WALTER
,
LUCY
(
1630?
-
1658
),
mistress of king Charles II
,
had connections with some of the leading county families in
West Wales
. Her father,
William
Walter
of
Roch Castle, Pembs.
, was the grandson of
William
Walter
, who had purchased the
manor of Roch
from the
de Longuevilles
c. 1601
. He had m.
Jane
, daughter of
Francis
Laugharne
of
S. Brides
, and
Janet
, daughter of
John
Philipps
of
Picton Castle
. Her mother was
Elizabeth
Prothero
, daughter of
John
Prothero
of
Hawksbrook
(
Nantyrhebog
),
Carms.
, and
Eleanor
, daughter of
Walter
Vaughan
of
Golden Grove
, and thus a niece of
John
Vaughan
,
1st earl of Carbery
(q.v.)
.
Lucy
's parents were involved in a long and acrimonious dispute. In
May 1641
her mother complained that
William
Walter
had deserted her and she obtained a sequestration order on his estate. This was ultimately revoked in
1647
when he was given charge of the children, of whom there were three,
Richard
,
Lucy
, and
Justus
.
Roch castle
was garrisoned for the king by
Richard
Vaughan
,
2nd earl of Carbery
(q.v.)
, in
1643
. It was taken by
Rowland
Laugharne
(q.v.)
after his defeat of the
Royalists
at
Pill
(in
Milford Haven
) in
Feb. 1644
, but again seized for the king in the following June by
Sir
Charles
Gerard
.
William
Walter
alleged that his losses there amounted to £3,000 and that he had been forced to flee to
London
. There is no doubt that the family spent much time in
London
in pursuance of the dispute which has already been mentioned. How the young
Prince of Wales
came to meet
Lucy
Walter
is not known. She was with the exiled court at the
Hague
in the
summer of 1648
, and subsequently in
Paris
. Their son,
James
, was b. at
Rotterdam
on
9 April 1649
.
Lucy
also had a daughter,
Mary
, b. at the
Hague
on
6 May 1651
. In
1656
she returned to
London
and was arrested as a suspected spy and lodged, with her maid
Anne
Hill
, in the
Tower
. Her defence was that she had come to collect a legacy of £1,500 left her by her mother, who had recently died. She was discharged and ordered to be deported.
Charles
II
, who acknowledged the paternity of
James
, got possession of the child and handed him to the care of his mother,
queen
Henrietta Maria
. After the
Restoration
he was created
duke of Monmouth
and was later m. to
Anne
Scott
, in her own right
countess of Buccleuch
. At the time of the
Exclusion Bill
agitation (
1679-81
) the story that
Charles
had m.
Lucy
Walter
and that, therefore,
Monmouth
was the rightful heir to the throne was put out and widely credited.
Lucy
herself d. in
Paris
in
1658
. Her elder brother,
RICHARD
WALTER
, was
sheriff
of
Pembrokeshire
in
1657
. He was succeeded in the
Roch
estates by his son,
RICHARD
WALTER
, who was
knighted
and served as
sheriff
in
1727
and is then described as of
Rosemarket
.
Bibliography:
-
Lord George Scott
,
Lucy Walter wife or mistress
, London,
1947
;
-
J. F. Rees
, ‘The Parents of Lucy Walter,’ in
Studies in Welsh History collected papers,
lectures and reviews
, Cardiff, 1947
,
1947
;
-
Francis Jones
, ‘The Squires o Hawksbrook,’ in
The Transactions of the Honourable Society
of Cymmrodorion
,
1937
.
Author:
Emeritus Professor Sir James Frederick Rees, Ll.D., (1883-1967), Tenby
/ Cardiff
