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Robert Henley, 1st Earl of Northington

Robert Henley, 1st Earl of Northington, PC (c. 1708 – 14 January 1772), was the Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain. He was a member of the Whig Party in the parliament and was known for his wit and writing.[1]

The Right Honourable
The Earl of Northington
PC

George II
George III

The Duke of Newcastle

In Commission

himself
as Lord High Chancellor

George III

The Duke of Newcastle
The Earl of Bute
George Grenville
The Marquess of Rockingham

himself
as Lord Keeper

The Earl Camden

George III

The Earl of Chatham

The Earl of Winchilsea and Nottingham

The Earl Gower

1708
Hampshire

14 January 1772 (aged 63–64)
Hampshire

English

Whig Party

Jane Huband

8

Anthony Henley

Family[edit]

Born the second son of Anthony Henley, Robert Henley was from a wealthy family in Hampshire. His grandfather, Sir Robert Henley, had been Master of the Court of the King's Bench, essentially a defence counsel.


Henley's father Anthony Henley was educated at Oxford and interested in literature. When he moved to London, he became the friend of the Earls of Dorset and Sunderland, as well as a friend of Swift, Pope, and Burnet. After becoming a married man, Anthony Henley had been the Member of Parliament for Andover in 1698. He died in August, 1711 and was succeeded in turn by his eldest son, Anthony and his second son, Robert.[2]

Career[edit]

He was elected a Member of Parliament for Bath in 1747 and became Recorder of the town in 1751. He was appointed Attorney General and knighted in 1756 and promoted the next year to Lord Keeper of the Great Seal, the last person to receive this title. Although as Lord Keeper he presided over the House of Lords, he was not made a peer until 1760 when he became Baron Henley of Grange in the County of Southampton.[3] When George III ascended to power, Henley was appointed Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain in 1761 and made Earl of Northington in 1764.[4][1]


The delay in raising him to the peerage was due to the hostility of George II, who resented Henley's former support of the Prince of Wales's faction, known as the Leicester House party; and it was in order that he might preside as Lord High Steward at the trial of the Earl Ferrers for murder in 1760 that he then received his patent. He resigned from his position in 1767 and died at his residence in Hampshire on 14 January 1772.

Lady Catherine Henley (d. 9 Jan 1779);

[5]

Lady Bridget Henley (d. 13 March 1796), married 1) Robert Lane and 2) Capt. Hon. John Tollemache (30 March 1750 – 25 September 1777);[7]

[6]

Jane Henley (d. February 1823);

[8]

Lady Elizabeth Henley (d. 20 August 1821);

[9]

Mary Henley (1753–1814), married 1) Edward Ligonier, 1st Earl Ligonier,[11] and 2) Thomas Noel, 2nd Viscount Wentworth.[12]

[10]

In 1743, Henley had married Jane Huband who was the daughter of Sir John Huband of Ipsley of Warwickshire. He had three sons and five daughters. The names of his daughters were:


He was succeeded by his son Robert Henley, 2nd Earl of Northington.

(1762) 28 ER 838, "necessitous men are not, truly speaking, free men, but, to answer a present exigency, will submit to any terms that the crafty may impose upon them."

Vernon v Bethell

(1763) 2 Eden 126, 127, as "soon as a man sets foot on English ground he is free".

Shanley v Harvey

(1758) 1 Eden 140, provisions discouraging cohabitation were void against public policy, as where a will promised £5 a month to a beneficiary to split up from her husband, or £2 otherwise. She was entitled to the £5.

Brown v Peck

2 Amb 603, 604, testament and meaning of "grandchildren"

Hussey v. Dillon

1 Eden 5, "The Court has always in cases of this nature considered the question of consent with great latitude, adhering to the spirit and not the letter. The maxim Qui tacet satis loquitur has therefore been respected, and constructive consents have been looked upon as entitled to as much regard as if conveyed in express terms".

Earl of Buckinghamshire v Drury

, 2 Eden, 182; Amb. 428, on conflict of laws, a will affecting lands in the Colonies "is not triable" in this country.

Pike v Hoare

1 Eden, 251

Burgess v Wheate

A memoir of the life of Robert Henely, earl of Northington, lord high chancellor of Great Britain

The Complete peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdoms, Extant, Extinct or Dormant

Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage

re: Penancoet Family

Complete Baronetage

Burke's Peerage and Baronetage

A genealogical survey of the peerage of Britain as well as the royal families of Europe