CORNEWALL, Robert (1647-1705), of Berrington, Herefs.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1660-1690, ed. B.D. Henning, 1983
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

Family and Education

bap. 17 June 1647, 1st s. of Humphrey Cornewall. educ. I. Temple 1666. m. lic. 24 July 1668, Edith, da. of Sir Francis Cornwallis of Abermarlais, Carm., 8s. (4 d.v.p.) 3da. suc. fa. 1688.1

Offices Held

Ensign, regt. of Lord Worcester (Henry Somerset) 1667; capt. of dgns. regt. of (Sir) John Talbot 1678-9; capt. indep. tp. 1685; capt.-lt. Queen Dowager’s Horse (later 6 Dgn. Gds.) 1685-7, capt. 1687-Dec. 1688.2

J.p. Herefs. 1675-?89, commr. for assessment 1677-80, 1689; freeman, Ludlow 1681; capt. of militia, Herefs. by 1683-?89.3

Gent. waiter to Prince George of Denmark 1683-9.

Biography

Cornewall’s father seems to have made over his Herefordshire estates to his son some time before his death, though as an army officer and a courtier he can seldom have resided on them. He was returned for Leominster on the family interest to James II’s Parliament, in which he was appointed only to the committee of elections and privileges and to that for establishing the parish of St. James Piccadilly. Like his father, he answered all three questions on the repeal of the Test Act and Penal Laws in the affirmative, and was recommended for re-election as court candidate. His regiment was one of the last to disband in 1688, and Cornewall was probably a Jacobite under William III, when he appears to have taken no part in local or national affairs, losing both his commission and his place at Court. In March 1689, Robert Harley II wrote:

Robert Cornewall is come down, and talks high that the rebellious soldiers were increased and could not be beat, but would fight to the last man, and that the Scots would bring in the late King.

Early in the next reign, however, he applied to Harley for a place; ‘his affairs have not succeeded according to expectation; he hopes that the Prince [George] will not forget him, for his inclination and desires are fixed upon employment’. But apparently Cornewall’s hopes were unfulfilled. He died suddenly on 9 Nov. 1705, and was succeeded by his eldest son Charles, who was elected for Bewdley in 1709 and for Weobley in 1715.4

Ref Volumes: 1660-1690

Author: Edward Rowlands

Notes

  • 1. Foljambe and Reade, House of Cornewall, 90, 280; C. J. Robinson, Mansions and Manors of Herefs. 118.
  • 2. CSP Dom. 1666-7, p. 180.
  • 3. Ludlow Ledger Bk. 1680-90, f. 11; CSP Dom. Jan.-June 1683, p. 94; Portland mss BL, Loan 29/141, Sir Edward Harley to Robert Harley, 19 June 1691.
  • 4. Bodl. Carte 130, f. 24; HMC Portland, iii. 435; viii. 102.