CHAPTER IV
[1] Archibald John, Viscount Primrose and his brother Francis, sons of Neil, 3rd Earl of Rosebery. They were given the nicknames of "Roast Beef" and "Plum Pudding" owing to their invariable habit of dining with Mr and Mrs Spencer-Stanhope every Sunday.
[2] Count Charles Holmar, a subject of the King of Denmark, but Master of the Horse to the Duke of Holstein Oldenburg, and Tutor to the Princes of Holstein Oldenburg.
[3] John, second Marquis of Lansdowne, married, 27th May 1805, Maria Arabella, daughter of the Rev. Hinton Maddock of "Darland," Wales, and relict of Sir Duke Gifford, Bart, of Castle Jordan in Ireland, who died in 1801. In her Will, dated December 31st, 1821, Lady Lansdowne mentions five daughters by her first husband.
[4] Almach's, vol. iii., pages 201-2.
[5] Archibald John, Viscount Primrose, afterwards 4th Earl of Rosebery, married, first, on May 20th, 1808, Henrietta, second daughter of the Hon. Bartholomew Bouverie, and grandson of William, 1st Earl of Radnor. He divorced her in 1815.
[6] Emily, daughter and heiress of Gerard de Visme, Esq. Lady Shelley, her schoolfellow, describes her as "the most beautiful being I have ever beheld. Her classic-shaped head and Spanish air—her mother was a Portuguese—added to a slight and not too tall figure, attracted much attention, and she was universally admired. Her accomplishments were as remarkable as her beauty. She played the harp exquisitely, and excelled also on the piano and in singing. She spoke French and Italian fluently and with a perfect accent." Diary of Frances, Lady Shelley, pub. John Murray, 1812, page 15. Miss De Visme married, June 28th, 1810, Henry (Sir) Murray, K.C.B., a distinguished officer, born 1784, died 1860, fourth son of David, 7th Viscount Stormont and 2nd Earl of Mansfield, by his second wife Louisa, third daughter of Charles, 9th Lord Catheart, of the 14th Dragoons.
[7] Probably Miss Calcraft, who married, in 1812, Sir John Burke of Marble Hill, Bt., sister to Miss Belle Calcraft. See p. 356.
[8] The Argyle Rooms in Regent's Street were looked upon as a rival to the still more fashionable Almack's. Balls and masquerades were given there, presided over by Colonel Greville, a man of the haut ton, who ruled, however, with a less arbitrary sway than the famous Patronesses of Almack's. The facade of the building to-day remains much as it was a century ago.
[9] Henry Bankes, Esq. of Kingston Hall, M.P. for Corfe Castle from 1780 to 1826, and for Co. Dorset from that time to 1831, married Frances, daughter of William Woodey, Esq., Governor of the Leeward Islands, and, besides four sons, had two daughters, Anne Frances, married Edward 4th Viscount and 1st Earl of Falmouth, died 1864, and Maria Wynne, married the Hon. Thomas Stapleton.
[10] John Stanhope adds some years later: "I have associated with many persons engaged in that memorable retreat, and I gather from their remarks that as far as Astorga, it was admirably conducted, and that to the rapidity of their march, the army was entirely indebted for its safety. But from that period, at which there appeared to be no further occasion for so rapid a movement, its celerity was increased. The Troops were passing through a mountainous district, which at every step offered them an admirable position for attack, and they were pursued by an army which they might have defeated at any time with as much ease as they subsequently defeated it at Corunna. It appears also that they suffered more from the rapidity of the march than they could have done in any general engagement; but it is not easy to form a correct opinion on the subject without knowing the situation of the army with respect to provisions and money; and also without being able to judge whether there was danger of their retreat being cut off.
"I have been informed that Moore ought on no account to have evacuated Corunna, that he had ample facilities for defending it against all the efforts of the French….
"Undoubtedly, as a diversion, Sir John Moore's advance into Spain fully succeeded and probably saved the Peninsula; but as that was not a result upon which he calculated, I doubt whether it can be adduced as a justification for a measure undertaken against his own judgment; subsequent events have shewn how much higher his reputation would have stood had he persevered in his original intentions. What the Duke of Wellington now is, Sir John Moore would almost inevitably have been."
[11] Henrietta Maria, eldest daughter and co-heir of Robert Vernon Atherton, Esq., of Atherton Hall, Co. Lancaster, married, 1797, Thomas, Baron Lilford, and had six sons and six daughters.
[12] Charles Bankes, Major in the Army, second son of Philip, 2nd Earl Stanhope, born 1785, killed at the Battle of Corunna, January 16th, 1809.
[13] Lord James Murray, son of the 4th Duke of Athol, a Major-General in the Army, who in 1821 became Lord Glenlyon. He then resided in Cumberland Place. He died in 1837, and his son succeeded as 6th Duke of Athol in 1846.
[14] Reminiscences of Michael Kelly, vol. ii., pages 281-284.
[15] Julia, only child and heiress of Sir George Augustus William
Shuckburgh, Bart., and Julia Annabella, d. and sole heiress of James
Evelyn of Felbridge, Co. Surrey. Married 1810, the Hon. Charles Cope
Jenkinson and died in 1814.
[16] The Colonel was addicted to drink.
[17] Katherine, Duchess of Bolton (see ante, page 18), died March 21st, 1809, at 32 Grosvenor Square.
[18] Not only shoes were often home-made, but at a later date Mrs Stanhope had a maid who could make her gloves. The latter articles of attire, moveover, were more elaborate than those of to-day. The long gloves of the days of the Empire had a piece inserted at the elbow which made them sit without creasing to the shape of the arm, so that they had none of the untidy appearance which modern long gloves are apt to present, and the term "to fit like a glove" was then singularly appropriate.
[19] John Russell, Earl Russell, K.G., 1792-1878, the third son of the 6th Duke of Bedford, studied at the University of Edinburgh, and in 1813 was returned for Tavistock. He became a prominent politician. In 1830 he was Paymaster of the Forces; he was one of the four Members of the Government entrusted with the task of framing the first Reform Bill, and on him devolved the honour of proposing it. In 1846 he became Prime Minister till 1852, and again in 1865 on the death of Lord Palmerston, but was defeated in the following June on his new Reform Bill, and resigned.
[20] Sir William Henry Douglas, Bart, Vice-Admiral of the Blue, died unmarried, May 1809. The title devolved upon his brother, Sir Howard who had married, in July 1799, Anne, eldest daughter of James Dundas, Esq.
[21] The story which Lord Houghton used to tell on the subject was that after his father had refused the place in the Ministry pressed upon him by Mr Perceval, he sent to the friend with whom he had made the bet (whose name had never transpired) a copy of Mr Perceval's letter, and a cheque for £100. See The Life, Letters and Friendships of Monckton Milnes, Lord Houghton, by T. Wemyss Reid (1890), vol. i., page 2.
[22] The Hon. Mr Eden, eldest son of Lord Auckland, a fine sensible youth of five-and-twenty. He left his parents' house about 9.30 in the evening, saying he would be home in half an hour. A month later his body was found in the Thames, and was identified by his watch and seals.
[23] On February 11th, 1910, Sir Thomas Gascoigne Bt. of Parlington Hall, Co. York, died of grief for the loss of his son who had been killed by a fall from his horse a short time previously.
[24] Of Kirkleatham, Yorkshire.
[25] Sir Francis Burdett, M.P., for Westminster supported Gale Jones, a Radical Orator in the seditious speech. He was accused of breach of privilege and a warrant issued for his arrest. The Westminster mob rose on his behalf, and he barricaded his house in Piccadilly in order to defy the warrant, but was ultimately arrested and confined in the Tower. Riots ensued, and the town was guarded by thousands of soldiers.
[26] Thomas Dundas, Esq., of Fingask Hall, Co. Stirling, M.P., married, 1784, Lady Elizabeth Eleanora Home, daughter of Alexander, 9th Earl of Home.
[27] Their daughter Charlotte, called by Mrs Stanhope La Belle, was extremely handsome, and at one time considered the belle of Edinburgh.
[28] Lord James Murray, second son of the 4th Duke of Athol, married, May 19th, 1810, Emily Frances, second daughter of Hugh, 2nd Duke of Northumberland.
[29] Anne Maria, daughter of Sir H. W. Dashwood, Bt., married, 1810, John, 2nd Marquis of Ely, K.P.P.C., died 1857.