John Trenchard MP (1649 - 1695)

Born 30 Mar 1649 in Lytchett Maltravers, Dorset, England

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 4 Apr 1695 at age 46 in Kensington, London, England

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Biography

Secretary of State, later Chief Justice of Chester

educ.Winchester 1661-5; New Coll. Oxf. 1665-71; M. Temple 1667, called 1674; travelled abroad (Spain) 1677. (1)

Kntd. 29 Oct. 1689. (1)

After studying civil law at Oxford, Trenchard began his political career as the most valuable of du Moulin’s agents in England during the third Dutch war. (1)

Commr. for assessment, Dorset 1673-4, Mdx. and Som. 1679-80; freeman, Lyme Regis 1679, Poole 1681; receiver-gen. Som. Dorset and Bristol Nov. 1688-9; comptroller of customs, Bristol Nov. 1688-9; c.j. of Chester circuit 1689-d.; recorder, Taunton 1690-d.; j.p. Mdx. 1693-d.2 (1)

King’s serjeant 1689-d.; chairman, committee of elections and privileges 1691-3, sec. of state 1692-d.; PC 23 Mar. 1693-d.(1)

Born at Lytchett Matravers, near Poole, on the 30th of March 1640, and educated at New College, Oxford, John Trenchard entered parliament as member for Taunton in 1679, and associated himself with those who proposed to exclude the duke of York from the throne. He attended some of the meetings held by these malcontents and was possibly concerned in the Rye House plot; at, all events he was arrested in July 1683, but no definite evidence was brought against him and he was released. When Monmouth landed in the west of England in June 1685 Trenchard fled from England, but was pardoned through the good offices of William Penn and returned home two years later. Again he entered parliament, but he took no active part in the Revolution of 1688, although he managed to secure the good will of William III. He was knighted by the king and made chief justice of Chester, and in 1692 he was appointed a secretary of state. He and the government incurred much ridicule through their failure to prove the existence of a great Jacobite plot in Lancashire and Cheshire in which they had been led to believe. (4)

Birth and Parentage

b. 30 Mar. 1649, 4th but 3rd surv. s. of Thomas Trenchard of Wolveton, Charminster, Dorset; bro. of Henry Trenchard and Thomas Trenchard I. (1)

Marriages

m. lic. 10 Nov. 1682, Philippa, da. of George Speke of White Lackington, Som., 4s. 3da. Kntd. 29 Oct. 1689. (1)

Children

4s. 3da. (1)

Death

This site has a death on 27th April 1695. (1)

Burial

He was buried at Bloxworth, Dorset on May 9th 1695 ^[1] In the church is a white marble cartouche, carved with cherub's head, skull, drapery and shield-of-arms of Trenchard impaling Speke erected by his wife in memory of him ^[2]

Sources

1. ↑ Dorset History Centre, Bloxworth Parish Register PE BLX Re 1/1

   Buried May 9th, Sir John Trenchard

2. ↑ 'Bloxworth', in An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Dorset, Volume 2, South east (London, 1970), pp. 25-30. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/rchme/dorset/vol2/pp25-30 [accessed 20 January 2017].

1) https://www.geni.com/people/Sir-John-Trenchard-MP/6000000020944061346 (2) stirnet.com http://www.stirnet.com/genie/data/british/tt/trenchard01.php

(3) http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031

(4) SIR JOHN TRENCHARD (1640-1695) Online Encyclopedia Originally appearing in Volume V27, Page 245 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica. SIR JOHN TRENCHARD http://encyclopedia.jrank.org/TOO_TUM/TRENCHARD_SIR_JOHN_1640_1695_.html#ixzz4CTP3Luyd

(5) https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Page:EB1911_-_Volume_27.djvu/260-

(6) Wolveton House http://www.landmarktrust.org.uk/BuildingDetails/Overview/182/Wolveton_Gatehouse

(7) http://www.thedorsetpage.com/history/Unexpected_Visit/Unexpected_Visit.htm

(8) http://files.usgwarchives.net/nj/cumberland/bios/trenchard-jh.txt

(9) History of Parliament entry for John Trenchard 1649-95 (10) http://dorset-ancestors.com/?p=2140

Researcher Graham Buckall