Charles Gerard, 1st Earl of Macclesfield, PC (c. 16187 January 1694) was an English aristocrat, soldier and courtier. He fought as a Royalist during the English Civil War, before spending a period in exile under the Commonwealth. After returning to England upon the Stuart Restoration in 1660, he was made Earl of Macclesfield by Charles II in 1679. He later fell out of royal favour and was declared an outlaw, but after a second period on the continent, he returned to England in 1688 in the retinue of William of Orange. He received several offices under the crown, including serving as the last Lord President of Wales in 1689.
Early life The eldest son of Sir Charles Gerard, he was a member of an old Lancashire family, his great-grandfather having been Sir Gilbert Gerard (died 1593) of Ince, in that county, one of the most distinguished judges in the reign of Elizabeth I. His mother was Penelope Fitton, sister and co-heiress of Sir Edward Fitton, of Gawsworth, Cheshire.Gerard's claim to Gawsworth as heir of his uncle Sir Edward Fitton (died 1643) involved him in a bitter 20-year dispute with his Irish cousins William Fitton and William's son Alexander (Lord Chancellor of Ireland) but was eventually successful.
Nothing is known about Gerard's education until he entered Leyden University on 23 March 1633. He was also educated in France under John Goffe of Magdalen College, Oxford, brother of Stephen Goffe. cites Peacock, Leyden Students, p. 40; Athenæ Oxon., ed. Bliss, iii. 525; Cal. State Papers, Dom. 1633–4, p. 280. Dugdale states that he was "trained in the discipline of war from his youth in the United Provinces", and that on the outbreak of the First English Civil War he joined the King at Shrewsbury, and raised a troop of horse at his own charge. cites Baronage, ii. 41.
Early Civil War battles and sieges At the Battle of Edgehill, Gerard commanded a brigade of Royalist foot guards, the steadiness of which largely contributed to averting absolute defeat. In this battle, as also in the operations before Lichfield in April 1643, he was wounded. He was present at the siege of Bristol (July 1643), and arranged the very rigorous terms of the capitulation. He fought with distinction in the First Battle of Newbury (20 September 1643), and took part in the relief of Newark (March 1644), when he was again wounded, thrown from his horse, and taken prisoner, but released on parole shortly before the besiegers capitulated. cites Clarke Life of James II, i. 17; Clarendon, Rebellion, iii. 292, iv. 35, 145, 614; Warburton, Memoirs of Prince Rupert, ii. 237, 259; Baker, Chron. pp. 551–3; Mercur. Aulic. 20 Sept. 1643, 23 March 1643–4.
Welsh campaigns Shortly afterwards Gerard was appointed in succession to the Earl of Carbery in the general command in South Wales, then strongly held by Parliamentary forces, and by 19 May 1644 had succeeded in collecting a force of two thousand five hundred horse and foot with which to begin operations. He marched by Chepstow to Cardiff, which surrendered to him, and took Kidwelly. By 12 June he had already penetrated into Carmarthenshire, and before the 18th he was in possession of Carmarthen. He rapidly reduced Cardigan, Newcastle Emlyn, Laugharne, and Roch castles, and seems to have experienced no check until he was already threatening Pembroke about the middle of July, when the garrison of that place by a sortie routed a portion of his force and obtained supplies. On 22 August he took Haverfordwest, and before the end of the month had invested Pembroke and was threatening Tenby. His forces are said to have been largely composed of Irish levies, of whose barbarous atrocities loud complaint is made in the Kingdom's Intelligencer (15–23 October 1644). cites Mercur. Aulic. 19 May and 31 August 1644; Perfect Occurr. 21 July 1644; Diary or Exact Journal, 7 November 1644; Manchester's Quarrel with Cromwell, Camd. Soc. p. 17; Weekly Account, 31 Oct. and 3 December 1644; Addit. MS. 18981, f. 326; Warburton, Memoirs of Prince Rupert, i. 500; Ormerod, Cheshire, ed. Helsby, ii. 275.
In September Gerard received orders to join Prince Rupert at Bristol, and in October he began his retreat, marching by Usk and Abergavenny, and thus evading General Edward Massey he reached Bristol towards the end of the month. November he spent in Oxford or the neighbourhood, whence in December he transferred his headquarters to Worcester, where he remained until 11 March 1645, when he marched to Cheshire to co-operate with Rupert, Maurice, and Sir Marmaduke Langdale against General Sir William Brereton. Their combined forces succeeded in relieving Beeston Castle on 17 March.
Gerard was then ordered back to South Wales, where the Parliamentary General Rowland Laugharne had gained some successes. He marched through Wales from Chester in a south-westerly direction, carrying all before him and ravaging the country as he went. After a brush with Sir John Price at Llanidloes, he fell in with Laugharne before Newcastle Emlyn on 16 May, and completely defeated him. Haverfordwest and Cardigan Castle, which had been recovered by the Roundheads, were evacuated on his approach. Picton Castle offered a stout resistance, but was carried by assault. Carew Castle also fell into his hands. Pembroke and Tenby, closely invested, alone held out. cites Warburton, Memoirs of Prince Rupert, iii. 120; Clarendon, Rebellion, v. 186, 221–2, 227–9;
With King Charles after Naseby The ascendency of the royalists being thus re-established in South Wales, Gerard received orders to move eastward again, and was marching on Hereford at the head of five thousand horse and foot when the Battle of Naseby was fought (14 June 1645). After the battle, King Charles and Rupert, with the fragments of their army, fell back upon Hereford in the hope of effecting a junction with Gerard, who, however, seems to have been unexpectedly delayed; and Rupert, pushing on to Bristol, sent orders that part of Gerard's forces should join him there, while the King required a portion of the cavalry to attend his person. From Hereford Charles retreated to Abergavenny and thence to Cardiff, with the hope of raising a fresh army in Wales, but found the Welsh much disaffected, owing (according to Clarendon) to the irritation engendered by the extraordinary rigour with which Gerard had treated them; so that when news came that Hereford had been invested by the Scottish army and must fall unless relieved within a month, Charles could only induce the Welsh to move by superseding Gerard, promising at the same time to make him a baron. Gerard chose the territorial designation of Brandon, for no better reason, asserts Clarendon, than "that there was once an eminent person called Charles Brandon who was afterwards made a duke". see DNB art. Brandon, Charles, Duke of Suffolk, d. 1545.Two dates have been assigned to the patent creating him Baron Gerard of Brandon, viz. 8 Oct. and 28 November 1645 ( cites Dugdal, Baronage, ii. 41; Nicolas, Historic Peerage, ed. Courthope; gives 8 Nov.)
Gerard had become Lieutenant-General of all the King's Horse, and assumed the command of his bodyguard. On the night of 4 August 1645, he escorted Charles from Cardiff to Brecknock, and thence to Ludlow, and throughout his progress to Oxford (28 August). Thence they returned to Hereford (4 September), the Scots raising the siege on their approach. At Hereford, on 14 September Charles heard of the fall of Bristol, and determined if possible to join Montrose in the north. Escorted by Gerard, he made for Chester, and succeeded in entering the city, having first detached Gerard to the assistance of Sir Marmaduke Langdale, who was endeavouring to muster the royalists in force outside the city, with the view of raising the siege. After much apparently purposeless marching and counter-marching, the royalists risked an engagement with the besiegers on Rowton Heath (23 September 1645), but were totally defeated by General Sydnam Poyntz. Gerard was carried from the field desperately wounded. The King then evacuated Chester and retired to Newark, where he arrived with Gerard on 4 October, and fixed his headquarters for the winter. Gerard was dismissed from the King's service before the end of the month for taking part with Rupert and some other Cavaliers in a disorderly protest against the supersession of Sir Richard Willis, the governor of the place. cites "Iter Carolinum", in Somers Tracts; Symonds, Diary, Camd. Soc.; Parliament's Post, 23–30 Sept. 1645; Perfect Diurnal, 29 Sept.–6 Oct. 1645; King's Pamphlets, small 4to, vol. ccxxvii. Nos. 18, 21, 24–6; Hist. MSS. Comm. 7th Rep. App. 454 a, 9th Rep. App. 435–6; , Ormonde Papers, i. 338; , Chron. 364; Warburton, Memoirs of Prince Rupert, iii. 206–7.
With Prince Rupert and exile Gerard now attached himself closely to Rupert's party, which consisted of about four hundred officers. They established themselves at Worton House, some fourteen miles from Newark-on-Trent, and made overtures to Parliament with the view of obtaining passes out of the country. Parliament, however, required that they should take an oath never again to bear arms against it. The Cavaliers, therefore, temporised, being really anxious for a reconciliation with the King on honourable terms. They were ordered to the neighbourhood of Worcester by Parliament, and there remained during the winter, but early in the following year (1646) returned to their allegiance and the King at Oxford. There Gerard raised another troop of horse, with which he scoured the adjoining country, penetrating on one occasion as far as the neighbourhood of Derby, where he was routed in a skirmish. At one time he seems to have been in command of Wallingford Castle, but when the lines of investment began to be drawn more closely round Oxford he withdrew within the city walls, where he seems to have remained until the surrender of the city on 24 June 1646). He probably left England with Rupert, as he was at the Hague on 27 December 1646. cites True Informer, 31 October 1645; Mercur. Britann. 27 Oct.–3 Nov. 1645; Perfect Passages, 28 Oct. 1645, 21 February 1645–6; Contin. of Special Passages, 31 Oct. 1645; Perfect Diurnal, 19 Nov. 1645, 10 Feb. 1645–6; Mod. Intell. 21 Nov. and 13 Dec. 1645, 24 January 1645–6, 27 December 1646; , Annals of Oxford, ed. Gutch, ii. 477; Perfect Occurr. 2 May 1646.
Early exile Form late 1646 until the Restoration Gerard's movements are very hard to trace. He was at St. Germain-en-Laye in September 1647 with Rupert, Digby, and other Cavaliers. He was appointed vice-admiral of the fleet in November 1648, and on 8 December passed through Rotterdam on his way to Helvoetsluys to enter his new duties. In April 1649 he was at the Hague as Gentleman of the Bedchamber to the King Charles II. He apparently belonged to the "queen's faction", which was understood to favour the policy of coming to an understanding with the commissioners from the Scottish Parliament, who were then at the Hague, but were denied an audience by Charles. In October of the same year he was with Charles in Jersey when the celebrated declaration addressed to the English people was published, and he was a member, and probably an influential member, of the council which advised the King to treat with the Scottish Parliament as a "committee of estates". He returned with the King to the Hague, where this policy was put in execution. cites Hist. MSS. Comm. 4th Rep. App. 275, 547, 5th Rep. App. 173; Carte, Ormonde Papers, i. 93, 155, 338, 426; Whitelocke, Mem. 349; Baillie, Letters, Bannatyne Club, iii. 8; Harris, Life of Charles II, p. 74; Clarendon State Papers, iii. 13; Nicholas Papers, Camden Soc., 171, 199, 279; Cal. State Papers, Dom. 1651–2, p. 3; Egerton MSS. 2534 ff. 117, 127, 2535 f. 483.