John Chamberlayne
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John Chamberlayne (1666 - 1723)

John Chamberlayne
Born in Holborn, Middlesex, Englandmap [uncertain]
Ancestors ancestors
Son of and
Brother of , , and
Died at about age 57 in Petty-France (now York Street) Westminster, Londonmap
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Profile last modified | Created 13 Sep 2020
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This profile is part of the Chamberlayne Name Study.

Contents

Biography

Birth and Parentage

John Chamberlayne was an English writer, polyglot, translator, and courtier. Born in 1666, the year of the Great Fire of London, he was the son of Dr Edward Chamberlayne LLD, the author of The Present State of England and his wife, Susannah née Clifford.

He had two elder brothers, Capt. Peregrine Clifford Chamberlayne and Thomas Chamberlayne, a sister, Anne Spragge and a younger brother, Edward Chamberlayne. His parents are said to have had nine children in all, but only five are known to have survived to adulthood.

Education

Matriculating at Trinity College, Oxford on 7 April 1685, aged 16, [1] he left without a degree and went to the University of Leyden in the Netherlands, where on 12 May 1688 [2]he entered himself as a student, mainly studying modern languages, of which, according to contemporary report, he knew sixteen. He must have inherited this talent from his father, who evidently encouraged his son's gift.

Life and Career

On John's return from the Netherlands, he filled various offices about the court. His father Edward's court connections probably opened doors for him. Edward had been for a time Secretary to Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Carlisle, as well as tutor to Charles II's 16 year old illegitimate son, Henry Fitzroy, 1st Duke of Grafton, and was also English tutor to Prince George of Denmark who later married the future Queen Anne.[3][4]

Described as a 'debonaire, highly educated courtier, and man of affairs', with a 'mercurial and dominating personality', a strong sense of responsibility, and meticulous record keeper,[5]John was successively Gentleman Usher to Prince George of Denmark, Gentleman of the Privy Chamber[6] first to Queen Anne and then to King George I. He was also secretary to Queen Anne's Bounty Commission[7], and on the commission of the peace for Middlesex. In 1702 Chamberlayne was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.[8][9]

Works

Chamberlayne's major work was his translation of Gerard Brandt's History of the Reformation in the Low Countries, 4 vols. 1720–3. [10] In the preface to a part of this, published in 1719, he relates that Gaspar Fagel assured Gilbert Burnet "that it was worth his while to learn Dutch, only for the pleasure of reading Brandt's History of the Reformation".

History of the Reformation of the Low Countries

Chamberlayne also continued his father's Present State of England after his death in 1703, and issued five editions. The son's name still appeared on editions that were published after his own death (as late as 1756).[11]

The Present State of Great Britain

He also published translations of:

  • Samuel von Pufendorf's History of Popedom, containing the Rise, Progress, and Decay thereof, 1691[12]
  • The Lord's Prayer, as Oratio Dominica in diversas omnium fere gentium linguas versa, Amsterdam, 1715[13]
  • Bernard Nieuwentyt's Religious Philosopher, or the right Use of contemplating the Works of the Creator, 3 vols. 1718
  • Bernard Le Bovier de Fontenelle's Lives of the French Philosophers, 1721; [14] and
  • Jacques Saurin's Dissertations, Historical, Critical, Theological, and Moral, of the most Memorable Events of the Old and New Testaments, 1723.[15]
Letter from John Chamberlayne to Sir Hans Sloane, concerning The Lord's Prayer in 100 languages."
[16]

In 1685 he published a translation of Philippe Sylvestre Dufour's The Manner of making Coffee, Tea, and Chocolate as it is used in most parts of Europe, Asia, Africa, and America, with their Vertues, which became popular. [17]

The Manner of Making Coffee, Tea, and Chocolate

From Oxford on 24 June 1686 he dated his translation of A Treasure of Health by Castore Durante Da Gualdo, Physician and Citizen of Rome (Il Tesoro della Sanità, 1586).[18]

Chamberlayne also contributed three papers to Philosophical Transactions

  • A Relation of the Effects of a Storm of Thunder and Lightning at Sampford Courtney in Devonshire on 7 Oct. 1711 (No. 336, p. 528).[19]
  • Remarks on the Plague at Copenhagen in the year 1711 (No. 337, p. 279).[20]
  • An Account of the Sunk Island in Humber (No. 361, p. 1014).[21]

In the Sloane Manuscripts there is a collection of letters from Chamberlayne on the affairs of the Royal Society. He was also one of the first members, and a diligent Secretary of the Society for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge, (S.P.C.K), [22][5]and translated for them Jean-Frédéric Osterwald's Arguments of the Book and Chapters of the Old and New Testament, 3 vols. 1716; new ed. 3 vols. 1833.[23]

His correspondence reveals him as a dedicated and hard-working, if slightly pedestrian administrator, coping as best he could with the then novel problem of directing missions from a distance. He certainly meant to be fair, but his zeal for maintaining the standards of the society probably led him to be occasionally unjust to missionaries under accusation. In a letter to John Bartow, minister in Westchester, New York, while admitting that a charge against him has proven unfounded, he refuses to name his accuser and warns him that the society has spies all around him of whom he knows not. The strictness of his moral views is also suggested by a letter resigning his post as justice of the peace in Westminster because his fellow justices were not sufficiently zealous in repressing prostitution. Like Archbishop Tenison, he favoured a conciliatory attitude toward Protestant dissenters, and sometimes rebuked missionaries, such as John Talbot of Burlington, New Jersey and John Thomas of Hempstead, New York, for showing too much zeal for their conversion. Some letters betray the fact that he shared the then widespread English prejudice against the Scotch, though some of the best missionaries were of that nationality. He seems to have had friendlier feelings toward the Welsh. Did he have Welsh connections? The available sources do not say.[24]

Death

Petty France

Chamberlayne died at his house in Petty-France[22](later York Street and then renamed Petty France), Westminster on 2 November 1723, and on 6 November was interred in the family burying-ground at Chelsea, [25]where he had a residence, and where on his church wall a tablet was placed to his memory.[26]

John Chamberlayne's Epitaph
[16]

Interesting Note

In 'XXIII.- Continuation of the History and Progress of the Art of Watchmaking. In a Second Letter from Octavius MORGAN , Esq . , M.P. , F.S.A. to Sir HENRY Ellis , K.H. Secretary., (Read 28th Feb. and 14th March , 1850) the author, from 9 Pall Mall , on Feb. 27th 1850, writes the following:

'I am not able to fix the precise date of the introduction of watches into England; the following note however is interesting, though no date is given. In the Lansdowne MSS, in the British Museum, No. 1039, among the memoranda of Kennett, Bishop of Peterborough, dated 1695, is the following entry:—

"John Chamberlayne, Esq. of Petty France, Westminster, has a venerable picture of his great-grandfather, with a long beard, gold chain, and furred gown, with this inscription :—Sir Thomas Chamberlayne, of Prestbury in Gloucestershire, Embassador (sic) from England to the Emperor Charles the Fifth, to Philip the Second of Spain, and to the King of Sweden in Flanders. He married a lady of the House of Nassau, and from thence also he brought the first coaches, and the first watches, that were seen in England. He was born in the reign of Edward the Fourth, and died in the reign of Queen Elizabeth.'

The first watch so brought over is now in the hands of Catharine, daughter of Thomas Chamberlayne, Esq. of Oddington in Gloucestershire, wife of Charles Cox, Esq. a Judge [27]in Wales."[28]
Manner of Marcus Gheeraerts the Elder - Portrait of Sir Thomas Chamberlayne - Courtesy of Doyle Auctions
[29]

Contact with the British Museum has been made (19 June 2021). Response awaited.

Sources

  1. ↑ University of Oxford; Foster, Joseph., (1891). Alumni oxonienses : the members of the University of Oxford, 1500-1714: their parentage, birthplace, and year of birth, with a record of their degrees. Vol.1. Oxford and London, Parker and Co. Retrieved from the Internet Archive (Here;) Accessed 9 May 2022.
  2. ↑ Peacock, Edward, (1883)., Index to English speaking students who have graduated at Leyden university. London, For the Index society, by Longmans, Green & co. Retrieved from the Internet Archive (Here;) Accessed 9 May 2022.
  3. ↑ Alumni cantabrigienses; a biographical list of all known students, graduates and holders of office at the University of Cambridge, University of Cambridge; Venn, J. A. (John Archibald), b. 1883; Venn, John, 1834-1923, Retrieved from the Internet Archive (Here;) Accessed 18 June 2021.
  4. ↑ Chalmers' General Biographical Dictionary [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010. This collection was indexed by Ancestry World Archives Project contributors. Original data: Chalmers, Alexander. The General Biographical Dictionary. 32 volumes. London: J. Nichols and Son, 1812-1817. Ancestry.com. Chalmers' General Biographical Dictionary [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010. This collection was indexed by Ancestry World Archives Project contributors. Original data: Chalmers, Alexander. The General Biographical Dictionary. 32 volumes. London: J. Nichols and Son, 1812-1817. Retrieved from (Here;) Accessed 18 June 2021.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Bultmann, William A., and Phyllis W. Bultmann. “The Roots of Anglican Humanitarianism: A Study of the Membership of the S.P.C.K. and the S.P.G., 1699-1720.” Historical Magazine of the Protestant Episcopal Church 33, no. 1 (1964): 3–48. Retrieved from Jstor (Here;) Accessed 9 May 2022.
  6. ↑ Magnae Britanniae Notitia, Or The Present State of Great-Britain; with Divers Remarks Upon the Ancient State Thereof – Chamberlayne, Edward., Chamberlayne, John., Retrieved from (Here;) Accessed 21 June 2021.
  7. ↑ Wikipedia contributors. Queen Anne's Bounty. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. January 16, 2021, 21:23 UTC. Retrieved from (Here;) Accessed 21 June 2021.
  8. ↑ Stearns, Raymond Phineas, Professor of History at the University of Illinois Colonial Fellows of the Royal Society of London, 1661-1788, Retrieved from (Here;) Accessed 28 May 2021.
  9. ↑ The Royal Society, Catalogue, Members, Retrieved from (Here;) Accessed 21 June 2021.
  10. ↑ Brandt, Geeraert; Chamberlayne, John; The history of the reformation and other ecclesiastical transactions in and about the Low-countries., London, Printed by T. Wood, for T. Childe, 1720-23. Retrieved from (Here;) Accessed 28 May 2021.
  11. ↑ Magnae Britanniae Notitia, Or The Present State of Great-Britain; with Divers Remarks Upon the Ancient State Thereof – Chamberlayne, Edward., Chamberlayne, John., Retrieved from (Here;) Accessed 21 June 2021.
  12. ↑ The History of Popedom: Containing the Rise, Progress and Decay Thereof. Written in High Dutch, by S. Pufendorf. Translated by J. C(hamberlayne). Retrieved from (Here;) Accessed 28 May 2021.
  13. ↑ Oratio dominica in diversas omnium fere gentium linguas versa. Chamberlayne, John. Verlag: Amsterdam, W. & D. Goeree, 1715., 1715 Retrieved from (Here;) Accessed 28 May 2021.
  14. ↑ Fontenelle (1717). The lives of the French, Italian and German philosophers: Late members of the Royal Academy of Sciences in Paris. Together with abstracts of some of the choicest pieces, communicated by them to that illustrious society. To which is added, The Preface of the Ingenious Monsieur Fontenelle, Secretary and Author of the History of the said Academy. London: Printed for W. Innys at the Prince's Arms in St. Paul's Church-Yard. Retrieved from (Here;) Accessed 28 May 2021.
  15. ↑ Saurin, J. (1723). Dissertations, historical, critical, theological and moral, on the most memorable events of the Old and New Testaments: ... In three volumes. Vol.I. Comprising the events related in the Books of Moses. Written originally in French, by ... James Saurin, ... Made English by John Chamberlayne, .. London: printed by T. Wood, for W. Taylor; W. and J. Innys; and J. Osborne. Retrieved from (Here;) Accessed 28 May 2021.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 London, Duckworth and co, Retrieved from (Here;) Accessed 21 June 2021.
  17. ↑ Dufour, Philippe Sylvestre., The Manner of making Coffee, Tea, and Chocolate as it is used in most parts of Europe, Asia, Africa, and America, with their Vertues, Colmenero de Ledesma, Antonio. Curioso tratado de la naturaleza y calidad del chocolate. English., Chamberlayne, John, 1666-1723. London: Printed for William Crook ..., 1685. Retrieved from (Here;) Accessed 21 June 2021.
  18. ↑ A treasure of health : By Castor Durante Da Gualdo, physician and citizen of Rome. Wherein is shewn how to preserve health, and prolong life. Also the nature of all sorts of meats and drinks, with the way to prevent all hurt that attends the use of either of them. Translated out of Italian into English, by John Chamberlayne, Gent. Imprimatur, April 5. 1686. Rob. Midgley. Retrieved from (Here;) Accessed 28 May 2021.
  19. ↑ The Royal Society, Philosophical Transactions, Retrieved from (Here;) Accessed 28 May 2021.
  20. ↑ The Royal Society, Philosophical Transactions, Retrieved from (Here;) Accessed 28 May 2021.
  21. ↑ The Royal Society, Philosophical Transactions, Retrieved from (Here;) Accessed 28 May 2021.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 Emlo Portal Bodleian Oxford Exhibition, Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (SPG), Retrieved from emlo portal (Here;) Accessed 28 May 2021.
  23. ↑ Magnae Britanniae Notitia, Or The Present State of Great-Britain; with Divers Remarks Upon the Ancient State Thereof – Chamberlayne, Edward., Chamberlayne, John., Retrieved from Google e-Books (Here;) Accessed 21 June 2021.
  24. ↑ National Archives, 109 - Lambeth Palace Library, Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. Retrieved from Discovery - The National Archives (Here;) Accessed 21 June 2021.
  25. ↑ Ingram brothers., (1898), The Sketch: A Journal of Art and Actuality, Volume 23, Retrieved from (Here;) Accessed 28 May 2021.
  26. ↑ TOMBS AND MONUMENTAL INSCRIPTIONS, Old Church, Chelsea, All Saints, Chamberlayne, Retrieved from (Here;) Accessed 19 June 2021.
  27. ↑ See History of Parliament, Retrieved from (Here;) Accessed 19 June 2021.
  28. ↑ Archaeologia, Or, Miscellaneous Tracts, Relating to Antiquity, Retrieved from (Here;) Accessed 19 June 2021.
  29. ↑ Doyle Auctions, Retrieved from (Here;) Accessed 19 June 2021.

Further Reference

  • Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Chamberlayne, John: Retrieved from Oxford dnb (Here;) Accessed 9 May 2022.
  • Catalogue of the Harleian Manuscripts in the British Museum (1808). Retrieved from Bayerische StaatsBibliothek (Here;) Accessed 9 May 2022.

National Archives: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/73d01250-66bd-4e31-9039-ad1e71ee2cbe

National Archives: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/62b945ce-ff00-47c6-a363-612b6551f204

  • Nicolson, William, (1809)., Letters on Various Subjects, Literary, Political and Ecclesiastical to and from William Nicolson, DD., Successively Bishop of Carlisle and of Derry and Archbishop of Cashell: Including the Correspondence of Several Eminent Prelates from 1683 to 1726-7 Inclusive : in Two Volumes, Vol. 2
  • Lambeth Palace Library. Database of Manuscripts and Archives. Church of England Record centre. Correspondence between Dr Hickes and John Chamberlayne (of Petty France, Westminster), 1715, concerning the Thesaurus and other works (pp. 241-2). Retrieved from LPL (Here;) Accessed 9 May 2022.




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Images: 13
BHO - Chelsea Old Church: Monuments in the churchyard
BHO - Chelsea Old Church: Monuments in the churchyard
The Manner of Making Coffee, Tea, and Chocolate
The Manner of Making Coffee, Tea, and Chocolate
The Present State of Great Britain
The Present State of Great Britain
History of the Reformation of the Low Countries
History of the Reformation of the Low Countries
First Watches and Coaches
First Watches and Coaches
view all


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