Portrait of General George Monk, First Duke of Albermarle (1608-1...

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Portrait of General George Monk, First Duke of Albermarle (1608-1670), by English School

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Portrait of General George Monk, First Duke of Albermarle (1608-1670), by English School

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Sold Date: 03/26/2004
Channel: Retail
Source: GoAntiques
Category: Fine Art

Distinguished military commander, and the great promoter of the restoration of Charles II., was the son of Sir Thomas Monk, of Potheridge, near Torrington, in Devonshire, and was born in 1608. Being a younger son, he entered the army as a volunteer, served under his relation Sir Richard Grenville, in an expedition to Spain, and afterwards for some years in the Netherlands. On the breaking out of the war between Charles I. and the Scots in 1639, he obtained a colonel's commission, and attended the king in both his expeditions to the north. When the Irish rebellion began in 1641, his services were so important, that the Lords Justices appointed him governor of Dublin. On his return to England he was sent to relieve Nantwich, was taken prisoner by the army of the parliament, and sent to the Tower, where he remained till 1646. The royal cause being ruined, he obtained his liberty on condition of taking a command in Ireland, and soon concluded a peace with the rebels, for which the parliament passed upon him a vote of censure. Cromwell, however, made him lieutenant general, and gave him the chief command in Scotland. Monk distinguished himself at the battle of Dunbar, and afterwards in the war with the Dutch, for his successes in which he received great honours. He resumed his command in Scotland. But the Protector had strong suspicions of Monk's sincerity; and not long before his death wrote him a letter, to which he added this postscript 'There be that toll me that there is a certain cunning fellow in Scotland, called George Monk, who is said to lie in wait there to introduce Charles Stuart; I pray you use your diligence to apprehend him and send him up to me. On the decease of the Protector, the resignation of power by his son, and the contest of parties which subsequently took place, Monk availed himself of the commanding situation which he occupied, to crush the republicans, and promote the recall and restoration of the Stuart family to the throne, in the person of Charles II. As the reward of his loyalty, he was created Duke of Albemarle, with a pension of £1000 a year, made a privy councillor, and invested with the order of the Garter. In 1664 he was appointed admiral of the fleet in conjunction with Prince Rupert, and in 1666 obtained a great victory over the Dutch, in a battle which lasted three days. He died in 1670, and was buried in Westminster Abbey. Guizot has written a History of General Monk, which has been translated into English. A portrait of Monk, after a miniature by Cooper, is in the National Portrait Gallery.