Henry Montagu, 1st Earl of Manchester
Henry Montagu, 1st Earl of Manchester (c.
1563-
1642) was the grandson of Sir Edward Montagu, chief justice of the king’s bench
1539—
1545, who was named by
King Henry VIII one of the executors of his will, and governor to his son,
Edward VI.
Sir Henry Montagu, who was born at Boughton,
Northamptonshire, about 1563, was educated at Christ’s College, Cambridge, and, having been called to the bar, was elected recorder of
London in
1603, and in
1616 was made
Chief Justice of the King’s Bench, in which office it fell to him to pass sentence On Sir
Walter Raleigh in October
1618. In
1620 he was appointed
Lord High Treasurer, being raised to the peerage as
Baron Montagu of Kimbolton,
Huntingdonshire, and
Viscount Mandeville. He became
President of the Council in
1621, in which office he was continued by
Charles I, who created him
Earl of Manchester in
1626. In
1628 he became
Lord Privy Seal, and in
1635 a commissioner of the treasury. Although from the beginning of his public life in
1601, when he first entered parliament, Manchester had inclined to the popular side in politics, be managed to retain to the end the favour of the king. He was a judge of the
Star Chamber, and one of the most trusted councillors of Charles I. His loyalty, ability and honesty were warmly praised by
Clarendon. In conjunction with Coventry, the lord keeper, he pronounced an opinion in favour of the legality of ship-money in
1634. He died on
7 November 1642.
Manchester was married three times. One of his sons by his third wife was father of Charles Montagu, created Earl of Halifax in 1699. He was succeeded by his eldest son, Edward Montagu, 2nd Earl of Manchester.