William Trumbull

William Trumbull

Sir William Trumbull (8 September, 1639-14 December, 1716) was an English statesman who held high office as a member of the First Whig Junto.

Trumbull was born at Easthampstead Park in Berkshire, the son and heir of William Trumbull (1594-1668), and educated at Wokingham School and St John's College, Oxford. In 1667 he was awarded a Doctorate of Civil Law and elected to a fellowship at All Souls. In the same year he was entered at the Middle Temple, and was admitted an advocate in Doctors' Commons on 28 April, 1668. He began practising in the ecclesiastical and admiralty courts.

In 1683 he was appointed Judge-Advocate of the Fleet and sailed in Lord Dartmouth’s expedition to evacuate the British colony at Tangier, where he was to act as commissioner for settling the leases of the houses between the King and the inhabitants. Samuel Pepys, who was also on the expedition, was unimpressed - "Strange to see how surprised and troubled Dr. Trumbull shows himself at this new work put on him of a judge-advocate; how he cons over the law-martial and what weak questions he asks me about it". Later Pepys calls him "a man of the meanest mind as to courage that ever was born".

In 1684, the King considered Trumbull as a possible Secretary of State, but he was eventually offered the office of Secretary of War in Ireland, which he turned down. Nevertheless, he was knighted on 21 November, 1684, and the following February was made Clerk of the Deliveries of the Ordnance; he entered Parliament as MP for East Looe 1685-1687. However, Charles II died a few days later and Trumbull had to relinquish the clerkship when he was sent by James II, unwillingly, as envoy extraordinary to France. Trumbull was an odd choice for the post, being a zealous opponent of Roman Catholicism, and did much to benefit the condition of the English Protestants in France after Edict of Fontainebleau. In 1686 he was recalled from Paris, but was instead appointed Ambassador at Constantinople, where he remained until 1691. He was also made a Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company.

On 3 May, 1694 he was appointed a Commissioner of the Treasury, and a year later was made a Privy Counsellor and appointed Secretary of State for the Northern Department. However, he was unhappy in the post, and resigned it on 2 December, 1697. He then retired from public life.

Trumbull was a friend of both John Dryden and Alexander Pope. It was Trumbull who, admiring Pope’s translation of the “Epistle of Sarpedon” from the Iliad urged him to translate the whole of Homer's works, and Pope’s “Spring” was dedicated to him. Dryden records, in the postscript to his translation of Virgil, that "if the last Aeneid shine amongst its fellows, it is owing to the commands of Sir William Trumbull, who recommended it as his favourite to my care."

In 1670, Trumbull married Katherine, daughter of Sir Charles Cotterell, Master of the Ceremonies; she died in 1704, they having had no children. In 1706, he married Judith Alexander, daughter of the Earl of Stirling. They had two children:
* Judith (1707-1708)
* William Trumbull (1708-1760)

Trumbull died in 1716, and is buried at Easthampstead.

His son, William Trumball (1708-1760), had an only daughter, who became the wife of the Hon. Martin Sandys. She was thus the ancestress of the later marquesses of Downshire.

Many of Trumball's letters are in the British Museum and in the Record Office, London. Trumball was on friendly terms with Pierre Bayle and with Dryden, whom he advised to translate Virgil. He was also very intimate with Pope, whom he influenced in several ways, especially in urging him to make a translation of Homer.

References

*
*
* Dictionary of National Biography
* [http://www.berkshirehistory.com/bios/wtrumbull3.html David Nash Ford’s Royal Berkshire History]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Trumbull — can refer to* Trumbull County, Ohio ** Trumbull Township, Ashtabula County, Ohio * Trumbull, Connecticut * Trumbull College, a residential college of Yale University * Fort Trumbull, Connecticut * Mount Trumbull Wilderness in Arizona People *… …   Wikipedia

  • William Buckingham — William Alfred Buckingham William Alfred Buckingham (* 28. Mai 1804 in Lebanon, Connecticut; † 2. Februar 1875 in Norwich, Connecticut) war ein US amerikanischer Politiker der Re …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • William Wolcott Ellsworth — (* 10. November 1791 in Windsor, Hartford County, Connecticut; † 15. Januar 1868 in Hartford, Connecticut) war ein US amerikanischer Politiker und Gouverneur des US Bundesstaates Connecticut. Inhaltsverzeichnis 1 …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • William Atchison O’Neill — William A. O’Neill William Atchison O’Neill (* 11. August 1930 in Hartford, Connecticut; † 24. November 2007 in East Hampton, Connecticut) war ein US amerikanischer Politiker und Gouverneur des …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • William Thomas Minor — (* 3. Oktober 1815 in Stamford, Connecticut; † 13. Oktober 1889) war ein US amerikanischer Politiker und Gouverneur des US Bundesstaates Connecticut. Er war Mitglied der Know Nothing Party. Inhaltsverzeichnis 1 …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • William Alfred Buckingham — (* 28. Mai 1804 in Lebanon, New London County, Connecticut; † 2. Februar 1875 in Norwich, Connecticut) war ein US amerikanischer Politiker der …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • William T. Minor — William Thomas Minor (* 3. Oktober 1815 in Stamford, Connecticut; † 13. Oktober 1889) war ein US amerikanischer Politiker und Gouverneur des US Bundesstaates Connecticut. Er war Mitglied der Know Nothing Party. Inhaltsverzeichnis 1 Frühe Jahre… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • William D. Bishop — William Darius Bishop (* 14. September 1827 in Bloomfield, New Jersey; † 4. Februar 1904 in Bridgeport, Connecticut) war ein US amerikanischer Politiker. Zwischen 1857 und 1859 vertrat er den Bundesstaat …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • William J. Fitzgerald — William Joseph Fitzgerald (* 2. März 1887 in Norwich, Connecticut; † 6. Mai 1947 ebenda) war ein US amerikanischer Politiker. Zwischen 1937 und 1939 sowie nochmals von 1941 bis 1943 vertrat er den zweiten Wahlbezirk des Bundesstaates Connecticut… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • William W. Ellsworth — William Wolcott Ellsworth (* 10. November 1791 in Windsor, Hartford County, Connecticut; † 15. Januar 1868 in Hartford, Connecticut) war ein US amerikanischer Politiker und Gouverneur des …   Deutsch Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”