Earl Of Bristol Research Articles

Samuel Johnson’s Charity Sermon During War: St Paul’s Cathedral 2 May 1745

Abstract Samuel Johnson’s first ghost-written sermon was for Henry Hervey Aston at the annual Sons of the Clergy Festival on 2 May 1745. Hervey Aston was the fourth son of the Earl of Bristol, long knew Johnson, and entertained him in Lichfield and Johnson and Tetty in London. Hervey paid £12 interest on Johnson’s mother’s home in Lichfield and was, Johnson said, ‘a vicious man but very kind to me. If you call a dog Hervey, I shall love him’. He learned nothing at Christ Church, Oxford, during 18 raucous months, performed poorly as an army officer before selling his commission, and was ordained as a last hope in 1743 by the Bishop of Ely. Henry’s father the Earl of Bristol appointed him Rector of Shotley, in Suffolk, which he soon abandoned for London. Why was such a man asked to present an important sermon at England’s most impressive venue, before the Archbishop of Canterbury, eight other bishops, and many of the Great and the Good in order to raise funds for the widows and orphans of deceased Anglican clergy? This essay suggests reasons for that choice and how Johnson’s early practical sermon is part of his body of sermons. It also shows how Johnson establishes Hervey Aston’s credibility in the pulpit when he had no credibility in life, and how Johnson blends sublime theology with the quotidian. Along the way, he alludes to and politely censures the unpopular War of the Austrian Succession.

From Private Sin to Public Shame: Sir John Digby and the use of Star Chamber in Northamptonshire and Bedfordshire, 1610

ABSTRACTBy analysing one Star Chamber case from 1610 relating to an allegedly forged bond, this article examines how the gentry used local disputes to defend honour, fashion identity, and enforce authority locally and in central government. The often aggressive prosecution of suits at law was designed to send out a strong message not just to those involved but also to fellow élites about ambition, reputation, and political potency. This article explores these themes through litigation pertaining to Sir John Digby, afterwards Earl of Bristol, an ambitious younger son who rose to become one of James I’s chief advisers. The article argues that beyond the protection of his assets, Digby’s management of the case comprised three main aims: to fashion a political image at court; to assert his authority as a newcomer in the localities; and to establish a patriarchal stance within his household following his marriage to a propertied widow who was older than himself. It also demonstrates how legal records can supplement other research materials to build a fuller understanding of how individuals responded under duress and manipulated the ‘public’ and ‘private’ spheres to build power.

A parliamentary reception (of sorts): the Russian mission of 1645–46

SUMMARYThe arrival of a Russian emissary, Gerasim Semenovich Dokhturov, in London in the midst of the English Civil War created a dilemma for parliamentarians who did not want to offend the Tsar’s envoy and risk losing privileges in the northern trade to the Dutch. With King Charles I absent from the capital and George, Lord Digby (later, the second Earl of Bristol), Secretary of State, having fled the country, the reception of the envoy devolved on Parliament. The focal point of the story of that reception is a decorated letter signed by the Speakers of both Houses of Parliament, William Lenthall (Commons) and Edward Montagu, second Earl of Manchester, which was sent to Tsar Alexis Mikhailovich in June 1646. The experience of the envoy, the preparations by Parliament and the sending of the letter itself to the Tsar can be seen as a ‘dress rehearsal’ for the new role that Parliament would play in state receptions after the execution of King Charles I in 1649.

‘The More Posed and Wise Advice’: The Fourth Earl of Dorset and the English Civil Wars

‘To me he was always the embodiment of Cavalier romance.’ Thus Vita Sackville-West on her seventeenth-century ancestor, Edward Sackville, fourth earl of Dorset. Such labelling indicates the problems which still bedevil any study of Civil War royalism. Brian Wormald'sClarendonbrilliantly revealed that the men who joined Charles I in 1642 represented a broad range of opinion. Above all, he made us aware of a coherent group of moderate (‘constitutional’) royalists who throughout sought accommodation. There was a palpable difference of strategy between these people, who favoured royal concessions in order to prevent further military initiatives, and others who favoured military initiatives in order to prevent further royal concessions. Within these two basic matrices, there were further subtle inflections of attitude between individuals and within the same individual over time. But many such inflections remain murky. Wormald's lead was never followed through. Charles's supporters have consistently received less attention than those who remained with parliament; and among the royalists, moderates have attracted fewer studies than ‘cavaliers’ and ‘swordsmen’. There is thus an urgent need to clarify different varieties of royalism and especially to bring the constitutional royalists into sharper focus. However, before we can assess their wider aims and impact, we must first identify them; and here the inappropriate labels bestowed on so many of Charles's supporters create real problems. Anne Sumner has recently ‘de-mythologized’ John Digby, first earl of Bristol, revealing him as more complex and less intemperate than the ‘hawk’ of legend.

Dorsetshire Elections, 1604-1640

Dorsetshire's elite, the leaders of its “county community,” continued to exercise their customary influence in the county's elections from 1604-1640. However, there was a notable change from the Elizabethan age. During the great Queen's reign, no one family was able to establish a preponderant voice in the county's elections. A “sustained monopoly” was, it seems, impossible and the best any influential squire could hope for was to be twice returned for the county. Indeed, it is probable that only Sir Ralph Horsey of Clifton Maubank, chosen in 1586 and 1597, and Andrew Rogers of Brianston, elected in 1586 and 1588, achieved that degree of eminence. Even the great Sir Walter Raleigh, after establishing himself at Sherborne, only managed to serve for Dorsetshire once, in 1597.That changed after 1604. Dorsetshire elected eleven men to its eighteen knightships of the shire from 1604-1640, and one man, Sir John Strangways of Chirk Castle and Melbury Sampford, established what can be described as a “sustained monopoly.” He served for the county in 1614, 1621, 1624, and 1628; his repeated victories were recognition of his wealth and estate, his close connections with John Digby, Earl of Bristol (1622) and with other county families of note. Strangways had married into the Trenchard family of Warmwell and Wolveton, near Dorchester; one of his daughters married, first, into the influential Rogers family of Brianston and later, in 1624, took as her second husband the stepson of the Earl of Bristol, Sir Lewis Dyve. Strangways was, no doubt, an active supporter of his brother-in-law, Sir Thomas Trenchard, in Dorset's 1621 election and, in a bitterly fought contest in 1626, it was Strangway's power and influence that accounted for the return of Sir George Morton. Altogether, Sir John's influence can be credited with five, and more probably six (or one-third), of Dorsetshire's knightships through 1640. Given his ability to win a place for Morton in the face of fierce opposition in 1626, it is possible that his influence was even more widespread in the county's elections.

The Earl‐Bishop of Derry and The Catholic Question

When Frederick Hervey, Earl of Bristol and Protestant Bishop of Derry, died on July 8th, 1803, in Albano, having about him none but hired servants, Cardinal Erskine took upon himself the troublesome duty more properly to have been discharged by a British representative in Rome if there had been one, of winding up his affairs.This wealthy eccentric is best known by the vivid picture given by Froude in The English in Ireland in the Eighteenth Century, of his activities in connection with the Irish Volunteers. He drove to the National Convention of the Volunteers at Dublin in November, 1783, in an open landau drawn by six horses magnificently apparrelled in purple, with white gloves, gold fringed, and gold tassels dangling from them, and buckles of diamonds on knee and shoe: ‘His own mounted servants, in gorgeous liveries, attended on either side of his carriage. George Robert Fitzgerald rode in front with a squadron of dragoons in gold and scarlet uniforms, on the finest horses which could be bought in the land. A second squadron brought up the rear in equal splendour, and thus, with slow and regal pace, the procession passed on, volunteers falling in with bands playing and colours flying, the crowd shouting: “Long life to the Bishop,” the Bishop bowing to the crowd.’The incident certainly typifies the Earl-Bishop’s strange spectacular character and career, but whilst many popular articles have been written on his queer antics and conduct, he was by no means an inconsiderable man as a political thinker.

AN EIGHTEENTH CENTURY DE RETZ*

New BlackfriarsVolume 6, Issue 61 p. 192-197 AN EIGHTEENTH CENTURY DE RETZ* Robert Bracey O.P., Robert Bracey O.P.Search for more papers by this author Robert Bracey O.P., Robert Bracey O.P.Search for more papers by this author First published: April 1925 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-2005.1925.tb03470.x * The Early Bishop: The Life o Frederick Hervey, Bishop of Derry, Earl of Bristol. By W.C. Childe-Pemberton. AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Volume6, Issue61April 1925Pages 192-197 RelatedInformation

Letter Books of John Henrey. First Earl of Bristol, The Diary of John Hervey, First Earl of Bristol, 1688-1742

Letter Books of John Henrey. First Earl of Bristol, The Diary of John Hervey, First Earl of Bristol, 1688-1742

The Earl of Bristol's Defence of his Negotiations in Spain

The Earl of Bristol's Defence of his Negotiations in Spain

Speeches of the Earl of Bristol in 1661 and 1673

Speeches of the Earl of Bristol in 1661 and 1673 Get access Notes and Queries, Volume s3-III, Issue 64, 21 March 1863, Page 231, https://doi.org/10.1093/nq/s3-III.64.231d Published: 21 March 1863

Poem by the Earl of Bristol

Journal Article Poem by the Earl of Bristol Get access Notes and Queries, Volume s3-II, Issue 46, 15 November 1862, Page 383, https://doi.org/10.1093/nq/s3-II.46.383a Published: 15 November 1862

Psalm cxxxvii. By the earl of Bristol

Psalm cxxxvii. By the earl of Bristol

Psalm CXXXVII. By the earl of Bristol

Psalm CXXXVII. By the earl of Bristol Get access D. P. C. D. P. C. Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Notes and Queries, Volume s2-VII, Issue 163, 12 February 1859, Pages 126–127, https://doi.org/10.1093/nq/s2-VII.163.126 Published: 12 February 1859