Contents |
Edward Hyde, Lord High Chancellor of England, 1st Earl of Clarendon, (18 February 1609 – 9 December 1674) was an English statesman, historian, and maternal grandfather of two English monarchs, Queen Mary II and Queen Anne.
Edward Hyde, son of Henry Hyde, was christened 22 February 1609 at Dinton, Wiltshire. [1]
Hyde was the third son[2] of Henry Hyde (d. 1634) of Dinton and Purton, both in Wiltshire, by his wife, Mary Langford. Henry's brother was Lawrence Hyde, Attorney General. The family of Hyde was long established at Norbury in Cheshire. Hyde was fond of his mother and idolised his father, whom he called "the best father, the best friend, and the wisest man I have known." Clarendon's two cousins, Richard Rigby, Secretary of Jamaica, and his son, Richard Rigby, Chief Secretary of Ireland and Paymaster of the Army, were successful politicians in the succeeding generations.
On 3 November 1660, Hyde was raised to the peerage as Baron Hyde, of Hindon in the County of Wiltshire, and the next year was created Viscount Cornbury and Earl of Clarendon.
He was forced to flee to France in November 1667. He spent the rest of his life in exile, despite hopes, which never quite died, of returning home. Louis XIV of France, whose relations with the new English Ministry were rather cool, had no serious objection to allowing their old adversary to live permanently in France, and he settled in Rouen. Despite his chronic ill-health, he lived comfortably, although the terms of his exile were severe: until 1672, his children were forbidden to visit him, and he had to endure the death of Anne, generally thought to be his favorite child, without being allowed to see her. He spent his exile working on his History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England, the classic account of the Civil War. The sale proceeds from this book were instrumental in building the Clarendon Building at Oxford University.
He died in Rouen, France, on 9 December 1674. Shortly after his death, his body was returned to England, and he was buried in a private ceremony in Westminster Abbey on 4 January 1675.[4]
Have you taken a DNA test? If so, login to add it. If not, see our friends at Ancestry DNA.
Edward is 21 degrees from Herbert Adair, 17 degrees from Richard Adams, 21 degrees from Mel Blanc, 18 degrees from Dick Bruna, 19 degrees from Bunny DeBarge, 30 degrees from Peter Dinklage, 20 degrees from Sam Edwards, 20 degrees from Ginnifer Goodwin, 20 degrees from Marty Krofft, 17 degrees from Junius Matthews, 15 degrees from Rachel Mellon and 21 degrees from Harold Warstler on our single family tree. Login to find your connection.