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John Bingham

2010-05-29T20:02:49Z

Rgmmortimore: Link to disambiguation page

{{otherpeople|John Bingham}}
{{Infobox Congressman
|name=John Armor Bingham
|image =John Bingham - Brady-Handy.jpg
|width=
|state=[[Ohio]]
|district=[[Ohio's 21st congressional district|21st]] & [[Ohio's 16th congressional district|16th]]
|party=[[Opposition Party (United States)|Opposition]], [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
|term=March 4, 1855 – March 3, 1863<br>March 4, 1865 – March 3, 1873
|preceded=[[Andrew Stuart (congressman)|Andrew Stuart]]<br>[[Joseph Worthington White]]
|succeeded=[[Martin A. Foran]]<br>[[Lorenzo Danford]]
|date of birth={{Birth date|1815|1|21|mf=y}}
|place of birth=[[Mercer, Pennsylvania]], [[United States|U.S.]]
|date of death={{death date and age|1900|3|19|1815|1|21|mf=y}}
|place of death=[[Cadiz, Ohio]], [[United States|U.S.]]
|profession=[[Politician]], [[Lawyer]], [[Judge]]
|spouse=Amanda Bingham
|religion=
|footnotes=
}}

'''John Armor Bingham''' (January 21, 1815 – March 19, 1900) was a [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] [[United States Congress|congressman]] from [[Ohio]], America, [[judge advocate]] in the trial of the [[Abraham Lincoln assassination]] and a [[prosecutor]] in the impeachment trials of [[Andrew Johnson]]. He is also the principal framer of the [[Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Fourteenth Amendment]] to the [[United States Constitution]].

==Early life==
Born in [[Mercer, Pennsylvania]], he attended public schools and pursued academic studies. His family eventually moved to [[Ohio]] where he became an apprentice in a printing office for two years. He then studied law at [[Franklin College (New Athens, Ohio)|Franklin College]] and was admitted to the bar in 1840, commencing practice in [[New Philadelphia, Ohio]] and eventually became district attorney for the surrounding [[Tuscarawas County, Ohio]]. He held this position from 1846 to 1849.

==Politics==
He became active in politics when he was elected to the [[34th United States Congress|Thirty-fourth Congress]] under the [[Opposition Party (United States)|Opposition Party]]. He was reelected to the [[35th United States Congress|Thirty-fifth]], [[36th United States Congress|Thirty-sixth]] and [[37th United States Congress|Thirty-seventh Congresses]] as a [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]. His candidacy in 1862 for the [[38th United States Congress|Thirty-eighth Congress]] was unsuccessful, though the [[United States House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] appointed him that year to be one of the managers to conduct impeachment proceedings against [[West H. Humphreys]].

During the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], he strongly supported the [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] and became a [[Radical Republicans|Radical Republican]]. [[President of the United States|President]] [[Abraham Lincoln]] appointed him [[Judge Advocate]] of the [[Union Army]] with the rank of [[Major (United States)|major]] in 1864, and he became [[solicitor]] of the [[United States Court of Claims]] in 1865. He was also elected to the [[39th United States Congress|Thirty-ninth Congress]], which first met on March 4, 1865.
[[Image:JBingham-JHolt-HBurnett.jpg|thumb|left|310px|'''John Bingham''' ''(left)'' along with [[Joseph Holt]] ''(center)'' and [[Henry Lawrence Burnett|Henry Burnett]] ''(right)'' were the three judges in charge of the [[Abraham Lincoln assassination|Lincoln assassination trial]].]]

==Lincoln assassination trials==
{{main|Abraham Lincoln assassination}}
[[Washington, D.C.|Washington]] was in chaos after [[John Wilkes Booth]] assassinated [[President]] [[Abraham Lincoln]] and Booth's co-conspirator [[Lewis Powell (assassin)|Lewis Powell]] came near to assassinating [[United States Secretary of State|Secretary of State]] [[William H. Seward]] on the night of April 14, 1865. Booth died on April 26, 1865 from a gunshot wound. When the trials for the conspirators involved in the [[Lincoln assassination]] were ready to start, Bingham's old friend from [[Cadiz, Ohio|Cadiz]], [[Edwin Stanton]], appointed him to serve as Assistant Judge Advocate General along with General [[Henry Lawrence Burnett|Henry Burnett]], another Assistant Judge Advocate General, and [[Joseph Holt]], the [[Judge Advocate General's Corps, U.S. Army|Judge Advocate General]]. The accused conspirators where [[George Atzerodt]], [[David Herold]], [[Lewis Powell (assassin)|Lewis Powell]] (Paine), [[Samuel Arnold (Lincoln conspirator)|Samuel Arnold]], [[Michael O'Laughlen]], [[Edman Spangler]], [[Samuel Mudd]] and [[Mary Surratt]]. The trial began on May 10, 1865. The three judges spent nearly two months in court, awaiting a verdict from the jury. Bingham and Holt attempted to obscure the fact that there were two plots. The first plot was to kidnap the president and hold him hostage in exchange for the [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] prisoners held by the Union. The second was to assassinate the president, [[Vice President of the United States|Vice President]] [[Andrew Johnson]] and [[United States Secretary of State|Secretary of State]] [[William H. Seward]] in a plot to throw the government into electoral chaos. It was important for the prosecution not to reveal the existence of a [[diary]] taken from the Booth's body. The diary made it clear that the assassination plan dated from 14 April. The defense surprisingly did not call for Booth's diary to be produced in court.

On June 29, 1865, the eight were found guilty for their involvement in the conspiracy to kill the President. [[Edman Spangler|Spangler]] was sentenced to six years in prison; [[Samuel Arnold (Lincoln conspirator)|Arnold]], [[Michael O'Laughlen|O'Laughlen]] and [[Samuel Mudd|Mudd]] where sentenced to life in prison; and [[George Atzerodt|Atzerodt]], [[David Herold|Herold]], [[Lewis Powell (assassin)|Paine]] and [[Mary Surratt|Surratt]] were sentenced to hang. They were executed July 7, 1865. Surratt was the first woman in American history to be executed. O'Laughlen died in prison in 1867. Arnold, Spangler and Mudd were pardoned by [[President]] [[Andrew Johnson]] in early 1869.

==Later life==
In 1866, during the [[39th United States Congress|Thirty-ninth Congress]], Bingham was appointed to a subcommittee of the Joint Committee on Reconstruction tasked with considering [[suffrage]] proposals. As a member of the subcommittee, Bingham submitted several versions of an amendment to the [[U.S. Constitution]] which would serve to apply the [[Bill of Rights]] to the States. His final submission, which was accepted by the Committee on April 28, 1866, read "No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." The Committee recommended that the language become [[Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution#Citizenship and civil rights|Section 1]] of the [[Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution]]. The Amendment was introduced to the House on May 8, 1866, and to the Senate on May 23, 1866.<ref>[http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0332_0046_ZD.html Adamson v. California], 332 U.S. 46, 103-104 (1947)</ref>

In the closing debate in the House, Bingham stated,

[[Image:Bingham-Stevens.jpg|thumb|right|260px|John A. Bingham and [[Thaddeus Stevens]] before the [[United States Senate|Senate]] addressing the vote on [[President of the United States|President]] [[Andrew Johnson]]'s impeachment by the [[United States House of Representatives|House of Representatives]].]]
<blockquote>
"[M]any instances of State injustice and oppression have already occurred in the State legislation of this Union, of flagrant violations of the guarantied privileges of citizens of the United States, for which the national Government furnished and could furnish by law no remedy whatever. Contrary to the express letter of your Constitution, 'cruel and unusual punishments' have been inflicted under State laws within this Union upon citizens, not only for crimes committed, but for sacred duty done, for which and against which the Government of the United States had provided no remedy and could provide none.

It was an opprobrium to the Republic that for fidelity to the United States they could not by national law be protected against the degrading punishment inflicted on slaves and felons by State law. That great want of the citizen and stranger, protection by national law from unconstitutional State enactments, is supplied by the first section of this amendment."<ref>[http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0332_0046_ZD.html Adamson v. California], 332 U.S. 46, 107 (1947)</ref>
</blockquote>

Except for the addition of the first sentence of Section 1, which defined citizenship, the amendment weathered the Senate debate without substantial change.<ref>[http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0332_0046_ZD.html Adamson v. California], 332 U.S. 46, 108 (1947)</ref> The 14th Amendment was ratified in 1868.

John Bingham confirms that understanding and the construction the framers used in regards to birthright and jurisdiction while speaking on civil rights of citizens in the House on March 9, 1866:"<ref>[http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/impeach/imp_account2.html"]</ref> <ref>[http://federalistblog.us/2008/11/natural-born_citizen_defined.html]</ref> <ref>[http://www.theamericanresistance.com/issues/anchor_babies_unconstitutionality.html</ref>

{{cquote|[I] find no fault with the introductory clause [S 61 Bill], which is simply declaratory of what is written in the Constitution, that ''every human being born within the jurisdiction of the United States of parents not owing allegiance to any foreign sovereignty is'', in the language of your Constitution itself, ''a natural born citizen''…. . .}} - ''John Bingham in the United States House on March 9, 1866 '''(Cong. Globe, 39th, 1st Sess., 1291 (1866)''') ''

Despite Bingham's likely intention that the 14th Amendment apply the first eight Amendments of the Bill of Rights to the States, the [[U.S. Supreme Court]] subsequently declined to interpret it that way in the [[Slaughter-House Cases]] and [[United States v. Cruikshank]]. In the 1947 case of ''[[Adamson v. California]]'', Supreme Court Justice [[Hugo Black]] argued in his dissent that the framers' intent should control the Court's interpretation of the 14th Amendment, and he attached a lengthy appendix that quoted extensively from Bingham's congressional testimony.<ref>[http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0332_0046_ZD.html Adamson v. California], 332 U.S. 46, 92-118 (1947)</ref> Though the Adamson Court declined to adopt Black's interpretation, the Court during the following twenty-five years employed a doctrine of [[Incorporation (Bill of Rights)|selective incorporation]] that succeeded in extending to the States almost of all of the protections in the Bill of Rights, as well as other, unenumerated rights. The Court is currently considering a ''certiorari'' petition in the case of [[McDonald v. Chicago]]. Along with asking for [[Incorporation (Bill of Rights)|selective incorporation]], the petitioners are asking the Court to overturn the [[Slaughter-House Cases]] and apply [[Incorporation (Bill of Rights)|total incorporation]].

The 14th Amendment has vastly expanded [[civil rights]] protections and is cited in more litigation than any other amendment to the U.S. Constitution.<ref> [http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/14thamendment.html "Primary Documents in American History"], Library of Congress</ref>

Bingham continued his career as a congressman, being reelected to the [[40th United States Congress|Fortieth]], [[41st United States Congress|Forty-first]] and [[42nd United States Congress|Forty-second Congresses]]. He served as Chairman of the [[United States Senate Committee on Claims|Committee on Claims]] from 1867 to 1869 and a member of the [[United States House Committee on the Judiciary|Committee on the Judiciary]] from 1869 to 1873. In 1868 he was one of the judges involved in the impeachment trials of [[President]] [[Andrew Johnson]]. In 1872, he was unsuccessful in gaining reelection, this time for the [[43rd United States Congress|Forty-third Congress]]. [[President]] [[Ulysses Grant]] then appointed him a new position as [[United States Minister]] to [[Japan]], at which he served from May 31, 1873 to July 2, 1885.

He died in [[Cadiz, Ohio]] on March 19, 1900. He was interned in [[Union Cemetery]] in Cadiz.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{CongBio|B000471}}
*[http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=8122843 John A. Bingham] at [[Find A Grave]]
*[http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USACWbingham.htm Bio at Spartacus]
*[http://www.impeach-andrewjohnson.com/11BiographiesKeyIndividuals/JohnABingham.htm Bio at The Impeachment of Andrew Johnson website]
*[http://www.answers.com/topic/john-bingham Bio at Answers]
*[http://www.samuelmudd.com samuelmudd.com]

{{start box}}
{{s-par|us-hs}}
{{U.S. Representative box|
state=Ohio|
district=21|
before=[[Andrew Stuart (congressman)|Andrew Stuart]]|
years=March 4, 1855 – March 3, 1863|
after=[[Martin A. Foran]]
}}
{{U.S. Representative box|
state=Ohio|
district=16|
before=[[Joseph Worthington White]]|
years=March 4, 1865 – March 3, 1873|
after=[[Lorenzo Danford]]
}}
{{end box}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bingham, John A}}
[[Category:1815 births]]
[[Category:1900 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Cadiz, Ohio]]
[[Category:American abolitionists]]
[[Category:Ohio lawyers]]
[[Category:Union political leaders]]
[[Category:People of Ohio in the American Civil War]]
[[Category:Franklin College (New Athens, Ohio)]]
[[Category:Members of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio]]
[[Category:Impeachment of Andrew Johnson]]
[[Category:United States ambassadors to Japan]]
[[Category:Ohio Republicans]]

Richard Zouch

2007-08-20T14:08:53Z

Rgmmortimore: Added some details and a reference that confirms virtually all the existing material

{{OR}}
'''Richard Zouch''' also '''Richard Zouche''' (c. [[1590]] – [[March 1]] [[1661]]), English [[jurist]], was born at Anstey, [[Wiltshire]], and educated at [[Winchester, England|Winchester]] and afterwards at the [[University of Oxford]], where he became a fellow of New College in [[1609]]. He was admitted at Doctor's Commons in January [[1618]], and was appointed [[Regius Professor of Civil Law (Oxford)|Regius Professor of Civil Law]] at Oxford in [[1620]]. He was elected [[Member of Parliament]] for [[Hythe (UK Parliament constituency)|Hythe]] in 1621 and 1624. In [[1625]] he became principal of [[St Alban Hall]] and chancellor of the diocese of Oxford; in [[1641]] he was made judge of the [[High Court of Admiralty]]. Under the [[Commonwealth of England|Commonwealth]], having submitted to the parliamentary visitors, he retained his university appointments, though not his judgeship; this last he resumed at the [[English Restoration|Restoration]], dying soon afterwards at his apartments in [[Doctors' Commons]], London, on [[March 1]] [[1661]].

==Publications==
===Legal works===
*<cite>Elementa jurisprudentiae</cite> ([[1629]])
*<cite>Descriptio juris et judicii feudalis, secundum consuetudines Mediolani et Normanniae, pro introductione ad juris prudentiam Anglicanam</cite> ([[1634]])
*<cite>Descriptio juris et judicii temporalis, secundum consuetudines feudales et Normannicas </cite> ([[1636]])
*<cite>Descriptio juris et judicii ecclesiastici, secundum canones et consuetudines Anglicanes </cite> ([[1636]])
*<cite> Descriptio iuris et iudicii militaris([[1640]])</cite>
*<cite>Juris et judicii fecialis sive juris inter gentes . . . explicatio </cite>([[1650]])
*<cite>Solutio quaestionis veteris et novae, sive de legati delinquentis judice competente </cite>([[1657]])

In virtue of the last two he has the distinction of being one of the earliest systematic writers on international law.

===Poetry===
*The Dove, or Passages of Cosmography ([[1613]])

==References==
*Concise Dictionary of National Biography (1930)

[[Category:1590 births|Zouch, Richard]]
[[Category:1661 deaths|Zouch, Richard]]
[[Category:English judges|Zouch, Richard]]
[[Category:Jurists|Zouch, Richard]]

[[fr:Richard Zouch]]
[[pl:Richard Zouch]]

Earl Poulett

2007-05-28T15:48:52Z

Rgmmortimore: /* Barons Poulett (1627) */

The title of '''Baron Poulett''' (pronounced "Paulett") was created in the [[Peerage]] of [[Peerage of England|England]] in [[1627]]. The 4th Baron was created '''Earl Poulett''' and '''Viscount Hinton''' in [[1706]]. The titles all became extinct upon the death of the 8th Earl in [[1973]].

==Barons Poulett ([[1627]])==
*[[John Poulett, 1st Baron Poulett]] ([[1585]]-[[1649]])
*[[John Poulett, 2nd Baron Poulett]] ([[1615]]-[[1665]])
*[[John Poulett, 3rd Baron Poulett]] ([[1641]]-[[1679]])
*[[John Poulett, 1st Earl Poulett|John Poulett, 4th Baron Poulett]] ([[1663]]-[[1743]]), created Earl Poulett in [[1706]]

==Earls Poulett ([[1706]])==
[[Image:Earl Poulett coa.png|thumb|right|250px|Arms of the Earls Poulett.]]
*[[John Poulett, 1st Earl Poulett]] ([[1663]]-[[1743]])
*[[John Poulett, 2nd Earl Poulett]] ([[1708]]-[[1764]])
*[[Vere Poulett, 3rd Earl Poulett]] ([[1710]]-[[1788]])
*[[John Poulett, 4th Earl Poulett]] ([[1756]]-[[1819]])
*[[John Poulett, 5th Earl Poulett]] ([[1783]]-[[1864]])
*[[William Poulett, 6th Earl Poulett|William Henry Poulett, 6th Earl Poulett]] ([[1827]]-[[1899]])
*[[William Poulett, 7th Earl Poulett|William John Lydston Poulett, 7th Earl Poulett]] ([[1883]]-[[1918]])
*[[George Poulett, 8th Earl Poulett|George Amias Fitzwarrine Poulett, 8th Earl Poulett]] ([[1909]]-[[1973]])

[[Category:Earldoms|Poulett]]
[[Category:Extinct earldoms|Poulett]]

Queenborough Castle

2007-04-17T19:11:56Z

Rgmmortimore: Added link to the constituency page

{{infobox UK place|
|country = England
|latitude= 51.4183
|longitude= 0.7450
|official_name= Queenborough
|population = 3,471
|shire_district= [[Swale]]
| shire_county = [[Kent]]
|region= South East England
|constituency_westminster= [[Sittingbourne and Sheppey (UK Parliament constituency)|Sittingbourne and Sheppey]]
|post_town= SHEERNESS
|postcode_district = ME11
|postcode_area= ME
|dial_code= 01795
|os_grid_reference= TQ908724
}}
'''Queenborough''' is a small town on the [[Isle of Sheppey]] in the [[Swale]] borough of [[Kent]] in [[South East England]].

Queenborough is two miles (3.2 km) south of [[Sheerness]]. It grew as a port near the [[Thames Estuary]] at the westward entrance to [[The Swale]] where it joins the [[River Medway]]. It is in the [[Sittingbourne and Sheppey (UK Parliament constituency)|Sittingbourne and Sheppey]] parliamentary constituency.

Queenborough Harbour offers moorings between the Thames and Medway. It is possible to land at Queenborough on any tide and there are boat builders and chandlers in the marina. [[Admiral Lord Nelson]], is reputed to have learnt much of his seafaring skills in these waters, and also shared a house near the small harbour with his mistress, the [[Lady Hamilton]].

Queenborough today still reflects something of its original [[18th century]] seafaring history, from which period most of its more prominent buildings survive. The church is the sole surviving feature from the medieval period. The town was first represented by two Members of Parliament in [[1572]].

==History==
===Medieval===
A fortress, called Sheppey or Queenborough Castle, was built to guard the passage of ships along the Swale upon the command of King [[Edward III of England|Edward III]] between 1361-1377, during the [[Hundred years war]] with [[France]]. Before then, only a small fishing [[Hamlet (place)|hamlet]] called [[Bynne]] existed at the location. This fortress was a round symmetrical one with 70 rooms, modelled on French-style [[chateau]]x of the period, and regained importance in the [[16th century]] under [[Thomas Cheney]], when it is thought to have influenced nearby [[Deal Castle]] and [[Walmer Castle]].

In those days north Kent was divided by open waters and marshes stretching inland. The safest navigation to the open sea was then the route from the [[Thames]] into the [[Yantlet]] creek (separating the [[Isle of Grain]] from the rest of [[Hoo Peninsula]]), and thus into the Swale from the [[Medway]] estuary, around the leeward side of the Isle of Sheppey into the [[Wantsum Channel]], navigating past the [[Isle of Thanet]] to [[Sandwich, Kent|Sandwich]] and only then into the open waters of the [[English Channel]]. It was thus an easily defensible planned-town centre for the wool trade.

King Edward III had the town renamed after his Queen, [[Philippa of Hainault]], and conferred upon it the rights of a free [[borough]], with a governing body of a mayor and two bailiffs. He granted Queenborough a [[charter]] in [[1366]] and two years later bestowed the duties of a royal borough upon it.

During this period, Queenborough, on the Isle of Sheppey was an important town for the export of wool, a significant crown revenue. From 1368: "By Royal decree, the [[the staple|Wool Staple]] was transferred from [[Canterbury]] to Queenborough, which, together with Sandwich, became one of the only two places in Kent through which all the exported wool was compulsorily directed."

The castle was dug in 2005 by [[Time Team]][http://www.channel4.com/history/timeteam/thisweek.html].

===17th century===
King [[Charles I of England|Charles I]] had the town re-incorporated under the title of the "mayor, jurats, bailiffs and burgesses of Queenborough", during which time the population was chiefly employed in the local oyster fishery. However the fort having protected the Swale and Medway estuaries for 300 years was never in fact to realise its function as a garrison, and recorded no active military history. After being seized by Parliamentarians in [[1650]], and being considered unsuitable for repair, being of "no practical use" it was demolished during the [[interregnum]].

Not long after this in 1667, the [[Netherlands|Dutch]] captured the new Sheerness fort (then under construction) and invaded Queenborough. The occupation lasted only a few days; the Dutch having caused widespread panic, were unable to maintain their offensive, and withdrew having captured the [[Royal Charles]] and burnt numerous other ships in the Thames and Medway. Following the [[raid on the Medway]] much-needed attention was given to the improvement of the naval defences of the Medway, which at length helped strengthen the economy of Queenborough and Sheppey. Some 300 years later in 1967, The Queenborough and [[Brielle]] (the [[Netherlands]]) twinning project was established.

===19th century to date===
[[Image:QueenboroughSheppey.jpg|360px|thumb|View of Queenborough ca. 1830.]]
The parish church was overhauled during 1690 to 1730, and a number of houses added to the growing town during the [[18th century]]. With the general prosperity of the colonial and mercantile trades of the age, Queenborough thrived. However early in the [[19th century]], change was again visited upon the ancient settlement. "Queenborough in the 1850s was a very sorry place indeed; broken down and almost lawless."

With the silting up of the Yantlet creek and the Wantsum channel and improved navigation through the Thames estuary to [[London]], Queenborough began to lose its importance, becoming something of a backwater. [[Daniel Defoe]] described it as "a miserable and dirty fishing town (with) the chief traders ... alehouse keepers and oyster catchers".

The [[Royal Navy]] eventually became less prominent on the River Medway as other dockyards developed and ships grew in size, so that they were largely replaced by prison hulks which would frequently dispose of their dead charges on a salt marsh at the mouth of the Swale, which was subsequently to become known as Dead man's Island, and can still be found as such, on local maps today. The new fort and harbour developments completed at Sheerness by this time further replaced Queenborough by being better positioned at the mouth of the Medway.

It is all the same worth noting as evident from records between 1815-20 that the [[Corporation]] of Queenborough was in some financial difficulties, owing some £14,500 that could not hope to pay. It appears that the mayor and other officials had been less than honest in their duties toward the community, with the use of the public money at their disposal. This fraud caused a great financial burden upon the fisherman and oystermen who were driven to "unlawful and riotous assembly", in protest against unwarranted charges made upon them in the course of their trade.

So serious had this deterioration in conditions become, that by the middle of the 19th century the Corporation was bankrupt, and Parliament was called upon to act, vesting by an [[Act of Parliament]] much of the town's business in the hands of trustees who were able to refinance the economy by selling land, property and the ancient oyster fishery. The [[oyster]] trade having been corrupted by smuggling and the bribery of the island's members of Parliament, it lost its franchise in the [[Reform Act 1832|Reform Act of 1832]].

A Borough Charter granted in 1885 gave some renewed impetus to the struggling borough council, but it was not until 1937 that the Charity Commissioners were at last able to appoint a borough council, but the town and its fisheries never fully recovered. The present trustees are Swale Borough Council, which incorporated the old borough council in the reorganisation of 1974. Queenbrough now has a town council, which includes a mayor.

Modern unsightly sea wall defences have hindered the character of the beaches but were deemed necessary, a large yachting harbour exists, where the pirate ship [[Radio Caroline]] (in the river Medway 2003-4) anchored for a while. Tourism is today a major feature of the island, with Queenborough enjoying some of the fruits of local investment.

==Economy and industry==

[[Matthias Falconer]] of Brabant established the first [[copperas]] factory in England at Queenborough in the year 1579.

The economy of Queenborough was boosted significantly by the establishment of a branch line from [[Sittingbourne]] by the South-Eastern & Chatham Railway which operated in conjunction with a mail and passenger service by steamer to [[Flushing, Netherlands|Flushing]] in the [[Netherlands]]. The Swale was bridged when the railway was built in 1860.

From the town's depression in the 1850s there began a process of recovery. New industries came to Queenborough including a glass works and a company engaged in coal washing. Besides these many other small industries developed, including potteries, the Sheppy Fertilizer company (which used the old spelling of Sheppey) and the glue works. The [[Portland cement]] works opened in 1890, and there is still a considerable trade in timber. A modern pharmaceutical factory and laboratories, and a steel rolling mill are among the more recent developments, but the mill has suffered greatly as a result of the restrictions in place by the American steel trade. Considerable unemployment is expected locally.

The town council at one point had an [[Official Monster Raving Loony Party]] mayor.

==Sources==
*J C Varker (www)
*'Queenborough and its oysters', Geoffrey Hufton. (Bygone Kent Vol.3, No 7)
*''Sheppey Gazette''
*[http://www.swale.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=3142 Population figures]

==See also==
[[Queenborough (UK Parliament constituency)]]

==External link==
*[http://queenborough.freeservers.com/ Queenborough]

{{Swale}}

[[Category:Towns in Kent]]

Seeschlacht in der Bucht von Quiberon

2007-03-21T21:41:52Z

Rgmmortimore: /* Britain */

{{Infobox Military Conflict
|conflict=Battle of Quiberon Bay
|partof=[[Seven Years' War]]
|image=[[Image:Quibcardinaux2.jpg|300px|]]
|caption=''The Battle of Quiberon Bay'', [[Nicholas Pocock]], 1812. [[National Maritime Museum]]
|date=[[November 20]] [[1759]]
|place=Quiberon Bay, [[Bay of Biscay]]
|casus=
|territory=
|result=Decisive British victory
|combatant1=Britain
|combatant2=France
|commander1=[[Edward Hawke|Sir Edward Hawke]]
|commander2=Comte de Conflans
|strength1=23 ships of the line
|strength2=21 ships of the line
|casualties1=Two ships of the line lost
|casualties2=Six ships of the line lost, one taken
}}
{{Campaignbox Seven Years' War: Quiberon}}

The naval '''Battle of Quiberon Bay''' took place on [[20 November]] [[1759]] during the [[Seven Years' War]] in Quiberon Bay, off the coast of [[France]] near [[St. Nazaire]]. The [[Britain|British]] Admiral [[Edward Hawke|Sir Edward Hawke]] with 23 [[ship of the line|ships of the line]] caught up with a French fleet with 21 ships of the line under Marshal de Conflans, and after hard fighting, sank, captured, or forced aground most of them, thus giving the [[Royal Navy]] one of its greatest victories.

===Origins===
During 1759, the French had made plans to invade England and Scotland, and had accumulated transports and troops around the [[Loire River|Loire]] estuary. The August defeat at the [[Battle of Lagos (1759)|Battle of Lagos]] made the invasion plans impossible, but [[Étienne François, duc de Choiseul|Choiseul]] still contemplated a plan for [[Scotland]], and so the fleet was under orders to escape from the British blockade outside [[Brest, France|Brest]] and make its way down to the Loire.

During the first week of November, a westerly [[gale]] came up, and after three days, the ships of Hawke's blockade were forced to run for [[Torbay]] on the south coast of England. In the meantime, a small squadron from the [[West Indies]] joined Conflans in Brest, and when an easterly wind came on the [[14 November|14th]], Conflans slipped out. But Hawke was already returning from Torbay, got the reports of Conflans's sailing, and went in pursuit.

===Battle===
::See also [[Robert Duff (governor)|Robert Duff]]
Hawke caught up with Conflans at dawn on the 20th, just as Conflans was about to enter the treacherous waters of Quiberon Bay. Hawke decided to follow them in, essentially relying on the lead of the French ships and their local [[Pilot (shipping)|pilots]]; a daring move made even more dangerous by a rising westerly storm.

The shooting began at about 14:00, with the British van attacking the French rear just as they were rounding the Les Cardinaux rocks at the entrance to the bay. By 15:30, the French ''Formidable'' was captured, and ''Superbe'' had [[Capsize|capsized]], with tremendous loss of life. As more of the British fleet came up, ''Héros'', badly damaged already, struck her flag and ran aground, while ''Thesee'' lost her duel with [[HMS Torbay|''Torbay'']] and foundered.

The early nightfall of the season forced the British to break off their attack, and they anchored for the night. The British ships [[HMS Essex|''Essex'']] and [[HMS Resolution|''Resolution'']] ran aground and were lost, but the fleet's presence forced the French to desperate measures; more of their ships also ran aground, including the [[flagship]] [[French ship Soleil Royal|''Soleil Royal'']], which found itself amongst the British ships the next morning and hastily retreated. 7 ships squeezed over the bar into the estuary of the [[Vilaine River]] (where they stayed for over a year, 3 being wrecked there), leaving only eight to escape to [[Rochefort]].

===Aftermath===
The power of the French fleet was broken, and would not recover before the war was over; in the words of [[Alfred Thayer Mahan]] (''[[The Influence of Sea Power upon History]]''), "The battle of 20 November 1759 was the [[Battle of Trafalgar|Trafalgar]] of this war, and [...] the English fleets were now free to act against the colonies of France, and later of Spain, on a grander scale than ever before".

===The rival fleets===
====France====
{|
|-
|'''Name'''
|'''Guns'''
|'''Commander'''
|'''Men'''
|'''Notes'''
|-
|'''''First Division'''''
|-
|''Soleil Royal''
|80
|Capt. B. de Chasac
|950
|Flagship of Marquis de Conflans – Aground and burnt
|-
|''Orient''
|80
|Capt. N. de la Filière
|750
|Flagship of Chevalier de Guébridant Budes – Escaped to Rochefort
|-
|''Glorieux''
|74
|Villars de la Brosse
|650
|Escaped to the Vilaine
|-
|''Robuste''
|74
|Fragnier de Vienne
|650
|Escaped to the Vilaine
|-
|''Dauphin Royal''
|70
|Chevalier d'Uturbie Fragosse
|630
|Escaped to Rochefort
|-
|''Dragon''
|64
|Vassor de la Touche
|450
|Escaped to the Vilaine
|-
|''Solitaire''
|64
|Vicomte de Langle
|450
|Escaped to Rochefort
|-
|'''''Second Division'''''
|-
|''Tonnant''
|80
|Capt. St Victoret
|800
|Flagship of Chevalier de Beauffremont – Escaped to Rochefort
|-
|''Intrépide''
|74
|Chastologer
|650
|Escaped to Rochefort
|-
|''Thésée''
|74
|Kersaint de Coetnempren
|650
|Foundered
|-
|''Northumberland''
|70
|Belingant de Kerbabut
|630
|Escaped to Rochefort
|-
|''Superbe''
|70
|Montalais
|630
|Sunk by ''Royal George''
|-
|''Eveillé''
|64
|Prévalais de la Roche
|450
|Escaped to the Vilaine
|-
|''Brillant''
|64
|Keremar Boischateau
|450
|Escaped to the Vilaine
|-
|'''''Third Division'''''
|-
|''Formidable''
|80
|Capt. St André
|800
|Flagship of De Saint André du Vergé – Taken by ''Resolution''
|-
|''Magnifique''
|74
|Bigot de Morogues
|650
|Escaped to Rochefort
|-
|''[[French ship Héros (1750)|Héros]]''
|74
|Vicomte de Sanzay
|650
|Surrendered, but ran aground next day during heavy weather, burnt
|-
|''Juste''
|70
|François de Saint Allouarn
|630
|Wrecked in the Loire
|-
|''Inflexible''
|64
|Tancrede
|540
|Lost at the entrance to the Vilaine
|-
|''Sphinx''
|64
|Goyon
|450
|
|-
|''Bizarre''
|64
|Prince de Montbazon
|450
|Escaped to Rochefort
|-
|'''''Frigates and corvettes'''''
|-
|''Hébé''
|40
|
|120
|Returned to Brest
|-
|''Vestale''
|
|
|
|Escaped to the Vilaine
|-
|''Aigrette''
|
|
|
|Escaped to the Vilaine
|-
|''Calypso''
|
|
|
|Escaped to the Vilaine
|-
|''Prince Noir''/''Noire''
|
|
|
|Escaped to the Vilaine
|-
|'''''Other'''''
|-
|''Vengeance''
|?
|
|
|-
|}

====Britain====
{|
|'''Name'''
|'''Guns'''
|'''Commander'''
|'''Men'''
|'''Notes'''
|-
|[[HMS Royal George (1756)|''Royal George'']]
|100
|Captain Campbell
|880
|Flagship of [[Edward Hawke|Sir Edward Hawke]]
|-
|''Union''
|90
|Captain J. Evans
|770
|Flagship of [[Charles Hardy|Sir Charles Hardy]]
|-
|''Duke''
|80
|Capt. [[Thomas Graves, 1st Baron Graves|Thomas Graves]]
|800
|
|-
|''Namur''
|90
|M. Buckle
|780
|
|-
|''Resolution''
|74
|H. Speke
|600
|Wrecked on Le Four shoal
|-
|''Hero''
|74
|G. Edgecumbe
|600
|
|-
|''Warspite''
|74
|Sir John Bentley
|600
|
|-
|''Hercules''
|74
|W. Fortescue
|600
|
|-
|''Torbay''
|70
|[[Augustus Keppel, 1st Viscount Keppel|Augustus Keppel]]
|520
|
|-
|''Magnanime''
|70
|[[Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe|Viscount Howe]]
|520
|
|-
|''Mars''
|70
|Commodore James Young
|520
|
|-
|''Swiftsure''
|70
|Sir Thomas Stanhope
|520
|
|-
|''Dorsetshire''
|70
|[[Sir Peter Denis, 1st Baronet|Peter Denis]]
|520
|
|-
|''Burford''
|70
|G. Gambier
|520
|
|-
|''Chichester''
|70
|W. S. Willet
|520
|
|-
|''Temple''
|70
|Hon. W. Shirley
|520
|
|-
|''Essex''
|64
|Lucius O'Brien
|480
|Wrecked on Le Four shoal
|-
|''Revenge''
|64
|J. Storr
|480
|
|-
|''Montague''
|60
|Joseph Rowley
|400
|
|-
|''Kingston''
|60
|Thomas Shirley
|400
|
|-
|''Intrepid''
|60
|J. Maplesden
|400
|
|-
|''Dunkirk''
|60
|R. Digby
|420
|
|-
|''Defiance''
|60
|P. Baird
|420
|
|-
|''Chatham''
|50
|J. Lockhart
|350
|
|-
|''Minerva''
|32
|A. Hood
|220
|
|-
|''Venus''
|36
|T. Harrison
|240
|
|-
|''Vengeance''
|28
|F. Burslem
|200
|
|-
|''Coventry''
|28
|D. Digges
|200
|
|-
|''Sapphire''
|32
|J. Strachan
|220
|
|}



===Sources and references===
*Clowes, W.L. (ed.). ''The Royal Navy; A History, from the Earliest Times to the Present'', Volume III. (London 1898).
*Jenkins, E.H. ''A History of the French Navy'' (London 1973).
*Mackay, R.F. ''Admiral Hawke'' (Oxford 1965).
*Marcus, G. ''Quiberon Bay; The Campaign in Home Waters, 1759'' (London, 1960).
*Tunstall, Brian and Tracy, Nicholas (ed.). ''Naval Warfare in the Age of Sail. The Evolution of Fighting Tactics, 1650-1815'' (London, 1990).
*{{1911}}

===External links===
{{Commonscat|Battle of Quiberon Bay}}
* [http://www.royal-navy.mod.uk/server/show/conWebDoc.1590/changeNav/3533 Royal Navy page on the battle]

[[Category:Naval battles of the Seven Years' War|Quiberon Bay]]
[[Category:1759]]

[[fr:Bataille des Cardinaux]]
[[pl:Bitwa w zatoce Quiberon]]

Charles Townshend (Politiker)

2007-03-10T18:26:34Z

Rgmmortimore: /* Politics */ Link

:''This page is on the former [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]]. His father was named [[Charles Townshend, 3rd Viscount Townshend|Charles]], as was his [[Charles Townshend, 2nd Viscount Townshend|grandfather, "Turnip Townshend"]].''

'''Charles Townshend''' ([[August 29]], [[1725]] – [[September 4]], [[1767]]), was born at his family's seat of [[Raynham Hall]] in [[Norfolk]], [[England]]. He was a politician and the second son of [[Charles Townshend, 3rd Viscount Townshend]], and Audrey (d. 1788), daughter and heiress of Edward Harrison of Ball's Park, near Hertford, a lady who rivalled her son in brilliancy of wit and frankness of expression.

==Early years==
Charles was sent for his education to [[university of Leiden|Leiden]] and [[university of Oxford|Oxford]]. At the Dutch university, where he matriculated on [[October 27]], [[1745]], he associated with a small knot of English youths, afterwards well known in various circles of life, among whom were [[William Dowdeswell|Dowdeswell]], [[John Wilkes|Wilkes]], the witty and unprincipled reformer, and [[Alexander Carlyle]], the genial Scotsman, who devotes some of the pages of his ''Autobiography'' to chronicling their sayings and their doings.

He represented [[Great Yarmouth (UK Parliament constituency)|Great Yarmouth]] in [[Parliament of Great Britain|Parliament]] from 1747 to 1756, when he found a seat for the admiralty borough of [[Saltash (UK Parliament constituency)|Saltash]], subsequently transferring in 1761 to [[Harwich (UK Parliament constituency)|Harwich]], another borough where the seat was in the government's gift. Public attention was first drawn to his abilities in 1753, when he delivered a lively attack, as a younger son who might hope to promote his advancement by allying himself in marriage to a wealthy heiress, against [[Philip Yorke, 1st Earl of Hardwicke|Lord Hardwicke]]'s marriage bill. Although this measure passed into law, he attained this object in August 1755 by marrying [[Caroline Townshend, 1st Baroness Greenwich|Caroline Campbell]] (d. 1794), the eldest daughter of the 2nd duke of Argyll and the widow of Francis, Lord Dalkeith, the eldest son of the 2nd duke of Buccleuch.

==Politics==
In April [[1754]] Townshend was transformed from the position of a member of the [[Board of Trade]], which he had held from 1749, to that of a [[Lord of the Admiralty]], but at the close of 1755 his passionate attack against the policy of the ministry, an attack which shared in popular estimation with the scathing denunciations of [[William Pitt the Elder|Pitt]], the supreme success of [[William Gerard Hamilton|Single-Speech Hamilton]], and the hopeless failure of Lord Chesterfield's illegitimate son, caused his resignation. In the administration which was formed in November 1756, and which was ruled by Pitt, the lucrative office of treasurer of the chamber was given to Townshend, and in the following spring he was summoned to the privy council.

With the accession of the new monarch in [[1760]] this volatile politician transferred his attentions from Pitt to the young king's favorite, [[John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute|Bute]], and when in 1761, at the latter's instance, several changes were made in the ministry, Townshend was promoted to the post of secretary-at-war. In this place he remained after the great commoner had withdrawn from the cabinet, but in December 1762 he threw it up. Bute, alarmed at the growth in numbers and in influence of his enemies, tried to buy back Townshend's co-operation by sundry tempting promises, and at last secured his object in March 1763 with the presidency of the board of trade.

When Bute retired and [[George Grenville]] accepted the cares of official life, the higher post of first lord of the admiralty fell to Townshend's lot, but with his usual impetuosity he presumed to designate one of his satellites, Sir William Burrell (1732-1796), to a place under him at the board, and the refusal to accept the nomination led to his exclusion from the new administration. While in opposition his mind was swayed to and fro with conflicting emotions of dislike to the head of the ministry and of desire to share in the spoils of office. The latter feeling ultimately triumphed; he condescended to accept in the dying days of Grenville's cabinet, and to retain through the "lutestring" administration of [[Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham|Lord Rockingham]] "pretty summer wear," as Townshend styled it, "but it will never stand the winter" the highly paid position of paymaster-general, refusing to identify himself more closely with its fortunes as [[chancellor of the exchequer]].

The position which he refused from the hands of Lord Rockingham he accepted from Pitt in August 1766, and a few weeks later his urgent appeals to the great minister for increased power were favorably answered, and he was admitted to the inner circle of the cabinet. The new chancellor proposed the continuance of the land tax at four shillings in the pound, while he held out hopes that it might be reduced next year to three shillings, whereupon his predecessor, William Dowdeswell, by the aid of the landed gentlemen, carried a motion that the reduction should take effect at once.

This defeat proved a great mortification to Lord Chatham, and in his irritation against Townshend for this blow, as well as for some acts of insubordination, he meditated the removal of his showy colleague. Before this could be accomplished Chatham's mind became impaired, and Townshend, who was the most determined and influential of his colleagues, swayed the ministry as he liked, pledging himself to find a revenue in America with which to meet the deficiency caused by the reduction in the land tax. His wife was created (August 1767) baroness of Greenwich, and his elder brother George, the 4th viscount, was made lord-lieutenant of [[Ireland]].

He himself delivered in the [[British House of Commons|House of Commons]] many speeches unrivalled in parliamentary history for wit and recklessness; and one of them still lives in history as the "champagne speech." His last official act was to carry out his intention by passing through parliament resolutions, which even his colleagues deprecated in the cabinet, for taxing several articles, such as [[glass]], [[paper]] and [[tea]], on their importation into [[United States|America]], which he estimated would produce the insignificant sum of 40,000 for the English treasury, and which shrewder observers prophesied would lead to the loss of the American colonies. These measures were known as the [[Townshend Acts]], and he received the support of his cousin [[Thomas Townshend, 1st Viscount Sydney|Thomas Townshend]] who was also a minister in the government. Soon after this event he died somewhat suddenly on the 4th of September 1767.

==Appraisal==
Daof Townshend's colleagues allows him the possession of boundless wit and ready eloquence, set off by perfect melody of intonation, but marred by an unexampled lack of judgment and discretion. He shifted his ground in politics with every new moon, and the world fastened on him the nickname, which he himself adopted in his "champagne" speech, of the weathercock. His official knowledge was considerable; and it would be unjust to his memory to ignore the praises of his contemporaries or his knowledge of his country's commercial interests. The House of Commons recognized in him its spoilt child, and [[Edmund Burke|Burke]] happily said that "he never thought, did or said anything" without judging its effect on his fellow members.

From the [http://www.mspong.org/percy/senate.htm Percy Anecdotes] we read; "If we can believe the evidence of his contemporaries, Charles Townshend must have been one of the most accomplished senators that ever sat in Parliament. He was a man of the most pointed wit, and of the most polished eloquence. His speeches in the House of Commons never lasted more than half an hour, and he had, in that time, always debated his subject without fatiguing his hearers. [[Edmund Burke|Mr. Burke]], who knew him well, has paid his talents the tribute of a splendid eulogy. ' ''In truth,'' ' says he, ' ''Charles Townshend was the delight and ornament of the House; and if he had not so great a share of knowledge long treasured up, as some have had who flourished formerly, he knew better than any other man I ever was acquainted with how to bring together, within a short time, all that was necessary to establish, to illustrate, and to decorate that ride of the question he supported. He stated his matter skilfully and powerfully; he particularly excelled in a most luminous explanation and display of his subject; his style of argument was neither trite nor vulgar, nor subtle and abstruse; he hit the house just between wind and water; and not being troubled with too anxious a zeal for any matter in question, was never more tedious, or more earnest, than the preconceived opinions and present temper of his hearers required, to whom he was always in perfect unison; he conformed exactly to the temper of the house, and seemed to guide, because he was always sure to follow it.''

' ''Failings,'' ' continues [[Edmund Burke|Mr. Burke]], ' ''he undoubtedly had; many of us remember them. But he had no failings which were not owing to a noble cause, to an ardent, generous, perhaps an immoderate, passion for fame; a passion which is the instinct of all great souls. He worshipped that goddess wherever she appeared, but he paid his particular devotions to her in her favourite habitation, in her chosen temple, the House of Commons. He was truly the child of the House; he never did, thought, or said anything but with a view to it; he every day adapted himself to your disposition, and adjusted himself before you, as at a looking-glass.'' '"

The town of Townshend in Vermont, USA was named after Charles Townshend in 1753.

A ''Memoir'' by Percy Fitzgerald was published in 1866. See also [[William Edward Hartpole Lecky|WEH Lecky]], ''History of England'' (1892); and [[Horace Walpole]], ''Memoirs of the Reign of George III.'', edited by GFR Barker (1894).

==References==
* ''The Percy Anecdotes'', 1823, Reuben and Sholto Percy [[http://www.mspong.org/percy/index.htm]]

{{start box}}
{{succession box | title=[[Treasurer of the Chamber]] | before=[[Wills Hill, 1st Marquess of Downshire|The Earl of Hillsborough]] | after=[[Francis Dashwood, 15th Baron le Despencer|Sir Francis Dashwood, Bt]] | years=1756–1761}}
{{succession box | title=[[Paymaster of the Forces]] | before=[[Henry Fox, 1st Baron Holland|The Lord Holland]] | after=[[Frederick North, Lord North|Lord North]]''' and '''[[George Cooke]] | years=1765–1766}}
{{succession box| title=[[Chancellor of the Exchequer]] | before=[[William Dowdeswell]] | after=[[Frederick North, Lord North|Lord North]] | years=1766–1767}}
{{end box}}
{{Chancellor of the Exchequer}}

[[Category:Chancellors of the Exchequer|Townshend, Charles]]
[[Category:Lords of the Admiralty|Townshend, Charles]]
[[Category:Paymasters of the Forces|Townshend, Charles]]
[[Category:Members of the Parliament of Great Britain|Townshend, Charles]]
[[Category:Younger sons of viscounts|Townshend, Charles]]
[[Category:1725 births|Townshend, Charles]]
[[Category:1767 deaths|Townshend, Charles]]

----
*{{1911}}

[[he:צ'ארלס טאונסנד]]

Charles Townshend (Politiker)

2007-03-10T18:24:56Z

Rgmmortimore: /* Early years */ Correction - sat for Saltash not Yarmouth 1756-61

:''This page is on the former [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]]. His father was named [[Charles Townshend, 3rd Viscount Townshend|Charles]], as was his [[Charles Townshend, 2nd Viscount Townshend|grandfather, "Turnip Townshend"]].''

'''Charles Townshend''' ([[August 29]], [[1725]] – [[September 4]], [[1767]]), was born at his family's seat of [[Raynham Hall]] in [[Norfolk]], [[England]]. He was a politician and the second son of [[Charles Townshend, 3rd Viscount Townshend]], and Audrey (d. 1788), daughter and heiress of Edward Harrison of Ball's Park, near Hertford, a lady who rivalled her son in brilliancy of wit and frankness of expression.

==Early years==
Charles was sent for his education to [[university of Leiden|Leiden]] and [[university of Oxford|Oxford]]. At the Dutch university, where he matriculated on [[October 27]], [[1745]], he associated with a small knot of English youths, afterwards well known in various circles of life, among whom were [[William Dowdeswell|Dowdeswell]], [[John Wilkes|Wilkes]], the witty and unprincipled reformer, and [[Alexander Carlyle]], the genial Scotsman, who devotes some of the pages of his ''Autobiography'' to chronicling their sayings and their doings.

He represented [[Great Yarmouth (UK Parliament constituency)|Great Yarmouth]] in [[Parliament of Great Britain|Parliament]] from 1747 to 1756, when he found a seat for the admiralty borough of [[Saltash (UK Parliament constituency)|Saltash]], subsequently transferring in 1761 to [[Harwich (UK Parliament constituency)|Harwich]], another borough where the seat was in the government's gift. Public attention was first drawn to his abilities in 1753, when he delivered a lively attack, as a younger son who might hope to promote his advancement by allying himself in marriage to a wealthy heiress, against [[Philip Yorke, 1st Earl of Hardwicke|Lord Hardwicke]]'s marriage bill. Although this measure passed into law, he attained this object in August 1755 by marrying [[Caroline Townshend, 1st Baroness Greenwich|Caroline Campbell]] (d. 1794), the eldest daughter of the 2nd duke of Argyll and the widow of Francis, Lord Dalkeith, the eldest son of the 2nd duke of Buccleuch.

==Politics==
In April [[1754]] Townshend was transformed from the position of a member of the [[Board of Trade]], which he had held from 1749, to that of a [[Lord of the Admiralty]], but at the close of 1755 his passionate attack against the policy of the ministry, an attack which shared in popular estimation with the scathing denunciations of [[William Pitt the Elder|Pitt]], the supreme success of Single-Speech Hamilton, and the hopeless failure of Lord Chesterfield's illegitimate son, caused his resignation. In the administration which was formed in November 1756, and which was ruled by Pitt, the lucrative office of treasurer of the chamber was given to Townshend, and in the following spring he was summoned to the privy council.

With the accession of the new monarch in [[1760]] this volatile politician transferred his attentions from Pitt to the young king's favorite, [[John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute|Bute]], and when in 1761, at the latter's instance, several changes were made in the ministry, Townshend was promoted to the post of secretary-at-war. In this place he remained after the great commoner had withdrawn from the cabinet, but in December 1762 he threw it up. Bute, alarmed at the growth in numbers and in influence of his enemies, tried to buy back Townshend's co-operation by sundry tempting promises, and at last secured his object in March 1763 with the presidency of the board of trade.

When Bute retired and [[George Grenville]] accepted the cares of official life, the higher post of first lord of the admiralty fell to Townshend's lot, but with his usual impetuosity he presumed to designate one of his satellites, Sir William Burrell (1732-1796), to a place under him at the board, and the refusal to accept the nomination led to his exclusion from the new administration. While in opposition his mind was swayed to and fro with conflicting emotions of dislike to the head of the ministry and of desire to share in the spoils of office. The latter feeling ultimately triumphed; he condescended to accept in the dying days of Grenville's cabinet, and to retain through the "lutestring" administration of [[Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham|Lord Rockingham]] "pretty summer wear," as Townshend styled it, "but it will never stand the winter" the highly paid position of paymaster-general, refusing to identify himself more closely with its fortunes as [[chancellor of the exchequer]].

The position which he refused from the hands of Lord Rockingham he accepted from Pitt in August 1766, and a few weeks later his urgent appeals to the great minister for increased power were favorably answered, and he was admitted to the inner circle of the cabinet. The new chancellor proposed the continuance of the land tax at four shillings in the pound, while he held out hopes that it might be reduced next year to three shillings, whereupon his predecessor, William Dowdeswell, by the aid of the landed gentlemen, carried a motion that the reduction should take effect at once.

This defeat proved a great mortification to Lord Chatham, and in his irritation against Townshend for this blow, as well as for some acts of insubordination, he meditated the removal of his showy colleague. Before this could be accomplished Chatham's mind became impaired, and Townshend, who was the most determined and influential of his colleagues, swayed the ministry as he liked, pledging himself to find a revenue in America with which to meet the deficiency caused by the reduction in the land tax. His wife was created (August 1767) baroness of Greenwich, and his elder brother George, the 4th viscount, was made lord-lieutenant of [[Ireland]].

He himself delivered in the [[British House of Commons|House of Commons]] many speeches unrivalled in parliamentary history for wit and recklessness; and one of them still lives in history as the "champagne speech." His last official act was to carry out his intention by passing through parliament resolutions, which even his colleagues deprecated in the cabinet, for taxing several articles, such as [[glass]], [[paper]] and [[tea]], on their importation into [[United States|America]], which he estimated would produce the insignificant sum of 40,000 for the English treasury, and which shrewder observers prophesied would lead to the loss of the American colonies. These measures were known as the [[Townshend Acts]], and he received the support of his cousin [[Thomas Townshend, 1st Viscount Sydney|Thomas Townshend]] who was also a minister in the government. Soon after this event he died somewhat suddenly on the 4th of September 1767.

==Appraisal==
Daof Townshend's colleagues allows him the possession of boundless wit and ready eloquence, set off by perfect melody of intonation, but marred by an unexampled lack of judgment and discretion. He shifted his ground in politics with every new moon, and the world fastened on him the nickname, which he himself adopted in his "champagne" speech, of the weathercock. His official knowledge was considerable; and it would be unjust to his memory to ignore the praises of his contemporaries or his knowledge of his country's commercial interests. The House of Commons recognized in him its spoilt child, and [[Edmund Burke|Burke]] happily said that "he never thought, did or said anything" without judging its effect on his fellow members.

From the [http://www.mspong.org/percy/senate.htm Percy Anecdotes] we read; "If we can believe the evidence of his contemporaries, Charles Townshend must have been one of the most accomplished senators that ever sat in Parliament. He was a man of the most pointed wit, and of the most polished eloquence. His speeches in the House of Commons never lasted more than half an hour, and he had, in that time, always debated his subject without fatiguing his hearers. [[Edmund Burke|Mr. Burke]], who knew him well, has paid his talents the tribute of a splendid eulogy. ' ''In truth,'' ' says he, ' ''Charles Townshend was the delight and ornament of the House; and if he had not so great a share of knowledge long treasured up, as some have had who flourished formerly, he knew better than any other man I ever was acquainted with how to bring together, within a short time, all that was necessary to establish, to illustrate, and to decorate that ride of the question he supported. He stated his matter skilfully and powerfully; he particularly excelled in a most luminous explanation and display of his subject; his style of argument was neither trite nor vulgar, nor subtle and abstruse; he hit the house just between wind and water; and not being troubled with too anxious a zeal for any matter in question, was never more tedious, or more earnest, than the preconceived opinions and present temper of his hearers required, to whom he was always in perfect unison; he conformed exactly to the temper of the house, and seemed to guide, because he was always sure to follow it.''

' ''Failings,'' ' continues [[Edmund Burke|Mr. Burke]], ' ''he undoubtedly had; many of us remember them. But he had no failings which were not owing to a noble cause, to an ardent, generous, perhaps an immoderate, passion for fame; a passion which is the instinct of all great souls. He worshipped that goddess wherever she appeared, but he paid his particular devotions to her in her favourite habitation, in her chosen temple, the House of Commons. He was truly the child of the House; he never did, thought, or said anything but with a view to it; he every day adapted himself to your disposition, and adjusted himself before you, as at a looking-glass.'' '"

The town of Townshend in Vermont, USA was named after Charles Townshend in 1753.

A ''Memoir'' by Percy Fitzgerald was published in 1866. See also [[William Edward Hartpole Lecky|WEH Lecky]], ''History of England'' (1892); and [[Horace Walpole]], ''Memoirs of the Reign of George III.'', edited by GFR Barker (1894).

==References==
* ''The Percy Anecdotes'', 1823, Reuben and Sholto Percy [[http://www.mspong.org/percy/index.htm]]

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{{succession box | title=[[Paymaster of the Forces]] | before=[[Henry Fox, 1st Baron Holland|The Lord Holland]] | after=[[Frederick North, Lord North|Lord North]]''' and '''[[George Cooke]] | years=1765–1766}}
{{succession box| title=[[Chancellor of the Exchequer]] | before=[[William Dowdeswell]] | after=[[Frederick North, Lord North|Lord North]] | years=1766–1767}}
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{{Chancellor of the Exchequer}}

[[Category:Chancellors of the Exchequer|Townshend, Charles]]
[[Category:Lords of the Admiralty|Townshend, Charles]]
[[Category:Paymasters of the Forces|Townshend, Charles]]
[[Category:Members of the Parliament of Great Britain|Townshend, Charles]]
[[Category:Younger sons of viscounts|Townshend, Charles]]
[[Category:1725 births|Townshend, Charles]]
[[Category:1767 deaths|Townshend, Charles]]

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*{{1911}}

[[he:צ'ארלס טאונסנד]]

Evan Nepean

2007-02-11T15:52:25Z

Rgmmortimore: typos

'''Sir Evan Nepean, 1st Baronet''' ([[9 July]] [[1751]] or 1753 near Saltash, [[Cornwall]] – [[2 October]] [[1822]]) was a British politician and colonial administrator.

He served as the first effective Permanent [[Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department]] April 1782-December 1791, [[Under-Secretary of State for War]] in 1794, secretary to the Board of [[Admiralty]] 1795-1804, [[Chief Secretary for Ireland]] 1804-1805, [[Commissioner of the Admiralty]], and [[governor]] of [[Bombay]] 1812-1819.

He was [[Member of Parliament]] for [[Queenborough (UK Parliament constituency)|Queenborough]] from 1796 till 1802, then moving to [[Bridport (UK Parliament constituency)|Bridport]] where he remained until 1812. He was made a [[baronet]] in 1802 and was elevated to the [[Privy Council of the United Kingdom]] in 1804.

The town of [[Nepean, Ontario]], [[Canada]], the [[Nepean River]] in [[New South Wales]], [[Australia]] and the [[Nepean Highway]] from Melbourne to Portsea in the south east of [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]], [[Australia]] and the Nepean Sea Road in [[Mumbai]], [[India]], were all named after him.

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{{succession box | title=[[Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department]] | before=None | after=[[Thomas Orde]] | years=1782}}
{{succession box | title=[[Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department]] | years=1782–1794 | before=[[John Bell]] | after=[[John King]]}}
{{succession box | title=[[Under-Secretary of State for War]] | before=None | after=[[William Huskisson]] | years=1794–1795}}
{{succession box | title=[[First Secretary to the Admiralty]] | years=1795–1804 | before=[[Philip Stephens]] | after=[[William Marsden]]}}
{{succession box | title=[[Chief Secretary for Ireland]] | years=1804–1805 | before=[[William Wickham]] | after=[[Nicholas Vansittart, 1st Baron Bexley|Nicholas Vansittart]]}}
{{succession box | title=[[Governor of Bombay]] | before=[[Jonathan Duncan]] | after=[[Mountstuart Elphinstone]] | years=1812–1819}}
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==External links==
*[http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/docs/hohist.html History of the Home Office 1782-1982]

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[[Category:Members of the Parliament of Great Britain|Nepean, Evan]]
[[Category:Members of the United Kingdom Parliament from English constituencies|Nepean, Evan]]
[[Category:British Secretaries of State|Nepean, Evan]]
[[Category:Lords of the Admiralty|Nepean, Evan]]
[[Category:Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom|Nepean, Evan]]
[[Category:Administrators in British India|Nepean, Evan]]
[[Category:Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom|Nepean, Evan, 1st Baronet]]
[[Category:People from Saltash|Nepean, Evan]]
[[Category:Cornish politicians|Nepean, Evan]]
[[Category:1750s births|Nepean, Evan]]
[[Category:1822 deaths|Nepean, Evan]]

[[fr:Evan Nepean]]