MORDAUNT, CHARLES, 3RD EARL OF PETERBOROUGH and 1ST EARL OF MONMOUTH, eldest son of John Mordaunt, 1st Viscount Mordaunt, and Elizabeth, dau. of Hon. Thomas Carey; b.; at school under Busby (Steward, Anniversary Dinner 1727/8); Christ Church, Oxford, matr. 11 Apr 1674, aged 16; succeeded father as 2nd Viscount Mordaunt 5 Jun 1675; served as volunteer with British fleet in Mediterranean 1674-7, 1678-9, and at Tangier 1680; associated with Essex, Russell and Sidney in 1682; said to have been the first to press the Prince of Orange (William III) “to undertake the business of England”; commanded a small Dutch squadron in West Indies 1687; attended William III on his landing at Torbay Nov 1688; Privy Councillor 14 Feb 1688/9; a Gentleman of the Bedchamber 1 Mar 1688/9 – Apr 1697; First Lord of the Treasury 8 Apr 1689 – Mar 1690/1; created Earl of Monmouth 9 Apr 1689; one of Queen’s Council of Nine 1689; went with King to Netherlands 1691, 1692; quarrelled with William III over conduct of war Dec 1692, and went into fierce opposition; imprisoned in Tower of London for his conduct in Fenwick’s case, and struck off Privy Council 21 Jan 1696/7; released 30 Mar 1697; succeeded uncle as 3rd Earl of Peterborough 19 Jun 1697; helped Somers to translate the Olynthiacs of Demosthenes 1702; restored to favour at Court on avccession of Anne; appointed Captain-Gen. and Governor of Jamaica 22 Dec 1702, but appointment cancelled as he declined to undertake an expedition against the Spanish settlements in the West Indies without the help of the Dutch; readmitted to Privy Council 29 Mar 1705; appointed with Sir Clowdesley Shovell to joint command of expedition to Spain May 1705; surprised Montjuich and captured Barcelona; entered Valencia 24 Jan 1705/6; proceeded to Genoa to arrange with the Duke of Savoy for a combined attack on Toulon; negotiated a loan at an exorbitant rate of interest without authority; returned to Valencia and recalled to England to give an account of his conduct of the war 11 Feb 1706/7; did not return until Aug 1707; employed John Friend (qv) to write An Account of the Earl of Peterborough’s Conduct in Spain; after two investigations by House of Lords, he received a vote of thanks 10 Feb 1710/1; Ambassador Extraordinary in Vienna, Turin, Frankfurt and Naples 1711-3; Col., Royal Horse Guards 19 Aug 1712 – 13 Jun 1715; KG 3 Aug 1713; Ambassador Exraordinary to Italian Princes Nov 1713; Governor of Minorca Mar 1714; recalled on accession of Whigs to power on accession of George I; General of Marine Forces in Great Britain 24 May 1722; Lord Lieut., Northamptonshire 30 May 1689 – 21 Jul 1715; a brilliant but untrustworthy man, of untiring energy and a craving for novelty and excitement; patron of literature and science; m. 1st, Carey, half-sister of Charles Fraser (qv); m. 2nd, Anastasia (Anastasia Robinson, singer), dau. of Thomas Brown, portrait painter; d. on his yacht off Lisbon 25 Oct 1735. DNB.

BLACKBURNE, LANCELOT, son of Richard Blackburne, London; b. 10 Dec 1658; adm.; KS 1671; elected to Christ Church, Oxford 1676, matr. 20 Oct 1676, Westminster Student 24 Dec 1676-85 (void); BA 1680; MA (in his absence) 28 Jan 1683/4; ordained 1681; went to Antigua, West Indies, soon after his ordination; a protegé of Sir Jonathan Trelawny, Bart. (q. v. ), Bishop of Exeter; Prebendary of Exeter 15 Jun 1691, Sub-Dean 1695-1702, 1704-5; Rector of Calstock, Cornwall, 29 May 1696 (dispensation to hold with Bishopric of Exeter 1716/7); Vicar of Altarnun, Cornwall, 1699 (dispensation to hold with Calstock, 1699); Dean of Exeter 3 Nov 1705 - Feb 1716/7; Archdeacon of Cornwall 24 Jan 1714/5 - Feb 1716/7 (but dispensation to hold with Bishopric of Exeter, 1716/7 ?); Chaplain in Ordinary to George I (Chamberlayne 1716); DD Lambeth 28 Jan 1716; consecrated Bishop of Exeter 24 Feb 1716/7; Lord Almoner from 26 Oct 1723; Archbishop of York from 8 Nov 1724; Privy Councillor 10 Dec 1724; Busby Trustee from 18 Feb 1725/6; a gay and witty divine of remarkably free manners, which gave rise to many scandalous stories; was described by Horace Walpole as “the jolly old Archbishop of York who had all the manners of a man of quality, though he had been a buccaneer, and was a clergyman; but he retained nothing of his first profession, except his seraglio” (Walpole, Memoirs of the Reign of George II, 1847, i, 87); m. 2 Sep 1684 Catherine, widow of Walter Littleton, Lichfield, Staffs., and dau. of William Talbot, Stourton Castle, Staffs.; d. 23 Mar 1742/3. DNB.

CUMBERLAND, RICHARD, only son of Denison Cumberland (qv); b. 19 Feb 1732; adm. from Bury St. Edmunds Sch. Jan 1745/6 (Ludford's); Trinity Coll. Cambridge, adm. pens. 11 Jun 1747, scholar 1748, matr. 1748; 6th Wrangler 1750/1; BA 1750/1; MA 1754; Minor Fellow, Trinity Coll. 1752, Major Fellow 1753; private secretary to George, 2nd Earl of Halifax c. 1754-65; Crown Agent for Nova Scotia c. 1758 - ?; held post of Ulster Secretary Apr 1761 - Apr 1763 during Halifax’s term of office as Lord Lieut. Ireland; Solicitor and Clerk of Reports, Board of Trade 31 May 1765 - Jan 1776, Secretary to Board of Trade 23 Jan 1776 - 2 May 1782, when post abolished; on unsuccessful secret mission to Spain Jun 1780 - Apr 1781, seeking to secure a separate peace with that country; after the abolition of his government appointment he settled in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, holding a commission in local volunteers during Napoleonic Wars; author of numerous comedies, tragedies, translations and novels; his most successful play, The West Indian, was produced by Garrick in 1771 and ran for twenty-eight nights; described by Goldsmith in his Retaliation as “the Terence of England” and caricatured by Sheridan as Sir Fretful Plagiary in The Critic (see Lord Broughton, Recollections of a Long Life, i, 138); wrote with Sir John Bland Burges (qv) an epic called the Exodiad, 1808; author, The Observer, almost the last imitation of The Spectator; his Memoirs, published in 1807, contain several interesting references to the School and to his contemporaries there; m. 19 Feb 1759 Elizabeth, only dau. of George Ridge, Kilmeston, Hants.; d. 7 May 1811. Buried in Poets’ Corner, Westminster Abbey. DNB.

VANE, SIR HENRY, eldest son of Sir Henry Vane, Kt MP, Treasurer of the Household and Secretary of State, Hadlow, Kent, and Raby Castle, co. Durham, and Frances, dau. of Thomas Darcy, Tolleshunt D’Arcy, Essex; bapt. 26 May 1613; at schoool under Osbaldeston (Wood, Athenae Oxon., iii, 578); became a puritan at age of 15; Magdalen Hall, Oxford, adm. fellow commoner, aged 16, but did not matr., as he objected to taking the oath; went to New England to obtain freedom of worship 1635; Governor of Massachusetts 1636-7; became entangled in doctrinal controversies and returned to England; Joint Treasurer of the Navy Jan 1639- Dec 41; MP Hull 1640-53; knighted 23 Jun 1640; showed Pym his father's notes of Strafford's advice to Charles I at the Council meeting of 5 May 1640; one of the originators of the bill for the abolition of episcopacy 1641; one of the committee appointed to vindicate the privileges of Parliament on the arrest of the five members; a leader of the war party in the House of Commons; Treasurer of the Navy (for Parliament) Aug 1642 - Dec 1650; conducted the negotiations with the Scots 1643; the virtual leader of the House of Commons after Pym's death; proposed and carried the establishment of the Committee of both Kingdoms 1644; one of the Parliamentary Commissioners at Uxbridge 1645; rejected Charles I’s overtures in 1644 and 1646; a Commissioner to treat with the army at Wycombe 1647; distrusted by the Presbyterians and the Levellers; took no part in Charles I’s trial; member of Council of State 14 Feb 1649; active member of the government 1649-53; a Commissioner for settling Scottish affairs 1651; quarrelled with Cromwell over the expulsion of the Long Parliament 1653; retired to Lincolnshire and refused a seat in the Little Parliament; imprisoned at Carisbrooke Castle as a result of the publication of his book Healing Question, propounded and resolved, 1656; MP Whitchurch in Richard Cromwell’s Parliament; assisted in the abolition of the Protectorate; Commissioner of the Navy and manager of foreign affairs in the restored Long Parliament; unsuccessfully endeavoured to reconcile Parliament and the army; became distrusted by all parties; expelled from the House of Commons 9 Jan 1660; partially excluded from the Act of Indemnity; imprisoned in the Tower of London, and subsequently transported to the Scilly Isles; tried for high treason in Court of King’s Bench, and sentenced to death 11 Jun 1662; an able statesman of enormous industry, but although his devotion to the public service and his freedom from corruption were well known, his religious enthusiasm and his subtlety in speculative matters exposed to him to the charge of being a fanatic and an unscrupulous schemer; author, The Retired Man’s Meditations, 1655, and other works; m. 1 Jul 1640 Frances, dau. of Sir Christopher Wray, Bart., Barlings, Lincs.; executed on Tower Hill 14 Jun 1662. DNB.

NEWDIGATE, SIR ROGER, BART., brother of Sir Edward Newdigate, Bart. (qv); b. 30 May 1719; adm. Oct 1727; KS (Capt. ) 1732; succ. brother as 5th baronet 4 Apr 1734; left Jan 1736; University Coll. Oxford, matr. 9 Apr 1736; MA 1738; DCL 13 Apr 1749; Grand Tour (France, Italy) 1738-40; of Harefield Place, Middlesex, and Arbury, Warwickshire; MP Middlesex 5 Aug 1742-7, Oxford University 31 Jan 1751-80; again travelling in Europe 1774-6; a staunch Tory, described in 1767 by Horace Walpole as a “half-converted Jacobite”; interested in architecture and classical sculpture; a benefactor of University Coll. and of the Radcliffe Library; founded Newdigate Prize for English verse at Oxford Univ. 1806; m. 1st, 31 May 1743 Sophia, dau. of Edward Conyers MP, Copped Hall, Epping, Essex; m. 2nd, 3 Jun 1776 Hester Margaretta, dau. of Edward Mundy, Shipley, Derbs.; d. 20 Nov 1806. DNB.

ROBINSON, RICHARD, 1ST BARON ROKEBY (I), sixth son of William Robinson, Rokeby, Yorks., and Merton Abbey, Surrey, and Anne, dau. of Robert Walters, Cundall, Yorks.; b.; adm. (aged 9) Oct 1720; Min. Can. 1721; KS 1722; elected to Christ Church, Oxford 1726, matr. 13 Jun 1726, Westminster Student 22 Dec 1726 – void 18 Apr 1740 (expiry year of grace as R. Etton from 16 Apr 1739); BA 1730; MA 1733; BD and DD 1748 (incorp. BD Dublin 1751); ordained deacon (Winchester) 2 Mar 1734, priest (Oxford) 23 Dec 1735; Curate, Cowley, Oxfordshire 1737; Chaplain to Most Rev. Lancelot Blackburne (qv), Archbishop of York, 1738; Prebendary of York 4 May 1738 – Nov 1751; Rector of Etton, Yorks., 20 Apr 1739-52; Rector of Hutton Bushel, Yorks. 22 Apr 1742; Chaplain to Lionel Cranfield Sackville, 1st Duke of Dorset (qv), Lord Lieut. Ireland, 1751; consecrated Bishop of Killala 19 Jan 1751/2; translated to Ferns and Leighlin 19 Apr 1759 and to Kildare 13 Apr 1761; installed Dean of Christ Church, Dublin 16 Apr 1761; Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of Ireland from 8 Feb 1765; Privy Councillor (I) 22 Feb 1765; Vice-Chancellor, Dublin Univ., 1765-91; created Baron Rokeby (I) 26 Feb 1777; first Prelate, Order of St. Patrick, from the Order’s foundation in 1783; succ. brother as 3rd baronet 1785; financed the building of Canterbury Quadrangle, Christ Church, Oxford 1773-83; FSA 6 Jun 1776; spent large sums of money on improvement of his diocese, and left a bequest for the establishment of an university in Ulster; d. unm. 10 Oct 1794, aged 86. DNB.

POYNTER, SIR EDWARD JOHN, BART., only son of Ambrose Poynter FRIBA, Park Street, Westminster, architect and Inspector, HM Schools of Design, and his first wife Emma, dau. of Rev. Edward Forster; b. 20 Mar 1836; adm. 3 Jun 1847 (Rigaud's); Min. Can. 1849; left Whitsun 1849; went to Ipswich GS and then to Brighton Coll.; studied art in England 1854-6, Paris 1856-9; a painter; ARA Jan 1869, RA 29 Jun 1876, President Royal Academy 4 Nov 1896-1918; member, Royal Society of Painters in Water Colours 1883; Slade Professor of Art, University Coll. London 1871-5; Director for Art and Principal of National Art Training School, South Kensington 1875-81; Director, National Gallery 1894-1905; FSA 7 Jun 1894; member, Society of Dilettanti 1895; knighted 25 Nov 1896; created baronet 2 Aug 1902; KCVO 3 Jun 1913; GCVO 3 Jun 1918; Hon. DCL Oxford 1898; Hon. LittD Cambridge 1898; author, Ten Lectures on Art 1879; m. 9 Aug 1866 Agnes, dau. of Rev. George Browne Macdonald, Wolverhampton, Staffs., Wesleyan Methodist minister; d. 26 Jul 1919.

PHILLIMORE, SIR ROBERT JOSEPH, BART., third son of Joseph Phillimore (b. 1775, qv); b. 5 Nov 1810; adm. 1 Feb 1820 (G); KS 1824; elected head to Christ Church, Oxford 1828, matr. 16 May 1828, Westminster Student; BA 1832; MA 1834; BCL 1835; DCL 1838; Clerk, Board of Control 20 Feb 1832 – 6 Apr 1835; adm. Middle Temple 17 Nov 1837, called to bar 7 May 1841, Bencher 1858, Treasurer 1859; adm. advocate, Doctors’ Commons 2 Nov 1839; Chancellor, Dioceses of Chichester 1844, Salisbury 1845 and London 1855; QC 16 Jan 1858; MP (Peelite/Liberal) Tavistock Feb 1853-7; Admiralty Advocate 1855-62; Judge of Cinque Ports 1855-75; Queen’s Advocate 1862-7; knighted 17 Sep 1862; Dean of Arches 1867-75, Master of the Faculties 1873-5; Judge of High Court of Admiralty 1867-75; Privy Councillor 3 Aug 1867; Judge of Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division, High Court of Justice 1875-83; Judge Advocate-General 17 May 1871 – Aug 1873; created baronet 28 Dec 1881; a personal friend and political supporter of Gladstone; gave evidence before the Public Schools Commission 23 Jun 1862 (Parliamentary Papers 1864, vol. xxi, pp 428-32); Busby Trustee 19 May 1868- Jun 1884; Governor of the School from 1869; benefactor to the School; President, Elizabethan Club, from 1876; translated Lessing, Laocoon 1874; author, Commentaries on International law, 1854-61, and other legal works; m. 19 Dec 1844 Charlotte Anne, third dau. of John Denison MP, Ossington Hall, near Newark, Notts.; d. 4 Feb 1885. DNB.

In 1863 and 1864 he gave prizes for an English essay, and in the latter year he expressed his intention of giving an annual prize of £6 6s for the essay, and a further prize of £3 3s. for translation into English. These prizes were awarded by him up to his death in 1885, and continued to be awarded after his death from funding supplied by his son Walter George Frank Phillimore, 1st Baron Phillimore (qv), also one of the School’s benefactors.