Family and Education

b. 22 Nov. 1623, 2nd s. of Arthur Mansel of Margam by Jane, da. and h. of William Price of Briton Ferry. m. (1) 17 Apr. 1646, Catherine, da. and coh. of Hugh Perry alias Hunter, Mercer, of London, wid. of Sir Edward Stradling, 3rd Bt., of St. Donat’s Castle, Glam. 1s. d.v.p. 1da.; (2) bef. 1678, Anne, s.p. suc. bro. 1631.1

Offices Held

C.-in-c. Glam. (parliamentary) 1645-6.2

Sheriff, Glam. Apr.-Nov. 1646, 1677-8; commr. for assessment, Glam. 1647-52, 1657, Jan. 1660-80, Brec. and Glam. 1689-90, militia, Glam. 1648, Mar. 1660, S. Wales 1655, 1659, sequestration, S. Wales 1649, propagation of the gospel 1650; j.p. Glam. 1649-?56, Mar. 1660-82, Brec. and Glam. 1689-d.; commr. for scandalous ministers, S. Wales 1654, security 1656, c.-in-c. militia 1659; col of militia ft. Glam. Apr. 1660; dep. lt. Glam. c. Aug. 1660-81, Brec. and Glam. 1689-d.3

Member, high court of justice 1651.4

Biography

Mansel’s father, a younger son, married a local heiress of puritan disposition, who brought him an estate of £1,000 p.a. Mansel was a Royalist until the autumn of 1645, when he changed sides, and was appointed commander-in-chief at the age of 22. After the Restoration he was described euphemistically as ‘concerned in the late times, but early repenting’. But his penitence was sufficiently tardy to permit his nomination to the propagation commission, the high court of justice and the 1653 Parliament. Even in 1659, when he had been an active royalist conspirator for months, the Rump appointed him to command the South Wales militia.5

At the general election of 1660 Mansel contested Cardiff Boroughs with Herbert Evans. There was a double return, but Mansel had the support of most of the out-boroughs, and the House declared him elected on 27 June. His only committee in the Convention was for the estate bill of William Wray, and he did not speak, but he probably voted with the Opposition. He did not stand in 1661, but he must have conformed to the Church, for he continued to hold local office. Charitable and hospitable, though not immune from the sins of the flesh, he was reputed so ‘understanding in his country’s affairs’ that he was obliged, despite the pleas of Sir Edward Mansel, to undertake the office of sheriff for a second term in 1677-8.6

Mansel replaced his more cautious cousin, probably by agreement, as county Member at the dissolution of the Cavalier Parliament. Marked ‘worthy’ on Shaftesbury’s list, he became moderately active as a committeeman in both the first and second Exclusion Parliaments, though remaining silent in the House. In 1679 he was appointed to five committees, of which the most important were to inquire into recent fires in London and to consider the bill for security against Popery, and he voted for exclusion. He was re-elected in September, and was appointed to six committees in the second Exclusion Parliament, including that on the bill for the abolition of the Court of the Marches. At the 1681 election he stood down in his cousin’s favour for the county, but displaced Robert Thomas in the borough seat. He left no trace on the records of the Oxford Parliament, but was removed from local office in 1682, and imprisoned for a short time during Monmouth’s rebellion. Danby included him among the opposition to James II, marking him as considerable both for interest and estate. He regained the county seat in 1689, but his record in the Convention cannot be distinguished from that of Thomas Mansel II. Probably he was inactive, but he was listed as a supporter of the disabling clause in the bill to restore corporations, and continued to sit for the county as a court Whig until his death. He was buried at Briton Ferry on 25 May 1699.7

Ref Volumes: 1660-1690

Authors: M. W. Helms / Leonard Naylor

Notes

• 1. E. P. Statham, Fam. of Mansell, ii. 52; Trans. Aberafan and Margam Dist. Hist. Soc. ii. 35-39.
• 2. HMC 6th Rep. 88.
• 3. HMC 6th Rep. 113; CSP Dom. 1655, p. 79; 1659-60, p. 56; Parl. Intell. 16 Apr. 1660.
• 4. CSP Dom. 1651, p. 267.
• 5. Arch. Camb. ser. 2, ii. 238; Symonds Diary (Cam. Soc. lxxiv), 216; CSP Dom. 1645-7, p. 136; 1658-9, p. 325; SP29/398/185; Cal. Cl. SP, iv. 101, 209, 292-3.
• 6. SP/398/185; NLW Jnl. xxi 171; CSP Dom. 1677-8, p. 421; 1678, p. 77.
• 7. Cat. Penrice and Morgan Mss, ser. 3, p. 13.