Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Carteret, Philip de
CARTERET, Sir PHILIP de (1584–1643), knight, seigneur of St. Ouen and of Sark, lieutenant-governor of Jersey, was descended from one of the most ancient and influential families of the island, being the son of Sir Philip de Carteret, governor of Jersey, who was knighted by Queen Elizabeth, and of Rachel, daughter and coheiress of George Poulett, bailly of Jersey, and niece of Sir Amias Poulett, governor of Jersey, ancestor of the noble family of that name. He was born in February 1583–4, and educated at Oxford University. On attaining his majority he was elected a jurat of the royal court. In 1626 he was appointed bailly of the island, and soon afterwards lieutenant-governor to Sir Thomas Jermyn, which office he held to the end of his life. Having been deputed by the states to negotiate with the privy council for the establishment of a set of canons to bring back the island to conformity with the church of England, he conducted the negotiation to a successful issue. William Prynne, in his ‘Lyar Confounded,’ states that during his three years' close confinement in Jersey he received ‘extraordinary favours and respect’ from De Carteret and his lady, when by a special order from the lords all his friends and kindred were denied access to him. On account of the kind treatment he experienced Prynne inferred that De Carteret would be ready to support the parliamentary cause in the contest with the king, and states that he ‘found him a real friend to the state and parliament of England in all his discourses and actions.’ He also mentions that ‘he was the only man that procured scholarships and fellowships in Oxford for the islanders of Jersey, with sundry immunities both from England and France concerning trade.’ At the period of the civil war the island was a prey to internal dissensions among the principal inhabitants, and De Carteret was far from being generally popular. In 1642, while he was in London, twenty-two articles signed by some of the principal inhabitants were presented against him, and he was summoned to answer them before the House of Lords. On the ground, however, that Jersey was in danger from a French invasion, he was, chiefly through the representations of Prynne, permitted to return home. Prynne was thus the means of securing the island for the king; but for De Carteret's return the parliamentary party would have been triumphant. De Carteret's proclamation, which he made soon after his return, of his adherence to the royal cause, Prynne explains by asserting that he had no other alternative on account of the conduct of the parliamentary party towards him. There is, however, every reason to suppose that, though sympathising to a certain extent with the aims of the parliamentary party in England, he was opposed to extreme courses. Be this as it may, he held out for Charles with a resolution which nothing could shake. While he retired to the castle of Elizabeth, his wife and eldest son, Philip, took charge of the defence of that of Orgueil. All his efforts to treat with those in authority for the parliament were rejected, and when through the hardships of the siege his health broke down, the last services of the church were denied him in his dying hours. It was only a short time before he expired that Lady de Carteret could obtain access to the castle to bid him final farewell. He died on 23 Aug. 1643. By his wife Ann, daughter of Sir Francis Dowse of Browton and Nether Wallop, Hampshire, he left several children, of whom the eldest, Philip, was knighted by Charles II
in honour both of his father's and his own heroic defence of Jersey in 1643.
[Chevalier's Chronicle; Falle's Account of the Island of Jersey; Payne's Armorial of Jersey; Prynne's Lyar Confounded; Cal. State Papers, Dom. Series.]