Family and Education

b. 9 Nov. 1667, 2nd but 1st surv. s. of Sir Edward Mansell, 4th Bt. educ. Jesus, Oxf. 1685-6. m. 18 May 1686, Martha (d. 10 June 1718), da. and h. of Francis Millington, merchant, of London and Newick Place, Suss., 5s. (3 d.v.p.) 4da.; 1s 2da. illegit. suc. fa. as 5th Bt. 17 Nov. 1706; cr. Baron Mansell of Margam 1 Jan. 1712.1

Offices Held

Dep. lt. Glam. 1689-?1714; commr. for assessment Glam. 1689-90, Westminster 1690; lt.-col. of militia ft. Glam. by 1697-?1706, sheriff 1700-1, j.p. 1689-?d., Brecon 1699-d.; constable, Cardiff Castle 1706-d.; chamberlain of Carmarthen 1707-d.; v.-adm. S. Wales and gov. of Milford Haven 1714-15.2.

Comptroller of the Household 1704-8, 1711-12; PC 1704-8, 1711-14; ld. of Treasury 1710-11; teller of the Exchequer 1712-14.3

Biography

Mansel was returned unopposed as a Tory for the family boroughs two months after coming of age. He was probably moderately active in the Convention, voting to agree with the Lords that the throne was not vacant, and he may have served on 19 committees. Although ‘he always made an agreeable figure in the House of Commons’, his first Parliament was marked by a quarrel with Sir Thomas Taylor, the grounds of which are unknown. His most important committee was for the repeal of the Corporations Act. In the second session he was appointed to the committees for reversing the judgments obtained by the Duke of Beaufort (Henry Somerset) against Sir Trevor Williams, John Arnold and John Dutton Colt and for establishing a ‘court of conscience’ for small claims in Southwark, Westminster and Tower Hamlets. He ‘was generally [an] opposer of the measures of King William’s reign’, though he signed the Association in 1696. A close friend of Robert Harley II, he held office under Anne, and was one of the twelve Tory peers created in 1712 to provide a majority for the ministry in the Upper House. He was deprived of his tellership of the Exechequer on the Hanoverian succession. He died on 10 Dec. 1723 and was buried at Margam. His youngest son sat for Cardiff from 1727 to 1734 and for the county from 1737 till he succeeded to the peerage in 1744.4

Ref Volumes: 1660-1690

Author: Leonard Naylor

Notes

• 1. Cat. Penrice and Margam Mss, ser. 2, pp. 108-9; ser. 3, p. 168; ser. 4, ii. 315.
• 2. Eg. 1626, f. 59; J. H. Matthews, Cardiff Recs. v. 406-7; W. R. Williams. Great Sessions in Wales, 189; Cat. Penrice and Margam Mss, ser. 3, p. 16; Ind. 24557.
• 3. Cal. Treas. Bks. xxvi. 372; xxix. 140.
• 4. CJ, x. 70; Macky, Mems. 114; G. Holmes, British Politics in the Age of Anne, 264.