Thomas Wriothesley, 4th Earl of Southampton

For other people named Thomas Wriothesley, see Thomas Wriothesley (disambiguation).

Thomas Wriothesley
Thomas Wriothesley, 4th Earl of Southampton, wearing his Garter Star and holding his Staff of Office as Lord High Treasurer. Portrait by School of Sir Peter Lely
Born	(1607-03-10)10 March 1607
Died
Title	4th Earl of Southampton
Tenure	1624-1667
Other titles	Earl of Chichester Lord Wriothesley
Nationality	English
Offices	Lord High Treasurer
Predecessor	Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton
Spouse(s)	Rachel de Massue Lady Elizabeth Leigh Frances Seymour
Parents	Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton Elizabeth Vernon

Arms of Wriothesley: Azure, a cross or between four hawks close argent

Thomas Wriothesley, 4th Earl of Southampton, KG (/ˈraɪəθsli/ REYE-əths-lee; 10 March 1607 – 16 May 1667), styled Lord Wriothesley before 1624, was an English statesman, a staunch supporter of King Charles II who after the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660 rose to the position of Lord High Treasurer, which term began with the assumption of power by the Clarendon Ministry. He "was remarkable for his freedom from any taint of corruption and for his efforts in the interests of economy and financial order," a noble if not completely objective view of his work as the keeper of the nation's finances. He died before the impeachment of Lord Clarendon, after which the Cabal Ministry took over government.

Origins

He was the only surviving son of Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton (1573-1624) by his wife Elizabeth Vernon (1572-1655), daughter of John Vernon (d.1592) of Hodnet, Shropshire.

Career

He succeeded to the earldom following his father's death in 1624, after which event he attended St. John's College, Cambridge. At first, he sided with the Parliament supporters upon the controversies leading to the English Civil War, but upon his realisation of their propensity to violence, he became a loyal supporter of King Charles I. While remaining very loyal to the deposed monarch, he still worked for peace and represented the king at the peace conferences in 1643 and one at Uxbridge in 1645. He was allowed to remain in England, having paid fines to the Committee for Compounding with Delinquents of more than £6,000.

Several months after the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660, Lord Southampton was appointed Lord High Treasurer (8 September 1660), a position he occupied until his death. Samuel Pepys admired Southampton's integrity and the stoicism with which he endured his painful last illness, but clearly had doubts about his competence as Treasurer; in particular he recorded Southampton's despairing words to him, having been asked to raise more funds at a Council meeting in April 1665: "Why, what means all this, Mr. Pepys? This is true, you say, but what would you have me do? I have given all I can for my life. Why will not people lend their money?" However Pepys admitted that Sir William Coventry, the colleague he most admired, was himself an admirer of Southampton, whom he described as "a great statesman". Coventry recalled that other ministers would joke that regardless of his complaints that it was "impossible" to find money, Southampton always succeeded in the end. Southampton however once grimly remarked that "Impossible will be found impossible at the last", an accurate prophecy of the crisis of 1672 which led to the Stop of the Exchequer.

Lord Southampton's name lives on in London as both Southampton Row and Southampton Street in Holborn are named after him.

Marriages & progeny

File:Portrait of Rachel de Massue, Countess of Southampton, by Anthony van Dyck, c.1638.jpg

Portrait c.1638 of Rachel de Massue, Southampton's first wife, by van Dyck

He married three times and had three daughters:

• Firstly to Rachel de Massue (1603- 16 February 1640), a French Huguenot and an aunt of Henri de Massue, Marquis de Ruvigny, 1st Viscount Galway. By Rachel he had progeny two daughters and co-heiresses:
  • Elizabeth Wriothesley, Viscountess Campden, wife of Edward Noel, 1st Earl of Gainsborough
  • Rachel Wriothesley, wife of William Russell, Lord Russell (1639-1683), the third son of William Russell, 5th Earl of Bedford, later created Duke of Bedford. The eventual heir to all the estates of her father Thomas Wriothesley, 4th Earl of Southampton, was her only son Wriothesley Russell, 2nd Duke of Bedford (1680-1711).
• Secondly he married Lady Elizabeth Leigh, daughter of Francis Leigh, 1st Earl of Chichester from whom he inherited the title Earl of Chichester. By Elizabeth Leigh he had a further daughter:
  • Lady Elizabeth Wriothesley (1646-1690) who married twice, firstly to Joceline Percy, 11th Earl of Northumberland (1644-1670), whom she bore an only daughter and sole heiress to the vast Percy estates, Lady Elizabeth Percy (1667-1722), wife of Charles Seymour, 6th Duke of Somerset (1662-1748); and secondly she married Ralph Montagu, 1st Duke of Montagu.
• Thirdly he married (as her second of three husbands) Lady Frances Seymour, the daughter of William Seymour, 2nd Duke of Somerset (1587-1660) (the 6th Duke's father's first cousin) by his second wife Lady Frances Devereux. Without progeny.

References

• 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica
• Encyclopædia Britannica
• The Peerage

Political offices
Preceded by The Earl of Portland The 1st Duke of Richmond	Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire jointly with The Earl of Portland The 1st Duke of Richmond 1641–1646	English Interregnum
Preceded by Sir Henry Wallop	Custos Rotulorum of Hampshire 1642–1646
Preceded by In Commission (First Lord: Sir Edward Hyde)	Lord High Treasurer 1660–1667	Succeeded by In Commission (First Lord: The Duke of Albemarle)
Honorary titles
English Interregnum	Custos Rotulorum of Hampshire 1660–1667	Succeeded by Lord Percy
	Lord Lieutenant of Norfolk 1660–1661	Succeeded by The Lord Townshend
	Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire 1660–1667	Succeeded by Lord St John
Preceded by The Duke of Somerset	Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire 1661–1667	Succeeded by The Earl of Clarendon
Preceded by The Lord Windsor	Lord Lieutenant of Worcestershire 1662–1663	Succeeded by The Lord Windsor
Preceded by The Earl of Winchilsea	Lord Lieutenant of Kent 1662–1667	Succeeded by The Earl of Winchilsea The 3rd Duke of Richmond
Peerage of England
Preceded by Henry Wriothesley	Earl of Southampton 1624–1667	Extinct
Preceded by Francis Leigh	Earl of Chichester 1653–1667	Extinct