Showing 889 results

WILSON, SIR ROBERT THOMAS, brother of Major William Wilson (qv); b. 17 Aug 1777; adm. 19 Apr 1786; left 1788; at Winchester Coll. 1789-91; Cornet, 15th Light Dragoons 24 Apr 1794; Lieut., 30 Oct 1794; Capt., 21 Sep 1796; Maj., Hompesch’s Mounted Riflemen 28 Jun 1800; Lieut. -Col., 27 Feb 1802; half-pay Oct 1802; 19th Light Dragoons Aug 1804; 20th Light Dragoons 7 Mar 1805; Brevet Col. and ADC to King 25 Aug 1810; Lieut. -Col., 22nd Light Dragoons 10 Dec 1812; Major-Gen., 4 Jun 1813; served in Flanders 1794-5; one of the eight officers commanding the two squadrons of the 15th Light Dragoons which participated in the rout of a much superior French force at Villers-en-Cauchies 24 Apr 1794, preventing the capture of the Emperor Francis II by the French; for this brilliant action Wilson and the other officers were presented with a commemporative gold medal in 1798 by the Emperor, who also conferred on them in 1800 the Cross of the Order of Maria Theresa; George III permitted them to accept this order on 2 Jun 1801, with the rank of Baron of the Holy Roman Empire and knighthood attached; served at the Helder 1799, in Egypt 1801 and at the Cape of Good Hope 1806; present at battle of Eylau 1807; commanded Royal Lusitanian Legion in Portugal 1808-9, receiving rank of Brigadier-Gen. in Portuguese army; accompanied Sir Robert Liston to Constantinope in 1812, with local rank of Brigadier-Gen. in British army; British Commissioner with the Russian Army in 1812-3, taking part in the battles of Lutzen, Bautzen, Dresden, Kulm and Kranpen; British Commissioner with Austrian Army in Germany and Italy 1813-4, serving at Leipzig, Vicenza, Verona and Valaggio; assisted in escape of Comte de Lavalette from Paris and sentenced to three months’ imprisonment 24 Apr 1816; MP Southwark 1818-31; dismissed from British army 15 Sep 1821 for attempting to prevent bloodshed during the disturbance at Queen Caroline’s funeral on the previous day; went to Spain in 1823 to take part in the war there; reinstated in Army with rank of Lieut. -Gen. on accession of William IV in 1830; although he had entered the House of Commons as a member of the Radical wing of the Whig party, he refused to vote for the Reform Bill of 1831, which he regarded as “the initiatory measure of a republican form of government”, and retired from active political life; Col., 15th Light Dragoons, from 29 Dec 1835; Gen., 23 Nov 1841; Governor and Commander in Chief, Gibraltar 4 Oct 1843 – Nov 1848; although the recipient of a number of distinctions from the Allied Sovereigns, he was never honoured by his own; author, The History of the British Expedition to Egypt, 1802, and other works; m. at Gretna Green 7 Jul 1797, and at St. George’s, Hanover Square, London 10 Mar 1798 Jemima, dau. of Col. William Belford, Harbledown, Kent; d. 9 May 1849. Buried North Aisle, Westminster Abbey. DNB.

WREN, SIR CHRISTOPHER, son of Very Rev. Christopher Wren, Dean of Windsor, and Mary, dau. of Robert Cox, Fonthill Abbey, Wilts.; bapt. 10 Nov 1632; adm. 1641; left 1646; Wadham Coll. Oxford, adm. fellow commoner 25 Jun 1649 (or 1650); BA 18 Mar 1650/1; MA 1653; DCL 1661; LLD Cambridge 1662; Fellow, All Souls Coll. Oxford 1653-7; Professor of Astronomy, Gresham Coll., London 1657-61; Savilian Professor of Astronomy, Oxford Univ. 5 Feb 1660/1- 9 Mar 1673; initiated experiments on the cause of the variations of the barometer; conducted research into anatomy and medical subjects; drew up the preamble to the first charter of the Royal Society 1660; one of the Council named in the second charter of the Royal Society 22 Apr 1663; FRS 20 May 1663 (original Fellow); one of the three Commissioners named by Charles II in October 1666 to consider rebuilding the city of London after the Great Fire; Surveyor of the King’s Works Mar 1668/9-1718; knighted 20 Nov 1673; adm. Lincoln’s Inn 25 Apr 1676; President, Royal Society 30 Nov 1680 – 30 Nov 1682; Comptroller of Works, Windsor Castle 1684-1716; MP Plympton 1685-7, Windsor Jan 1688/9 – unseated 14 May 1689, Mar 1689/90 – unseated 17 May 1690, Weymouth and Melcombe Regis Nov 1701-2; Surveyor of St. Paul’s Cathedral from 1675; Surveyor, Greenwich Hospital 1696-1716; Surveyor to the Fabric, Westminster Abbey, from 1699; architect of St. Paul’s Cathedral, many London city churches and halls of City livery companies, Temple Bar, the Monument, Greenwich Hospital, Chelsea Hospital, the Sheldonian Theatre and Old Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, Tom Tower, Christ Church, Oxford, and Neville’s Court and the Library, Trinity Coll. Cambridge; made extensive alterations and additions at Hampton Court, Windsor Castle, Kensington Palace and Westminster Abbey; purchased Wroxall Abbey estate, Warwickshire, for his son 1713; m. 1st, 27 Dec 1669 Faith, dau. of Sir Thomas Coghill, Kt, Bletchingdon, Oxfordshire; m. 2nd, 24 Feb 1676/7 Hon. Jane Fitzwilliam, sister of Hon. Charles Fitzwilliam (qv); d. 25 Feb 1722/3. Buried St. Paul’s Cathedral. DNB.

BUNBURY, SIR HENRY EDWARD, BART., son of Henry William Bunbury (qv); b. 4 May 1778; in school list Christmas 1788 (see also Memoirs and Remains of Sir H. E. Bunbury, Bart., 1868); spoke the prologue to Townley’s High Life below Stairs, acted by the Town Boys, Dec. 1789 (Annual Register, 1790, Appendix, 134-5); Page of Honour to Queen Charlotte c. 1787 – Jan 1795; Ensign, 2nd Foot Guards, 14 Jan 1795; Capt., 16th Light Dragoons 16 Aug 1797; Maj., 9th West India Regt., 11 Mar 1802; Lieut. -Col. in the Army, and Assist. QMG 31 Dec 1803; Lieut. -Col., Newfoundland Fencibles, 28 Mar 1805; Brevet Col., 1 Jan 1812; Maj. -Gen., 4 Jun 1814; Lieut. -Gen., 22 Jul 1830; served on Duke of York’s staff on expedition to Netherlands, 1799; QMG to Sir James Craig’s Expeditionary Force in Southern Italy and Sicily, 1805; Chief of Staff to Sir John Stuart (qv) at battle of Maida, 1806; Under-Secretary of State, War and the Colonies, 2 Nov 1809 - 5 Jul 1816; KCB 2 Jan 1815; succ. his uncle as 7th baronet, 31 Mar 1821; High Sheriff, Suffolk, 1825-6; MP Suffolk 1830-2; Vice-Lieut., Suffolk; a pioneer of the volunteer movement; FSA (by 1831); member, Society of Dilettanti, 1830; author, Correspondence of Sir Thomas Hanmer, Bart., 1838, and other works; m. 1st, 4 Apr 1807 Louisa Emilia, dau. of Gen. Hon. Henry Edward Fox; m. 2nd, 22 Sep 1830 Emily Louisa, dau. of Col. Hon. George Napier; d. 13 Apr 1860. DNB.

MONTAGU, EDWARD WORTLEY, brother of Francis Wortley (qv) ; b. 8 Feb 1678 ; at school under Busby (Steward, Anniversary Dinner 1730/1) ; Trinity Coll. Cambridge, adm. fellow commoner 2 Aug 1693, matr. 1693/4; adm. Middle Temple 25 Jul 1693, Inner Temple 8 Feb 1705/6; Grand Tour (Italy) 1700-1, 1703-4; MP Huntingdon 1705-13, Westminster 1715-22, Huntingdon 1722-34, Peterborough from 1734; a Lord Commissioner of the Treasury 13 Oct 1714 – Oct 1715; Ambassador to Constantinople 5 Jun 1716 – recalled 28 Oct 1717; his appointment was in order to effect a reconciliation between the Emperor and the Turks; returned to England 1718; the friend of Addison and of Steele, who dedicated to him the second volume of The Tatler; satirized by Pope in his Second Satire of the Second Book of Horace; his wife went abroad in 1739, and they did not meet again; lived on his estate at Wharncliffe and devoted himself to amassing money; he seems to have been known both as Edward Wortley and as Edward Wortley Montagu; lic. to m. 12 Aug 1712 Lady Mary Pierrepont (Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, letter writer : see DNB), eldest dau. of Evelyn Pierrepont, 1st Duke of Kingston; d. 22 Jan 1761.

WORTLEY, FRANCIS, elder son of Hon. Sidney Wortley MP (formerly Montagu), Wortley, Yorks., and Anne Newcomen, natural dau. of Sir Francis Wortley, Bart.; nephew of Hon. Oliver Montagu (qv); b. ; at school under Busby (Admissions to Trin.Coll.Camb., ii, 587) ; Trinity Coll. Cambridge, adm. fellow commoner 2 Aug 1693, aged 17; Grand Tour (at Padua 1697) ; MP Huntingdon 14 Dec 1697-1702; fought a duel with Hon. Charles Boyle, his fellow MP for Huntingdon, Mar 1701 ; d. unm. Sep 1702.

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.

BANKES, GEORGE, third son of Henry Bankes (qv); b. 1 Dec 1787; in school lists 1795,1797,1801,1803; Trinity Hall, Cambridge, adm. pens. 29 Jun 1805, scholar, matr. Lent 1806; LLB 1812; Fellow of Trin. Hall 19 Feb 1814 -22; adm. Lincoln’s Inn 22 May 1810, called to bar 2 Jul 1813; Inner Temple 1815; Commissioner of Appeals of Excise 6 May 1815 – Feb 1816; a Commissioner of Bankrupts 1822 (occurs in annual lists 1823-8); MP Corfe Castle 13 Feb 1816 - Mar 1823, 23 Feb 1826-32, Dorset from 1841; Recorder of Weymouth from 1823; Cursitor Baron of the Exchequer from 16 Jul 1824; Secretary, Board of Control 1828 - Feb 1830; member, Board of Control Feb - Nov 1830; a Lord Commissioner of the Treasury Apr - Nov 1830; Judge Advocate-General 28 Feb - Dec 1852; Privy Councillor 27 Feb 1852; chairman, Dorset Quarter Sessions; a Conservative politician; author, The Story of Corfe Castle, 1853; m. 8 Jun 1822 Georgina Charlotte, only child of Adm. of the Fleet Sir Charles Edmund Nugent GCH MP; d. 6 Jul 1856. DNB.

BARRINGTON, WILLIAM KEPPEL, 6TH VISCOUNT BARRINGTON (I), eldest son of George Barrington, 5th Viscount Barrington (I) (qv); b. 1 Oct 1793; adm. (G) ; KS 1806; elected head to Christ Church, Oxford 1811, matr. 28 May 1811; BA 1814; adm. Lincoln’s Inn 15 Nov 1814; DL JP co. Durham, High Sheriff 1825-6, also DL JP Berkshire; succeeded father as 6th Viscount Barrington (I) 5 Mar 1829; MP (Conservative) Berkshire 1837-57; Chairman, Great Western Railway Co. 1856-7; a Busby Trustee from 3 Jun 1845; m. 21 Apr 1823 Hon. Jane Elizabeth Liddell, fourth dau. of Thomas Liddell, 1st Baron Ravensworth; d. 9 Feb 1867.

BARWELL, WILLIAM, son of William Barwell, EICS Bengal, Governor of Bengal, a director of the East India Company, and his third wife Elizabeth Pierce, Calcutta; bapt. 13 Oct 1740; adm. (aged 9) Jan 1749/50 (Grant's); in school list 1754.

BRAND, THOMAS, son of Thomas Brand MP, The Hoo, Kimpton, Herts. , and Lady Carolina Pierrepont, eldest dau. of Evelyn Pierrepont, 1st Duke of Kingston; b. ; in school list Jun 1764; left 15 Dec 1764; Trinity Coll. Cambridge, adm. fellow commoner 19 Jan 1765, aged 15, matr. 1765; Grand Tour (Italy) 1769-70; succeeded to father’s Hertfordshire estate 1770; MP Arundel 1774-80; again in Italy 1778-81; JP Hertfordshire (occurs 1786, 1788-92); member, Society of Dilettanti, 1776; m. 20 Apr 1771 Gertrude, afterwards Baroness Dacre, dau. of Hon. Charles Roper; d. 21 Feb 1794.