Shrewsbury, Charles Talbot, duke of

Shrewsbury, Charles Talbot, duke of (shrōz'burē, shrOOz'–) [key], 1660–1718, English statesman. Brought up a Roman Catholic, he embraced Protestantism in 1679. A powerful Whig, he was one of the seven nobles who signed the invitation to William of Orange (later William III) to take the throne in 1688. After the Glorious Revolution, William made him (1689) secretary of state and privy councilor. He resigned in 1690, but William reappointed him in 1694 and made him duke of Shrewsbury. Despite persistent rumors of his correspondence with the Jacobites, it was against William's will that he resigned in 1699. Shrewsbury lived in Rome, uninvolved in politics, until 1706. On his return to England, he was won over by Robert Harley to the Tory cause, became lord chamberlain (1710), lord lieutenant of Ireland (1713), and lord treasurer (1714). He supported the Hanoverian succession and was briefly (1714–15) lord chamberlain under George I.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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