Anthony Ashley Cooper,
Earl of Shaftsbury
Anthony Ashley Cooper was an important English politician in the Interregnum period, during the time of King Charles II. He was the 1st Earl of Shaftsbury and was also known as Sir Anthony Ashley Cooper, 2nd Baronet; a title that he held from 1631 to 1661.
Cooper was born on July 22, 1621 to Sir Anthony Ashley in Dorset County. Sir Anthony, who died in 1628, was the 1st Baronet of Wimborne St. Giles also in Dorset and during the time of Queen Elizabeth's rule held the position of Secretary-at-War.
Anthony Ashley Cooper was the eldest son of Sir Anthony and as such was the successor to the family assets. Unfortunately both of Anthony's parents died when he was still of a very young age and he spent most of his childhood in the care of various relatives and family friends.
Cooper also had inherited baronetcies from both his paternal and maternal grandfathers. His paternal grandfather was Sir John Cooper from Rockbourne and on his mother's side his grandfather was Anthony Ashley.
Cooper received much of his early education from Puritan teachers and he later enrolled at Exeter College in Oxford. His reputation there was less than favourable; he was involved in a small riot and he failed to obtain a degree. Surprisingly he was later admitted to Gray's Inn.
Cooper, by this time known as Sir Anthony, then began what would become a remarkable political career. He joined the Short Parliament, sitting for Tewkesbury borough in Gloucestershire where his family still had ownership of several pieces of land. He also intended to join the Long Parliament, this time representing Poole from his original hometown of Dorset, but his main contender for the position, Denzil Holles thwarted his attempts for admission.
Sir Anthony had recently married the daughter of the Charles I (who was the King of England at that time) and many members of the Parliament were concerned that Sir Anthony's allegiance might be favoured towards the King. Denzil Holles, being a well-known critic of the King, was a far more acceptable choice for the Parliamentary position.
When the Civil War began, Sir Anthony as expected threw in his support with the King. He slowly began to see however that King Charles' policies were detrimental to the interests of the Church and State and would most likely lead to a worsening situation in the entire country. He briefly joined Oliver Cromwell's council but he found the Lord Protector's dictatorial policies intolerable.
As Lord Ashley, he later joined the Clarendon Ministry as one of the lesser representatives and frequently clashed with Lord Clarendon on religious matters. The Lord Clarendon was strongly against any form of religious toleration while Lord Ashley favoured a more open approach.
With the downfall of Lord Clarendon in 1667, Lord Ashley became increasingly more prominent and influential in government and was made Earl of Shaftsbury and Baron Cooper of Pawlett.
In 1681 when Lord Ashley was a member of the Whigs political party, charges of high treason were brought against him. The charges were subsequently dropped and Lord Ashley died two years later on January 21st, 1683.
Original Authors: Doods Pangburn
Edit Update Authors: M.A.Harris
Updated On: 25/07/2008
