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Edward Conway, 1st Earl of Conway (c. 1623 – 11 August 1683) PC, FRS, of
Ragley Hall Ragley Hall in the parish of Arrow in Warwickshire is a stately home, located south of Alcester and eight miles (13 km) west of Stratford-upon-Avon. It is the ancestral seat of the Seymour-Conway family, Marquesses of Hertford. History ...
, Alcester, in
Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...
, was an English peer and politician who served as
Secretary of State for the Northern Department The Secretary of State for the Northern Department was a position in the Cabinet of the government of Great Britain up to 1782, when the Northern Department became the Foreign Office. History Before the Act of Union, 1707, the Secretary of St ...
between 1681 and 1683.


Origins

Conway was born circa 1623, the son and heir of
Edward Conway, 2nd Viscount Conway The Rt Hon. Edward Conway, 2nd Viscount Conway, PC ( bapt. 10 August 1594 – 26 June 1655), was an English politician, military commander, bibliophile and peer. Early life and education Conway was the eldest son of The 1st Viscount Conway and ...
(1594–1655) by his wife Frances Popham, daughter of Sir Francis Popham (1573–1644) MP, of
Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...
in Somerset and Littlecote in Berkshire (now Wiltshire).


Career

He succeeded as 3rd Viscount Conway (in the
Peerage of England The Peerage of England comprises all peerages created in the Kingdom of England before the Act of Union in 1707. In that year, the Peerages of England and Scotland were replaced by one Peerage of Great Britain. There are five peerages in t ...
) and 3rd Viscount Killultagh (in the Peerage of Ireland) following the death of his father in 1655. Conway became a member of the
Irish Privy Council His or Her Majesty's Privy Council in Ireland, commonly called the Privy Council of Ireland, Irish Privy Council, or in earlier centuries the Irish Council, was the institution within the Dublin Castle administration which exercised formal executi ...
in 1660 and was a confidant of
James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde Lieutenant-General James FitzThomas Butler, 1st Duke of Ormond, KG, PC (19 October 1610 – 21 July 1688), was a statesman and soldier, known as Earl of Ormond from 1634 to 1642 and Marquess of Ormond from 1642 to 1661. Following the failur ...
. He became a
Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...
on 2 January 1668, became governor of
Charlemont Fort Charlemont Fort was a garrison situated in Charlemont, County Armagh. History The fort was built in 1602 by Lord Mountjoy. The name ''Charlemont'' came from Charles Blount's Christian name. It was situated on the Armagh bank of the River Bla ...
in 1671 and served as Master of the Ordnance in Ireland from 1679. On 3 December 1679, Conway was created
Earl of Conway The Earl of Conway was an aristocratic title in the Peerage of England. The earldom was created in 1679 for Edward Conway, 3rd Viscount Conway (c.1623-1683), subsequently Secretary of State for the Northern Department. When Edward Conway died ...
. On 2 February 1681 he joined the
Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...
of King Charles II and became
Secretary of State for the Northern Department The Secretary of State for the Northern Department was a position in the Cabinet of the government of Great Britain up to 1782, when the Northern Department became the Foreign Office. History Before the Act of Union, 1707, the Secretary of St ...
. He resigned in January 1683 amid allegations that he was complicit in "crimes and misdemeanours ... either in relation to the King's person or his public negotiations or transactions with foreign ambassadors, or in not rightly pursuing the King's instructions to ambassadors abroad". He also served as Lord Lieutenant of Warwickshire from 1682 to 1683.


Marriages

He married three times, but had no children who survived infancy: *Firstly on 11 February 1651 to the philosopher Anne Finch (died on 23 February 1679), daughter of Sir Heneage Finch. They had one son, Heneage, who died of smallpox in infancy. Following Anne's death, Conway retired to his family's seat,
Ragley Hall Ragley Hall in the parish of Arrow in Warwickshire is a stately home, located south of Alcester and eight miles (13 km) west of Stratford-upon-Avon. It is the ancestral seat of the Seymour-Conway family, Marquesses of Hertford. History ...
in Warwickshire. *Secondly he married Elizabeth Booth (died in July 1681), daughter of
George Booth, 1st Baron Delamer George Booth, 1st Baron Delamer (18 December 16228 August 1684), was an English landowner and politician from Cheshire, who served as an MP from 1646 to 1661, when he was elevated to the House of Lords as Baron Delamer. A member of the moder ...
. *Thirdly he married Ursula Stawell (died 13 August 1697), daughter of George Stawell, who survived him and remarried to John Sheffield, later 1st
Duke of Buckingham and Normanby Duke of Buckingham and Normanby is a title in the Peerage of England. The full title was ''Duke of the County of Buckingham and of Normanby'' but in practice only ''Duke of Buckingham and Normanby'' was used. The dukedom was created in 1703 for ...
.


Death and burial

He died on 11 August 1683 and was buried in
Arrow, Warwickshire Arrow is a village in the Stratford-on-Avon district of Warwickshire, England. Together with the entirely rural hamlet of Weethley, it forms since 1 April 2004 the civil parish of Arrow with Weethley. The parish lies midway between Redditch and ...
.


Succession

As he died with no children, his titles became extinct. He appointed by his will as heir to his estates, including Ragley Hall, his eight-year old first cousin once removed Popham Seymour (1675–1699), eldest son of Laetitia Popham (a daughter of his uncle Alexander Popham (1605–1669), MP, of Littlecote) by her husband (to whom she was his second wife) Sir Edward Seymour, 4th Baronet (died 1708) of Berry Pomeroy in Devon. His bequest stipulated that Popham Seymour should adopt the arms and additional surname of Conway, and thus he became known as
Popham Seymour-Conway Popham Seymour-Conway (1675 – 18 June 1699), born Popham Seymour, was an Anglo-Irish landowner and rake who served as Member of the Irish Parliament for Lisburn in 1697. Origins He was the 3rd son of Sir Edward Seymour, 4th Baronet (d.1708) ...
. The latter's nephew and eventual heir was Francis Seymour-Conway, 1st Marquess of Hertford, (1718–1794), whose seat became Ragley Hall, where his descendant the 9th Marquess is still seated in 2015.


References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Conway, Edward Conway, 1st Earl of 1623 births 1683 deaths Secretaries of State for the Northern Department Earls in the Peerage of England Fellows of the Royal Society Lord-Lieutenants of Warwickshire Members of the Privy Council of England Members of the Privy Council of Ireland Viscounts Conway 17th-century English politicians