Marquess of Bristol

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Frederick Hervey, 4th Earl of Bristol

Marquess of Bristol is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom held by the Hervey family since 1826. The Marquess's subsidiary titles are: Earl of Bristol (created 1714), Earl Jermyn, of Horningsheath in the County of Suffolk (1826), and Baron Hervey, of Ickworth in the County of Suffolk (1703). The Barony is in the Peerage of England, the Earldom of Bristol in the Peerage of Great Britain and the Earldom of Jermyn in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. "Earl Jermyn" is the courtesy title of the Marquess's eldest son and heir. The Marquess of Bristol also holds the title "Hereditary High Steward of the Liberty of St. Edmund". The present holder of the title is Frederick William Augustus Hervey 8th Marquess and 12th Earl of Bristol (b. 1979).

The Hervey family has often been considered unconventional. The 18th century phrase phrase "When God created the human race, he made men, women and Herveys" is attributed variously to French philosopher Voltaire and to Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. It has been read as a reference to the second Lord Hervey's noted originality and eccentricity, as well as his bisexuality, but has been applied to the family throughout the centuries.

1 Family seat
2 History
3 Earls of Bristol (1714)
4 Marquesses of Bristol (1826)
5 See also
6 External links
7 References

[edit] Family seat

The Herveys lived at the Ickworth estate, Suffolk, from the mid 15th century to 1998; the first Hervey to own Ickworth, Thomas Hervey (d. 1467), is buried at Ickworth Church, as is John Hervey, 7th Marquess of Bristol (d. 1999) and many a Hervey in between. On the death of the fourth Marquess in 1951, the house and grounds, excluding the church, were given to the National Trust in 1956 by the fourth Marquess's widow in lieu of death duties. The National Trust received an endowment for Ickworth of £185,000, and the family, through whoever currently held the title of the Marquess of Bristol, was given a 99-year lease to occupy the East Wing of Ickworth, upon paying certain related yearly expenses. Despite this, the seventh Marquess sold the remaining lease to the National Trust in 1998, partly for funds and partly to ward off an eviction action based on his behaviour as a tenant. In 1999, he died, having spent virtually all of his inherited fortune; his heir, Frederick Hervey, 8th Marquess of Bristol, has spoken of his anger at not being allowed by the National Trust to repurchase the lease and assume residence in the ancestral home.^{[citation needed]} The National Trust converted the East Wing into a hotel, contravening the wishes of Ickworth's donor, who had stipulated that they should always make accommodation available for the head of the family.

[edit] History

This family descends from Sir Thomas Hervey. He was Member of Parliament for Bury St Edmunds from 1679 to 1690, and many members of the family represented this constituency in the House of Commons. The first to follow in his footsteps was his son John Hervey. In 1703, he was raised to the Peerage of England as Baron Hervey, of Ickworth in the County of Suffolk, and in 1714 he was further honoured when he was made Earl of Bristol in the Peerage of Great Britain. His son from his first marriage to Isabella Carr, Carr Hervey, also sat in the same parliamentary seat from 1713 to 1722, when he died unmarried. Lord Bristol's second marriage was to Elizabeth (d. 1741), daughter and co-heir of Sir Thomas Felton, 4th Baronet, and his wife Lady Elizabeth, daughter and co-heir of James Howard, 3rd Earl of Suffolk and 3rd Baron Howard de Walden. His eldest son from this marriage, John Hervey, was a politician, court wit and pamphleteer. In 1733, he was summoned to the House of Lords through a writ of acceleration in his father's junior title of Baron Hervey. He predeceased his father.

Lord Bristol was succeeded in turn by three of his grandsons, all brothers. The second Earl was the eldest son of Lord Hervey and held political office as Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland and Lord Privy Seal. He died unmarried and was succeeded by his younger brother, the third Earl. He was a Vice-Admiral in the Royal Navy and also served as Chief Secretary for Ireland from 1766 to 1767. He died without legitimate issue and was succeeded by his younger brother, the fourth Earl. Known as the "Earl-Bishop", he was a clergyman and served as Bishop of Cloyne from 1767 to 1768 and as Bishop of Derry from 1768 to 1803. In 1799 he became the fifth Baron Howard de Walden when the abeyance of this peerage was terminated. Lord Bristol married Elizabeth, sister and heir of Sir Charles Davers, 5th Baronet (c. 1730-1763), and great-granddaughter of Thomas Jermyn, 2nd Baron Jermyn. His second son, John Augustus Hervey, Lord Hervey, was a Captain in the Royal Navy and also served as ambassador to Florence. He predeceased his father. His daughter the Hon. Elizabeth Catherine Caroline Hervey (1780-1803) married Charles Ellis, later first Baron Seaford. Their son Charles succeeded as sixth Baron Howard of Walden on the death of his great-grandfather, Lord Bristol, in 1803.

Lord Bristol was succeeded in the other peerages by his third but eldest surviving son, the fifth Earl. He was a politician and served under Henry Addington as Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs from 1801 to 1803. In 1826 he was created Earl Jermyn, of Horningsheath in the County of Suffolk, and Marquess of Bristol, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. On his death the titles passed to his eldest son, the second Marquess. He was a Tory politician and was Treasurer of the Household under Sir Robert Peel from 1841 to 1846. His eldest son, the third Marquess, represented the traditional family seat in parliament and also served as Lord-Lieutenant of Suffolk.

He died without male issue and was succeeded in turn by two of his nephews, the sons of Lord Augustus Hervey, second son of the second Marquess. The fourth Marquess was a Rear-Admiral in the Royal Navy and also sat, as his uncle had done, as Conservative Member of Parliament for Bury St Edmunds. He had no sons and was succeeded by his younger brother, the fifth Marquess. He was Minister and Consul-General to Colombia from 1919 to 1923, and Minister to Peru and Ecuador from 1923 to 1929.

His only son, the sixth Marquess, was Chancellor of the Monarchist League. His son from his first marriage, the seventh Marquess, died childless and virtually penniless at 44 years of age after decades of drug abuse. The only child from the second marriage, Lord Nicholas Hervey, died by his own hand at the age of 36, so the title passed to the only surviving son in January 1999, the eighth Marquess and (as of 2007) present holder of the titles. He is the only son from the third marriage of the sixth Marquess; his two sisters, Lady Victoria Hervey and Lady Isabella Hervey, are reality TV actresses and socialites whose lives feature in the popular press (the latter being the "Face of Playboy UK").

Several other members of the family have also gained distinction. Sir Nicholas Hervey (d. 1532), brother of John Hervey, great-great-great-grandfather of the first Earl, was Ambassador from Henry VIII to the Holy Roman Emperor and took part in the famous jousts at the Field of the Cloth of Gold in 1520. His grandson Henry Hervey was created Baron Hervey in 1620. The Hon. Thomas Hervey, second son from the second marriage of the first Earl, held the family seat in parliament. The Hon. William Hervey, third son from the second marriage of the first Earl, was a Captain in the Royal Navy. The Hon. Felton Hervey, sixth son from the second marriage of the first Earl, represented the family seat in Parliament and was the grandfather of Felton Hervey-Bathurst, who was created a Baronet in 1818 (see Hervey-Bathurst Baronets).

Sir George William Hervey (1845-1915), Comptroller-General and Secretary of the National Debt from 1894 to 1910, was the son of Lord William Hervey (1805-1850), third son of the first Marquess. The Right Reverend Lord Arthur Hervey, fourth son of the first Marquess, was Bishop of Bath and Wells between 1869 and 1894. Lord Alfred Hervey, sixth son of the first Marquess, was a Conservative politician. His eldest son Reverend Canon Frederick Alfred John Hervey (1846-1910) was Chaplain-in-Ordinary to Queen Victoria from 1886 to 1901, and Domestic Chaplain to King Edward VII from 1878 to 1910. Lord Augustus Hervey, second son of the second Marquess, sat as Member of Parliament for West Suffolk. Lord Francis Hervey, fourth son of the second Marquess, represented the family seat in parliament and also served as First Civil Service Commissioner from 1907 to 1909.