NEVILE, Sir Christopher (c.1631-92), of Haddington, Aubourn, Lincs.

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

b. c.1631, 1st s. of Sir Gervase Nevile of Haddington by Katherine, da. of Sir Richard Hutton of Goldsborough, Yorks., j.c.p. 1617-39. educ. Sidney Sussex, Camb. 1650; G. Inn 1653. m. (1) settlement 13 Apr. 1655, Katherine (bur. 19 Dec. 1668), da. of Thomas Estoft of Eastoft, Yorks., 1s. d.v.p.; (2) Katherine (d. 7 Apr. 1715), da. of Sir Arthur Ingram of Templenewsam, Yorks., s.p. suc. fa. 1654; kntd. 15 Dec. 1674.1

Offices Held

Commr. for assessment, Lincs. Jan. 1660, 1661-3, 1665-80, 1689-90, (Kesteven) Aug. 1660-1, 1663-4, militia Mar. 1660, recusants 1675; j.p. Kesteven 1675-?d.; sheriff, Lincs. 1680-1, dep. lt. Jan. 1688-?d.; freeman, Lincoln Oct. 1688.2

Biography

Nevile’s ancestors were holding land in Lincolnshire in Domesday Book, and one of the family represented the county in 1290. His father, a commissioner of array, and his grandfather were Royalists in the Civil War, compounding at one-sixth with a fine of £1,737. Nevile himself was appointed to two local commissions on the eve of the Restoration, and was presumably the ‘Gervase Nevile’ who appeared on the Lincolnshire list of proposed knights of the Royal Oak with an income of £1,200. Nevertheless he did not become a j.p. until 20 years after succeeding to the estate. Probably a Tory, he retained office during the exclusion crisis, but he refused to persecute the Quakers. He consented to the repeal of the Test Act and Penal Laws in November 1687, and was recommended for the lieutenancy. He purchased the freedom of Lincoln in October 1688, but his fee was returned, ‘he being likely to serve the city as one of their citizens in Parliament’, and he was, in fact, elected on 14 Dec. on James II’s writ, defeating Sir Thomas Meres. He was again returned to the Convention, where he was an inactive Member, being appointed only to the committee of elections and privileges and to those on the bills for disarming Papists and encouraging the export of beer and ale. He did not vote to agree with the Lords that the throne was not vacant. On 6 May 1689 he was given leave to go into the country for a month, and probably did not return to Westminster. He died on 18 Nov. 1692, aged 61, and was buried at Aubourn, the last of this branch of the family.3

Ref Volumes: 1660-1690

Authors: J. S. Crossette / Basil Duke Henning

Notes

  • 1. Lincs. Peds. (Harl. Soc. li), 712; Burke, Gentry (1952), 1875.
  • 2. Procs. Kesteven Q. Sess. Mins. (Lincs. Rec. Soc. xxv), p. cxlii; Lincs. AO, Monson mss, 3/46/54, 56; L1/1/6, p. 438.
  • 3. The Gen. n.s. xxvii. 1-7, 232; Cal. Comm. Comp. 1323. Lincs. AO, L1/6/438.