COVENTRY, Gilbert (c. 1668-1719)

As the younger son of a younger son, Gilbert Coventry cannot have expected to inherit the Coventry peerage. At the age of 15 he was sent to Holland to be apprenticed to a merchant, an arrangement that did not appeal to the young man at all. Although he became fluent in Dutch, his family were concerned that he was not applying himself to his trade and was frittering away his allowance. Antony House mss, CVC/Z/18. There were also concerns that his attachment to the Church of England was being eroded. Ibid., T. Coventry to G. Coventry, 14 Oct. 1686, 27 Aug., 19 Dec. 1687. Such fears became more acute in 1687, when his father unexpectedly succeeded as 5th Baron Coventry. More worrying still was the news that Coventry was believed to be ‘very near marriage’ with one Mrs Blake. The prospect of the son of a peer making a mésalliance induced Edward Cookes, Coventry’s steward, to warn, ‘If there was ever such a thing I hope it is now past, and that you will see your own interest so far as to waive any such thoughts, for it is now expected you should marry into a good family.’ The Blake match came to nothing, and two years later negotiations were under way for a suitable partner for both Gilbert and his brother, Thomas Coventry, later 2nd earl of Coventry. Antony House mss, CVC/Y/1/2, 7.

Coventry returned to England in 1690, after a spell in Paris. Gordon, Coventrys of Croome, 68. In March Richard Coote^‡, earl of Bellomont [I], sought his interest in the election for Droitwich, but his continued excesses caused further ruptures with his father. Antony House mss, CVC/Y/1/6. The attempts of Thomas Leigh, 2nd Baron Leigh, to mediate on Coventry’s behalf were unsuccessful and Coventry was forced to seek sanctuary with his mother’s relatives at Cotehele in Cornwall. Ibid. CVC/Y/1/10; Gordon, Coventrys of Croome, 68.

Over the next few years Coventry continued to complain of lack of money. Antony House mss, CVC/Y/1/15. By 1692 he had become so desperate as to contemplate enlisting in the army. Because he was prohibited from visiting the family home at Croome, his brother suggested that he stay with Charles Hancock of Twining, or Sir Francis Russell, bt. of Strensham, while further mediation was attempted with his father. Ibid. CVC/Z/18, T. Coventry to G. Coventry, 19 Jan. 1692, CVC/Y/1/23. In 1694 Leigh once more intervened on Coventry’s behalf, while his sister-in-law, Lady Anne Coventry, used her influence to attempt to procure him preferment with James Butler, 2nd duke of Ormond. The death of his mother, Winifred, Lady Coventry, during the year was a considerable blow, but in November Coventry was able at last to achieve some independence with his marriage to his cousin Dorothy Keyte. Antony House mss, CVC/Y/1/26–27, 29. The match should have improved relations between Coventry and his long-suffering father but disputes over the marriage settlement added to their disagreements.Ibid. CVC/Y/1/32, 49. He also fell out with his brother, Thomas, convinced that the latter had poisoned their father’s mind against him. Ibid. CVC/Z/20, G. to T. Coventry, 23 Mar. 1694, T. to G. Coventry, 13 Feb. 1695.

Despite these family disputes, Coventry was able to command significant political influence in Worcestershire and Gloucestershire. In March 1698 Thomas Windsor, later Viscount Mountjoy, requested his assistance in the Evesham by-election. Ibid. CVC/Y/4/6. On this occasion Windsor was defeated but, as a further indication of his status in the county, in 1700 Coventry was appointed a deputy lieutenant in Worcestershire. CSP Dom. 1700–2, p. 256.

The general election of 1702 revealed deepening divisions within the family as Coventry and Thomas, who had since succeeded as 2nd earl of Coventry, clashed over the elections for Worcestershire. Gilbert Coventry had intended to give his support to Sir John Pakington^‡. In alliance with his father-in-law, Sir William Keyt, he sent gifts of meat to the voters but he was persuaded to withhold his interest by his aunt, Lady Throckmorton, to avoid further damaging relations with his brother. Worcs. RO, Hampton mss, 705:349/4657/iii/15; Antony House mss, CVC/Y/2/12. Coventry agreed reluctantly, but complained of his brother’s interference:

I will not pretend to advise one way or [the] other not knowing how far the nobility ought to concern themselves in elections, but it is very hard that my brother should pretend to forbid me any place, because he is there present. I hope I may be allowed the liberty … to serve my friends and country as others do without disobliging anybody. Antony House mss, CVC/Y/2/13.

Coventry’s close relations with the Windsor family were underlined by his inclusion as one of the trustees of the marriage settlement of Other Windsor, 2nd earl of Plymouth, with Elizabeth Whitley, in April 1705, and in May Coventry and Plymouth combined their interests in the Worcestershire election in favour of Pakington. Ibid. CVC/Y/2/20–21; CVC/Y/4/2. The same year, Dorothy Coventry died, leaving Coventry with a daughter, Anne. The following December witnessed the beginnings of a lengthy dispute with Sir Richard Newdigate over the leasing of coal mines on Coventry’s land. Although not a party to the action, the case provided an opportunity for the new earl to patch things up with his brother. The earl was reported to be ‘mighty zealous’ to assist, as he was eager to see Coventry wash his hands of Newdigate. Ibid. CVC/Y/2/32. In October 1707 Coventry entered a counter-suit in chancery against Newdigate’s demand for a renewal of the lease but bickering between the two families over the leasing of the coal mines continued until after Coventry’s death. TNA, C5/600/16, C 11/425/16.

Coventry succeeded to the peerage as 4th earl of Coventry in January 1712, following the death of his nephew, Thomas Coventry, 3rd earl of Coventry, at Eton. Boyer, Anne Annals, x. 387; Gordon, Coventrys of Croome, 66. With the earldom he inherited a considerable estate, with lands in Worcestershire, Warwickshire and Middlesex, commanding an annual rental income in excess of £4,750. Antony House mss, CVE/Z/1. His succession altered the political balance within Worcestershire, he being solidly Tory in outlook in contrast to his late brother’s vehement Whiggism. Coventry took his seat in the House on 23 Feb. but he sat for just four more days before retiring for the remainder of the session and on 12 Mar. he registered his proxy in Plymouth’s favour.

Succession to the earldom brought to the fore the problem of the future inheritance of the peerage, and within a month of his elevation Coventry was encouraged to marry again. Ibid. CVC/Y/3/19. Eagerness to settle the succession may also have encouraged him to find a husband for his daughter, Anne. For the remainder of the year, Coventry’s attention was occupied with the drawing up of a bill to allow him to raise £5,000 from his lands in Warwickshire and Middlesex towards his daughter’s portion. In May he drafted a memorandum for his agent, Francis Taylor, requiring him to wait on his cousin Thomas Thynne, Viscount Weymouth, to recruit his assistance in passing the bill. Coventry also hoped that Edward Jeffreys^‡ (formerly Winnington) would lend his support in the Commons should a petition to the lower House be necessary. HP Commons, 1690–1715, 894; Antony House mss, CVC/Y/3/27.

In June Coventry was listed by Robert Harley, earl of Oxford, as a doubtful court supporter but the following month Coventry received an enthusiastic letter from Charles Talbot, duke of Shrewsbury, complimenting him on the ‘zeal’ he had displayed in Worcestershire for the queen’s interest. Coventry was disappointed, however, by the lord keeper’s cautious response to his bill in August, in which he perceived there to be several difficulties. Antony House mss, CVC/Y/3/31, 34.

Rumours circulated in October 1712 that Coventry was to marry a ‘west country widow’ but these proved illusory. Gordon, Coventrys of Croome, 72. He was present in the House on four of the prorogation days in February and March 1713; in March he was listed as a supporter of the ministry and on 9 Apr. he took his seat at the opening of the new session. Present on just over 30 per cent of all sitting days, on 5 May he was named to the committee considering the bill to enable Symes Parry to change his surname to Symes, and three days later the Coventry estate bill received its first reading. HMC Lords, n.s. x. 71. The following day the bill was committed and on 30 May, following a third reading, the House resolved that the bill should pass. In June Coventry was thought to be in favour of the Eighth and Ninth articles of the French commercial treaty.

Perhaps in deference to his mother’s influence, Coventry appears to have been associated closely with Cornish affairs. On 4 Jan. 1714 his daughter, Anne, married Sir William Carew, bt. of Antony House. Coventry took his seat in the House once more on 5 Mar. but sat for only four days before once more retiring from the session. On 12 Mar. he registered his proxy in favour of his distant relative-by-marriage, the Cornish peer George Granville, Baron Lansdown. However, unlike Lansdown and Carew, there is no reason to suspect that Coventry harboured Jacobite sympathies. In May he was unsurprisingly estimated to be a supporter of the Schism bill and on 31 May he transferred his proxy to his Warwickshire neighbour, Basil Feilding, 4th earl of Denbigh. Coventry’s earlier proxy had been vacated when Lansdown registered his own proctoral vote on 28 May. His new proxy was vacated by the close of the session.

Family disagreements again occupied Coventry during the year, as he was involved with a chancery case with his sister-in-law, Anne, Lady Coventry, over the terms of her jointure. TNA, C33/321, ff. 324, 441, 523. In spite of such distractions, he maintained his interest in Worcestershire following the queen’s death, and in August Thomas Vernon^‡ approached Coventry for his interest in the county. The same year Coventry appears to have exercised his influence in the South Sea Company on behalf of one Dover in procuring him the position of chief officer for the company at Buenos Aires. Antony House mss, CVC/Y/3/44, 48. He took his seat in the House a month after the opening of the new Parliament, on 26 Apr. 1715, following which he was present on a further 21 days until the end of June. During this time he was at last successful in concluding an advantageous match. He was consequently absent from the House on 27 June, the day of his marriage to Anne Master, whom he described as his ‘Indian queen’, daughter of Sir Streynsham Master, director of the New East India Company. BL (India Office), mss Eur. E210, f. 98; Hist. Reg. 1714–16, chronological register, p. 63; Gordon, Coventrys of Croome, 75; Diaries of Streynsham Master 1675–80, ed. R.C. Temple, i. 130. The wedding breakfast, held at a hotel on Hampstead Heath, cost the princely sum of £6 5s. 4d. BL (India Office), mss Eur. E210, f. 91. During his brief absence, Coventry ensured that his proxy was registered in favour of John Sheffield, duke of Buckingham. He resumed his seat in the House for the final time the following day.

Coventry returned to Croome in July 1715 but his intended return to London was forestalled by news of Oxford’s impeachment. In a letter to his father-in-law, Coventry excused his failure to rally to Oxford’s cause, arguing that ‘my Lord Oxford’s enemies carried it by so great a majority that had I been there it would have been no service to him, but I shall not be backwards in attending when occasion shall require’. In spite of his good intentions, he continued to avoid London. In February he complained to Sir Streynsham Master that he was plagued by ‘a multitude of business occasioned by law suits and other private concerns’. Ibid. ff. 96, 97. In part this was a result of the imprisonment of his son-in-law Sir William Carew as a suspected Jacobite at the time of the 1715 rebellion, but Coventry may also have been referring to the ongoing dispute with his sister-in-law, as hearings in October 1715 and April 1716 failed to resolve the matter. TNA, C 33/325, ff. 4, 275.

Preoccupied with business, Coventry entrusted his proxy to Buckingham again in April and took the opportunity to explain how he expected him to exercise it:

It is infinite satisfaction to me that I know it is committed to one who upon all occasions has had the courage to show himself a great and a strenuous defender of the public safety and there is nothing but this consideration that … have kept me thus long in the country at this time of day especially since I have heard of a design to bring in a bill to repeal the Triennial Act which act I always took to be one of the greatest securities our laws afford to the liberties of the subject, and I had not given your lordship the trouble of this letter but that your lordship was pleased to tell me it would be some satisfaction to you to know that you used my vote as I would do my self if I was present which should be for the throwing out of this bill and I hope I agree with your lordship’s own sentiments … Antony House mss, CVC/Y/3/68.

Despite the care he displayed in outlining his wishes to Buckingham, there is no record of Coventry’s proxy being registered in the proxy book. On 25 Feb. 1717 Coventry registered his proxy in Buckingham’s favour again, which was vacated by the conclusion of the session. He did so once more later that year, probably in December, but the date of its registration is missing from the proxy book.

In the final years of his life Coventry suffered from poor health and was incapacitated by gout. Gordon, Coventrys of Croome, 78. On 8 Nov. 1718 he again registered his proxy in Buckingham’s favour, which was vacated once more by the close of the session. Coventry died the following year on 27 October. Hist. Reg. 1719, chronological diary, p. 40. In his will, which appears to have been drawn up hurriedly the same day, he bequeathed to his wife £3,000, in addition to her jointure and much of the personal estate at Croome. He appointed his daughter, Lady Anne Carew, his executrix and was succeeded by his cousin William Coventry^† as 5th earl of Coventry. TNA, PROB 11/572.