Richard Weston, 1st Earl of Portland, KG (1 March 1577 – 13 March 1634/1635), was Chancellor of the Exchequer and later Lord Treasurer of England under James I and Charles I, being one of the most influential figures in the early years of Charles I's Personal Rule and the architect of many of the policies that enabled him to rule without raising taxes through Parliament.
During the reign of King James I of England, Weston was sent on embassies to Bohemia, Brussels, and Spain. On the last assignment, he negotiated for the restitution of the Palatine. Upon his return to England in 1621, he was made Chancellor of the Exchequer, and retained the post after the accession of Charles I; he proved a capable financial manager but incurred popular hatred as a (justly) suspected Roman Catholic, while also later earning the enmity of the (Catholic) queen, Henrietta Maria for refusing grants to her favourites. He opposed wars with Spain in 1623 and France in 1626, but managed to find ways of raising the money to fund them when required, even when it was impossible to secure the cooperation of Parliament.[2]
Weston was elevated to the peerage on 13 April 1628 as Baron Weston of Nayland in Suffolk. He was subsequently made Lord Treasurer of England and invested with the Order of the Garter.[3] His policies proving highly unpopular, he escaped impeachment in 1629 only by the dissolution of Parliament. Nevertheless, he played an important role in the King's Personal Rule without Parliament, finding new sources of revenue while preventing any further increase in the King's expenditure, and being for a time the most influential of Charles's advisers. He persuaded the King to make peace with France in 1629 and Spain in 1630, removing the biggest drain on the treasury, and to sign the secret treaty with Spain in 1634. By the time he died in 1635, the Crown was solvent.[4]
Frances Stuart, Countess of Portsmouth by Anthony van Dyck
On 17 February 1633, Weston was created Earl of Portland. Lord Portland was married twice. His first wife was Elizabeth Pincheon of Writtle in Essex. His second wife was Frances Waldegrave of Borley in Essex. He had three children by his first marriage, including Lady Mary Weston (2 January 1603-after August 1678), who married the 2nd Lord Aston of Forfar in 1629, and Lady Elizabeth Weston (died 1656), who married John Netterville, 2nd Viscount Netterville.[5] He had seven children by his second marriage, including his son Thomas, who later succeeded as 4th Earl, and Lady Anne Weston, the first of the four wives of Basil Feilding, 2nd Earl of Denbigh.[6] His nephew (his sister's son), Jeremy Clarke, became a Governor of Rhode Island in the American colonies.
On his death, he was succeeded by his second but eldest surviving son, Jerome.[7]
Referencesedit
^"History of Parliament". Retrieved 10 October 2011.
^Kenyon, J. P. The Stuarts B.T. Batsford Ltd. 1959 p.72
^Cokayne Complete Peerage 2000 Reprint Vol.1, p. 428
^Kenyon, J.P. Stuart England Penguin Books 1990 reissue p.126
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Richard Weston 1st Earl of Portland KG 1 March 1577 13 March 1634 1635 was Chancellor of the Exchequer and later Lord Treasurer of England under James I and Charles I being one of the most influential figures in the early years of Charles I s Personal Rule and the architect of many of the policies that enabled him to rule without raising taxes through Parliament The Right HonourableThe Earl of PortlandKG PCLord High TreasurerIn office 1628 1635Preceded byJames Ley 1st Earl of MarlboroughSucceeded byWilliam JuxonChancellor of the ExchequerIn office 1621 1628MonarchsJames I Charles IPreceded byThe Lord BrookeSucceeded byThe Lord Barrett of NewburghFirst Lord of the AdmiraltyIn office 1628 1635MonarchCharles IPreceded byOffice establishedSucceeded byRobert Bertie 1st Earl of LindseyPersonal detailsBorn1 March 1577Roxwell Essex EnglandDied13 March 1634 1635 aged 56 58 Contents 1 Biography 2 References 3 Sources 4 External linksBiography editWeston was the eldest son and heir of Sir Jerome Weston High Sheriff of Essex for 1599 and the former Mary Cave He was born at Roxwell Essex and was a student of the Middle Temple He served as Member of Parliament MP for a number of constituencies including Maldon 1601 1603 Midhurst in the parliament of 1604 1611 Essex in the Addled Parliament of 1614 Arundel 1622 Bossiney 1624 Callington 1625 and Bodmin 1626 1 He was knighted in 1603 During the reign of King James I of England Weston was sent on embassies to Bohemia Brussels and Spain On the last assignment he negotiated for the restitution of the Palatine Upon his return to England in 1621 he was made Chancellor of the Exchequer and retained the post after the accession of Charles I he proved a capable financial manager but incurred popular hatred as a justly suspected Roman Catholic while also later earning the enmity of the Catholic queen Henrietta Maria for refusing grants to her favourites He opposed wars with Spain in 1623 and France in 1626 but managed to find ways of raising the money to fund them when required even when it was impossible to secure the cooperation of Parliament 2 Weston was elevated to the peerage on 13 April 1628 as Baron Weston of Nayland in Suffolk He was subsequently made Lord Treasurer of England and invested with the Order of the Garter 3 His policies proving highly unpopular he escaped impeachment in 1629 only by the dissolution of Parliament Nevertheless he played an important role in the King s Personal Rule without Parliament finding new sources of revenue while preventing any further increase in the King s expenditure and being for a time the most influential of Charles s advisers He persuaded the King to make peace with France in 1629 and Spain in 1630 removing the biggest drain on the treasury and to sign the secret treaty with Spain in 1634 By the time he died in 1635 the Crown was solvent 4 nbsp Frances Stuart Countess of Portsmouth by Anthony van Dyck On 17 February 1633 Weston was created Earl of Portland Lord Portland was married twice His first wife was Elizabeth Pincheon of Writtle in Essex His second wife was Frances Waldegrave of Borley in Essex He had three children by his first marriage including Lady Mary Weston 2 January 1603 after August 1678 who married the 2nd Lord Aston of Forfar in 1629 and Lady Elizabeth Weston died 1656 who married John Netterville 2nd Viscount Netterville 5 He had seven children by his second marriage including his son Thomas who later succeeded as 4th Earl and Lady Anne Weston the first of the four wives of Basil Feilding 2nd Earl of Denbigh 6 His nephew his sister s son Jeremy Clarke became a Governor of Rhode Island in the American colonies On his death he was succeeded by his second but eldest surviving son Jerome 7 References edit History of Parliament Retrieved 10 October 2011 Kenyon J P The Stuarts B T Batsford Ltd 1959 p 72 Cokayne Complete Peerage 2000 Reprint Vol 1 p 428 Kenyon J P Stuart England Penguin Books 1990 reissue p 126 Lee Sidney ed 1894 Netterville John Dictionary of National Biography Vol 40 London Smith Elder amp Co p 234 Mosley editor Burke s Peerage 107th Edition 2003 Vol 1 p 1084 Burke s Peerage p 1084Sources edit nbsp Cornwall portal Lee Sidney ed 1899 Weston Richard 1577 1635 Dictionary of National Biography Vol 60 London Smith Elder amp Co External links editLeigh Rayment s Peerage Page usurped www british civil wars co uk Political offices Preceded byThe Lord Brooke Chancellor of the Exchequer1621 1628 Succeeded byThe Lord Barrett of Newburgh Preceded byThe Earl of Marlborough Lord Treasurer1628 1635 Succeeded byIn Commission Preceded byThe Earl of SussexThe Earl of Warwick Lord Lieutenant of Essexjointly with The Earl of Warwick1629 1635 Succeeded byThe Lord MaynardThe Earl of Warwick Preceded byThe Viscount Conway Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire1631 1635 Succeeded byThe Duke of LennoxThe Earl of Portland Peerage of England New title Earl of Portland1633 1635 Succeeded byJerome Weston Baron Weston1628 1635 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Richard Weston 1st Earl of Portland amp oldid 1196473980, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
