MRP: 5th March 1662/63, Letter from Charles Porter to Sir GO

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5th March 1662/63, Letter from Charles Porter to Sir GO

BL, MS. XX, XXX f. 12

Editorial history

19/06/09, CSG: Completed transcription
14/12/11, CSG: Created page & posted transcription to wiki




Abstract & context


Charles Porter wrote to Sir George Oxenden from the Middle Temple, in a letter dated March 5th 1662/63. The tone of his letter was familiar, and he concludes with the news that "Mrs Dallison & all yo:r Friends are in health."

There are several candidates as to the identity of Charles Porter the letter writer. Steven Pincus assumes that the letter writer is a London merchant, who he classifies as an "anglican royalist" merchant. Certainly Captain Cocke and ?Sir George Smith were on friendly terms with a London merchant named Charles Porter. However, Middle Temple is an unlikely address for a merchant, and the several references to the rule of law in the letter would support the suggestion that the letter writer was Charles Porter (b. 1631, d. 1696), the son of Edmund Porter (d.1670), rector of Hevingham, Norf. This Charles Porter was a lawyer of Middle Temple, who was an under-clerk in Chancery (?1656-1663), and, though still not yet a barrister, appointed by the Duke of York in 1660 as solicitor to the Duke of York.[1]


Suggested links



To do


(1) Check transcription against physical manuscript at BL


Transcription


This transcription has been completed, but requires checking

BL, MS. XX, XXX f. 12

Deare S:r George

Middle Temple Mar y:e 5:a 1662 [3]

This opportunity of o:r very good freinds voyadge to you gives me nott onely á Conveniency butt á desire to lett you know how heartily I desire yo:r health & Prosperity, really S:r I most earnestly desire both, & Shold receive very great consolation to be Assur:d you enjoy them: I wrote lately to you by Jn:o Swift[2] wherein I desired yo:r Assistance to him & againe I earnestly repeat y:e request. I have noe Newes to write you, Cap:t Millett[3] y:t brings you this cann tell you all y:ts done here, wee have great Trouble w:th o:r ffanatics & Papists, who fight under y:e same tearms viz:t libertie of Conscience & have Soo earnestly Importund y:e king y:t he made it his desire to y:e parliam:t to have some Relaxation of y:e Law in points of nonconformity; but God be thanked tis all over, & things goo in y:e Old Legall way, his Maj:ties by Advisd of the parliament having quitted y:e designe for Tolleration, I have nothing of Moment to communicate more y:n y:t Mrs Dallison,[4] & all yo:r Friends are in health as I believe you will pceive [i.e. "perceive"] by theire Severall lres by y:e same hand y:t brings this; I remaine

Yo:r most Affectionate Friend &
Humble Servant

Charles Porter


Notes

Samuel Pepys


A Charles Porter is mentioned 3 or 4 times in Pepys Diary, but wthout any real insights into his background. He is simply a dining companion

[L&M has a profile of Sir Charles Porter, kt 1686 (1631-96), but it is NOT clear that "our" Charles Porter is this man. L&M profile states that Charles Porter was Solicitor-General to the Duke of York in 1660. I guess it is plausible – Charles Porter in his letter to Sir GO is not saying that he has been in Surat, unlike many other London correspondents of Sir GO]


L&M, Sir Charles Porter (1631-1696)


"Porter, Sir Charles, kt 1686 (1631-96). Solicitor-General to the Duke of York 1660; Lord Chancellor of Ireland 1686-7, 1690-6. He was dissipated and drunken and "had the good fortune to be loved by everybody" (North)."

Did Sir William Ryder know Charles Porter? If so, he might know him through the Duke of York’s interest in Guinea/African trade. A Charles Porter, as per L&M, was Solicitor-General to the Duke of York (at the seemingly implausible age of 27/28 (sic))


Steven Pincus


Steven Pincus describes Charles Porter as an "Anglican Royalist merchant" and cites the March 5th 1662 letter from Charles Porter to Sir George Oxenden[5]


Possible primary sources



Possible secondary sources


Paula Watson, 'PORTER, Charles (1631-96), of Essex Buildings, the Middle Temple', The history of parliament trust (1983)[6]
  1. ↑ viewed 18/01/12 'PORTER, Charles (1631-96), of Essex Buildings, the Middle Temple', The history of parliament trust (1983)
  2. ↑ John Swift, London merchant; brother-in-law of Sir George Smith and benjamin Glanville
  3. ↑ Captain Nicholas Millett, commander of the Loyal Merchant
  4. ↑ Elizabeth Dallison
  5. ↑ Steven C.A. Pincus, Protestantism and Patriotism: Ideologies and the Making of English Foreign Policy, 1650-1668 (Cambridge, 2002), p. 232
  6. ↑ http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1660-1690/member/porter-charles-1631-96, viewed 18/01/12

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