Charles Paulet, 2nd Duke of Bolton (1661 – 21 January 1722), styled Earl of Wiltshire from 1675 and Marquess of Winchester between 1689 and 1699, was an English Whig politician and peer. He was a supporter of William III of Orange and received many public offices after the Glorious Revolution. Under George I he was appointed Lord Chamberlain and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.
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Early life
He was the son of Charles Paulet, 1st Duke of Bolton, and Mary Scrope, daughter of Emanuel Scrope, 1st Earl of Sunderland. He was educated at Winchester College and in law at Gray's Inn in 1674, before travelling in France between 1675 and 1678.
Member of Parliament
In 1681, Lord Wiltshire was elected to the House of Commons of England as a Member of Parliament for Hampshire as an exclusionist, but left no trace on the records of the Oxford Parliament. He was re-elected to the Loyal Parliament in 1685 and was appointed to one parliamentary committee. By 1687, Wiltshire was listed by Lord Danby as being among the country opposition. In around May 1688, he was sent to Holland by his father; Wiltshire returned to England with William of Orange during the Glorious Revolution in November 1688. Wiltshire was subsequently tasked with informing the Commons that William was ready to receive their loyal address, assume the government of the kingdom, and hold a general election.
Wiltshire was re-elected at the 1689 English general election, likely unopposed, and was appointed to 28 committees in the new parliament. He was among those who prepared reasons for insisting that James II had abdicated and that the throne was vacant, after which he helped lead negotiations with Tory peers in the Lords. In this session he also served on a committee considering the Popish Plot and he spoke in favour of dismissing the Tory marquesses, Halifax and Carmarthen. He also spoke against Sir Robert Sawyer in a parliamentary debate about his actions under the previous regime. In 1689 he was appointed a justice of the peace and deputy lieutenant of Hampshire. On 9 April, his father was created Duke of Bolton and Wiltshire assumed the courtesy title of Marquess of Winchester.
He was elected again at the 1690 English general election and continued to be recorded on contemporary lists as a court Whig. On 13 June 1691, Winchester fought a duel with Richard Lumley, 1st Earl of Scarbrough. He spent much of the rest of that summer on campaign in Flanders during the Nine Years' War, having been appointed colonel of a volunteer horse regiment the previous year. In April 1694, Winchester was granted some forfeited Catholic estates in Staffordshire by King William. In January 1695, as Queen Mary's lord chamberlain, he was appointed to organise the late queen's funeral procession. Queen Mary's death deprived Winchester of a position at court, but he retained an annual pension of £1,200.
Lord Winchester was again elected unopposed to represent Hampshire at the 1695 English general election. He continued to serve the government loyally, which was now dominated by his friends in the Whig Junto. In February 1696, he was among the first to sign the Association of 1696 and he was sent to examine Sir John Friend in Newgate Prison. Winchester was supportive of the attainder of Sir John Fenwick, 3rd Baronet, but he was absent from the Commons' vote on the matter owing to the death of his wife.
In April 1697, Winchester was rewarded for his loyalty by being made one of the Lords Justices of Ireland alongside Henri de Massue, Earl of Galway and Edward Villiers, 1st Earl of Jersey. In this role, he came under the influence of Philip Savage, which caused a rift with the Earl of Galway. In 1697 he commanded a Regiment of Hampshire Militia foot under his father, the Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire.
Duke of Bolton
At the 1698 English general election, Winchester was surprisingly defeated in Hampshire. He was initially hopeful at being returned on petition, but no ground for a successful petition could be found. In February 1699, however, his father died and he became Duke of Bolton and assumed his seat in the House of Lords.
He remained politically active in the Lords and a supporter of the Junto. As duke, he was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire himself and also of Dorset, a commissioner to arrange the union of England and Scotland, and was twice a lord justice of the kingdom. He was also Governor of the Isle of Wight. Between 1715 and 1717 he served as Lord Chamberlain in the household of George I of Great Britain and was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland from 1717 to 1720.
In Jonathan Swift's tract Remarks on the Characters of the Court of Queen Anne, a commentary on the book Memoirs of the Secret Services by John Macky, in response to Macky's statement that the Duke "Does not now make any figure at court", Swift's dismissive reply was, "Nor anywhere else. A great booby".
Marriages and children
Charles married three times:
First, on 10 July 1679 to Margaret Coventry (14 September 1657 – 7 February 1681 or 1682); Margaret was the daughter of George Coventry, 3rd Baron Coventry, and Margaret Tufton. No children resulted from this marriage.
Second on 8 February 1682 or 1683 to Frances Ramsden (baptised 14 June 1661 – 22 November 1696), daughter of William Ramsden and Elizabeth Palmes. They had five children:
Lady Frances Powlett (baptised 20 October 1684 Chawton, Hants – d. 1715), married John Mordaunt, Viscount Mordaunt (d. 1710) in 1708.
Charles Powlett, 3rd Duke of Bolton (3 September 1685 – 26 August 1754).
Lady Betty Charlotte (baptised 21 December 1686 at Chawton, Hampshire)
Harry Powlett, 4th Duke of Bolton (24 July 1691 – 9 October 1759). He married Catherine Parry (d. 25 April 1744). The marriage resulted in the birth of Charles Paulet, 5th Duke of Bolton, Harry Paulet, 6th Duke of Bolton and daughters Catherine Paulett and Henrietta Paulett.
Lady Mary Powlett.
Third, around 1697 to Henrietta Crofts (d. 27 February 1729 or 1730), a natural daughter of James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth and Eleanor Needham. They had a son:
Lord Nassau Powlett (d. 1741). He married Isabella Tufton, daughter of Thomas Tufton, 6th Earl of Thanet and Lady Catherine Cavendish.
Literature
Cokayne, George Edward; Gibbs, Vicary; Doubleday, Herbert Arthur; White, Geoffrey Henllan; Walden, Lord Howard de, Thomas Scott-Ellis (2000) [1910]. The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, new ed. Vol. 2. Gloucester: Alan Sutton Publishing.