Lord Chatham, His Early Life and ConnectionsRosebery, Archibald Philip Primrose, Earl of
History
Lord Chatham, His Early Life and Connections
Rosebery, Archibald Philip Primrose, Earl of
Pitt, William, Earl of Chatham, 1708-1778
The Governor left behind him three sons, Robert, Thomas, and John; and
two daughters, Lucy and Essex. Robert, the eldest son, married, somewhat
clandestinely, Harriot Villiers, sister of the Earl of Grandison, 'who
seems to have brought with her,' says her grandson, 'little more than
the insolence of a noble alliance.' A more favourable estimate declares
that she had a fortune of 3000_l._, and that 'it is a great dispute
among those who have the pleasure of conversing with her whether her
beauty, understanding, or good-humour be the most captivating.' She
makes a pale apparition in Lady Suffolk's correspondence, soliciting a
place for her brother, Lord Grandison, with the offer of a bribe, and
subsiding under the royal confidant's rebuke.[10]
The second, Thomas, married one of the heiresses of Ridgeway, Earl of
Londonderry. After that nobleman's death 'he _bought_ the honours which
were extinct in the person of his wife's father.'[11] One infers from
casual hints that Thomas may have had the most influence with his
father, and that he was not embarrassed by scruples. He was, says Lord
Camelford, 'a man of no character, and of parts that were calculated
only for the knavery of business, in which he overreached others, and at
last himself.' But Camelford may have been soured by the controversies
which followed the Governor's death. The honours so dubiously acquired
died out with Lord Londonderry's two sons.
John, the Governor's third son, 'was in the army, an amiable vaurien, a
personal favourite with the King, and, indeed, with all who knew him as
a sort of Comte de Gramont, who contrived to sacrifice his health, his
honour, his fortunes to a flow of libertinism which dashed the fairest
prospect, and sank him for many years before his death in contempt and
obscurity.'[12] This death took place, within Lord Camelford's memory,
'at the thatched house by the turnpike in Hammersmith.' John seems to
have been a sort of Will Esmond, and we have on record a horse
transaction of his which savours strongly of Thackeray's famous
knave.[13] He married 'a sister of Lord Fauconberg's, whose personal
talents and accomplishments distinguished her as much at least as her
birth, and much more than her virtues.'[14]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account