But Sunderland, Godolphin, Lory,
These will appear such chits in story, 'Twill turn all politics to jests,
To be repeated like John Dory, While fiddlers sing at feasts.[7]
Lord Nottingham was Lord Chancellor until 1682, when Lord Guilford assumed the same position; however, the latter had not yet acceded to the peerage, and was therefore forced to assume the position of Lord Keeper. For all intents and purposes, these positions are identical, and have been formatted as such.
Additionally, there were two Earls of Nottingham: the elder Nottingham served as Lord Chancellor, and his successor to the earldom served as First Lord of the Admiralty.
"He adhered to James till the last; he was one of the council of five [the others were Belasyse, Preston, Jeffreys and Arundell] appointed to remain in London when James advanced to Salisbury [on 17 November], and he was sent with Halifax and Nottingham to treat with the Prince of Orange at Hungerford in December."[3]
"Upon William's landing in England Mulgrave remained with James in London until the time of his flight. When the news of his capture in Kent [on 11 December] reached London, Halifax wished to adjourn the council of lords, who carried on a provisional government, in order to avoid the responsibility of action. But Mulgrave, begging them to keep their seats, introduced the king's messenger, and prevailed on them to send Lord Feversham to the assistance of James (Mulgrave, Account of the Revolution). He came to the aid also of the Spanish ambassador when the mob demolished his house, inviting him to Whitehall and paying him marked honour. For this conduct, which avoided friction with the Spanish court, he received the thanks of both James and William. On the establishment of the revolutionary government Mulgrave quietly submitted and voted for associating William with Mary on the throne."[10]
"[H]e justified the confidence reposed in him by remaining faithful to James to the last. After the king's sudden withdrawal to Faversham [on the night of 10/11 December] he declined to attend the meeting of the lords and privy council called to consider the steps to be taken in the crisis (Clarke, Life of James II, ii. 259). Nevertheless he was one of the four nobles deputed by them to invite the king to return to Whitehall, and was present with him at Whitehall when a message came from the Prince of Orange that James should retire from London. At the king's request he arranged for his withdrawal to Rochester [on 18 December]. Subsequently he waited on the king there to surrender the seals of the secretary's office, and endeavoured to induce him to abandon his projected flight and to summon a parliament. It was to him that the king, after making his secret escape, left the paper containing his reasons for ‘withdrawing himself from England.’ "[12]
^'Lists of appointments', in Office-Holders in Modern Britain: Volume 2, Officials of the Secretaries of State 1660-1782, ed. J C Sainty (London, 1973), pp. 22-58. British History Online accessed 13 January 2018.
