Baptist May (original) (raw)

About DBpedia

Baptist May (1628–1698) was a Royal courtier during the reign of Charles II of England. He is said to have been Charles's closest and most trusted servant, largely as a result of his knowledge that the king did not like to be approached on matters of business. He was nominated by the Duke of York as MP for Winchelsea; however, he lost the election. He joined the Countess of Castlemaine to bring down Edward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon in 1667. In 1670 he was elected MP for Midhurst, sitting until 1679, and in 1690 was elected for Windsor, only to be unseated a few months later on petition.

thumbnail

Property Value
dbo:abstract Baptist May (1628–1698) was a Royal courtier during the reign of Charles II of England. He is said to have been Charles's closest and most trusted servant, largely as a result of his knowledge that the king did not like to be approached on matters of business. May was born in Mid Lavant, the son of Sir Humphrey May, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and his second wife, Judith daughter of Sir William Poley. He was a cousin of Hugh May, the architect. Baptist was appointed Groom of the Bedchamber to the Duke of York (the future James II) in 1662 and Keeper of the Privy Purse to the King three years later, thanks to the influence of Charles's mistress, Barbara Palmer (née Villiers), Countess of Castlemaine. Castlemaine wanted to ensure that the Keeper was an ally; this would ensure that the payments due to her would become a high priority. He was nominated by the Duke of York as MP for Winchelsea; however, he lost the election. He joined the Countess of Castlemaine to bring down Edward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon in 1667. In 1670 he was elected MP for Midhurst, sitting until 1679, and in 1690 was elected for Windsor, only to be unseated a few months later on petition. Despite being Keeper of the Privy Purse, May did not enjoy control over the king's private finances. Surviving documents show that the payments by May were routine payments. However, he enjoyed the king's confidence throughout his reign, despite May's offhand remarks. For example, according to Clarendon's biography, after the Great Fire of London in 1666, he remarked that it was welcomed, to make the city more controllable. This shocked those around him, including the king. Another test of their friendship began in 1679. As a result of Titus Oates's claims that several Catholic members of the Royal Household were plotting to kill the king and put his Catholic brother on the throne, there was a wave of anti-Catholicism throughout England. The Whig faction in parliament, led by the Earl of Shaftesbury and the Duke of Buckingham, was pressing the king to divorce his barren queen, Catherine of Braganza, and remarry to produce a Protestant heir. May was one of the Whig supporters, and narrowly escaped dismissal from his office in the bedchamber as a result. After Charles's death in 1685, the Duke of York came to the throne as James II. May was dismissed from the office of Keeper of the Privy Purse. However, he remained Ranger of Windsor Great Park, and continued to live at what later became known as Cumberland Lodge, until his death. In 1690 he was elected MP for Thetford, holding the seat until the next general election in 1695. May died unmarried in 1698 and was buried in St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle. Babmaes Street in St James's is named after Baptist May. (en)
dbo:thumbnail wiki-commons:Special:FilePath/Attributed_to_the_stu...7464_-_Royal_Collection.jpg?width=300
dbo:wikiPageID 11006847 (xsd:integer)
dbo:wikiPageLength 5980 (xsd:nonNegativeInteger)
dbo:wikiPageRevisionID 997184061 (xsd:integer)
dbo:wikiPageWikiLink dbr:Royal_Household dbr:Algernon_May dbr:Joseph_Williamson_(English_politician) dbr:Charles_Berkeley,_1st_Earl_of_Falmouth dbr:Charles_Porter_(Lord_Chancellor_of_Ireland) dbr:Cumberland_Lodge dbr:John_Alford_(died_1691) dbr:Sir_John_Wodehouse,_4th_Baronet dbr:Francis_Guybon dbr:John_Lewknor dbr:John_Steward_(MP) dbr:Courtier dbr:Member_of_Parliament dbc:English_MPs_1690–1695 dbr:Edward_Hyde,_1st_Earl_of_Clarendon dbr:George_Villiers,_2nd_Duke_of_Buckingham dbr:Great_Fire_of_London dbr:Anthony_Ashley_Cooper,_1st_Earl_of_Shaftesbury dbr:House_of_Commons_of_England dbr:Barbara_Palmer,_1st_Duchess_of_Cleveland dbr:Catherine_of_Braganza dbr:Titus_Oates dbr:William_Bentinck,_1st_Earl_of_Portland dbr:Windsor_(UK_Parliament_constituency) dbr:James_Grahme dbc:People_from_Lavant,_West_Sussex dbr:Keeper_of_the_Privy_Purse dbr:William_Harbord_(politician) dbr:Ranger_of_Windsor_Great_Park dbr:James_II_of_England dbr:Humphrey_May dbc:1698_deaths dbc:British_and_English_royal_favourites dbc:1628_births dbc:English_MPs_1661–1679 dbr:Chancellor_of_the_Duchy_of_Lancaster dbr:Charles_II_of_England dbc:People_from_Old_Windsor dbr:Lavant,_West_Sussex dbr:Henry_Powle dbr:Thetford_(UK_Parliament_constituency) dbr:William_Morley_(1639–1701) dbr:Winchelsea_(UK_Parliament_constituency) dbr:Philip_Herbert,_4th_Earl_of_Pembroke dbr:St_George's_Chapel,_Windsor_Castle dbr:St_James's dbr:Groom_of_the_Chamber dbr:Hugh_May dbr:Infertility dbr:Midhurst_(UK_Parliament_constituency) dbr:British_Whig_Party dbr:William_Adderley_(died_1693) dbr:File:Attributed_to_the_studio_of_Sir_P..._-_RCIN_407464_-_Royal_Collection.jpg
dbp:after dbr:Joseph_Williamson_(English_politician) dbr:Charles_Porter_(Lord_Chancellor_of_Ireland) dbr:John_Alford_(died_1691) dbr:Sir_John_Wodehouse,_4th_Baronet dbr:James_Grahme dbr:William_Morley_(1639–1701) dbr:William_Adderley_(died_1693)
dbp:before dbr:Algernon_May dbr:Charles_Berkeley,_1st_Earl_of_Falmouth dbr:Francis_Guybon dbr:John_Lewknor dbr:John_Steward_(MP) dbr:William_Harbord_(politician) dbr:Henry_Powle
dbp:title dbr:Keeper_of_the_Privy_Purse dbr:Ranger_of_Windsor_Great_Park Member of Parliament for Midhurst (en) Member of Parliament for Windsor (en) Member of Parliament for Thetford (en)
dbp:wikiPageUsesTemplate dbt:Authority_control dbt:Commons_category_inline dbt:Reflist dbt:S-aft dbt:S-end dbt:S-start dbt:S-ttl dbt:S-vac dbt:Short_description dbt:Succession_box dbt:Use_British_English dbt:Use_dmy_dates dbt:Cite_DNB dbt:S-court dbt:S-hon dbt:S-par
dbp:with dbr:Algernon_May dbr:Francis_Guybon dbr:John_Steward_(MP)
dbp:years 1665 (xsd:integer) 1670 (xsd:integer) 1671 (xsd:integer) 1690 (xsd:integer)
dct:subject dbc:English_MPs_1690–1695 dbc:People_from_Lavant,_West_Sussex dbc:1698_deaths dbc:British_and_English_royal_favourites dbc:1628_births dbc:English_MPs_1661–1679 dbc:People_from_Old_Windsor
gold:hypernym dbr:Courtier
schema:sameAs http://viaf.org/viaf/19594857
rdf:type owl:Thing dbo:Person yago:WikicatPeopleFromLavant,WestSussex yago:WikicatPeopleFromOldWindsor yago:CausalAgent100007347 yago:LivingThing100004258 yago:Object100002684 yago:Organism100004475 yago:Person100007846 yago:PhysicalEntity100001930 yago:YagoLegalActor yago:YagoLegalActorGeo yago:Whole100003553
rdfs:comment Baptist May (1628–1698) was a Royal courtier during the reign of Charles II of England. He is said to have been Charles's closest and most trusted servant, largely as a result of his knowledge that the king did not like to be approached on matters of business. He was nominated by the Duke of York as MP for Winchelsea; however, he lost the election. He joined the Countess of Castlemaine to bring down Edward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon in 1667. In 1670 he was elected MP for Midhurst, sitting until 1679, and in 1690 was elected for Windsor, only to be unseated a few months later on petition. (en)
rdfs:label Baptist May (en)
owl:sameAs freebase:Baptist May http://viaf.org/viaf/19594857 yago-res:Baptist May wikidata:Baptist May https://global.dbpedia.org/id/4W2Tm
prov:wasDerivedFrom wikipedia-en:Baptist_May?oldid=997184061&ns=0
foaf:depiction wiki-commons:Special:FilePath/Attributed_to_the_stu..._-_RCIN_407464_-_Royal_Collection.jpg
foaf:isPrimaryTopicOf wikipedia-en:Baptist_May
is dbo:wikiPageWikiLink of dbr:Sarah_Churchill,_Duchess_of_Marlborough dbr:List_of_eponymous_roads_in_London dbr:Algernon_May dbr:Joseph_Williamson_(English_politician) dbr:Charles_Berkeley,_1st_Earl_of_Falmouth dbr:Cumberland_Lodge dbr:Sir_John_Wodehouse,_4th_Baronet dbr:Christopher_Wren dbr:Windsor_(UK_Parliament_constituency) dbr:James_Grahme dbr:Keeper_of_the_Privy_Purse dbr:List_of_English_by-elections_(1689–1700) dbr:List_of_MPs_elected_to_the_English_Parliament_in_1661 dbr:William_Harbord_(politician) dbr:Ranger_of_Windsor_Great_Park dbr:Jane_Myddelton dbr:Humphrey_May dbr:Henry_Powle dbr:Thetford_(UK_Parliament_constituency) dbr:Hugh_May dbr:Midhurst_(UK_Parliament_constituency)
is dbp:after of dbr:Charles_Berkeley,_1st_Earl_of_Falmouth dbr:William_Harbord_(politician) dbr:Henry_Powle
is dbp:before of dbr:Sir_John_Wodehouse,_4th_Baronet dbr:James_Grahme
is dbp:with of dbr:Christopher_Wren
is foaf:primaryTopic of wikipedia-en:Baptist_May