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James Vernon (c. 1646 –c. 1727) was an EnglishWhig politician who sat in theEnglish andBritish House of Commons between 1679 and 1710. He wasSecretary of State for both theNorthern and theSouthern Departments during the reign ofWilliam III.
Vernon was a younger son of Francis Vernon of London (a scion of the Vernons ofHaslington, Cheshire, andHanbury, Worcestershire), and his wife, Anne Welby, widow, daughter of George Smithes, a London goldsmith.[1] Like his elder brotherFrancis, he was educated atCharterhouse School, and matriculated atChrist Church, Oxford on 19 July 1662, aged 16. He graduated BA in 1666, and proceeded MA in 1669[2] (incorporated MA at Cambridge in 1676[3]).
He married, by licence dated 6 April 1675, Mary Buck, daughter of Sir John Buck, 1st Baronet, of Hamby Grange, Lincolnshire.[1]
Vernon was employed bySir Joseph Williamson to collect news inHolland in March 1672, and in the following June attendedLord Halifax on his mission toLouis XIV. On his return he became secretary to theDuke of Monmouth. He is said to have removed the words 'natural son' from the patent conferring the command-in-chief upon the duke in 1674 but left his service in 1678. Having been admitted toSt John's College, Cambridge the previous month,[3] he was returned at the general election of March 1679 asMember of Parliament forCambridge University.[1] He then entered the secretary of state's office as clerk and gazetteer, i.e. editor of theLondon Gazette. These duties he exchanged on the revolution for the post of private secretary toLord Shrewsbury. On Shrewsbury's resignation, Vernon served in the same capacitySir John Trenchard, by whom he was employed inFlanders in the summer of 1692 to furnish reports of the movements of the army to Sir William Dutton Colt, British minister atCelle. In 1693 he was appointed to a commissionership of prizes, which he held until 1705.
At the1695 English general election, Vernon was returned to parliament as MP forPenryn, Cornwall. On Shrewsbury's return to power (March 1693–4) Vernon resumed in name his former relations with him. Shrewsbury's ill-health, however, and the course of events soon thrust Vernon into prominence, and during the king's absences on the continent he acted as secretary to the lords justices. On him fell the main burden of investigating the assassination plot, and of hushing up the charges brought bySir John Fenwick (1645–1697) againstGodolphin,Shrewsbury,Marlborough, and Russell. In support of the bill for Fenwick'sattainder he made on 25 November 1696 the only important speech which he is recorded to have delivered throughout his parliamentary career. The dexterity which he displayed in this affair, and Shrewsbury's virtual retirement, enhanced his consequence, and atSunderland's suggestion he received the seals on the resignation of SirWilliam Trumbull, and was sworn of theprivy council (5 December 1697). Though he did not formally succeed to Shrewsbury's department on his resignation, 12 December 1698, he was thenceforth virtually secretary for both departments until the delivery of the southern seals to the Earl of Jersey, 14 May 1699. At the1698 English general election, he was returned as MP forWestminster.[4]
By theking Vernon was treated rather as a clerk than as a minister. He was hardly more than cognisant of the negotiations for thepeace of Ryswick, and ofthe partition treaty he knew nothing until the draft was placed in his hands for transmission toLord Somers. He went down toTunbridge Wells with a mind made up against the treaty, and, though he drafted the blank commission and transmitted it to Holland, he fully approved, if he did not inspire, the letter with which Somers accompanied it (28 August 1698). When the treaty was signed he drafted the necessary forms of ratification and procured their authentication by Somers under thegreat seal. With Somers alone of the ministers in England, he shared the secret of the separate articles. When the treaty came before the notice of parliament,Portland, who bore the first brunt of the attack, sought to share his responsibility with Vernon, whom he represented as cognisant of and concurring in the negotiation from the outset. Vernon cleared himself from this charge by producing with the king's leave the relevant correspondence, and, though no less responsible than Somers for the course taken at Tunbridge Wells, he was omitted from thearticles of impeachment and was continued in office. He was, in fact, sole secretary during the interval, 2 May – 5 November 1700, betweenJersey's resignation and the appointment ofSir Charles Hedges, and retained the seals when Hedges gave place to theDuke of Manchester on 1 January 1701–2.
A staunchWhig, Vernon viewed with undisguised alarm the death of theDuke of Gloucester on 30 July 1700, and proposed that the king should again marry and the succession be settled, in default of issue, in theHanoverian line, thus passing overAnne. This proposition rendered him so odious to the Tories that, soon after the accession of Anne, he was dismissed and replaced by theEarl of Nottingham. He was re-elected MP for Westminster in the two general elections of 1701. He did not stand at the1702 English general election. By way of pension, he was provided on 29 June 1702, with the sinecure office ofTeller of the Receipt of the Exchequer. He was again returned as MP for Penryn at the1705 English general election and then at the1708 British general election. He lost his tellership in September 1710 on the decisive victory of theTories, but was subsequently rewarded with a bounty of £700 and an annual pension of £600. He did not stand at the1710 British general election.[4] He was one of the commissioners to whom, on 28 August 1716, thePrivy Seal was entrusted during Sunderland's absence on the continent, but held no other office during the reign ofGeorge I.
Vernon's wife Mary died on 12 October 1715. His last days were spent in retirement atWatford, Hertfordshire, where he died on 31 January 1727. His remains were interred in Watford parish church. He, and his wife Mary, had two sons and two daughters, one of whom Mary married Michael Harrison, M.P. for Lisburn, Co. Antrim. His eldest son,James (died 1756), was ambassador to Copenhagen. His younger son,Edward Vernon (1684–1757), became an admiral, who was famous for his victory atPorto Bello. Vernon's grandson, son of his eldest son James and Arethusa Boyle,Francis, was created Earl of Shipbrook in 1777.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Lee, Sidney, ed. (1899). "Vernon, James".Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 58. London: Smith, Elder & Co.| Parliament of England | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forCambridge University 1679–1681 With:Sir Thomas Exton | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forPenryn 1695–1699 With:Alexander Pendarves 1695–1698 Samuel Trefusis 1698–1699 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forWestminster 1698–1702 With:Charles Montagu 1698–1701 Sir Thomas Crosse 1701 Sir Henry Colt 1701–1702 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | MP forPenryn 1705–1707 With:Samuel Trefusis | Succeeded by Parliament of Great Britain |
| Parliament of Great Britain | ||
| Preceded by Parliament of England | MP forPenryn 1707–1710 With:Samuel Trefusis | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Secretary of State for the Northern Department 1697–1700 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Secretary of State for the Southern Department 1698–1699 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Secretary of State for the Southern Department 1700–1702 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Secretary of State for the Northern Department 1702 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Teller of the Receipt of the Exchequer 1702–1706 | Succeeded by |
