PIERREPONT, Evelyn (1667-1726), of West Dean, Wilts.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1660-1690, ed. B.D. Henning, 1983
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

7 Mar. - 17 Sept. 1690

Family and Education

bap. 27 Feb. 1667, 3rd s. of Robert Pierrepont of Thorsby, Notts. by Elizabeth, da. and coh. of Sir John Evelyn I of West Dean; gds. of William Pierrepont. educ. Winchester 1680; Christ’s, Camb. 1683. m. (1) lic. 27 June 1687, Lady Mary Feilding (d. Dec. 1697), da. of William, 3rd Earl of Denbigh, 1s. d.v.p. 3da.; (2) 2 Aug. 1714, Lady Isabella Bentinck, da. of Hans Willem, 1st Earl of Portland, 2da. suc. bro. as 5th Earl of Kingston-upon-Hull 17 Sept. 1690; cr. Mq. of Dorchester 23 Dec. 1706, Duke of Kingston 10 Aug. 1715; KG 29 Apr. 1719.1

Offices Held

Commr. for assessment, Wilts. 1689-90; custos rot. Notts. by 1696-bef. 1701, Wilts. 1706-12, 1714-d.; dep. lt. Wilts. 1701-?14, ld. lt. 1714-d.; recorder, Nottingham 1707-d.; c.j. in eyre (north) 1714-16.2

Commr. for union with Scotland 1706; PC 26 June 1708-d.; ld. privy seal 1716-18, 1720-6; ld. pres. 1719-20.

Biography

Pierrepont began to nurse East Retford as soon as he came of age, though he was born and seems to have lived on the Wiltshire estate (worth £1,500 p.a.) that came into the family through his mother. In December 1686 he was proposed to the freemen as their Member ‘which the town very readily agreed to’, and they were ‘very nobly and frankly entertained on his behalf at Worksop Manor’. Presumably he enjoyed the support of the Roman Catholic Lord Thomas Howard, but he was not a court candidate. Nor did he take any part in the Revolution, obtaining a pass from West Dean to London on 14 Nov. 1688. In the Convention he may have served on six committees, and twice acted as teller with Thomas Coningsby, though on no occasion is his Christian name given, and there is the possibility of confusion with his cousin Francis. Probably, however, he took part in recommending alterations to the coronation oath, managing the conference on the address of 5 Mar. 1689, preparing the address on summoning convocation, and inspecting the entries about the Popish Plot in the Journals. On 2 Jan. 1690 he or his cousin acted as teller for the adjournment of the debate on the bill for restoring corporations, but neither was listed as a supporter of the disabling clause. During the reign of Anne he became one of the leading Whig peers, so far as his commitments to the world of fashion would permit, and under the Hanoverians he rose to high office. He died on 5 Mar. 1726, and was succeeded by his grandson, the second and last duke.3

Ref Volumes: 1660-1690

Author: John. P. Ferris

Notes

  • 1. Misc. Gen. et Her. (ser. 2), i. 210.
  • 2. Nottingham Bor. Recs. vi. 36, 106.
  • 3. HMC Portland, iv. 694; Wilts. Arch. Mag. lviii. 19; Hoare, Repertorium Wiltonense, 16; CSP Dom. 1687-9, p. 408; PC2/76, f. 232; Spencer mss, John Millington to Ld. Halifax, 4 Dec. 1686.