William Blathwayt

Blathwayt was born at St Botolph's, Aldersgate and baptized in the parish of St Martin-in-the-Fields in London on 2 March 1649, the only son of William Blathwayt, barrister, of the Middle Temple, and Anne Povey, daughter of Justinian Povey of Hounslow, Middlesex, who was accountant-general to Queen Anne of Denmark. He was born to a well-to-do family of Protestant merchants and lawyers. After his father's death, his mother remarried Thomas Vivian, of the prominent Cornish family. In 1665 he was admitted at Middle Temple.

Blathwayt joined the diplomatic service in 1668 when his uncle Thomas Povey, an influential London lawyer, found him a post as Clerk of the English embassy at The Hague. He followed this in 1672 with a year as Clerk of Embassy at Copenhagen and Stockholm. From 1672 to 1673 he travelled in Sweden, Germany, Italy, Switzerland and France and in the course of his tour, he studied at Padua University.

Blathwayt returned to London in the early 1670s, and was assistant secretary of trade and plantations from 1675 to 1679. He became a Clerk of the Privy Council in Extraordinary in 1678 and in 1679 was promoted to secretary of trade and plantations. Also in 1679, he was considered "as a very fit person" to be assistant to the secretary of the council, being heavily involved in the administration of England's colonies in North America. In 1680, he became the first surveyor and auditor-general of royal revenues in America. He became under-secretary of state (north) in 1681 until he obtained the office of Secretary at War.

In 1683, he purchased the office of Secretary at War which he held to February 1689. His role as Secretary at War was originally merely the role of secretary to the Commander-in-Chief of the British Army but under Blathwayt the remit of the Secretary was greatly expanded to encompass all areas of Army administration. He effectively established the War Office as a department of the government, although he had very little input into the actual conduct of wars. Issues of strategic policy during wartime were managed by the Northern and Southern Departments (the predecessors of today's Foreign Office and Home Office respectively). {{sfn|Courtney|1886}}

At the 1685 English general election Blathwayt was returned as Member of Parliament for Newtown in the government interest. He was not active in the Parliament, and was appointed to only one committee to examine the disbandment accounts.{{cite web| url = http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1660-1690/member/blathwayt-william-1649-1717| title= BLATHWAYT, William (c.1649-1717), of Scotland Yard, Whitehall and Dyrham Park, Glos.| publisher= History of Parliament Online (1660-1690)|access-date= 5 September 2019 }}

In October 1686, Blathwayt became a Clerk of the Privy Council in Ordinary. He became the secretary of the Privy Council's committee on trade and foreign plantations — in effect, colonial under-secretary. It was in this capacity that he became a key figure in American affairs. He was responsible for establishing the charter of the Crown colony of the Province of Massachusetts Bay, the predecessor of the state of Massachusetts. He did much to promote trade in America and benefited considerably from gifts and bribes received in connection with his office (as was the usual practice in his day). His rise was noted by many of his contemporaries; the diarist John Evelyn commended him as "very dexterous in business" and as one who had "raised himself by his industry from very moderate circumstances."{{sfn|Courtney|1886}}

Blathwayt was a witness for the prosecution at the Trial of the Seven Bishops in 1688 and he lost the politically sensitive post as secretary at war after the Glorious Revolution. He was restored to the post in May 1689 and held it to 1704.

Blathwayt was returned as a Whig Member of Parliament for Bath in 1693 and held the seat until 1710. He was appointed Lord of Trade in 1696, holding the post until 1707.{{cite web| url =http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1690-1715/member/blathwayt-william-1649-1717 | title=BLATHWAYT, William (1649-1717), of Little Wallingford House, Great Street, Westminster and Dyrham Park, Glos. | publisher= History of Parliament Online (1690-1715)|access-date= 5 September 2019 }}

Blathwayt retired to Dyrham in 1710 (his wife had died in 1691), remaining there until his death.

File:Michael Dahl (1656-1659-1743) - Mary Wynter (1650–1691), Mrs William Blathwayt I - 453748 - National Trust.jpg, between {{circa|1689}} and {{circa|1691}}]]

On 23 December 1686, he married Mary Wynter (1650–1691),{{cite web |title=Mary Wynter (1650–1691), Mrs William Blathwayt I |url=https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/mary-wynter-16501691-mrs-william-blathwayt-i-99869 |website=artuk.org |publisher=Art UK |access-date=1 April 2025 |language=en}} daughter of John Wynter of Dyrham Park and the former Frances Gerrard. Before her death in 1601, they were the parents of four sons and one daughter, including:

• William Blathwayt (1688–1742), who married Thomasine Ambrose, a daughter of Jonathan Ambrose of London, in 1718.{{cite web |title=William Blathwayt II (1688–1742) |url=https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/william-blathwayt-ii-16881742-99882 |website=artuk.org |publisher=Art UK |access-date=1 April 2025 |language=en}}{{cite web |title=William Blathwayt II (1688–1742), as a Child |url=https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/william-blathwayt-ii-16881742-as-a-child-99848#:~:text=William%20Blathwayt%20II%20was%20the,'all'antica'%20costume. |website=artuk.org |publisher=Art UK |access-date=1 April 2025 |language=en}}
• John Blathwayt (1690–1754),{{cite web |title=John Blathwayt (1690-1754) attributed to Enoch Seeman the younger (Gdańsk c.1694 – London 1744) |url=https://www.nationaltrustcollections.org.uk/object/453786 |website=static.nationaltrust.org.uk |publisher=National Trust |access-date=1 April 2025}} a talented musician during his time in Italy; after his return to England, he joined the military, became a Colonel and fought at the Battle of Culloden in 1746.{{cite web |title=Colonel John Blathwayt (1690–1754) |url=https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/colonel-john-blathwayt-16901754-99859 |website=artuk.org |publisher=Art UK |access-date=1 April 2025 |language=en}}
• Anne Blathwayt (1691–1717), who married, as his second wife, Edward Southwell Sr., the Principal Secretary of State for Ireland who was a son, and heir, of diplomat Sir Robert Southwell of Kings Weston. Southwell was previously married to Elizabeth Cromwell, 8th Baroness Cromwell, who died in 1709.{{cite web |title=Anne Blathwayt (1691–1717), Mrs Edward Southwell |url=https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/anne-blathwayt-16911717-mrs-edward-southwell-99888 |website=artuk.org |publisher=Art UK |access-date=1 April 2025 |language=en}}

Blathwayt died at Durham on 16 August 1717 and was buried in the local churchyard.{{sfn|Courtney|1886}}

File:Dyrham Park lower park.jpg

Blathwayt built a large mansion house for himself at Dyrham Park near Bristol, which he decorated with numerous Dutch Old Masters and sumptuous fabrics and furnishings.{{sfn|Courtney|1886}} His descendants sold a large part of his art collection in 1765, but some of the paintings have been purchased back or remain at Dyrham Park. Dyrham Park is today in the care of the National Trust and is open to visitors. A Catalogue Of the Valuable Collection of Pictures of William Blathwayte, Esq. Which will be sold by Auction at Derham, in the County of Gloucester, on Monday 18 November Inst. and the three following Days [...] Thomas Joye, Auctioneer [1765][http://www.nationaltrustcollections.org.uk/object/453763 A View of Heiligewegspoort] by Beerstraten (but listed as Vangowan aka Jan van Goyen), on the National Trust website

Through his son William, he was a grandfather of William Blathwayt (1719–1787), who married three times: to Penelope Jenkinson; Elizabeth Clarke and Mary Creighton of London. Among his numerous descendants were Robert Wynter Blathwayt (1850–1936), who inherited Dyrham Park in 1909 and married Margaret Ermentrude Chandos-Pole-Gell{{cite web |title=Margaret Ermintrude Chandos-Pole-Gell (1854–1927), Mrs Robert Wynter Blathwayt |url=https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/margaret-ermintrude-chandos-pole-gell-18541927-mrs-robert-wynter-blathwayt-99868 |website=artuk.org |publisher=Art UK |access-date=31 March 2025 |language=en}} (a daughter of Henry Chandos Pole Gell of Hopton Hall).{{cite book |last1=Burke |first1=Bernard |title=A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain |date=1900 |publisher=Harrison & Sons |page=1280 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_Genealogical_and_Heraldic_History_of_t/mIRLct95aMEC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA1280 |access-date=31 March 2025 |language=en}}

He was also the ancestor of Lt. Col. Linley Wynter Blathwayt (1839–1919), the head of a cadet branch of the Blathwayt family who lived at Eagle House in Somerset. He was married to his first cousin, suffragette Emily Blathwayt, and they were the parents of Mary Blathwayt.{{cite web |title=Blathwayt family of Eagle House, Batheaston, near Bath |url=https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/5b1c3fdf-a1bd-40d4-b94f-f8e32c23fef4 |website=discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk |publisher=The National Archives (United Kingdom) |access-date=1 April 2025 |language=English}}

File:Henry Tilson (1659-1695) - William Blathwayt II (1688–1742), as a Child - 453760 - National Trust.jpg|Portrait of his son, William, as a child, by Henry Tilson, 1691

Enoch Seeman the younger (c.1694-1745) (attributed to) - William Blathwayt II (1688–1742) - 453785 - National Trust.jpg|Portrait of his son, William, by Enoch Seeman, between {{circa|1720}} and {{circa|1729}}

Enoch Seeman the younger (c.1694-1745) (attributed to) - John Blathwayt (1690–1754) - 453786 - National Trust.jpg|Portrait of his son, John, by Enoch Seeman, between {{circa|1720}} and {{circa|1729}}

Edward Gouge (d.1735) - Colonel John Blathwayt (1690–1754) - 453746 - National Trust.jpg|Portrait of his son, John, by Edward Gouge, 1707

British (English) School - Anne Blathwayt (1691–1717), Mrs Edward Southwell - 453757 - National Trust.jpg|Portrait of his daughter, Anne, {{circa|1710}}–1717

British (English) School - Thomasine Ambrose, Mrs William Blathwayt II (d.1774) - 453787 - National Trust.jpg|Portrait of his daughter-in-law, Thomasine Ambrose, between {{circa|1715}} and {{circa|1720}}

William Hoare (1707-1792) (style of) - Penelope Jenkinson (d.1755), Mrs William Blathwayt III (^) - 453788 - National Trust.jpg|Portrait of Penelope Jenkinson, his grandson William Blathwayt's first wife, in the style of William Hoare, between {{circa|1730}} and {{circa|1755}}

John Astley (1724-1787) (attributed to) - Elizabeth Clark, Mrs Le Pepre, Mrs William Blathwayt III (^) - 453744 - National Trust.jpg|Portrait of Elizabeth Clark, his grandson William Blathwayt's second wife by John Astley, between {{circa|1760}} and {{circa|1780}}

;Sources

{{reflist|30em}}

;Attribution

{{Cite DNB|first=William Prideaux |last=Courtney |wstitle=Blathwayt, William |volume=5 |page=206}}

• "The Lords of Trade and Plantations, 1675–1696", Winfred T. Root (American Historical Review 23 (October 1917): 20–41)
• William Blathwayt: a late 17th Century English Administrator, G. A. Jacobsen (New Haven 1932)
• {{cite book |last1=Hutchinson |first1=John |title=A catalogue of notable Middle Templars, with brief biographical notices |date=1902 |publisher=the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple |location=Canterbury |page=23 |edition=1 |chapter=Blathwayt, William}}

• William Blathwayt Papers. The James Marshall and Marie-Louise Osborn Collection, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.
• [http://www.coins.nd.edu/ColCoin/ColCoinIntros/MAMintDocs.chron.html Chronological Listing of Documents and Events relating to the Massachusetts Mint], Louis Jordan
• [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=16801 Committees of the Privy Council for trade and plantations 1675–96]
• [http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~pillagoda/ch13-02.htm The Golden Falcon Chapter XIII/2 – Neptune]

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