January 25th Rare Autograph & Book Auction
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 1/25/2024
1698 dated receipt signed by the Earl of Oxford for 500 pounds received from officers of the Tally Court signed at bottom right “Oxford.” This was Aubrey De Vere, the 20th and last Earl of Oxford. A Royalist and army officer, imprisoned for plotting against Cromwell and later supported the return of Charles II. On his death without male offspring in 1703 the title died out.
The Earl of Oxford was named Lord Lieutenant of Essex, in which capacity, the king ordered him on 25 January 1666, during the Second Anglo-Dutch War, "Having received intelligence of a threatened invasion, wishes him to draw together the militia of Essex, and place them on guard near such ports as are most convenient for the landing of troops. Also, to have the beacons well repaired, and constantly watched, to be fired if occasion requires." He was with James, Duke of York at the suppression of Venner's Rising in January 1661. He was named to the Privy Council in 1669. He initially supported the accession of James II to the throne in 1685, despite his declared Catholicism, but by December 1688, he had gone over to the side of the protestant William of Orange.
During the reign of William III, the Earl of Oxford was again of the Privy Council, and also in the reign of Queen Anne. He was named Lieutenant-General and was present at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690, where his regiment served. He was often called the premier peer of the kingdom, owing to the ancient date on which his title was established.
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