Henry Bulkeley

Henry Bulkeley (c. 1641 – 1698) was an English courtier and politician. He was Master of the Household to Charles II and James II of England.

Birth and origins

Henry was born about 1641, a younger son of Thomas Bulkeley and his wife Blanche Coytmore.[1][2]

His father was created Viscount Bulkeley of Cashel, County Tipperary, Ireland, in 1643. His father's family were the Bulkeleys of Baronhill, Anglesey.[3]

Henry was the 4th of 5 brother.[2] See Robert and Thomas.

Early life

Bulkeley studied at Gray's Inn, where he was admitted in 1654, and at Queens' College, Cambridge, where he matriculated in 1657.[3] In 1664 he became an ensign in the Kings Guards in the Irish Army. From about 1669 to 1678 he was a captain.

Marriage and children

About November 1673 Bulkeley married Sophia Stewart, maid of honour to Queen Catherine of Braganza.[1]

Henry and Sophia had a son:

Françis or François, lieutenant-general[4], who married Marie-Anne O'Mahony, daughter of Daniel O'Mahony and Cecilia Weld.

—and four daughters:

Charlotte; first wife of Charles O'Brien, 5th Viscount Clare,[5][6] and later of Daniel O'Mahony.
Anne (c. 1675 – 1751), married James FitzJames, 1st Duke of Berwick, illegitimate son of James II.[7][8]
Henrietta, who died unmarried[9]
Laura, who died unmarried[9]

Master of the Household

In 1678 Bulkeley became Master of the Household, a sinecure.[10] He was appointed by Charles II and maintained in office by James II of England at his accession to the throne in 1685.

MP

Bulkeley was Member of Parliament from February 1679 to August 1679 for the constituency of Anglesey and in 1679 in October for Beaumaris and again in 1681 and 1685.[11]

Later Life and death

In 1695 Bulkeley quarrelled with Lord Clancarty.[12] In 1696, at the attempted assassination of King William, Bulkeley was in England and signed the Association to show his loyalty.[13]

Bulkeley committed suicide in 1698. In his will he told his son to return to England and conform to the established religion.[14]

References

Citations

Humphreys & Wynne 2004, p. 579, right column. "Sophia was appointed a maid of honour to Queen Catherine in 1671 and about November 1673 she married ... Henry Bulkeley (c. 1641 – 1689) fifth but third surviving son of Thomas, first viscount Bulkeley ..."
Burke 1883, p. 87. Henry was the 4th of 5 brothers enumerated in this source: Richard, Robert, Thomas, Henry, and Edwin
Venn & Venn 1922, p. 250, left column. "Bulkeley, Henry, Matric. [Matriculation] Fell.-Com. [Fellow-Commoner] from Queens', Michs. [Michaelmas] 1657. Of Wales, doubtless s. [son] of Thomas of Baronhill, Isle of Anglesey, Esq., adm. [admitted] at Gray's Inn, Apr. 12, 1654."
Corp 2004, p. 100, note 48. "After his death in 1698 the apartment was used by his widow, Lady Sophia Bulkeley, and then by his son, Lt. General Francis Bulkeley."
Seccombe & Elliot-Wright 2004, p. 353, left column. "On 9 January 1697 at St Germain-in-Laye he married Charlotte (d. in or after 1714), eldest daughter of Henry Buckeley, master of the household ..."
Cokayne 1913, p. 253, line 15. "He [Clare] m. [married], 9 Jan. 1696/7, at St. Germain-en-Laye, Charlotte, 1st da. [daughter] of the Hon. Henry Bulkeley, Master of the Household to Charles II and James II."
"Bulkeley, Sophia" . Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
Handley 2004, p. 882, right column. "In Paris on 18 April 1700, he married Anne (1675–1751), daughter of Henry Bulkeley, master of the household ..."
Corp 2004, p. 217, line 4. "At the exiled court Hamilton was at particulary good terms with the Duke of Berwick's second wife Anne (née Bulkeley) and her three sisters Charlotte (Viscomtess Clare), Henritee and Laura (both unmarried) ..."
Sainty & Bucholz 1997, p. xxviii, line 6. "... master of the household (positions which were, for the most part, sinecures) ..."
Henning 1983, p. 742, right column. "Bulkeley, Hon. Henry (c. 1641 – 1698), of Westminster Anglesey 1679 (Mar.) Beaumars 1679 (Oct.), 1681, 1685"
Corp 2004, p. 116. "When Henry Bulkeley (the husband of one of the ladies of the bedchamber) picked a quarrel with Lord Clancarty (a gentleman of the bedchamber) he was ordered by the king to 'beg pardon before the D. of Powis'."
Corp 2004, p. 49, line 14. " ...even men who had served as active Jacobite agents abjured their former loyalties: 'Henry Bacely [i.e. Henry Bulkeley] I hear has taken the oaths&nbsp...'."
Corp 2004, p. 49, note 221. "Bulkeley committed suicide two years later [in 1698], in his will, he recommended that his son renounce his Roman Catholic faith and return to England."

Sources

Burke, Bernard (1883). A Genealogical History of the Dormant, Abeyant, Forfeited and Extinct Peerages of the British Empire (New ed.). London: Harrison. OCLC 499232768.
Cokayne, George Edward (1913). Gibbs, Vicary (ed.). The complete peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, extant, extinct, or dormant. Vol. III (2nd ed.). London: St Catherine Press. OCLC 228661424. – Canonteign to Cutts
Corp, Edward T. (2004). A Court in Exile: The Stuarts in France, 1689-1718. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-58462-0.

Handley, Stuart (2004). "FitzJames, James (1650/51–1712)". In Matthew, Colin; Harrison, Brian (eds.). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 19. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 881–884. ISBN 0-19-861369-5.
Henning, Basil Duke (1983). The House of Commons 1660–1690. London: Secker & Warburg. ISBN 0-436-19274-8.
Humphreys, Jennett; Wynne, S. M. (2004). "Bulkeley [née Stuart], Lady Sophia (fl. 1660–1718)". In Matthew, Henry Colin Gray.; Harrison, Brian (eds.). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 8. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 579–580. ISBN 0-19-861411-X.
Sainty, Sir John Christopher; Bucholz, Robert O. (1997). Officials of the Royal Household 1660–1683: Department of the Lord Chamberlain and Associated Offices. London: University of London, Institute of Historical Research. ISBN 978-1-87134-840-8.
Seccombe, Thomas; Elliot-Wright, P. J. C. (2004). "O'Brien, Charles, styled fifth Viscount Clare (1670–1706)". In Matthew, Colin; Harrison, Brian (eds.). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 41. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 353. ISBN 0-19-861391-1.
Venn, John; Venn, J. A. (1922). Alumni Cantabrigienses: Part 1: From the Earliest Times to 1751. Vol. I. London: Cambridge University Press. OCLC 1039474173. – Abbas to Cutts