Bussy Mansel

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Bussy Mansel (born November 22, 1623 , † May 5, 1699 ) was a Welsh military and politician . He managed to play an important political role in South Wales for over 50 years during the Civil War , the Commonwealth , after the Stuart Restoration and after the Glorious Revolution .

origin

Bussy Mansel came from a sideline of the Welsh Mansel family . He was the second son of Arthur Mansel , the third son of Thomas Mansel of Margam Abbey . Mansel's father had acquired the estate of Briton Ferry near Neath in Glamorgan through his marriage to Jane Price, daughter and heir to William Price . Bussy probably got his unusual first name from his grandfather Thomas Mansel, who had married Jane Bussy for the second time. His father died before 1628, and after the death of his older brother Thomas in 1631, Bussy Mansel was the heir to Briton Ferry. Around 1631 his mother was second married to Anthony Mansel , a cousin of her first husband. She died in 1638.

Role in the Civil War and Commonwealth of England

His stepfather, Anthony Mansel, was a leading supporter of the king in South Wales at the start of the Civil War, but fell as early as 1643. After his step-uncle Francis Mansell settled his brother's inheritance, Bussy Mansel, despite his youth, became one of the leading royal partisans in Glamorgan. Due to the excesses of the royal troops and the defeats of the king, however, in autumn 1645 he initially sided with the Peace Army , which wanted to keep South Wales out of the chaos of war, before he openly switched to parliament in November 1645. On April 22, 1646 he was sheriff of Glamorgan for Parliament and commanded the troops of Parliament in Glamorgan under the command of Thomas Fairfax . As a Republican, he then held various offices in Wales. He was a Colonel in the militia and was one of the leading men in South Wales along with Rowland Dawkins , Philip Jones and his brother-in-law Edward Pritchard . On June 25, 1651, he became a member of the High Court of Justice to take action against opponents of the Commonwealth of England, and in 1653 he became a member of the Parliament of the Saints . In Parliament, however, he resisted the dissolution of Parliament by Cromwell , if he was not even one of the Fifth Monarchy Men . After the dissolution of parliament he remained one of the leading representatives of the Commonwealth in South Wales, but he took up contact with the royalists through the agent Thomas Stradling at the latest in October 1658 . In 1659 he was appointed commander of the South Wales militia, but at that time he was already preparing for the return of King Charles II .

After the Stuart restoration

In the election to the Convention Parliament in 1660, Bussy Mansel was able to prevail in Cardiff against Herbert Evans , but did not run again in the election the following year. Unlike Dawkins and Jones, in 1662 the royal inquiries into the role of senior officials in the Commonwealth did not bring any lawsuits against Bussy Mansel. He became a justice of the peace and held minor government offices, while from 1670 his cousin Edward Mansel of Margam Abbey was Knight of the Shire for Glamorgan.

From 1677 to 1678 Bussy Mansel was again sheriff of Glamorgan. Politically he was close to the Whigs and was an opponent of the succession to the throne of the Catholic James II. After the dissolution of the Cavalier Parliament in 1679, he ran successfully as Knight of the Shire for Glamorgan in place of his cousin Edward Mansel. In the general election in 1681 he was able to prevail in Cardiff against the previous MP Robert Thomas . After Jacob II's accession to the throne, he lost his position as justice of the peace as an opponent of the king and, as a precaution, decided not to run again in the parliamentary elections in 1685. During the Duke of Monmouth rebellion that year, he was briefly arrested but quickly released. After the fall of James II by the Glorious Revolution, Bussy Mansel was re-elected as Knight of the Shire for Glamorgan in 1689, 1696 and 1698. Although he was reluctant in Parliament, he reported regularly to his cousin Edward Mansel from London.

Bussy Mansel was not regarded as particularly religious throughout his life, but was tolerant of religious minorities such as the Dissenters even during the Commonwealth . He supported the construction of two free church chapels, and in 1682 he supported the establishment of a grammar school in Swansea . Like his stepfather Arthur Mansel, he promoted coal mining on his property.

Family and offspring

His first marriage was on April 17, 1646, Catherine Perry , daughter of Hugh Perry of London and widow of Sir Edward Stradling, 3rd Baronet of St Donat's Castle . With her he had a son and a daughter. In his second marriage he married Anne around 1678.

He was buried in Briton Ferry. Since his only son Thomas had died in 1684, his son, his grandson Thomas inherited his property.

literature

  • AM Johnson: Bussy Mansel (1623-1699). Political survivalist . In: Morganwgg transactions of the Glamorgan historical Society, Vol. 20 (1976), pp. 9–36 ( available online )

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Mansel, Bussy
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Welsh military and politician
DATE OF BIRTH November 22, 1623
DATE OF DEATH May 5, 1699