Page:The Complete Peerage Ed 2 Vol 3.djvu/604

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584 CUTTS at the siege of Limerick. In reward for his services, he was, on 12 Dec. 1690 cr. BARON CUTTS OF GOWRAN, co. Kilkenny [I.]. He was wounded at Steinkirk, being then Brig. Gen.; took part in the Brest expedition in 1694, where he was again wounded; was Col. of the Coldstream Guards, Oct. 1694 till his death. He gained distinction from his valour at the siege of Namur (surrendered 26 Aug. 1695), '^he first check received by France during the war;() was in i6()6(^) Major Gen.; accompanied Marlborough to Holland in 1701, and captured Fort St. Michel (an outwork of the fortress of Venloo) 18 Sep. 1702; Lieut. Gen. in 1703, and third in command at Blenheim, 2 Aug. 1 704, his last military achievement. He was M.P. (Whig) for co. Cambridge, in 5 Paris., 1 693-1 702, and for Newport, Isle of Wight, i']02-o'],{f) having been from 1693 Gov. of the Isle of Wight; Col. of a regt. of Dragoons 1704 till his death. In 1705 he arrived in Ireland as Commander in chief, and was one of the Lords Justices of that Kingdom. P.C. [I.] May 1705. He m., istly (lie. at Fac. off.), 18 Dec. 1690, Elizabeth, then about 30, widow of John Trevor, of Plas Teg, co. Flint, and before that of William Morley, of Glynde, Sussex, da. and h. of George Clark, Merchant of London. She d. 19 Feb. 1692/3, whereby her jointure of ;^2,500 a year ceased. He »?., 2ndly, about 31 Jan. 1696/7, Elizabeth, da. and h. expectant of Sir Henry Pickering, 2nd Bart., of Whaddon, co. Cambridge, by his ist wife, Philadelphia, da. of Sir George Downing, Bart. She, who possessed j^ 1,400 a year, d. in childbed, 23 Nov. 1697, aged i8.() Admon. (*) Acquiring thereby the nickname of "The Salamander." Bp. Burnet's character of him when "towards 50" with Swift's remarks thereon in italics, is as follows. "Has abundance of wit, but too much seized with vanity and self-conceit; he is affable, familiar and very brave. — The vainest old fool alive." Swift also wrote a scurrilous lampoon on him entitled Ode to a Salamander. Lord Cutts was himself a writer of verses. His undoubted courage gained him the esteem of William III, who besides making him "a grant of lands belonging to the Jesuits in certain counties," bestowed on him the important estate of Durford in Harting, Sussex, forfeited by John Caryll (as far as his life interest), but redeemed by Caryll's nephew for ^^6,000 (or

^8,ooo) paid to Lord Cutts. See H. D. Gordon's History of Harting, 1877.

Much of his correspondence is printed in the Astley MSS., published by Hist. MSS. Com., in 1900. He is said to have died so deep in debt that his Aides de Camp "clubbed j^io a piece" to bury him. He had 3 sisters, Anne, m. Serjeant John Thurbarne, M.P. for Sandwich; she is stated in Diet. Nat. Biog. to have m. John Withers, of the Middle Temple; Margaret, m. John Acton, of Bishopstoke, described as Solicitor to the Coldstream Guards; and Joanna, unm., who surv. him. His 1st wife's 1st husband wass. of Sir John Trevor, Sec. of State, and not the Sec. him- self, as stated in Diet. Nat. Biog., sub "Cutts." V.G. C") At this date he is stated in Diet. Nat. Biog. to have been " Capt. of the Body Guard ; " the Editor does not know of any such office, he certainly was never Capt. of the Yeomen of the Guard. V.G. (•=) He was also elected for Newport at the 4 successive general elections 1695, 1698, 1700, and 1 701, but preferred to sit for Cambridgeshire. V.G. () There is, however, a letter in the Duke of Manchester's Court and Society, vol. ii, p. 49, dated 26 Sep. 1699, about which date or the statement contained in the