Orlando Gee

Last updated

Sir Orlando Gee (c.1619 - 1705 [1] ) was an English member of parliament, serving as joint MP for the Cockermouth constituency from March 1679 to March 1681, 1685 to 1687 and 1690 to 1695. [1]

Life

He was the fourth son of Sarah Mogridge and her husband John Gee (died 1631), the latter being parish priest of Dunsford, Devon, making Orlando brother to the cleric and anti-Catholic writer John Gee. [2] [3] In the 1650s he began to ally himself with the House of Percy in general and Charles Seymour, 6th Duke of Somerset in particular. His first marriage on 18 May 1662 was to Elizabeth Maxey, widowed daughter of Sir William Maxey of Bradwell-next-Coggeshall in Essex. In September 1660 he became joint registrar to the Admiralty Court, a post he held until becoming sole registrar two years later, holding the latter post until his death. That post and his first election as MP in 1690 both resulted from his alliance with the Percys. [1]

On 18 August 1682 he was knighted [4] [5] [6] and on 7 August the same year he married a second time to Anne Chilcot, heir and daughter to Robert Chilcot of Isleworth. Both marriages were without issue. [1] His only notable intervention in the House of Commons during his first term was to safeguard his own business interests in two paper mills in Buckinghamshire from a perceived threat from a bill promoting production of white paper, but neither of two clauses moved to mitigate this passed the House. He went on to be appointed to draft bills regarding the militia and preventing escapes from the King's Bench Prison and Fleet Prison.

Few speeches by him survive, all from the 1692-1693 session of Parliament and all demonstrating his support for the Court faction. He opposed attempts to replace the Admiralty commissioners in a 21 November 1692 debate and seconded a motion on 19 January the following year that the 6th Duke of Somerset's chaplain give the annual sermon commemorating the execution of Charles I. He initially supported the Triennial Bill but had turned against it by the time of a speech on 2 February 1693 in which he stated it was "an invasion on the [royal] prerogative". He was granted indefinite leave of absence from Parliament due to poor health on 23 February 1694, retiring at the 1695 election and leaving legacies to charity totalling £10,000 in his will, including £500 to rebuild All Saints' Church, Isleworth. [7] [8] [9]

He died in 1705 and is buried in All Saints Church in Isleworth with a monument by Francis Bird. [10]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Aislabie</span> English politician

John Aislabie or Aslabie, of Studley Royal, near Ripon, Yorkshire, was a British politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons from 1695 to 1721. He was of an independent mind, and did not stick regularly to the main parties. He was Chancellor of the Exchequer at the time of the South Sea Bubble and his involvement with the Company led to his resignation and disgrace.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Rooke</span> Royal Navy admiral (1650–1709)

Admiral of the Fleet Sir George Rooke was an English naval officer. As a junior officer he saw action at the Battle of Solebay and again at the Battle of Schooneveld during the Third Anglo-Dutch War. As a captain, he conveyed Prince William of Orange to England and took part in the Battle of Bantry Bay during the Williamite War in Ireland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edward Russell, 1st Earl of Orford</span> First Lord of the Admiralty

Admiral of the Fleet Edward Russell, 1st Earl of Orford, PC was a Royal Navy officer and politician. After serving as a junior officer at the Battle of Solebay during the Third Anglo-Dutch War, he served as a captain in the Mediterranean Sea in operations against the Barbary pirates.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry Capell, 1st Baron Capell of Tewkesbury</span> English politician

Henry Capell, 1st Baron Capell of Tewkesbury KB, PC was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1660 and 1692. He was then created Baron Capell.

Sir John Ernle was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1654 and 1695. He was one of the longest-serving Chancellors of the Exchequer, a position he held from 2 May 1676 to 9 April 1689.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Smith (Chancellor of the Exchequer)</span> English politician

John Smith (1656–1723) of Tedworth House, Hampshire, was an English politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons between 1678 and 1723. He served as Speaker and twice as Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Thomas Willoughby, 1st Baron Middleton, was a Tory politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons between 1698 and 1711 when he was raised to the peerage as Baron Middleton as one of Harley's Dozen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Erle</span> English army general and politician (1650–1720)

General Thomas Erle PC of Charborough, Dorset, was a general in the English Army and, thereafter, the British Army. He was also a Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons of England and of Great Britain from 1678 to 1718. He was Governor of Portsmouth and a Lieutenant-General of the Ordnance.

Sir William Ashhurst or Ashurst was an English banker and Whig politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons between 1689 and 1710. He served as Lord Mayor of London for the year 1693 to 1694.

Henry Holmes of Thorley, Yarmouth, Isle of Wight, was an Anglo-Irish Army officer, landowner and Tory politician who was Lieutenant-Governor of the Isle of Wight (1710–14) and sat in the English and British House of Commons from 1695 to 1717.

John Pulteney, of St James's, Westminster and Harefield, Middlesex, was an English lawyer and Whig politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons from 1695 to 1710.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Buller (politician, born 1632)</span> English politician

John Buller (1632–1716) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons variously between 1656 and 1695.

Henry Mildmay was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1654 and 1692. He fought in the Parliamentary army in the English Civil War.

Sir Thomas Meres, of Lincoln and Bloomsbury, Middlesex, was an English lawyer and Tory politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons between 1659 and 1710. He showed a remarkable level of activity both within and outside Parliament, particularly during the reign of Charles II.

Sir William Bassett was an English landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1669 and 1693.

John Berkeley, 4th Viscount Fitzhardinge of Bruton, Somerset was an English courtier, treasury official, army officer and politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons from 1690 to 1710.

John Hodgson was an English stage actor of the late seventeenth century. He joined the United Company in 1688 and his first recorded appearance was in The Treacherous Brothers at Drury Lane in 1690. In 1695 he was one of several actors who broke away to join Thomas Betterton's new company at Lincoln's Inn Fields. His name is sometimes written as Hudson. He was married to the singer Mary Hodgson.

Richard Crawley was an English landowner and politician who served as an MP for Wendover and Registrar of the Admiralty and Court of Delegates.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "'GEE, Sir Orlando (c.1619-1705), of Petworth, Suss. and Syon Hill, Isleworth, Mdx.', in D. Hayton, E. Cruickshanks and S. Handley (editors) The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1690-1715 (2002)" . Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  2. ↑ Lee, Sidney Lazarus (1890). "Gee, John"  . Dictionary of National Biography . Vol. 21. pp. 107–108, see final para.
  3. ↑ Abstract of the Charter of the Sons of the Clergy . . . (1678).
  4. ↑ Egerton 2758, f. 107
  5. ↑ IGI, London; Morant, Essex, i. 157
  6. ↑ Le Neve, Mon. Angl. 1700–15, p. 96.
  7. ↑ Luttrell Diary, 248, 363, 373, 375, 395, 398; Grey, x. 305–6
  8. ↑ Lowther Correspondence ed. Hainsworth, 245
  9. ↑ Misc. Gen. et Her. ser. 5, x. 29; Le Neve, 96; PCC 138 Gee.
  10. ↑ Dictionary of British Sculptors 1660-1851 by Rupert Gunnis
Parliament of England
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Cockermouth
1679–1681 and 1685-1687
With: Sir Richard Grahme (1679-1681) /
Sir Daniel Fleming (1685-1687) 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Cockermouth
1690-1695
With: Sir Wilfrid Lawson 		Succeeded by
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.