JOHN SOMERS (1651-1716), FIRST BARON SOMERS, LORD CHANCELLOR, AND THE SOMERS AND...

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JOHN SOMERS (1651-1716), FIRST BARON SOMERS, LORD CHANCELLOR, AND THE SOMERS AND COCKS FAMILIES: CORRESPONDENCE AND PAPERS

1676-c1745

John Somers (1651-1716), a Whig lawyer from a Worcestershire family, played a leading part in the defence of the seven bishops in 1688 and in the debates on the post-revolution settlement in 1689, in which year he was knighted. He sat as MP for Worcester between 1689 and 1693 and in 1692 was appointed attorney-general. In March 1693 he became Lord Keeper of the Great Seal, in April 1697 Lord Chancellor of England and in December 1697 was raised to the peerage as Baron Somers of Evesham. He was one of the five members of the Whig 'Junto' which dominated government for much of the reign of William III. He was forced out of office in 1700 but an attempt to impeach him in the following year failed. The Junto retained much influence in the early years of Queen Anne and Somers was appointed a commissioner for the settlement of the treaty of union with Scotland (1707). In November 1708 he returned to office as Lord President of the Council but resigned in September 1710, with the Tories resurgent. He was restored to the privy council by George I in October 1714 but his health was failing. He died on 26 April 1716. His heirs were his two sisters: Mary, married to Charles Cocks of Worcester, and Elizabeth, married to Sir Joseph Jekyll, Master of the Rolls from 1717.

For a biography of Somers see W L Sachse, Lord Somers: a Political Portrait (Manchester 1975).

The Papers

These papers were acquired by Reigate Borough Council with Reigate manor (granted to Somers in 1697) and its records. They represent the largest surviving group of Somers' papers and are of particular value for the light they shed on political affairs in Worcestershire and in Ireland. They also include letters of Somers' family, both to him and between themselves, including his mother Catherine; sister Mary (d.1725) and her husband Charles Cocks (d.1717/18) and children, Mary, Margaret (later Countess of Hardwicke), James and John; and sister Elizabeth (d.1745) and her husband Sir Joseph Jekyll (c.1662-1738).

For a pedigree of the Somers and Cocks families see O Manning and W Bray, The History and Antiquities of the County of Surrey, vol I, p.286 (London, 1804-14)

Short biographies of many of the authors of the letters or persons mentioned in them can by found in The Dictionary of National Biography; in B Henning, ed., The House of Commons, 1660-1690 (London, 1983); and in R Sedgwick, ed., The House of Commons, 1715-1754 (London, 1970).

Arrangement

The papers were originally contained in 16 bundles, now represented by the letters A-P, possibly made up soon after Lord Somers' death. These bundles and the internal order of each have been retained although the contents of some are extremely mixed and they often do not appear to reflect a coherent filing system. Many of the letters have been annotated by Somers with the name of the sender and the date.

In this list descriptions have been placed in chronological (rather than numerical) order.

A: letters to Somers from Robert Harley, the Earl of Bath and Robert Liddell, 1690-1702 (10 items)

B: letters to Somers relating to parliamentary elections in Worcestershire, 1693-1702 (22 items)

C: papers relating to the death of HRH the Duke of Gloucester, 1700 (5 items)

D: letters to Somers from archbishops and bishops, 1693-1707 (19 items)

E: miscellaneous letters to Somers, chiefly relating to political affairs, c.1689-1710 (36 items)

F: letters and papers relating to Irish affairs, 1694-1709 (47 items)

G: letters and papers relating to affairs in the North American colonies, c.1693-1709 (10 items)

H: correspondence relating to the settlement of the Palatines, 1709 (14 items)

J: miscellaneous letters and papers of Somers, 1676-1709, and a pedigree, 1740 (28 items)

K: letters to Somers from William Bentinck, Earl of Portland, 1697-1709

L: applications to Somers for employment or assistance, 1693-1707 (30 items)

M: undated letters to Somers, c.1695-[1711] (8 items)

N: miscellaneous 'droll' [sic] letters to Somers, 1693-1709 (8 items)

O (now two bundles O/1 and O/2): letters to Somers from his family and correspondence of members of the Somers and Cocks families, before 1689-c.1745 (105 items)

P: terrier of lands in Ledbury, Herefordshire, 1621 (1 item)

English