John Bulteel (died 1669) of Westminster, served twice as a Member of Parliament for Lostwithiel in Cornwall, from 1661 to 1669. Between c.1658 and 1667 he was Secretary to Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon, Lord Chancellor to King Charles II from 1658, two years before the Restoration of the Monarchy, until 1667. He was a friend of the diarist Samuel Pepys. He died unmarried. [1]
He was the second son of Peter Bulteel, an English-born merchant of the City of London, a deacon of the French church in Threadneedle Street, and son of a Huguenot Protestant refugee from Tournai, in Hainault [2] [3] by his wife Hester Herbert, daughter of Hugh Herbert of Norwich in Norfolk. [4] In 1640 Peter Bulteel was one of the wealthiest residents of Broad Street ward in the City of London. Peter Bulteel was born in England, but classed himself as a "merchant stranger", which status although costly in terms of taxation, removed him from civic responsibility and political commitment. [5]
Peter Bulteel's brother was a prominent pastor to the Walloon church in Kent. John's cousin was also named John Bulteel, a writer and translator. [6] [7] [8]
Between c.1658 and 1667 he was Secretary to Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon, Lord Chancellor to King Charles II from 1658, two years before the Restoration of the Monarchy, until 1667. He resided in Clarendon's household. [9] His nomination and election in 1661 for the pocket borough of Lostwithiel was probably due to government influence. [10] He was satirized by Andrew Marvell as one of the lord chancellor's underlings employed to count his ill-gotten gains. He was not a man of great political ambition as he is recorded as having stated that "his life's desire" was to retire to a little cottage near his friend, Sir Richard Fanshawe. [11]
In 1660 the Garter King of Arms confirmed to him the right to bear arms as follows: Argent semy of billets and a bend gules, with crest: Out of a crowne gules two wings argent billetté of the first. [12]
He died on 7 December 1669 and was buried in the Church of St. Martin in the Fields, Westminster. [13] He died intestate, and having never married, without children.
A branch of the Bulteel family later grew to great prominence seated in South Devon, at the estates of Flete, Membland and Pamflete, all in the parish of Holbeton and at nearby Lyneham, Yealmpton. A member of this branch was John Crocker Bulteel (1793–1843) a Whig MP for South Devon 1832-4 and Sheriff of Devon in 1841.
Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon, was an English statesman, lawyer, diplomat and historian who served as chief advisor to Charles I during the First English Civil War, and Lord Chancellor to Charles II from 1660 to 1667.
Anne Hyde was Duchess of York and Albany as the first wife of James, Duke of York, who later became King James II and VII.
Earl of Clarendon is a title that has been created twice in British history, in 1661 and 1776.
Robert South was an English churchman who was known for his combative preaching and his Latin poetry.
Edward Montagu, 1st Earl of Sandwich, KG PC FRS JP was an English military officer, politician and diplomat, who fought for the Parliamentarian army during the First English Civil War and was an MP at various times between 1645 and 1660. A loyal supporter of Oliver Cromwell, he was a member of the English Council of State from 1653 to 1659 and General at sea from 1656 to 1660. Following Cromwell's death in 1658, he switched allegiance and played an important role in the Restoration of Charles II in May 1660.
Sir John Popham of Wellington, Somerset, was Speaker of the House of Commons, Attorney General and Lord Chief Justice of England.
Christopher Monck, 2nd Duke of Albemarle was an English soldier and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1667 to 1670 when he inherited the Dukedom and sat in the House of Lords.
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Frances Hyde, Countess of Clarendon, born Frances Aylesbury, was an English peeress. As the mother of Anne Hyde, she was mother-in-law to James II and VII, the deposed king of England, Scotland, and Ireland, and the maternal grandmother of Mary II and Queen Anne.
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Sir John III Chichester of Hall was Member of Parliament for Lostwithiel in Cornwall in 1624.
Lyneham in the parish of Yealmpton in Devon, is an historic estate. The surviving grand mansion house known as Lyneham House is a grade I listed building. It was built c.1699-1703 by Sir Courtenay Croker, MP for Plympton Morice in 1699. A drawing of Lyneham House dated 1716 by Edmund Prideaux (1693–1745) of Prideaux Place, Padstow, Cornwall, survives at Prideaux Place. It shows formal gardens in front with flanking pavilions and an orangery.
Membland is an historic estate in the parish of Newton and Noss, Devon, situated about 8 miles south-east of the centre of Plymouth. The estate was purchased in about 1877 by Edward Baring, 1st Baron Revelstoke (1828–1897), senior partner of Barings Bank, who rebuilt the mansion house known as Membland Hall. He suffered financial troubles and in 1899 the estate and Hall were sold to a property developer. A year later Membland was sold to ship builder William Cresswell Gray. The house became derelict after World War I and was demolished in 1927. Several of the estate's service buildings survive, including the Bull and Bear gatekeeper's lodge, stables, gasworks, forge and laundry. On the site of the house a smaller dwelling was built between 1966 and 1968.
James Bulteel (1676–1757) of Tavistock in Devon was an English Member of Parliament.
Flete in the parish of Holbeton in Devon is an historic manor. In 1810 it was called "one of the finest estates in the county of Devon". The present manor house known as Flete House was built in the 19th century incorporating some elements of an earlier Tudor house on the site.
Radford in the parish of Plymstock in Devon is a historic manor and the oldest recorded seat of the prominent Harris family. It is today a low-cost housing suburb of the City of Plymouth. The 16th century manor house of the Harris family was remodelled in the 18th century and was demolished in 1937. However, various traces of the estate remain, including most notably the deerpark, now a public amenity known as Radford Park, with its large lake, an early 19th century gate-lodge at the entrance drive to the former mansion house, with gatepiers, on Radford Park Road, a bridge and boathouse with follies of a sham castle and another sham-ruin.
Anne Denman (1587–1661) was born in Olde Hall, Retford, Nottinghamshire. Through a second marriage with Thomas Aylesbury, she became the grandmother of Lady Anne Hyde, Duchess of York and great-grandmother of Queen Mary II and Queen Anne.