the queen constituted him clerk of the council of Munster, and recommended him to sir George Carew, afterwards earl of Totness, then lord president of Munster, who became
, a celebrated statesman, descended
from an ancient and honourable family, and distinguished
by the title of the great earl of Cork, was the youngest
son of Mr. Roger Boyle of Herefordshire, by Joan, daughter of Robert Naylor of Canterbury, and born in the city
of Canterbury, Oct. 3, 1566. He was instructed in grammar learning by a clergyman of Kent; and after having
been a scholar in Ben'et college, Cambridge, where he
was remarkable for early rising, indefatigable study, and
great temperance, became student in the Middle Temple.
He lost his father when he was but ten years old, and his
mother at the expiration of other ten years; and being
unable to support himself in the prosecution of his studies,
he entered into the service of sir Richard Manwood, chief
baron of the exchequer, as one of his clerks: but perceiving few advantages from this employment, he resolved
to travel, and landed at Dublin in June 1588, with a very
scanty stock, his whole property amounting, as he himself
informs us, to 271. 3s. in money, two trinkets which his
mother gave him as tokens, and his wearing apparel. He
was then about two-and-twenty, had a graceful person,
and all the accomplishments for a young man to succeed in
a country which was a scene of so much action. Accordingly he made himself very useful to some of the
principal persons employed in the government, by penning
for them memorials, cases, and answers; and thereby acquired a perfect knowledge of the kingdom and the state
of publia affairs, of which he knew well how to avail himself. In 1595 he married at Limeric, Joan, the daughter
and coheiress of William Ansley of Pulborough, in Sussex,
<esq. who had fallen in love with him. This lady died 1599,
in labour of her first child (born dead) leaving her husband an estate of 500l. a year in lands, which was the beginning of his fortune. Some time after, sir Henry Wallop, of Wares, sir Robert Gardiner, chief justice of the
king’s bench, sir Robert Dillam, chief justice of the common pleas, and sir Richard Binghim, chief commissioner
of Connaught, envious at certain purchases he had made in
the province, represented to queen Elizabeth that he was
in the pay of the king of Spain (who had at that time some thoughts of invading Ireland), by whom he had been furnished with money to buy several large estates; and that
he was strongly suspected to be a Roman catholic in his
heart, with many other malicious suggestions equally
groundless. Mr. Boyle, having private notice of this,
determined to come over to England to justify himself:
but, before he could take shipping, the general rebellion
in Minister broke out, all his lands were wasted, and he
had not one penny of certain revenue left. In this distress
he betook himself to his former chamber in the Middle
Temple, intending to renew his studies in the law till the
rebellion should be suppressed. When the earl of Essex
was nominated lord-deputy of Ireland, Mr. Boyle, being
recommended to him by Mr. Anthony Bacon, was received
by his lordship very graciously; and sir Henry Wallop,
treasurer of Ireland, knowing that Mr. Boyle had in his
custody several papers which could detect his roguish
manner of passing his accounts, resolved utterly to depress
him, and for that end renewed his former complaints
against him to the queen. By her majesty’s special directions, Mr. Boyle was suddenly taken up, and committed
close prisoner to the Gatehouse: all his papers were
seized and searched; and although nothing appeared to
his prejudice, yet his confinement lasted till two months
after his new patron the earl of Essex was gone to Ireland,
At length, with much difficulty, he obtained the favour of
the queen to be present at his examination; and having
fully answered whatever was alledged against him, he gave
a short account of his behaviour since he first settled in
Ireland, and concluded with laying open to the queen
and her council the conduct of his chief enemy sir Henry
Wallop. Upon which her majesty exclaimed with, her
usual intemperance of speech, “By God’s death, these are
but inventions against this young man, and all his sufferings are for being able to do us service, and these
complaints urged to forestal him therein. But we find him to
be a man fit to be employed by ourselves; and we will employ him in our service: and Wallop and his adherents
shall know that it shall not be in the power of any of them,
to wrong him. Neither -shall Wallop be our treasurer any
longer.
” Accordingly, she gave orders not only for Mr.
Boyle’s present enlargement, but also for paying all the
charges and fees his confinement had brought upon him,
and gave him her hand to kiss before the whole assembly.
A few days after, the queen constituted him clerk of the
council of Munster, and recommended him to sir George
Carew, afterwards earl of Totness, then lord president of
Munster, who became his constant friend; and very soon,
after he was made justice of the peace and of the quorum,
throughout all the province. He attended in that capacity
the lord president in all his employments, and was sent by
his lordship to the queen with the news of the victory
gained in December 1601, near Kinsate, over the Irish,
and their Spanish auxiliaries, who were totally routed,
1200 being slain in the field, and 800 wounded. “I
made,
” says he, “a speedy expedition to the court, for I
left my lord president at Shannon -castle, near Cork, on
the Monday morning about two of the clock; and the next
day, being Tuesday, I delivered my packet, and supped
with sir Robert Cecil, being then principal secretary of
state, at his house in the Strand; who, after supper, held
me in discourse till two of the clock in the morning; and
by seven that morning called upon me to attend him to
the court, where he presented me to her majesty in her
bedchamber.
” A journey so rapid as this would be thought,
even in the present more improved modes of travelling,
requires all his lordship’s authority to render it credible.
, afterwards earl of Totness (descended from an ancient family in the West
, afterwards earl of Totness (descended from an ancient family in the West of England, originally so named from Carew-castle in Pembrokeshire) was born in 1557. His mother was Anne, daughter of sir Nicolas Harvey, kiTight, and his father, George, archdeacon of Totness, and successively dean of Bristol, of the queen’s chapel, of Windsor, of Christ Church, Oxon, and of Exeter; besides several other preferments, most of which he resigned before his decease, which occurred in 1585. George Carew in 1572 was admitted gentleman commoner of Broadgate-hall (now Pembroke college) in Oxford; where he made a good proficiency in learning, particularly in the study of antiquitie’s, but being of an active temper, he left the university without a degree; and applying himself to military affairs, went and served in Ireland against the earl of Desmond. In 1580 he was made governor of Asketten-castle, and in 1589 was created master of arts at Oxford, being then a knight. Some time after, being constituted lieutenant-general of the artillery, or master of the ordnance in Ireland, he was one of the commanders at the expedition to Cadiz, in 1596; and again, the next year, in the intended expedition against Spain. Having in 1599 been appointed president of Munster, he was in 1600 made treasurer of the army, and one of the lords justices of Ireland. When he entered upon his government, he found every thing in a deplorable condition; all the country being in open and actual rebellion, excepting a few of the better sort, and himself having for his defence but three thousand foot and two hundred and fifty horse; yet he behaved with so much conduct and bravery, that he reduced many castles and forts, took James Fitz Thomas, the titular earl of Desmond, and O'Connor, prisoners; and brought the Bourkes, Obriens, and many other Irish rebels, to submission. He also bravely resisted the six thousand Spaniards, who landed at Kinsale, October 1, 1601, and had so well established the province of which he was president, by apprehending the chief of those he mistrusted, and taking pledges of the rest, that no person of consideration joined the Spaniards. In 1602 he made himself master of the castle of Donboy, which was a very difficult undertaking, and reckoned almost impracticable; and by this means prevented the arrival of an army of Spaniards, which were ready to sail for Ireland. He had for some time been desirous of quitting his burdensome office of president of Minister, but he could not obtain permission till the beginning of 1603, when, leaving that province in perfect peace, he arrived in England the 21st of March, three days before queen Elizabeth’s death. His merit was so great, that he was taken notice of by the nevr king, and made by him, in the first year of his reign, governor of the isle of Guernsey, and Castle Cornet: and having married Joyce*, the daughter and heir of William Clopton, of Clopton, co. Warwick, esq. he was June 4, J 605, advanced to the degree of a baron, by the title of lord Carew, of Clopton. Afterwards he was made vice-chamberlain and treasurer to king James’s queen; and in 1608 constituted master of the ordnance throughout England for life; and sworn of the privy-council to the king, as he had before been to queen Elizabeth. Upon king Charles Ist’s accession to the crown, he was created, Feb. 1, 1625, earl of Totness. At length, full of years and honours, he departed this life at the Savoy in London, March 27, 1629, aged seventy- three years and ten months and was buried at Stratford upon Avon, near Clopton leaving behind him the character of a faahful subject, a valiant and prudent commander, an honest counsellor, a genteel scholar, a lover of antiquities, and a great patron of learning. A stately monument was erected to his memory, by his widow, with a long inscription reciting his actions.