Peter King, 1st Baron King

2025-09-12T20:33:25Z

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{{Short description|English lawyer and politician}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|honorific-prefix = [[The Right Honourable]]
|name = The Lord King
|honorific-suffix = {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|PC|FRS}}
|image = Peter King, 1st Baron King of Ockham by Daniel De Coning.jpg
|caption = The 1st Lord King, by Daniel de Coning, 1720
|monarch1={{unbulleted list|[[George I of Great Britain|George I]]|[[George II of Great Britain|George II]]}}
|primeminister1=Sir [[Robert Walpole]]
|office1 = [[Lord Chancellor]]<br>{{small|[[Lord High Steward]] for the trial of:{{Collapsible list|[[Thomas Parker, 1st Earl of Macclesfield|The Earl of Macclesfield]]}}}}
|term_start1 = 1 June 1725
|term_end1 = 29 November 1733
|predecessor1 = ''In Commission''
|successor1 = [[Charles Talbot, 1st Baron Talbot|The Lord Talbot]]
|office2 = [[Chief Justice of the Common Pleas]]
|term_start2 = 1714
|term_end2 = 1725
|predecessor2 = [[Thomas Trevor, 1st Baron Trevor|The Lord Trevor]]
|successor2 = [[Sir Robert Eyre]]
|birth_date = 1669
|birth_place = [[Exeter]]
|death_date = {{death date|1734|7|22|df=y}}
|death_place = [[Surrey]]
|alma_mater = [[Leiden University]]
|spouse = Anne Seys
|children = 6
}}

'''Peter King, 1st Baron King''', {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|PC|FRS}} (c. 1669 – 22 July 1734), commonly referred to as '''Lord King''', was an English lawyer and politician, who became [[Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain]].<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1690-1715/member/king-peter-1669-1734|title= KING, Peter (c.1669–1734), of the Middle Temple, London and Ockham, Surr.|publisher= History of Parliament Online|access-date= 13 July 2016|archive-date= 17 August 2016|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160817031315/http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1690-1715/member/king-peter-1669-1734|url-status= dead}}</ref>

A distant relative of the philosopher [[John Locke]], King entered Parliament in 1700 as [[member of Parliament]] for [[Bere Alston (UK Parliament constituency)|Bere Alston]] and became associated with the [[Whigs (British political party)|Whig]] interest. As Lord Chancellor, King supported the [[Hanoverian succession]] and the established [[Church of England]]. King remained in office until 1733, a year before his death.

==Life==
King was born in [[Exeter]] in 1669,{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=805}} and educated at [[Exeter Grammar School]].
In his youth he was interested in early church history, and published anonymously in 1691 ''An Enquiry into the Constitution, Discipline, Unity and Worship of the Primitive Church that flourished within the first Three Hundred Years after Christ''.<ref name=NatArchiveAllCreatures>{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/enquiryintoconst00king |title=''An Enquiry into the Constitution, Discipline, Unity and Worship of the Primitive Church that flourished within the first Three Hundred Years after Christ''.|location=The Internet Archive|access-date=2018-09-16|format=EPUB, Full Text, Kindle, PDF and others}}</ref> This treatise engaged the interest of his cousin, [[John Locke]], the [[philosopher]], by whose advice his father sent him to the [[Leiden University]], where he stayed for nearly three years. He entered the [[Middle Temple]] in 1694 and was [[called to the bar]] in 1698.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=805}}

In 1700 he was returned to [[List of Parliaments of England|Parliament of England]] as the member for [[Bere Alston (UK Parliament constituency)|Bere Alston]] in [[Devon]], holding the seat until 1715.

He was appointed recorder of [[Glastonbury]] in 1705 and recorder of [[London]] in 1708. Made a [[Serjeant-at-Law]], he was appointed [[Chief Justice of the Common Pleas]] from 1714 to 1725, when he was raised to the peerage as a Lord Justice and [[Speaker of the House of Lords]]. In June of the same year he was made [[Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain]], holding office until compelled by a [[paralytic]] [[stroke]] to resign in 1733.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=805}}

He was admitted a [[Fellow of the Royal Society]] on 14 November 1728.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.royalsoc.ac.uk/page.asp?id=1727 | title=Lists of Royal Society Fellows | access-date=2006-12-15}}</ref>

He died at [[Ockham, Surrey|Ockham]], [[Surrey]], on 22 July 1734{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=805}} and was buried in [[All Saints' Church, Ockham|All Saints' Church]]. In 1735, the King Chapel was added to the church, separated from the main aisle by a round headed, and there is a vaulted plaster ceiling springing from angle pilasters. Intended as a chapel over the [[family vault]] of the [[Earl_of_Lovelace#Barons_King_(1725)_(of_Ockham)|Lords King of Ockham]] and their descendants, the [[Earls of Lovelace]], it features several [[church monument]]s, including the monument to Peter King, 1st Baron King, and his wife Anne Seys, which was sculpted by [[Michael Rysbrack]]. It is on the north wall, white marble in Palladian style, with two figures sitting either side of large urn in front of pyramidal ground. Symbols of office surround Lord King.<ref name="britishlistedbuildings">[https://britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/101188424-church-of-all-saints-ockham#.Y2QszYLP3lw All Saints' Church, Ockham, Surrey]</ref>

==Family==
King married Anne Seys in 1704. They had six children: two daughters and four sons. Each of their sons succeeded in turn as [[Earl of Lovelace|Lord King, Baron of Ockham]].

After his death in 1734, the widowed Lady King lived in [[Grosvenor Square]] until her death in 1767.<ref>{{cite web |title=Grosvenor Square: Individual Houses built before 1926 Pages 117–166 Survey of London: Volume 40, the Grosvenor Estate in Mayfair, Part 2 (The Buildings). |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-london/vol40/pt2/pp117-166 |website=British History Online |publisher=LCC 1980 |access-date=5 December 2022}}</ref>

In 1835 his great-great-grandson [[William King, 1st Earl of Lovelace|William King]] (1805–1893), married [[Ada Byron]], the only daughter of [[Lord Byron]] and was later created [[Earl of Lovelace]]. Another descendant [[Peter John Locke King]] was a Member of Parliament for Surrey from 1847 to 1849 and won some fame as an advocate of reform, being responsible for the passing of the [[Real Estate Charges Act 1854]], and for the repeal of a large number of obsolete laws.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=805}}

==Assessment as Lord Chancellor==
[[File:Lord King LC.jpg|thumb|left|Lord King, Lord Chancellor]]
Lord King as chancellor failed to sustain the reputation which he had acquired at the common law bar. Nevertheless, he left his mark on English law by establishing the principles that a will of immovable property is governed by the ''[[lex loci rei sitae]]'', and that where a husband had a legal right to the personal estate of his wife, which must be asserted by a suit in equity, the court would not help him unless he made a provision out of the property for the wife, if she required it. He was also the author of the Act ([[Proceedings in Courts of Justice Act 1730]]) by virtue of which [[English language|English]] superseded [[Latin]] as the language of the courts.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=805}}

==Works==
Lord King published in 1702 a ''History of the Apostles' Creed'' (Leipzig, 1706; Basel, 1750) which went through several editions and was also translated into Latin.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=805}} His earlier work ''An Enquiry into the Constitution, Discipline, Unity and Worship of the Primitive Church that flourished within the first Three Hundred Years after Christ'' was published 1691; quoted by Methodist leader [[John Wesley]] in many of his correspondences, it is seen as influencing many of his view on the order of the Church.<ref>{{cite book |title=John Wesley: Christian Philosopher and Church Founder |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R9RMAwAAQBAJ&q=%22lord+king%22+%22wesley%22+influence&pg=PA216 |page=216 |first=George |last=Eayrs|date = November 2010| publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers |isbn = 9781608999811}}</ref>

==Cases==
{{unreferenced section|date=September 2012}}
Some notable cases on which he was involved:{{expand list|date=September 2012}}
*''[[R v Woodburne and Coke]]''
*''[[Keech v Sandford]]'' (1726) Sel Cas Ch 61
*''[[Coppin v Coppin]]'' (1725) – a will settling land in England must conform to the rules of English law, even when made abroad
*''[[Croft v Pyke]]'' (1733) – a partner's joint estate is liable first to the debts of the partnership, before payment of legacies to heirs
*''[[Milner v Colmer]]'' (1731)
*''[[Brown et Uxor v Elton]]'' (1733) – the practice of the court was to compel a husband to make a settlement on the wife before recovering his wife's portion by equity
Spoke in support of the second article brought against [[Henry Sacheverell]], February 28, 1709/10 – 'Tryal of Dr.Sacheverell' printed London 1710

==References==
{{reflist}}

;Attribution
*{{EB1911 |wstitle=King of Ockham, Peter King, 1st Baron |volume=15 |page=805}}

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{{succession box | title=[[Member of Parliament]] for [[Bere Alston (UK Parliament constituency)|Bere Alston]] | with=[[Rowland Gwynne|Sir Rowland Gwynne]] 1701 | with2=[[William Cowper, 1st Earl Cowper|William Cowper]] 1701–1705 | with3=[[Spencer Cowper]] 1705–1707 | before=[[John Hawles]]<br />[[James Montagu (judge)|James Montagu]] | after= Parliament of Great Britain | years=1701–1707 }}
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{{succession box | title=[[Member of Parliament]] for [[Bere Alston (UK Parliament constituency)|Bere Alston]] | with=[[Spencer Cowper]] 1707–1710 | with2=[[Lawrence Carter (judge)|Lawrence Carter]] 1710–1715 | before= Parliament of England | after= [[Lawrence Carter (judge)|Lawrence Carter]]<br />[[Horatio Walpole, 1st Baron Walpole|Horatio Walpole]] | years=1707–1715 }}
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{{succession box | title=[[Chief Justice of the Common Pleas]] | before=[[Thomas Trevor, 1st Baron Trevor|The Lord Trevor]] | after=[[Sir Robert Eyre]] | years=1714–1725}}
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{{succession box | title=[[Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain]] | before=In Commission | after=[[Charles Talbot, 1st Baron Talbot|The Lord Talbot]] | years=1725–1733}}
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{{s-ttl | title=[[Baron King]] | years=1725–1734}}
{{s-aft | after=[[John King, 2nd Baron King|John King]]}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:King, Peter King, 1st Baron}}
[[Category:1660s births]]
[[Category:1734 deaths]]
[[Category:People educated at Exeter School]]
[[Category:Members of the Middle Temple]]
[[Category:Serjeants-at-law (England)]]
[[Category:Chief justices of the common pleas]]
[[Category:Lord chancellors of Great Britain]]
[[Category:Lord High Stewards]]
[[Category:Members of the Privy Council of Great Britain]]
[[Category:Barons King|1]]
[[Category:English MPs 1701]]
[[Category:English MPs 1701–1702]]
[[Category:English MPs 1702–1705]]
[[Category:English MPs 1705–1707]]
[[Category:Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Bere Alston]]
[[Category:British MPs 1707–1708]]
[[Category:British MPs 1708–1710]]
[[Category:British MPs 1710–1713]]
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[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society]]
[[Category:Members of the Parliament of England for Bere Alston]]
[[Category:Leiden University alumni]]

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Peter King, 1st Baron King