Viner, Robert, Sir, Baronet (1631 -1688)

Sir Robert Viner, Goldsmith, of Lombard Street, and of Swakeleys in Ickenham in Middlesex, was the third son of William Vyner (or Viner), of Eathorpe in Warwickshire, and his second wife Susanna, daughter of Francis Fulwood of Middleton Hall in Derbyshire. He was apprenticed to his uncle Sir Thomas Viner, a goldsmith of London, became his partner, was one of the Masters of the Mint, made the regalia for the coronation of Charles II, was nominated for the projected Order of the Royal Oak, and was knighted 24 June 1665. He married, 14 June 1665, Mary, daughter of John Whitchurch of Walton near Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire, and widow of Sir Thomas Hyde 2nd Baronet of Albury in Hertfordshire. He was created a Baronet 10 May 1666, and was Lord Mayor of London 1674 1675. Like most goldsmiths, Viner acted as a banker, and advanced enormous sums to the Exchequer. When, because of the extravagance of the court, the Exchequer was closed in January 1672, he found himself in financial difficulties, and was declared bankrupt in 1685. In June 1688, his only child, Charles, who had entered the Middle Temple and just been called to the bar, died aged 22. This seems to have broken him and he died at Windsor Castle on 2 September when the baronetcy became extinct.