Henry Capell, 1st Baron Capell of Tewkesbury KB, PC, English politician who sits in the House of Commons of England between 1660 and 1692, dies in Chapelizod, Dublin, on May 30, 1696.

Capell is born in Little Hadham, Hertfordshire, England, in 1638. He is the son of Arthur Capell, 1st Baron Capell of Hadham, and Elizabeth Morrison. He is baptised on March 6, 1638. His father is raised to the peerage in 1641, and he dies fighting for the King in the English Civil War in 1649 as one of the commanders of the Colchester garrison. His eldest brother is Arthur Capell, 1st Earl of Essex.

Capell founds the Kew Gardens at Kew, a district in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Later he is elected Member of Parliament for Tewkesbury in the Convention Parliament. He is invested as a Knight of the Order of the Bath, on April 23, 1661. In 1661, he is re-elected MP for Tewkesbury in the Cavalier Parliament. He is a member of the Privy Council of Ireland from April 1673 to March 1684/85. He is re-elected MP for Tewkesbury in the two elections of 1679, is a member of the Privy Council of England from April 22, 1679, to January 31, 1680, and is First Lord of the Admiralty, between 1679 and 1680.

In 1689, Capell is elected MP for Cockermouth and is Lord of the Treasury, between 1689 and 1690. He is invested again as Privy Councillor, on February 14, 1689. He is elected MP for Tewkesbury in 1690, and sits until April 11, 1692, when he is ennobled as Baron Capell of Tewkesbury, in the County of Gloucester. One year later, he becomes Lord Justice of Ireland and in turn a Privy Councillor of Ireland, in June 1693. In 1695 and 1696, he is Lord Deputy of Ireland. His term as Lord Deputy is not considered successful because of him being a firm Whig and presiding over an administration which is deeply divided between Whigs and Tories. He does nothing to help change this situation.

Capell dies at the age of 58 in Chapelizod, County Dublin, on May 30, 1696. He is buried on September 8, 1696, in Little Hadham, Hertfordshire. The barony dies with him.

On February 16, 1659, Capell marries Dorothy Bennet, daughter of Richard Bennet. The marriage is childless but does bring part of what later becomes Kew Palace into the Capell family, leading to its becoming known as Capel House. Dorothy dies in 1721, and through her will endows a number of charities.

(Pictured: “Sir Henry Capel (1638-1696),” oil on canvas by Peter Lely, Metropolitan Museum of Art)