John Lowther, 1st Viscount Lonsdale

John Lowther, 1st Viscount Lonsdale, PC FRS (25 April 1655 – 10 July 1700[1]), known as Sir John Lowther, 2nd Baronet, from 1675 to 1696, was an English politician.

The Viscount Lonsdale
Portrait of Viscount Lonsdale by Hyacinthe Rigaud
Lord Privy Seal
In office
1699–1700
Preceded byThe Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery
Succeeded byThe Earl of Tankerville
Member of Parliament for Westmorland
In office
1681–1696
Preceded byAlan Bellingham
Christopher Philipson
Succeeded bySir Richard Sandford
William Fleming
In office
1677–1679
Preceded bySir Philip Musgrave
Sir Thomas Strickland
Succeeded byAlan Bellingham
Christopher Philipson
Vice-Chamberlain of the Household
In office
1689–1694
Preceded byJames Porter
Succeeded byPeregrine Bertie
First Lord of the Treasury
In office
March 1690 – November 1690
Preceded byThe Earl of Monmouth
Succeeded byThe Lord Godolphin
Personal details
Born
John Lowther

(1655-04-25)25 April 1655
Hackthorpe Hall, Lowther, Westmorland
Died10 July 1700(1700-07-10) (aged 45)
Lowther, Westmorland
Spouse
Lady Katherine Thynne
(m. 1674)
RelationsSir John Lowther, 1st Baronet (grandfather)
Sir Henry Bellingham, 1st Baronet (grandfather)
Parent(s)John Lowther
Elizabeth Bellingham
EducationSedbergh School
Alma materQueen's College, Oxford

Early life

edit

He was born at Hackthorpe Hall, Lowther, Westmorland, the son of Col. John Lowther of Lowther (the eldest son of Sir John Lowther, 1st Baronet) and his wife, Elizabeth Bellingham, daughter of Sir Henry Bellingham, 1st Baronet, of Hilsington, Westmoreland.

He was educated at Sedbergh School before admission to Queen's College, Oxford, where he matriculated in 1670. He was admitted to the Inner Temple in 1671 and called to the Bar in 1677.[2]

Career

edit

Prior to his creation as a viscount in 1696, Lowther had succeeded his grandfather as a baronet, and was twice member of parliament for Westmorland between 1677 and 1696. In 1688 he was serviceable in securing Cumberland and Westmorland for King William III, and was appointed to the Privy Council in 1689. In 1690, he was first lord of the treasury, and he was Lord Privy Seal from March 1699 until his death.[3] He was badly injured in a duel in 1691.

Lonsdale wrote in 1688 a brief account of events from the accession of James II to the landing of the Prince of Orange at Torbay, which was later printed as Memoirs of the Reign of James II (in 1808, for private circulation) and again in 1857. The Memoirs reveal no more of Lonsdale's part in events than his public utterances.[4]

Personal life

edit

On 3 December 1674, he married Lady Katherine Thynne (1653–1712/3), sister of Thomas Thynne, 1st Viscount Weymouth,[5] and second daughter of Sir Henry Frederick Thynne, 1st Baronet and the former Hon. Mary Coventry (second daughter, by his second wife, of Thomas Coventry, 1st Baron Coventry). Together, they were the parents of:[2]

He died at Lowther on 10 July 1700 and was buried in Lowther churchyard. His wife Katherine Lowther took over his political influence and she was eventually buried at Lowther in 1713.[5] The tomb is by William Stanton.[6]

His branch of the Lowther family became extinct when his son Henry, the 3rd viscount, died unmarried in March 1751, and the baronetcy and estates went to his cousin, James Lowther, later the first Earl of Lonsdale.[3]

References

edit
  1. ^ "J. V. Beckett, 'Lowther, John, first Viscount Lonsdale (1655–1700)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/17111. Retrieved 23 July 2008. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Lonsdale, Viscount (E, 1696 - 1751)". cracroftspeerage.co.uk. Heraldic Media Limited. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
  3. ^ a b   One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domainChisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Lonsdale, Earls of". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 16 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 987.
  4. ^ Richard Saul Ferguson (1871). Cumberland and Westmorland M. P.'s from the Restoration to the Reform Bill of 1867, (1660-1867.). C. Thurnam and Sons. p. 403.
  5. ^ a b c Matthew, H. C. G.; Harrison, B., eds. (23 September 2004). "The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. ref:odnb/67731. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/67731. Retrieved 21 December 2022. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  6. ^ Dictionary of British Sculptors 1660-1851 by Rupert Gunnis p.368
edit
Parliament of England
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Westmorland
1677–1679
With: Sir Philip Musgrave 1677–1678
Alan Bellingham 1678–1679
Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Westmorland
1681–1696
With: Alan Bellingham 1681–1689
Henry Wharton 1689
Goodwin Wharton 1689–1690
Sir Christopher Musgrave 1690–1695
Sir Richard Sandford 1695–1696
Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Vice-Chamberlain of the Household
1689–1694
Succeeded by
Preceded by First Lord of the Treasury
1690
Succeeded by
Preceded by Lord Privy Seal
1699–1700
Succeeded by
Honorary titles
Preceded by Custos Rotulorum of Westmorland
1678–1700
Succeeded by
Preceded by Vice-Admiral of Cumberland and Westmorland
1686–1700
Vacant
Title next held by
Sir Richard Musgrave, Bt
Preceded by Lord Lieutenant of Cumberland and Westmorland
1689–1694
Succeeded by
Preceded by Custos Rotulorum of Cumberland
1689–1700
Peerage of England
New creation Viscount Lonsdale
1696–1700
Succeeded by
Baronetage of Nova Scotia
Preceded by Baronet
(of Lowther)
1675–1700
Succeeded by