Catalogue description The Coventry Papers

This collection comprises the correspondence and papers, both official and private, of Henry Coventry, Secretary of State 1672-1680, and of his brother Sir William Coventry, Secretary to the Duke of York as Lord High Admiral 1660-1667, a few papers, etc., of their father Thomas Coventry, 1st Lord Coventry, Lord Keeper (ob. 1640), and of other members of the family being included.

The collection has been partially calendared by the Historical MSS. Commission, Fourth Report, 1874, Appendix, p. 227.

Coventry, Henry, 1619-1686, Secretary of State

Coventry, Sir William, fl 1628-1686, statesman

Microfilm editions of these papers are readily available in public collections, including the Institute of Historical Research, the British Library and Cambridge University Library amongst other repositories. For further details of the microfilm editions please apply to Michelle Mortimer, Publishing Manager, Microform Academic Publishers at the following address: Main Street, East Ardsley, Wakefield, West Yorkshire WF3 2AT. E mail address map@microform.co.uk

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Henry Coventry, 4th son of Lord Keeper Coventry, was born in 1619, entered Queen's College, Oxford, at 14, in 1632, and became B.A., Fellow of All Souls, and a member of the Inner Temple in 1633 (Foster, Alumni Oxonienses 1500-1714, p. 337). With the rest of his family, he was a Royalist and shared in the exile of the party. At the Restoration he was made Groom of the Bedchamber to Charles II; in 1661 he entered Parliament as member for Droitwich, which he continued to represent until 1681; and in 1662 he acted as Commissioner for executing the Act of Settlement in Ireland, being re-called on 10 Jan., 1662-1663 (vol. XXII. f.12). In Sept., 1664 (LXIV) he was dispatched as Envoy to Stockholm, to arrange a commercial treaty with Sweden. The treaty was signed on 16 Feb., 1666, and he returned to England in May (LXVIII. ff.218, 230-236). The following year, in conjunction as Plenipotentiary with Lord Holles, he negotiated the Treaty of Peace with France and Holland at Breda, his Instructions being dated 18 April, and Revocation 23 Aug., 1666 (XLIV. ff.1, 181). He was again sent to Sweden, as ambassador extraordinary, in July, 1671, and he was still at Stockholm awaiting his recall (17 May, 1672, LXVIII. f.53) when he was appointed Secretary of State, 29 May, 1672, on the death of Sir John Trevor (IV. f.18). This office he held without interruption until early in 1680 (I. ff.32, 41). He was then permitted to resign owing to continual ill-health, and he lived in retirement until his death on 7 Dec., 1686. He was never married, and thought this to be the "greatest happinesse" of his life (CV. f.163b).

His official correspondence comprises letters addressed to him at Stockholm and Breda by Lord Chancellor Clarendon, Lord Arlington, Sir Will. Morice, and Sir John Trevor, Secretaries of State, and others, and subsequently letters to him (1) from English ministers and agents abroad, particularly at Paris, the Hague, Brussels and Madrid and at the Congresses of Cologne and Nimeguen, (2) from foreign ministers in England, (3) from correspondents of all classes on general home affairs, (4) from the Earl of Essex and Duke of Ormonde, successive Lords Lieutenant, and many others in Ireland, and (5) from governors and officers in Tangier, Jamaica, Barbados, Virginia and other colonies and dependencies. Autographs of Charles II, James, Duke of York, William, Prince of Orange, and other Sovereigns and princes are included. The other side of the correspondence is largely represented by his own letter-books, as well as by drafts and copies.

Sir William Coventry, 5th son of Lord Keeper Coventry, was ten years younger than his brother Henry, and entered Queen's College, Oxford, art. 14, in 1642 (Foster, loc. cit.). He did not, however, take a degree, but was created D. C. L. in 1663. Shortly before the Restoration he was appointed Secretary to the Duke of York. He retained this post until Sept. 1667, and as the Duke during the time held the office of Lord High Admiral, he took an important part in naval affairs. From 1661 to 1679 he represented Great Yarmouth in Parliament, being one of the leading members of the House. In 1662 he was appointed a Commissioner for Tangier, and from May, 1667 to April, 1669, he was also a Commissioner of the Treasury. On 26 June, 1665 he was knighted and sworn a member of the Privy Council (XCVIII. f.162), but he was dismissed from the Council on 5 Mar. 1668-1669 (CI. f.62) for Challenging the Duke of Buckingham, and was for a short while confined in the Tower. On his release (20 Mar.) he retired into the country, and lived chiefly at Minster Lovel, co. Oxon until his death on 23 June, 1686. Like his brother, he was unmarried.

His official correspondence (vol. XCV. seqq.) relates almost entirely to operations against the Dutch, to charges made against him of selling places, and to naval business generally, a large number of lists of ships and officers, draft-instructions, estimates, accompts, etc., being included. Among his correspondents are Prince Rupert, George Monck, Duke of Albemarle, and Samuel Pepys. His more miscellaneous papers include drafts of Addresses from the House of Commons to the King and Bills in Parliament, political memoranda, etc., together with autograph "observations on the Navy and Naval Warfare" written in 1666 (CII).

The Coventry Papers came to Longleat through Henry Frederick Thynne, third son of Sir Henry Frederick Thynne, Bart., by Mary, daughter of Lord Keeper Coventry, and grandfather of Thomas Thynne, second Viscount Weymouth (1714). H. F. Thynne was Secretary to his uncle Henry Coventry, when Secretary of State, and also his co-heir (CVI. f.352); he was moreover executor to his uncle Sir William Coventry.

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