Sir Charles Coote, 1st Baronet

Sir Charles Coote, 1st Baronet (1581–1642) was an English soldier, administrator and landowner who lived in Ireland.

For other people named Charles Coote, see Charles Coote (disambiguation).

Charles Coote
Baronet Coote of Castle Cuffe
A painted portrait of Donough MacCarty, 1st Earl of Clancarty, showing a clean-shaven man with long curly hair or such a wig, clad in armour, standing in front of some drapery giving a view on a distant landscape
Tenure1621–1642
SuccessorCharles Coote, 1st Earl of Mountrath
Born1581
Died7 May 1642
Spouse(s)Dorothea Cuffe
Issue
Detail		Charles & others
FatherNicholas Coote

Birth and origins

He was born into a Devonshire family, the son of Sir Nicholas Coote.

Early life

In 1600 he moved to Ireland as a captain of the 100th Foot Regiment in the army of Lord Mountjoy, Lord Deputy of Ireland, where he fought in the last few years of the Nine Years War and was at the Siege of Kinsale in 1601–02, which ultimately led to the defeat of the O'Neills.

In 1605 he was appointed Provost-Marshal of Connaught for life and in 1613 was appointed to the office of General Collector and Receiver of the King's Composition Money for Connaught, also for life. In 1620 he was promoted to vice-President of Connaught.

Marriage and children

Before 1617 he married Dorothea younger daughter and coheir of Hugh Cuffe of Cuffe's Wood, County Cork.[1]

Charles and Dorothea had five children, four sons:

  1. Charles, who would be created Earl of Mountrath.
  2. Chidley
  3. Richard, became Baron Coote of Coloony
  4. Thomas (died 1671)

—and one daughter Laetitia, married Sir Francis Hamilton, 1st Baronet, of Killock, also called of Killeshandra, County Cavan[2]

Circle of Cornelius Johnson, Sir Charles Coote, 1st Baronet, ca. 1630

Honours

On 2 April 1621 he was made a baronet (of Castle Cuffe in Queen's County).[3]

He became a substantial landowner and served as a commissioner to examine and contest Irish land titles. In 1634 he was appointed Custos Rotulorum of Queen's County, again for life. He was elected Member of Parliament (M.P.) in the Parliament of Ireland for Queen's County in 1639.

Irish rebellion and death

When the Irish Uprising of 1641 began, Coote was appointed Governor of Dublin and instructed to raise a regiment. He then marched south to secure Wicklow, marching north in 1642 to defeat the rebels at Swords and Kilsallaghan. In April 1642, he was ordered by James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde to relieve the beleaguered garrisons at Birr, Burris, and Knocknamease, after which he rejoined Ormonde's main force to defeat the Irish Confederates at the Battle of Kilrush in April, 1642. In early May of that year, he helped capture the garrisons of Philipstown and Trim, but was killed at Trim on 7 May 1642 during a Confederate counter-attack.

Citations
  1. Burke 1866, p. 133, right column: "Sir Charles Coote m. [married] prior to 1617, Dorothea younger dau. [daughter] and co-heir of Hugh Cuffe, Esq. of Cuffe's Wood, co. Cork ..."
  2. Burke 1866, p. 134, left column: "Letitia, m. to Sir Francis Hamilton of Killeshandra."
  3. Cokayne 1900, p. 226: "Coote: cr. 2 April 1621 ..."

Sources
  • Burke, Bernard (1866). A Genealogical History of the Dormant, Abeyant, Forfeited and Extinct Peerages of the British Empire (New ed.). London: Harrison. OCLC 11501348.
  • Cokayne, George Edward (1900). Complete Baronetage, 1611 to 1800. Vol. 1 (1st ed.). Exeter: William Pollard & Co. OCLC 866278985. – 1611 to 1625
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.