Henry Jermyn, 1st Earl of St Albans

Who was Henry Jermyn, 1st Earl of St Albans?

Henry Jermyn, 1st Earl of Saint Albans, KG was an English politician and courtier. He sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1625 and 1643 when he was raised to the peerage as Baron Jermyn. He was one of the most influential courtiers of the period, constantly devising and promoting schemes to involve foreign powers in the restoration of the monarchy, both before and after the execution of Charles I.

Jermyn was the fourth but second surviving son of Sir Thomas Jermyn of Rushbrooke, Suffolk, Vice-Chamberlain to Charles I, and his wife Catherine, daughter of Sir William Killigrew of Hanworth, Middlesex. He was baptised at St Margaret’s Lothbury, London on 25 March 1605.

In 1625 Jermyn was elected Member of Parliament for Bodmin, and was re-elected MP for the seat in 1626. He was MP for Liverpool in 1628. He won the favour of Henrietta Maria of France, Queen consort of Charles I of England whose vice-chamberlain he became in 1628, and Master of the Horse in 1639.

In April 1640, Jermyn was elected MP for Corfe Castle in the Short Parliament together with his brother Thomas.