Nicholas Slanning Bt KB (abt. 1643 - 1692)

Born about 1643 in Pendennis Castle, Cornwall, England [uncertain]

Ancestors

Husband of Mary (Jenkyn) Slanning — married 1670 in St Columb Major, Cornwall, England

Husband of Mary (Henley) Slanning — married 4 Dec 1673 (to 1677) in Eversley, Hampshire, England

Husband of Amy (Parker) Stafford — married 16 Nov 1679 (to 1691) in Upton Hellions, Devon, England

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Biography

Nicholas Slanning was the only surviving son and heir of royalist soldier Nicholas Slanning and his wife Gertrude Bagge. His date of birth is a matter of dispute. Clarendon, ^[1] for dramatic effect, claimed that he was born on 26 July 1643, the date on which his father suffered his fatal wound at the storming of Bristol during the Civil War. Other sources, however, have stated that he purchased the manor of Buckland soon after the restoration of the monarchy in 1660, which would mean his birth had to be about 1639 for him to be of age. ^[2]

As the heir of a royalist during the rule of the Commonwealth, young Nicholas Slanning's estates were sequestered, and his guardians were forced to pay over £1000 to avoid forfeiture. ^[3] But following the Restoration, King Charles II being well aware of the heroic death of Nicholas Slanning in his service, repaid his heir by naming him a Knight of the Bath at his coronation. ^[4] Other honors followed rapidly from the king's hand as Nicholas Slanning became active as a courtier: he was raised to the baronetcy on 19 January 1662/3; on 8 June of that year he was named Cup-bearer to the queen; and on 22 March 1664/5 he was appointed governor of Pendennis Castle, the post that his father had held, and his stepfather Richard Ardundell after him. ^[2] The governorship was later given to the Earl of Bath. ^[5] Slanning was later named Standard-bearer of the gentleman pensioners (1676) (1685) and Lieutenant-Governor of Plymouth (1687). ^[6]

Sir Nicholas Slanning first stood for Parliament in 1666, and was returned for the constituencies his father had briefly held: Plympton Erle (1667) and Penryn (1671, 1681, 1685). ^[6] He was a member of the court party but not an active one.

With the outbreak of dissension against the reign of James II, Sir Nicholas was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel of his patron the Earl of Bath's Regiment of Foot to suppress the Monmouth Rebellion. Following the suppression of the revolt, he was in 1687 named Lieutenant-governor of Plymouth, again under the Earl of Bath. Both Bath and Slanning supported the 1688 invasion of William III and retained their posts under him. ^[6]

Marriages and Family

Sir Nicholas Slanning married four times and had one son, his heir Andrew.

His first wife was Ann, daughter of Sir George Carteret, baronet and Treasurer of the Navy, an alliance that certainly was useful in his new career as a courtier. The marriage was probably in 1663 and produced either no issue or one daughter who must have died young. ^{[7] [8] [9]} She died in 1668.

On 22 June 1670, at St Columb Major, ^[10] (Licensed at Exeter 25 April) Sir Nicholas married as his second wife Mary, daughter of James Jenkyn of Trekenning, Cornwall. She died without issue by 9 July 1672, when administration of her estate PROB 6/47 f.99 was granted to the widower. ^{[8] [11]}

Sir Nicholas's third wife ^[12] was Mary, daughter of Sir Andrew Henley Bt, of Henley, Somerset, and Bramshill, Hampshire, and his first wife Mary Gayer. The marriage (with a settlement of £5,000) ^[6] took place on 4 December 1673 at Eversley, Hampshire. ^{[13] [8]} She was buried at Eversley on 10 January 1677. ^[14]

On 16 November 1679, Sir Nicholas took his fourth and last wife, Amy daughter of Edmund Parker, widow of (firstly) Walter Hele and (secondly) John Davie. There was no issue of the marriage. he died in 1591; she remarried twice and died in October 1697. ^[8]

Sir Andrew Slanning died without issue on 21 November 1700, after a tavern brawl. He was buried with his wife Elizabeth at the Slanning family church at Bickleigh. The Slanning estate then went to his father's sister Lady Elizabeth Modyford.

Sources

1. ↑ History of the Rebellion, vol iv, Appendix C, p. 612. 1826 edition
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Jones, Winslow. "The Slannings of Leye, Bickleigh, and Maristow". p. 451. Devonshire Association for the Advancement of Science, Literature and Art, vol 19, 1887. Jones
3. ↑ Cases before the Committee for Compounding: Claimants on the Estate of Sir Nich. Slanning, M.P., Pendennis Castle, Cornwall. Compounding
4. ↑ Shaw, William Arthur. Knights of England, vol. 1, p. 166. London: Sherrat & Hughes, 1906. Shaw
5. ↑ Wikipedia: [1]
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3} History of Parliament Online: Slanning, Sir Nicholas, 1st Bt. (1643-1691) HOP
7. ↑ Vivian, John Lambrick. "Slanning of Ley" The Visitations of the County of Devon, p. 689. 1895. Vivian
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3} Cokayne, George Edward. Complete Baronetage: English, Irish and Scottish, 1649-1664. p. 270. W. Pollard & Company, Limited, 1903. Cokayne
9. ↑ Pepys, Samuel. Diary, vol IV, 30 July 1663, n. 3. Latham and Mathews, eds. Harper Collins, 2000.
10. ↑ The Registers of the Parish of St. Columb Major, Cornwall - From the Year 1539 to 1780, (1881) p. 159. Marriage
11. ↑ Prerogative Court Of Canterbury Administrations 1660-1700/ Devon, England Admon
12. ↑ Sources disagree about the order of his 2nd and 3rd wives. However, since his heir, Andrew, was not of age until after 1694, his mother Mary Henley must have been the third wife. When Sir Nicholas made his Will in 1691, he noted that his son was not of age at the time.
13. ↑ Hampshire : Eversley : St Mary : : FreeReg marriage Nicholas.Sir. Stanning to Mary Henley 4 Dec 1673
14. ↑ Hampshire Burials: Eversley FindMyPast