John Manners, 1st Duke of Rutland

For other people named John Manners, see John Manners (disambiguation).
John Manners
1st Duke of Rutland

John Manners, the 9th Earl of Rutland and the 1st Duke of Rutland, oil by Johann Closterman, 1679, Belvoir Castle
Father John Manners, 8th Earl of Rutland
Mother Frances Montagu
Born (1638-05-29)29 May 1638
Died 10 January 1711(1711-01-10) (aged 72)
Belvoir Castle

John Manners, 1st Duke of Rutland and 9th Earl of Rutland (29 May 1638 in Boughton – 10 January 1711 in Belvoir Castle) was a British MP, and Whig politician.

Life

He was the son of John Manners, 8th Earl of Rutland and Frances Montagu. His maternal grandparents were Sir Edward Montagu, 1st Baron Montagu of Boughton and his wife Elizabeth Jeffries. He was styled Lord Roos from 1641 until 1679.

He served, rather passively, as Member of Parliament for Leicestershire from 1661 until 1679. Politically he was a Whig, but did not attend court after 1689, preferring the life of a country magnate.

Lord Roos succeeded his father as Lord Lieutenant of Leicestershire in 1677, and proved an effective deputy of the crown. His invitation to Lord Sherard to stand with him for Leicestershire instead of a gentry candidate upset the Leicestershire gentry, and the Commons disallowed Roos' election. He was created Baron Manners of Haddon on 30 April 1679 and sent to the House of Lords instead, but succeeded as Earl of Rutland on 29 September 1679 at the death of his father. He retained his lord lieutenancy in 1681, despite supporting the Exclusion Bill, but was turned out by James II in 1687. Reappointed in 1689 after the Glorious Revolution, he resigned in 1702, to protest government promotion of Tory interests in Leicestershire. He was briefly Custos Rotulorum of Leicestershire thereafter (22 August 1702 – 22 March 1703). On 29 March 1703, his long support of Whig government was rewarded by his creation as Duke of Rutland and Marquess of Granby. Rutland was reappointed to the lord lieutenancy in 1706, which he retained until his death on 10 January 1711.[1]

Family

He married, firstly, Lady Anne Pierrepont, daughter of Henry Pierrepont, 1st Marquess of Dorchester, on 15 July 1658. The failure of their marriage attracted considerable attention, as divorce was not generally available at the time. He obtained a "separation from bed and board" in 1663 on grounds of her adultery, and private Acts of Parliament in 1667 bastardizing her issue since 1659 and granting him permission to remarry in 1670. This process required considerable expenditure and trouble.

The divorce proceedings aroused enormous public interest and had some political significance since among the regular attenders in the House of Lords was King Charles himself. By his own account he was only there for the entertainment, finding the debates "as good as a play"; but there was a rumour that the King intended to use the divorce as a precedent for divorcing his own childless Queen, Catherine of Braganza. In the event the rumour came to nothing, although the King, who now saw these debates as a useful guide to the opinions of the ruling class, began to regularly attend at the House of Lords. Peers became accustomed to "speaking to the fireside" (i.e. addressing themselves directly to the King, who, to indicate that he was only present as an observer, usually sat by the fire).

He married, secondly, Lady Diana Bruce, daughter of Robert Bruce, 2nd Earl of Elgin, on 10 November 1671. She died on 15 July 1672 in childbed.

He married, thirdly, Catherine Wriothesley Noel (d. 1733), daughter of Baptist Noel, 3rd Viscount Campden, on 8 January 1673 They had three children:

See also

List of deserters from James II to William of Orange

Notes

References

Parliament of England
Preceded by
Thomas Merry
Matthew Babington
Member of Parliament for Leicestershire
1661–1679
With: George Faunt 1661–1679
The Lord Sherard 1679
Succeeded by
The Lord Sherard
Sir John Hartopp, Bt
Honorary titles
Preceded by
The Earl of Rutland
Lord Lieutenant of Leicestershire
1677–1687
Succeeded by
The Earl of Huntingdon
Preceded by
The Earl of Huntingdon
Lord Lieutenant of Leicestershire
1689–1703
Succeeded by
The Earl of Denbigh
Preceded by
The Earl of Stamford
Custos Rotulorum of Leicestershire
1702–1703
Preceded by
The Earl of Denbigh
Lord Lieutenant of Leicestershire
1706–1711
Peerage of England
New creation Duke of Rutland
1703–1711
Succeeded by
John Manners
Baron Manners of Haddon
1679–1711
Preceded by
John Manners
Earl of Rutland
1679–1711
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