{{Short description|English politician (1638–1696)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2022}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = [[The Right Honorable]] | name = The Lord Capell of Tewkesbury | honorific_suffix = [[Order of the Bath|KB]] [[Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council|PC]] | image = Peter Lely portrait of Henry Capel 1659.jpg | caption = Portrait by [[Peter Lely]] | office = [[First Lord of the Admiralty]] | term_start = 1679 | term_end = 1681 | predecessor = [[Prince Rupert of the Rhine]] | successor = [[Daniel Finch, 2nd Earl of Nottingham|The Earl of Nottingham]] | term_start1 = 1660 | term_end1 = 1685 | constituency_MP1 = [[Tewkesbury (UK Parliament constituency)|Tewkesbury]] | monarch1 = [[Charles II of England|Charles II]] | birth_date = 1638 | birth_place = [[Little Hadham]], [[Hertfordshire]] | death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|1696|5|30|1638}} | death_place = [[Chapelizod]], [[County Dublin]] | resting_place = | spouse = Dorothy Bennet<br/>(m. 1659) | alma_mater = | occupation = | signature = }} '''Henry Capell, Baron Capell of Tewkesbury''', [[Order of the Bath|KB]], [[Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council|PC]] (1638 – 30 May 1696) was an [[England|English]] politician who sat in the [[House of Commons of England|House of Commons]] between 1660 and 1692. He was then created [[Baron Capell]].
==Early life== Henry Capell was born in [[Hadham Parva]], [[Hertfordshire]]. He was the son of [[Arthur Capell, 1st Baron Capell of Hadham]] and Elizabeth Morrison. He was baptised on 6 March 1638. His father was raised to the peerage in 1641 and he died fighting for the King in the civil wars in 1649 as one of the commanders of the Colchester garrison.<ref name=HOP>{{Cite web |url=http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1660-1690/member/capel-hon-henry-1638-96 |title=History of Parliament Online – Capel, Hon. Henry |access-date=15 April 2012 |archive-date=17 August 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120817050228/http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1660-1690/member/capel-hon-henry-1638-96 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Henry's eldest brother was [[Arthur Capell, 1st Earl of Essex]].
==Career==
Capel founded the [[Kew Gardens|Royal Botanic Gardens]] at [[Kew]]. Later Capel was elected [[Member of Parliament]] for [[Tewkesbury (UK Parliament constituency)|Tewkesbury]] in the [[Convention Parliament (1660)|Convention Parliament]]. He was invested as a [[Knight]] of the [[Order of the Bath]], on 23 April 1661. In 1661, he was re-elected MP for Tewkesbury in the [[Cavalier Parliament]]. He was a member of the [[Privy Council of Ireland|Irish Privy Council]], from April 1673 to March 1684/85. Capell was re-elected MP for Tewkesbury in the two elections of 1679, was a member of the English Privy Council, from 22 April 1679 to 31 January 1680, and was [[First Lord of the Admiralty]], between 1679 and 1680.<ref name=HOP/>
In 1689, Capell was elected MP for [[Cockermouth (UK Parliament constituency)|Cockermouth]]<ref name=HOP/> and was [[Lord of the Treasury]], between 1689 and 1690. He was invested again as [[Privy Councillor]], on 14 February 1689. He was elected MP for Tewkesbury in 1690, and sat until 11 April 1692, when he was ennobled as '''Baron Capell of Tewkesbury''', in the County of Gloucester.<ref name=HOP/> One year later, he became [[Lord Justices (Ireland)|Lord Justice of Ireland]] and in turn a Privy Councillor of Ireland, in June 1693. In 1695 and 1696, Capell was [[Lord Deputy of Ireland]]. His term as Lord Deputy was not considered successful because of him being a firm [[Whigs (British political party)|Whig]] and presiding over an administration which was deeply divided between Whigs and [[Tories (British political party)|Tories]], and he did nothing to help this situation change.
Capell died aged 58 in [[Chapelizod]], [[County Dublin]], and was buried on 8 September 1696 in [[Little Hadham]], Hertfordshire. The barony died with him.
==Private life== On 16 February 1659, Capell married Dorothy Bennet, daughter of Richard Bennet. The marriage was childless, but did bring part of what later became [[Kew Palace]] into the Capell family, leading to its becoming known as Capel House.
Dorothy died in 1721, and through her will endowed a number of charities.
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{S-start}} {{s-par|en}} {{succession box | title = [[Member of Parliament]] for [[Tewkesbury (UK Parliament constituency)|Tewkesbury]] | before = Not represented in Restored Rump | with = [[Richard Dowdeswell (died 1673)|Richard Dowdeswell (1)]] 1660–1673 | with2 = [[Sir Francis Russell, 2nd Baronet, of Wytley|Sir Francis Russell, Bt]] 1673–1685 | years = 1660–1685 | after = [[Richard Dowdeswell (died 1711)|Richard Dowdeswell (2)]] | after2 = [[Sir Francis Russell, 2nd Baronet, of Wytley|Sir Francis Russell, Bt]] }} {{succession box | title = [[Member of Parliament]] for [[Cockermouth (UK Parliament constituency)|Cockermouth]] | years = 1689–1690 | with = [[Sir Henry Fletcher, 3rd Baronet, of Hutton le Forest|Henry Fletcher]] | before = [[Daniel Fleming (antiquary)|Sir Daniel Fleming]] | before2 = [[Orlando Gee|Sir Orlando Gee]] | after = [[Sir Wilfrid Lawson, 2nd Baronet, of Isell|Sir Wilfrid Lawson]] | after2 = [[Orlando Gee|Sir Orlando Gee]] }} {{succession box | title = [[Member of Parliament]] for [[Tewkesbury (UK Parliament constituency)|Tewkesbury]] | with = [[Richard Dowdeswell (died 1711)|Richard Dowdeswell (2)]] | years = 1690–1692 | before = [[Richard Dowdeswell (died 1711)|Richard Dowdeswell (2)]] | before2 = [[Sir Francis Russell, 2nd Baronet, of Wytley|Sir Francis Russell, Bt]] | after = [[Richard Dowdeswell (died 1711)|Richard Dowdeswell (2)]] | after2 = [[Francis Winnington (Solicitor-General)|Sir Francis Winnington]] }} {{s-off}} {{succession box |title=[[Admiralty (United Kingdom)|First Lord of the Admiralty]] |before=[[Prince Rupert of the Rhine]]<br />(Lord High Admiral) |after=[[Daniel Finch, 2nd Earl of Nottingham|The Earl of Nottingham]] |years=1679–1681 }} {{succession box |title=[[Lord Lieutenant of Ireland|Lord Deputy of Ireland]] | before=Lords Justices | after=Lords Justices | years=1695–1696 }} {{S-end}}
{{First Lords of the Admiralty|state=collapsed}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Capell of Tewkesbury, Henry Capell, Baron}} [[Category:Barons in the Peerage of England]] [[Category:Peers of England created by William III]] [[Category:Knights of the Bath]] [[Category:Lords of the Admiralty]] [[Category:Members of the Privy Council of England]] [[Category:Members of the Privy Council of Ireland]] [[Category:Younger sons of barons]] [[Category:1638 births]] [[Category:1696 deaths]] [[Category:Capell family|Henry]] [[Category:English MPs 1660]] [[Category:English MPs 1661–1679]] [[Category:English MPs 1679]] [[Category:English MPs 1680–1681]] [[Category:English MPs 1681]] [[Category:English MPs 1689–1690]] [[Category:English MPs 1690–1695]] [[Category:People from Little Hadham]] [[Category:Lords Lieutenant of Ireland]] [[Category:17th-century English knights]]