NOEL, Baptist (1611-82)

The Noel family owed their prominent position in Leicestershire and Rutland to a fortuitous marriage between Sir Edward Noel, created Baron Noel in 1617, and Juliana, daughter of the wealthy mercer Sir Baptist Hicks, created Viscount Campden in 1628. The Noels originated in Staffordshire but in 1548 Andrew Noel^‡ acquired the manor of Brooke in Rutland and then proceeded to build up a number of estates in Leicestershire. HP Commons, 1660–90, iii. 145. Andrew Noel’s son, Sir Andrew Noel, further consolidated the family position with his marriage to Mabel Harington, sister to John Harington^†, Baron Harington, in about 1577. Following the death of Lady Noel’s nephew John Harington^†, 2nd Baron Harington, in 1614, the Harington estates were divided, many of them being purchased by Noel and Sir Baptist Hicks, who had already acquired the manor of Exton the previous year. The marriage of Sir Andrew Noel’s son, Edward, and Juliana Hicks promised the estates’ eventual reunification, while a special remainder also conveyed the viscountcy to Edward Noel at the death of the 1st Viscount Campden in 1629. HP Commons, 1640–60, unpublished article on Baptist Noel, by Sarah Jones.

Edward Noel’s heir, Baptist, was described as one of the ‘young gallants’ at Charles I’s court and was notorious for his extravagance. Records of the Noel Family, 14. Elected one of the Members for Rutland in the Short Parliament, he was re-elected in November and was a relatively active Member of the Commons before being given leave from the House in March 1641, after which he made no further appearance. HP Commons, 1640–60, unpublished article on Baptist Noel, by Sarah Jones. At the outbreak of Civil War, Noel proved himself to be an active royalist. In 1643 he succeeded his father as 3rd Viscount Campden but the Commons, still considering him as a disabled Member of their own House, did not issue a writ for his replacement until the end of September 1645. CJ, iv. 295, 408. Campden rallied to the king and raised a troop of infantry and a cavalry regiment which he commanded as colonel.

In 1645 Campden petitioned for leave to travel to London and thence to Holland but, despite being granted his request, he was seized on arrival in London and imprisoned. The following year, he petitioned successfully to be permitted to return to Rutland. His fine for delinquency was set at £19,558, but this was later reduced to £9,000. HP Commons, 1660–90, iii. 145. In 1651, suspected of involvement in royalist plotting, he was compelled to enter into a bond of £10,000 with two sureties of £5,000 for his good behaviour. VCH Rutland, i. 196. In 1655 he married his fourth wife, Elizabeth Bertie, daughter of the impeccable royalist Montagu Bertie, earl of Lindsey, who had been one of those deputed to act as pall-bearer at the funeral of the executed king. Connection with the Berties was to prove significant in Campden’s future political alliances.

Campden together with several members of the local gentry was gaoled in 1658, no doubt on suspicion of complicity in the royalist risings. Verney ms mic. M636/16, Sir J. Isham to Sir R. Verney, 27 Apr. 1658. Two years later, he was noted by Philip Wharton, 4th Baron Wharton, in his assessment of the peerage as one of those who had supported the king in the civil wars. He took his seat almost a month after the opening of the Convention on 21 May 1660, after which he was present on just under 60 per cent of all sitting days. On 26 May, he was named to the committee appointed to consider the king’s safety. He was then named to a further five committees during the course of the session (including the sessional committee for petitions). At the king’s return, Campden joined with other Rutland gentry in presenting their ‘Humble Congratulations’ to Charles II, who dined afterwards with Campden at his home in Kensington. On 22 June the House ordered that the profits of the rectory of Pickwell, to which Campden laid claim, should be secured in the hands of the churchwardens pending further judgment. Campden was granted leave of absence on 14 Aug., having previously made provision that his proxy be held by Edward Montagu, 2nd earl of Manchester. The proxy, registered on 8 Aug., expired at the close of the session.

Later that year, Campden was appointed lord lieutenant of Rutland. He failed to return to the House for the second session of the Convention but he was actively involved in the elections for the new Parliament. It was expected that he would employ his interest on behalf of his brother-in-law Peregrine Bertie^‡ at Stamford but, faced by the active support mounted by John Cecil, 4th earl of Exeter, for William Stafford^‡, Bertie appears to have withdrawn. Campden’s son Edward Noel, later earl of Gainsborough, enjoyed greater success and was returned for Rutland, clearly with the assistance of his father’s interest. M. Kishlansky, Parliamentary Selection, 120; HP Commons, 1660–90, i. 306, 362. Campden took his seat at the opening of the new Parliament on 8 May 1661 and was named to the committees for privileges and petitions. On 15 May he was also named to the committee considering the bill for making the rivers Stour and Salwarpe navigable, and on 10 June to the committee scrutinizing a bill to permit John Neville, 10th Baron Abergavenny, to sell lands to settle his debts. He was named to a further ten committees during the remainder of the session and on 14 June he was entrusted with Manchester’s proxy. The following month, on 15 July, he also received the proxy of Wingfield Cromwell, 5th Baron Cromwell. Predictably, on 11 July Campden supported his brother-in-law Lindsey’s claim to the office of lord great chamberlain against that of Aubrey de Vere, 20th earl of Oxford. On 17 July Campden entered his protest at the resolution to vacate Sir Edward Powell’s fines. He failed to attend the session after 25 July and was absent at a call of the House on 25 Nov. 1661 but was noted as having assigned a proxy (registered to Richard Byron, 2nd Baron Byron, on 19 November).

In Campden’s absence, the House passed an act for settling Campden House in Kensington on Campden and his heirs. TNA, C204/54. He was excused at a call of the House once again on 23 Feb. 1663 but resumed his seat in April. He was thereafter present on almost 69 per cent of all sitting days, during which he was named to some 26 committees and was again entrusted with Cromwell’s proxy. On 17 June he chaired a sitting of the committee considering the observation of the Sabbath bill but, following its adjournment, chairmanship of the committee was assumed by Humphrey Henchman, bishop of Salisbury. PA, HL/PO/CO/1/1, p. 395. In July, Wharton included Campden among those whom he reckoned likely to support the ill-fated attempt by George Digby, 2nd earl of Bristol, to impeach Edward Hyde, earl of Clarendon, perhaps reflecting an alliance with George Villiers, 2nd duke of Buckingham. Jones, Party and Management, 7. Campden was missing once more at a call of the House on 4 Apr. 1664 but he resumed his seat on 18 April. Present on almost 64 per cent of all sitting days, he was named to six committees in the course of the session but thereafter his attendance in the House declined markedly and he failed to resume his seat for the following four years.

Absence from Parliament does not appear to have meant a diminution in Campden’s desire to bolster his family’s prospects. In July 1664 his daughter Juliana married William Alington, 3rd Baron Alington, one of a series of influential marriages that Campden succeeded in negotiating for his numerous offspring. Earlier the same year, Mary Noel had married James Compton, 3rd earl of Northampton, with a portion of £11,000. Castle Ashby mss, 1220; Bodl. Carte 47, f. 385. Elizabeth Noel was later married to Charles Berkeley, styled Viscount Dursley (later 2nd earl of Berkeley), and in 1674 Katherine Noel became the third wife of John Manners, styled Lord Roos (later duke of Rutland). HMC Rutland, ii. 26–27. Campden also remained highly influential at a local level. In October 1665 he was present at the by-election for Stamford in support of his brother-in-law Peregrine Bertie, who on this occasion was successful. SCLA, DR98/1652/140, E. to Sir J. Heath, 22 Oct. 1665.

During his absence from the House in September 1666 Campden entrusted his proxy to his son-in-law Northampton. Excused on the grounds of ill health on 29 Oct. 1667, he was absent again on 17 Feb. 1668. He resumed his seat on 2 May 1668, attending for the remaining seven days prior to the adjournment but after 9 May 1668 Campden failed to attend the House for the ensuing nine years. To cover his absence, he registered his proxy with Anthony Ashley Cooper, Baron Ashley (later earl of Shaftesbury), on 5 Mar. 1670 and with his distant cousin, Robert Bruce, earl of Ailesbury, on 10 Jan. 1674. He then conveyed the proxy to his brother-in-law Robert Bertie, 3rd earl of Lindsey, on 26 Apr. 1675 and again on 13 Oct. 1675. Like Lindsey, Campden was listed as one of those thought likely to support the non-resisting test. On 20 Nov. Lindsey, while in possession of Campden’s proxy, was noted as having voted against addressing the king to request a dissolution of Parliament. In spite of his lengthy absence from the House, in June 1676 Campden responded to the summons to attend the trial of Charles Cornwallis, 3rd Baron Cornwallis, in the court of the lord high steward, when he joined a minority including Lindsey and the lord treasurer (Thomas Osborne, earl of Danby, later duke of Leeds) in finding Cornwallis guilty of manslaughter. The majority found in favour of an acquittal. State Trials, vii. 157–8; HEHL, EL 8419.

During the 1670s Campden, Lindsey and Lord Roos formed a formidable triumvirate in Rutland, Leicestershire and Lincolnshire. In concert with Lindsey, Campden directed his efforts at the town of Stamford, where a by-election was triggered in the autumn of 1676 by the appointment of William Montagu^‡ to judicial office. The resulting contest saw Campden’s son Henry Noel^‡ strongly opposed by the Presbyterian John Hatcher^‡ and encouraged the intervention of a number of peers who all laid claim to influence within the borough, among them Exeter, Thomas Grey, 2nd earl of Stamford, and John Egerton, 2nd earl of Bridgwater. C. Holmes, Seventeenth-century Lincolnshire, 240. Campden himself was reported to have ‘furiously treated the town of Stamford’, while Lindsey was said to have expended £1,000 campaigning on Noel’s behalf. Unable to compete, Hatcher withdrew. HP Commons, 1660–90, i. 306. The dominance of the Noels and Berties was made apparent in December of the same year, when Campden was elected recorder in place of Exeter. Exeter protested, but was rebuffed, the king stressing that ‘he could not with justice to the services and sufferings of that lord refuse’. CSP Dom. 1676–7, pp. 473, 491. In response, Exeter’s son, John Cecil, styled Lord Burghley (later 5th earl of Exeter), challenged Edward, Lord Noel, to a duel for the affront to his father. Noel refused the challenge, ‘not being well’, but afterwards changed his mind and was disarmed during the encounter. TNA, C115/109/8907. By the opening of 1677 Hatcher had been replaced as the country candidate by William Thursby^‡ but he too proved unable to withstand the pressure against him. At the eventual poll held on 27 Feb. Henry Noel emerged victorious over Hatcher, who had resumed his candidacy following Thursby’s decision to quit.

A combination of entanglement in overseeing the Stamford election and an onset of ‘a severe fit of the gout’ meant that Campden was absent once again at the opening of the new session, on 13 Feb. 1677. Eg. 3330, ff. 77–78. He entrusted his proxy to Lindsey but it was vacated by his eventual return to the House on 21 May, after which he attended on four further occasions before the close of the session. Increasingly associated with Danby (perhaps on account of his close relations with the Bertie family), Campden was reckoned ‘thrice vile’ by Shaftesbury and in the elections of 1678, Campden, Lindsey and Roos again combined their efforts to ensure the return of the court candidate Sir Robert Markham^‡ at Grantham. HMC Rutland, ii. 48.

Danby consistently estimated Campden to be one of his supporters during his imprisonment. In spite of poor health, Campden travelled to London in April 1679, where he arranged to lodge with his relative Robert Bertie, rather than remain at Kensington, which he considered ‘too far off in regard of his infirmities’. Northants. RO, Montagu Letters, xviii. 66. He took his seat in the new Parliament on 24 Apr. and was thereafter present on 34 per cent of all sitting days. In May, Campden opposed the resolution to appoint a committee of both Houses to consider the manner of proceeding in the trial of the impeached lords. On 27 May he probably voted for the right of the bishops to stay in the House during capital cases. Campden, Lindsey and Roos were all deemed ‘ready to serve’ Danby that summer. HMC Lindsey suppl. 59.

Campden was again incapacitated by poor health in the autumn of 1680 and was thus once more unable to attend the House for the new session. Crippled by gout, he explained to Danby that he had experienced ‘such severe fits, that I have twice swooned away with the pain’. In spite of this, he assured Danby of his presence in Parliament in the forthcoming sessions. Add. 28053, f. 193. Campden’s own ill health was not his only distraction from attendance in Parliament. In November his mother, Juliana, dowager Viscountess Campden, died aged 100 leaving a personal estate valued at over £24,230. Rutland Magazine, ii. 185. Her death led to a damaging legal tussle between Campden and his son-in-law Dursley over the payment of a £2,000 legacy bequeathed to Dursley’s wife, Elizabeth Noel. The dispute stemmed from the fact that the dowager Viscountess had paid £2,000 to Dursley at the time of his marriage, which Campden maintained was the sum stipulated in the will, while Dursley argued that it was an additional gift and that he was entitled to a further £2,000. The dispute was referred to the arbitration of Danby and Dursley’s father, George Berkeley, earl of Berkeley. Eg. 3357, f. 74. Campden professed himself ‘very happy’ in the arrangement, and told Danby that he would ‘stand to what determination your lordship and my lord Berkeley do award … for my opinion is such of your lordship’s justice, that I dare boldly put my life and fortune into your commands’. Add. 28053, f. 267.

Danby was eager to bolster support from his Bertie relatives at the time of the Oxford Parliament in March 1681 and it was through his offices that Campden’s son Edward Noel was summoned to the House as Baron Noel of Titchfield. Browning, Danby, i. 345n; CSP Dom. 1680–1, p. 142. Campden undertook once more to attend if his health permitted but assured Danby that if he was unable to do so, his son would ‘act as heartily for you as if I was there’. Add. 28053, f. 243. In the event, he was not present at the brief session.

Campden’s steady loyalty to the crown, combined perhaps with Danby’s interest, gave rise to rumours in February 1682 that he was to be elevated to the earldom of Chichester. Campden appears to have parted with £4,000 to secure the honour but by April, with no progress made in his promotion, he was criticized within his family for releasing the money before he was assured of his prize. HMC Rutland, ii. 69–70. Campden did not live to see his ambition realized, dying in October of the same year. He was buried at Exton, where a sumptuous memorial was erected, designed by Grinling Gibbons at a cost of £1,000. In his will, Campden left portions of £8,000 to his two unmarried daughters, Bridget and Martha Penelope. An inventory compiled shortly after his death revealed a personal estate totalling over £31,133. TNA, PROB 4/17225. He was succeeded as 4th Viscount Campden by his son Lord Noel, who was shortly afterwards promoted earl of Gainsborough. VCH Rutland, i. 201.