The Right Honourable
The Viscount Lonsdale
PC FRS
Portrait of Viscount Lonsdale by Hyacinthe Rigaud
Lord Privy Seal
In office
1699–1700
Preceded byThe Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery
Succeeded byThe Earl of Tankerville
Member of Parliament for Westmorland
In office
1681–1696
Serving with Alan Bellingham, Henry Wharton, Goodwin Wharton, Sir Christopher Musgrave, Sir Richard Sandford
Preceded byAlan Bellingham
Christopher Philipson
Succeeded bySir Richard Sandford
William Fleming
In office
1677–1679
Serving with Sir Philip Musgrave, Alan Bellingham
Preceded bySir Philip Musgrave
Sir Thomas Strickland
Succeeded byAlan Bellingham
Christopher Philipson
Vice-Chamberlain of the Household
In office
1689–1694
Preceded byJames Porter
Succeeded byPeregrine Bertie
First Lord of the Treasury
In office
March 1690 – November 1690
Preceded byThe Earl of Monmouth
Succeeded byThe Lord Godolphin
Personal details
Born
John Lowther

(1655-04-25)25 April 1655
Hackthorpe Hall, Lowther, Westmorland
Died10 July 1700(1700-07-10) (aged 45)
Lowther, Westmorland
Spouse
Lady Katherine Thynne
​
​
(m. 1674)​
RelationsSir John Lowther, 1st Baronet (grandfather)
Sir Henry Bellingham, 1st Baronet (grandfather)
Parent(s)John Lowther
Elizabeth Bellingham
EducationSedbergh School
Alma materQueen's College, Oxford

John Lowther, 1st Viscount Lonsdale, PC FRS (25 April 1655 – 10 July 1700[1]), known as Sir John Lowther, 2nd Baronet, from 1675 to 1696, was an English politician.

Early life

He was born at Hackthorpe Hall, Lowther, Westmorland, the son of Col. John Lowther of Lowther (the eldest son of Sir John Lowther, 1st Baronet) and his wife, Elizabeth Bellingham, daughter of Sir Henry Bellingham, 1st Baronet, of Hilsington, Westmoreland.

He was educated at Sedbergh School before admission to Queen's College, Oxford, where he matriculated in 1670. He was admitted to the Inner Temple in 1671 and called to the Bar in 1677.[2]

Career

Prior to his creation as a viscount in 1696, Lowther had succeeded his grandfather as a baronet, and was twice member of parliament for Westmorland between 1677 and 1696. In 1688 he was serviceable in securing Cumberland and Westmorland for King William III, and was appointed to the Privy Council in 1689. In 1690, he was first lord of the treasury, and he was Lord Privy Seal from March 1699 until his death.[3] He was badly injured in a duel in 1691.

Lonsdale wrote in 1688 a brief account of events from the accession of James II to the landing of the Prince of Orange at Torbay, which was later printed as Memoirs of the Reign of James II (in 1808, for private circulation) and again in 1857. The Memoirs reveal no more of Lonsdale's part in events than his public utterances.[4]

Personal life

On 3 December 1674, he married Lady Katherine Thynne (1653–1712/3), sister of Thomas Thynne, 1st Viscount Weymouth,[5] and second daughter of Sir Henry Frederick Thynne, 1st Baronet and the former Hon. Mary Coventry (second daughter, by his second wife, of Thomas Coventry, 1st Baron Coventry). Together, they were the parents of:[2]

He died at Lowther on 10 July 1700 and was buried in Lowther churchyard. His wife Katherine Lowther took over his political influence and she was eventually buried at Lowther in 1713.[5] The tomb is by William Stanton.[6]

His branch of the Lowther family became extinct when his son Henry, the 3rd viscount, died unmarried in March 1751, and the baronetcy and estates went to his cousin, James Lowther, later the first Earl of Lonsdale.[3]

References

  1. ^ "J. V. Beckett, 'Lowther, John, first Viscount Lonsdale (1655–1700)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004". Retrieved 23 July 2008.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Lonsdale, Viscount (E, 1696 - 1751)". cracroftspeerage.co.uk. Heraldic Media Limited. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
  3. ^ a b  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Lonsdale, Earls of". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 16 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 987.
  4. ^ Richard Saul Ferguson (1871). Cumberland and Westmorland M. P.'s from the Restoration to the Reform Bill of 1867, (1660-1867.). C. Thurnam and Sons. p. 403.
  5. ^ a b c Matthew, H. C. G.; Harrison, B., eds. (23 September 2004). "The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. ref:odnb/67731. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/67731. Retrieved 21 December 2022. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  6. ^ Dictionary of British Sculptors 1660-1851 by Rupert Gunnis p.368

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Parliament of England Preceded bySir Philip MusgraveSir Thomas Strickland Member of Parliament for Westmorland 1677–1679 With: Sir Philip Musgrave 1677–1678Alan Bellingham 1678–1679 Succeeded byAlan BellinghamChristopher Philipson Preceded byAlan BellinghamChristopher Philipson Member of Parliament for Westmorland 1681–1696 With: Alan Bellingham 1681–1689Henry Wharton 1689Goodwin Wharton 1689–1690Sir Christopher Musgrave 1690–1695Sir Richard Sandford 1695–1696 Succeeded bySir Richard SandfordWilliam Fleming Political offices Preceded byJames Porter Vice-Chamberlain of the Household 1689–1694 Succeeded byPeregrine Bertie Preceded byThe Earl of Monmouth First Lord of the Treasury 1690 Succeeded byThe Lord Godolphin Preceded byThe Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery Lord Privy Seal 1699–1700 Succeeded byThe Earl of Tankerville Honorary titles Preceded bySir Philip Musgrave, Bt Custos Rotulorum of Westmorland 1678–1700 Succeeded byThe Lord Wharton Preceded byThe Earl of Carlisle Vice-Admiral of Cumberland and Westmorland 1686–1700 VacantTitle next held bySir Richard Musgrave, Bt Preceded byThe Viscount Preston Lord Lieutenant of Cumberland and Westmorland 1689–1694 Succeeded byThe Earl of Carlisle Preceded byThe Earl of Thanet Custos Rotulorum of Cumberland 1689–1700 Peerage of England New creation Viscount Lonsdale 1696–1700 Succeeded byRichard Lowther Baronetage of Nova Scotia Preceded byJohn Lowther Baronet(of Lowther) 1675–1700 Succeeded byRichard Lowther
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