William Monson, 1st Viscount Monson (died c. 1672) was one of the

Regicide Regicide is the purposeful killing of a monarch or sovereign of a polity and is often associated with the usurpation of power. A regicide can also be the person responsible for the killing. The word comes from the Latin roots of ''regis'' ...

s of King

Charles I of England Charles I (19 November 1600 – 30 January 1649) was King of Kingdom of England, England, Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland, and Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland from 27 March 1625 until Execution of Charles I, his execution in 1649. Charles was born ...

. Monson was knighted in 1623 and created Viscount Monson of Castlemaine (

Irish peerage The peerage of Ireland consists of those Peerage, titles of nobility created by the English monarchs in their capacity as Lordship of Ireland, Lord or Monarchy of Ireland, King of Ireland, or later by monarchs of the United Kingdom of Great B ...

) in 1628. He was elected M.P. for

Reigate Reigate ( ) is a town status in the United Kingdom, town in Surrey, England, around south of central London. The settlement is recorded in Domesday Book of 1086 as ''Cherchefelle'', and first appears with its modern name in the 1190s. The ea ...

in 1640, 1645 and 1648. He was nominated as one of the king's judges, but only attended three sittings. After the

Restoration of the monarchy Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state. This may refer to: *Conservation and restoration of cultural property **Audio restoration **Conservation and restoration of immovable cultural property **Film restoration ** Image ...

in 1660, he was sentenced by Parliament to degradation from his honours and titles and to be imprisoned for life. He died in the

Fleet Prison Fleet Prison was a notorious London prison by the side of the River Fleet. The prison was built in 1197, was rebuilt several times, and was in use until 1844. It was demolished in 1846. History The prison was built in 1197 off what is now ...

in around 1672.

Biography

William Monson was the son of Admiral William Monson and Dorothy Smith, daughter of Richard Wallop of Bugbrooke, Northamptonshire. He was promoted unsuccessfully as a court favourite in 1618 by the Earl of Suffolk, but was knighted on 12 February 1623, and was raised to the peerage of Ireland as Baron Monson of Ballingard, County Limerick and Viscount Monson, of Castlemaine, County Kerry, by letters patent dated 23 August 1628 On 13 August 1633 he became a member of Gray's Inn. By his first marriage he acquired an estate at

, Surrey, but owing to his dissolute habits he was soon in debt. He refused to pay ship-money, and when elected M.P. for Reigate, 21 October 1640, he opposed the court, and subsequently acted as a committee-man for Surrey.His third wife, Elizabeth, is regarded as an early feminist. She is reputed, with the help of her maids, to have tied her husband naked to the bedpost and whipped him because she disagreed with his political views. Despite this, he supported the Parliamentary side. On being nominated one of King Charles's judges, he attended on 20, 22, and 23 January 1649, but refused to take part in the ultimate proceedings. He was, however, placed by the parliament on the committee appointed to receive and take note of the dissent of any member from the vote of 5 December 1648. On 19 July 1649 he tried to persuade the house into the belief that the sum of £4,500 was owing to him as arrears of the pension due to his late wife the Countess of Nottingham, but he lost his motion by two votes. 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 ...

, when restored in May 1659, was obliged, to form a quorum, to send for Monson and Henry Marten from the Fleet prison, where they were both confined for debt. At the Restoration he was excepted out of the general pardon granted under

Act of Oblivion The Indemnity and Oblivion Act 1660 ( 12 Cha. 2. c. 11) was an act of the Parliament of England, the long title of which is "An Act of Free and Generall Pardon, Indemnity, and Oblivion". This act was a general pardon for everyone who had comm ...

, and upon surrendering himself on 21 June was recommitted to the Fleet. On 1 July 1661, he was brought up to the bar of the House of Commons, and, after being made to confess his crime, was degraded from all his honours and titles and deprived of his property. He was also sentenced to be drawn from the Tower through the city of London to Tyburn, and so back again, with a halter about his neck, and to be imprisoned for life. In petitioning the House of Lords on 25 July to remit what was most ignominious in his sentence, Monson declared that his design in sitting at the king's trial was, if possible, to prevent "that horrid murder". The ignominious part of the sentence was duly carried out each year on the anniversary of the king's sentence (27 January). Monson appears to have died in the Fleet prison about 1672. His estate at Reigate was granted to the

James, Duke of York James II and VII (14 October 1633 – 16 September 1701) was King of England and Monarchy of Ireland, Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII from the death of his elder brother, Charles II of England, Charles II, on 6 February 1 ...

Family

Monson married, *firstly,

Margaret Margaret is a feminine given name, which means "pearl". It is of Latin origin, via Ancient Greek and ultimately from Iranian languages, Old Iranian. It has been an English language, English name since the 11th century, and remained popular thro ...

(died 1639), daughter of James Stuart, 2nd Earl of Moray, and widow of

Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was ...

(1536–1624); *secondly, Frances, daughter of Thomas Alston of Polstead, Suffolk, by whom he left a son Alston (died 1674 without issue); *thirdly, Elizabeth (died 1695), second daughter of Sir George Reresby, of Thrybergh, Yorkshire, widow of

Sir Francis Foljambe, 1st Baronet Sir Francis Foljambe, 1st Baronet (died 1640) was Member of Parliament for Pontefract in 1626 and High Sheriff of Derbyshire in 1633. Biography Foljambe came from a well-established Derbyshire family whose residence was at Walton Hall, Chesterf ...

, of Aldwark in the same county, and of Edward, younger son of Sir John Horner of Mells, Somerset. By his last wife (who married, fourthly,

Adam Adam is the name given in Genesis 1–5 to the first human. Adam is the first human-being aware of God, and features as such in various belief systems (including Judaism, Christianity, Gnosticism and Islam). According to Christianity, Adam ...

, eldest son of Sir Henry Felton of Playford, Suffolk) he had an only daughter, Elizabeth, married, first, to Sir Philip Hungate, of Saxton, Yorkshire; and, secondly, to Lewis Smith of Wotton, Warwickshire. At the intercession of her nephew, Sir

John Reresby Sir John Reresby, 2nd Baronet (14 April 1634 – 12 May 1689) was an English politician and diarist. After returning in 1667 from exile during the English Civil War, he became a Member of Parliament in 1673. Early life Reresby was born at Thrybe ...

, Lady Monson was restored to her title of Viscountess Castlemaine. cites Reresby, ''Memoirs,'' ed. Cartwright, p. 13.

Notes

References

* ;Attribution * * Endnotes: ** Noble's'' Lives of the English Regicides'' ** Collins's ''Peerage'', 1812, vii. 239–40; Commons' Journals, ii. 200, 549, 556, 955 ** The Traytor's ''Pilgrimage from the Tower to Tyburn''

Biography

Family

Notes

References

Further reading