John Pell, Nephew and Principal Legatee of Pelham Founder Thomas Pell, Was a Server in Ordinary to the English King
Thomas Pell, who originally acquired the lands that became the Manor of Pelham on June 27, 1654, died the last week of September, 1669 "without issue." Thus, he left the bulk of his estate to his nephew John Pell "of ould England," son of his brother, the famed English mathematician also named John Pell.
When word arrived in "ould England" in 1670 that John Pell was the principal legatee under the will of Thomas Pell and would receive thousands of acres of land in America, the news must have brought a sense of relief to the Pell family. As a youngster and a young man, John Pell appears to have been quite the trouble maker. There are suggestions in the correspondence of his father, mathematician John Pell, that he was neither a dedicated, nor a particularly talented student.
Moreover, in 1669 John Pell, Jr. nearly killed a man named William Gouldingham during a brutal assault. In September 1669, the same month his uncle Thomas Pell died in Fairfield, Colony of Connecticut in America, John Pell, Jr. was indicted and arrested for "grievous bodily harm." According to the indictment, Pell beat Gouldingham "with a stick, wounded him, and maltreated him to such an extent that his life was utterly despaired of, and committed other outrages against the same William Gouldingham."
Though the disposition of the matter are not recorded, some have speculated that young Pell was sent to work as a server in ordinary in the household of English King Charles II. See Malcolm, Noel & Stedall, Jacqueline, John Pell (1611-1685) and His Correspondence with Sir Charles Cavendish: The Mental World of an Early Modern Mathematician, p. 213 (Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 2005) (footnotes omitted) (saying "It seems that, in an attempt to prevent Pell's son from getting into even more trouble in Essex (and, at the same time, to oblige him to earn some wages), a junior post was now arranged for him in the royal household: in the following year, a document would describe him as 'a Server in ordinary to the King'.").
Members of the Pell family claim that John Pell, Jr. became a server in ordinary in the household of the English King in 1665 and later was promoted to the more important role of a "Groom of the Bed-Chamber." There appears, however, to be no evidence to support such claims. Indeed, one of the only known documents referencing John Pell, Jr.'s service in the household of King Charles II is dated June 22, 1670. It is a letter that referenced Pell as a "Gentleman" who "is a Server in ordinary to the King." (A transcription of letter in its entirety appears below. Apparently due to misreading the handwriting of the author of this letter, Pell frequently is described erroneously as having been a "Sewer" in ordinary.)
Also according to Pell family tradition, in 1670 when news arrived at the household of King Charles that John Pell, Jr. had inherited the vast lands owned by his deceased uncle, Thomas Pell, the King called young John Pell, Jr. before him, had him kneel and knighted him on the spot. There appears to be no evidence to support this assertion. It seems, from the evidence, that all that can be said about John Pell, Jr.'s service in the King's household was that he served as a server in ordinary at some point in 1670.
All this begs the question, however. What is a server in ordinary? The phrase often appears in 17th century documents as "servant in ordinary." John Pell, Jr. was a Gentleman who served as a servant in the household of the King.
According to those who study such matters, there were two classes of servers in ordinary: (1) "servant in ordinary above stairs" and (2) "servant in ordinary below stairs." John Pell, Jr. was a server (servant) in ordinary below stairs, a relatively junior position in the royal household. According to one pair of scholars:
"Those who held the most prestigious offices above stairs, such as the Grooms of the Bed-Chamber and Gentlemen Ushers of the Privy-Chamber, were members of the most prominent noble and gentry families of England, and John Pell Jr. would have been completely out of place among them. He did have the status of 'gentleman', however, thanks to his father's ordination; and there were other, more junior, positions for which he might have qualified, such as that of a messenger. In a list of the 'below stairs' jobs one also finds a few reserved for gentlemen -- for example, one such job in the cellar, and another in the buttery. So perhaps John Pell Jr. had one of those."
Id., p. 214.
The best that can be said regarding what we know about John Pell, Jr.'s service to the English King is that at least in 1670 he held a junior post as a servant in the household performing unknown duties such as working in the royal cellar or the royal buttery. Clearly his lot in life transformed with the news he received in 1670 that he had inherited the bulk of his uncle's estate and would take over the thousands of acres of land that became known as the Manor of Pelham.
King Charles II, Painted Between 1660 and 1665
by John Michael Wright. Source: "Charles II of
England" in Wikipedia -- The Free Encyclopedia
(visited May 14, 2017). NOTE: Click on Image
to Enlarge.
John Pell, Jr., Who Worked as a Server in Ordinary
in the Royal Household of King Charles II of England
in at Least 1670 and Who Inherited the Manor of Pelham
from His Uncle, Thomas Pell. NOTE: Click on Image
to Enlarge.
* * * * *
Transcribed below is the text of a number of items that form the basis for today's Historic Pelham article. All are followed by citations, with some followed by links to the source.
"WHITEHALL, 22 Jun. '70.
MY VERY WORTHY FRIEND, -- The unfrequency of our Correspondence must not in the least detract from our kindness. I usually answer your letters with the first conueniency after I receiue them. I doubt not of your continuing your industrious enquiries, though of a long while wee haue had no account of them from you. The bearer will acquaint you with occurences here & so giues me ground of excuse for the breuity of my letter, but you do not measure my friendship by the number of my lines. I will be glad of any oppertunity to make it appear by the highest kinde of demonstration you can put me to . And to shew you I have a firm confidence of yours, I do most earnestly recommend to your fauor the bearer Mr. John Pell, whose worthy father Dr. Pell you know we value highly. The Gentleman is a Server in ordinary to the King; & I do firmly expect & certainly promise my self you will use him as you might expect I would a friend of yours vpon your serious recommendation, and indeed I will account your kindness to him as a singular testimony of your friendship to,
My worthy friend, your reall servant,
R. MORAY.
(Indorsed) Sr. Robert Moray to Govr. W. 1670."
Source: Correspondence of Hartlib, Haak, Oldenburg, and Others of the Founders of The Royal Society, with Governor Winthrop of Connecticut. 1661 -- 1672. With an Introduction and Notes by Robert C. Winthrop, LL.D., President of the Massachusetts Historical Society, pp. 44-45 (Boston, MA: Press of John Wilson and Son, 1878).
"The problems caused by Pell's son [John Pell, Jr.] were going from bad to worse. The threat of arraignment for debt had been averted (though Pell may still have been paying off that debt during his first months in London); but in September 1669 John Pell Jr. was arrested for grievous bodily harm. According to the official indictment, he had assaulted William Gouldingham, a peaceful inhabitant of Great Burstead: 'he beat him with a stick, wounded him, and maltreated him to such an extent that his life was utterly despaired of, and committed other outrages against the same William Gouldingham.' Further details of the case are not recorded; if a fine was levied, it must have been a peculiarly unwelcome extra imposition on Pell's finances. It seems that, in an attempt to prevent Pell's son from getting into even more trouble in Essex (and, at the same time, to oblige him to earn some wages), a junior post was now arranged for him in the royal household: in the following year, a document would describe him as 'a Server in ordinary to the King'. There were two categories of such officials: 'above stairs'm, and 'below stairs'. Those who held the most prestigious offices above stairs, such as the Grooms of the Bed-Chamber and Gentlemen Ushers of the Privy-Chamber, were members of the most prominent noble and gentry families of England, and John Pell Jr. would have been completely out of place among them. He did have the status of 'gentleman', however, thanks to his father's ordination; and there were other, more junior, positions for which he might have qualified, such as that of a messenger. In a list of the 'below stairs' jobs one also finds a few reserved for gentlemen -- for example, one such job in the cellar, and another in the buttery. So perhaps John Pell Jr. had one of those.
If he did, he held it only briefly. Some time in the witner of 1669-70, news arrived that would transform John Pell Jr.'s situation: Pell's brother Thomas, who had emigrated to America in 1635 and had become a rich landowner there, had died childless (probably in September 1669), and had left everything to his nephew. . . ."
Source: Malcolm, Noel & Stedall, Jacqueline, John Pell (1611-1685) and His Correspondence with Sir Charles Cavendish: The Mental World of an Early Modern Mathematician, pp. 213-14 (Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 2005) (footnotes omitted).
"Robert Pell states that John Pell Jr. was a server in ordinary from 1665, and was promoted to Groom of the Bedchamber in 1669 ('Sir John Pell, Second Lord of the Manor of Pelham', Pelliana, N.s., 1, no. 2 (1963), pp. 49-67, here p. 49); the latter claim is contradicted by Chamberlayne's list for that year, and he gives no evidence for the former."
Source: Id., p. 214 n.8.
Archive of the Historic Pelham Web Site.
Labels: 1670, John Pell, John Pell Jr., King Charles II, Servant in Ordinary, Server in Ordinary
posted by Blake A. Bell @ 4:47 AM
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