Appointed 20th September, 1725.
William Stanhope, youngest son of John Stanhope of Elvaston, served several years in the third regiment of foot guards, in which corps he obtained the command of a company, with the rank of lieut.-colonel, and on the 17th of March, 1711, he was promoted to the colonelcy of a regiment of foot, which served in Spain, but was disbanded in November, 1712. In the summer of 1715, when the kingdom was menaced with internal war, by the partizans of the Pretender, he raised a regiment of dragoons for the service of King George I.; and when the commotions, which followed, were suppressed, his corps was disbanded. In 1717, he was employed in a diplomatic character in Spain; hostilities with that country commenced in 1719, and he subsequently served as a volunteer with the French army, commanded by Marshal Duke of Berwick. He concerted a plan for the destruction of three Spanish ships of the line, and a great quantity of naval stores, in the port of St. Andero, which was effected by an English squadron; Colonel Stanhope contributed to the execution of this enterprise by accompanying a detachment of troops, which Marshal Berwick sent, at his solicitation, and was the first that leaped into the water when the boats approached the shore. At the termination of the war, he was again appointed envoy at the Spanish court, and while employed in this service King George I. conferred on him the colonelcy of the Thirteenth Dragoons. At the commencement of the war with Spain, 1726–7, he returned to England, and was appointed vice-chamberlain to the King; he was also nominated one of the British plenipotentiaries at the congress at Soissons; and he subsequently proceeded to Spain and concluded the treaty of Seville. His distinguished merits in these negotiations, were rewarded, in November, 1729, with the title of Lord Harrington, in the county of Northampton; and on the resignation of Lord Townshend, he was nominated secretary of state, which was followed by his vacating the colonelcy of the Thirteenth Dragoons. In the office of secretary of state, his Lordship's knowledge of foreign affairs, with his application to business, moderation, good sense, and integrity, rendered him a valuable servant to the crown. On the change of the ministry he was appointed lord president of the council; and in February, 1742, he was advanced to the dignity of Viscount Petersham, and Earl of Harrington. In 1744 he was again appointed secretary of state; and in 1746 he was constituted lord lieutenant of Ireland. He died in 1756.
Henry Hawley,
Appointed 7th July, 1730.
This officer served the crown in four successive reigns; and held a commission in the army during a period of sixty-five years. His first appointment was dated the 10th of January, 1694; and having signalized himself in the wars of Queen Anne, he obtained the rank of colonel by brevet dated the 16th of October, 1712. On the 19th of March, 1717, he was promoted from the lieutenant-colonelcy of the fourth dragoons to the colonelcy of the thirty-third regiment of foot; and on the 7th of July, 1730, he was removed to the colonelcy of the Thirteenth Dragoons. In 1735 he was promoted to the rank of brigadier-general; in 1739 to that of major-general; and in the following year obtained the colonelcy of the royal dragoons. In 1742 Major-General Hawley proceeded with the army to Flanders, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general in the following spring, and served at the battles of Dettingen and Fontenoy. In 1746 he commanded against the rebel Highlanders in Scotland, and the troops under his orders had a sharp encounter with the enemy near Falkirk, and sustained considerable loss. He was afterwards on the staff of the army in Ireland; and was many years governor of Portsmouth. He died on the 24th of March, 1759.
Robert Dalway,
Appointed 12th May, 1740.
Robert Dalway was appointed cornet in a regiment of cavalry on the 8th of March, 1704; he served several campaigns under the celebrated John Duke of Marlborough, and was distinguished for gallantry in action, and a strict attention to duty. On the 1st of February, 1713, he was promoted to the lieut.-colonelcy of Harwich's horse, now seventh dragoon guards, and in 1739, King George II. promoted him to the colonelcy of the thirty-ninth foot, from which he was removed in 1740, to the Thirteenth Dragoons. He died in November of the same year.
Humphrey Bland,
Appointed 9th January, 1741.