Regency Personalities Series-George Howard 7th Earl of Carlisle

Regency Personalities Series

In my attempts to provide us with the details of the Regency, today I continue with one of the many period notables.

George Howard 7th Earl of Carlisle
18 April 1802 – 5 December 1864

George Howard

George Howard 7th Earl of Carlisle was born in Westminster, London, the eldest son of George Howard, 6th Earl of Carlisle by his wife Lady Georgiana Cavendish, eldest daughter of William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire. Lord Lanerton and Charles Howard were his younger brothers. He was educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford, where he earned a reputation as a scholar and writer of graceful verse, obtaining in 1821 both the chancellor’s and the Newdigate prizes for a Latin poem, Paestum, and an English one. He maintained his interest in poetry throughout his life, exchanging sonnets with William Wordsworth. In 1826 he accompanied his maternal grandfather, the Duke of Devonshire, to the Russian Empire, to attend the coronation of Tsar Nicholas I, and became a great favourite in society at St Petersburg.

At the general election in 1826 Carlisle was returned to parliament as member for the family borough of Morpeth (in Northumberland), a seat he held until 1830, and then represented Yorkshire until 1832 and the West Riding of Yorkshire from 1832 to 1841 and from 1846 to 1848. The latter year he succeeded his father in the earldom and entered the House of Lords.

Carlisle served under Lord Melbourne as Chief Secretary for Ireland between 1835 and 1841, under Lord John Russell as First Commissioner of Woods and Forests from 1846 to 1850 and as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster from 1850 to 1852 and under Lord Palmerston as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland from 1855 to 1858 and again from 1859 to 1864. In 1835 he was appointed to the Privy Councils of the United Kingdom and Ireland. On 2 April 1853, he was given the Freedom of the City of Edinburgh, and in 1855, he was made a Knight of the Garter.

Lord Carlisle died unmarried at Castle Howard in December 1864, aged 62, and was buried in the family mausoleum. He was succeeded in the earldom by his younger brother, Reverend William George Howard.

Read Full Post »

Regency Personalities Series-Burlington Arcade

Regency Personalities Series

In my attempts to provide us with the details of the Regency, today I continue with one of the many period notables.

Burlington Arcade
20 March 1819-

Burlington Arcade

Burlington Arcade is a covered shopping arcade in London that runs behind Bond Street from Piccadilly through to Burlington Gardens. It is one of the precursors of the mid-19th-century European shopping gallery and the modern shopping centre. The Burlington Arcade was built “for the sale of jewellery and fancy articles of fashionable demand, for the gratification of the public”.

The arcade was built to the order of Lord George Cavendish, younger brother of the 5th Duke of Devonshire, who had inherited the adjacent Burlington House, on what had been the side garden of the house and was reputedly to prevent passers-by throwing oyster shells and other rubbish over the wall of his home. His architect was Samuel Ware. The Arcade opened on 20th March 1819. It consisted of a single straight top-lit walkway lined with seventy-two small two storey units. Some of the units have now been combined, reducing the number of shops to around forty. The ponderous Piccadilly façade in a late version of Victorian Mannerism was added in the early 20th century.

The pedestrian arcade, with smart uniform shop fronts under a glazed roof, has always been an upmarket retail location. It is patrolled by Burlington Arcade Beadles in traditional uniforms including top hats and frockcoats. The original beadles were all former members of Lord George Cavendish’s regiment, the 10th Hussars. Present tenants include a range of clothing, footwear and accessory shops, art and antique dealers and the jewellers and dealers in antique silver for which the Arcade is best known.

The Burlington Arcade was the successful prototype for larger glazed shopping arcades, beginning with the Saint-Hubert Gallery in Brussels and The Passage in St Petersburg, the first of Europe’s grand arcades, to the Galleria Umberto I in Naples or the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan.

Read Full Post »

Regency Personalities Series-George Lamb (politician and Writer)

Regency Personalities Series
In my attempts to provide us with the details of the Regency, today I continue with one of the many period notables.

George Lamb (politician and Writer)
11 July 1784 – 2 January 1834

George Lamb

George Lamb was the youngest son of Peniston Lamb, 1st Viscount Melbourne, and his wife Elizabeth, and the brother of William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne (The Prime Minister), Frederick Lamb, 3rd Viscount Melbourne, and Emily Lamb, Countess Cowper, he was educated at Eton College and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he graduated MA in 1805.

On 17 May 1809, he married Caroline Rosalie Adelaide St. Jules, the illegitimate daughter of William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire, by his mistress (and eventual second wife) Lady Elizabeth Foster. The Lambs had no children and it was speculated that the marriage was never consummated.

He became a barrister at Lincoln’s Inn, and was Member of Parliament for Westminster from March 1819 to March 1820, and for Dungarvan from 1822 until his death. He served in Earl Grey’s (Charles Grey, had a child with the Duchess of Devonshire, the wife of Lamb’s wife’s father) administration as Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department from 1830 until his death.

His comic opera Whistle for it was produced in 1807, and his adaptations of Timon of Athens in 1816. His most important work, a translation of the poems of Catullus, was published in 1821.

Read Full Post »

Regency Personalities Series-Elizabeth Cavendish Duchess of Devonshire

Regency Personalities Series
In my attempts to provide us with the details of the Regency, today I continue with one of the many period notables.

Elizabeth Cavendish Duchess of Devonshire
13 May 1759 – 30 March 1824

Elizabeth Cavendish

Elizabeth Cavendish Duchess of Devonshire was born Elizabeth Christiana Hervey in a small house in Horringer, St Edmundsbury, Suffolk. Her father, Frederick Hervey, later became the fourth Earl of Bristol.

In 1776, Elizabeth married Irishman John Thomas Foster (1747–1796). He was a first cousin of the brothers John Foster, last Speaker of the (united) Irish House of Commons, and Bishop (William) Foster. The Fosters had two sons, Frederick (3 October 1777 – 1853) and Augustus John Foster (1780 – 1848). Their only daughter, also named Elizabeth, was born prematurely on 17 November 1778 and lived only eight days.

When her father succeeded as the earl in 1779, she became Lady Elizabeth Foster. The couple resided after 1779 with her parents at Ickworth House in Suffolk. The marriage was not a success, and the couple separated within five years, plausibly after Foster had a relationship with a servant. Foster retained custody of their sons and did not allow the boys to see Bess for 14 years.

In May 1782, Bess met the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire in Bath, and quickly became Georgiana’s closest friend. From this time, she lived in a triad with Georgiana and her husband, William, the 5th Duke of Devonshire, for about 25 years. She bore two illegitimate children by the Duke: a daughter, Caroline St Jules, and a son, Augustus (later Augustus Clifford, 1st Baronet), who were raised at Devonshire House with the Duke’s legitimate children by Georgiana. Georgiana grew ill and died in 1806; three years later, Bess married the duke and became the Duchess of Devonshire. He died two years later.

Bess is also said to have had affairs with several other men, including Cardinal Ercole Consalvi, John Sackville, 3rd Duke of Dorset, Count Axel von Fersen, Charles Lennox, 3rd Duke of Richmond, and Valentine Quin, 1st Earl of Dunraven and Mount-Earl. There is some evidence that Quin fathered an illegitimate son by her, who became the noted physician Frederic Hervey Foster Quin. Quin joined the Duchess as her travelling physician in Rome in December 1820, and afterwards attended her in that city during her fatal illness in March 1824.

Lady Elizabeth was a friend of the French author Madame de Staël, with whom she corresponded from about 1804.

Read Full Post »

Regency Personalities Series-Granville Leveson-Gower 1st Earl Granville

Regency Personalities Series
In my attempts to provide us with the details of the Regency, today I continue with one of the many period notables.

Granville Leveson-Gower 1st Earl Granville
12 October 1773 – 8 January 1846

Granville Leveson-Gower

Granville Leveson-Gower 1st Earl Granville was the second son and youngest child of Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Marquess of Stafford and his third wife Lady Susannah Stewart, daughter of Alexander Stewart, 6th Earl of Galloway. His elder, paternal half-brother was George Leveson-Gower, 1st Duke of Sutherland.

Granville was educated at Dr. Kyle’s school at Hammersmith, and then privately by the Revd. John Chappel Woodhouse. He matriculated from Christ Church, Oxford, in April 1789 but never took a degree. Nevertheless, ten years later, in 1799, he was conferred the DCL.

Granville began his career as a member of the House of Commons, representing Lichfield from 1795 to 1799, and Staffordshire for the next sixteen years. Granville served as British ambassador to Russia (10 August 1804 – 28 November 1805 and 1806–1807) and France (1824–1828, 1830–1835, 1835–1841).

In 1815, he was raised to the peerage as Viscount Granville of Stone Park in the County of Stafford. In 1833, during his second stint as ambassador to France, he was created Earl Granville and also Baron Leveson of Stone Park in the County of Stafford.

A recent historian says that Granville “was a drab figure, the original stuffed-shirt – starch outside, sawdust within.”

Lord Granville married Lady Harriet Cavendish (1785–1862), daughter of William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire and Lady Georgiana Spencer, in 1809. They had two sons and two daughters. Their eldest son, Granville Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Granville, became a distinguished politician. Their second son the Hon. Frederick Leveson-Gower was also a politician. Their daughter Lady Georgiana married Alexander Fullerton. She was a biographer, novelist and great philanthropist. Lord Granville died in January 1846, aged 72. The Countess Granville died in November 1862, aged 77.

Lord Granville, prior to marrying Lady Harriet Cavendish, was the lover of Lady Harriet’s maternal aunt, Henrietta Ponsonby, Countess of Bessborough, née Lady Henrietta Frances Spencer, with whom he fathered two illegitimate children: Harriette Stewart and George Stewart. For seventeen years she “loved to idolatry” this younger man., but then, she understood that he must marry in order to further his career and assure his posterity, and so she actively collaborated in the arrangements for his wedding to Harriet (known in the family as “Harry-O”), who was understandably reluctant to marry her aunt’s lover.

Read Full Post »

Regency Personalities Series-William George Spencer Cavendish 6th Duke of Devonshire

Regency Personalities Series
In my attempts to provide us with the details of the Regency, today I continue with one of the many period notables.

William George Spencer Cavendish 6th Duke of Devonshire
21 May 1790 – 18 January 1858

William George Spencer Cavendish

William George Spencer Cavendish 6th Duke of Devonshire was born in Paris, France, Devonshire was the son of William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire, and Lady Georgiana, daughter of John Spencer, 1st Earl Spencer. He was educated at Harrow and Trinity College, Cambridge. His mother died in 1806 and in 1811, aged 21, he succeeded his father in the dukedom. Along with the title he inherited eight stately homes and 200,000 acres (809 km² or 80,900 ha) of land. He went on to improve his houses and gardens (including the rebuilding of the village of Edensor) and travelled extensively.

Politically Devonshire followed in the Whig family tradition. He supported Catholic emancipation and the abolition of slavery and reduced factory working hours. He held office as Lord Chamberlain of the Household under George Canning and Lord Goderich between 1827 and 1828 and under Lord Grey and Lord Melbourne between 1830 and 1834. In 1827 he was sworn of the Privy Council and made a Knight of the Garter. He was appointed Ambassador Extraordinary to the Russian Empire on the coronation of Czar Nicholas I in 1826.

Devonshire was also Lord Lieutenant of Derbyshire between 1811 and 1858 and carried the Orb at the coronation of George IV in 1821. However, increasing deafness from an early age prevented him from taking an even greater part in public life.

Devonshire was a close friend of the Prince Regent. Other friends included Antonio Canova and Charles Dickens. He befriended Sir Joseph Paxton, then employed at the Royal Horticultural Society’s Chiswick Gardens, located close to Devonshire’s London estate Chiswick House, and appointed him his head gardener at Chatsworth House in 1826, despite Paxton being only in his early twenties at the time. Paxton greatly expanded the gardens at Chatsworth, including the construction of a 300 foot long conservatory, which served as a model for The Crystal Palace constructed in London’s Hyde Park. Devonshire himself developed a keen interest in horticulture and was elected President of the Royal Horticultural Society in 1838, in which position he served for twenty years until his death. It was this interest which led him to establish the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew as a national botanic garden. He was also patron of The Derby Town and County Museum and Natural History Society, which founded Derby Museum and Art Gallery 1836.

The world’s most commercially exploited banana, the Cavendish, was named in honour of William Cavendish, who acquired an early specimen, which he raised in his glasshouse. This plant is the progenitor of almost all the worldwide varieties of Cavendish banana.

Much of Devonshire’s private correspondence, including letters to his mistresses (one of whom he installed nearby), was destroyed by his Victorian relatives. He intended to marry Lady Caroline Ponsonby, his cousin, but she married William Lamb, which he found devastating.

Devonshire died at Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire, in January 1858, aged 67. As he was unmarried the dukedom passed to his cousin William Cavendish, 2nd Earl of Burlington. His junior title of Baron Clifford fell into abeyance between his sisters, Georgiana, Countess of Carlisle, and Harriet, Countess Granville.

Read Full Post »

Regency Personalities Series-Elizabeth Lamb Viscountess Melbourne

Regency Personalities Series
In my attempts to provide us with the details of the Regency, today I continue with one of the many period notables.

Elizabeth Lamb Viscountess Melbourne nee Milbanke
15 October 1751 – 6 April 1818

Elizabeth Lamb

Elizabeth Lamb Viscountess Melbourne was baptised on 15 October 1751 in the village of Croft-on-Tees, North Yorkshire, the daughter of Sir Ralph Milbanke, 5th Baronet and his wife Elizabeth (née Hedworth). Elizabeth’s brother was Sir Ralph Noel, 6th Baronet; the family resided at Halnaby Hall, Yorkshire. Her father was a politician, and her maternal grandfather was John Hedworth, Member of Parliament for County Durham. Elizabeth was privately educated and learned French and poetry composition. Her mother died in 1767. Two years later, Elizabeth met Sir Peniston Lamb, 2nd Baronet; they married in London on 1 April 1769. The couple lived at Melbourne House in Piccadilly and Elizabeth quickly became a well-known figure in London Whig society. She was apparently unaffected by her husband’s infidelity early in their marriage with actress and courtesan Sophia Baddeley, just as he came to tolerate her numerous love affairs. Peniston was raised to the Peerage of Ireland as Lord Melbourne, Baron of Kilmore, in 1770 and Viscount Melbourne in 1781. As well as Melbourne House, the family had country residences at Brocket Hall in Hertfordshire and Melbourne Hall in Derbyshire.

From the start of her marriage, Lady Melbourne cultivated friendships that helped her position in society, and her husband’s career. These relationships were frequently with men, some of whom became lovers. She was noted for discretion in her affairs: she famously remarked that no man was safe with another’s secrets and no woman with her own. Unlike her daughter-in-law, Lady Caroline Lamb, she had a clear understanding of what society will condone and what it will not condone. If not an intellectual she was highly intelligent; it has been said that within the rather narrow limits of her experience, her knowledge of life was remarkable.

She was a devoted mother, and worked tirelessly to advance the careers of all her children, especially William. Lord David Cecil remarked that few children have had a better mother, although her reputation for immorality caused them some distress: George once came to blows with a friend who said “your mother is a whore”. William, though admitting that his mother’s private life was not blameless, called her “the most sagacious woman he ever knew” and remarked that ” she kept me straight as long as she lived”.

After the marriage in 1774 of Lady Georgiana Spencer to William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire Lady Melbourne became the close friend and personal advisor of the Duchess. Until this point, Lady Melbourne had enjoyed unrivalled success as a political hostess and quickly recognised that the young duchess, with a higher rank and better connections, would be a more valuable friend than rival. The two women were painted, alongside their friend, sculptor Anne Damer, by Daniel Gardner as the Three Witches in his 1775 painting Witches Round the Cauldron. Lady Melbourne featured as the character of Lady Besford in The Duchess’ novel The Sylph. By contrast she disliked the Duchess’ sister Lady Bessborough, a dislike she later extended to Henrietta’s daughter Caroline; true to her practical nature, this dislike in no way interfered with her support for her son William’s marriage to Caroline, a social step up for the Lamb family, who were still considered newcomers to polite society.

By the late 1770s, Lady Melbourne was romantically involved with George Wyndham, 3rd Earl of Egremont. There was a rumour that the Earl had bought her from a previous lover, Lord Coleraine, for £1,000. Egremont remained unmarried, probably due to Lady Melbourne’s influence. It is believed that he was the father of Lady Melbourne’s children William, Emily and possibly Frederick.

In 1782, Lady Melbourne became acquainted with George, Prince of Wales while visiting her son Peniston twice a week at Eton College. The relationship proved to be of benefit to Lord Melbourne who was made Gentleman of the Bedchamber to Prince George at Carlton House. Lady Melbourne’s fourth son George (b. 1784) was widely believed to have been fathered by the prince, who acted as the boy’s godfather.

Later in life, Lady Melbourne formed a friendship with poet Lord Byron. She became his confidante during his affair with her daughter-in-law (Lady Caroline Lamb, who had married William in 1805). Although she approved of her son’s marriage on social grounds, Lady Melbourne disliked Caroline intensely and their relationship was always bad. By contrast she liked Byron, and blamed him neither for having the affair with Caroline, or for ending it. Byron later married Lady Melbourne’s niece Anne Isabella Milbanke.

Lord Melbourne was made a peer of the United Kingdom as Baron Melbourne of Melbourne in 1815. Lady Melbourne died on 6 April 1818 at Melbourne House of rheumatism: her slow and painful death distressed her loved ones greatly. It was entirely in character that on her deathbed she urged her daughter Emily to be faithful, not to her husband, Lord Cowper but to her lover, Lord Palmerston ( Emily and Palmerston eventually married after Cowper’s death). She was survived by her husband who died in 1828.

Lady Melbourne had six children that survived childhood; infant twins died in 1788. Of the remaining six, only the eldest, Peniston, was certainly fathered by Lord Melbourne. Their youngest daughter Harriet died of consumption in 180 at the age of 14; the young Peniston succumbed to the same illness in 1805, at 4.

• Hon. Peniston Lamb (1770–1805)
• William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne (1779–1848)
• Frederick Lamb, 3rd Viscount Melbourne (1782–185)
• Hon. George Lamb (1784–184)
• Emily Lamb, Lady Cowper (1787–1869)
• Harriet Lamb (1789–180)

Read Full Post »

Regency Personalities Series-Admiral Sir Augustus William James Clifford

Regency Personalities Series
In my attempts to provide us with the details of the Regency, today I continue with one of the many period notables.

Admiral Sir Augustus William James Clifford
26 May 1788 – 8 February 1877

Augustus William James Clifford

Admiral Sir Augustus William James Clifford was born in France in 1788, the illegitimate son of William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire (and 7th Baron Clifford), and Lady Elizabeth Foster, daughter of Frederick Hervey, 4th Earl of Bristol. Not long after his birth, his mother brought him to England, to be wet-nursed by Louisa Augusta Marshall, wife of the Revd John Marshall, curate at Clewer, near Windsor, Berkshire. Clifford was educated at Harrow School, 1796-99. His parents married in 1809, their respective spouses having died.

He married, on 20 October 1813, Lady Elizabeth Frances Townshend (2 August 1789–10 April 1862 Nice), sister of John Townshend, 4th Marquess Townshend. Each of his sons, Capt William RN, Robert and Charles succeeded their father in turn as the second, third and fourth (and final) baronets.
Clifford was a patron of the arts, and formed a unique collection of paintings, sculpture, etchings, engravings, and bijouterie. He died at his residence in the House of Lords in 1877.

Clifford entered the Royal Navy as a midshipman in May 1800, and was promoted to a lieutenancy in 1806. He served at the reduction of Ste. Lucie and Tobago in 1803, and throughout the operations in Egypt during 1807. He was at the capture of a convoy in the Bay of Rosas in 1809 (for which he received a medal) and in the operations on the coast of Italy 1811–12.

After this, as captain, he was for many years actively employed in naval duties, being several times mentioned in the London Gazette for his courage in cutting-out expeditions and on other occasions. For some time he was engaged in attendance on the Lord High Admiral, the Duke of Clarence, afterwards William IV, and in 1828 he took Lord William Bentinck out to India as governor-general. This was his last service afloat, and he was not actively employed after 1831.

He reached the rank of rear-admiral 23 March 1848, vice-admiral 27 September 1855, Admiral of the Blue 7 November 1860, and Admiral of the Red 1864, becoming retired admiral 31 March 1866.

He was Member of Parliament for Bandon 1818–20; for Dungarvan, 1820–2; and again for Bandon from 23 July 1831 to 3 Dec. 1832. He was nominated a Commander of the Order of the Bath on 8 December 1815, knighted on 4 August 1830, and created a baronet on 4 August 1838. His half-brother, the 6th Duke of Devonshire (then Lord Chamberlain), appointed him on 25 July 1832 Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod, which office he held, much to his satisfaction, until his death. On various occasions between 1843 and 1866 he acted as deputy lord great chamberlain of England, in the absence of Lord Willoughby d’Eresby.

Read Full Post »

Regency Personalities Series-Frederick Hervey 4th Earl of Bristrol

Regency Personalities Series
In my attempts to provide us with the details of the Regency, today I continue with one of the many period notables.

Frederick Hervey 4th Earl of Bristrol
1 August 1730 – 8 July 1803

Frederick Hervey

Frederick Hervey was educated at Westminster School and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, graduating M.A. in 1754.

In 1779, Hervey became Earl of Bristol (succeeding his brother Augustus Hervey) and also owner of the family’s ancestral estate at Ickworth in Suffolk. In 1795 he began building the present Ickworth House both as a family home and as a place to display his extensive art collection. Only the shell of the Rotunda was finished when he died in 1803 and wings were completed by his son. In 1799 he also inherited the Elizabethan-era title of Baron Howard de Walden from a distant cousin, when the abeyance of this peerage was terminated.

Entering the church Hervey became a royal chaplain; and while waiting for other preferment spent some time in Italy, whither he was led by his great interest in art. In February 1767, while his eldest brother, the 2nd Earl of Bristol, was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, he was made Bishop of Cloyne, and having improved the property of the see he was translated to the rich Bishopric of Derry a year later. As Bishop of Derry, Hervey was known as “the most worldly, most eccentric, most talked-about priest in the Church of Ireland”.

As Bishop of Derry, he was active and philanthropic, although considered at times cheerfully sadistic towards those under him; in one famous example he had the portly priests who wished to be considered for a plum position compete in a midnight run through bogs and swamps. While not neglecting his luxurious personal tastes he spent large sums of money on making roads and assisting agriculture, and his munificence was shared by the city of Derry. He built splendid residences at Downhill and Ballyscullion, which he adorned with rare works of art.

Hervey favoured complete religious equality, and was opposed to the system of tithes. Having again passed some time in Italy, he returned to Ireland and in 1782 threw himself ardently into the Irish volunteer movement, quickly attaining a prominent position among the volunteers. In great state he attended the convention held in Dublin in November 1783.

Carried away by his position and popularity Hervey’s talk of rebellion and violent language led the government to contemplate his arrest. Subsequently he took no part in politics, spending his later years mainly on the continent of Europe. In 1798 he was imprisoned by the French at Milan as a suspected spy, remaining in custody for eighteen months. He died outdoors at Albano, denied refuge, and was buried in Ickworth Church.

Varying estimates have been found of his character. He was considered clever and cultured, but licentious and eccentric. He was a great collector of art and in later life he openly professed materialistic opinions. He fell in love with the countess Lichtenau, mistress of Frederick William II of Prussia and by his bearing and often unusual and ostentatious style of dress he gave fresh point to the saying that “When God created the human race, he made men, women and Herveys.”

During his European travels he was known to walk around Rome wearing a broad-brimmed white hat, many chains and red breeches, possibly an attempt to upstage his Catholic rivals.

As a bishop, Hervey was industrious and vigilant (although he suffered long absences from Ireland) although a self-declared agnostic. At one point George III referred to him as “that wicked prelate.”

It is said that the Bishop’s knowledge of classical Europe and love of travelling inspired the fashion for Hotel Bristol becoming a common name for quality lodgings throughout the Continent.

In 1752 Lord Bristol had married Elizabeth Davers (d. 1800), daughter of Sir Jermyn Davers, 4th Baronet, a great-granddaughter of Thomas Jermyn, 2nd Baron Jermyn as well as the sister and heir of Sir Charles Davers, 5th Baronet (c. 1730-1763). By this marriage, Lord Bristol had four sons and three daughters:

• Lady Mary Caroline Hervey (1753–1842); married John Creichton, 1st Viscount (later 1st Earl) Erne.
• George (1755–1765); died of illness at the age of 9, in Spa, Belgium while the family was travelling.
• John “Jack” Augustus Hervey, Lord Hervey (1757–1796); predeceased his father.
• Lady Elizabeth Christiana Hervey (1758–1824); best known as the longtime mistress, and later second wife, of William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire.
• Short-lived son (b. and d. 1761)
• Lady Louisa Hervey (1767–1821); married Robert Banks Jenkinson, Lord Hawkesbury and 2nd Earl of Liverpool.
• Frederick Hervey, 1st Marquess of Bristol (1769–1859); had after his elder brother’s death the courtesy title of Lord Hervey.

When Bishop Lord Bristol died in 1803, his son Frederick succeeded as 5th Earl of Bristol and owner of the estates including Ickworth House. The title of Baron Howard de Walden however passed to his great-grandson Charles Ellis, son of the 1st Baron Seaford, who was the son of the only daughter of his son John.

Read Full Post »

Regency Personalities Series-John Sackville 3rd Duke of Dorset

Regency Personalities Series
In my attempts to provide us with the details of the Regency, today I continue with one of the many period notables.

John Sackville 3rd Duke of Dorset
24 March 1745–19 July 1799

John Sackville

The young John Sackville was schooled at Westminster, where he first became a noted proponent of cricket. He went on to join Hambledon Cricket Club, based in Hambledon, Hampshire, which was the leading cricket club of the day. He was joined there by Sir Horatio Mann, a Carthusian, and Lord Tankerville of Eton and Surrey, who was his keenest rival.
Dorset gained a reputation as a keen competitor. The Morning Post in 1773 wrote: “The Duke…having run a considerable number of notches from off strokes, the opposing fielders very unpolitely swarmed round his bat so close as to impede his making a full stroke; his Grace gently expostulated with them on this unfair mode, and pointed out their danger, which having no effect, he, with proper spirit made full play at a ball and in so doing brought one of the gentlemen to the ground”.

In the same year, Dorset presented the Vine Cricket Ground, at Knole, Sevenoaks, Kent, to the town, at a peppercorn rent, literally. It is one of the oldest cricket grounds in England. The first nationally reported cricket match had taken place here in the 1734 season when “The Gentlemen of Kent” beat “The Gentlemen of Sussex”. Sevenoaks Town Council still has the Vine Cricket Club, though the rent doubled to two peppercorns after the pavilion was built in the 19th century. They must also pay the Lord Sackville (if asked) one cricket ball on 21 July each year.

In 1775, a full-scale riot broke out at the Artillery Ground when Dorset’s side was not performing too well. In 1782 the Morning Chronicle noted that “His Grace is one of the few noblemen who endeavour to combine the elegance of modern luxury with the more manly sports of the old English times”.

Dorset’s patronage of cricket was expensive — the Whitehall Evening Post in 1783 noted that the cost to Dorset of maintaining his team, before bets, was £1,000 a year. This was a lot, but less than the amounts some of his contemporaries were spending on racing. The report went to say that Dorset was unrivalled (among noblemen) “at cricket, tennis and billiards”.

In 1784 Dorset moved to Paris, surprising his critics with newfound public dedication, to serve as ambassador to France. He continued to promote cricket amongst the locals and British expatriates. In 1786 The Times reported on a cricket match played by some English gentlemen in the Champs-Elysées:

His Grace of Dorset was, as usual, the most distinguished for skill and activity. The French, however, cannot imitate us in such vigorous exertions of the body, so that we seldom see them enter the lists.

The following year The Times noted that horse-racing was losing popularity in France, with cricket, on Dorset’s recommendation, taking its place. In 1789 Dorset planned what might have become the first international cricket tour. His touring side, which included William Yalden, William Bedster and Lumpy Stevens, got as far as congregating on 10 August at Dover. But the French Revolution meant that they never got to France, thereby making his tour the first international cricket tour to be cancelled for political reasons. Just as the American Civil War 80 or so years later destroyed the prospect of cricket becoming popular there, so the French Revolution destroyed any footholds the game had in France.

Back in England, Dorset became one of the first members of the Marylebone Cricket Club; his public life continued in the post of Steward of the Royal Household — in which capacity his main role was to keep an eye on the dissolute Prince of Wales, the future George IV.

Giovanna Zanerini

Dorset was a notorious womanizer. His best-known and most enduring mistress was the Venetian ballerina Giovanna Zanerini (1753–1801), who was the principal ballerina at the King’s Theatre, Haymarket, and used the stage name Giovanna Baccelli. Dorset commissioned a painting of her in 1780–81 from Thomas Gainsborough, which is reckoned to be one of Gainsborough’s later masterpieces. He also commissioned a painting by Joshua Reynolds and a sculpture showing her nude and prone on a divan and cushions; this is still to be found at Knole. When made Ambassador to France, Dorset even took her to Paris with him, and she danced at the Opera by invitation. (When he was made Knight of the Garter (KG), she wore the blue ribbon of the Garter while dancing) Dorset and Giovanna had a son together: John Philip Sackville, R.N. (1779–1793), who was raised by his father at Paris and Knole after the couple parted in 1789.

The Duke was also known for his affair (ca. 1777–1779) with the Countess of Derby, and briefly (ca. 1784) with Lady Elizabeth Foster, daughter of Frederick Hervey, 4th Earl of Bristol and mistress of William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire. The first affair was notable because it did not lead to a divorce. The Countess of Derby was born Lady Elizabeth Hamilton, the only daughter of the 6th Duke of Hamilton and the beauty Elizabeth Gunning. However, the Earl of Derby refused to divorce his errant wife. This meant that Lady Derby was ostracized for the remainder of her life, and Dorset soon lost interest and abandoned his lover. He was received back into society, and even received by his former mistress’s betrayed husband Lord Derby!

In 1790, after returning from France, Dorset married twenty-three-year-old Arabella Diana Cope (1767-1825), daughter and co-heiress of Sir Charles Cope, 2nd Baronet, and stepdaughter of Charles Jenkinson, 1st Earl of Liverpool. They had one son together, George John Frederick, who was born on 15 November 1793, and two daughters, Lady Mary Sackville, born on 30 July 1792, and Lady Elizabeth Sackville, born on 11 August 1795. The Duke died 1799, aged 54, and left a life interest in his estates and free disposition thereof (in case of the death of their son) to his wife Arabella Diana. At his death, Arabella, Duchess of Dorset was thus a very wealthy heiress. (She remarried 1801 Charles Whitworth, who became 1st Earl of Whitworth, but had no further issue). From 1799 until her death in 1825, Arabella Duchess of Dorset (as she preferred to be known) controlled the Sackville estates and wealth; at her death, Knole went to her elder daughter the Countess of Plymouth, and Buckhurst and the Middlesex lands (of the Cranfield family) went to her younger daughter the Countess De La Warr.

Lady Mary Sackville married firstly Other Windsor, 6th Earl of Plymouth (1789-1833) on 5 August 1811 and secondly her first husband’s stepfather William Amherst, 1st Earl Amherst on 25 May 1839. She died childless on 20 July 1864, leaving her estates to younger sons of her sister and their heirs male, following the remainder of the barony Buckhurst.

George John Frederick became the 4th Duke of Dorset on his father’s death at the family seat, Knole House, by Sevenoaks, Kent, in 1799 aged 6. He spent the rest of his life under the legal and financial control of his mother and stepfather. The 4th Duke died in a riding accident in Ireland, aged 21. At his death, he had just become engaged to Lady Elizabeth Thynne (b. 1795), elder daughter of Thomas Thynne, 2nd Marquess of Bath. (She went on to marry October 1816 Lord Cawdor and have many children).

Knole was then inherited after Duchess Arabella’s death (1825) by his elder sister Mary, Countess of Plymouth, whose second husband William Amherst, 1st Earl Amherst died at Knole in 1857. She died childless in 1864, and the estate passed to the Countess De La Warr, who was created Baroness Buckhurst in her own right (a title later inherited by a younger son Reginald who is ancestor of the present Earl De La Warr). Another line stemming from this lady is that of the Barons Sackville, a title created in compensation for losing the Buckhurst title. The 1st Baron Sackville inherited Knole, according to the will of Mary, Countess of Plymouth. (He died unmarried, as did his brother the 2nd Baron). Their nephew, the 3rd Baron Sackville, was father of the writer Vita Sackville-West who created a wonderful garden at Sissinghurst. Knole House, still lived in by the Sackville-West family, and Sissinghurst, the family home of Lord Carnock have both been given to the National Trust.

Read Full Post »