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LOWTHER, WILLIAM, 1ST EARL OF LONSDALE, eldest son of Rev. Sir William Lowther, Bart., Rector of Swillington, Yorks., and Anne, eldest dau. of Rev. Charles Zouch, Vicar of Sandal, Yorks.; b. 29 Dec 1757; at Felsted Sch. 1769-71; adm. 26 Mar 1771; Trinity Coll. Cambridge, adm. fellow commoner 25 Jan 1776, matr. 1776; MP Carlisle 1780-4, Cumberland 1784-90, Rutland 1796-1802; succ. father as 2nd baronet 15 Jun 1788; Ensign, 80th Foot 17 May 1794; Brevet Lieut. -Col., 1 Jan 1800; succ. cousin as 2nd Viscount Lowther 24 May 1802; Col., Royal Cumberland Militia 24 May 1802 – still 1820; Lord Lieut., Cumberland and Westmorland, from 26 Jun 1802; created Earl of Lonsdale 7 Apr 1807; KG 18 Jul 1807; a patron of the fine arts; Wordsworth dedicated his poem The Excursion to him in Jul 1814; DL Yorkshire West Riding 1796, Rutland 1797; FSA (by 1831); m. 12 Jul 1781 Lady Augusta Fane, dau. of John Fane, 9th Earl of Westmorland (qv), and his first wife; d. 19 Mar 1844. DNB (s. v. William Lowther, 2nd Earl of Lonsdale).

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.

ASHBURNHAM, BERTRAM, 4TH EARL OF ASHBURNHAM, eldest son of George Ashburnham, 3rd Earl of Ashburnham (qv), and his second wife; b. 23 Nov 1797; adm. Midsummer 1811; left 1814; succ. father as 4th Earl of Ashburnham 27 Oct 1830; DL JP Sussex; a famous collector of rare books and manuscripts; he is said to have started his collection in 1814 while a boy at the School, by the purchase of a rare copy of the Secrets of Albertus Magnus for eighteen pence at Ginger’s shop in Great College Street, and to have continued buying with unwavering judgment and success until a few months before his death; m. 8 Jan 1840 Katherine Charlotte, dau. of George Baillie MP, Jerviswood, Lanarkshire, and sister of George Baillie-Hamilton, 10th Earl of Haddington; d. 22 Jun 1878.

FINCH, DANIEL, 6TH EARL OF WINCHILSEA AND 2ND EARL OF NOTTINGHAM, eldest son of Heneage Finch, 1st Earl of Nottingham (qv); b. 2 Jul 1647; adm.; a boarder of Busby’s for over three years (Busby’s Account Book); adm. Inner Temple 28 Jan 1657/8; Christ Church, Oxford, matr. 26 Jul 1662; MP Great Bedwyn Feb 1672/3 - Jan 1678/9, Lichfield Aug 1679-81 (check); a Lord of the Admiralty 14 May 1679 - Feb 1680/1; Privy Councillor 4 Feb 1679/80; First Lord of the Admiralty 19 Feb 1680/1 - May 1684; succ. father as 2nd Earl of Nottingham 18 Dec 1682; one of the last to accept the Revolution settlement of 1688-9, although he always kept aloof from the Jacobites; Secretary of State 19 Feb 1688/9 - Nov 1693; carried the Toleration Act, but failed to get his Comprehension Bill passed; again Secretary of State 15 May 1702 - May 1704, when he resigned on the Whigs becoming predominant in the ministry; an active head of the High Church party during the rest of the reign of Queen Anne; carried act forbidding the occasional conformity of dissenters, and opposed preliminaries of peace with France 1711; a leading “Hanoverian Tory” in the years before and immediately after the accession of George I; Lord President of the Council 22 Sep 1714 - Feb 1715/6, when dismissed for advocating leniency to the Jacobite peers then under sentence of death; succ. his second cousin as 6th Earl of Winchilsea 9 Sep 1729; FRS 26 Nov 1668; one of the original trustees of Busby’s will; author, The Answer of the Earl of Nottingham to Mr Whiston’s Letter to him concerning the Eternity of the Son of God, 1721; m. 1st, 16 Jun 1674 Lady Essex Rich, second dau. of Robert Rich, 3rd Earl of Warwick; m. 2nd, 29 Dec 1685 Hon. Anne Hatton, third dau. of Christopher Hatton, 1st Viscount Hatton; d. 1 Jan 1729/30. DNB.

AMHERST, WILLIAM PITT, 1ST EARL AMHERST, only son of Lieut. -Gen. William Amherst MP, and Elizabeth, dau. of Thomas Paterson, London; b. 14 Jan 1773; adm. 19 Feb 1781; in school lists 1786, Christmas 1788; Christ Church, Oxford, matr. 13 Oct 1789, commoner, Canoneer Student 23 Dec 1789 - 5 Aug 1800 (void, by marriage); BA 1793; MA 1797; Grand Tour (Switzerland, Italy) 1793-6; succ. uncle by special remainder as 2nd Baron Amherst 3 Aug 1797; a Lord of the Bedchamber 27 Apr 1802 - May 1804, Jun 1804- Mar 1812; Envoy to Court of Sicily 1809-11; again a Lord of the Bedchamber 18 Apr 1815- Mar 1823; Privy Councillor 30 Dec 1815; appointed Ambassador to China 20 Jan 1816, but was unable to obtain audience of the Chinese Emperor, and returned to England 1817; appointed Governor-General of Bengal 23 Oct 1822, taking office 1 Aug 1823; declared war against Burma 24 Feb 1824; supported claims of Rajah of Bhurtpore against Doorjan Sal; created Earl Amherst 19 Dec 1826; returned to England 1828; again a Lord of the Bedchamber 20 Nov 1829- May 1835; GCH 1834; nominated Governor of Canada by Sir Robert Peel when leaving office in 1835, but the appointment was cancelled by the new Whig ministry; LLD Cambridge 1835; Busby Trustee 11 May 1819; m. 1st, 24 Jul 1800 Sarah, Countess of Plymouth, widow of Other Windsor, 5th Earl of Plymouth, and eldest dau. of Andrew Archer, 2nd Baron Archer; m. 2nd, 25 May 1839 Mary, Countess of Plymouth, widow of Other Windsor, 6th Earl of Plymouth, and eldest dau. of John Frederick Sackville, 3rd Duke of Dorset (qv); d. 13 Mar 1857. DNB.

HOWARD, THOMAS, 2ND EARL OF ARUNDEL, only son of Philip Howard, 1st Earl of Arundel (attainted 1589), and Hon. Anne Dacre, dau. of Thomas Dacre, 5th Baron Dacre of Gillesland; b. 7 July 1586; at school under Camden (Lloyd, Memoirs, 1677, 284; Mary F. S. Hervey, Life and Correspondence and Collections of Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel, 1921, 15); said to have gone to Trinity Coll. Cambridge, but there is no record of his admission; restored to father’s titles of Earl of Arundel and Surrey 6 Jul 1603, and restored in blood 18 Apr 1604; introduced at court 1605; Lord Lieutenant, Sussex 1608; travelled on European continent 1609-10, acquiring an appreciation of art; installed KG 13 May 1611; Lord Lieutenant, Norfolk 18 Apr 1615; conformed to Church of England 25 Dec 1615, having previously been a Roman Catholic; Privy Councillor 16 Jul 1616; presided over committee of House of Lords in Bacon’s case Apr 1621; one of joint Commissioners of Great Seal 3 May – 10 Jul 1621; Earl Marshal of England from 29 Aug 1621; owing to his son’s clandestine marriage with Lady Elizabeth Stuart and his undisguised hostility to Duke of Buckingham, Arundel incurred displeasure of Charles I and was twice placed under restraint; restored to Privy Council in 1628 after reconciliation with King; Justice in Eyre, North of Trent, from 25 Feb 1634; sent on unsuccessful mission to Emperor Apr-Sep 1636 to urge the return of the Palatinate to the King’s nephew; General in command of army against Scots 1638; Lord Lieutenant, Cumberland 1639; Lord Steward of Household 12 Apr 1640 – Aug 1641, resigned; presided as Lord High Steward in trial of Earl of Strafford spring 1641; left England Feb 1642 and went abroad, settling in Padua, Italy; while abroad said to have contributed no less than £54, 000 to Royalist cause; his personal estate was sequestrated by Parliament; created Earl of Norfolk 6 Jun 1644; the first Englishman to form a large collection of works of art and was described by Horace Walpole as “the father of vertu in England”; the bulk of his collection of classical sculpture (the “Arundel Marbles”) was presented by his grandson to Oxford University in 1667; m. Sep 1606 Lady Aletheia Talbot, third dau. of Gilbert Talbot, 7th Earl of Shrewsbury; d. at Padua 24 Sep 1646. 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.

CAVENDISH-BENTINCK, LORD WILLIAM, second son of William Henry Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland (qv); b. 14 Sep 1774; at school under Vincent (Steward, Anniversary Dinner 1798, 1809); Ensign, 2nd Foot Guards, 21 Jan 1791; Capt., 2nd Light Dragoons, 1 Aug 1792; 11th Light Dragoons, 20 Feb 1793; Maj., 28th Foot, 21 Feb 1794; Lieut. -Col., 24th Light Dragoons, 20 Mar 1794; ADC to King George III and Brevet Col., 1 Jan 1798; Major-Gen., 1 Jan 1805; Col., 20th Light Dragoons, 4 Jan 1810 – Jan 1813 [check]; Lieut. -Gen., 4 Jun 1811; Col., 11th Light Dragoons, from 27 Jan 1813; Gen., 27 May 1825; served on Duke of York’s staff in the Netherlands 1794, with Marshal Suvorov’s army in Northern Italy 1799, and subsequently with Austrian forces until 1801; MP Camelford 19 Mar 1796-96, Nottinghamshire 1796 - Apr 1803; Governor of Madras, 17 Nov 1802, arriving in India 30 Aug 1803 and holding post until 11 Sep 1807; recalled by Directors of East India Co. following mutiny at Vellore, for which he was held mainly responsible; on staff of Sir Henry Burrard in Portugal, Aug 1808; commanded a brigade at battle of Corunna; Envoy Extraordinary to Court of Sicily, and Commander-in-Chief of British Forces there, 1811-4, conducting expeditions against enemy forces on east coast of Spain and at Genoa; MP Nottinghamshire 1812 - 12 Mar 1814, 8 Jul 1816-26, King’s Lynn 1826 - Jan 1828; KB 1 Feb 1813; GCB 2 Jan 1815; GCH 1817; Governor-General of Bengal 4 Jul 1827 - Nov 1834, also Commander-in-Chief 16 May 1833; Privy Councillor 17 Aug 1827; Governor-General of India 14 Nov 1834 - 20 Mar 1835; the first British statesman who adopted the policy of governing India in the interests of the people of that country; MP (Whig) Glasgow from 17 Feb 1836; Clerk of the Pipe in the Exchequer Oct 1783 - Oct 1833 (office abolished); m. 19 Feb 1803 Lady Mary Acheson, second dau. of Arthur Acheson, 1st Earl of Gosford (I); d. at Paris 17 Jun 1839. DNB.

ACTON, CHARLES JANUARIUS EDWARD, brother of Sir Ferdinand Richard Edward Dalberg-Acton, Bart. (qv); b. 6 Mar 1803; adm. 30 Sep 1813; left the same year on religious grounds, and went to a private tutor; Magdalene Coll. Cambridge, adm. fellow commoner 18 Jul 1819, matr. Lent 1820, residing to 1823; adm. Lincoln’s Inn 29 Jun 1822; entered Pontifica Accademia dei Nobili Ecclesiastici, Rome; Chamberlain to Pope Leo XII; attaché to Papal Nuncio in Paris 1828; Vice-Legate, Bologna to 1830; Secretary to Congregation for Regular Discipline; Auditor, Apostolic Chamber Jan 1837 - Jan 1842; Cardinal Priest from 24 Jan 1842, with titular church of Sta Maria della Pace; all English affairs of consequence were referred to Acton by Pope Gregory XVI and it was owing to his zeal that England was divided into eight instead of four Catholic districts in 1840; d. unm. at Naples 23 Jun 1847. DNB.