Charles Mordaunt, 3rd Earl of Peterborough

Charles Mordaunt, 3rd Earl of Peterborough and 1st Earl of Monmouth, KG, PC (1658 – 25 October 1735) was an English nobleman and military leader. He was the son of John Mordaunt, 1st Viscount Mordaunt, and his wife Elizabeth, the daughter and sole heiress of Thomas Carey, the second son of Robert Carey, 1st Earl of Monmouth. Mordaunt's father, John Mordaunt, was created Viscount Mordaunt of Avalon and Baron Mordaunt of Reigate, Surrey, in 1659. C... more

Charles Mordaunt, 3rd Earl of Peterborough and 1st Earl of Monmouth, KG, PC (1658 – 25 October 1735) was an English nobleman and military leader. He was the son of John Mordaunt, 1st Viscount Mordaunt, and his wife Elizabeth, the daughter and sole heiress of Thomas Carey, the second son of Robert Carey, 1st Earl of Monmouth. Mordaunt's father, John Mordaunt, was created Viscount Mordaunt of Avalon and Baron Mordaunt of Reigate, Surrey, in 1659. Charles matriculated at Christ Church, Oxford, on the 11th of April 1674. When about sixteen years of age he joined Sir John Narborough's fleet in the Mediterranean, and won his first distinction in arms in the destruction of the dey's fleet under the very guns of Tripoli. His father died on 5 June 1675, and Charles Mordaunt succeeded to the peerage as Viscount Mordaunt. On his return from the second expedition to Tangier, he plunged into active political life as a zealous Whig and an unswerving opponent of the heir to the throne James, Duke of... less