Edward Harley, 2nd Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer (2 June 1689 – 16 June 1741), styled Lord Harley between 1711 and 1724, was a British politician, bibliophile, collector and patron of the arts.

Background

Harley was the only son of

Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer, Order of the Garter, KG Privy Council of Great Britain, PC Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (5 December 1661 – 21 May 1724) was an English statesman and peer of the late Stuart dynasty, Stu ...

, by his first wife, Elizabeth Foley.

Career

He was MP for Radnor (as his father and paternal grandfather had been before him) from 1711 to 1714, and for

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the ...

from 1722 until he succeeded his father in 1724 and entered the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...

. He was a bibliophile, collector and patron of the arts, and took little interest in public affairs. Harley's considerable collection of coins and medals – 520 lots in all – was auctioned by Christopher Cock at his house in the Great Piazza, Covent Garden over six days, from 18 March 1742. He extended his father's library and expanded the

Harleian Collection The Harleian Library, Harley Collection, Harleian Collection and other variants ( la, Bibliotheca Harleiana) is one of the main "closed" collections (namely, historic collections to which new material is no longer added) of the British Library in ...

, now in the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...

. The department of

Manuscripts and Special Collections, The University of Nottingham Manuscripts and Special Collections is part of Libraries, Research and Learning Resources at the University of Nottingham. It is based at King's Meadow Campus in Nottingham in England. The university has been collecting manuscripts since the earl ...

holds a number of papers relating to the 2nd Earl and the management of his estates in the Portland (London) collection. Harley family papers (Pw2Hy) are part of the Portland (Welbeck) Collection.

London estate

Through his wife, he inherited

Welbeck Abbey Welbeck Abbey in the Dukeries in North Nottinghamshire was the site of a monastery belonging to the Premonstratensian order in England and after the Dissolution of the Monasteries, a country house residence of the Dukes of Portland. It is o ...

in Nottinghamshire, and

Wimpole Hall Wimpole Estate is a large estate containing Wimpole Hall, a country house located within the civil parish of Wimpole, Cambridgeshire, England, about southwest of Cambridge. The house, begun in 1640, and its of parkland and farmland are owned ...

in Cambridgeshire. Wimpole became their main residence, but they had to sell it in 1740 to pay Edward's debts. He also acquired a considerable amount of land in the West End of London which was developed during his life. Many of the now famous streets took their names from Harley connections – primarily Harley Street and

Oxford Street Oxford Street is a major road in the City of Westminster in the West End of London, running from Tottenham Court Road to Marble Arch via Oxford Circus. It is Europe's busiest shopping street, with around half a million daily visitors, and ...

. Other streets, named after Harley properties, include

Wigmore Street Wigmore Street is a street in the City of Westminster, in the West End of London. The street runs for about 600 yards parallel and to the north of Oxford Street between Portman Square to the west and Cavendish Square to the east. It is named aft ...

and

Wimpole Street Wimpole Street is a street in Marylebone, central London. Located in the City of Westminster, it is associated with private medical practice and medical associations. No. 1 Wimpole Street is an example of Edwardian baroque architecture, comple ...

Family

On 31 August 1713 he married Lady Henrietta Cavendish Holles (1694–1755), only daughter and heir of the 1st Duke of Newcastle and his wife, the former Lady

Margaret Cavendish Margaret Lucas Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle-upon-Tyne (1623 – 15 December 1673) was an English philosopher, poet, scientist, fiction writer and playwright. Her husband, William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, was Royalist co ...

, daughter of the 2nd Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. They had two children: * Lady Margaret Cavendish Harley (1715–1785), who married

William Bentinck, 2nd Duke of Portland William Bentinck, 2nd Duke of Portland (1 March 1709 – 1 May 1762), styled Viscount Woodstock from 1709 to 1716 and Marquess of Titchfield from 1716 to 1726, was a British peer and politician. Portland was the son of Henry Bentinck, 1s ...

in 1734. *Henry Cavendish Harley, Lord Harley (18 October 1725 – 22 October 1725) Lord Oxford and Mortimer died in London in 1741 and was buried in the vault of the Duke of Newcastle in Westminster Abbey. He was succeeded in the earldom by his cousin

Edward Harley, 3rd Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer Edward Harley, 3rd Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer ( – 11 April 1755) was a British peer and Member of Parliament. He was the nephew of Britain's First Minister between 1710 and 1714 Robert Harley. Early life Harley was the son and heir o ...

References

David Stoker, 'Harley, Edward, second earl of Oxford and Mortimer (1689–1741)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 200

External links

Biographies of the Dukes of Portland and associated families, with links to online catalogues, from Manuscripts and Special Collections, The University of Nottingham
at thePeerage.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Oxford and Mortimer, Edward Harley, 2nd Earl of 1689 births 1741 deaths Earls in the Peerage of Great Britain Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies Harleian Collection Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Welsh constituencies British MPs 1710–1713 British MPs 1713–1715 British MPs 1722–1727 Fellows of the Royal Society Edward English book and manuscript collectors