3^4 COLEPEPER Board till Oct. 1643, and a Commissioner of the Treasury again June 1660 for a few weeks till his death. His advice (not always very judicious) was greatly esteemed by the King, who, on 25 Aug. 1 642, sent him from Notting- ham to treat with the Pari., which refused to hear him as a member thereof. Master of the Rolls 28 Jan. 1 642/3 to Nov. 1 643 ; reappointed i June 1 66o.(*) His influence with the King in military affairs roused much jealousy. On 21 Oct. 1644, he was cr. BARON COLEPEPER OF THORESWAY, Lincoln. In Mar. 1645 he was one of the Council of the Prince of Wales, whom, in 1646, he accompanied to Paris. By Charles II he was sent to Russia, and obtained therefrom in 1650, a loan of ;/!^50,ooo in corn and furs. Shortly after this date he purchased the estate of Leeds Castle, in Kent. He remained with the King when in exile, and returned at his restoration. He m., istly, 29 Oct. 1 62 8, at St. Botolph's Bishopsgate, London, Philippa, da. of Sir John Snelling, of West Grinstead, Sussex. She was l?ur. 16 Sep. 1630, at Hollingbourne, Kent. He m., 2ndly, before 1635, his cousin, Judith, da. of Sir Thomas Colepeper, of Hollingbourne, and sometime of Leeds Castle, Kent, by Elizabeth, da. of John Cheney, of Guestling, Sussex. He d. II JulyC") 1660, aged 60, and was hur. at HoUingbourne.() M.I. Will dat. 3 July, pr. 6 Aug. 1660. His widow, who was l>ap. i June 1606, at Hollingbourne, and living Feb. 1 649, may be " the Hon. Judith Colepeper " who was l>ur. at Hollingbourne 21 Nov. 1691. II. 1660. 2. Thomas(Colepeper), Baron Colepeper OF Thores- WAY, 3rd but 1st surv. s. and h.,() by 2nd wife, l/ap. 21 Mar. 1634/5, at Hollingbourne. He was Gov. of the Isle of Wight, 1661-67; ^'■'d Gov. of Virginia, 1675 (^'^ appointment being renewed in Dec. 1679), ^'^^ ^^^ "o*^ proceed there till 1680, returning thence in 1682, (^) " For which his previous education had in no degree prepared him," but there was " in those troubled times less need of lawyers than of counsellors and soldiers." (Foss, Judges of England). In his first brief tenure of the office he was sue. by William Lenthall, who was appointed by Parhament. V.G. (*>) Not June, as in Diet. Nat. Biog. V.G. ('=) " He hath not only been unfortunate in most of his counsels, but incompat- ible in business, and very unacceptable (to say no otherwise) to most that have had any intimacy or conversation with him in affairs of moment." (Sir E. Nicholas to Sir E. Hyde, 24 Oct. 1652). According to Clarendon, he was "of an universal understand- ing and wonderful memory," though "his person and manner of speaking were un- gracious enough." The same writer remarks of his elevation to the peerage, that, " it did much dissatisfy both the Court and Army." " He had few gifts of nature to in- gratiate himself at Court, or to make him a dexterous debater; but he had courage and confidence, a spirit free from prejudice, and little likely to be swayed by any over- powering sense of religious feeling . . . With no grace of oratory he could yet inter- vene with telling effect at the close of a debate." V.G. (■*) His elder br., of the half-blood, Alexander Colepeper, m., 8 Sep. 1648, at Calais, Catherine (aged 12), da. and h. of Sir Edward Ford, of Harting, Sussex, but d. s.p. and v.p., 2 Mar. 1648/9, his widow marrying, before 1655, Ralph (Grey), 2nd Baron Grey of Werk.
