View source for Philip Babington (died 1690)

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2018}}
{{Use British English|date=April 2018}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = 
| name             = Philip Babington
| honorific-suffix = 
| image         = Berwick-upon-Tweed.jpg
| caption       = Berwick upon Tweed; Babington was MP and Governor in 1690
| constituency_MP = [[Berwick-upon-Tweed (UK Parliament constituency)|Berwick-upon-Tweed]]
| term_start      = January 1689
| term_end        = February 1690
| office2  = [[List of Governors of Berwick-upon-Tweed|Governor of Berwick-upon-Tweed]]
| term_start2       = January 1689
| term_end2         = December 1690 {{KIA}}
| birth_date       = 1632
| birth_place      = [[Heaton, Newcastle]], [[Northumberland]]
| death_place      = [[Ireland]]
| restingplace     = Unknown
| death_date       = {{Death date and age|1690|12|30|1632|07|01|df=y}}
| nationality      = English
| party            = 
| otherparty       = <!--For additional political affiliations-->
| spouse           = (1) Catherine Haselrig (1662-1670) <br> (2) Anne Webb (1679-his death)
| children         = (1) Mary; Catherine; Philip 
| residence        = 
| alma_mater       = [[Christ Church, Oxford]]
| occupation       = Soldier
| profession       = 
| portfolio        = 
| signature        = 
<!--Military service-->
| allegiance       = 
| branch           = 
| serviceyears     = 
| rank             = [[Colonel]]
| unit             = Dutch [[Scots Brigade]] 1674–1688 <br> [[Royal Warwickshire Regiment|Babingtons Regiment, later 6th Foot]], 1689–1690
| commands         = 
| battles          = '''[[Glencairn's rising]]'''<br> [[Battle of Dalnaspidal]] 1654 <br> '''[[Franco-Dutch War]]'''  <br> [[Battle of Cassel (1677)|Cassel]] [[Battle of Saint-Denis (1678)|Saint-Denis]] <br> '''[[Williamite War in Ireland]]'''  <br> [[Battle of the Boyne|The Boyne]]; [[Siege of Athlone (1690)]]}}

'''Philip Babington''' (1632–1690) was an English military officer, who served in the armies of the [[Commonwealth of England]], the [[Dutch Republic]] and [[Kingdom of England|England]]. He accompanied [[William III of England|William III]] to England in the 1688 [[Glorious Revolution]] and was [[Member of Parliament]] and Governor for [[Berwick-upon-Tweed (UK Parliament constituency)|Berwick-upon-Tweed]] from 1689 to 1690.

In April 1690, he joined the army that served in the [[Williamite War in Ireland]]. He fought at [[Battle of the Boyne|The Boyne]] in July and died of disease before the end of 1690.

==Personal details==

Philip Babington was born in 1632, eldest of seven surviving children of William Babington (1608-1648) and Elizabeth Helmes.{{Sfn|Ferris|Sgroi|2010}} His father owned estates in [[Heaton, Newcastle upon Tyne]]; during the 1642–1646 [[First English Civil War]], he was county commissioner under the [[Militia Ordinance]] and a Colonel in the [[New Model Army]].{{Sfn|Hampson|1983}}

In 1662, he married Catherine (died 1670), daughter of [[Arthur Hesilrige]], one of the [[Five Members]] whose attempted arrest sparked the [[First English Civil War]]. They had three children before her death in 1670, Mary, Catherine (died after 1721) and Philip (died after 1722), who also became a soldier and was receiving [[Half-pay]] in 1722.{{sfn|Dalton|1904|pp=71-72}} He married Anne Webb in 1679, daughter of William Webb, headmaster of Berwick School.{{Sfn|Hampson|1983}} After his death in Ireland, she received a small pension from the government; in 1707, she was still being paid an annual pension of £100.{{Sfn|Shaw|1952|pp=ccxxxiii-cclxiv}}

==Career==
Babington attended [[Christ Church, Oxford]] in 1650, then studied law at [[Gray's Inn]] before joining the army; his first major action was in 1654 when he fought in the [[Battle of Dalnaspidal]] that ended [[Glencairn's rising]].{{Sfn|Cherry|1966|p=13}} When the 1660 [[Stuart Restoration]] returned [[Charles II of England|Charles II]] to the throne, he was a captain in the Northumberland Militia.{{Sfn|Hampson|1983}}

[[File:Dalnaspidal Forest - geograph.org.uk - 341997.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.8|Dalnaspidal, location of Babington's first battle in 1654]]

Katherine's father Sir Arthur escaped execution by the new regime but was held in the [[Tower of London]], where he died in January 1661.{{sfn|Durston|2004}} Shortly after his marriage, Babington moved to Harnham Hall, near [[Bolam, Northumberland]]; he and his wife were both [[Puritans]] and in 1666, Katherine was [[Excommunication|excommunicated]] by the [[Church of England]] for pulling the Bolam parish priest from his pulpit in protest at his sermons. As a result, she was denied churchyard burial when she died in September 1670 and Babington instead built her a tomb in the grounds of Harnham Hall, which still exists.{{sfn|Historic England|1304022}}

In 1674, Harnham Hall was leased to William Veitch (1640–1722), a Scottish [[Presbyterianism|Presbyterian]] radical exiled for his involvement in the 1666 [[Battle of Rullion Green|Pentland Rising]].{{Sfn|Gardner|2004}} Babington resumed his military career by joining the [[Scots Brigade]], a mercenary unit in the [[Dutch Republic]] whose origins went back to the 1580s. Despite the name, it normally contained three Scots and three English regiments; the latter were withdrawn when England allied with France in the 1672–1678 [[Franco-Dutch War]] but restored after the 1674 [[Treaty of Westminster (1674)|Treaty of Westminster]] ended their involvement. By 1674, the remaining regiments had lost much of their national identity and a deliberate policy was adopted to re-establish them as English and Scottish units.{{Sfn|Miggelbrink|2002|pp=91–92}}

Babington was appointed Captain in one of the restored English regiments, which eventually became the [[Royal Warwickshire Regiment]].{{Sfn|Unknown|1795|p=49}} He was promoted Major after [[Battle of Cassel (1677)|Cassel]] in 1677, then wounded and taken prisoner at [[Battle of Saint-Denis (1678)|Saint-Denis in 1678]]. Released when the [[Treaties of Nijmegen]] ended the Franco-Dutch War in August, in 1682 he was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel of the English regiment commanded by [[Henry Belasyse (died 1717)|Sir Henry Belasyse]]. At this time, his former tenant William Veitch joined the group of English and Scots exiles in Holland, one of whom was the [[Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of Argyll|Earl of Argyll]]; when [[James II of England|James II]] became King in 1685, Veitch reappeared in Northumberland, recruiting for the proposed [[Monmouth Rebellion]] in South-West England and [[Argyll's Rising]] in Scotland.{{Sfn|Gardner|2004}}

Babington's connection with Veitch meant that when [[William III of England|William of Orange, later William III of England]] sent the Brigade to England to suppress these revolts, James demanded his dismissal. William refused, although he agreed to remove him from command of English troops; he described him as 'a very prudent and honourable man, and assuredly a very brave and excellent officer – even one of the best who have served me here of his nation.'{{Sfn|Hampson|1983}}

[[File: The Battle of the Boyne, 1 July 1690 (by Jan Wyck).jpg |thumb|right|upright=1.0|[[Battle of the Boyne]], July 1690]]

In the event, the Brigade arrived after the rebellions had been crushed and returned to the Netherlands in August 1685 without seeing any fighting. In early 1688, James demanded the repatriation of the entire Brigade; William refused to comply but used the opportunity to remove officers of doubtful loyalty.{{Sfn|Childs|1984|p=61}} When Sir Henry Bellasyse returned to England in April 1688, Babington replaced him as Colonel and the unit accompanied William to England in the [[Glorious Revolution]] of November 1688; en route, a ship carrying four of its companies was captured but the soldiers released after James went into exile.{{Sfn|Cannon|1839|p=16}}

Babington was appointed [[List of Governors of Berwick-upon-Tweed|Governor of Berwick-upon-Tweed]] and elected to the [[Convention Parliament (1689)|Convention Parliament]] as MP for [[Berwick-upon-Tweed (UK Parliament constituency)|Berwick-upon-Tweed]].{{Sfn|Hampson|1983}} In 1690, his regiment was transferred from the Dutch to the English military establishment, with its seniority backdated to 1685.{{Sfn|Cannon|1839|p=16}} It was now listed as 'Babington's Regiment' or simply 'Babingtons;' at this time, regiments were considered the personal property of their [[Colonel#Colonel of the regiment|Colonel]] and carried their name, which changed when transferred to another.{{Sfn|Chandler|Beckett|1996|p=52}}

In April 1690, his unit joined the army led by [[Frederick Schomberg, 1st Duke of Schomberg|Frederick Schomberg]] fighting the [[Jacobitism|Jacobites]] in the 1689–1691 [[Williamite War in Ireland]]. Three companies were detached to garrison [[Charlemont Fort]] after its capture in May, while the rest fought at the [[Battle of the Boyne]] in July, suffering heavy casualties.{{Sfn|Smith|2014|pp=24–28}} Following the battle, Babington served under Lieutenant-General [[James Douglas (English Army officer)|James Douglas]] in an unsuccessful attempt to capture [[Siege of Athlone (1690)|Athlone]].{{Sfn|Childs|2008|pp=232–234}}

Babington died of disease in Ireland shortly before the end of 1690; his burial place is unknown.{{Sfn|Hampson|1983}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==

* {{cite book |last1=Cannon |first1=Richard |title=Historical Record of the Sixth, or Royal First Warwickshire Regiment of Foot, containing an Account of the Formation of the Regiment in the Year 1674, and of its Subsequent Services to 1838 |date=1839 |publisher=Longman, Orme and Co., and William Clowes}}
* {{cite book |last1=Chandler|first1=David |last2=Beckett|first2=Ian |title=The Oxford History Of The British Army |date=1996 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=0-19-280311-5}}
* {{cite book |last1=Cherry |first1=George |title=The Convention Parliament 1689: A Biographical Study of Its Members |date=1966 |publisher=Irvington Publishers |isbn=978-0829001631}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Childs|first1=John|title=The Scottish brigade in the service of the Dutch Republic, 1689 to 1782 |journal=Documentatieblad Werkgroep Achttiende Eeuw|date=1984|url=http://www.dbnl.org/tekst/_doc003198401_01/_doc003198401_01_0004.php#139}}
* {{cite book |last1=Childs |first1=John |title=The Williamite Wars in Ireland |date=2008 |publisher=Bloomsbury 3PL |isbn=978-1847251640}}
* {{cite book|last1=Dalton|first1=Charles|title=English army lists and commission registers, 1661–1714; Volume VI|date=1904|publisher=Government and General Publishers}}
* {{cite odnb |last1=Durston |first1=Christopher |id=13123|title=Hesilrige [Haselrig], Sir Arthur, second baronet (1601–1661)|year=2004}}
* {{cite book |last1=Ferris |first1=John |last2=Sgroi|first2=Rosemary|title=Helmes, Sir Henry (c.1576–1627), of London and Graveley, Herts. in ''The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1604–1629''|year=2010|publisher=CUP|url=https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1604-1629/member/helmes-sir-henry-1576-1627}}
* {{cite odnb |last1=Gardner |first1=Ginny |id=28174|title=Veitch, William [alias William Johnston, George Johnston]|year=2004 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Hampson |first1=Gillian|title=BABINGTON, Philip (c.1632-90), of Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumb. in ''The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1660–1690''|year=1983|publisher=Brewer & Boydell|url=https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1660-1690/member/babington-philip-1632-90}}
* {{cite book |author-last1=Miggelbrink|author-first1=Joachim |editor-last1=McKilliop|editor-first1= Andrew |editor-last2=Murdoch |editor-first2=Steve |title=Fighting for Identity: Scottish Military Experiences c.1550–1900 |date=2002 |publisher=Brill |isbn=9004128239}}
* {{NHLE |num=1304022 |desc=Tomb of Katherine Babington |grade=II |access-date=4 October 2018|ref={{sfnref|Historic England 1304022}}}}
* {{cite book |editor-last1=Shaw |editor-first1=William |title=Declared Accounts 1707: Army in Calendar of Treasury Books, Volume 22, 1708 |date=1952 |publisher=HMSO}}
* {{cite book |last1=Smith |first1=Mark |title=The History of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment |date=2014 |publisher=lulu.com |isbn=978-1291821192}}
* {{cite book |last1=Unknown |title=An Historical Account of the British Regiments Employed Since the Reign of Queen Elizabeth and King James I In the Formation and Defence of the Dutch Republic Particularly of the Scotch Brigade |date=1795 |publisher=T. Kay|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qlQ4AAAAMAAJ&q=sir+henry+bellasise&pg=PA75}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-par|gb}}
{{s-bef | before = [[Ralph Widdrington (MP)|Ralph Widdrington]]}}
{{s-ttl | title = MP for [[Berwick-upon-Tweed (UK Parliament constituency)|Berwick-upon-Tweed]]| years = December 1689 – April 1690}}
{{s-aft | after =Samuel Ogle}}
{{s-mil}}
{{succession box | title=[[Royal Warwickshire Regiment|6th Foot, later Royal Warwickshire Regiment]] | before=Sir [[Henry Belasyse (died 1717)|Henry Belasyse]] | after= [[Prince George of Hesse-Darmstadt]]| years= April to December 1690}}
{{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Babington, Philip}}
[[Category:1632 births]]
[[Category:1690 deaths]]
[[Category:Babington family|Philip]]
[[Category:People from Newcastle upon Tyne (district)]]
[[Category:Williamite military personnel of the Williamite War in Ireland]]
[[Category:Royal Warwickshire Fusiliers officers]]
[[Category:Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford]]
[[Category:English MPs 1689–1690]]
[[Category:Members of Gray's Inn]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Newcastle upon Tyne]]