Showing 91 results

ROWE, NICHOLAS, son of John Rowe, Lanerton, Devon, Serjeant at Law, and Elizabeth, dau. of Jasper Edwards (qv); bapt. 30 Jun 1674; adm.; KS 1688; left 1691; adm. Middle Temple 4 Aug 1691, called to bar 22 May 1696; abandoned law for writing for the stage; his play Ambitious Stepmother was performed at Lincoln’s Inn Fields 1700, Tamerlane in 1702 and The Fair Penitent in 1703; edited Shakespeare’s works, 1709; Under-Secretary to Secretary of State for Scotland Feb 1709 – Jul 1711; Poet Laureate from 1 Aug 1715; Secretary of Presentations, Chancery, from 5 May 1718; his verse translation of Lucan’s Pharsalia was published just after his death; a collected edition of his plays and occasional poems appeared in 1727; m. 1st, Antonia, dau. of Anthony Parsons, Auditor of the Revenue; m. 2nd, 1717 Anne, dau. of Joseph Devenish, Buckham, Dorset; d. 6 Dec 1718. Buried Poets’ Corner, Westminster Abbey. DNB.

BRETT, WILLIAM BALIOL, 1ST VISCOUNT ESHER, brother of Wilford George Brett (qv); b. 13 Aug 1815; adm. (G) 11 Jan 1830; Gonville and Caius Coll. Cambridge, adm. pens. 25 Jun 1835, matr. Mich. 1835; rowed in Cambridge eight against Leander 1837, 1838, and against Oxford 1839; stroked the Cambridge Subscription Rooms eight which won the Grand Challenge Cup at Henley 1841; BA 1840; MA 1845; adm. Lincoln’s Inn 30 Apr 1839, called to bar 29 Jan 1846, Bencher 1861-8; Northern circuit; QC 22 Feb 1861; contested (Cons) Rochdale 1865; MP (Cons) Helston 5 Jul 1866 - Aug 1868; Solicitor-Gen., 10 Feb - Aug 1868; knighted 29 Feb 1868; Serjeant-at-law; Justice of the Common Pleas 24 Aug 1868-75; Judge of the High Court, Queen’s Bench Division, 1875-6; Lord Justice of Appeal 27 Oct 1876 - Apr 1883; Privy Councillor 28 Nov 1876; Master of the Rolls 3 Apr 1883 - Oct 1897; cr. Baron Esher 24 Jul 1885; cr. Viscount Esher 11 Nov 1897; Hon. Fellow, Gonville and Caius Coll., 7 Oct 1886; a Busby Trustee 18 May 1886 - Jun 1890; m. 3 Apr 1850 Eugénie, only dau. of Louis Mayer, Lyon, France, and step-dau. of Col. John Gurwood CB; d. 24 May 1899. DNB.

WALDEGRAVE, JAMES, 2nD EARL WALDEGRAVE, eldest son of James Waldegrave, 1st Earl Waldegrave PC KG, Ambassador at Paris, and Mary, second dau. of Sir John Webb, Bart., Hatherop, Gloucs.; b. 14 Mar 1714/5; adm. Feb 1723/4; left 1725; went to Eton Coll.; styled Viscount Chewton 1729-41; succ. father as 2nd Earl Waldegrave 11 Apr 1741; a Lord of the Bedchamber 13 Dec 1743 – 18 Dec 1752; an intimate friend and adviser of George II; Lord Warden of the Stannaries 16 Apr 1751-6; Governor and Keeper of the Privy Purse to George, Prince of Wales, and to Prince Edward 18 Dec 1752 – Oct 1756; Privy Councillor 20 Dec 1752; a Teller of the Exchequer from 5 Feb 1757; employed by George II as an intermediary with his Ministers, and was finally compelled by him to accept the office of Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury, but his tenure was only for five days, 8-12 Jun 1757; LLD Cambridge 3 Jul 1749; FRS 14 Dec 1749; KG 30 Jun 1757 (invested); his Memoirs were published in 1821; m. 15 May 1759 Maria (subsequently wife of HRH William Henry, Duke of Gloucester), natural dau. of Hon. Sir Edward Walpole KB; d. 28 Apr 1763. DNB.

RUSSELL, JOHN, 1ST EARL RUSSELL, third son of John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford (qv), and his first wife; b. 18 Aug 1792; adm. 23 Sep 1803 (G); fag to his brother Lord Tavistock; kept a diary while at the School, including a list of the School for Oct 1803; left Bartholomewtide 1804; Edinburgh Univ. 1809-12; MP Tavistock 4 May 1813 – Mar 1817, 1818-20, Huntingdonshire 1820-6, Bandon Bridge 19 Dec 1826-30, Tavistock 24 Nov 1830-1, Devon 1831-2, South Devon 1832 – Apr 1835, Stroud 29 May 1835-41, City of London 1841- 30 Jul 1861; made his first speech in favour of parliamentary reform 14 Dec 1819; successfully moved repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts 26 Feb 1828; Privy Councillor 22 Nov 1830; Paymaster-Gen. of the Forces 13 Dec 1830 – Nov 1834, also member of Cabinet Jun 1831 – Nov 1834; moved first reading of Reform Bill 31 Mar 1831; introduced Reform Bill for second time 24 Jun 1831, and for third time 12 Dec 1831; advocated reform of the Irish Church 1833-4; leader of Whigs in House of Commons Apr 1835 onwards; Secretary of State for Home Affairs 18 Apr 1835 – Aug 1839; carried through the Municipal Corporations Bill, and diminished the number of offences liable to capital punishment; Secretary for War and the Colonies 30 Aug 1839 – Aug 1841; declared for total repeal of the Corn Laws in his Edinburgh Letter of 22 Nov 1845, and supported their repeal by Peel in 1846; Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury 6 Jul 1846 – Feb 1852; carried the bill for removing Jewish disabilities through the House of Commons 1848, and responsible for the Ecclesiastical Titles Bill of 1851; Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs in Aberdeen ministry Dec 1852 – Feb 1853, when he resigned but remained in Cabinet without office and continued to lead the House of Commons; Lord President of the Council 12 Jun 1854 – Jan 1855, resigning because of his dissatisfaction with the conduct of the Crimean War; Plenipotentiary to Vienna Congress 11 Feb 1855; Secretary of State for the Colonies 1 May – 13 Jul 1855; opposed Disraeli’s Reform Bill of 1859; Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs 18 Jun 1859 – Nov 1865; the Reform Bill introduced by him on 1 Mar 1860 was subsequently dropped; created Earl Russell 30 Jul 1861; KG 21 May 1862; Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury 6 Nov 1865 – 18 Jun 1866, resigning on defeat of his Government’s Reform Bill by the ‘Adullamites”; declined Cabinet office in Gladstone’s administration formed in Dec 1868; received freedom City of London 9 Jul 1831; LLD Edinburgh Univ. 8 Nov 1845; FRS 6 May 1847; Lord Rector, Aberdeen Univ., from 1863; GCMG 25 Mar 1869; Busby Trustee 2 Jun 1863; a sincere and able Whig with the courage of his opinions, and a store of constitutional and historical knowledge; although no orator, a skilful debater and creator of telling phrases; edited Letters of the Fourth Duke of Bedford, 1842-6; author, Essay on the English Constitution, and other works; m. 1st, 11 Apr 1835 Adelaide, widow of Thomas Lister, 2nd Baron Ribblesdale (qv), and half-sister of Thomas Henry Lister (qv); m. 2nd, 20 Jul 1841 Lady Frances Anna Maria Elliot, second dau. of Gilbert Elliot, 2nd Earl of Minto; d. 28 May 1878. 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.

LONGLEY, CHARLES THOMAS, sixteenth child of John Longley, Boley Hill, Rochester, Kent, barrister, Recorder of Rochester and Magistrate, Thames Police Court, and Elizabeth, dau. of Thomas Bond, Battersea Rise, Surrey; b. 28 Jul 1794; adm. Christmas 1807 (G); KS (Capt. ) 1808; elected to Christ Church, Oxford 1812, matr. 9 May 1812, Westminster Student, Tutor and Censor 1825-8; 1st cl. Classics 1815; BA 1815; MA 1818; BD and DD 1829; Examiner, Classical Schools 1825, 1826; Proctor 1827; Whitehall Preacher 1829; ordained deacon 1818, priest 1819 (both Oxford); Vicar of Cowley, Oxfordshire 1 Nov 1823; Rector of West Tytherley, Hampshire 30 Aug 1827; Head Master, Harrow Sch., Easter 1829 – Easter 1836; consecrated Bishop of Ripon 6 Nov 1836; the first to hold this see; translated to Durham 13 Oct 1856; Archbishop of York 1 Jun 1860 – Oct 1862; Privy Councillor 9 Jun 1860; Archbishop of Canterbury from 20 Oct 1862; presided over Pan-Anglican Synod 1867; FSA 24 Nov 1831; Busby Trustee 27 Jun 1848; m. 15 Dec 1831 Hon. Caroline Sophia Parnell, dau. of Henry Parnell, 1st Baron Congleton PC, politician and economist; d. 27 Oct 1868. DNB.

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.

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.

FINCH, HENEAGE, 1ST EARL OF NOTTINGHAM, eldest son of Sir Heneage Finch, Kt, MP, Kensington, Middlesex, Recorder of London, Speaker House of Commons, and his first wife Frances, dau. of Sir Edmund Bell, Beaupré Hall, Norfolk; nephew of Francis Finch (qv); b. 23 Dec 1621; at school under Osbaldeston (Wood, Athenae Oxonienses, iv, 66); Christ Church, Oxford, matr. 18 Feb 1635/6, having Richard Busby (qv) as his tutor (HMC Finch MSS, I, 229-30); DCL 7 Nov 1665; adm. Inner Temple 25 Nov 1638, called to bar 30 Jan 1645/6, Bencher 29 Jun 1660, Treasurer 1661-73; MP Canterbury Apr-Oct 1660, Oxford University Apr 1661-Dec 1673; Solicitor-Gen. 6 Jun 1660 - May 1670; created baronet 7 Jun 1660; Attorney-Gen., 10 May 1670 - Nov 1673; Lord Keeper of the Great Seal 9 Nov 1673; Privy Councillor 12 Nov 1673; created Baron Finch 10 Jan 1673/4; Lord Chancellor from 19 Dec 1674; Lord Lieut. Somerset from 1674; presided as Lord High Steward at the trial of the Earl of Pembroke for manslaughter 1677, and at that of Lord Stafford for treason 1680; created Earl of Nottingham 12 May 1681; an able and zealous supporter of the Church of England and the Crown; never the subject of parliamentary attack or ever lost the confidence of Charles II; the Amri of Dryden’s Absalom and Achitophel; m. 30 Jul 1646 Elizabeth, eldest dau. of Daniel Harvey, Folkestone, Kent, a Turkey merchant in the City of London; d. 18 Dec 1682. DNB.

JEFFREYS, GEORGE, 1ST BARON JEFFREYS OF WEM, sixth son of John Jeffreys, Acton, near Wrexham, Denbighshire, and Margaret, dau. of Sir Thomas Ireland, Kt, Beausay, near Warrington, Lancs.; b. 1648; at Shrewsbury Sch., adm. 1654, aged 10 (sic), and then at St. Paul’s Sch.; adm. 1661 (Howell, State Trials, x, 299); Trinity Coll. Cambridge, adm. pens. 15 Mar 1662/3; adm. Inner Temple 19 May 1663, called to bar 22 Nov 1668, Bencher Jan 1678; Common Serjeant, City of London 17 Mar 1671; knighted 14 Sep 1677; Recorder of London 22 Oct 1678 – 2 Dec 1680, when he resigned after being reprimanded at bar of House of Commons for obstructing petitions for the assembly of Parliament; Solicitor-Gen. to Duke of York Jan 1679; Chief Justice of Chester 27 Apr 1680-3; Serjeant-at-Law 12 May 1680; created baronet 17 Nov 1681; active in obtaining the “quo warranto” against the City and in the prosecution of Lord Russell; Lord Chief Justice of the King’s Bench 29 Sep 1683 – Sep 1685; Privy Councillor 4 Oct 1683; presided at trials of Algernon Sidney and Titus Oates; created Baron Jeffreys of Wem 15 May 1685; held the “bloody assize” in the West of England after the suppression of Monmouth’s rebellion; Lord Chancellor 28 Sep 1685 – 8 Dec 1688; chief of the commission for inspecting ecclesiastical affairs 1686; one of the seven Privy Councillors who regulated the municipal corporations 1687; Lord Lieut., Shropshire, from 11 Aug 1687; Lord Lieut., Buckinghamshire 12 Nov 1687 – 4 Apr 1689; a member of the council of five lords in the absence of James II from London; arrested in disguise at Wapping Dec 1688 and conveyed to Tower of London; in Jan 1687 he gave £12 to the Dean and Chapter “for the education of two poore schollers at the Schoole in Westminster”; m. 1st, 23 May 1667 Sarah, dau. of Rev. Thomas Neesham, Rector of Stoke D’Abernon, Surrey; m. 2nd, Jun 1679 Ann, widow of Sir John Jones, Kt, Fonmon, Glamorgan, and dau. of Sir Thomas Bludworth, Kt, Lord Mayor of London; d. while a prisoner in Tower of London, 18 Apr 1689. DNB.