Background
Hervey was born on October 13, 1696 in London, England, the eldest son of John Hervey, 1st Earl of Bristol, by his second wife, Elizabeth.
(Excerpt from Constitutions of the Antient Fraternity of F...)
Excerpt from Constitutions of the Antient Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons: Containing the Charges, Regulations, Etc., Etc Secretary), to the master elect, prior to his Installation into the Chair of a Lodge. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
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(Excerpt from Letter-Books of John Hervey, First Earl of B...)
Excerpt from Letter-Books of John Hervey, First Earl of Bristol, Vol. 1 of 3: With Sir Thomas Hervey's Letters During Courtship and Poems During Widowhood, 1651 to 1750; 1651 to 1715, With Five Portraits II. III. Two quarto volumes with Clasps, containing only letters between Lord and Lady Bristol. Some of these have been copied by Lord Bristol's hand. They range from July 1695 (when the future Lady Bristol was still Mrs. Felton, though she was within a week of becoming Mrs. Hervey, ) to Dec. 1737, when by the death of Queen Caroline Lady Bristol's duties at Court came to an end. A few poems are copied in at the beginning and end of them, and these I have printed in an Appendix to Lord Bristol's Diary. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
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statesman memoirist courtier political writer
Hervey was born on October 13, 1696 in London, England, the eldest son of John Hervey, 1st Earl of Bristol, by his second wife, Elizabeth.
Hervey was educated at Westminster school and at Clare Hall, Cambridge, where he took his M. A. degree in 1715.
Hervey's father then sent him to Paris in 1716, and thence to Hanover to pay court to George I. He was a frequent visitor at the court of the Prince and Princess of Wales at Richmond, and in 1720 he married Mary Lepell, daughter of Nicholas Lepell, who was one of the Princess's ladies-in-waiting, and a great court beauty. In 1723 John's elder half-brother Carr died, whereby he became heir apparent to the Earldom of Bristol with the courtesy title of Lord Hervey. In 1725 he was elected M. P. for Bury St Edmunds. Hervey had been at one time on very friendly terms with Frederick, Prince of Wales, but in about 1723 they quarrelled, apparently because they were rivals for the affection of Anne Vane. These differences probably account for the scathing picture he draws of the Prince's callous conduct. Hervey had been hesitating between William Pulteney (afterwards earl of Bath) and Robert Walpole, but in 1730 he definitely took sides with Walpole, of whom he was thenceforward a faithful adherent. He was assumed by Pulteney to be the author of Sedition and Defamation display'd, with a Dedication to the patrons of The Craftsman (1731). Pulteney, who, up to this time, had been a firm friend of Hervey, replied with A Proper Reply to a late Scurrilous Libel, and the quarrel resulted in a duel from which Hervey narrowly escaped with his life. Hervey is said to have denied the authorship of both the pamphlet and its dedication, but a note on the manuscript at Ickworth, apparently in his own hand, states that he wrote the latter. He was able to render valuable service to Walpole from his influence with the Queen. Through him the minister governed Queen Caroline and indirectly George II. Hervey was vice-chamberlain in the royal household and a member of the Privy Council. In 1733 he was called to the House of Lords by writ of acceleration in his father's Barony. He was then elected a governor of the Foundling Hospital prior to its foundation in 1739. In spite of repeated requests he received no further preferment until after 1740, when he became Lord Privy Seal. After the fall of Sir Robert Walpole he was dismissed (July 1742) from his office. An excellent political pamphlet, Miscellaneous Thoughts on the present Posture of Foreign and Domestic Affairs, shows that he still retained his mental vigour, but he was liable to epilepsy, and his weak appearance and rigid diet were a constant source of ridicule to his enemies. He predeceased his father, but three of his sons became successively Earls of Bristol. Hervey wrote detailed and brutally frank memoirs of the court of George II from 1727 to 1737. He gave a most unflattering account of the King, and of Frederick, Prince of Wales, and their family squabbles. For the Queen and her daughter, Princess Caroline, he had a genuine respect and attachment, and the Princess's affection for him was commonly said to be the reason for the close retirement in which she lived after his death.
(Excerpt from Constitutions of the Antient Fraternity of F...)
(Excerpt from Letter-Books of John Hervey, First Earl of B...)
Member of the Privy Council, member of the Parliament
Hervey was bisexual. He may have had a sexual affair with Prince Frederick before their friendship dissolved. He was in fact denounced as a sexually ambiguous figure in his time most notably by William Pulteney, and by Alexander Pope. He was also attracted to Henry Fox before his affair with Stephen Fox.
Hervey married Mary Lepell (1700-1768) 21 April 1720, they had eight children. He had an affair with Anne Vane, and possibly with Lady Mary Wortley Montagu and Princess Caroline.