James Waldegrave, 1st Earl Waldegrave

Last updated

James Waldegrave James Waldegrave.jpg
James Waldegrave
Lord Waldgrave's Estate Act 1691
Act of Parliament
Coat of Arms of England (1689-1694).svg
Long title An Act to enable Trustees of the Right Honourable James Lord Waldegrave to make Leases, and grant Copyhold Estates, for the Payment of the Arrears of Annuities of Henry Lord Waldegrave his Father, deceased.
Citation 3 Will. & Mar. c. 18
Dates
Royal assent 24 February 1692
Quartered arms of James Waldegrave, 1st Earl Waldegrave, KG Coat of arms of James Waldegrave, 1st Earl Waldegrave, KG, PC.png
Quartered arms of James Waldegrave, 1st Earl Waldegrave, KG

James Waldegrave, 1st Earl Waldegrave, KG , PC (1684 11 April 1741) was an English diplomat and peer who served as the British ambassador to France from 1730 to 1740.

Contents

Life

Waldegrave was the son of the 1st Baron Waldegrave and Henrietta FitzJames, the illegitimate daughter of James II and his mistress, Arabella Churchill.

Educated in France, [1] Waldegrave inherited his father's title in 1690, and, on 20 May 1714, he married Mary Webb (who died in childbirth in 1719), a daughter of Sir John Webb, 3rd Baronet and they had three surviving children:

After the death of his wife, he returned to England from the Jacobite court in exile and converted from Roman Catholicism (the religion he was brought up in) to Anglicanism in order to take his seat in the House of Lords. He was briefly a Lord of the Bedchamber in 1723 and again from 1730 to 1741. He was ambassador extraordinary to France in 1725 and Ambassador to Austria from 1727 to 1730. He then succeeded Horatio Walpole as ambassador to France from 1730 to 1740. [1]

During his ambassadorship to France, he still spent enough time in London to be one of the founding Governors of the new charity there, known as the Foundling Hospital (created in 1739). In 1729, he had been created Earl Waldegrave and on his death in 1741, was succeeded by his eldest son, James.

Sir James inherited Hever Castle in Kent which had remained in the Waldegrave family for 160 years. It was deemed too small for Sir James and he sold it in the early 1700s to Sir William Humfreys, Lord Mayor of London (1714). [2]

Ancestry

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Wyndham, 2nd Earl of Egremont</span> British statesman

Charles Wyndham, 2nd Earl of Egremont, PC, of Orchard Wyndham in Somerset, Petworth House in Sussex, and of Egremont House in Mayfair, London, was a British statesman who served as Secretary of State for the Southern Department from 1761 to 1763.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Earl Waldegrave</span> Earldom in the Peerage of Great Britain

Earl Waldegrave is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1729 for James Waldegrave, 2nd Baron Waldegrave.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Earl of Radnor</span> British peer

Earl of Radnor, of the County of Radnor, is a title which has been created twice. It was first created in the Peerage of England in 1679 for John Robartes, 2nd Baron Robartes, a notable political figure of the reign of Charles II. The earldom was created for a second time in the Peerage of Great Britain in 1765 for William Bouverie, 2nd Viscount Folkestone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marquess of Powis</span> Title in the Peerage of England

Marquess of Powis was a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1687 for William Herbert, 1st Earl of Powis. He had already succeeded his father as third Baron Powis in 1667 and had been created Earl of Powis in the Peerage of England in 1674; Marquess of Powis and Viscount Montgomery in 1687. When James II went into exile in France, the Marquess followed him. He served as Comptroller of the Royal Household and his wife Elizabeth as Governess of the Royal children. He was rewarded in 1698 by the titles Duke of Powis and Marquess of Montgomery, but these titles in the Jacobite Peerage were not recognised in England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daniel Finch, 8th Earl of Winchilsea</span> British peer and politician

Daniel Finch, 8th Earl of Winchilsea and 3rd Earl of Nottingham, , of Burley House near Oakham in Rutland and of Eastwell Park near Ashford in Kent, was a British peer and politician.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Campbell, 3rd Earl of Breadalbane and Holland</span> Scottish peer, diplomat and politician

John Campbell, 3rd Earl of Breadalbane and Holland KB, styled Lord Glenorchy from 1716 until 1752, was a Scottish peer, diplomat and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1727 to 1746.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sir William Wyndham, 3rd Baronet</span> 18th-century English Jacobite politician

Sir William Wyndham, 3rd Baronet, of Orchard Wyndham in Somerset, was an English Tory politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1710 to 1740. He served as Secretary at War in 1712 and Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1713 during the reign of the last Stuart monarch, Queen Anne (1702–1714). He was a Jacobite leader firmly opposed to the Hanoverian succession and was leader of the Tory opposition in the House of Commons during the reign of King George I (1714–1727) and during the early years of King George II (1727–1760).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Waldegrave family</span> English family

Waldegrave is the name of an English family, said to derive from Walgrave in Northamptonshire, who long held the manor of Smallbridge in Bures St. Mary, Suffolk.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Bruce, 1st Earl of Ailesbury</span> Scottish politician

Robert Bruce, 1st Earl of Ailesburyand 2nd Earl of Elgin, PC, FRS, was a Scottish politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1660 to 1663, when he inherited his father's title as Earl of Elgin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford (1672–1739)</span> British peer and diplomat

Lieutenant-General Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford, KG, also known as in Jacobite Peerage as the 1st Duke of Strafford and 3rd Baron Raby from 1695 to 1711, was an English peer, diplomat and statesman who served as First Lord of the Admiralty.

Charles Hope, 1st Earl of Hopetoun, KT, PC was a Scottish nobleman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Waldegrave, 2nd Earl Waldegrave</span> English politician and peer

James Waldegrave, 2nd Earl Waldegrave, was an English politician and peer who is sometimes regarded as one of the shortest-serving prime ministers in British history. His brief tenure as First Lord of the Treasury is lent a more lasting significance by his memoirs, which are regarded as significant in the development of Whig history.

Henry Waldegrave, 1st Baron Waldegrave was an English peer and Jacobite supporter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Duff, 1st Earl Fife</span> Scottish nobleman

William Duff, 1st Earl Fife, of Braco, Banff, was a Scottish landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1727 to 1734.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry Dillon, 11th Viscount Dillon</span> Irish lord and French soldier (1704–1787)

Henry Dillon, 11th Viscount Dillon (1705–1787) was an Irish peer and a soldier in French service. He was the colonel proprietor of Dillon's Regiment, an Irish regiment of foot in French service, in 1741–1744 and again in 1747–1767. In the War of the Polish Succession (1733–1735), he fought at the sieges of Kehl and Philippsburg. In the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–1748), he was present at the Battle of Dettingen in 1743, on the French side, while King George II was present on the English side.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Knight, 1st Earl of Catherlough</span> British politician

Robert Knight, 1st Earl of Catherlough, KB, (1702–1772), was a British Member of Parliament for Great Grimsby, Castle Rising, Norfolk (1747–54) and Milborne Port, Somerset (1770–72). He became successively Baron Luxborough (1745), Viscount Barrells and Earl of Catherlough, all titles within the peerage of Ireland. His wife, Henrietta Lady Luxborough, later became well known as a lady of letters, poet and pioneering landscape gardener.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Humfreys</span> British Member of Parliament and Lord Mayor of London

Sir William Humfreys, 1st Baronet, was a British ironmonger and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1715 to 1722. He was Lord Mayor of London for 1714–15 and a Director of the Bank of England between 1719 and 1730.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Howard, Viscount Andover</span> British Tory politician

William Howard, Viscount Andover, of Elford Hall, Staffordshire, was a British Tory politician from the Howard family who sat in the House of Commons from 1737 to 1747.

Lady Henrietta Beard, was an English aristocrat. She was the wife of Lord Edward Herbert and the mother of Barbara Herbert, Countess of Powis. Following her first husband’s death she married a Covent Garden singer, John Beard.

References

  1. 1 2 "Waldegrave s.v. James, 1st Earl Waldegrave"  . Encyclopædia Britannica . Vol. 28 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 254.
  2. "Hever Castle". 20 June 2009.
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by British ambassador to Austria
17271730
Succeeded by
Preceded by British ambassador to France
17301740
Succeeded by
Honorary titles
Preceded by Vice-Admiral of Essex
17351741
Vacant
Title next held by
The Earl of Rochford
Peerage of Great Britain
New creation Earl Waldegrave
17291741
Succeeded by
Peerage of England
Preceded by Baron Waldegrave
16901741
Succeeded by