John Sheffield, 1st Duke of Buckingham and Normanby

John Sheffield, Duke of Buckingham at Westminster Abbey

John Sheffield, 1st Duke of Buckingham and Normanby, KG, PC (7 April 1648 – 24 February 1721), was an English poet and notable Tory politician of the late Stuart period, who served as Lord Privy Seal and Lord President of the Council.

In 1682 he was dismissed from the court, apparently for putting himself forward as a suitor for the Princess Anne, but on the accession of King James II, he received a seat in the Privy Council, and was made Lord Chamberlain. (He later married Catherine, the daughter of the king's mistress, Catherine Sedley).

He supported James in his most unpopular measures, and stayed with him in London during the time of his flight. He also protected the Spanish ambassador from the dangerous anger of the mob. He acquiesced, however, in the "Glorious Revolution", and in 1694 was made Marquess of Normanby. In 1696 he refused in company with other Tory peers to sign an agreement to support William as their "rightful and lawful king" against Jacobite attempts, and was consequently dismissed from the privy council. On the accession of Queen Anne, of whom he was a personal favourite, he was appointed Lord Privy Seal and Lord Lieutenant of the North Riding of Yorkshire, and in 1703 was created Duke of Buckingham and Normanby.

During the predominance of the Whigs between 1705 and 1710, Buckingham was deprived of his office as Lord Privy Seal, but in 1710 he was made Lord Steward, and in 1711 Lord President of the Council. After Queen Anne's death he was not reappointed. He died on 24 February 1721 at his house in St. James's Park, on the site of the present Buckingham Palace. Buckingham was succeeded by his son, Edmund (1716–1735), on whose death the titles became extinct.

   He married, firstly, Ursula Stawell (d. 13 August 1697), daughter of George Stawell and Ursula Austen, on 18 March 1685 in Littlecote Chapel, Ramsbury, Wiltshire, England.

   He had an illegitimate daughter:

• Mary Sheffield (bef. 1692 – 26 October 1729), married as his second wife Arthur Annesley, 4th Baron Altham 1706; parents of James Annesley.

   He married, secondly, Catherine Greville (d. 7 February 1703), daughter of Fulke Greville, 5th Baron Brooke and Sarah Dashwood, on 12 March 1698 in St. Clement Danes, Westminster, London, England.

   He had two illegitimate children with his mistress Frances Stewart, wife of Oliver Lambart:

• Sir Charles Herbert Sheffield, 1st Baronet (1704–1774) founder of the Sheffield baronets
• Katharine Sophia Sheffield (1705–13 January 1780)

   He married, thirdly, Lady Catherine Darnley (1680-13 March 1743), an illegitimate daughter of James II of Great Britain and Catherine Sedley, Countess of Dorchester, on 16 March 1705 in St. Martin-in-the-Fields Church, Covent Garden, London, England. They had three sons:

• John Sheffield, Marquess of Normanby (26 September 1710 – 16 December 1710)
• Robert Sheffield, Marquess of Normanby (11 December 1711 – 1 February 1714)
• Edmund Sheffield, 2nd Duke of Buckingham and Normanby (11 January 1716 – 30 October 1735)