire in 1608 and was appointed High Sheriff of Nottinghamshire in 1615. He was created Baron Pierrepont and

Viscount Newark Viscount Newark is a title that has been created twice in British history, each time with the subsidiary title of Baron Pierrepont. The first creation was on 29 June 1627 in the Peerage of England for Sir Robert Pierrepont. This creation was ...

in 1627 and Earl of Kingston-upon-Hull the following year. In 1633 he bought Thoresby Park. Pierrepont remained neutral on the outbreak of the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

, declaring, in what was later taken to be a prophetic curse: He eventually became a

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 ...

, joining King Charles, and was appointed lieutenant-general of royal forces in the counties of Lincoln,

Rutland Rutland is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Leicestershire to the north and west, Lincolnshire to the north-east, and Northamptonshire to the south-west. Oakham is the largest town and county town. Rutland has a ...

Huntingdon Huntingdon is a market town in the Huntingdonshire district of Cambridgeshire, England. The town was given its town charter by John, King of England, King John in 1205. It was the county town of the historic county of Huntingdonshire. Oliver C ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

and

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

. Whilst defending Gainsborough he was taken prisoner, and was killed on 25 July 1643, aged 58, while being conveyed to Hull by boat along the River Trent. Royalist forces fired at his captors from the river bank, accidentally killing the Earl whose body was cut in two by a cannonball.

Personal life

Pierrepont married Gertrude Talbot, a daughter of Henry Talbot (1554–1596), a younger son of George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury, and Elizabeth Reyner (born 1556) on 8 January 1601 in Overton Longueville,

Huntingdonshire Huntingdonshire (; abbreviated Hunts) is a local government district in Cambridgeshire, England, which was historically a county in its own right. It borders Peterborough to the north, Fenland to the north-east, East Cambridgeshire to the e ...

. Pierrepont had five sons, the eldest of whom was his heir Henry Pierrepont, later created first Marquess of Dorchester. Other sons included Francis Pierrepont (died 1659), a colonel in the parliamentary army and afterwards a member of the

Long Parliament The Long Parliament was an Parliament of England, English Parliament which lasted from 1640 until 1660, making it the longest-lasting Parliament in English and British history. It followed the fiasco of the Short Parliament, which had convened f ...

, and William Pierrepont (1608–1679), father-in-law of

Gilbert Holles, 3rd Earl of Clare Gilbert Holles, 3rd Earl of Clare (24 April 1633 – 16 January 1689) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1660. He was styled Lord Haughton from 1637 until he succeeded to the title Earl of Clare in 1666. Life Holles wa ...

, and of Henry Cavendish, 2nd Duke of Newcastle. Pierrepont's daughter Lady Frances (born 1615) married Philip Rolleston, Esquire. He was succeeded in his peerage by his son Henry, who built the first Thoresby Hall in 1670. The author Frances Catherine Barnard was a descendant.

Arms

References

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Kingston-upon-Hull, Robert Pierrepont, 1st Earl of Cavaliers

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, prais ...

Royalist military personnel of the English Civil War 1584 births 1643 deaths Alumni of Oriel College, Oxford English MPs 1601 High sheriffs of Nottinghamshire Deaths by firearm in England People killed in the English Civil War Military personnel killed by friendly fire 16th-century English nobility 17th-century English nobility Earls of Kingston-upon-Hull Deaths by cannonball