William Fiennes, 1st Viscount Saye and Sele (june 28, 1582–April 14, 1662), was born at the family home
of Broughton Castle near Banbury, in Oxfordshire. He was the only son of Richard Fiennes, 7th Baron Saye and Sele. He was descended from James Fiennes, Lord Saye and Sele, who was
lord chamberlain and lord treasurer under Henry VI and who was beheaded by the
rebels under Jack Cade on July 4 1450.
Early life
Fiennes, like many of his family, was educated at New College, Oxford. He was a
descendant and heir of the sister of William of Wykeham, the college's founder. He
married Elizabeth, daughter of John Temple of Stowe, in 1600. He succeeded to his
father's barony in 1613, and in parliament opposed
the policy of James I, undergoing a brief imprisonment for objecting to a benevolence
in 1622. He showed great animus towards Lord Bacon. In
1624, owing probably to his temporary friendship with the Duke of Buckingham, he was advanced to the rank of a viscount, but
notwithstanding this he remained during the early parliaments of Charles I a
champion of the popular cause, and was in Clarendon's words the
oracle of those who were called Puritans in the worst sense, and steered all their counsels and
designs.
During the personal rule of Charles I, his energies found a new outlet in helping to colonize Providence Island, and in interesting himself in other and similar enterprises in
America. Saybrook in Connecticut is
named after Viscount Saye and Lord Brooke. He was a thorough aristocrat, and his ideas for the government of colonies in America
included the establishment of an hereditary aristocracy. Many leading puritans (including John
Pym) who were members of the Providence Island Company met with Fiennes
at Broughton Castle to coordinate their opposition to the King. On several occasions Saye outwitted the advisers of Charles I by
his strict compliance with legal forms earning him the nickname "old subtlety".
Although Saye resisted the levy of ship money, he accompanied Charles on his march against
the Scots in 1639; but, with only one other peer, he refused to take the oath binding him to fight
for the king "to the utmost of my power and hazard of my life". Then Charles I sought to win his favour by making him a privy
councillor and master of the court of wards.
Civil war and after
When the Civil War broke out, however, Saye was on the committee of safety, was
made lord lieutenant of Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Cheshire, and raised a regiment that occupied Oxford. He
was a member of the committee of both kingdoms; was mainly responsible for passing the self-denying ordinance through the
House of Lords; and in 1647 stood up for the army in its
struggle with the parliament.
In 1648, both at the treaty of Newport and elsewhere, Saye was
anxious that Charles should come to terms, and he retired into private life after the execution of the king, becoming a privy
councilor again upon the restoration of Charles II. He died at Broughton Castle on
April 14, 1662.
His eldest son James (c. 1603-1674) succeeded him as 2nd viscount; other sons were the parliamentarians Nathaniel Fiennes and John Fiennes. The viscounty of Saye and
Sele became extinct in 1781, and the barony is now held by the descendants of John Twisleton
(d. 1682) and his wife Elizabeth (d. 1674), a daughter of the 2nd
viscount.
This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia
Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public
domain.
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