1.
George III of the United Kingdom
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He was concurrently Duke and prince-elector of Brunswick-Lüneburg in the Holy Roman Empire until his promotion to King of Hanover on 12 October 1814. He was the third British monarch of the House of Hanover, early in his reign, Great Britain defeated France in the Seven Years War, becoming the dominant European power in North America and India. However, many of Britains American colonies were soon lost in the American War of Independence, further wars against revolutionary and Napoleonic France from 1793 concluded in the defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. In the later part of his life, George III had recurrent, although it has since been suggested that he had the blood disease porphyria, the cause of his illness remains unknown. After a final relapse in 1810, a regency was established, on George IIIs death, the Prince Regent succeeded his father as George IV. Historical analysis of George IIIs life has gone through a kaleidoscope of changing views that have depended heavily on the prejudices of his biographers and the sources available to them. Until it was reassessed in the half of the 20th century, his reputation in the United States was one of a tyrant. George was born in London at Norfolk House and he was the grandson of King George II, and the eldest son of Frederick, Prince of Wales, and Augusta of Saxe-Gotha. As Prince George was born two months prematurely and he was unlikely to survive, he was baptised the same day by Thomas Secker. One month later, he was baptised at Norfolk House. His godparents were the King of Sweden, his uncle the Duke of Saxe-Gotha, George grew into a healthy but reserved and shy child. The family moved to Leicester Square, where George and his younger brother Prince Edward, Duke of York, Family letters show that he could read and write in both English and German, as well as comment on political events of the time, by the age of eight. He was the first British monarch to study science systematically and his religious education was wholly Anglican. At age 10 George took part in a production of Joseph Addisons play Cato and said in the new prologue, What. It may with truth be said, A boy in England born, historian Romney Sedgwick argued that these lines appear to be the source of the only historical phrase with which he is associated. Georges grandfather, King George II, disliked the Prince of Wales, however, in 1751 the Prince of Wales died unexpectedly from a lung injury, and George became heir apparent to the throne. He inherited one of his fathers titles and became the Duke of Edinburgh, now more interested in his grandson, three weeks later the King created George Prince of Wales. Georges mother, now the Dowager Princess of Wales, preferred to keep George at home where she could imbue him with her moral values
2.
Charles Marsham, 1st Earl of Romney
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Romney was the son of Robert Marsham, 2nd Baron Romney, and Priscilla, daughter and heiress of Charles Pym. He was educated at Eton College and entered Christ Church, Oxford in 1763 and he succeeded his father to the barony on 16 November 1793. In 1793 Charles inherited his grandfathers huge sugar plantations, jointly known as Romneys, the property had been part of his fathers marriage settlement to his mother in 1742. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1766, Romney was returned to Parliament for Maidstone in 1768, a seat he held until 1774, and then represented Kent from 1774 to 1790. He was also Lord Lieutenant of Kent from 1797 to 1808, in 1799 he entertained King George III at his seat Moat House, when the King reviewed about six thousand of the Kentish Volunteers. A Doric-style temple was constructed in Mote Park to commemorate the occasion, in 1801 Lord Romney was created Viscount Marsham, of the Mote in the County of Kent, and Earl of Romney. Lord Romney married Lady Frances, daughter of Charles Wyndham, 2nd Earl of Egremont, Lord Romney died in March 1811, aged 66, and was succeeded by his son, Charles. Hansard 1803–2005, contributions in Parliament by the Earl of Romney
3.
Gayton Hall
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For the house in Merseyside see Gayton Hall, Wirral. For the house in South Northamptonshire see Gayton Manor House, Gayton Hall is a country house in Gayton in Norfolk. It was passed down the Romney family and remains the seat of the present Countess, the gardens are open to the public
4.
Mote Park
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Mote Park is a 440-acre multi-use public park in Maidstone, Kent. Previously a country estate it was converted to landscaped park land at the end of the 18th century before becoming a municipal park and it includes the former stately home Mote House together with a miniature railway, pitch and putt golf course and a boating lake. The park has also used as a cricket ground for the Kent County Cricket Club. The house is set in 450 acres of landscape and consists of 85 houses. The park is maintained by Maidstone Borough Council with support from the Mote Park Fellowship, the parks name is derived from moot or mote in Old English meaning a place of assembly. Its proximity to nearby Penenden Heath indicates that it may once have formed part of a region in central Kent. In the 13th century, the lands were incorporated into the manor of local landowners. This is believed to indicate the area was used as one of the earliest deer parks in Kent, the Woodville family continued to lay claim to the land despite various interventions during the reign of Richard III and Henry VII. On 17 July 1531, Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn visited it, passing to Thomas Wyatt the younger, the estate again returned to the Crown under Queen Elizabeth I before finally passing, in 1690 to the Marsham family, who would later become the Lords Romney. Under the ownership of the Marsham family, the estate was considerably improved, the grounds were laid out in the so-called Anglo-Dutch style illustrated in an engraving by Johannes Kip in 1750. A Doric-style temple was constructed to commemorate the occasion, between 1793 and 1800 the original Mote House was demolished and a new mansion constructed, designed by Daniel Asher Alexander. At the same time the River Len was dammed to form a lake, the addition of internal roadways, walls, a boathouse and a bridge over the lake stretched the financial resources of Charles Marsham, 3rd Baron Romney. Eventually the family gathered funds to expand the property and the park reached the size it is today. The Great Bridge was demolished and the lake itself expanded to around 30 acres, in 1895 the estate was sold to Marcus Samuel, 1st Viscount Bearsted. The estate had included the Mote Cricket Club since 1857, and Viscount Bearsted expanded the facility, in 1929 Walter Samuel, 2nd Viscount Bearsted sold the majority of the estate to Maidstone Borough Council for £50,000 and converted the house to an orphanage. The family still retains an interest in the park today, between 1932 and 1941, Mote House was home to the Caldecott Community, a nursery organisation that had relocated to Maidstone from its original home in London following the First World War. In 1941, war forced the Caldecott Community to evacuate to Hyde House in Dorset), Mote House was commandeered by the British Armed Forces who used the kitchen garden as a headquarters and training facility during the Second World War. The Mote / Mote House was subsequently used as offices for the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, after lying empty for a number of years it was redeveloped as retirement apartments and cottages
5.
William II of England
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William II, the third son of William I of England, was King of England from 1087 until 1100, with powers over Normandy, and influence in Scotland. He was less successful in extending control into Wales, William is commonly known as William Rufus or William the Red, perhaps because of his red-faced appearance. He was a figure of complex temperament, capable of both bellicosity and flamboyance and he did not marry, nor did he produce any offspring, legitimate or otherwise. He died after being struck by an arrow while hunting, under circumstances that remain murky, circumstantial evidence in the behaviour of those around him raise strong but unproven suspicions of murder. His younger brother Henry hurriedly succeeded him as king, on the other hand, he was a wise ruler and victorious general. Barlow finds that, His chivalrous virtues and achievements were all too obvious and he had maintained good order and satisfactory justice in England and restored good peace to Normandy. He had extended Anglo-Norman rule in Wales, brought Scotland firmly under his lordship, recovered Maine, Williams exact date of birth is not known, but it was some time between the years 1056 and 1060. He was the third of four born to William the Conqueror and Matilda of Flanders, the eldest being Robert Curthose, the second Richard. William succeeded to the throne of England on his fathers death in 1087, Richard had died around 1075 while hunting in the New Forest. William had five or six sisters, records indicate strained relations between the three surviving sons of William I. A brawl broke out, and their father had to intercede to restore order, the division of William the Conquerors lands into two parts presented a dilemma for those nobles who held land on both sides of the English Channel. The only solution, as they saw it, was to unite England, in 1091 he invaded Normandy, crushing Roberts forces and forcing him to cede a portion of his lands. The two made up their differences and William agreed to help Robert recover lands lost to France, William Rufus was thus secure in what was then the most powerful kingdom in Europe, given the contemporary eclipse of the Salian emperors. Less than two years after becoming king, William II lost his father William Is adviser and confidant, after Lanfrancs death in 1089, the king delayed appointing a new archbishop for many years, appropriating ecclesiastical revenues in the interim. The English clergy, beholden to the king for their preferments, in 1095 William called a council at Rockingham to bring Anselm to heel, but the archbishop remained firm. In October 1097, Anselm went into exile, taking his case to the Pope, the diplomatic and flexible Urban II, a new pope, was involved in a major conflict with the Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV, who supported an antipope. Reluctant to make another enemy, Urban came to a concordat with William Rufus, whereby William recognised Urban as pope, Anselm remained in exile, and William was able to claim the revenues of the archbishop of Canterbury to the end of his reign. Lanfranc retorted that you will not seize the bishop of Bayeux and it seems reasonable to suppose that such details are indicative of William IIs personal beliefs
6.
Mary II of England
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Mary II was joint monarch of England, Scotland, and Ireland with her husband and first cousin, William of Orange, from 1689 until her death. William became sole ruler upon her death in 1694, popular histories usually refer to their joint reign as that of William and Mary. Mary wielded less power than William when he was in England, ceding most of her authority to him and she did, however, act alone when William was engaged in military campaigns abroad, proving herself to be a powerful, firm, and effective ruler. Mary, born at St Jamess Palace in London on 30 April 1662, was the eldest daughter of James, Duke of York, and his first wife, Anne Hyde. She was baptised into the Anglican faith in the Chapel Royal at St Jamess and her godparents included her fathers cousin, Prince Rupert of the Rhine. Although her mother bore eight children, all except Mary and her younger sister Anne died very young, consequently, for most of her childhood, Mary was second in line to the throne after her father. The Duke of York converted to Roman Catholicism in 1668 or 1669, Marys education, from private tutors, was largely restricted to music, dance, drawing, French, and religious instruction. Her mother died in 1671, and her father remarried in 1673, taking as his second wife Mary of Modena, from about the age of nine until her marriage, Mary wrote passionate letters to an older girl, Frances Apsley, the daughter of courtier Sir Allen Apsley. In time, Frances became uncomfortable with the correspondence, and replied more formally, at the age of fifteen, Mary became betrothed to her cousin, the Protestant Stadtholder of Holland, William of Orange. William was the son of the Kings late sister, Mary, Princess Royal, and thus fourth in the line of succession after James, Mary, and Anne. The Duke of York agreed to the marriage, after pressure from chief minister Lord Danby and the King, when James told Mary that she was to marry her cousin, she wept all that afternoon and all the following day. William and a tearful Mary were married in St Jamess Palace by Bishop Henry Compton on 4 November 1677, Mary accompanied her husband on a rough sea crossing back to the Netherlands later that month, after a delay of two weeks caused by bad weather. On 14 December, they made an entry to The Hague in a grand procession. Marys animated and personable nature made her popular with the Dutch people and she was devoted to her husband, but he was often away on campaigns, which led to Marys family supposing him to be cold and neglectful. She suffered further bouts of illness that may have been miscarriages in mid-1678, early 1679 and her childlessness would be the greatest source of unhappiness in her life. From May 1684, the Kings illegitimate son, James Scott, Duke of Monmouth, lived in the Netherlands, Monmouth was viewed as a rival to the Duke of York, and as a potential Protestant heir who could supplant James in the line of succession. William, however, did not consider him a viable alternative, upon the death of Charles II without legitimate issue in February 1685, the Duke of York became king as James II in England and Ireland and James VII in Scotland. Mary was playing cards when her husband informed her of her fathers accession, to Williams relief, Monmouth was defeated, captured and executed, but both he and Mary were dismayed by Jamess subsequent actions
7.
Henry Sydney, 1st Earl of Romney
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Henry Sydney, 1st Earl of Romney was an English politician and army officer. Often dismissed as a mere flunkey and court favourite, he was nevertheless an expert Statesman, henrys sister was Dorothy Spencer, Countess of Sunderland. In the upshot, when King James II & VII was deposed under legislation intended to bar him from the succession, henry Sidney served as Master-General of the Ordnance from 1693 to 1702. Additionally, he was a Lieutenant-General and Colonel of the First Regiment of Foot Guards and he employed the Sidney family emblem, the pheon or broad arrow, on prison uniforms and other government property. In 1694, Sydney succeeded the Earl of Dorset as Chief Ranger of Greenwich Park in London and he built a diversion of the main road from Woolwich to Deptford so that it ran between the Queens House and Greenwich Palace, its present course. Part of the road is called Romney Road after him and he died unmarried, in London, a proud but drunken man aged 63. The University of Nottingham Library contains a catalogue of the papers of Hans William Bentinck, 1st Earl of Portland, there further have survived 98 letters between Sidney and George Legge, 1st Baron Dartmouth, which include papers written by Dartmouth during his confinement at the Tower
