Page:The Complete Peerage Ed 2 Vol 2.djvu/221

BOLINGBROKE 205 III. 1688 3. Paulet(St. John), Earl OF BoLiNGBROKE and Baron to St. John of Bletso, br. and h. He was M.P. for Bedford 171 1. 1663-81, and also Recorder of Bedford. Custos Rot. of Beds 1689 till his death. He d. unm., 5 Oct. 171 1, and was bur. at Bletso, when the Earldom of Bolingbroke became extinct, the Barony of St. John of Bletso devolving on his cousin and h. male. Will pr. Oct. 1711. See "St. John of Bletso," Barony, <:r. 1558. VISCOUNTCY. I. Henry St. John, s. and h. ap. of Sir Henry St. John, Bart, (afterwards, 1716, Viscount St. John), by I. 1 71 2 his 1st wife, Mary, da. and coh. of Robert (Rich), Earl to OF Warwick, was bap. 10 Oct. 1678, at Battersea, Sur- 171 5. rey; is said to have been ed. at Eton, and at Ch. Ch., Oxford;(^) was cr. D.C.L. (Oxford), 27 Aug. 1702; M.P. [Titu/ar Earldom (Tory) for Wootton Bassett, 1701-08 (being also elected I. 1715.] therefor in 1 7 10); for Berks, 1 7 10-12; Secretary at War, 1704-08; P.C. 21 Sep. 1 7 10 till Sep. 17 14; Secretary of State for the North 17 10-13, and for the South 1 713-14; Director of the South Sea Co. 1 7 1 1 - 1 5 ; Lord Lieut, of Essex 1 7 1 2- 1 4. On 7 July 1 7 1 2, he was cr. BARON ST. JOHN OF LYDIARD TREGOZE, Wilts, and VISCOUNT BOLINGBROKE,^) co. Lincoln,(^) with a spec, rem., failing his issue male, to his father and the heirs male of his body.('^) Ambas- sador to Paris 17 12. On 27 July 1714 (by the removal of the Duke of Shrewsbury), he became virtually Prime Minister, but the Queen's death, 5 days afterwards, disconcerted all his schemes and, to avoid impeach- ment, he escaped to France.(') The conspicuous part he bore in the last years of Queen Anne's reign, his eloquence, the style of his writings fsTc, are matters of history. He was attainted 10 Sep. I7i5,(^ when he at once entered the service of the Chevalier St. George (the titular James III), as Secretary of State, but was dismissed therefrom Mar. 1716. By him he had already been cr. an Earl Earl of Bolingbroke [E.]] 26 July 1715.(8) He was however restored (though in blood only) 31 May 1725. After frequent visits, he finally returned to England, and possessed much (^) Stanhope's Hiit. of England, and Doyle's Baronage. No such matriculation however seems to occur in the records of Oxford Univ. C') In the patent it is spelt " Bullingirooi." C^) See tabular pedigree on next page. () This is one of the few instances (few at least till very recently) of Commoners being elevated to the Peerage [G.B. or U.K.] with a spec. rem. (failing heirs male of the body) to collaterals and heirs female of the body. For a list of, and remarks on, such special remainders, see vol. iii, Appendix F. ('^) In the same year, and for a similar cause, the Duke of Ormond, the Earl of StrafiFord, and the Earl of Oxford were impeached. See State Trials, vol. xv. V.G. As to the forfeiture of the Baronetcy in 17 15, see note sub Frederick, Baron Saint John of Battersea [1749]. (8) For a list of these Jacobite Peerages, see vol. i. Appendix F.