Edward Harley, 5th Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer (20 February 1773 – 28 December 1848) was an English nobleman.
Harley was the son of
John Harley (dean of Windsor) and Roach Vaughan. Edward succeeded to the titles and estates (including the Harley family seat at
Brampton Bryan) of his father's elder brother
Edward Harley, 4th Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer on the 4th Earl's death without issue in 1790.
In 1803
Henry Bickersteth
Henry Bickersteth, 1st Baron Langdale, PC (18 June 1783 – 18 April 1851), a member of the prominent Bickersteth family, was an English physician, law reformer, and Master of the Rolls.
Early life and education
Langdale was born on 18 June 1 ...
became the Earl's medical attendant whilst the Earl was on a tour of
Italy, staying with him until 1805. Edward became Bickersteth's friend and patron and in 1835 Bickersteth married the earl's eldest daughter. In 1804 Edward sold the Ewyas Lacy
tithes by auction. He commissioned work from the architect
Robert Smirke.
He was commissioned as
Major-Commandant of the
Royal Radnor Light Infantry
The Radnorshire Militia, later the Royal Radnor Rifles, was an auxiliary regiment reorganised from earlier precursors in the Welsh county of Radnorshire in the 17th century. Primarily intended for home defence, it served in Britain and Ireland th ...
, a
Militia regiment, on 23 June 1819; his eldest son, Edward, Lord Harley, took over command on 1 July 1822.
Family
He and his wife
Jane Elizabeth Scott (a notable mistress of
Lord Byron) married 3 March 1794 and had eight children, including the following:
*Lady Jane Elizabeth Harley (2 March 1796 – Innsbruck 1 September 1872), married 17 August 1835
Henry Bickersteth, 1st Baron Langdale.
*Edward Harley, Lord Harley (20 January 1800 – 1 January 1828)
*Lady
Charlotte Mary Harley (12 December 1801 – 9 May 1880), married 4 March 1823
Anthony Bacon
*Lady Anne Harley (31 July 1803 - Florence, 18 May 1874) married in 1836 Signor Giovanni Battista Rabitti,
''Cavaliere'' San Giorgio (3 November 1797 - 5 November 1844, leaving her a widow with three children)
*Lady Frances Harley (26 January 1805 – 15 October 1872) married 20 April 1835 Lt.-Col. Henry Venables Vernon Harcourt (1791 - 26 February 1853), the son of the
Archbishop of York
/ref>
* Alfred Harley, 6th Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer (10 January 1809 – 19 January 1853)
*Hon. Mortimer (17 December 1811 – 3 April 1812)
*Lady Louisa, died young.
Due to his wife's infidelity, doubts were expressed about the paternity of many of the children, who were unkindly referred to as "the Harleian Miscellany."
The earl died on 28 December 1848 at his seat at Brampton Bryan Hall.
Notes
1773 births
1848 deaths
Earls in the Peerage of Great Britain
Edward
Edward is an English given name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortune; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”.
History
The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-Sa ...
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