Уильям Блэтвейт: Дипломат, чиновник и политик Англии

English diplomat, public official and Whig politician

William Blathwayt (or Blathwayte) (1649 – 16 August 1717) was an English diplomat, public official and Whig politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons between 1685 and 1710. He established the War Office as a department of the British Government and played an important part in administering the English (later British) colonies of North America.

Blathwayt was baptized in the parish of St Martin in the Fields in London on 2 March 1649, the only son of William Blathwayt, barrister, of the Middle Temple, and his wife Anne Povey, daughter of Justinian Povey of Hounslow, Middlesex, who was accountant general to Queen Anne of Denmark. He was born to a well to do family of Protestant merchants and lawyers. After his father's death, his mother remarried Thomas Vivian, of the prominent Cornish family. In 1665 he was admitted at Middle Temple. In October 1686, Blathwayt became a Clerk of the Privy Council in Ordinary. He became the secretary of the Privy Council's committee on trade and foreign plantations — in effect, colonial under secretary. It was in this capacity that he became a key figure in American affairs. He was responsible for establishing the charter of the Crown colony of the Province of Massachusetts Bay, the predecessor of the state of Massachusetts. He did much to promote trade in America and benefited considerably from gifts and bribes received in connection with his office (as was the usual practice in his day). His rise was noted by many of his contemporaries; the diarist John Evelyn commended him as "very dexterous in business" and as one who had "raised himself by his industry from very moderate circumstances." On 23 December 1686, he married Mary Wynter, daughter of John Wynter of Dyrham Park. Blathwayt retired to Dyrham in 1710 (his wife had died in 1691). He remained there until his death on 16 August 1717 and was buried in the local churchyard.

Blathwayt built a large mansion house for himself at Dyrham Park near Bristol, which he decorated with numerous Dutch Old Masters and sumptuous fabrics and furnishings. His descendants sold a large part of his art collection in 1765, but some of the paintings have been purchased back or remain at Dyrham Park. Dyrham Park is today in the care of the National Trust and is open to visitors.