Robert Travers (MP)

Sir Robert Travers (c.1596–1647) was an Irish judge, soldier and politician of the early seventeenth century. Despite enjoying a reputation for serious corruption, he had a highly successful career until the outbreak of the English Civil War, when he went into opposition to King Charles I of England; he fought in the English Civil War on the side of the Irish Parliament, and was killed at the Battle of Knocknanuss. He was a nephew of the poet Edmund Spenser.^[1] He was the ancestor of a notable military family.

Background

Robert was born in County Cork about 1596, the elder son of John Travers and Sarah Spenser, sister of Edmund Spenser. The Travers family, originallly from Lancashire, came to Ireland about the middle of the sixteenth century. Sarah is thought to have come to Ireland to keep house for her brother Edmund,^[2] who after the downfall of the Earl of Desmond was granted a part of the Desmond inheritance, including Kilcolman Castle; Edmund granted a portion of his lands to John as a wedding gift. John and Sarah were buried in Saint Fin Barre's Cathedral; Robert erected a memorial to them, but the Cathedral has been so much altered since then that no trace of it survives.^[3]

Travers' uncle, Edmund Spenser

Early career

Robert was educated at the University of Oxford, and took there a degree in civil law. Since most, though not all of the commanders in the English Civil War had seen military service, it is possible that he was a soldier for a time. Unusually for an eldest son of a landowning family, he decided on a full-time legal career (the normal route of a younger son), practicing in the ecclesiastical and Admiralty courts: he won praise for his legal ability but also gained a reputation for corruption which stayed with him throughout his life. He became Vicar General of the Diocese of Meath, but so many accusations of extortion, of the taking of bribes and of misppropriation of funds were made against him that in 1621 he was prosecuted in the Court of Castle Chamber (the Irish parallel to Star Chamber), and found guilty. He was fined £300 and ordered to be imprisoned at the Crown's pleasure.^[4]

Castle Chamber was never very effective in enforcing its sentences, but even so it is surprising that no harm came to Travers following his conviction: he continued in legal practice and was knighted in 1625. Most likely he owed his immunity to his powerful friends, including Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork, whose cousin he later married.^[5]

Judge

In the early 1620s he was appointed Deputy to Sir Lawrence Parsons, the Irish Admiralty Judge, and was also made judge of the provincial Admiralty Court in Munster.^[6] Here again he became notorious for taking bribes and keeping prize goods for himself. By 1625 Sir Edward Villiers, who was briefly Lord President of Munster, was writing in despair that the Crown could not trust the conduct of the Admiralty to "such a one", and referred pointedly to his Castle Chamber sentence.^[7] Villers urged that Henry Gosnold, Travers' predecessor, who had a reputation for integrity, be restored to office. Gosnold did return to the Admiralty Court in the 1630s, but during the Civil War found himself unable to exercise power effectively. The Parliament of Ireland set up a rival court at Kinsale with Travers as its judge; inevitably there were further accusations of corruption against him.^[8]

Politics

He entered the Irish House of Commons in 1634 as member for Clonakilty:^[9] since the town of Clonakilty was Lord Cork's own creation (he obtained its charter in 1612), there is no doubt that Travers was the Earl's nominee. This Parliament had been called by the formidable Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford, who for several years was all-powerful in Ireland.^[10] Lord Cork's initial friendly overtures to Strafford were firmly rebuffed: Strafford was determined to establish King Charles I's absolute authority in Ireland and to achieve this he believed it was necessary to curb Cork's power and influence. Lord Cork in return worked for Strafford's destruction, and in May 1641 was able to write grimly in his diary : "the Earl of Strafford was beheaded on Tower Hill, as he well deserved".^[11]

Travers was returned to the House of Commons in 1639 for Clonakilty and like Lord Cork was clearly identified as an opponent of Strafford. He signed the Remonstrance of November 1640 in which the Irish Parliament, having previously lavished praise on Strafford, now accused him of tyranny and corruption without parallel in Irish history. Travers was active in the Commons in 1641: like most Irish MPs, he seems to have believed that once Stafford was destroyed, the King and Parliament would reach a compromise.^[12]

Civil War and death

The outbreak of the Irish Rebellion of 1641 showed that any hope of a peaceful settlement was an illusion: Travers, like all Protestant landowners in Ireland now feared for his lands, and even for his life. ^[13]Parliament was deeply suspicious of the King's attitude to the Irish Confederacy. The rebels claimed to have the King's warrant for their actions, and although this was untrue, it was true that Charles never ruled out the possibility of employing the Confederate Army. Parliament's suspicions were confirmed by the Cessation of 1643, whereby James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde, the Royalist commander, signed a ceasefire with the Confederates, which was repeatedly renewed. Ultimately Parliament was driven to fight the King as well as the Confederates.^[14]

Knocknanuss

See main article: Battle of Knocknanuss

The Parliamentary and Confederate armies clashed decisively at Knocknanuss, near Mallow, on 13 November 1647. Travers had been appointed the Parliamentary Army's Judge Advocate and he commanded a division. The battle was very bloody and although Travers' side was victorious, he was killed.^[15]

Family

He married firstly in 1618 Catherine Nangle; their only child seems to have died young. He married secondly in 1638 Elizabeth Boyle, daughter of Richard Boyle, Archbishop of Tuam, a close relative of the Earl of Cork, and his wife Martha Wright. By his second marriage he had four children:

• John (died 1712), his father's heir.
• Richard (died 1700), who inherited the lands of his uncle Zachary Travers.
• Elizabeth, who married Colonel William Meade, and was the mother of Sir John Meade, 1st Baronet.
• Martha, who married firstly Robert Stannard and secondly Sir Richard Aldworth.^[16]

Both of his sons founded long-lasting branches of the Travers family, which was associated mainly with Timoleague, County Cork. Many of Robert's descendants were distinguished soldiers, most notable were General Sir Robert Travers (1770-1834), and his son General James Travers.^[17]

References