Thomas Osborne earl of Danby

Thomas Osborne Danby, earl of 1631-1712, English statesman. Under the patronage of the 2d duke of Buckingham, he was appointed treasurer of the navy (1668), a privy councilor (1672), and lord treasurer (1673-78). A staunch royalist, he was also a fervent Anglican and thus opposed to alliance with France. He ended (1674) England's participation in the third Dutch War and arranged (1677) the marriage of Princess Mary to the Dutch William of Orange. However, while telling Parliament that he was raising money for war with France, he was at the same time negotiating reluctantly at Charles II's behest for a French alliance (1677). Impeached for treasonable communications with the French (1678), he was imprisoned (1679-84). Danby's firm Protestantism led him to support the opposition to James II, and he was a signatory of the request (1688) to William and Mary to intervene in English affairs. Despite his suspected Jacobite sympathies, he continued to be influential under the new monarchs; in 1690 he was made president of the council. Impeached again (1695), in connection with a bribe from the East India Company, he resigned. Although exonerated and restored to royal favor, he did not return to office. He was created marquis of Carmarthen in 1689 and duke of Leeds in 1694.

Bibliography: See biography by A. Browning (3 vol., 1944-51).

Danby, Thomas Osborne, 1st Earl of (1632–1712) (subsequently Marquis of Carmarthen, Duke of Leeds) Leading minister of Charles II, he was impeached and imprisoned (1679–84) for trying to secure a secret subsidy from Louis XIV of France. He organized a group, later known as Tories, who supported the succession of James II, but later changed sides and served William III until again impeached for bribery. See also Tory Party

Danby, Thomas Osborne, 1st Earl of (1632–1712) English statesman. He entered Parliament in 1665 as a supporter of the restored CHARLES II. He received rapid promotion, becoming Secretary of the Navy in 1671 and Lord Treasurer in 1673. His reluctant negotiations with LOUIS XIV of France to supply Charles II with money led in 1678 to accusations by Parliament of corruption and he was imprisoned until 1684. In 1688 he signed the invitation to WILLIAM III of Orange to come to England, regained royal favour, and became Duke of Leeds in 1694, but following further accusations of corruption he retired from public life after 1695.