Showing 285 results

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

HERVEY, JOHN, 2nd BARON HERVEY OF ICKWORTH, eldest son of John Hervey, 1st Earl of Bristol, and his second wife Elizabeth, only dau. of Sir Thomas Felton, Bart. MP; b. 15 Oct 1696; adm. 28 Jan 1711/2; left Jul 1713; Clare Hall, Cambridge, adm. 20 Nov 1713, matr. 1714; MA 1715; styled Lord Hervey from 1723; MP Bury St. Edmunds 2 Apr 1725 – 11 Jun 1733; travelling in Italy for health in 1728-9; Vice-Chamberlain of the Household 7 May 1730 – Apr 1740; Privy Councillor 8 May 1730; having initially been a follower in politics of Frederick, Prince of Wales, he subsequently became a supporter of Sir Robert Walpole and a trusted confidant of Queen Caroline; fought a duel with William Pulteney (qv) in the “Upper St. James’s Park” 25 Jan 1730/1; created Baron Hervey of Ickworth 11 Jun 1733; Lord Privy Seal 1 May 1740 – Jul 1742; one of the Lord Justices of the Realm May 1741; author, Memoirs of the Reign of George II, first published from his manuscript in 1848, and of other political pamphlets; the expenses of his “schooling” at Westminster, and of that of his three brothers, are recorded in the Diary of John Hervey, 1st Earl of Bristol, 1894; m. 21 Apr 1720 Mary, Maid of Honour to Caroline, Princess of Wales, dau. of Brig. -Gen. Nicholas Lepell, Groom of the Bedchamber to George, Prince of Denmark; d. 5 Aug 1743. DNB.

CAMPBELL, JOHN, 1ST MARQUIS OF BREADALBANE, eldest son of Colin Campbell, Carwhin, [check county] and Elizabeth, dau. of Archibald Campbell, Stonefield, Argyllshire, advocate; b. 30 Mar 1762; adm. 3 Apr 1771; his private tutor, Rev. Dr. George Campbell, the father of Lord Chancellor Campbell, “accompanied him to Westminster School, and lived several years with him in a house in Smith Street, Westminster” (Life of John, Lord Campbell, 1881, i, 5); succeeded his cousin as 4th Earl of Breadalbane (S) 26 Jan 1782; a Scottish Representative Peer 1784-1806; FRS 19 Feb 1784; raised a number of men at the beginning of the war with France; Ensign, Independent Co. Foot, 10 Jan 1795; Lieut., 24 Jan 1795; Capt., 116th Foot, 27 Jan 1795; Maj., 78th Foot, Apr 1795; Lieut. -Col. in the Army, and Col., 3rd bn., Breadalbane Regt. Fencibles, 17 Apr 1795; Col. in the Army 29 Apr 1802; Maj. -Gen., 25 Oct 1809; Lieut. -Gen., 4 Jun 1814; created Baron Breadalbane (UK) 13 Nov 1806, and Marquis of Breadalbane (UK) 12 Sep 1831; m. 3 Sep 1793 Mary Turner, eldest dau. of David Gavin, Langton, Berwickshire; d. 29 Mar 1834.

PULTENEY, WILLIAM, 1ST EARL OF BATH, son of Col. William Pulteney, Misterton, Leics., and his first wife Mary Floyd; nephew of John Pulteney (qv); b. 22 Mar 1684; adm.; Christ Church, Oxford, matr. 31 Oct 1700; Grand Tour (Italy) 1704-5; MP Hedon 1705-34, Middlesex 1734 – 14 Jul 1742; Secretary at War 25 Sep 1714 – 11 Apr 1717; one of the committee of secrecy concerning the peace negotiations Apr 1715; Privy Councillor 16 Jul 1716; one of the “three grand allies”; declined peerage in lieu of office 1721; Cofferer of the Household 28 May 1723 – Apr 1725, dismissed after quarrel with Walpole; alled himself with Bolingbroke and wrote for The Craftsman; joined Wyndham and became a “patriot”; author of pamphlet On the State of the National Debt, 1727; quarrelled with John Hervey, Lord Hervey (qv), with whom he fought a duel in Green Park 25 Jan 1731; leader of the parliamentary opposition to Walpole; struck off the Privy Council 1 Jul 1731; refused to form a ministry on Walpole’s downfall, but entered Lord Wilmington’s Cabinet without office and was readm. to Privy Council 20 Feb 1742; created Earl of Bath 14 Jul 1742; his acceptance of a peerage diminished his political significance; lampooned by Sir Charles Hanbury Williams in a series of odes; endeavoured to form an administration at George II’s request, and accepte post of First Lord of the Treasury 10 Feb 1746, but his short-lived ministry only lasted two days, and he never held political office again; Lord Lieut., Yorkshire East Riding 7 Dec 1721 – 15 Jul 1728, Shropshire from 13 Jul 1761; a brilliant parliamentary orator and great debater; a scholar and a versatile and witty writer; gave £50 towards the New Dormitory; m. 27 Dec 1714 Anna Maria, dau. of John Gumley MP, Isleworth, Middlesex, Commissary-Gen. to the Army; d. 7 Jul 1764. Buried Islip Chapel, 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.

BRUCE, THOMAS, 7TH EARL OF ELGIN AND 11TH EARL OF KINCARDINE (S), second son of Charles Bruce, 5th Earl of Elgin and 9th Earl of Kincardine (S), and Martha, dau. of Thomas Whyte, London, banker; b. 20 Jul 1766; succ. elder brother as 7th Earl of Elgin and 11th Earl of Kincardine (S), 15 Jul 1771; adm. 5 Oct 1778, having previously been at Harrow Sch.; left 1782; St. Andrews Univ.; Univ. Paris; Ensign, 3rd Foot Guards, 6 Apr 1785; Capt., 65th Foot, 9 May 1789; Maj., local rank on continent, 8 May 1793; Lieut. -Col., Elgin’s Fencible Infantry, 28 Nov 1794-1802, and also of a second Regt. Fencible Infantry, which he raised, 17 Apr 1795-1802; Brevet Col., 29 Apr 1802; Maj. -Gen., 25 Oct 1809; Lieut. -Gen., 4 Jun 1814; Gen., 10 Jan 1837; a Scottish Representative Peer 1790-1807, 1820-41; British Envoy on special mission to Vienna 1790-1; Envoy to Brussels, 18 Aug 1792-4; Minister Plenipotentiary to Berlin, 15 Aug 1795-8; Ambassador to Constantinople, 13 Apr 1799- Jan 1803; Privy Councillor 3 Jul 1799; while in Constantinople employed agents to acquire for him the Elgin Marbles (purchased from him by the British Government in 1816 and deposited in the British Museum); while on way home to Britain from Turkey, detained in France as prisoner of war May 1803- Jun 1806; m. 1st, 11 Mar 1799 Mary, only child of William Nisbet MP, Dirleton, Haddingtonshire; m. 2nd, 21 Sep 1810 Elizabeth, youngest dau. of James Townshend Oswald MP, Dunnikier, Fifeshire; d. at Paris 14 Nov 1841. DNB.