e British forces in Germany, under prince Ferdinand of Brunswick, in 1761, during the absence of the marquis of Granby. He was one of the grooms of the bed-chamber to George
, an English officer and
statesman, the second son of Francis, first lord Conway,
was born in 1720, and appeared first in public life in 1741
as one of the knights for the county of Antrim, in the parliament of Ireland; and in the same year was elected
for Higham Ferrers, to sit in the ninth parliament of Great
Britain. He was afterwards chosen for various other places
from 1754 to 1780, when he represented St. Edmund’s
Bury. In 1741 he was constituted captain-lieutenant in
the “first regiment of foot-guards, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel; and in April 1746, being then aid-de-camp
to the duke of Cumberland, he got the command of the
xorty-eighth regiment of foot, and the twenty-ninth in July
1749. He was constituted colonel of the thirteenth regiment of dragoons in December 1751, which he resigned
upon being appointed colonel of the first, or royal regiment of dragoons, Septembers, 1759. In January 1756
he was advanced to the rank of major-general; in March
1759, to that of lieutenant-general; in May 1772, to that
of general; and in October 12, 1793, to that of field
marshal. He served with reputation in his several military
capacities, and commanded the British forces in Germany,
under prince Ferdinand of Brunswick, in 1761, during the
absence of the marquis of Granby. He was one of the
grooms of the bed-chamber to George II. and likewise to
his present majesty till April 1764, when, at the end of
the session of parliament, he resigned that office and his
military commands, or, more properly speaking, was dismissed for voting against the ministry in the question of
general warrants. His name, however, was continued in
the list of the privy counsellors in Ireland; and William,
the fourth duke of Devonshire, to whom he had been secretary when the duke was viceroy in Ireland, bequeathed
him at his death, in 1764, a legacy of 5000l. on account of
his conduct in parliament. On the accession of the Rockingham administration in 1765, he was sworn of the privy
council, and appointed joint- secretary of state with the
duke of Grafton, which office he resigned in January 1768.
In February following, he was appointed colonel of the
fourth regiment of dragoons; in October 1774, colonel of
the royal regiment of horse-guards; and in October 1772,
governor of the island of Jersey. On March 30, 1782, he
was appointed commander in chief of his majesty’s forces,
which he resigned in December 1783. He died at his seat
at Park-place, near Henley upon Thames, July 9, 1795.
General Conway was an ingenious man, of considerable
abilities, but better calculated to be admired in the private and social circle, than to shine as a great public character. In politics, although we believe conscientious, he
was timid and wavering. He had a turn for literature, and
some talent for poetry, and, if we mistake not, published,
but without his name, one or two political pamphlets. In
his old age he aspired to the character of a dramatic writer,
producing in 1789, a play, partly from the French, entitled
” False Appearances," which was not, however, very successful. His most intimate friend appears to have been
the late lord Orford, better known as Horace Walpole,
who was his cousin, and addressed to him a considerable
part of those letters which form the fifth volume of his
lordship’s works. This correspondence commenced in
1 7-1-0, when Walpole was twenty-three years old, and Mr.
Couway twenty. They had gone abroad together with the
celebrated poet Gray in 1739, had spent three months
together at Rheims, and afterwards separated at Geneva.
Lord Orford’s letters, although evidently prepared for the
press, evince at least a cordial and inviolable friendship
for his correspondent, of which also he gave another proof
in 3 letter published in defence of general Couway when
dismissed from his offices; and a testimony of affection
yet more decided, in bequeathing his fine villa of Strawberry Hill to Mrs. Darner, general Con way’s daughter, for
her life.
dedicated them to Miss Talbot, who lived in the family of archbishop Seeker; and, on the honour the marquis of Granby acquired in Germany, addressed an ode to the marchioness.
In 1753 he received orders; and, being now settled in London, soon became a very popular and celebrated preacher. He obtained several lectureships that of West- Ham and Bow, that of St. James Garlickhithe, and that of St. Olave Hart-street; and was appointed to preach a course of lady Moyer’s lectures and he advanced his theological character greatly, by an almost uninterrupted publication of sermons and tracts of piety. And farther to keep up the profession of sanctity, and increase his popularky, he was very zealous in promoting and assisting at charitable institutions, and distinguished himself much in. regard to the Magdalen hospital, which was opened in August 1758: he became preacher at the chapel of this charity, for which he was allowed yearly I Oo/. But, notwithstanding his apparent attention to spiritual concerns, he was much more in earnest, and indeed in earnest only in cultivating his temporal interests; but all his expedients were not successful, and his subservient flattery was sometimes seen through. In 1759 he published in 2 vols. 12mo, bishop Hall’s Meditations, and dedicated them to Miss Talbot, who lived in the family of archbishop Seeker; and, on the honour the marquis of Granby acquired in Germany, addressed an ode to the marchioness. His dedication to Miss Talbot was too extravagant a piece of flattery not to miss its aim, and gave such offence to the archbishop, that, after a warm epistolary expostulation, his grace insisted on the sheet being cancelled in all the remaining copies.
redit, in a literacy character, drawing his pen against that of Junius, in defence of his friend the marquis of Granby, which drew a retort on himself, answered by him in
, lieutenant-general and K. B.
was educated at Eton, and at King’s college, Cambridge;
and, preferring the military profession, went to the EastIndies in the company’s service; where, in 1760, he received the privilege of ranking as a colonel in the army,
with Lawrence and Clive, and returned home that year.
In 1761 he was promoted to the rank of brigadier in the
expedition to Belleisle. In 1763, he, with admiral Cornish, conducted the expedition against Manila. They
sailed from Madras Aug. 1, and anchored Sept. 27, in
Manila bay, where the inhabitants had no expectation of
the enemy. The fort surrendered Oct. 6, and was preserved from plunder by a ransom of four millions of dollars;
half to be paid immediately, and the other half in a time
agreed on. The Spanish governor drew on his court for
the first half, but payment was never made. The arguments of the Spanish court were clearly refuted by colonel
Draper in a letter to the earl of Halifax, then premier.
Succeeding administrations declined the prosecution of
this claim from reasons of state which were never divulged;
and the commander in chief lost for his share of the ransom 25,000l. The colours taken at this conquest were
presented to King’s college, Cambridge, and hung up in
their beautiful chapel, and the conqueror was rewarded
with a red ribband. Upon the reduction of the 79th regiment, which had served so gloriously in the East-Indies,
his majesty, unsolicited by him, gave him the 16th regiment of foot as an equivalent. This he resigned to colonel
Gisborne, for his half pay, 1200l. Irish annuity. In 1769
the colonel appeared, and with much credit, in a literacy
character, drawing his pen against that of Junius, in defence of his friend the marquis of Granby, which drew a
retort on himself, answered by him in a second letter to
Junius, on the refutations of the former charge against
him. On a republication of Junius’s first letter, sir William renewed his vindication of himself; and was answered
with great keenness by his famous antagonist. Here the
controversy dropped for the present, but he is supposed to
have entered the lists once more, under the signature of
Modestus, with that extraordinary and still concealed
writer, in defence of general Gansel, who had been arrested for debt, and was rescued by a party of soldiers. In
Oct. 1769 he retired to South Carolina, for the recovery
of his health, and took the opportunity to make the tour
of North America. That year he married miss de Lancy,
daughter of the chief justice of New York, who died in
July 1778, and by whom he had a daughter born Aug. 18,
1773. May 29, 1779, sir William, being then in rank a
lieutenant-general, was appointed lieutenant-governor of
Minorca, on the unfortunate surrender of which important
place he exhibited 29 charges against the late governor,
general Murray, Nov. 11, 1782. Of these 27 were deemed
frivolous and groundless and for the other two the governor was reprimanded. Sir William was then ordered to
make an apology to general Murray, for having instituted
the trial against him; in which he acquiesced. From this
time he appears to have lived in retirement at Bath till his
decease, which happened the 8th of January 1787. Many
particulars respecting his controversy with Junius, as well
as the controversy itself, may be seen in the splendid edition
of “Junius’s Letters,
” published by Mr. Woodfall in
he had immediately offers both from the late prince Ferdinand, the commander in chief, and the late marquis of Granby, to be appointed aid-de-camp. By the advice of a noble
, a brave English officer, the descendant of a very ancient family, was born
in 1728 at Shipdenhall, near Halifax, in Yorkshire, which,
for many centuries, had been in the possession of his ancestors, and is now the property and residence of their
lineal descendant. His father dying when he was very
young, his education was superintended by an uncle, a very
worthy clergyman. He was brought up at a free school in
Lancashire, where he was well grounded in classical learning, and became also a remarkable proficient in mathematics. He has very frequently been heard to declare,
that, from his earliest youth, he always felt the strongest
predilection for the army, which his mother and nearest
relations constantly^ endeavoured to dissuade him from;
but, finding all their arguments ineffectual, they either
bought, or he had an ensigncy given him, in general Oglethorpe’s regiment, then in Georgia; but the war being then
going on in Flanders, he gave up his ensigncy, and went
there as a volunteer, furnished with letters from the late
marquis of Rockingham and Mr. Lascelles (afterwards lord Harewood) to the commander and several others of the
officers. This step was at the time frequently taken
by young men of spirit of the first rank and fortune, fte
entered as a volunteer, but messed with the officers, and
was very soon presented with a pair of colours. Some
time after, he married a lady of good fortune and family,
and, at the pressing entreaties df her friends, he most reluctantly resigned his commission; which he had no sooner
done, than he felt himself miserable, and his new relations
finding that his propensity to a military life was invincible,
agreed to his purchasing an ensigncy in the third regiment
of guards. Having now obtained the object of his most
anxious wishes, he determined to lose no opportunity of
qualifying himself for the highest situations in his favourite
profession. With this view he paid the most unremitting
attention to his duty, and every hour he could command
was given up to the study of the French and German languages, in which (by the assistance of his classical learning) he soon became such a proficient as not only to understand and write both, grammatically and elegantly, but
to speak them fluently. When he was a lieutenant in the
guards, he translated from the French, “The Reveries;
Memoirs upon the Art of War, by field-marshal count
Saxe,
” which was published in To the general officers.
” He also translated from the
German, “Regulations for the Prussian cavalry,
” which
was also published in llegulations for the Prussian Infantry,
” to which
was gelded “The Prussian Tactics,
” which was published
in
bout twenty miles from York, where he married, and had some expectation of being provided for by the marquis of Granby, to whom he was recommended by a gentleman who had
, a dramatic and poetical
writer of the minor order, was born in Ireland, October
23, 1728, and received his education at Dublin. At the
age of fifteen he obtained a commission in the same regiment with his father, who likewise belonged to the army;
but, making an exchange to a new-raised company, he was
dismissed the service on his regiment being reduced at the
conclusion of the war in 1748. On this event he indulged
his inclination for the stage, and appeared at Dublin in
the character of Aboan, in the play of Oroonoko. Notwithstanding an unconsequential figure, and uncommon
timidity, he says he succeeded beyond his most sanguine
expectations; but, having some property, and hearing
that a legacy had been left him by a relation, he determined to come to London, where it appears he dissipated
what little fortune he possessed. He then engaged to perform at the theatre in Bath, and remained there some
time. From thence he went to Edinburgh, and afterwards
belonged to several companies of actors at Manchester,
Liverpool, Chester, and other places. Growing tired of
a public -life, he settled at Malton, a market-town about
twenty miles from York, where he married, and had
some expectation of being provided for by the marquis of
Granby, to whom he was recommended by a gentleman
who had known his father. With this hope he removed
to London, but soon had the mortification to find all his
prospects clouded by the sudden death of his patron. In
1770 he performed at the Hay-market, under the management of Mr. Foote, and continued with him three seasons,
during which time, and afterwards, he wrote some of his
dramatic pieces and poems. He returned to his native
country probably about 1777, and struggled for the remainder of his life under sickness and want, from which
death at last relieved him Dec. 21, 1784. The editor of
the “Biographia Dramatica
” enumerates fifteen dramatic
pieces, either written or altered for the stage by him,
none of which are now remembered, or had originally
much success. He wrote also “Characters, an Epistle,
”
Royal Fables,
” Dramatic Censor,
”
oli fragmento inedito addidit J. F. Reitzius.” Maittaire prefixed a dedication of this volume to the marquis of Granby, and the lords Robert and George Manners, his brothers;
From 1728 to 1732 he was employed in publishing,
“Marmorum Arundellianorum, Seldenianorum, aliorumque
Academies Oxoniensi donatorum, una cum Commentariis
& Indice, editio secunda,
” folio to which an “Appendix
”
was printed in Epistola D. Mich. Maittaire ad
D. P. Des Maizeaux, in qua Indicis in Annales Typographicos methodus explicatur,
” &c. is printed in “The Present State of the Republic of Letters,
” in August Antiques Inscriptiones cluae,
” folio; being a
commentary on two large copper tables discovered near
Heraclea, in the bay of Tarentum. In 1738 were printed
at the Hague, “Graecse Linguae Dialecti in Scholse Regias
Westmonasterrensis usum recogniti opera Mich. Maittaire.
Prosfationem & Appendicem ex Apollonii Discoli fragmento
inedito addidit J. F. Reitzius.
” Maittaire prefixed a dedication of this volume to the marquis of Granby, and the
lords Robert and George Manners, his brothers; and a
new preface, dated 3 Cal. Octob. 1737. This was again
printed at London in 1742. In 1739, he addressed to the
empress of Russia a small Latin poem, under the title of
“Carmen Epinicium Augustissimae Russorum Imperatrici
sacrum.
” His name not having been printed in the titlepage, it is not so generally known that he was editor of
Plutarch’s “Apophthegmata,
” Senilia, sive Poetica aliquot in
argumentis varii generis tentamina.
” It may be worth
mentioning, that Baxter’s dedication to his “Glossarium
Antiquitatum Britannicarum,
” was much altered by Maittaire; who died August 7, 1747, aged seventy-nine. There
is a good mezzotinto print of him by Faber, from a painting by B. Dandridge, inscribed, “Michael Maittaire, A. M.
Amicorum jussu.
” His valuable library, which he had
been collecting fifty years, was sold by auction, by Messrs.
Cock and Langford, at the close of the same year, and the
beginning of the following, taking up in all forty-four
nights. Mr. Cock, in his prefatory advertisement, tells
us, “In exhibiting thus to the public the entire library of
Mr. Maittaire, I comply with the will of my deceased
friend; and in printing the catalogue from his own copy
just as he left it (though, by so doing, it is the more voluminous), I had an opportunity not only of doing the
justice I owe to his memory, but also of gratifying the curious.” Maittaire, it may be added, was patronized by
the first earl of Oxford, both before and after that gentleman’s elevation to the peerage, and continued a favourite
with his son the second earl. He was also Latin tutor to
Mr. Stanhope, the earl of Chesterfield’s favourite son, and
was esteemed by so many persons of eminence that we
cannot wonder at his portrait being engraven jussu amicorum. He possessed many amiable qualities; in religion
was orthodox and zealous ; in temper modest and
unassuming despising the pride of learning, yet fond of
friendly intercourse.
, marquis of Granby, was son of John duke of Rutland, and grandson of
, marquis of Granby, was son of John duke of Rutland, and grandson of John the first duke, and was born in January 1721. He was bred to the army, and in the rebellion of 1745 raised a regiment of foot at his own expence, for the defence of the country against the rebels. In 1755 he was advanced to the rank of majorgeneral, and in 1758 was appointed lieutenant-general and colonel of the blues. With this rank he went into Germany with the British forces, which were sent to serve under prince Ferdinand of Brunswick; and in 1759 was promoted to the general command of the British troops, an appointment which gave much satisfaction, and for which he appears to have been well qualified. If he had not the great abilities requisite to a commander in chief, he had all the qualifications for an admirable second in command. With a competent share of military skill, he possessed that personal valour and ardour in the service, which inspired his soldiers with confidence; and that humane and generous attention to their comfort and welfare, joined with affability and open-hearted cheerfulness, which strongly attached them to his person. In 1760 he justified the high opinion which prince Ferdinand had expressed of him after the battle of Minden, by his good conduct at Warburg, where the British cavalry were particularly signalized. In the beginning of the ensuing campaign, he commanded under the hereditary prince, in his attack on the frontier towns of Hesse; and at the battle of KirkDenkern, bore the first and most violent onset of the enemy, and by the firmness of his troops contributed much to that victory. He maintained the same character at Grsebesteein and Homburgh, in 1762. He died at Scarborough, Oct. 19, 1770 He had been made a member of the privycouncil in 1760, and resigning the office of lieutenantgeneral of the ordnance, was in May 1763 constituted master-general of that department. In Feb. 1764, he was declared lord-lieutenant and custos rotulorum of Derbyshire. In 1766 he was constituted commander in chief of his majesty’s land forces in Great Britain; which he resigned a little before his death. He married Sept. 3, 1750, lady Frances Seymour, eldest daughter of Charles duke of Somerset, by whom, among other issue, he had Charles, the late duke of Rutland, who died lord-lieutenant of Ireland in 1787; and lord Robert Manners, a gallant officer of the navy, who died Jan. 23, 1782, of the wounds he received in an engagement, Sept. 1, 1781, in the West Indies, on board his majesty’s ship the Resolution, of which he was captain. A monument in hoiiour of his memory was ordered at the national expence for him, capt. Blair, and capt. Bayne, which is now in St. Paul’s cathedral.
ademy, Mr. Sandby was elected a royal academician. By the recommendation of the duke of Grafton, the marquis of Granby in 1768 appointed him chief drawing-master of the
On the institution of the Royal Academy, Mr. Sandby was elected a royal academician. By the recommendation of the duke of Grafton, the marquis of Granby in 1768 appointed him chief drawing-master of the Royal Academy at Woolwich, which office he held with great honour to himself and advantage to the institution; and saw many able and distinguished draughtsmen among the officers of artillery, and corps of Engineers, formed under his instructions.