William Feilding, 1st Earl of Denbigh

William Feilding, 1st Earl of Denbigh (c. 1587 – 8 April 1643, Cannock)[1] was an English courtier. Brother-in- law and close ally of the royal favourite, the Duke of Buckingham, Feilding became involved in major political, military and diplomatic events during the latter part of the reign of James I and under Charles I. [lower-alpha 1]

In 1631 Feilding traveled with the East India Company to India. On his return, Van Dyck painted him in oriental dress

Biography
See also: Earl of Denbigh
1631 portrait of Feilding

William Feilding was the son of Basil Feilding of Newnham Paddox in Warwickshire (High Sheriff of Warwickshire in 1612) and of Elizabeth Aston, daughter of Sir Walter Aston (1530–1599).[2][3][4] Feilding matriculated at Emmanuel College, Cambridge in 1603[5] and was Knighted on 4 March 1607.[1]

Ally of the Duke of Buckingham

In 1606 Feilding married Susan Villiers, daughter of another local knight. From around 1615, Susan's brother, George Villiers, became the favourite and self-described lover of King James I; George rose rapidly in status and influence and was made Duke of Buckingham in 1623. With the rise of Villiers, both Feilding and his wife received various offices and dignities.[2]The historian Gardiner in the nineteenth century described William Feilding as ‘The plain country gentleman who had the good luck to marry Buckingham's sister in the days of her poverty.’[6]

William Feilding was created Baron and Viscount Feilding in 1620. Two years later he was appointed Master of the Great Wardrobe and Custos Rotulorum of Warwickshire and Earl of Denbigh on 14 September 1622.[1]

Denbigh played a leading role in a number of failed political and military interventions in Europe that had been initiated by Buckingham. In 1623, Denbigh attended the Prince of Wales (the future Charles I) and Buckingham on the Spanish adventure, a failed attempt to persuade the Infanta of Spain to marry the Prince. In 1625, Denbigh served as admiral in the unsuccessful Cadiz Expedition. In 1628, Denbigh commanded the second naval attempt to relieve the Siege of Rochelle but returned to Portsmouth without engagement, as Denbigh said that he had no commission to hazard the king's ships in a fight.[7]

He became in 1628 a member of the Council of war.

Journey to the East

Buckingham was assassinated in 1628 and, with little to do, in 1631, Lord Denbigh ventured to the East as a "noble tourist" - a highly unusual choice for a man of his status and age (Denbigh was over 50 years old).[8]

I have obtained leave from the King to make a voyage in the East India ship (as a volunteer) to the King of Persia and the Great Mogul; in which voyage I hope to better my understanding and not impeach my estate. These doings, I have thought better to undertake than to live at home, get nothing, and spend all. And so I leave you to God's protection.

— A letter from the 1st Earl of Denbigh to his eldest son, reported by Cecilia, Countess of Denbigh in her 1915 family history and cited by MacIntyre, 2001[9][8]

Though he had impressively-presented letters of recommendation from the King, he did not travel as an official ambassador and journeyed with only six servants: the East India Company were unenthusiastic about their aristocratic passenger. With his unimpressive retinue, Denbigh was treated with disdain by the Moghul Governor of Surat who refused to meet Denbigh and made him travel on to meet the Moghul Emperor Shah Jahan by bullock-cart. [8] There are no direct reports of the outcome of the meeting, though it seems he did meet with the Mogul emperor. He returned to England in late 1633.[10][8][11]

Later life and the civil war

In 1633 he was made a member of the Council of Wales and the Marches.

On 6 July 1641 a barge carrying Feilding, his daughter Elizabeth, Lady Kinalmeaky, Lady Cornwallis, and Anne Kirke capsized while shooting the rapids at London Bridge. Kirke was drowned but the other passengers were rescued.[12]

On the outbreak of the English Civil War he served under Prince Rupert of the Rhine and was present at the Battle of Edgehill. On 3 April 1643 during Rupert's attack on Birmingham he was wounded and died from the effects on the 8th, being buried at Monks Kirby in Warwickshire. His courage, unselfishness and devotion to duty are much praised by Edward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon.[2]

Family

Sir William and his wife, Susan Villiers, had six children:

His daughter, Lady Mary Feilding (1613–1638), also known as Margaret, was married to James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Hamilton, one of the heirs to the throne of Scotland after the descendants of James VI (James I of England). Her portrait was painted by Anthony van Dyck and Henry Pierce Bone. His eldest son, Basil, inherited the title of Earl of Denbigh. His second son, George Feilding, was awarded the right to the title of Earl of Desmond at the same time as his father was made Earl of Denbigh in 1622. George Feilding was around eight years old at the time. Earl of Desmond was a lesser title than Earl of Denbigh, being a title in the Irish, rather than English, peerage.

Ancestry

Notes
  1. Attribution: This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Denbigh, William Feilding, 1st Earl of". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 8 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 17.

References
Wikisource has the text of the 1885–1900 Dictionary of National Biography's article about Feilding, William.
  1. Thrush, Andrew (January 2008) [2004], "Feilding, William, first earl of Denbigh (c. 1587–1643)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.), Oxford University Press, doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/9251 (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  2. Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Denbigh, William Feilding, 1st Earl of" . Encyclopædia Britannica (Eleventh ed.). Cambridge University Press – via Wikisource.
  3. Lundy, Darryl (4 March 2011). William Feilding, 1st Earl of Denbigh. Peerage.com. p. 10941 § 109408. Retrieved 1 November 2013.
  4. Cokayne, G.E.; et al. (2000). The Complete Peerage. Vol. IV (new reprint in 6 volumes ed.). Gloucester, UK: Alan Sutton Publishing. p. 178.
  5. "Feilding, William (FLDN603W)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  6. Firth, Charles Harding (1889). "Feilding, William" . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 18. p. 290.
  7. An apprenticeship in arms by Roger Burrow Manning, p. 119
  8. MacIntyre, Jean (2001). "The Eastern Journey of William Feilding, earl of Denbigh". Quidditas. 22 (3).
  9. Cecilia, Countess of Denbigh (1915). Royalist Father and Roundhead Son. p. 76.
  10. Hedges, William (1889). Yule, Henry (ed.). The diary of William Hedges, esq. (afterwards Sir William Hedges), during his agency in Bengal : as well as on his voyage out and return overland (1681–1697). Vol. 2. London: Hakuyt Society. pp. cccxliv–cccxlvi.
  11. Hall, Margaret (1 January 1998). "The Visit of William Feilding, First Earl of Denbigh, to India, 1631 to 1633 A.D." South Asian Studies. 14 (1): 25–40. doi:10.1080/02666030.1998.9628549. ISSN 0266-6030.
  12. HMC 12th Report, Part II: Coke MSS, vol. 2 (London, 1888), p. 288.
  13. Colburn, Henry (1880), A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire, vol. 42:1, p. 354
  14. Debrett, John (1836). Debrett's Peerage of England, Scotland, and Ireland. p. 70.
  15. Debrett 1836, p. 70.
  16. Burke, John (1914). General and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire. Burke's Peerage Limited. pp. 593-594.
  17. Burke, Sir Bernard (1866). A Genealogical History of the Dormant: Abeyant, Forfeited, and Extinct Peerages of the British Empire. Harrison. p. 14.
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