The Letter-Bag of Lady Elizabeth Spencer-Stanhope Part 33

[6] G.o.dfrey Wentworth Armytage, Esq., afterwards Wentworth, married, in 1794, Amelia, daughter of Walter Ramsden Beaumont Hawksworth, Esq., who afterwards took the name of Fawkes under the will of his cousin, Francis Fawkes, Esq., of Farnley, Co. York.

[7] The governess.

[8] Robert Monckton Arundell, 4th Viscount Galway, K.B.; a Privy Councillor and representative of York and Pontefract in different Parliaments; married, in 1803, as his second wife, Mary Bridget, relict of Peter Auriol Hay-Drummond, Esq., and only child of Pemberton Milnes, Esq.

of Bawtry Hall, Co. York.

[9] Michael Angelo Taylor, son of Sir R. Taylor, architect, whose fortune endowed the Taylorian buildings at Oxford.

Michael Angelo was Recorder of Poole in 1784, and became member for that borough the same year. He lived to be Father of the House. He was a constant source of amus.e.m.e.nt to his fellow Parliamentarians on account of his vanity and ostentation, and was a celebrated subject for Gilray's caricatures. The summit of his ambition was reached when the Prince Regent became his guest. See _Annals of a Yorks.h.i.+re House_, vol. ii. pages 40-43.

[10] John Beaumont, Esquire of Whitley Beaumont, Yorks.h.i.+re, born 1752, died 1831; married Sarah, daughter of Humphrey Butler, Esquire of Hereford.

[11] Francis Ward, second son of Neil, 3rd Earl of Rosebery.

[12] Angelica Catalani (1779-1849), who at this date was twenty-seven years of age, was famous throughout Europe for her exquisite voice. She had displayed extraordinary vocal powers from the age of six. In the previous year, 1806, she had made 10,000 during an engagement of six months in London.

[13] So called from the actor and manager, Michael Kelly.

[14] The two Princes of Holstein then visiting England were Auguste of Schleswig-Holstein-Oldenburg (b. 1783) and his brother Peter Frederick George (b. 1784). Denmark had secured Holstein in the previous September.

[15] Mrs Cator, Elizabeth Louisa, daughter of Sir Ross Mahon, Bart. of Castlegar, Co. Galway, and Anne, daughter of the 1st Earl of Altamont.

[16] John Dennis, 3rd Earl of Altamont, created Marquis of Sligo in Ireland 1800, and a Peer of the United Kingdom as Baron Monteagle of Westport, Co. Mayo, 1806.

[17] John Cator, Esq. of Beckenham Place, Kent, and of Woodbastwick Hall, Norfolk, mar., September 1806, Elizabeth Louisa, daughter of Sir Ross Mahon, Bart. of Castlegar, Co. Galway.

[18] The Right Hon. John Smyth of Heath Hall, M.P. for Pontefract, and successively a Lord of the Admiralty and Treasury, Master of the Mint and Privy Councillor in 1772. Married Lady Georgiana Fitzroy, eldest daughter of Augustus Henry, 3rd Duke of Grafton. See _Annals of a Yorks.h.i.+re House_, vol. ii., pages 108-113.

[19] Prince Paul Esterhazy, Austrian Minister at the Court of St James's.

[20] Isabella, eldest daughter and co-heir of Charles Ingram, 9th Viscount Irvine, wife of the 2nd Marquis of Hertford, K.G., Lord Chamberlain.

[21] Wife of Sir William Scott, afterwards Baron Stowel.

[22] See _Annals of a Yorks.h.i.+re House_, vol. ii., page 319.

[23] Cecil-Jane, sixth daughter of the 2nd Baron Glentworth, who was created Viscount and Earl of Limerick in 1803. She married, in 1828, Count John Leopold Ferdinand Casimir de la Feld, a Count of the Holy Roman Empire.

[24] Francis Pierrepont-Burton, 2nd Baron Conyngham, who, on inheriting the t.i.tles and estates of his uncle, a.s.sumed the surname and arms of Conyngham, married, in 1759, the eldest daughter of the Right Hon.

Nathaniel Clements, and sister of Robert, Earl of Leitrim. She died in 1814.

[25] Lady Charlotte Stewart, daughter of Alexander, 6th Earl of Galloway, married, in 1759, John, 4th Earl of Dunmore.

[26] Susan, third daughter of the 4th Earl of Dunmore, married, first, in 1788, Joseph Tharpe, Esq. of Chippenham, Cambridge; secondly, John Drew, Esq.; and thirdly, in 1809, the Rev. A. E. Douglas.

[27] Augusta, second daughter of 4th Earl of Dunmore, married, at Rome, the 4th of April 1793, Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Suss.e.x, and was re-married to H.R.H. the following December at St George's Church, Hanover Square.

[28] Edward Charles, second son of William, 2nd Duke of Portland, and Lady Margaret Cavendish Harley, only daughter and heir of Edward, 2nd Earl of Oxford. Lord Edward Bentinck married Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Richard c.u.mberland, Esq., and had one son and three daughters. He died in 1819.

[29] The three Miss Bentincks were: Harriet, married, 1809, Sir William Mordaunt Sturt Milner, Bart.; Elizabeth, married, 1812, Captain Henry Wyndham; and Charlotte married Major Robert Garrett.

[30] Thomas, Viscount Cranley, who succeeded his father in 1814 as 2nd Earl of Onslow.

[31] Robert Pemberton Milnes, Esq. of Fryston Hall and Bawtry Hall, Co.

York., M.P. for Pontefract, married, in 1808, the Hon. Henrietta Maria Monckton, daughter of Robert Monckton Arundell, 6th Viscount Galway.

[32] This was probably one of the first occasions on which a waltz was danced in England. See vol. ii. pages 182-183.

[33] Augusta, daughter of John, 9th Earl of Westmoreland, married, July 1781, Sir William Lowther, Bart., afterwards Baron and Viscount Lowther, and who on April 7th, 1807, became Earl of Lonsdale. Elizabeth was their eldest daughter.

[34] Sir John Sinclair, Bart. (1754-1835), was admitted to both the Scotch and English Bars, and sat in Parliament 1780-1811. He established the Board of Agriculture in 1793. He was an extensive and valuable author.

[35] Sir John Smith of Sydling, St Nicholas, Co. Dorset, born 1744, died November 13th, 1807. Created a Baronet, 1774.

[36] The mother-in-law of John Wyldbore, son of Sir John Smith, afterwards 2nd Baronet, who married, in 1897, Elizabeth Ann, second daughter and co- heiress of the Rev. James Marriott, D.C.L., of Horsemonden, Co. Kent.

[37] Jacquetta of Luxemburg, widow of the Duke of Bedford, married, secondly, the brave and handsome knight, Sir Richard Woodville, when she came to England in 1435 to claim her dower. The birth of her eldest child Elizabeth probably occurred in 1436. The marriage caused great scandal and Sir Richard was imprisoned; but was subsequently released and they settled at Grafton Castle. The d.u.c.h.ess kept the rank of aunt to the King; and on occasions of ceremony was the first lady in the land till the marriage of the King. Her daughter Elizabeth subsequently took high rank among the maids of honour of Margaret of Anjou and was the belle of her Court.

[38] John Grey, heir of Lord Ferrars of Groby.

[39] In the above extract, the spelling, as transcribed by Mrs Stanhope, has been adhered to.

CHAPTER IV

[1] Archibald John, Viscount Primrose and his brother Francis, sons of Neil, 3rd Earl of Rosebery. They were given the nicknames of "Roast Beef"

and "Plum Pudding" owing to their invariable habit of dining with Mr and Mrs Spencer-Stanhope every Sunday.

[2] Count Charles Holmar, a subject of the King of Denmark, but Master of the Horse to the Duke of Holstein Oldenburg, and Tutor to the Princes of Holstein Oldenburg.

[3] John, second Marquis of Lansdowne, married, 27th May 1805, Maria Arabella, daughter of the Rev. Hinton Maddock of "Darland," Wales, and relict of Sir Duke Gifford, Bart, of Castle Jordan in Ireland, who died in 1801. In her Will, dated December 31st, 1821, Lady Lansdowne mentions five daughters by her first husband.

[4] _Almach's_, vol. iii., pages 201-2.

[5] Archibald John, Viscount Primrose, afterwards 4th Earl of Rosebery, married, first, on May 20th, 1808, Henrietta, second daughter of the Hon.

Bartholomew Bouverie, and grandson of William, 1st Earl of Radnor. He divorced her in 1815.

[6] Emily, daughter and heiress of Gerard de Visme, Esq. Lady Sh.e.l.ley, her schoolfellow, describes her as "the most beautiful being I have ever beheld. Her cla.s.sic-shaped head and Spanish air--her mother was a Portuguese--added to a slight and not too tall figure, attracted much attention, and she was universally admired. Her accomplishments were as remarkable as her beauty. She played the harp exquisitely, and excelled also on the piano and in singing. She spoke French and Italian fluently and with a perfect accent." _Diary of Frances, Lady Sh.e.l.ley_, pub. John Murray, 1812, page 15. Miss De Visme married, June 28th, 1810, Henry (Sir) Murray, K.C.B., a distinguished officer, born 1784, died 1860, fourth son of David, 7th Viscount Stormont and 2nd Earl of Mansfield, by his second wife Louisa, third daughter of Charles, 9th Lord Catheart, of the 14th Dragoons.

[7] Probably Miss Calcraft, who married, in 1812, Sir John Burke of Marble Hill, Bt., sister to Miss Belle Calcraft. _See_ p. 356.

[8] The Argyle Rooms in Regent's Street were looked upon as a rival to the still more fas.h.i.+onable Almack's. b.a.l.l.s and masquerades were given there, presided over by Colonel Greville, a man of the _haut ton_, who ruled, however, with a less arbitrary sway than the famous Patronesses of Almack's. The facade of the building to-day remains much as it was a century ago.

[9] Henry Bankes, Esq. of Kingston Hall, M.P. for Corfe Castle from 1780 to 1826, and for Co. Dorset from that time to 1831, married Frances, daughter of William Woodey, Esq., Governor of the Leeward Islands, and, besides four sons, had two daughters, Anne Frances, married Edward 4th Viscount and 1st Earl of Falmouth, died 1864, and Maria Wynne, married the Hon. Thomas Stapleton.

[10] John Stanhope adds some years later: "I have a.s.sociated with many persons engaged in that memorable retreat, and I gather from their remarks that as far as Astorga, it was admirably conducted, and that to the rapidity of their march, the army was entirely indebted for its safety.

But from that period, at which there appeared to be no further occasion for so rapid a movement, _its celerity was increased_. The Troops were pa.s.sing through a mountainous district, which at every step offered them an admirable position for attack, and they were pursued by an army which they might have defeated at any time with as much ease as they subsequently defeated it at Corunna. It appears also that they suffered more from the rapidity of the march than they could have done in any general engagement; but it is not easy to form a correct opinion on the subject without knowing the situation of the army with respect to provisions and money; and also without being able to judge whether there was danger of their retreat being cut off.

"I have been informed that Moore ought on no account to have evacuated Corunna, that he had ample facilities for defending it against all the efforts of the French....