HATTON, Hon. Christopher (1632-1706), of Kirby Hall, Northants.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1660-1690, ed. B.D. Henning, 1983
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

9 Apr. 1663 - 4 July 1670

Family and Education

bap. 6 Nov. 1632, 1st s. of Christopher Hatton, 1st Baron Hatton of Kirby by Elizabeth, da. and coh. of Sir Charles Montagu of Cranbrook, Ilford, Essex. educ. privately (Dr Peter Gunning); travelled abroad (France) 1654. m. (1) 12 Feb. 1667, Lady Cicely Tufton (d. 30 Dec. 1672), da. of John, 2nd Earl of Thanet, 3da.; (2) by 27 Dec. 1675, Frances (d. 15 May 1684), da. of Sir Henry Yelverton, 2nd Bt., of Easton Maudit, Northants., 1s. d.v.p. 1da.; (3) Aug. 1685, Elizabeth, da. and coh. of Sir William Haslewood of Maidwell, Northants., 3s. 3da. suc. fa. as 2nd Baron Hatton 4 July 1670, cr. Visct. Hatton of Gretton 17 Jan. 1683.1

Offices Held

Steward of Higham hundred, Northants. Sept. 1660-97, 1702-d.; commr. for oyer and terminer, Midland circuit 1662, assessment, Mdx. and Northants. 1663-9; j.p. Northants. 1663-d., dep. lt. 1670-?78, custos rot. 1681-Feb. 1689, Sept. 1689-d.; freeman, Portsmouth 1680.2

Gent. of privy chamber 1662-?70, gov. Guernsey 1670-d.3

Capt. Earl of Manchester’s Ft. 1667; capt. of grenadiers, Earl of Huntingdon’s Ft. 1687-Dec. 1688.4

Biography

Hatton came from a Cheshire family, established in Northamptonshire since the reign of Henry VIII, of which the most celebrated member was Queen Elizabeth’s favourite. His father, a leading Royalist, was in exile for most of the Interregnum. Hatton himself was deep in Cavalier plotting in 1654, and the principal agent in bringing over his cousin Edward Montagu I to the Stuarts. He received an express command from the King to stand at the general election of 1660, but shrank from the penalties provided for Cavaliers and their sons by the last ordinance of the Long Parliament. But he stood at the invitation of Sir James Langham and with the support of the dissenters at a by-election for Northampton in 1663, and was returned on petition. He was not an active Member, being appointed to only 27 committees in the Cavalier Parliament, mostly for private bills. Both in 1664 and 1669, he was noted as a court dependant, having been granted the governorship of Guernsey in reversion to his father, for whom he sometimes acted in his lifetime. He was regarded as one of Ormonde’s friends. After succeeding to the peerage and a Northamptonshire estate valued at £1,370 p.a., he was given a pension of £1,000 p.a., necessitated by his father’s extravagance. He took little further part in English politics, but he voted against exclusion and was rewarded with a step in the peerage. In 1687 he was numbered among the opponents of James II, but he seems to have played no part in the Revolution. He was one of the last peers to sign the Association in 1696. His death was reported on 24 Sept. 1706. Two of his sons succeeded to the peerage in turn, but he was the last of the family to sit in the Lower House.5

Ref Volumes: 1660-1690

Author: E. R. Edwards

Notes

  • 1. E. A. Webb, Recs. of St. Bartholomew Smithfield, ii. 275; HMC Bath, ii. 81; Nicholas Pprs. (Cam. Soc. n.s.l), 89; CSP Dom. 1682, p. 568.
  • 2. Sir Robert Somerville, Duchy of Lancaster Official Lists, 192; HMC 5th Rep. 188; CSP Dom. 1689-90, pp. 46, 268; R. East. Portsmouth Recs. 364.
  • 3. Carlisle, Privy Chamber, 173.
  • 4. Hatton Corresp. (Cam. Soc. n.s. xxiii), 89-90; Add. 29563, f. 353.
  • 5. Baker, Northants. i. 194; Nicholas Pprs. 99, 153; Underdown, Royalist Conspiracy, 311; Cal. Cl. SP, iv. 589, 594, 651, 665; Add. 29551, ff. 8, 12; Add. 34222, f. 38v; CJ, x. 107; HMC Lords, n.s. ii. 213; Luttrell, vi. 90.