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.

BRYDGES, JAMES, 1ST DUKE OF CHANDOS, fourth but eldest surviving son of James Brydges, 8th Baron Chandos, Ambassador to Constantinople, and Elizabeth, eldest dau. of Sir Henry Bernard, Kt., Bridgnorth, Shropshire, Turkey merchant; b. 6 Jan 1673/4; adm. 1686; an interesting letter, written by his father from Constantinople, confides his “three poor little boys (all the treasure the kind God of his kind mercy hath spared me)” to Richard Busby (qv), then Head Master (GM 1792, i, 39); New Coll. Oxford, matr. 21 Jun 1690; FRS 30 Nov 1694; MP Hereford Jul 1698 - 16 Oct 1714; member, Council to Lord High Admiral, 29 Mar 1703 - 5 Apr 1705; Paymaster-Gen. of the Forces Abroad, 10 May 1705 – Sep 1713; succ. father as 9th Baron Chandos 16 Oct 1714; cr. Earl of Carnarvon 19 Oct 1714 and Duke of Chandos 29 Apr 1719; Lord Lieut., Herefordshire 11 Sep 1721 - 16 Jul 1741, and of Radnorshire from 11 Sep 1721; Privy Councillor 11 Nov 1721; Chancellor, Univ. of St. Andrews; the “princely” Chandos expended some £200, 000 in building his country house at Canons, near Edgware, Middlesex; Handel spent two years there composing anthems for the chapel, and writing Esther, his first English oratorio; Defoe describes the splendour of the house in his Tour through England, and Pope refers to it as “Timon’s Villa” in his Epistle to Lord Burlington; m. 1st, 27 Feb 1695/6 Mary, dau. of Sir Thomas Lake, Kt., Canons, Whitchurch, Middlesex; m. 2nd, 4 Aug 1713 Cassandra, dau. of Francis Willoughby FRS, naturalist, Wollaton, Notts.  ; m. 3rd, Apr 1736 Lydia Catharine, widow of Sir Thomas Davall MP, and dau. of John Vanhatten; d. 9 Aug 1744. 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.

CARLETON, DUDLEY, 1ST VISCOUNT DORCHESTER, son of Anthony Carleton, Brightwell Baldwin, Oxfordshire, and his second wife Jocosa, dau. of John Goodwin, Winchington, Bucks.; b. 10 Mar 1573/4; adm.; QS ; elected to Christ Church, Oxford 1591, matr. 11 Feb 1591/2, Westminster Student to 1607; BA 1595; MA 1600 (incorp. Camb. 1626); DCL 31 Aug 1636; Secretary to Sir Thomas Parry, Ambassador to Paris, 1602; MP St. Mawes Mar 1603/4 - Feb 1610/1, Hastings Jan 1625/6 - May 1626; ? adm. Grays Inn 21 Feb 1604/5; Secretary to Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland; suspected of complicity in the Gunpowder Plot, but succeeded in clearing himself while under arrest; Ambassador to Venice 1610-5, The Hague 1616-25; knighted Sep1610; Vice-Chamberlain of the Household 1625-6; Privy Councillor 1626; Envoy to Paris 1626, The Hague 1626-8; created Baron Carleton 22 May 1626 and Viscount Dorchester 25 Jul 1628; Secretary of State from 18 Dec 1628; the most sagacious and successful British diplomat of his day; m. 1st, Nov 1607 Anne, dau. of George Gerrard, Dorney, Bucks., and step-dau. of Sir Henry Savile (founder of Savilian Professorship at Oxford); m. 2nd, 1630 Anne, widow of Paul Bayning, 1st Viscount Bayning, and dau. of Sir Henry Glemham, Little Glemham, Suffolk; d. 15 Feb 1631/2. Buried Westminster Abbey, monument in St. Paul’s Chapel. DNB.

HESILRIGGE, SIR ARTHUR, BART., eldest son of Sir Thomas Hesilrigge, Bart., and Frances, dau. of Sir William Gorges, Kt, Alderton, Northants; b.; at school under Osbaldeston (Wood, Athenae Oxonienses, iii, 578); Magdalene Coll. Cambridge, fellow commoner, matr. Easter 1617; adm. Gray’s Inn 29 Jan 1622/3; succ. father as 2nd baronet 11 Jan 1629; MP Leicestershire 1640-53 [check], Leicester 1654-60; a staunch Puritan and opponent of Laud; introduced bill of attainder against Strafford; promoted the “Root and branch” bill, and proposed the Militia bill; one of the five members impeached by the King 3 Jan 1641/2; raised a troop of horse for Parliament; fought at battle of Edgehill 1642, wounded at battles of Lansdowne and Roundway Down 1643; did good service at battle of Cheriton; a leader of the Independents in House of Commons after the passing of the self-denying ordinance 1645; Governor of Newcastle upon Tyne 30 Dec 1647; recaptured Tynemouth 11 Aug 1648; refused to act as one of the King’s judges 1649; accompanied Cromwell to Scotland and supported him with reserves after battle of Dunbar; member of Council of State during Commonwealth, but opposed to Cromwell’s government after dissolution of Long Parliament; refused to pay taxes not levied by Parliament, or to become a member of the Upper House 1657; opposed succession of Richard Cromwell, and intrigued with the Army against him; at his instigation Lambert was cashiered and the Rump Parliament restored; one of the five Commissioners for the Government of the Army 11 Feb 1659/60; accused of intriguing against Monk; arrested at the Restoration, and excepted by the Bill of Indemnity for pains and penalties not extending to life; m. 1st, 24 May 1624 Frances, dau. of Thomas Elmes, Lilford, Northants; m. 2nd, 26 Jun 1634 Dorothy, dau. of Fulke Greville, Thorpe Latimer, Lincs., and sister of Robert Greville, 2nd Baron Brooke, General in Parliamentary army; d. a prisoner in the Tower of London 7 Jan 1660/1. DNB.

HOWE, RICHARD, 1ST EARL HOWE, brother of George Augustus Howe, 3rd Viscount Howe (I) (qv); b. 8 Mar 1725/6; adm. Nov 1732; left 1733; went to Eton Coll.; entered Royal Navy on board HMS Pearl 16 Jul 1739; sailed in HMS Severn as far as Cape Horn with Anson 1740; present at attack on La Guaira 18 Feb 1742/3; Lieut., 8 Aug 1745; severely wounded in action with French frigates off west coast of Scotland 1 May 1746; Post Capt., 10 Apr 1746; his capture of the French ship Alcide off the mouth of the St. Lawrence river on 8 Jun 1755 was the beginning of the Seven Years’ War with France; commanded attack on Cherbourg 5 May 1759; distinguished himself at battle of Quiberon Bay 20 Nov 1759; Rear Adm., 18 Nov 1770; Vice-Adm., 7 Dec 1775; Commander-in-Chief, North American Station Feb 1776; co-operated with his brother Sir William Howe against the American colonists, but resigned command 1778 and remained out of employment until fall of North ministry in early 1782; Commander-in-Chief, Channel Fleet 2 Apr 1782; Adm., 8 Apr 1782; relieved Gibraltar against French and Spanish fleets Oct 1784 (check); Vice-Admiral of England May 1792 – Mar 1796; won brilliant victory of 1 Jun 1794 in command Channel Fleet, capturing seven French ships; Admiral of the Fleet and General of the Marines 12 Mar 1796; presided over court martial of Vice-Adm. Cornwallis Apr 1796; pacified mutineers at Portsmouth May 1797; MP Dartmouth 23 May 1757 – 20 Apr 1782; succeeded brother as 4th Viscount Howe (I) 6 Jul 1758; a Lord of the Admiralty Apr 1763 – Aug 1765; Privy Councillor 26 Jul 1765; Treasurer of the Navy 9 Aug 1765 – Mar 1770; created Viscount Howe (GB) 2 [check] Apr 1782; First Lord of Admiralty Jan – Apr 1783, Dec 1783 – Jul 1788; attacked in parliament and in print for his reductions and reforms; created Earl Howe 19 Aug 1788; received freedom of City of London 6 May 1796; KG 2 Jun 1797; the signalling code was perfected and refined by him; DL Nottinghamshire 1762, Derbyshire 1763; m. 10 Mar 1758 Mary, dau. of Chiverton Hartop, Welby, Leics.; d. 5 Aug 1799. Monument by Flaxman in St. Paul’s cathedral. 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.

BURGOYNE, JOHN, second son of Capt. John Burgoyne, Sherborne, Warwicks., and Anna Maria, dau. of Charles Burneston, Hackney, Middlesex; b. 4 Feb 1722/3; in school lists 1733, 1735-8; an intimate friend of James Smith Stanley, Lord Strange (qv); Cornet, 1st Royal Dragoons, 14 Jul 1743; Lieut., 22 Feb 1745; Capt., 1 Jul 1745; sold out 31 Oct 1751, on account of his debts, and resided for some years in France and Italy; re-entered Army as Capt., 11th Dragoons, 14 Jun 1756; Capt. -Lieut. and Lieut. -Col., 2nd Foot Guards, 10 May 1758; served in expeditions to Cherbourg and St. Malo 1758-9; raised 16th Dragoons and gazetted as Lieut. -Col. commandant, 4 Aug 1759; served in Portugal as Brig. -Gen., 1762; Brevet Col., 8 Oct 1762; Col. 16th Dragoons, 18 Mar 1763 - Oct 1779; Governor of Fort William 1769-79; Maj. -Gen., 25 May 1772; served in America 1775; present at battle of Bunker Hill; second in command under Sir Guy Carleton in Canada, 1776, in supreme command 1777; Lieut. -Gen., 29 Aug 1777; surrendered to Gates at Saratoga, 17 Oct 1777; allowed by Washington to return to England on parole, where he resigned his regiment and governorship; on the return of his political friends to power in 1782 became Commander-in-Chief, Ireland, 7 Jun 1782, holding post to 1784; Col., 4th Foot, from 7 Jun 1782; MP Midhurst 1761-8, Preston from 29 Nov 1768; proposed in 1772 that the East India Company should be controlled by the government; made a violent attack on Clive in May 1773, and was a manager of the impeachment of Warren Hastings, 1787; Privy Councillor (I) 4 May 1782; member, Society of Dilettanti, 1772; contributed to the Rolliad and Probationary Odes; author, The Heiress, 1786, and other plays; m. 1743 Lady Charlotte Stanley, sister of James Smith Stanley, Lord Strange (qv); d. 4 Aug 1792; buried North Cloister, Westminster Abbey. DNB.

PRIOR, MATTHEW, son of George Prior, St.Stephen’s Alley, Westminster, joiner, and Elizabeth ---; bapt.St.Margaret, Westminster 2 Aug 1664; at school under Busby three years; left after reaching the middle of the third form to assist his uncle Arthur, a vintner, at the Rhenish Wine House, Channel Row, Westminster; returned to the School under the patronage of Charles Sackville, 6th Earl of Dorset (qv); KS 1681; St.John’s Coll.Cambridge, adm.pens. 2 Apr 1683, scholar 1684, matr. 1683; BA 1686/7; MA 1700; Keyton Fellow, St. John’s Coll. 5 Apr 1688; author of The Hind and Panther transvers’d to the Story of the Town and Country Mouse, 1687, written as a reply to Dryden; Secretary to Embassy, The Hague 1690-7; employed as Secretary in negotiations resulting in the Treaty of Ryswick 1697; Chief Secretary to Lords Justices of Ireland May 1697 – Nov 1699, but did not execute duties of post; FRS 23 Mar 1697/8; Secretary to Embassy, Paris 1698-9; author, Carmen Saeculare, 1699; Under Secretary of State, Southern Department May 1699 – Jun 1700; a Commissioner of Trade 1700-7; MP East Grinstead Feb – Nov 1701; joined Tories on accession of Queen Anne; a Commissioner of Customs 1712-4; went to Paris to negotiate peace Jul 1711, subsequently acting as Minister Plenipotentiary there; the Treaty of Utrecht, signed 11 Apr 1713, was familiarly known as “Matt’s Peace”; impeached by Walpole and imprisoned 1715-7; his Poems, published by subscription in 1719, earned him 4000 guineas; presented by his patron Edward Harley, 2nd Earl of Oxford (qv), with £4000 for the purchase of Down Hall, Essex; possessed aptitude for business and a knowledge of commerce; Thackeray described Prior’s as “amongst the easiest, the richest, the most charmingly humorous of English lyrical poems” (English Humourists, 1866, 175); d. 18 Sep 1721, buried Westminster Abbey, at his desire “at the feet of Spenser”; DNB.

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.