Sir Charles Sedley, 5th Baronet facts for kids

Sir Charles Sedley, 5th Baronet (born March 1639 – died August 20, 1701), was an English noble, a writer of plays and poems, and a politician. He was well-known for his cleverness and wit.

Life Story

Charles Sedley was born in March 1639. His father was Sir John Sedley, 2nd Baronet, from Aylesford in Kent. His mother was Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Henry Savile. The Sedley family had been important in Kent since at least the year 1337. Charles's grandfather, William Sedley, was made a knight in 1605. He also started the Sidleian Lectures of Natural Philosophy at Oxford, which were special talks about science at Oxford University.

Charles Sedley studied at Wadham College, Oxford. He left college without finishing his degree. His teacher there was a poet named Walter Pope. Charles became the 5th Baronet in 1656 after his older brother, William, passed away.

Charles Sedley married Lady Katherine Savage. They had one child, a daughter named Catherine. Catherine later became a close companion of James II of England. Charles and Katherine lived in Great Queen Street. After his first wife had health issues and lived in a convent, Charles tried to get a divorce, but he was not successful.

Around 1670, Charles Sedley met Ann Ayscough. They had two sons, William and Charles. Sadly, William died when he was a baby. The other son, Charles, was made a knight by King William III in 1689. He later became a baronet in 1702. Charles Sedley and Ann Ayscough stayed together for the rest of his life.

Sir Charles Sedley passed away in Hampstead on August 20, 1701. He was buried at Southfleet Church. When he died, the Sedley baronet title ended.

Sedley was famous for supporting writers during the Restoration period. People especially admired him for his cleverness. He was known as a witty person and was part of a group of courtiers (people who attended the king's court) who were known for their lively personalities. This group included the Earl of Rochester.

Charles Sedley was also a member of parliament for New Romney in Kent. He was active and helpful in politics. A speech he gave about government money after the English Revolution showed how smart and capable he was. He made a famous clever remark about King James II. When the king made Sedley's daughter a countess, Sedley said, "Since the king has made my daughter a countess, the least I can do is help make his Majesty's daughter (Mary) a queen." This showed his support for Mary becoming queen.

Sedley's political career began in the 1660s. Around 1677 or 1678, he started supporting the Whig political group. When King Charles II died in 1685, Sedley was not allowed to be in the parliament of the new king, James II. Sedley was against King James, who was Catholic, and he supported William of Orange in 1688. Sedley was elected to Parliament again in March 1690. He gave more speeches and made more proposals in Parliament, including discussions about laws for serious crimes against the king. These showed his strong political beliefs after the Revolution. Sedley's speeches were put into a book called The Miscellaneous Works in 1702. He remained a Member of Parliament until he died in 1701.

Family Life

Charles Sedley became the 5th Baronet in 1656 after his brother William died. His first wife was Lady Katherine Savage. They had one daughter, Catherine. Catherine later became a close companion of James II of England. After his first wife had health issues, she lived in a convent in Ghent. Charles tried to get a divorce, but he was not successful.

Around 1670, he met Ann Ayscough. They had two sons, William and Charles Sedley. William died when he was a baby. The other son, Charles, was made a knight by William III of Orange in 1689 and became a baronet in 1702. Charles Sedley and Ann Ayscough stayed together for the rest of his life.

His Legacy

Sir Charles Sedley's reputation for being witty and lively partly inspired the Sedley family in William Makepeace Thackeray's famous novel, Vanity Fair.

His Works

Poems

One of his most famous songs, "Phyllis is My Only Joy," is still known today, even if many people don't know who wrote it. In the 1670s, Sedley mostly wrote light love poems and poems about nature. Later, in the 1680s and 1690s, he wrote more satirical poems, which made fun of things. His Epigrams: or, Court Characters were like the works of an ancient Roman poet named Martial. In one of his poems, "To Nysus," Sedley talks about how satire works. He says, "Let us write satyr than, and at our ease / Vex the ill-natur'd Fools we cannot please." This means he wanted to annoy people who were mean or hard to please.

Sedley also translated old poems from Latin. He translated parts of Virgil's Georgics, an ode from Horace, and three love poems from Ovid. Dryden included Sedley's translations from Ovid in a collection of works in 1684.

Some of his poems were turned into music:

• "Phyllis is My Only Joy" was set to music by John William Hobbs.
• "Not, Celia, that I Juster Am" was made into a song by Elizabeth Turner.
• "Hears Not My Phillis" was set to music by Henry Purcell.

In 1692, Sedley wrote a special song for Queen Mary's birthday called "Love’s goddess sure was blind." This song was also set to music by Purcell.

Plays

His first comedy play was The Mulberry-Garden (1668). This play showed off his famous wit. His best comedy is Bellamira: an imitation of the Eunuchus of Terence. In this play, the main female character is thought to represent Barbara Villiers, a close companion of King Charles II. While The Mulberry-Garden celebrated the good things about the Restoration period, Bellamira showed a darker, more cynical side.

Sedley also wrote two tragedies: Antony and Cleopatra (1677) and The Tyrant King of Crete (1702). These plays are not considered as good as his comedies. He also wrote The Grumbler (1702), which was based on a French play. However, some works published after his death might not have been written by him. Besides writing introductions for his own plays, Sedley wrote at least four more introductions for other comedies. The most famous one was for Shadwell's play, Epsom Wells.

Published Works

Here are some of the books and plays by Sir Charles Sedley:

• Pompey the Great (1664); this was a translation and adaptation of a French play by Pierre Corneille. He worked on this with other writers like Charles Sackville and Edmund Waller.
• The Mulberry-Garden (1668); partly based on a play by Molière.
• Antony and Cleopatra (1677)
• Bellamira: or, The Mistress (1687); partly based on a play by Terence.
• Beauty the Conquerour: or, The Death of Marc Antony (published after his death in 1702).
• The Miscellaneous Works of the Honourable Sir Charles Sedley (London, 1702).
• The Works of the Honourable Sir Charles Sedley, 2 volumes (London, 1722).
• The Works of the Honourable Sir Charles Sedley, 2 volumes (London, 1776).
• The Tyrant King of Crete; (possibly by Sedley) a shorter version of a play by Henry Killigrew.
• The Grumbler; (possibly by Sedley) a translation of a French comedy.
• The Poetical and Dramatic Works of Sir Charles Sedley, edited by Vivian de Sola Pinto. 2 volumes (London, 1928).
• Sir Charles Sedley's "The Mulberry-Garden" (1668) and "Bellamira: or, The Mistress" (1687): An Old-Spelling Critical Edition with an Introduction and a Commentary, edited by Holger Hanowell (Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 2001).

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  Sir Charles Sedley

See also

In Spanish: Charles Sedley para niños