Parliamentary Order to Pay the Lord Privy Seal, Francis, Earl of Godolphin.
1737. London: October 19, 1737.
Single folio leaf (14.5 x 9.5"), recto, 20 lines in neat, legible secretarial hand, witnessing signatures and statements in various hands in the margins, vertical official strike through the main text, not affecting legibility; verso with signed statement by Godophin "Rec'd the full contents within mentioned, Nov 3d, 1737," witnessed by John Mace. Expected folds and light soiling, several small chips on left edge and two short closed tears, none near the text.
§ By this document King George II awarded Francis, the 2nd Earl of Goldolphin, £657/15/0 "for the better support of the Honour and Dignity" in his office of Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal. The government officials who signed the document were Sir Robert Walpole, Great Britain's first prime minister; George Montagu, Earl of Halifax; Sir Charles Turner, Walpole's brother-in-law and then Father of the House; Thomas Winnington; and G. Earle (probably Giles Earle).
Francis Godolphin (1678-1766) was a courtier and politician who served under three English monarchs. His mother had been close to the diarist John Evelyn and appointed him her "spiritual father." When she died six days after Francis' birth Evelyn took on the role of mentor and supervised the boy's education. In later life Godolphin became one of the founders of the Foundling Hospital in London, an orphanage and hospital for abandoned children. This document is a record from the zenith of his career when he was close the heart of Walpole's government as the Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal, the fifth of the Great Officers of State. Item #122996
Price: $750.00