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.

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.

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.

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.

PELHAM-HOLLES, THOMAS, 1ST DUKE OF NEWCASTLE (cr. 1715 and 1756), elder son of Thomas Pelham, 1st Baron Pelham, and his second wife Lady Grace Holles, youngest dau. of Gilbert Holles, 3rd Earl of Clare, and sister of John Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle; b. 21 Jul 1693; at school under Knipe (Steward, Anniversary Dinner 1728/9, 1756); Clare Hall, Cambridge, adm.nob. 9 Mar 1709/10; LLD 25 Apr 1728; succeeded to estates of his uncle, John, Duke of Newcastle, in Jul 1711, and assumed additional surname of Holles; succ. father as 2nd Baron Pelham 23 Feb 1711/2; created Earl of Clare 19 Oct 1714; Lord Lieut., Middlesex 28 Oct 1714 – 2 Feb 1763, and of Nottinghamshire 28 Oct 1714 – 15 Jan 1763 and from 12 Sep 1765; with his brother Henry Pelham (qv) raised a troop for service against the Pretender in 1715; created Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne 11 Aug 1715; Lord Chamberlain of the Household 4 Apr 1717 – May 1724; Privy Councillor 16 Apr 1717; KG 30 Apr 1718; Secretary of State for the Southern Dept. 2 Apr 1724 – Feb 1747/8; joint Secretary of State for Scotland 25 Aug 1725 – 15 May 1730; managed the negotiations which led to the formation of Lord Wilmington’s administration on Walpole’s downfall, while retaining his own post; opposed policy of Carteret and succeeded in obtaining his dismissal from the cabinet; forced George II to accept Pitt as a minister 1746; Secretary of State for the Northern Dept. Feb 1747/8 – Mar 1754; First Lord of the Treasury 6 Mar 1754 – 11 Nov 1756; created Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyme 13 Nov 1756 (with special remainder to Earl of Lincoln); formed a coalition with Pitt and was again First Lord of the Treasury Jun 1757 – 26 May 1762; Lord Lieut., Sussex 4 Jul 1761 – 15 Jan 1763; created Baron Pelham of Stanmer 4 May 1762 (with special remainder to Thomas Pelham, afterwards 1st Earl of Chichester (qv)); on his leaving office in May 1762 he and his principal political followers were deprived of their remaining official positions; Lord Privy Seal 25 Aug 1765 – Jul 1766; High Steward, Cambridge University Jul 1737 – Dec 1748, Chancellor from 14 Dec 1748; FRS 26 Dec 1749; Busby Trustee 30 Mar 1732; gave £100 towards building of New Dormitory; m. 2 Apr 1717 Lady Henrietta Godolphin, eldest dau. of Francis Godolphin, 2nd Earl of Godolphin; d. 17 Nov 1768. DNB.

KEPPEL, AUGUSTUS, 1ST VISCOUNT KEPPEL, brother of George Keppel, 3rd Earl of Albemarle (qv); b. 25 Apr 1725; adm. May 1733; left 1735; entered Royal Navy 1735, joining HMS Oxford; served under Anson in HMS Centurion during his voyage round the world; Lieut., 25 Jul 1744; Cdr., 7 Nov 1744; Post Capt., 11 Dec 1744; on special mission to Dey of Algiers 1748-51; Commander-in-Chief, North American station 1754-5; commaned squadron sent to Goree 1758; took part in battle of Quiberon Bay 1759; commanded squadron off Belleisle 1761; Rear-Adm., 21 Oct 1762; second-in-command of expedition against Havana 1762; Vice-Adm., 24 Oct 1770; Adm., 29 Apr 1778; Commander-in-Chief, Grand Fleet 22 Mar 1778; court-martialled for his conduct of operations off Brest 1779, but the charge was found “malicious and ill-founded” and Keppel became the hero of the day; received freedom, City of London 11 Dec 1779; MP Chichester 15 Jan 1755-61, Windsor 1761-80, Surrey 1780 – 27 Apr 1782; a Colonel of Marines 1760-2; Groom of the Bedchamber 17 Feb 1761 – Dec 1766; a Lord of the Admiralty 21 Dec 1765 – Dec 1766; First Lord of the Admiralty 30 Mar 1782 – Jan 1783, 8 Apr – Dec 1783; Privy Councillor 30 Mar 1782; created Viscount Keppel 27 Apr 1782; d. unm. 3 Oct 1786. 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.