Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 31.djvu/116

 a pension of 700l. a year (Home Office Records, Admiralty, vol. xi.), rather more than half-pay. He died at his seat near St. Albans on 9 Nov. 1712.

 KILLIGREW, JAMES (d. 1695), captain in the navy, son of Henry Killigrew, D.D. [q. v.], and brother of Admiral Henry Killigrew [q. v.], was appointed lieutenant of the Portsmouth on 5 Sept. 1688. On 11 April 1690 he was promoted to be captain of the Sapphire, was employed in her cruising in the Channel, and in July 1691 captured a large French privateer. In 1692 he commanded the York, in 1693 the Crown, from which he was moved into the Plymouth of 60 guns, and sent with Admiral Russell to the Mediterranean. In January 1694–5 he was cruising to the southward of Sardinia in command of a detached squadron of five ships, when, on the 18th, they sighted two French men-of-war, the Content of 60, and the Trident of 52 guns. In the chase the Plymouth, being far ahead of her consorts, closed with and engaged the enemy. She was much over-matched, and suffered severely. Killigrew and many of his men were killed. But the French ships had been delayed till the other English ships came up, and, being unable to escape, were both captured. They were taken into Messina, and were afterwards added to the English navy. The question was afterwards raised by his brother, the admiral, whether his estate was not entitled to share in the prize-money, and evidence was adduced to the effect that the two French ships were disabled and virtually beaten by the Plymouth's fire. Russell, who was commander-in-chief in the Mediterranean at the time, presided over the admiralty, and he decided that as Killigrew was killed early in the action, and the Plymouth was beaten off by the French ships, the prize-money was payable only to the captains of the Carlisle, Falmouth, and Adventure, which actually took them. Although presumably in accordance with the regulations of the day, such an award now appears unjust.

 KILLIGREW, ROBERT (1579–1633), courtier, grandson of John Killigrew of Arwennack, Cornwall, and son of, by Margaret, daughter of Thomas Saunders of Uxbridge, Middlesex, was born in London, probably in 1579. His father, though always in debt, kept up a large house in Lothbury, London, and held the post of groom of the privy chamber to Queen Elizabeth, by whom he was granted the right to farm the profits of the seals of the queen's bench and common pleas. This privilege was, in spite of numerous protests, confirmed to him by the queen in 1577 (see Burghley Papers, Lansdowne MSS. 25 and 83). In return for his perquisite Killigrew supported the court interest in parliament, where he represented Helston in 1572, Penryn in 1584, and the county of Cornwall in 1597. He was knighted by James I at Theobalds on 7 May 1603, and represented Liskeard in the parliament of 1604. Appointed chamberlain of the exchequer for 1605–6, Sir William Killigrew sat once more for Penryn in 1614, and died in Lothbury on 23 Nov. 1622 (P. C. C. Savile, p. 96).

As ‘Robert Killegrew of Hampshire’ he matriculated at Christ Church, Oxford, on 29 Jan. 1590–1, aged 11. In 1601 he was returned to parliament for St. Mawes, Cornwall. Knighted by James I at Hanworth on 23 July 1603, he sat for Newport in the parliament of the following year, and was sitting for Helston in May 1614, when during the debate on ‘undertaking’ he ‘offered to pluck Sir Roger Owen off his chair,’ or at any rate ‘laid hands on him, used an unkind countenance to him, and sharp words.’ His sequestration was demanded, but on the intercession of Sir Edward Montagu, and considering the circumstance that ‘his father, brother, and uncle, all in the house do condemn the fact,’ he was allowed to acknowledge his error at the bar (Commons' Journals, i. 483). Killigrew represented Newport again in 1621, Penryn in 1623, Cornwall in 1625, Tregony in 1626, and Bodmin in 1628. The family interest in Cornish boroughs must have been very strong, since in 1614, while his father was still alive, and other members of the family held Cornish seats, Sir Robert gave a seat at Helston to Sir James Whitelocke (Liber Famelicus, p. 41; cf., Parl. Representation of Cornwall, p. 18).

In the middle of May 1613 Killigrew, who had just emerged from the Fleet prison—the cause of his confinement is unknown—paid a visit to Sir Walter Raleigh in the Tower. On leaving Raleigh he was hailed from a window by another prisoner, Sir Thomas Overbury. Killigrew had been on friendly terms with Overbury, and stood for some minutes in private conversation with him. For this offence he was on 19 May committed once more to the Fleet (-