1. William Blathwayt was an English diplomat, public official and Whig politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons between 1685 and 1710.
19 Facts About William Blathwayt
1. 2.
William Blathwayt established the War Office as a department of the British Government and played an important part in administering the English colonies of North America.
3.
William Blathwayt was born to a well-to-do family of Protestant merchants and lawyers.
4.
William Blathwayt followed this in 1672 with a year as Clerk of Embassy at Copenhagen and Stockholm.
5.
William Blathwayt returned to London in the early 1670s, and was assistant secretary of trade and plantations from 1675 to 1679.
6.
William Blathwayt became a Clerk of the Privy Council in Extraordinary in 1678 and in 1679 was promoted to secretary of trade and plantations.
7.
William Blathwayt became under-secretary of state in 1681 until he obtained the office of Secretary at War.
8.
William Blathwayt effectively established the War Office as a department of the government, although he had very little input into the actual conduct of wars.
9.
At the 1685 English general election William Blathwayt was returned as Member of Parliament for Newtown in the government interest.
10.
William Blathwayt was not active in the Parliament, and was appointed to only one committee to examine the disbandment accounts.
11.
William Blathwayt was responsible for establishing the charter of the Crown colony of the Province of Massachusetts Bay, the predecessor of the state of Massachusetts.
12.
William Blathwayt did much to promote trade in America and benefited considerably from gifts and bribes received in connection with his office.
13.
William Blathwayt was a witness for the prosecution at the Trial of the Seven Bishops in 1688 and he lost the politically sensitive post as secretary at war after the Glorious Revolution.
14.
William Blathwayt was returned as a Whig Member of Parliament for Bath in 1693 and held the seat until 1710.
15.
William Blathwayt was appointed Lord of Trade in 1696, holding the post until 1707.
16.
William Blathwayt retired to Dyrham in 1710, remaining there until his death.
17.
William Blathwayt built a large mansion house for himself at Dyrham Park near Bristol, which he decorated with numerous Dutch Old Masters and sumptuous fabrics and furnishings.
18.
William Blathwayt's descendants sold a large part of his art collection in 1765, but some of the paintings have been purchased back or remain at Dyrham Park.
19.
William Blathwayt was married to his first cousin, suffragette Emily Blathwayt, and they were the parents of Mary Blathwayt.