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CAVENDISH-BENTINCK, WILLIAM HENRY, 3RD DUKE OF PORTLAND, elder son of William Bentinck, 2nd Duke of Portland, and Lady Margaret Cavendish Harley, only dau. of Edward Harley, 2nd Earl of Oxford (qv); b. 14 Apr 1738; styled Marquis of Titchfield to 1762; adm. May 1747 (Watts'); left Dec 1754; Christ Church, Oxford, matr. 4 Mar 1755; MA 1 Feb 1757; DCL 7 Oct 1792; LLD Tinity Coll. Dublin 18 May 1782; assumed additional surname of Cavendish 1755; MP Weobley 1761 - 1 May 1762; succ. father as 3rd Duke of Portland 1 May 1762; Lord Chamberlain 15 Jul 1765 - 26 Nov 1766; Privy Councillor 10 Jul 1765; Lord Lieut., Ireland, 10 Apr - 15 Sep 1782; Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury 21 Apr - 19 Dec 1783; although previously a committed Whig politician, he became alarmed by the French Revolution and joined William Pitt’s government in 1794; Secretary of State for Home Affairs, 11 Jul 1794 - 30 Jul 1801, Lord President of the Council 30 Jul 1801 - 14 Jan 1805; KG 16 Jul 1801; Prime Ministry and First Lord of the Treasury 31 Mar 1807 - 28 Sep 1809, when he resigned through ill-health; Chancellor of Oxford University from 27 Sep 1792; Lord Lieut., Nottinghamshire, from 19 Jun 1795; FRS 5 Jun 1766; a Busby Trustee from 14 Mar 1765; m. 8 Nov 1766 Lady Dorothy Cavendish, only dau. of William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire PC KG; d. 30 Oct 1809. DNB.

COTTON, STAPLETON, 1ST VISCOUNT COMBERMERE, second son of Sir Robert Salusbury Cotton, Bart. (qv); b. 14 Nov 1773; adm. 28 Jan 1785; at school four years; 2nd Lieut., 23rd Foot, 26 Feb 1790; 1st Lieut., 13 Apr 1791; Capt., 6th Dragoon Guards, 28 Feb 1793; Maj., 59th Foot, 1794; Lieut. -Col., 25th Light Dragoons, 9 Mar 1794; Brevet Col., 1 Jan 1800; Lieut. -Col., 16th Light Dragoons, 14 Feb 1800; served in Flanders 1793-4, at Cape Town 1795, in campaign against Tippoo Sahib 1799, and in Dublin during Emmett’s insurrection 1800; Brig. -Gen., 11 Feb 1804; Maj. -Gen., 30 Oct 1805; commanded allied cavalry during part of Peninsular War; wounded at Salamanca 1812; Lieut. -Gen., 1 Jan 1812; Col., 20th Light Dragoons, 27 Jan 1813 – Jan 1821 [check]; took part in Pyrenees Campaign, 1813-4; commanded allied cavalry in France, 1815-6; Governor of Barbados 1816-20; Col., 3rd Dragoons, 25 Jan 1821 – Sep 1828; Commander-in-Chief, Ireland, 1822-5; Gen., 27 May 1825; Commander-in-Chief, East Indies, 9 Feb 1825 - 1 Jan 1830; captured city of Bhurtpore, 28 Jan 1826; Col., 1st Life Guards, from 16 Sep 1829; Constable of the Tower (and Lord Lieut., Tower Hamlets) from 11 Oct 1852; Field-Marshal, 2 Oct 1855; MP Newark 1806 - 17 May 1814; succ. father as 6th baronet 24 Aug 1809; KB 21 Aug 1812; created Baron Combermere 17 May 1814, with annuity of £2000 p. a. for two generations; GCB 2 Jan 1815; GCH 1817; Governor of Sheerness 25 Jan 1821 – still 1829; Privy Councillor (I) 21 Nov 1822; created Viscount Combermere 8 Feb 1827; DCL Oxford Univ. 23 Jun 1830; Privy Councillor 16 Dec 1834; KCSI 19 Aug 1861; m. 1st, 1 Jan 1801 Lady Anne Maria Pelham-Clinton, eldest dau. of Thomas Pelham-Clinton, 3rd Duke of Newcastle, Major-Gen. in the Army; m. 2nd, 22 Jun 1814 Caroline, second dau. of Capt. William Fulke Greville RN; m. 3rd, 2 Oct 1838 Mary Woolley, dau. of Thomas Gibbings MD, Gibbings Grove, co. Cork; d. 21 Feb 1865. DNB.

COURTENAY, WILLIAM REGINALD, 11TH EARL OF DEVON, elder son of William Courtenay, 10th Earl of Devon (qv); b. 14 Apr 1807; adm. (G) 16 Sep 1818; Christ Church, Oxford, matr. 30 Mar 1824; President, Oxford Union 1827; 1st cl. Classics 1827; BA 1828; BCL 1831; DCL 1838; Fellow, All Souls Coll., 1828-30; adm. Lincoln’s Inn 22 Mar 1828, called to bar 27 Jan 1832; MP (Cons) South Devon 1841 - Feb 1849; a Poor Law Inspector 1849-50; Secretary, Poor Law Board 1850-9; succ. father as 11th Earl of Devon 19 Mar 1859; took Conservative whip in House of Lords; member, Public Schools Commission, 1862; Chancellor, Duchy of Lancaster, Jul 1866 - May 1867; Privy Councillor 10 Jul 1866; President, Poor Law Board, May 1867 - Dec 1868; known in Devon as “the good earl”; Chairman, Devon QS, for fifty-two years; DL JP Devon, JP co. Limerick; Busby Trustee 11 May 1861; member governing body, Westminster School, from 1869; edited with others vol. 6 of Cases decided in the House of Lords on appeal from the Courts of Scotland, 1832-3; m. 27 Dec 1830 Lady Elizabeth Fortescue, seventh dau. of Hugh Fortescue, 1st Earl Fortescue; d. 18 Nov 1888. DNB.

CREIGHTON, ROBERT, son of Thomas Creighton, and Margaret Stuart; b. 1593; adm. 1607; KS; elected head to Trinity Coll. Cambridge 1613, adm. scholar 1614; BA 1617/8; MA 1621 (incorp. Oxford 15 Jul 1628); DD Oxford 21 Feb 1642/3; Fellow, Trinity Coll. 1619- c. 1621; Professor of Greek, Cambridge 1625-39; Public Orator 1627-39; ordained; Prebendary of Lincoln 18 Mar 1631/2 – Jun 1670; Prebendary and Treasurer, Wells Dec. 1632 – Jun 1660, also Canon Residentiary 1 Apr 1633 – Jun 1660; Chaplain in Ordinary to Charles I; Rector of Huggate, Yorks., 1641; Dean of St. Buryan, Cornwall, 1642-5, sequestered; escaped to the Continent on the fall of Oxford, disguised as a labourer; member of exiled court of Charles II; tutor to Sir Ralph Verney’s son at The Hague 1652; Dean of Wells 29 Jun 1660 - Jun 1670; restored the cathedral; Rector of Uplowman, Devon 1665-70; Vicar of Cheddar, Somerset, 5 Sep 1665-70; consecrated Bishop of Bath and Wells 19 Jun 1670; author, Vera Historia Unionis inter Graecos et Latinos sive Concilii Florentini exactissima narratio, 1660; m. Frances, dau. of William Walrond; d. 21 Nov 1672. DNB.

Davidson, John Colin Campbell, 1st Viscount Davidson, only son of Sir James Mackenzie Davidson, Kt., M.B., C. M., of London, by Georgiana Barbara Watt, daughter of William Henderson, of Aberdeen; b. Feb. 23, 1889; adm. Jan. 15, 1903 (A); left July 1907; Pembroke Coll. Camb., matric. Michaelmas 1907; B.A. 1910; Private Secretary to several Cabinet Ministers, including the Rt. Hon. A. Bonar Law when Prime Minister, 1910-23; called to the bar at the Middle Temple June 4, 1913; M. P. Herts (Hemel Hempstead Div.) Nov. 1920 - Nov. 1923, and from Oct. 1924; Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster June 1923 - Jan. 1924; Financial Secretary to the Admiralty Nov. 1924 - Nov. 1926; Chairman of the Conservative Party organization 1926-30; Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster 1931-7; served in Home Guard in Great War II; Controller of Production, Ministry of Information 1941; C. B. Jan. 1, 1919; C. H. March 25, 1923; P. C. 1928; G. C. V. O. 1935; created a Viscount May 28, 1937; a Governor of the School July 1927; Busby Trustee 1929; president of the Elizabethan Club 1946-49; represented Westminster on Governing Bodies' Assn. 1949-59; m. April 10, 1919, the Hon. Frances Joan, younger daughter of Willoughby, 1st Baron Dickinson; d. 11 Dec. 1970.

EGERTON, SIR (WALTER) RALEIGH GILBERT, third son of Sir Robert Eyles Egerton KCSI CIE, Bengal Civil Service, Lieut. -Gov. Punjab, and his first wife Mary Warren, dau. of William Hickey, Calcutta, and niece of Lieut. -Gen. Sir Walter Raleigh Gilbert, Bart., GCB, Bengal Army (previously EICS Bengal); b. 25 Sep 1860; adm. as exhibitioner (G) 4 Jun 1874; QS 1875; left May 1877; RMC Sandhurst 1878-9; 2nd Lieut., 17th Foot 13 Aug 1879; Lieut., Leicestershire Regt. 19 Feb 1881; Bengal Staff Corps 1 Nov 1881; Capt., Indian Staff Corps 13 Aug 1890; Brevet Maj., 18 Nov 1896; Indian Army 13 Aug 1899; Lieut. -Col., Indian Army 13 Aug 1905; Col., 6 Jun 1907; temp. Brig. -Gen., 14 Nov 1911 - 13 Nov 1914; Brigade Commander, Ferozepore 14 Nov 1911 - 14 Sep 1914 and on Western Front in France 15 Sep 1914 - 16 Nov 1916; Maj. -Gen., 14 Nov 1914; Lieut. -Gen., 27 Aug 1917; retired 1 Apr 1920; ADC to Lieut. -Gov. Punjab 1897-9; Assistant Adjutant-Gen., India 1900-3; served in Hazara expedition 1888, Isazai expedition 1892, Waziristan 1894-5, Chitral 1895, Dongola expedition 1896, Waziristan 1901-2. and in Great War in France and Mesopotamia; mentioned in despatches LG 8 Aug 1902, 17 Feb 1915, 1 Jan 1916, 19 Oct 1916, 15 Aug 1917, 27 Aug 1918, 1 Feb and 5 Jun 1919; CB 14 Jun 1912; KCB 3 Jun 1916; KCIE 25 Aug 1917; Order of Karageorge (Serbia), 2nd cl. with swords 1916; Busby Trustee from May 1927; m. 1st, 22 Aug 1894 Bridget Watson, eldest dau. of Watson Askew-Robertson, Pallinsburn House, Northumberland; m. 2nd, 21 Mar 1903 Maude Helen, only dau. of Sir George Rendlesham Prescott, Bart.; d. 2 May 1931.

ELLIS, WELBORE, 1ST BARON MENDIP, younger son of Welbore Ellis (qv); b. 15 Dec 1713; adm. Jul 1727; KS (Capt. ) 1728; elected to Christ Church, Oxford 1732, matr. 15 Jun 1732, Westminster Student 29 Dec 1732 - resignation 25 Apr 1739; BA 1736; DCL 7 Jul 1773; inherited fortune of his uncle John Ellis (KS 1660, qv) in 1738; Grand Tour (Italy) 1739-40; MP Cricklade 24 Dec 1741-7, Weymouth 1747-61, Aylesbury 1761-8, Petersfield 1768-74, Weymouth 1774-90, Petersfield 29 Apr 1791- 13 Aug 1794; an active and useful member of the House of Commons; a Lord of the Admiralty 1747-55; Vice-Treasurer for Ireland 1755-62; Privy Councillor 20 Mar 1760; Secretary at War 1762-5; Vice-Treasurer of Ireland (again) 1765-6, 1770-7; Treasurer of the Navy 12 Jun 1777 – Apr 1782; Secretary of State for the American Colonies 11 Feb - Mar 1782; created Baron Mendip 13 Aug 1794, with special remainder to his great-nephew Henry Welbore Agar-Ellis, 2nd Viscount Clifden (qv); member, Society of Dilettanti 1740/1; FRS 20 Jun 1745; Trustee of the British Museum 1780; Busby Trustee 25 Mar 1777; was accustomed to boast of having slept both in the Old Dormitory and in the New Dormitory; m. 1st, 18 Nov 1747 Elizabeth, only dau. of Hon. Sir William Stanhope KB MP; m. 2nd, 20 Jul 1765 Anne, eldest dau. of George Stanley, Paultons, Hampshire; d. 2 Feb 1802. Buried in North Transept, Westminster Abbery. DNB.

GORDON-LENNOX, CHARLES, 5th DUKE OF RICHMOND AND GORDON, eldest son of Charles Lennox, 4th Duke of Richmond and Lennox KG PC, Lord Lieut. Ireland and Governor-General of Canada, Gen. in the Army, and Lady Charlotte Gordon, eldest dau. of Alexander Gordon, 4th Duke of Gordon KT; grandson of Lord George Henry Lennox (qv); b. 3 Aug 1791; styled Earl of March 1806-19; adm. (Glover); left 1809; Trinity Coll. Dublin, adm. nob. 28 Oct 1809; BA 1813; Ensign, 8th Garrison Battalion 8 Jun 1809; Lieut., 13th Light Dragoons 21 Jun 1810; Capt., 92nd Foot 9 Jul 1812; 52nd Foot 8 Apr 1813; Brevet Maj., 15 Jun 1815; Brevet Lieut. -Col., 25 Jul 1816; half-pay 25 Jul 1816; ADC and Assistant Military Secretary to Duke of Wellington in Peninsular War 1810-4; wounded at Orthes; ADC to Prince of Orange at battle of Waterloo; MP Chichester 1812 – 28 Aug 1819; succ. father as 5th Duke of Richmond and Lennox 28 Aug 1819; as MP and peer a supporter of Tory governments to 1828, but opposed Catholic Emancipation and went into opposition after the passage of the Catholic Emancipation Bill in 1829; KG 13 May 1829; offered and accepted Cabinet office in the incoming Whig government Nov 1830; Postmaster-General Nov 1830 – May 1834; Privy Councillor 22 Nov 1830; resigned office over Whig government’s Irish Church policy May 1834, moving to cross-benches in House of Lords; inherited Scottish estates of his cousin 5th Duke of Gordon 1836, assuming additional surname of Gordon before Lennox, 9 Aug 1836; became a vocal advocate of agricultural protection in the 1840s, strongly opposing Sir Robert Peel’s repeal of the corn laws; Col., Sussex Militia, from 4 Dec 1819; Extra ADC to William IV 9 May 1832; Lord Lieut. of Sussex from 19 Jun 1835; Chancellor, Marischall College, Aberdeen, from 1836; FRS 2 Apr 1840; President, Royal Agricultural Society, from 1845; DL Banffshire 1846; Steward, Jockey Club 1831; horses of his won the Oaks 1827, 1845, and the One Thousand Guineas 1845; Provincial Grand Master of Freemasons, Sussex, from 1823; several details of his school life, including his fight with an overgrown bully, will be found in a Memoir of him published in 1862; Busby Trustee from 19 May 1827; m. 10 Apr 1817 Lady Caroline Paget, eldest dau. of Henry William Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey (qv); d. 21 Oct 1860. DNB.

GROSVENOR, RICHARD DE AQUILA, 1ST BARON STALBRIDGE, fourth son of Richard Grosvenor, 2nd Marquis of Westminster (qv); b. 28 Jun 1837; adm. 24 Jan 1849 (G); an intimate school friend of Francis Markham (qv); Trinity Coll. Cambridge, adm. pens. 21 Feb 1855, fellow commoner 15 Oct 1855, matr. Mich. 1855; MA 1858; MP (Liberal) Flintshire May 1861 – 22 Mar 1886; Vice-Chamberlain of the Household Mar 1872 - Feb 1874; Privy Councillor 19 Mar 1872; Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury and Chief Liberal Whip, House of Commons 1880-5; created Baron Stalbridge 22 Mar 1886; took Liberal Unionist whip, House of Lords; Chairman, London and North Western Railway Co. 1891-1911, having been a director since 1870; a Governor of the School 1875-1880 and from 1889; Busby Trustee from 1 Jun 1875; President, Elizabethan Club 1885-91, Vice-President from 1891; an intimate friend of Francis Markham (qv), who frequently mentions him in his Recollections; m. 1st, 5 Nov 1874 Hon. Beatrix Charlotte Elizabeth Vesey, third dau. of Thomas Vesey, 3rd Viscount De Vesci (I); m. 2nd, 3 Apr 1879 Eleanor Frances Beatrice, dau. of Robert Hamilton Stubber, Moyne, Queen’s Co.; d. 18 May 1912. DNB Supp.

HARLEY, EDWARD, 2ND EARL OF OXFORD, only son of Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford PC KG, Chancellor of the Exchequer and Lord High Treasurer, and his first wife Elizabeth, dau. of Thomas Foley MP, Witley Court, Worcs.; nephew of Edward Harley (at school under Busby, qv); b. 2 Jun 1689; at school under Knipe; Christ Church, Oxford, matr. 30 Oct 1707; MA 2 Jan 1711/2; DCL 4 Jun 1730; MP New Radnor 16 Jul 1711-5, Cambridgeshire 1722 – 21 May 1724; succ. father as 2nd Earl of Oxford 21 May 1724; FRS 23 Nov 1727; High Steward of Cambridge from 1728; friend of Pope, Swift and Matthew Prior (qv), and patron of George Vertue and Oldys; added very considerably to his father’s collection of books and manuscripts; also collected pictures, prints and coins; his Wimpole, Cambridgeshire, estate was sold in 1740 to Lord Hardwicke to pay off his debts; his miscellaneous curiosities, coins, medals and portraits were sold by auction in March 1741/2; the books, pamphlets and prints were purchased the same year by the bookseller Thomas Osborne; the manuscripts were sold to the nation in 1753 and are now the Harleian MSS in the British Library; Busby Trustee 18 Feb 1725/6; the letters to him from his Oxford tutor William Stratford (qv), which make frequent allusions to the School, are calendared HMC Portland MSS, vol. vii; m. 31 Oct 1713 Lady Henrietta Cavendish Holles, only dau. of John Holles, 4th Earl of Clare (afterwards 1st Duke of Newcastle); d. 16 Jun 1741. Buried Duke of Newcastle’s vault, Westminster Abbey. DNB.