1.
Privy Council of the United Kingdom
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Her Majestys Most Honourable Privy Council, usually known simply as the Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its membership mainly comprises senior politicians, who are present or former members of either the House of Commons or the House of Lords, the Council also holds the delegated authority to issue Orders of Council, mostly used to regulate certain public institutions. The Council advises the sovereign on the issuing of Royal Charters, which are used to grant special status to incorporated bodies, otherwise, the Privy Councils powers have now been largely replaced by the Cabinet of the United Kingdom. The Judicial Committee consists of judges appointed as Privy Counsellors, predominantly Justices of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. The Privy Council of the United Kingdom was preceded by the Privy Council of Scotland, the key events in the formation of the modern Privy Council are given below, Witenagemot was an early equivalent to the Privy Council of England. During the reigns of the Norman monarchs, the English Crown was advised by a court or curia regis. The body originally concerned itself with advising the sovereign on legislation, administration, later, different bodies assuming distinct functions evolved from the court. The courts of law took over the business of dispensing justice, nevertheless, the Council retained the power to hear legal disputes, either in the first instance or on appeal. Furthermore, laws made by the sovereign on the advice of the Council, powerful sovereigns often used the body to circumvent the Courts and Parliament. During Henry VIIIs reign, the sovereign, on the advice of the Council, was allowed to enact laws by mere proclamation, the legislative pre-eminence of Parliament was not restored until after Henry VIIIs death. Though the royal Council retained legislative and judicial responsibilities, it became an administrative body. The Council consisted of forty members in 1553, but the sovereign relied on a smaller committee, by the end of the English Civil War, the monarchy, House of Lords, and Privy Council had been abolished. The remaining parliamentary chamber, the House of Commons, instituted a Council of State to execute laws, the forty-one members of the Council were elected by the House of Commons, the body was headed by Oliver Cromwell, de facto military dictator of the nation. In 1653, however, Cromwell became Lord Protector, and the Council was reduced to thirteen and twenty-one members, all elected by the Commons. In 1657, the Commons granted Cromwell even greater powers, some of which were reminiscent of those enjoyed by monarchs, the Council became known as the Protectors Privy Council, its members were appointed by the Lord Protector, subject to Parliaments approval. In 1659, shortly before the restoration of the monarchy, the Protectors Council was abolished, Charles II restored the Royal Privy Council, but he, like previous Stuart monarchs, chose to rely on a small group of advisers. Under George I even more power transferred to this committee and it now began to meet in the absence of the sovereign, communicating its decisions to him after the fact. Thus, the British Privy Council, as a whole, ceased to be a body of important confidential advisers to the sovereign and it is closely related to the word private, and derives from the French word privé
2.
Fellow of the Royal Society
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As of 2016, there are around 1600 living Fellows, Foreign and Honorary Members. Fellowship of the Royal Society has been described by The Guardian newspaper as “the equivalent of a lifetime achievement Oscar” with several institutions celebrating their announcement each year. Up to 60 new Fellows, honorary and foreign members are elected annually usually in May, each candidate is considered on their merits and can be proposed from any sector of the scientific community. Fellows are elected for life on the basis of excellence in science and are entitled to use the post-nominal letters FRS, see Category, Fellows of the Royal Society and Category, Female Fellows of the Royal Society. Every year, Fellows elect up to ten new Foreign Members, like Fellows, Foreign Members are elected for life through peer review on the basis of excellence in science. As of 2016 there are around 165 Foreign Members, who are entitled to use the post-nominal ForMemRS, see Category, Foreign Members of the Royal Society. Honorary Fellows include Bill Bryson, Melvyn Bragg, Robin Saxby, David Sainsbury, Baron Sainsbury of Turville, Honorary Fellows are entitled to use the post nominal letters HonFRS. Others including John Maddox, Patrick Moore and Lisa Jardine were elected as honorary fellows, statute 12 is a legacy mechanism for electing members before official honorary membership existed in 1997. Fellows elected under statute 12 include David Attenborough and John Palmer, prime Ministers of the United Kingdom such as Margaret Thatcher, Neville Chamberlain, H. H. Asquith were elected under statute 12, see Category, Fellows of the Royal Society. The Council of the Royal Society can recommend members of the British Royal Family for election as Royal Fellows of the Royal Society. As of 2016 there are five royal fellows, Charles, Prince of Wales, Anne, Princess Royal, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Prince Andrew, Duke of York. Her Majesty the Queen, Elizabeth II is not a Royal Fellow, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh was elected under statute 12, not as a Royal Fellow. The election of new fellows is announced annually in May, after their nomination, each candidate for Fellowship or Foreign Membership is nominated by two Fellows of the Royal Society, who sign a certificate of proposal. Previously, nominations required at least five fellows to support each nomination by the proposer, the certificate of election includes a statement of the principal grounds on which the proposal is being made. There is no limit on the number of nominations each year. In 2015, there were 654 candidates for election as Fellows and 106 candidates for Foreign Membership. The final list of up to 52 Fellowship candidates and up to 10 Foreign Membership candidates is confirmed by the Council in April, a candidate is elected if he or she secures two-thirds of votes of those Fellows present and voting. A further maximum of six can be ‘Honorary’, ‘General’ or ‘Royal’ Fellows, nominations for Fellowship are peer reviewed by sectional committees, each with fifteen members and a chair
3.
Frederick North, Lord North
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Frederick North, 2nd Earl of Guilford, KG, PC, more often known by his courtesy title, Lord North, which he used from 1752 until 1790, was Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1770 to 1782. He led Great Britain through most of the American War of Independence and he also held a number of other cabinet posts, including Home Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer. Norths reputation among historians has swung back and forth and it reached its nadir in the late nineteenth century when he was depicted as a creature of the king and an incompetent who lost the American colonies. In the early twentieth century a revisionism emphasized his strengths in administering the Treasury, handling the House of Commons, Herbert Butterfield, however, argued that his indolence was a barrier to efficient crisis management, he neglected his role in supervising the entire war effort. Lord North was born in London on 13 April 1732, at the house at Albemarle Street, just off Piccadilly. His father, the first Earl, was at the time Lord of the Bedchamber to Prince Frederick, North was descended from the 1st Earl of Sandwich and was related to Samuel Pepys and the 3rd Earl of Bute. He at times had a turbulent relationship with his father Francis North, 1st Earl of Guilford. In his early years the family was not wealthy, though their situation improved in 1735 when his father inherited property from his cousin, fredericks mother, Lady Lucy Montagu, died in 1734. His father remarried, but his stepmother, Elizabeth North, also died in 1745, one of his stepbrothers was Lord Dartmouth, who remained a close friend for life. He was educated at Eton College between 1742 and 1748, and at Trinity College, Oxford where in 1750 he was awarded an MA, after leaving Oxford he travelled in Europe on the Grand Tour with Dartmouth, visiting Leipzig where he studied at the University of Leipzig. He visited Vienna, Milan, and Paris, returning to England in 1753 and he soon developed a reputation as a good administrator and parliamentarian, and was generally liked by his colleagues. In November 1763 he was chosen to speak for the Government concerning radical MP John Wilkes, Wilkes had made a savage attack on both the Prime Minister and the King in his newspaper The North Briton, which many thought libelous. Norths motion that Wilkes be expelled from the House of Commons passed by 273 votes to 111, Wilkes expulsion took place in his absence, as he had already fled to France following a duel. When a government headed by the Whig magnate Lord Rockingham came to power in 1765, North left his post and he turned down an offer by Rockingham to rejoin the government, not wanting to be associated with the Whig grandees that dominated the Ministry. He returned to office when Pitt returned to head a government in 1766. North was appointed Joint Paymaster of the Forces in Pitts ministry, as Pitt was constantly ill, the government was effectively run by the Duke of Grafton, with North as one of its most senior members. In December 1767, he succeeded Charles Townshend as Chancellor of the Exchequer, with the resignation of the secretary of state Henry Seymour Conway in early 1768, North became Leader of the Commons as well. He continued to serve when Pitt was succeeded by Grafton in October, when the Duke of Grafton resigned as Prime Minister, North formed a government on 28 January 1770
4.
William Nassau de Zuylestein, 4th Earl of Rochford
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William Henry Nassau de Zuylestein, 4th Earl of Rochford, KG, PC was a British courtier, diplomat and statesman of Anglo-Dutch descent. He occupied senior posts at Madrid and Paris, and served as Secretary of State in both the Northern and Southern Departments. He is credited with the introduction of the Lombardy poplar to England in 1754. He was a friend of such major cultural figures as the actor David Garrick, the novelist Laurence Sterne. George III valued Rochford as his advisor on foreign affairs in the early 1770s. Rochford was the only British secretary of state between 1760 and 1778 who had been a career diplomat, in addition to his work as foreign secretary, he carried a heavy burden of domestic responsibilities in the early 1770s, especially Irish affairs. He was a key member of the North administration in the phase of the American War of Independence. Illness and a scandal forced him from office in November 1775. William Henry Nassau van Zuylestein was born in 1717, the son of Frederick Nassau van Zuylestein, 3rd Earl of Rochford. His ancestry was Anglo-Dutch, descended in a line from William the Silent’s son Frederick Henry. Rochford’s grandfather and great-grandfather both had English wives, ladies-in-waiting at the courts of William II and William III of Orange and his grandfather was a close companion of William III, accompanying him to England in the Glorious Revolution of 1688–9, and later rewarded with the earldom of Rochford. Educated at Eton College as Viscount Tunbridge, Rochford’s school friends included three future secretaries of state, Conway, Halifax and Sandwich, however, he also made a lifelong enemy at Eton of the Prime minister’s son, the influential writer Horace Walpole. Instead of going to university, Rochford was sent to the Academy at Geneva, from Geneva he emerged as fluent in French as he was in Dutch and English, and succeeded his father as 4th Earl of Rochford in 1738 at the age of twenty-one. Rochford was appointed a Gentleman of the Bedchamber to George II in 1739 and he inherited strong Whig principles and was a loyal supporter of the Hanoverian Protestant succession, but also admired Sir Robert Walpole’s peaceful foreign policy. At the time of the 1745 Jacobite Rebellion he offered to raise a regiment and he was active in Essex politics in the government’s interest, but he was no orator and made no impression in the House of Lords. He was appointed Vice-Admiral of Essex in 1748, though ambitious for high political office, he avoided the factions and cultivated the King’s son, the Duke of Cumberland, as his patron. Cumberland successfully lobbied for Rochford to be given a diplomatic post at the end of the War of the Austrian Succession, Rochford arrived at Turin on 9 September 1749. However, he had agreed to accept an ordinary Envoy’s salary for a period
5.
George Montagu-Dunk, 2nd Earl of Halifax
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George Montagu-Dunk, 2nd Earl of Halifax, KG PC was a British statesman of the Georgian era. Due to his success in extending American commerce he became known as father of the colonies, President of the Board of Trade 1748–61, he aided the foundation of Nova Scotia,1749, the capital Halifax being named after him. The son of the 1st Earl of Halifax, he was styled Viscount Sunbury until succeeding his father as 2nd Earl of Halifax in 1739. Educated at Eton College and at Trinity College, Cambridge, he was married in 1741 to Anne Richards, who had inherited a great fortune from Sir Thomas Dunk, whose name Halifax took. After having been an official in the household of Frederick, Prince of Wales, Lord Halifax was made Master of the Buckhounds, and in 1748 he became President of the Board of Trade. While filling this position he helped to found Halifax, the capital of Nova Scotia, which was named after him, about this time he attempted, unsuccessfully, to become a Secretary of State, but was only allowed to enter the Cabinet in 1757. In March 1761, Halifax was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, in 1762, in search of evidence of sedition, he authorised a raid on the home of John Entick, declared unlawful in the case of Entick v. Carrington. He was also responsible for the exclusion of the name of the Kings mother, Augusta, Princess of Wales. Together with his colleagues, Lord Halifax left office in July 1765, returning to the Cabinet as Lord Privy Seal under his nephew, Lord North and he had just been restored to his former position of Secretary of State when he died. Like his friends John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford and John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, the earliest surviving record of his involvement in the sport comes from 1741 when he led Northamptonshire in a match against Buckinghamshire at Cow Meadow in Northampton. In the same season, Sandwich and Halifax formed the Northamptonshire & Huntingdonshire team which twice defeated Bedfordshire, first at Woburn Park and he left no children, and his titles became extinct on his death. Lord Orford speaks slightingly of Halifax, and says he and his mistress, Halifax was buried in the church of St Mary Magdalene in Horton, Northamptonshire. There is a bust and memorial to him in the transept of Westminster Abbey. There is an obelisk at Chicksands Wood, near Haynes, Bedfordshire, Halifax served as a political patron of the playwright and civil servant Richard Cumberland. Attribution This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Halifax, George Montagu Dunk. From Commons to Lords, Volume One,1700 to 1750, beaumont, Colonial America and the Earl of Halifax, 1748-1761. Oxford, England, Oxford University Press,2015, media related to George Montagu-Dunk, 2nd Earl of Halifax at Wikimedia Commons
6.
George Grenville
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George Grenville, PC was a British Whig statesman who rose to the position of Prime Minister of Great Britain. Grenville was born into a political family and first entered Parliament in 1741 as an MP for Buckingham. He emerged as one of Cobhams Cubs, a group of members of Parliament associated with Lord Cobham. In 1754 Grenville became Treasurer of the Navy, a position he held twice until 1761, in October 1761 he chose to stay in government and accepted the new role of Leader of the Commons causing a rift with his brother-in-law and political ally William Pitt who had resigned. Grenville was subsequently made Northern Secretary and First Lord of the Admiralty by the new Prime Minister Lord Bute, on 8 April 1763, Lord Bute resigned, and Grenville assumed his position as Prime Minister. His government tried to bring public spending under control and pursued a foreign policy. His best known policy is the Stamp Act, a tax in Great Britain onto the colonies in America. Grenville had increasingly strained relations with his colleagues and the King and in 1765 he was dismissed by George III, for the last five years of his life Grenville led a group of his supporters in opposition and staged a public reconciliation with Pitt. George Grenville was born at Wotton House on 14 October 1712 and he was the second son of Richard Grenville and Hester Temple. He was one of five brothers, all of whom became MPs and his sister Hester Grenville married the leading political figure William Pitt. His elder brother was Richard Grenville, later the 2nd Earl Temple and it was intended by his parents that George Grenville should become a lawyer. Grenville received his education at Eton College and at Christ Church, Oxford and he entered Parliament in 1741 as one of the two members for Buckingham, and continued to represent that borough for the next twenty-nine years until his death. He was disappointed to be giving up what appeared to be a legal career for the uncertainties of opposition politics. In Parliament he subscribed to the Boy Patriot party, which opposed Sir Robert Walpole, in December 1744 he became a Lord of the Admiralty in the administration of Henry Pelham. He allied himself with his brother Richard and with William Pitt in forcing Pelham to give them promotion by rebelling against his authority, in June 1747, Grenville became a Lord of the Treasury. In 1754 Grenville was made Treasurer of the Navy and Privy Councillor, opposition to European entanglements was a cornerstone of Patriot Whig thinking. He and Pitt joined the opposition, haranguing the Newcastle government, Grenville and Pitt both championed the formation of a British militia to provide additional security rather than the deployment of Hessian mercenaries favoured by the government. As the military situation deteriorated following the loss of Minorca, the government grew increasingly weak until it was forced to resign in Autumn 1756, Pitt then formed a government led by the Duke of Devonshire
7.
Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton
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Augustus Henry FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton, KG, PC, styled Earl of Euston between 1747 and 1757, was a British Whig statesman of the Georgian era. He is one of a handful of dukes who have served as Prime Minister, however, he struggled to demonstrate an ability to counter increasing challenges to Britains global dominance following the nations victory in the Seven Years War. He was widely attacked for allowing France to annex Corsica, and stepped down in 1770, handing over power to Lord North. He was a son of Lord Augustus FitzRoy, a Captain in the Royal Navy, and Elizabeth Cosby, daughter of Colonel William Cosby, who served as a colonial Governor of New York. His father was the son of the 2nd Duke of Grafton and Lady Henrietta Somerset. He was notably a fourth-generation descendant of King Charles II and the 1st Duchess of Cleveland and his younger brother was the 1st Baron Southampton. From the death of his uncle in 1747, he was styled Earl of Euston as his grandfathers heir apparent, Lord Euston was educated at Newcomes School in Hackney and at Westminster School, made the Grand Tour, and obtained a degree at Peterhouse, University of Cambridge. In 1756, he entered Parliament as MP for Boroughbridge, a borough, several months later, he switched constituencies to Bury St Edmunds. However, a later, his grandfather died and he succeeded as 3rd Duke of Grafton. He first became known in politics as an opponent of Lord Bute, in 1765, Grafton was appointed a Privy Counsellor, then, following discussions with William Pitt the Elder, he was appointed Northern Secretary in Lord Rockinghams first government. However, he retired the year, and Pitt formed a ministry in which Grafton was First Lord of the Treasury. Also, in 1768, Grafton became Chancellor of Cambridge University and he became Lord Privy Seal in Lord Norths ministry but resigned in 1775, being in favour of conciliatory action towards the American colonists. In the second Rockingham ministry of 1782, he was again Lord Privy Seal, in later years he was a prominent Unitarian, being one of the early members of the inaugural Essex Street Chapel under Rev. Theophilus Lindsey when founded in 1774. Grafton had associated with a number of liberal Anglican theologians when at Cambridge, devoted time to theological study. In 1773 in the House of Lords he supported a bill to release Anglican clergy from subscribing to all the Thirty Nine Articles and he became an advocate of moral reformation among the upper classes and of liturgical reform. He was author of, Hints Submitted to the Serious Attention of the Clergy, Nobility and Gentry, Serious Reflections of a Rational Christian from 1788-1797. The Grafton Centre Shopping Mall in Cambridge is also named after him, cape Grafton in Far North Queensland was named after him by Lieutenant James Cook during his first voyage of discovery. On 29 January 1756, he married The Hon. Anne Liddell, daughter of Henry Liddell, 4th Baronet Ravensworth and they had three children, Lady Georgiana FitzRoy, who married John Smyth on 4 June 1778
8.
Board of Admiralty
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The Board of Admiralty was established in 1628 when Charles I put the office of Lord High Admiral into commission. This system remained in place until 1832, when the Board of Admiralty became the authority charged with both administrative and operational control of the navy when the Navy Board was abolished. The office of Lord High Admiral was created in around 1400 to take charge of the Royal Navy and it was one of the Great Officers of State. The office could be exercised by an individual, by the Crown directly, in 1679 this was changed, and the number of Commissioners was reduced to seven, who were to receive salaries and need not be members of the Privy Council. The eighteenth century Board of Admiralty usually contained a preponderance of civilians, although there was a naval element and often a sea officer was First Lord. The Lords Commissioners were all active politicians, even the naval members, after 1806 the First Lord was always a civilian and a senior member of the ministry, while the separate post of First Sea Lord was evolved for the senior professional member. Until the absorption of the High Court of Admiralty into the Court of Judicature they nominally retained, as executors of the office of Lord High Admiral, their centuries-old link with that court. When the Navy Board was abolished in 1832 and responsibility for the administration of the Navy passed to the Board of Admiralty. It now consisted of the First Lord of the Admiralty, four Naval Lords, known from 1904 as Sea Lords, and a Civil Lord, with a Parliamentary and a Permanent Secretary. Between 1832 and 1869 following the abolition of Navy Board a number of Civilian Naval Officials were also appointed as members. During the First World War the number of Sea Lords was increased at one time to eight, in 1938 the title of the Board member designated Assistant Chief of Naval Staff was altered to Fifth Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Air Services. For fuller details of Board membership during this period see The Second World War, duties were assigned to each Lord Commissioner by the First Lord and defined in a Minute of the Board, and amended form time to time. The Secretary to the Admiralty to be posted in the room of each Member of the Board, more informally, they were known in short as The Lords of the Admiralty. That, for example, is the term used throughout the well-known Horatio Hornblower series of historical novels. In 2011, currently Queen Elizabeth II bestowed the title of Lord High Admiral on the Duke of Edinburgh. nationalarchives. gov. uk/details/r/C706. © Crown copyright, which is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 The Statutes of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, London, By His Majestys Statute and Law Printer. Naval Administration, The Constitution, Character, and Functions of the Board of Admiralty, the Admiralty, Reforms and Re-organization, 1868-1892. The Origin and Constitution of the Admiralty and Navy Boards, to which is added an Account of the various Buildings in which the Business of the Navy has been transacted from time to time, London, For Her Majestys Stationary Office
9.
Edward Hawke, 1st Baron Hawke
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Admiral of the Fleet Edward Hawke, 1st Baron Hawke KB, PC was a Royal Navy officer. As captain of the third-rate HMS Berwick he took part in the Battle of Toulon in February 1744 during the War of the Austrian Succession and he also captured six ships of a French squadron in the Bay of Biscay in the Second Battle of Cape Finisterre in October 1747. Hawke went on to achieve a victory over a French fleet at the Battle of Quiberon Bay in November 1759 during the Seven Years War and he developed the concept of a Western Squadron, keeping an almost continuous blockade of the French coast throughout the war. Hawke also served as First Lord of the Admiralty for five years between 1766 and 1771, in this post, he was successful in bringing the navys spending under control and also oversaw the mobilisation of the navy during the Falklands Crisis in 1770. Born the only son of a Edward Hawke, a barrister at Lincolns Inn, and Elizabeth Hawke, Hawke benefited from the patronage of Colonel Martin Bladen a Member of Parliament, who was his maternal uncle. Hawke joined the navy as a volunteer in the sixth-rate HMS Seahorse on the North American Station in February 1720 and he did this successfully, although it meant his ship did not take part in the British attack on Porto Bello in November 1739 during the War of Jenkins Ear. Hawke became commanding officer of the third-rate HMS Berwick in June 1743, the fight at Toulon was extremely confused, although Hawke had emerged from it with a degree of credit. Hawkes ship managed to capture the prize of the battle. He was then given command of the second-rate HMS Neptune in August 1745, despite having distinguished himself at Toulon, Hawke had few opportunities over the next three years. However, he was promoted to admiral on 15 July 1747 and appointed Second-in-Command of the Western Squadron. He went on to replace Admiral Peter Warren as the Commander-in-Chief of the Western Squadron, with his flag in the third-rate HMS Devonshire, Hawke then put a great deal of effort into improving the performance of his crews and instilling in them a sense of pride and patriotism. The Western Squadron had been established to keep a watch on the French Channel ports, under a previous commander, Lord Anson, it had successfully contained the French coast and in May 1747 won the First Battle of Cape Finisterre when it attacked a large convoy leaving harbour. The British had received word there was now an incoming convoy arriving from the West Indies. Hawke took his fleet and lay in wait for the arrival of the French, in October 1747, Hawke captured six ships of a French squadron in the Bay of Biscay in the Second Battle of Cape Finisterre. The consequence of this, along with Ansons earlier victory, was to give the British almost total control in the English Channel during the months of the war. It proved ruinous to the French economy, helping the British to secure a peace at the negotiations for the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle. For Hawke, however, the arrival of peace brought an end to his opportunities for active service. In December 1747, he was elected as a Member of Parliament for the town of Portsmouth
10.
Augustus Keppel, 1st Viscount Keppel
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Admiral Augustus Keppel, 1st Viscount Keppel PC was an officer of the Royal Navy during the Seven Years War and the War of American Independence. During the final years of the conflict he served as First Lord of the Admiralty. A member of a leading Whig aristocratic family, Augustus Keppel was the son of Willem van Keppel, 2nd Earl of Albemarle and Anne van Keppel. Augustus Keppel went to sea at the age of ten, and had five years of service to his credit when he was appointed to Centurion. He had a escape from being killed at the capture of Paita. Also on this voyage, he made friends with John Campbell, after their return from the circumnavigation, in 1744, he was promoted to be Commander and post-captain of the 14-gun sloop Wolf. He was actively employed throughout the rest of the War of the Austrian Succession, in 1747 he ran his ship Maidstone ashore near Belleisle while chasing a French vessel, but was honourably acquitted by a court martial, and reappointed to another command. Early in 1749, he was introduced by Lord Edgecombe to Sir Joshua Reynolds, after trying the effect of bullying without success, the Dey made a treaty, and Keppel returned to England in 1751. During the Seven Years War he saw constant service and his ship, Torbay, was the first to get into action in the Battle of Quiberon Bay in 1759. In March 1761, Keppel transferred to HMS Valiant and was put in command of a squadron to reduce Belle Isle, when Spain joined France in 1762 he was sent as second in command with Sir George Pocock in the British expedition against Cuba which took Havana. His health suffered from the fever which carried off an immense proportion of the soldiers and sailors, the £25,000 of prize money which he received freed him from the unpleasant position of younger son of a family ruined by the extravagance of his father. Promoted to Rear Admiral in October 1762, he became Commander-in-Chief Jamaica Station late in the year and he was a member of the Admiralty Board from July 1765 to November 1766 and was promoted Vice Admiral on 24 October 1770. When the Falkland Island dispute occurred in 1770 he was to have commanded the fleet to be sent against Spain, but a settlement was reached, the most prominent period of his life belongs to the opening years of the American War of Independence. Keppel was a supporter of the Whig connection, led by the Marquess of Rockingham. The Whigs were then excluded from power by George III, as a member of Parliament, in which he had a seat for Windsor from 1761 until 1780, and then for Surrey, Keppel was a Whig partisan, hostile to the Kings Friends. The Whigs believed that the ministers, and in particular Lord Sandwich. When Keppel was appointed to command the Channel Fleet, the fleet prepared against France in 1778. The battle which Keppel fought with the French on 27 July 1778 ended badly, reasons included Keppels own management, but also the failure of Palliser to obey orders
11.
John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute
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John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute, KG, PC was a Scottish nobleman who served as Prime Minister of Great Britain under George III. He was arguably the last important favourite in British politics and he was the first Prime Minister from Scotland following the Acts of Union in 1707. A close relative of the Clan Campbell, Bute succeeded to the Earldom of Bute upon the death of his father, James Stuart, 2nd Earl of Bute, in 1723. He was brought up thereafter by his uncles, the 2nd Duke of Argyll and Archibald Campbell, 3rd Duke of Argyll, 1st and only Earl of Ilay, Viscount. Bute studied at Eton College and the University of Leiden, Netherlands, on 24 August 1736, he married Mary Wortley Montagu, bringing the large Wortley estates to his family. In 1737, due to the influence of his uncles, he was elected a Scottish representative peer, for the next several years he retired to his estates in Scotland to manage his affairs and indulge his interest in botany. During the Jacobite Rising of 1745, Bute moved to Westminster, London, upon the Princes death in 1751, the education of his son, Prince George, the new Prince of Wales, became a priority and in 1755 Bute was appointed as his tutor. Bute arranged for the Prince and his brother Prince Edward to follow a course of lectures on natural philosophy by the itinerant lecturer Stephen Demainbray. Furthermore, following the death of the Prince Frederick, Bute became close to his widow, Augusta of Saxe-Gotha and it was rumoured that the couple were having an affair, and indeed soon after John Horne published a scandalous pamphlet alluding to a liaison between Bute and the Princess. Rumours of this affair were almost certainly untrue, as Bute was by all indications happily married, in 1780 Bute was elected as the first President of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. Because of the influence he had over his pupil, Bute expected to quickly to political power following Georges accession to the throne in 1760. It would first be necessary to both the incumbent Prime Minister and arguably the even more powerful Secretary of State for the Southern Department. Re-elected as a Scottish representative peer in 1760, Bute was indeed appointed the de facto Prime Minister, bute’s premiership was notable for the negotiation of the Treaty of Paris which concluded the Seven Years’ War. They therefore charged the colonists for the increased military levels, thus catalysing the resistance to taxes which led to the American Revolution, king George began to see through Bute, and turned against him after being criticised for an official speech which the press recognised as Butes own work. Bute also proposed a controversial Cider tax which produced enormous hostility in cider-producing areas, the journalist John Wilkes published a newspaper called The North Briton, in which both Bute and the Dowager Princess of Wales were savagely satirised. Bute resigned as prime minister shortly afterwards, though he remained in the House of Lords a Scottish representative peer until 1780 and he remained friendly with the Dowager Princess of Wales, but her attempts to reconcile him with George III proved futile. For the remainder of his life, Bute remained at his estate in Hampshire, from there he continued his pursuit of botany and became a major literary and artistic patron. Among his beneficiaries were Samuel Johnson, Tobias Smollett, Robert Adam, William Robertson and he also gave considerably to the Scottish universities
12.
John Perceval, 2nd Earl of Egmont
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John Perceval, 2nd Earl of Egmont PC, FRS was a British politician, political pamphleteer, and genealogist who served as First Lord of the Admiralty. He was the son and heir of John Perceval, 1st Earl of Egmont by his wife Catherine Parker, daughter of Sir Philip Parker and he was baptised at the Palace of Westminster, London. Perceval sat in the Irish House of Commons for Dingle between 1731 and 1749, in April 1748, he was created Lord of the Bedchamber to the Prince of Wales. He served as First Lord of the Admiralty from 1763 to 1766, from 1751 to 1757, he designed and created Enmore Castle at Enmore in Somerset, which received the dismissive mockery of Horace Walpole. His first marriage was on 15 February 1737 to Lady Catherine Cecil, by her he had five sons and two daughters, John Perceval, 3rd Earl of Egmont, eldest son and heir. Cecil Parker Perceval, born 19 Oct.1766 was married to Thomas Wynn, Margaret Perceval and she survived her husband and died at Langley, Buckinghamshire, on 11 June 1784, aged 53. Lord Perceval died 4 December 1770 at Pall Mall, London, Mount Egmont in New Zealand was named after him by James Cook in recognition of his encouragement of Cooks first voyage. Since the 1980s, the mountain has two names, either Mount Taranaki or Mount Egmont, to give equal recognition to its Māori. Earl of Egmont This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Egmont. Perceval, John, second earl of Egmont, John Perceval, 2nd Earl of Egmont Manuscripts of the Earl of Egmont. Diary of Viscount Percival 1920 access date 3 March 2015 Enmore Castle
13.
Henry Pelham
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Henry Pelham, PC, FRS was a British Whig statesman, who served as Prime Minister of Great Britain from 27 August 1743 until his death. He was the brother of Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle. Pelham is generally considered to have been Britains third Prime Minister after Sir Robert Walpole, Pelhams premiership was relatively uneventful in terms of domestic affairs. In foreign affairs, Great Britain fought in several wars, upon Pelhams death, his brother Newcastle took full control of the ministry. He was educated at Westminster School and Hart Hall, Oxford, hertford College, Oxford, the present-day incarnation of Hart Hall, still honours him in the title of its drinking club, the Sir Henry Pelham Gentlemens Sporting Society. As a volunteer he served in Dormers regiment at the Battle of Preston in 1715, spent some time on the Continent, through strong family influence, and the recommendation of Robert Walpole, he was chosen in 1721 as Lord of the Treasury. The following year he was returned for Sussex county, in 1724 he entered the ministry as Secretary at War, but this office he exchanged in 1730 for the more lucrative one of Paymaster of the Forces. He made himself conspicuous by his support of Walpole on the question of the excise and he, Newcastle, and the Prime Minister would often meet at Houghton Hall in Norfolk, where they would draw up much of the countrys policy. These meetings became known as the Norfolk Congress, with Walpole, he served as a founding governor of the popular charity the Foundling Hospital when it opened its doors in 1739. In 1742 a union of parties resulted in the formation of an administration in which Pelham became Prime Minister the following year, Pelham served as First Lord of the Treasury, Chancellor of the Exchequer and Leader of the House of Commons. In November 1744, the Pelhams forced Lord Carteret out of the ministry, Pelham bluntly told the king that either Carteret step down, or the Pelhamites would, thereafter Pelham shared power with his brother, the Duke of Newcastle upon Tyne. Pelham was regarded as the figure, but rank and influence made his brother very powerful in the Cabinet. In spite of an attachment, there were occasional disputes between them, which sometimes led to further difficulties. One of their terms was to insist that the king should have confidence in a ministry. The Augustan era was essential to the development of prime ministerial power as being entirely dependant on a Commons majority, while the king struggled with his headstrong son, Frederick, Prince of Wales, his sons uncertain constitutional position was high in the Leicester House party set. In 1748 Frederick, a Tory, planned to bring down the Pelhamites at an election due the following year. Prime Minister called a poll in 1748 by asking the king to dissolve parliament in 1747. The prince and his father, the king grew to one another with unspeakable animosity
14.
John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford
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John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford KG PC FRS was an 18th-century British statesman. He was the son of Wriothesley Russell, 2nd Duke of Bedford, by his wife, Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of John Howland of Streatham. In the House of Lords he joined the Patriot Whig opposition hostile to the Prime Minister Sir Robert Walpole, took a prominent part in public business. When Carteret, now Earl Granville, resigned office in November 1744, Bedford became First Lord of the Admiralty in the administration of Henry Pelham, and was made a privy councillor. He was very successful at the admiralty, but was not equally fortunate after he became Secretary of State for the Southern Department in February 1748, Pelham accused him of idleness and he was constantly at variance with his colleague The Duke of Newcastle. Newcastle engineered the dismissal of both of them, by sacking Sandwich in June 1751, Bedford resigned in protest, as Newcastle had calculated, allowing him to replace them with men he considered more loyal personally to him. During his time in the post he was accused of spending far too much time at his country estate playing cricket, Bedford was very keen on cricket. The earliest surviving record of his involvement in the sport comes from 1741 when he hosted Bedfordshire v Northamptonshire & Huntingdonshire at Woburn Park, the combined Northamptonshire & Huntingdonshire team won. Bedford arranged the match with his friends George Montagu-Dunk, 2nd Earl of Halifax and John Montagu, a few days later, there was a return match at Cow Meadow, Northampton, and the combined team won again. By 1743, Bedford had developed Woburn Cricket Club into a team that was able to compete against London. The team was prominent in 1743 and 1744 but, after that, instigated by his friends, he was active in opposition to the government, becoming the leader of a faction named after him, the Bedford Whigs. After Newcastle’s resignation in November 1756, Bedford became Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in the new government led by William Pitt and he retained this office after Newcastle, in alliance with Pitt, returned to power in June 1757. His own courtly manners and generosity, and his wife’s good qualities, however, seem to have gained for him some popularity and he oversaw the Irish response to the threatened French invasion in 1759, and the landing of a small French force in northern Ireland. In March 1761 he resigned this office, the cabinet of Bute was divided over the policy to be pursued with regard to the war, but pacific counsels prevailed, and in September 1762 Bedford went to France to treat for peace. He was considerably annoyed because some of the negotiations were conducted through other channels. Resigning his office as Lord Privy Seal soon afterwards, various causes of estrangement arose between Bute and Bedford, and the subsequent relations of the two men were somewhat virulent. The duke refused to take office under George Grenville on Bute’s resignation in April 1763, during his term of office he had opposed a bill to place high import duties on Italian silks. He was consequently assaulted and his London residence attacked by a mob and he took some part in subsequent political intrigues, and although he did not return to office, his friends, with his consent, joined the ministry of the Duke of Grafton in December 1767
15.
George Anson, 1st Baron Anson
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Admiral of the Fleet George Anson, 1st Baron Anson, PC FRS, was a Royal Navy officer. Anson served as an officer during the War of the Spanish Succession. He then undertook a circumnavigation of the globe during the War of Jenkins Ear, Anson commanded the fleet that defeated the French Admiral de la Jonquière at the First Battle of Cape Finisterre during the War of the Austrian Succession. Anson went on to be First Lord of the Admiralty during the Seven Years War and he was born on 23 April 1697, at Shugborough Manor. In February 1712, amid the War of the Spanish Succession, Anson entered the navy at the age of 15 and he served as a volunteer aboard the fourth-rate HMS Ruby, before transferring to the third-rate HMS Monmouth. Promoted to lieutenant on 17 March 1716, he was assigned to the fourth-rate HMS Hampshire in service as part of a Baltic Sea fleet commanded by Admiral John Norris. Anson transferred to the aging fourth-rate HMS Montagu in March 1718 and he then transferred to the second-rate HMS Barfleur, flagship of Admiral George Byng, in October 1719. Anson was promoted to commander in June 1722 and given command of the small 8-gun HMS Weazel, Ansons orders were to suppress smuggling between Britain and Holland, a task he swiftly and effectively performed. After setting off later than planned, Ansons squadron encountered successive disasters, two of his vessels, the fifth-rate HMS Pearl and the fourth-rate HMS Severn, failed to round the Horn and returned home. Meanwhile, the sixth-rate HMS Wager was wrecked off the coast of Chile, the lateness of the season forced him to round Cape Horn in very stormy weather, and the navigating instruments of the time did not allow for exact observations. By the time Anson reached the Juan Fernández Islands in June 1741, in the absence of any effective Spanish force on the coast, he was able to harass the enemy and to sack the small port city of Paita in Peru in November 1741. The steady decrease of his crews by scurvy and the state of his remaining consorts compelled him to collect all the remaining survivors in Centurion. He rested at the island of Tinian, and then made his way to Macao in November 1742, the charts captured with the ship added many islands to the British knowledge of the Pacific, including the Anson Archipelago. Anson took his back to Macao, sold her cargo to the Chinese, kept the specie. Passing a French fleet then patrolling the Channel by means of a thick fog, the prize money earned from the capture of the galleon made Anson a rich man for life and bought him considerable political influence. He initially refused promotion to rear-admiral of the blue, however, Anson was elected Member of Parliament for Hedon in Yorkshire in 1744. He became a Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty on the Admiralty board led by the Duke of Bedford in December 1744, Anson commanded the fleet that defeated the Marquis de la Jonquière at the First Battle of Cape Finisterre in May 1747 during the War of the Austrian Succession. His force captured the entire French squadron, four ships of the line and he was elevated to the peerage as Lord Anson, Baron of Soberton, in the County of Southampton on 11 June 1747
16.
Postmaster General of the United Kingdom
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The Postmaster General of the United Kingdom was a Cabinet-level ministerial position in HM Government. Aside from maintaining the system, the Telegraph Act of 1868 established the Postmaster Generals right to exclusively maintain electric telegraphs. This would subsequently extend to telecommunications and broadcasting, the office was abolished in 1969 by the Post Office Act 1969. A replacement public authority governed by a chairman was established under the name of the Post Office, in England, the monarchs letters to his subjects are known to have been carried by relays of couriers as long ago as the 15th century. The earliest mention of Master of the Posts is in the Kings Book of Payments where a payment of £100 was authorised for Tuke as master of the posts in February 1512. Belatedly, in 1517, he was appointed to the office of Governor of the Kings Posts. In 1609 it was decreed that letters could only be carried and delivered by persons authorised by the Postmaster General, in 1657 an Act entitled Postage of England, Scotland and Ireland Settled set up a system for the British Isles and enacted the position of Postmaster General. The Act also reasserted the postal monopoly for letter delivery and for post horses, after the Restoration in 1660, a further Act confirmed this and the post of Postmaster-General, the previous Cromwellian Act being void. 1660 saw the establishment of the General Letter Office, which would become the General Post Office. A similar position evolved in the Kingdom of Scotland prior to the 1707 Act of Union, the office was abolished in 1969 by the Post Office Act 1969. A new public authority governed by a chairman was established under the name of the Post Office, from 1691 to 1823 there were two Postmasters General, to divide the patronage between the Whigs and Tories. In 1823 the idea of a Whig and a Tory sharing the post was abolished
17.
Wills Hill, 1st Marquess of Downshire
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Wills Hill, 1st Marquess of Downshire PC, known as the Viscount Hillsborough from 1742 to 1751 and as the Earl of Hillsborough from 1751 to 1789, was a British politician of the Georgian era. Best known in North America as the Earl of Hillsborough, he served as Secretary of State for the Colonies from 1768 to 1772, born at Fairford, Gloucestershire, Wills Hill was the son of Trevor Hill, 1st Viscount Hillsborough and Mary, daughter of Anthony Rowe. Hill, known retrospectively as Downshire, was returned to Parliament for Warwick in 1741 and he succeeded his father as second Viscount Hillsborough in 1742. He was the year appointed Lord Lieutenant of County Down. In 1751 he was created Earl of Hillsborough in the Peerage of Ireland, in 1754 he was made Comptroller of the Household, a post he held until 1756, and appointed a Privy Counsellor. In 1756 he was created Baron Harwich, of Harwich in the County of Essex, in the Peerage of Great Britain, from 1768 to 1772 Hillsborough was Secretary of State for the Colonies and also president of the board of trade. Both in and out of office he opposed all concessions to the American colonists, on his retirement in 1772 he was created Earl of Hillsborough in the Peerage of Great Britain. In 1779 he served as Secretary of State for the Southern Department and he was the last person to serve in this position, because the Secretaries of State were reorganized. In 1789, he was made Marquess of Downshire in the Irish peerage, Lord Downshire married firstly Lady Margaretta, daughter of Robert FitzGerald, 19th Earl of Kildare, in 1747. After her death in 1766 he married secondly Mary Bilson-Legge, 1st Baroness Stawell, daughter of Edward Stawell, 4th Baron Stawell and widow of Henry Bilson-Legge, in 1768. Lord Downshire died on 7 October 1793, aged 75, and was succeeded by his son from his first marriage and his second daughter and last child by his first marriage was Lady Charlotte Hill, wife of John Chetwynd-Talbot, 1st Earl Talbot. In Canada, Hillsborough Bay, on Prince Edward Island, and the village of Hillsborough, New Brunswick, were named in Downshires honour
18.
Henry Carteret, 1st Baron Carteret
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He was hereditary Bailiff of Jersey 1776–1826. He was the son of Thomas Thynne, 2nd Viscount Weymouth by his second wife Louisa Carteret, daughter of John Carteret, 2nd Baron Carteret. He was thus the brother of Thomas Thynne, 3rd Viscount Weymouth. He was educated at St Johns College, Cambridge, graduating BA, in 1769 he was awarded the degree of Doctor of Civil Laws. In 1761 he was elected for the Herefordshire borough of Weobley, in 1762 his brother sought an office for him, leading to his appointment as Clerk Comptroller of the Green Cloth. He lost this office when the Grenville government fell in 1765, after his brother returned to office as Secretary of State in 1767, Thynne returned to the Royal household as Master of the Household, a post worth over £900 which he held until 1771. He was made a member of the Privy Council in 1770, in 1771, he was given the office of joint Postmaster General, which he held until 1789. This was worth £3000 per year, and he retired from the House of Commons. He gave up the postmastership in 1789, when his brother was created Marquess of Bath and he also succeeded him as Bailiff of Jersey, a post long held by heads of the Carteret family. In 1784 he was created Baron Carteret, of Hawnes, thus reviving his uncles second title, Hawnes Park was modernised and partly rebuilt by Henry Carteret, 1st Baron Carteret, and in 1813 consisted of two quadrangles. He rebuilt the front in about 1785-90, probably to the designs of James Lewis. In 1810 he married his mistress of many years, Eleanor Smart and he died in 1826 and was succeeded as 2nd Baron by his younger nephew Lord George Thynne in accordance with a special remainder in the patent when he was created baron. His simple white marble monument with bust survives in Kilkhampton Church, Cornwall, inscribed. Privy Counsellor, Bailiff of Jersey, Baron Carteret of Hawnes
19.
Chiswick
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Chiswick is a district of west London, England. Most of it is in the London Borough of Hounslow, other parts of the W4 postcode area, including Chiswick Park tube station, Acton Green, and much of Bedford Park are in the London Borough of Ealing. It occupies a meander of the River Thames used for competitive and recreational rowing, the finishing post for the Boat Race is just downstream of Chiswick Bridge. Chiswick was historically the ancient parish of St Nicholas in the county of Middlesex, with an agrarian and it became the Municipal Borough of Brentford and Chiswick in 1932 and has formed part of Greater London since 1965, when it was merged into the London Borough of Hounslow. On a border, the Chiswick or Great West Road Roundabout is the start of the North Circular Road, South Circular Road with the eponymous road flying over this. West of Chiswicks Hogarth Roundabout, the Great West Road from central London converts to the M4 motorway, providing a second mode of transport connection to Heathrow Airport, the Great Chertsey Road runs south-west from the Hogarth Roundabout, becoming the M3 motorway. Historic figures who lived in Chiswick include the poets Alexander Pope, yeats, the Italian revolutionary Ugo Foscolo, the Impressionist painter Camille Pissarro and the novelist E. M. Forster. Chiswick was first recorded c.1000 as the Old English Ceswican meaning Cheese Farm, Chiswick grew up as a village around St Nicholas Church from c. The area included three small settlements, the fishing village of Strand-on-the-Green, Little Sutton and Turnham Green on the west road out of London. A decisive skirmish took place on Turnham Green early in the English Civil War, in November 1642, royalist forces under Prince Rupert, marching from Oxford to retake London, were halted by a larger parliamentarian force under the Earl of Essex. The royalists retreated and never threatened the capital. In 1864, John Isaac Thornycroft, founder of the John I, Thornycroft & Company shipbuilding company, established a yard at Church Wharf at the west end of Chiswick Mall. The shipyard built the first naval destroyer, HMS Daring of the Daring class, to cater for the increasing size of warships, Thornycroft moved its shipyard to Southampton in 1909. In 1822, the Royal Horticultural Society leased 33 acres of land in the south of the High Road between what are now Sutton Court Road and Duke’s Avenue. This site was used for its fruit tree collection and its first school of horticulture, the area was reduced to 10 acres in the 1870s, and the lease was terminated when the Society’s garden at Wisley, Surrey, was set up in 1904. Some of the pear trees still grow in the gardens of houses built on the site. The population of Chiswick grew almost tenfold during the 19th century, reaching 29,809 in 1901, suburban building began in Gunnersbury in the 1860s and in Bedford Park, on the borders of Chiswick and Acton, in 1875. During the Second World War, Chiswick was bombed repeatedly, with incendiary and high explosive bombs
20.
England
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England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west, the Irish Sea lies northwest of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east, the country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain in its centre and south, and includes over 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly, and the Isle of Wight. England became a state in the 10th century, and since the Age of Discovery. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the worlds first industrialised nation, Englands terrain mostly comprises low hills and plains, especially in central and southern England. However, there are uplands in the north and in the southwest, the capital is London, which is the largest metropolitan area in both the United Kingdom and the European Union. In 1801, Great Britain was united with the Kingdom of Ireland through another Act of Union to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922 the Irish Free State seceded from the United Kingdom, leading to the latter being renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain, the name England is derived from the Old English name Englaland, which means land of the Angles. The Angles were one of the Germanic tribes that settled in Great Britain during the Early Middle Ages, the Angles came from the Angeln peninsula in the Bay of Kiel area of the Baltic Sea. The earliest recorded use of the term, as Engla londe, is in the ninth century translation into Old English of Bedes Ecclesiastical History of the English People. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, its spelling was first used in 1538. The earliest attested reference to the Angles occurs in the 1st-century work by Tacitus, Germania, the etymology of the tribal name itself is disputed by scholars, it has been suggested that it derives from the shape of the Angeln peninsula, an angular shape. An alternative name for England is Albion, the name Albion originally referred to the entire island of Great Britain. The nominally earliest record of the name appears in the Aristotelian Corpus, specifically the 4th century BC De Mundo, in it are two very large islands called Britannia, these are Albion and Ierne. But modern scholarly consensus ascribes De Mundo not to Aristotle but to Pseudo-Aristotle, the word Albion or insula Albionum has two possible origins. Albion is now applied to England in a poetic capacity. Another romantic name for England is Loegria, related to the Welsh word for England, Lloegr, the earliest known evidence of human presence in the area now known as England was that of Homo antecessor, dating to approximately 780,000 years ago. The oldest proto-human bones discovered in England date from 500,000 years ago, Modern humans are known to have inhabited the area during the Upper Paleolithic period, though permanent settlements were only established within the last 6,000 years
21.
Martha Ray
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Martha Ray was a British singer of the Georgian era. Her father was a corsetmaker and her mother was a servant in a noble household, good-looking, intelligent, and a talented singer, she came to the attention of many of her fathers patrons. She is best known for her affair with John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich and she lived with him as his mistress from the age of seventeen, while his wife was suffering from mental illness. She gave birth to five children, one of whom was Basil Montagu, during this time, she conducted a successful singing career, for which she became well-known, as well as completed her education with Lord Sandwichs support. Sandwich set Ray up in a residence in Westminster, and gave her a generous allowance, in public, although Sandwich was married, the two acted as husband and wife. During this period, Ray was introduced to a soldier, James Hackman, Hackman became a frequent visitor, and is thought to have proposed marriage to Ray on several instances, but she declined each time. Also by this time, Sandwich was deeply in debt and it is believed that while Sandwich was financially generous to Ray, he did not offer her any long-term financial security, which may have been what led Ray into tolerating Hackmans advances. In 1779, Hackman left the British Army to join the church, however, Hackman was completely infatuated with Ray, becoming increasingly jealous, and continued to pursue her. On 7 April 1779, in the company of friend and fellow singer Caterina Galli. She had been approached by Hackman earlier that evening, but when she declined to tell him where she was going he followed her to the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden, where he murdered her. Hackman believed that she had another lover, William Hanger, Baron Coleraine. Whether she and Coleraine were involved in an affair has never been established beyond some doubt, Sandwich was devastated by her death. Hackman attempted to shoot himself to death following his murder of her, but only wounded himself, two days after her 14 April burial, Hackman was sentenced to hang, and the sentence was carried out on 19 April in front of a large crowd in Tyburn, London. The events surrounding her murder were used in the popular 1780 novel Love and Madness by Herbert Croft
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Sandwich, John Montagu, 4th Earl of". Encyclopædia Britannica. 24 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the 
