Philip Stanhope, 1st Earl of Chesterfield

Philip Stanhope, 1st Earl of Chesterfield (1584 – 12 September 1656) was an English nobleman, aristocrat and royalist, who was created the first Earl of Chesterfield by King Charles I in 1628.

Coat of arms of the Earls of Chesterfield

Biography

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Stanhope was the only son of Sir John Stanhope of Shelford, Nottinghamshire by his first wife, Cordell Allington,[1] but was raised by his father's second wife, Catherine Trentham (d. 1621).[2]

Stanhope was knighted in 1605 by James I. On 7 November 1616, he was created Baron Stanhope and was further elevated as Earl of Chesterfield on 4 August 1628.[3][4]

Leading up to the English Civil War, Chesterfield was summoned to Parliament in 1640 and took the side of King Charles I in the threatening conflict. When the conflict broke out he and his sons took up arms. Shelford Manor, his home in Nottinghamshire, was garrisoned under the command of his son Philip. The house was attacked and his son lost his life defending it on 3 November 1645. The Parliamentarian army took the house and burnt it to the ground.

Chesterfield, with an army of some 300 gentlemen and supporters sometime earlier had taken Lichfield for the King. They were attacked by a force led by Sir John Gell and Lord Brooke with 200 men and cannon. Lord Brooke was killed in the encounter on 2 March 1643. Chesterfield's forces were forced to surrender and were made prisoner. Chesterfield himself was imprisoned and held on parole at his house in Covent Garden in lieu of being committed to the Tower of London.[5] He died still in captivity on 12 September 1656, some three and a half years before the Restoration in 1660.

Family

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In 1604, Stanhope married Catherine Hastings (d. 1636), daughter of Francis Hastings, Lord Hastings. According to Sir Egerton Brydges pp. 23,[6] Catherine and Philip had eleven sons and two daughters:

After the death of his first wife, he married Anne Packington, daughter of John Pakington (died 1625),[7] with whom he had one son -

References

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  1. ^ "Chesterfield, Earl of (E, 1628 – 1967)". Cracroft's Peerage. Heraldic Media Limited. Archived from the original on 25 November 2012. Retrieved 9 December 2012.
  2. ^ "Philip Stanhope 1st Earl of Chesterfield (I4618)". W.H. Auden – 'Family Ghosts'. stanford.edu. Retrieved 9 December 2012.
  3. ^ Collin's Peerage of England by Sir Egerton Brydges, K.J.: in nine volumes: VOL. III 1812: Earl of Chesterfield: pp. 421- 433
  4. ^ Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages – Peerages beginning with "S" (part 5)[self-published source] [better source needed]
  5. ^ "Bedford Street and Chandos Place Area: Bedford Street Pages 253-263 Survey of London: Volume 36, Covent Garden". British History Online. LCC 1970. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
  6. ^ Collin's Peerage of England by Sir Egerton Brydges, K.J.: in nine volumes: VOL. III 1812: Earl of Chesterfield: pp. 421- 433
  7. ^ Lee, Sidney, ed. (1895). "Pakington, John (1549-1625)" . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 43. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
  8. ^ Lipscomb, George. The History and Antiquities of the County of Buckingham. Vol. 3. p. 1847.
Peerage of England
New title Earl of Chesterfield
1628–1656
Succeeded by
Baron Stanhope of Shelford
1616–1656