William Coventry facts for kids
Sir William Coventry PC (born October 4, 1627 – died June 23, 1686) was an important English government official. He played a big role in the government during the time when the king returned to power after the English Civil War.
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Early Life and the Civil War
William Coventry was the son of Thomas Coventry, 1st Baron Coventry, who was a very important judge called the Lord Keeper of the Great Seal. William started studying at The Queen's College, Oxford, when he was just fourteen years old.
However, he had to stop his studies because the English Civil War began. This was a big fight between the King and Parliament. Even though he was young, William joined the King's army and led a group of soldiers. After a while, he went to France. He stayed there until it was clear that the King's side would not get help from other countries.
When it looked like the King would return to power in 1660, William Coventry quickly went to Breda. He became a secretary to James, Duke of York, who was in charge of the navy. William even rode at the front of the parade when King Charles II returned to London in victory.
Helping the King's Government
In 1661, Coventry was elected to Parliament for Great Yarmouth. In May 1662, he became a commissioner for the Royal Navy, which meant he helped manage the navy. He also earned a special law degree from Oxford in 1663.
People in Parliament quickly saw how talented he was. He became very influential as an official. His job was more like a secretary for the entire navy, not just a personal helper to the Duke of York. This job was very profitable, and some people said he earned a lot of money, around £60,000.
Some people accused him of corruption, especially during the Second Anglo-Dutch War, but there is no real proof of this. Samuel Pepys, who kept a famous diary, wrote that Coventry did a great job managing the navy. Pepys praised Coventry for trying to make things better and save money. This was very different from what Pepys said about other officials, whom he often called "knaves" or "old fools." Even with Coventry's hard work, the navy still faced problems, mainly because of money issues and bad appointments.
Important Years: 1665 to 1669
Coventry said he was not responsible for starting the Dutch War in 1665, and Pepys agreed with him. Starting this war went against Coventry's usual political ideas. The war actually made him more important. Soon after the Battle of Lowestoft in June 1665, he was made a knight and became a Privy Councillor (a special advisor to the King). He also joined a committee that dealt with foreign affairs.
In 1667, he was asked to join the treasury board to help fix the country's money problems. Pepys wrote that "Sir William Coventry is the man and nothing done till he comes." This shows how important he was. When he left the treasury in 1669, the Duke of Albemarle, who was not always friendly to Coventry, said that "nothing now would be well done." However, Coventry's appointment came too late to stop the navy's big defeat at Chatham that same year, known as the Raid on the Medway, and the country's financial troubles in 1672.
Coventry's growing influence made the Lord Chancellor, Clarendon, very jealous. Clarendon did not like younger, talented officials. Coventry did not like this either. He became a main person in the successful effort to remove Clarendon from his powerful position. However, Coventry refused to take part in the official process to accuse Clarendon of wrongdoing, even though Clarendon never forgave him. Two days after Clarendon resigned, Coventry said he would leave his navy job.
Because he helped remove Clarendon, Coventry gained more power. Many people expected him to become the King's most important minister. But Coventry only kept his job at the treasury. Instead, George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, who was clever but not always honest and a favorite of the King, took the top spot.
Coventry and Buckingham soon became unfriendly. Buckingham made fun of Coventry's serious focus on work and was annoyed that Coventry opposed the accusations against Clarendon. Coventry quickly lost influence and was removed from the King's main advisory group. His career now depended on the Duke of York's support. But by helping to remove Clarendon, Coventry had actually weakened the Duke of York's influence, as Clarendon was the Duke's father-in-law and main supporter.
Finally, in March 1669, Coventry challenged Buckingham to a duel because Buckingham had written a play that made fun of him. The authorities found out about the challenge, and Sir William was put in the Tower of London on March 3. He was later removed from the Privy Council. On March 11, he was replaced in the treasury by Buckingham's friend, Sir Thomas Osborne. Coventry was released from the Tower on March 21, but he was no longer in favor with the King.
The real reason for his dismissal was that King Charles II decided to become closer to France and turn away from the Netherlands and Protestant interests. Six weeks before Coventry's fall, the King and some of his advisors had a secret meeting that led to the Treaty of Dover a year and a half later. Sir William, who was against France and strongly supported Protestantism, would have been a big problem for these plans. He then left official government life. However, he still had a lot of influence in the House of Commons. He led the group that criticized the government's actions, and his reputation actually grew stronger after he was dismissed.
The 1670s
In 1673, a pamphlet called England's appeal from the Private Cabal at Whitehall to the Great Council of the Nation by a true Lover of his Country was published and became very popular. Everyone thought Sir William wrote it. It strongly showed his dislike for England's close ties with France.
When the King tried to allow more religious freedom without Parliament's approval, Coventry argued that the King could not do this while Parliament was meeting. He supported the Test Act, which required people in public office to be Protestant. He remained calm and reasonable even when many people were angry at the government. He refused to join in personal attacks on ministers, which made him unpopular, just like his nephew, George Savile, 1st Marquess of Halifax, would become later. In the same year, he spoke out against the alliance with France.
Coventry always appreciated the loyalty of Samuel Pepys. He strongly supported Pepys' right to be in the House of Commons (Pepys was elected in 1673). He also made fun of the false claims that Pepys was a Roman Catholic.
In the summer of 1674, Coventry was welcomed back at court. In 1675, he supported a bill to keep Roman Catholics out of both Houses of Parliament. He also supported a measure to keep government officials out of the House of Commons. He was very active in opposing the French connection, especially criticizing the government for allowing troops to be recruited for the French army. In May 1677, he voted for an alliance with the Dutch. Like most people at the time, he believed the story of the Popish Plot in 1678, which was a made-up plan by Catholics to kill the King. Coventry turned down several high government jobs. He was not included in Sir W. Temple's new council in April 1679.
The 1680s and Later Life
When the question came up about whether the King's Catholic brother should be allowed to inherit the throne (the Exclusion Question), Coventry first supported a plan to limit the King's power instead of completely excluding his brother. He advised his nephew Halifax, who became the leader of the moderate group, to be careful and patient. He greatly regretted that the strong opposition to the King's brother caused a backlash and ruined everything.
Coventry refused to run for the new Parliament and retired to his home at Minster Lovell in Oxfordshire. He died unmarried on June 23, 1686, at Somerhill near Tunbridge Wells, where he had gone for health reasons. He was buried at Penshurst, where a monument was built in his memory.
In his will, he asked for a simple funeral. He left £2000 to French Protestant refugees in England and another £3000 to help free captives held by pirates in Algiers. Before his death, he had already paid to free sixty slaves. His family loved and respected him very much. His nephew, Henry Savile, spoke of him with great affection as "our dearest uncle and incomparable friend."
What Made Him Special
Even though Sir William Coventry never held the very top government job, his public life and writings show that he was a very important statesman. Lord Halifax, his nephew, learned many of his ideas about government from Coventry. Halifax learned from him the importance of a strong navy and his opposition to France. He also got his ideas about religious tolerance and his strong Protestant beliefs from Coventry. Sir William was known as the original "Trimmer."
He once wrote to his nephew, "I have not been ashamed to own myself to be a trimmer... one who would sit upright and not overturn the boat by swaying too much to either side." This means he believed in finding a balance and not leaning too much to one political side. He disliked political parties and urged Halifax to always focus on what was best for the country as a whole.
Coventry was known for being careful and not doing things he couldn't undo. He had a strong independent spirit and a broad mind that wasn't limited by party rules. He stayed sensible even when others were caught up in national excitement. These qualities were true for both him and his nephew. Sir William Coventry's ideas about how to govern the country greatly influenced future political changes in England and helped the country grow and progress.
