MONTAGU, CHARLES, 1ST EARL OF HALIFAX, fourth son of Hon. George Montagu MP, Horton, Northants, and Elizabeth, dau. of Sir Anthony Irby, Kt, Boston, Lincs.; b. 16 Apr 1661; adm. 1675; KS (Capt. ) 1677; Trinity Coll. Cambridge, adm. fellow commoner 8 Nov 1679; MA 1682; LLD 1705; Fellow, Trinity Coll. 1683 – c. 1689; High Steward, Cambridge Univ., from 1697; wrote with Matthew Prior (qv) The Hind and the Panther transvers’d to the story of the Country Mouse and the City Mouse, 1687; MP Maldon 1689-95, Westminster 1695 – 13 Dec 1700; a Clerk of the Privy Council 1689-92; a Lord Commissioner of the Treasury 21 Mar 1692 – Apr 1698; his proposal of 15 Dec 1692 to raise a million pounds by life annuities was the origin of the National Debt; his bill to establish the Bank of England became law 1694; Chancellor of the Exchequer 30 Apr 1694 – May 1699; Privy Councillor 10 May 1694; introduced the Recoinage Bill, and instituted the Window Tax to pay for the expense of the recoinage; issued the first Exchequer Bills and carried his bill for the formation of a consolidated fund to meet interest on the various government loans; First Lord of the Treasury 1 May 1697 – Nov 1699; Auditor of the Receipt of Exchequer 17 Nov 1699 – 30 Sep 1714; created Baron Halifax 13 Dec 1700; impeached by the House of Lords for obtaining grants from the King in the names of others for himself, and for his share in the Partition Treaty, but the impeachment was dismissed for want of prosecution 24 Jun 1701; charged by House of Commons for neglect of his duties as Auditor of the Exchequer, but his conduct as such was unanimously approved by the House of Lords 1703; successfully moved the rejection of the Occasional Conformity Bill 14 Dec 1703; a Commissioner for negotiating the Union with Scotland 10 Apr 1706; acted as one of the Lords Justices from Queen Anne’s death until the arrival of George I; First Lord of the Treasury from 11 Oct 1714; KG 16 Oct 1714; created Earl of Halifax 19 Oct 1714; Lord Lieutenant, Surrey, from 24 Dec 1714; a great parliamentary orator and brilliant financier; the lifelong friend of Sir Isaac Newton and a munificent patron of literature; FRS 30 Nov 1695, President 30 Nov 1695 – 30 Nov 1698; his collected poems were published in 1715; [? m. 1st, 3 Sep 1685 Elisabeth, dau. of Francis Forster, South Bailey, Durham]; m. Feb 1688 Anne, widow of his cousin Robert Montagu, 3rd Earl of Manchester, and dau. of Sir Christopher Yelverton, Bart.; d. 19 May 1715. Buried in Duke of Albemarle’s vault, Henry VII’s Chapel, Westminster Abbey. DNB.

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.

MURRAY, WILLIAM, 1ST EARL OF MANSFIELD, fourth son of David Murray, 5th Viscount Stormont (S), and Margery, only child of David Scott, Scotstarvet, Fifeshire; b. 2 Mar 1704/5; adm. May 1718; for his journey from Scotland to Westminster on back of his pony, and for some curious items in the account of monies disbursed on his behalf before and after admission, see Lord Campbell, Lives of the Chief Justices, ii, 313-6; KS (Capt. ) 1719; elected head to Christ Church, Oxford 1723, matr. 18 Jun 1723, Westminster Student 24 Dec 1723 – void 29 Jun 1737; BA 1727; MA 1730; defeated William Pitt (Earl of Chatham) in competition for prize offered by University for a Latin poem on the death of George I; Grand Tour; adm. Lincoln’s Inn 23 Apr 1724, called to bar 23 Nov 1730, Bencher 15 Dec 1742, Treasurer 1744; practised in Court of Chancery, and within two years of call had appeared in three appeal cases before House of Lords; KC 1742; Solicitor-Gen., 27 Nov 1742 – Apr 1754; MP Boroughbridge 29 Nov 1742 – 8 Nov 1756; his success in the House of Commons was as brilliant as his success at the bar, and he came to be regarded as the ablest government spokesman in the House; to discredit him, an old story was raked up about his toasting the Pretender in the company of James Johnson (adm. 1717/8, qv) and Andrew Stone (qv), but the Privy Council reported that there was no foundation for the charge; it was subsequently the subject of a debate in the House of Lords on 22 Mar 1753, but the Duke of Bedford’s motion for the production of the proceedings before the Privy Council was rejected by 122 votes to 5, and no further enquiry was made (Campbell, ii, 370-6; Walpole, Letters, ed. Toynbee, iii, 148; the papers relating to the charge of toasting are in the British Library, Newcastle MSS 33050, ff. 200-368); Attorney-Gen., 9 Apr 1754 – Nov 1756; defended the Duke of Newcastle’s administration against attacks by Pitt in the House of Commons; on the death in 1756 of Sir Dudley Ryder, Lord Chief Justice, Murray claimed the vacant post and a peerage; Lord Chief Justice of England 8 Nov 1756 – 4 Jun 1788; created Baron Mansfield 8 Nov 1756; Privy Councillor 19 Nov 1756; held seals of Chancellor of the Exchequer Apr – Jun 1757, Sep – Dec 1767; accepted cabinet seat in Duke of Newcastle’s second administration, without office but with disposal of the Scottish patronage, Jul 1757; created Earl of Mansfield 31 Oct 1776, with special remainder to Louisa, wife of his nephew David Murray, 7th Viscount Stormont (S) (qv); owing to his approval of the Roman Catholic Relief Bill of 1778, his house in Bloomsbury Square was sacked and burned by the Gordon Rioters 7 Jun 1780; the loss of his library and MSS was lamented by William Cowper (qv) in some charming verses (Works, ed. Southey, viii, 322-3); spoke for last time in House of Lords 23 Mar 1784; after 1788 lived in retirement at Caen Wood, Highgate; received a new creation as Earl of Mansfield 1 Aug 1792, with special remainder to his nephew David Murray, 7th Viscount Stormont (S) (qv); the position which he held for many years as a Cabinet minister was anomalous; in Feb 1775 he stated in the House of Lords that “he had been a Cabinet Minister part of the late reign, and the whole of the present”, but that he had ceased “to act as an efficient Cabinet minister” shortly before the formation of the Rockingham ministry (Parliamentary History, xviii, 274-5); twice refused post of Lord Chancellor, but acted as Speaker of House of Lords Jan 1770 – Jan 1771 and Feb – Dec 1783; as a parliamentary speaker Pitt was his only rival; by birth a Jacobite and by association a Tory, his politics were more or less dominated by his legal interests; his reputation as a statesman is somewhat blurred by his support of the coercing of the American colonies; as an advocate known as “the silver-tongued Murray”; his ascendancy as Lord Chief Justice is indicated by the claim that during the thirty-two years that he held office there were only two cases in which his opinion was not unanimously adopted by his colleagues, and that only two of his judgments were reversed on appeal (Campbell, ii, 395-6); Mansfield’s charges to juries on the law of libel made him unpopular with contemporary public opinion, and he was violently attacked by Junius; the founder of modern commercial law and one of the greatest of common law judges; as a young man a friend of Pope, who dedicated to him his Sixth Epistle of the First Book of Horace, and cdelebrated his charms in Book IV, Ode I; Busby Trustee 25 Feb 1741/2; m. 20 Sep 1738 Lady Elizabeth Finch, seventh dau. of Daniel Finch, 6th Earl of Winchilsea and 2nd Earl of Nottingham (qv); d. 20 Mar 1793. Buried North Transept, Westminster Abbey (monument), having expressed a desire in his will to be buried there on account of “the love I bear to the place of my early education”. DNB.

NEILE, RICHARD, son of Paul Neile, King Street, Westminster, tallow chandler, and Sybil Hasinge; bapt. 11 Mar 1561/2; at school under Grant (Wood, Athenae Oxon. , ii, 341); according to Leighton’s Epitome, 1646, 66, “the Schoolmaster was never off his Breech, by which he became so sorry a Dunce, that untill that hour he could never make a right Latin Theame”; St. John’s Coll. Camb. , adm. 22 Apr 1580, Burghley scholar (on nomination of Dean Goodman), matr. 1580; BA 1583/4; MA 1587; BD 1595; DD 1600 (incorp. Oxford 15 Jul 1600); ordained deacon and priest (Peterborough) 6 Jul 1589; Chaplain to Lord Burghley; held various ecclesiastical preferments; Treasurer of Chichester 5 Jul 1598 – Dec 1610, Prebendary 30 Apr 1604 – Jan 1613/4, also Canon Residentiary 20 Jan 1609/10- Jan 1613/4; Master of the Savoy 24 Jan 1602/3-5; Dean of Westminster 5 Nov 1605 – Dec 1610; took a great interest in the School, and while Dean is said to have sent two or three scholars yearly to the Universities at his own cost; Rector of Southfleet, Kent 1608-10; consecrated Bishop of Rochester 9 Oct 1608; translated to Lichfield and Coventry 6 Dec 1610, and to Lincoln 18 Feb 1613/4; made a violent attack on the House of Commons 24 May 1614, for which he finally apologised with tears; translated to Durham 9 Oct 1617; Privy Councillor 29 Apr 1627; translated to Winchester 7 Feb 1627/8; accused of Arminianism by the Commons 13 Jun 1629; sat regularly in Court of High Commission and in the Star Chamber; Archbishop of York from 19 Mar 1631/2; an uncompromising churchman and strict disciplinarian; of little learning, but of much address and capacity for business; m. ; d. 31 Oct 1640. DNB.

In the account which he drew up of what had been done by the Dean and Chapter of Westminster during the time that he was Dean he records “Myself have yearly sent out of this School (besides those six that have been elected), whom I have gotten placed in other colleges besides Trinity College and Christ Church, some years two, some years three, and with some charge to me ; which I have carefully done in a thankful remembrance of God’s goodness showed to me in my being preferred from this School to St.John’s College, Cambridge, by the honourable bounty of my foundress and patroness, the Lady Mildred Burghley”.

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.

PAGET, HENRY WILLIAM, 1ST MARQUIS OF ANGLESEY, eldest son of Henry Paget (formerly Bayly), 1st Earl of Uxbridge, and Jane, only dau. of Very Rev. Arthur Champagné, Dean of Clonmacnoise; b. 17 May 1768; adm. 8 Sep 1777; left 1784; Christ Church, Oxford, matr. 14 Oct 1784; MA 1786; Capt., Staffordshire Militia 12 Dec 1790; raised a company of infantry from his father’s tenantry which became known as the 80th Foot, of which he became Lieut. -Col., (temp. rank) 12 Sep 1793; served with it under Duke of York in Flanders 1794; Lieut., 7th Foot 11 Mar 1795; Capt., 23rd Foot 25 Mar 1795; Maj., 65th Foot 29 May 1795; Lieut. -Col. commandant, 80th Foot 30 May 1795; 16th Light Dragoons 16 Jun 1795; Brevet Col., 3 May 1796; Lieut. -Col., 7th Light Dragoons 6 Apr 1797; commanded cavalry brigade in Duke of York’s expedition to Netherlands 1799; Col., 7th Light Dragoons 16 May 1801 – Dec 1842; Major-Gen., 29 Apr 1802; Lieut. -Gen., 25 Apr 1808; in command of cavalry which covered Sir John Moore’s retreat to Corunna 1808; commanded an infantry division in Walcheren expedition 1809; commanded allied cavalry and horse artillery at battle of Waterloo, where he lost a leg; Gen., 12 Aug 1819; Col., Royal Horse Guards, from 20 Dec 1842; Field Marshal 9 Nov 1846; MP Caernarvon 1790-6, Milborne Port 1796 – Jun 1804, 1806 – Jan 1810; succ. father as 2nd Earl of Uxbridge 13 Mar 1812; created Marquis of Anglesey 4 Jul 1815; supported Tory governments to 1829; Master-Gen. of the Ordnance (with a seat in the Cabinet) 30 Apr 1827 – 29 Jan 1828; Privy Councillor 30 Apr 1827; Lord Lieut., Ireland 27 Feb 1828 – dismissal Jan 1829, for adopting conciliatory attitude to Roman Catholic claims; LLD Trinity Coll. Dublin 6 Mar 1828; reappointed Lord Lieut. Ireland by incoming Whig government 23 Dec 1830, holding post to resignation on health grounds Sep 1833; took Whig whip in House of Lords 1830 onwards; Master-Gen. of the Ordnance (without seat in Cabinet) 8 Jul 1846 – 27 Feb 1852; Lord Lieut., Anglesey, from 28 Apr 1812, and Lord Lieut., Staffordshire, from 3 Feb 1849; GCB 2 Jan 1815; GCH 1816; KG 19 Feb 1818; Busby Trustee 27 May 1820; m. 1st, 25 Jul 1795 Lady Caroline Elizabeth Villiers, third dau. of George Villiers, 4th Earl of Jersey; m. 2nd, 1810 Lady Charlotte Cadogan, divorced wife of Hon. Henry Wellesley (afterwards 1st Earl Cowley), and sister of Hon. William Bromley Cadogan (qv); d. 29 Apr 1854. DNB.

PEARCE, ZACHARY, son of John Pearce, St. Giles in the Fields, Holborn, Middlesex, distiller; b. 8 Sep 1692; adm. 12 Feb 1704; QS 1707; elected to Trinity Coll. Cambridge 1710, adm. pens. 8 Jun 1710, scholar 14 Apr 1711; BA 1713/4; MA 1717; DD Lambeth 1 Jun 1724; Minor Fellow, Trinity Coll. 29 Sep 1716, Major Fellow 1 Jul 1717; ordained deacon 22 Dec 1717, priest 8 Jun 1718 (both Ely); Chaplain to Earl of Macclesfield, Lord Chancellor; Rector of St. Bartholomew’s by the Exchange, London 19 Mar 1719/20-4; FRS 30 Jun 1720; Chaplain in Ordinary to George I and II 1721-39; Vicar of St. Martin in the Fields, London 10 Jan 1723/4-56; Dean of Winchester 2 Aug 1739; consecrated Bishop of Bangor 21 Feb 1747/8; Dean of Westminster 4 May 1756 – 24 Jun 1768, res.; translated from Bangor to Rochester 9 Jul 1756, holding see to death; edited Longinus, 1721, and other works; bequeathed his library to Dean and Chapter of Westminster; m. Feb 1721/2 Mary, dau. of Richard Adams, Holborn, distiller; d. 29 Jun 1774. Monument, South Aisle, Westminster Abbey. 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.

PETTY-FITZMAURICE, HENRY, 3RD MARQUIS OF LANSDOWNE, only son of William Petty, 1st Marquis of Lansdowne KG PC, Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury, and his second wife Lady Louisa Fitzpatrick, sister of John Fitzpatrick, 2nd Earl of Upper Ossory (I) (qv); grandson of John Petty, 1st Earl of Shelburne (qv); b. 2 Jul 1780; at school 1789; up Clapham’s; in school list 1795; still at school 1796; Edinburgh Univ.; Trinity Coll. Oxford, adm. nob. 26 Oct 1798; MA 1801; Hon. LLD 1811; styled Lord Henry Petty to 1809; MP Calne 1802 – Jan 1806, Cambridge Univ. 7 Feb 1806-7, Camelford 1807 – 15 Nov 1809; took Whig whip in House of Commons; Chancellor of the Exchequer 10 Feb 1806 – 31 Mar 1807; Privy Councillor 5 Feb 1806; succeeded half-brother as 3rd Marquis of Lansdowne 15 Nov 1809, and cousin as Earl of Kerry (I) 4 Jul 1818; an active member of the Whig opposition in the House of Lords 1809-27, acting as its de facto leader 1823-7; supported the abolition of the slave trade and the removal of Roman Catholic and Jewish disabilities; led the main body of the Whig Party into coalition in Apr 1827 with the liberal wing of the Tory Party, headed by George Canning, serving in Canning’s cabinet as Minister without Portfolio Apr – Jul 1827 and as Secretary of State for Home Affairs in Canning and Goderich administrations 16 Jul 1827 – Jan 1828; Lord President of the Council in Whig administrations 22 Nov 1830 – Nov 1834, 18 Apr 1835 – Sep 1841 and 6 Jul 1846 – Feb 1852; led Whig peers in House of Lords 1843-55; declined to form government on Lord Derby’s resignation Dec 1852; member of cabinet in Aberdeen and Palmerston administrations Dec 1852 – Feb 1858, without holding any official position; refused offer of a dukedom Sep 1857; Lord Lieut., Wiltshire, from 23 Nov 1827; one of original members of Judicial Committee of Privy Council 14 Aug 1833; KG 5 Feb 1836; FRS 4 Apr 1811; member, Society of Dilettanti 1815; Busby Trustee 18 May 1813; a man of wide social influence and moderate political views; m. 30 Mar 1808 Lady Louisa Emma Fox-Strangways, sister of William Thomas Horner Fox-Strangways, 4th Earl of Ilchester (qv); d. 31 Jan 1863, from the effects of a fall. Memorial bust, Westminster Abbey. DNB.