FEILDING, William (1640-85)

As heir presumptive to the English earldom of his uncle Basil Feilding, 2nd earl of Denbigh, and the holder of an Irish peerage inherited from his father, Feilding had pretensions to significant influence on both sides of the Irish Sea. A cousin of George Villiers, 2nd duke of Buckingham, through his mother he was related to the Stanhopes and Berkeleys, while the advantageous marriages of his siblings also connected him with the families of Gawdy and Gage. HP Commons, 1660–90, ii. 380. He enjoyed great expectations in Warwickshire and Leicestershire, as well as substantial estates in Ireland, though his mother’s custodianship of the family’s Irish properties during his minority attracted harsh criticism from her brother-in-law Denbigh, who considered her profligate. Feilding’s own poor health appears to have prevented him from fulfilling much of his potential. WCRO, CR 2017/C2/230.

Feilding succeeded his father in the earldom of Desmond in 1666 and the same year he took his seat in the Irish parliament. CSP Ire. 1666–9, p. 77; Nichols, Leicestershire, iv, pt. 1, p. 293. The previous year he had been reprimanded by Denbigh for paying too much heed to his aunt Elizabeth, countess of Guilford. Denbigh complained that Feilding’s ‘misapprehension of my sister Guildford’s kindness to you, upon the ill success of your leaving Ireland upon her advice may well discourage me from interposing in your affairs, since my interest at court cannot equal hers’. Denbigh then restricted himself to cautioning his nephew that, ‘the king has been very gracious to you, and it will become you in honour to use personal diligence in that noble employment his majesty has preferred you unto’. WCRO, CR 2017/C2/vol 2, 229.

Denbigh’s exhortations to his nephew to be wary of Lady Guildford appear to have fallen on deaf ears, as negotiations to secure Desmond a suitable match were led by his aunt, and at some point after his succession to the Irish earldom he married Mary King, widow of Sir William Meredyth. CSP Ire. 1666–9, p. 139. Lady Desmond died after only three years of marriage in September 1669. Nichols, Leicestershire, iv, pt. 1, 293. Disputes with his brother-in-law, John King, Lord Kingstone [I], which were precipitated by Lady Desmond’s death, continued after Kingstone’s own death and in May 1683 they were referred to counsel. HMC Ormonde, vii. 20–21. The same year as his wife’s death (1669), Desmond was appointed to the Irish privy council and in 1670 he carried the sword of state at the entry of John Berkeley, Baron Berkeley, as lord lieutenant. CSP Ire. 1669–70, pp. 28, 113.

Perhaps in expectation of his imminent succession to the English peerage, in January 1675 Desmond approached Arthur Capell, earl of Essex, about quitting his command in Ireland in favour of a Colonel Jeffries. In November of the same year he succeeded his uncle as 3rd earl of Denbigh. Stowe 209, f. 36. The inheritance proved a troublesome one and as early as January 1676 it was reported that he was ‘highly incensed’ by the activities of some of his younger kinsmen in enquiring into the personal estate. Verney ms mic. M636/29, A. Gawdy to Sir R. Verney, 6 Jan. 1676.

The hiatus in parliamentary sessions meant that it was not until 15 Feb. 1677 that Denbigh finally took his seat in the English House of Lords, after which he was present on 29 per cent of all sitting days. The same day he was named to the standing committees for petitions and privileges. He was named to a further 11 committees during the session. On 3 Mar. Denbigh requested that he and his kinsman, Buckingham, might be heard in the ongoing case concerning Robert Villiers’ claim to the viscountcy of Purbeck. Despite early interest in the case, Denbigh appears to have surrendered the principal role to Buckingham, who presented a bill before the House for disallowing Villiers’ pretensions to the peerage. WCRO, CR 2017/L10/4.

Denbigh sat regularly throughout March and the first half of April, attending on 25 occasions during those two months. In spite of his association with Buckingham, in May of that year he was assessed by Anthony Ashley Cooper, earl of Shaftesbury, as ‘vile’. Denbigh was absent from the House from 25 May and failed to resume his seat in the second half of the session but on 16 Feb. 1678 he registered his proxy in favour of Richard Butler, Baron Butler (better known as earl of Arran [I]), which was vacated by the close of the session. He remained absent from the House throughout the session of May 1678 but then took his seat once more at the opening of the following session on 21 October. Present on 85 per cent of all sitting days, on 12 Dec. he was named to the committee considering the Popish recusants’ children bill.

Denbigh took his seat at the opening of the abortive session of 6 Mar. 1679. He was then present again for the opening of the new session on 15 Mar. after which he again attended on 95 per cent of all sitting days. That month he was assessed by Thomas Osborne, earl of Danby (later duke of Leeds), as a likely supporter: in April he proved the embattled peer right by voting against the bill of attainder, and on 27 May he probably voted for the right of the bishops to stay in the House during capital cases. Denbigh was also active at a local level and in November, along with his neighbour Fulke Greville, 5th Baron Brooke, he ensured that Sir Richard Newdigate and Thomas Mariot were put out of the commission of the peace for Warwickshire in retaliation for their standing against the court candidates at the August election. CSP Dom. 1679–80, pp. 284, 286; Glassey, JPs, 45; Warwick County Records, vii. xxii. Denbigh’s feud with Newdigate simmered on throughout the ensuing year and at the 1680 summer assizes a case was brought against Newdigate for ‘a pretended riot’ by Sir William Jesson at Denbigh’s instigation. A half-hearted attempt by Denbigh to patch up relations with Newdigate failed and their antagonism continued into the following year. CSP Dom. 1679–80, p. 550, 1680–1, p. 44. Denbigh took his seat in the new session on 21 Oct. 1680, after which he was present on 82 per cent of all sitting days. In November he voted against exclusion and the following month he was among the minority finding William Howard, Viscount Stafford, not guilty of high treason.

Denbigh was again considered a likely supporter of Danby’s attempt to secure bail in March 1681. He took his seat two days into the brief Oxford Parliament on 23 Mar. and proceeded to attend on five days before the session was brought to a close. In July, Lady Newdigate approached Lady Denbigh in the hopes of negotiating a reconciliation between their warring husbands but Lady Denbigh was able only to offer that:

Time I hope may efface what is past if no new subject be given for unkindness, but my lord was credibly informed that at the last elections Sir Richard, to lessen my lord’s interest in the country, publicly bid them remember my lord voted not guilty in my Lord Stafford’s business, which exasperated my lord very much, for what he did according as his conscience and honour directed him, ought not to be mentioned with reproach. WCRO, CR 136/B/86.

In the autumn of the same year, shortly after returning to London, Denbigh agreed to a request from the king that he would resign his position as custos rotulorum of Leicestershire in favour of Theophilus Hastings, 7th earl of Huntingdon (the former holder of the position). Castle Ashby ms 1092, newsletter, 27 Oct. 1681. In compensation he was appointed lord lieutenant of Warwickshire during the minority of George Compton, 4th earl of Northampton, and the following year it was reported that, on the death of Baptist Noel, 3rd Viscount Campden, he was also to be appointed to the lieutenancy of Rutland ‘by the favour of the new privy seal [George Savile, earl, afterwards marquess, of Halifax]) who salves a former injury by this medium’. HMC Ormonde, vi. 208–9; Luttrell, Brief Relation, i. 152; Bodl. Carte 39, f. 608.

Denbigh was one of those to subscribe Danby’s petition to be bailed in early 1684. Eg. 3358 F. The following year his name headed the list of the local nobility and gentry petitioning Robert Spencer, 2nd earl of Sunderland, for £200 to be added to the £1,200 they had already raised towards the building of a new hall and gaol at Warwick. CSP Dom, 1684–5, p. 284. By this time, Denbigh was clearly a sick man. Though barely in his forties, he had been referred to as the ‘old earl’ in May 1682 and the following year he composed his will. HMC Buccleuch, i. 337. Early in January 1685 he was referred to the care of Dr Radcliffe in Oxford and by 15 Jan. it was reported within the family that his countess was in ‘great apprehension’ about his condition. Verney ms mic. M636/39, Lady V. Gawdy to Sir R. Verney, 8 and 15 Jan. 1685. He rallied sufficiently to take his seat in the House at the opening of the new Parliament on 19 May 1685 but he sat for a mere four days before retiring for the final time on 30 May. On 16 June he registered his proxy in favour of his cousin Philip Stanhope, 2nd earl of Chesterfield, which was vacated by his sudden death on 23 Aug. at his home in Islington. Survey of London, viii. 51–57. The cause of death was believed to be diabetes. Verney ms mic. M636/40, Dr W. Denton to Sir R. Verney, 2 Sept. 1685. He was buried at Monks Kirby.

In his will of 1683, Denbigh appointed Henry Compton, bishop of London, and John Verney^‡ of Allexton trustees. He bequeathed annuities of £500 and £200 to his sons, Basil Feilding, styled Viscount Feilding (4th earl of Denbigh), and William Feilding. The latter also received £2,500 to be raised from the sale of lands in Yorkshire. Provision was also made for a £6,000 portion for his daughter, Mary Feilding, and small bequests were made to other members of his immediate family. A codicil drawn up the following year reduced William Feilding’s share dramatically by revoking the £2,500 bequest. Denbigh was succeeded by his elder son, Basil Feilding, as 4th earl of Denbigh.