Edward Southwell, 20th Baron de Clifford (6 June 1738 – 1 November 1777) was a British politician.
Early life
![Kings Weston House crop](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/39/Kings_Weston_House_crop.jpg)
Southwell was born on 6 June 1738 as the only son and heir of Lady Katherine Watson and
Edward Southwell Jr. (1705–1755). His father and grandfather had both served as Principal
Secretary of State for Ireland
The Principal Secretary of State, or Principal Secretary of the Council, was a government office in the Kingdom of Ireland. It was abolished in 1801 when Ireland became part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland under the Acts of Un ...
.
His paternal grandparents were
Edward Southwell Edward Southwell may refer to:
* Edward Southwell, 20th Baron de Clifford (1738–1777), British politician
* Edward Southwell Sr. (1671–1730), Irish politician
* Edward Southwell Jr. (1705–1755), Irish politician
{{hndis, Southwell, Edward ...
(son of
Sir Robert Southwell) and
Elizabeth Cromwell, 8th Baroness Cromwell
Lady Elizabeth Southwell (née Cromwell), called Lady Cromwell (1674–1709) was an English noblewoman, the only daughter of Vere Essex Cromwell, 4th Earl of Ardglass and wife Catherine Hamilton.
Title
When her father died in 1687, she claimed h ...
. His maternal grandparents were
Edward Watson, Viscount Sondes
{{Infobox noble
, name = Edward Watson
, title = Viscount Sondes
, image =
, caption =
, alt =
, CoA =
, more = no
, succession =
, reign ...
and Lady Katherine Tufton, eldest daughter and coheiress of
Thomas Tufton, 6th Earl of Thanet and 18th Baron de Clifford. His uncle was
Thomas Watson, 3rd Earl of Rockingham
{{Infobox noble
, name = Thomas Watson
, title = Earl of Rockingham
, image =
, caption =
, alt =
, CoA =
, more = no
, succession =
, r ...
.
He was educated at
Westminster School
(God Gives the Increase)
, established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560
, type = Public school Independent day and boarding school
, religion = Church of England
, head_label = Hea ...
and
Pembroke College, Cambridge
Pembroke College (officially "The Master, Fellows and Scholars of the College or Hall of Valence-Mary") is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college is the third-oldest college of the university and has over 700 ...
. Upon the death of his father in 1755, he inherited the
Kings Weston estate near Bristol.
Career
Southwell was elected to the
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England.
The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 65 ...
as Member of Parliament for
Bridgwater
Bridgwater is a large historic market town and civil parish in Somerset, England. Its population currently stands at around 41,276 as of 2022. Bridgwater is at the edge of the Somerset Levels, in level and well-wooded country. The town lies alon ...
on 28 March 1761, sitting until 1763. On 23 November 1763 he was returned for
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean.
The county town is the city of ...
, sitting until 1776. He also represented
Kinsale
Kinsale ( ; ) is a historic port and fishing town in County Cork, Ireland. Located approximately south of Cork City on the southeast coast near the Old Head of Kinsale, it sits at the mouth of the River Bandon, and has a population of 5,281 ( ...
in the
Irish House of Commons
The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from 1297 until 1800. The upper house was the House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, but on a highly restrictive fran ...
from May 1761 to 1768.
On 17 April 1776, the
abeyance
Abeyance (from the Old French ''abeance'' meaning "gaping") is a state of expectancy in respect of property
Property is a system of rights that gives people legal control of valuable things, and also refers to the valuable things themselves. ...
of the
Barony of Clifford was terminated in his favour, and he entered the
British 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 Westminster ...
as 20th Baron de Clifford.
The Barony was previously held by
Margaret Coke, Countess of Leicester
Margaret Coke, Countess of Leicester (16 June 1700 – 28 February 1775) was a British peer.
She was born Lady Margaret Tufton, the third daughter of Thomas Tufton, 6th Earl of Thanet by his wife Catherine, daughter of Henry Cavendish, 2nd Duke ...
(his maternal grandmother's youngest sister), who died on 28 February 1775. He himself died eleven months later.
Personal life
![Sophia, mrs Edward Southwell, by Joshua Reynolds](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/94/Sophia%2C_mrs_Edward_Southwell%2C_by_Joshua_Reynolds.jpg)
On 29 August 1765, Edward Southwell had married Sophia Campbell, the daughter of Samuel Campbell of Mount Campbell in
County Leitrim
County Leitrim ( ; gle, Contae Liatroma) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Connacht and is part of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the village of Leitrim. Leitrim County Council is the local authority for the ...
. Together they were the parents of one son and four daughters, including:
*Edward Southwell, 21st Baron de Clifford (1767–1832), who married on 19 February 1789, at St Anne's Church, Dublin, Mary Elizabeth Bourke, daughter of the Most Rev.
Joseph Deane Bourke, 3rd Earl of Mayo and his wife, Elizabeth Meade, sister of
John Meade, 1st Earl of Clanwilliam
John Meade, 1st Earl of Clanwilliam (21 April 1744 – 19 October 1800), was an Anglo-Irish nobleman, known as Sir John Meade, 4th Baronet, until 1766. Elevated to the Peerage of Ireland, his debauchery and reckless spending led him to sell the ...
. ''Diary of the Times of George IV'' by
Lady Charlotte Susan Maria Campbell (page 29) records Lady de Clifford as Governess to
Princess Charlotte of Wales. This would be Mary Elizabeth Bourke, who was Lady de Clifford from her marriage in 1789, not her mother-in-law Sophia Campbell, who is generally attributed as Princess Charlotte's governess, but was by then the dowager Lady de Clifford, widow of Edward Southwell, 20th Lord de Clifford, who died in 1777.
William Henry Wilkins states in his ''Mrs. Fitzherbert and George IV'' (p. 261) that Lady de Clifford was "Sophia, Lady de Clifford married to Edward, 20th Baron de Clifford", but at the time around 1810, Sophia would have been in her mid-sixties and Mary in her early forties, so that Mary seems the likelier candidate to be the Lady de Clifford referred to.
*Hon. Catherine Southwell (d. 1801), who married Col.
George Kein Hayward Coussmaker (1759-1801) in 1790
*Hon. Sophia Southwell (1771–1795), who married
John Townshend, 2nd Viscount Sydney
John Thomas Townshend, 2nd Viscount Sydney of St Leonards (21 February 1764 – 20 January 1831) was a British peer and Member of Parliament.
Early life
Townshend was born on 21 February 1764. He was the eldest son of twelve children born to Tho ...
in 1790
*Hon. Elizabeth Southwell (1776–1817), who married at St. George’s Church, Hanover Square, London, on 9 April 1792,
William Keppel, 4th Earl of Albemarle
William Charles Keppel, 4th Earl of Albemarle, GCH, PC (14 May 1772 – 30 October 1849), briefly styled Viscount Bury between May and October 1772, was a British Whig politician.
Background
Albemarle was the only child of General Georg ...
*Hon. Henrietta Southwell, who married Frederick Delmé in 1799
Baron de Clifford died on 1 November 1777 and was buried at
Henbury
Henbury is a suburb of Bristol, England, approximately north west of the city centre. It was formerly a village in Gloucestershire and is now bordered by Westbury-on-Trym to the south; Brentry to the east and the Blaise Castle Estate, Blaise Ha ...
,
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean.
The county town is the city of Gl ...
.
After his death, his widow, Lady de Clifford, was according to some accounts appointed
Governess to
Princess Charlotte Princess Charlotte may refer to:
People
* Charlotte Christine of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1694–1715), wife of Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich of Russia and mother of Tsar Peter II, Emperor of Russia
* Charlotte Aglaé d'Orléans (1700–1761), wife of ...
, daughter of the future King
George IV
George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from the death of his father, King George III, on 29 January 1820, until his own death ten y ...
.
His eldest son, who died with no issue, succeeded him as the 21st Baron de Clifford, and was himself succeeded by the 20th Baron's granddaughter, Sophia Coussmaker (1791–1874), who became the 22nd Baroness de Clifford ''
suo jure
''Suo jure'' is a Latin phrase, used in English to mean 'in his own right' or 'in her own right'. In most nobility-related contexts, it means 'in her own right', since in those situations the phrase is normally used of women; in practice, especi ...
'' after the death of her uncle in 1832.
Descendants
Through his eldest daughter Catherine, Southwell was a grandfather of Sophia Coussmaker, who became the 22nd Baroness de Clifford. She married John Russell, third son of
Lord William Russell
Lord William Russell (20 August 1767 – 5 May 1840) was a member of the British aristocratic Russell family and longtime Member of Parliament. He did little to attract public attention after the end of his political career until, in 1840, he was ...
, and was the mother of
Edward Russell, 23rd Baron de Clifford, a
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
for
Tavistock
Tavistock ( ) is an ancient stannary and market town within West Devon, England. It is situated on the River Tavy from which its name derives. At the 2011 census the three electoral wards (North, South and South West) had a population of 13 ...
.
Through his daughter Sophia, he was a grandfather of the Hon. Sophia Mary Townshend, who married Lt. Col. Hon.
Peregrine Francis Cust, and of Mary Elizabeth Townshend, who married George James Cholmondeley, Receiver-General of Excise and secondly to
Charles Marsham, 2nd Earl of Romney
Charles Marsham, 2nd Earl of Romney (22 November 1777 – 29 March 1845), styled Viscount Marsham between 1801 and 1811, was a British peer and politician.
Biography
Romney was the son of Charles Marsham, 1st Earl of Romney, and Lady Fran ...
.
Through his daughter Elizabeth, who married
Mrs. Fitzherbert's trustee,
William Keppel, 4th Earl of Albemarle
William Charles Keppel, 4th Earl of Albemarle, GCH, PC (14 May 1772 – 30 October 1849), briefly styled Viscount Bury between May and October 1772, was a British Whig politician.
Background
Albemarle was the only child of General Georg ...
, Southwell had eleven grandchildren, including:
Augustus Keppel, 5th Earl of Albemarle
Augustus Frederick Keppel, 5th Earl of Albemarle (2 June 1794 – 15 March 1851), styled Viscount Bury from 1804 until 1849, was an English nobleman.
Life
Bury was commissioned an ensign in the 1st Regiment of Foot Guards on 7 April 1811. He was ...
; Lady Sophia Keppel, who married
Sir James Macdonald, 2nd Baronet
Sir James Macdonald, 2nd Baronet, GCMG (14 February 1784 – 29 June 1832) was a British politician. He sat in the House of Commons between 1805 and 1832.
Macdonald was born 14 February 1784, the eldest and only surviving son of Sir Archibald M ...
;
George Keppel, 6th Earl of Albemarle
General George Thomas Keppel, 6th Earl of Albemarle, (13 June 179921 February 1891), styled The Honourable from birth until 1851, was a British soldier, Liberal politician and writer.
Background and education
Born in Marylebone, he was the thir ...
; the Reverend Hon. Edward Southwell Keppel, the
Dean of Norwich
The Dean of Norwich is the head of the Chapter of Norwich Cathedral in Norwich, England. The role is vacant since Jane Hedges' retirement on 1 May 2022.
List of deans
Early modern
*1538–1539 William Castleton (last prior)
*1539–1554 J ...
who married Lady Maria (daughter of
Nathaniel Clements, 2nd Earl of Leitrim
Nathaniel Clements, 2nd Earl of Leitrim, KP PC (Ire) (9 May 1768 – 31 December 1854), styled The Honourable from 1783 to 1795, and then Viscount Clements to 1804, was an Irish nobleman and politician.
Early life
Clements was born in Dublin o ...
); Lady Anne Keppel, who married
Thomas Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester and secondly,
Edward Ellice; Lady Mary Keppel, who married Henry Frederick Stephenson (MP);
[Moon, George Washington (1891). ''Men and Women of the Time: A Dictionary of Contemporaries'' p. 849, London: Sutton Publishin]
Admiral Hon.
Henry Keppel, Sir Henry Keppel; Reverend Hon. Thomas Robert Keppel, who married Frances Barrett-Lennard (daughter of
Sir Thomas Barrett-Lennard, 1st Baronet
Sir Thomas Barrett-Lennard, 1st Baronet FSA, DL (6 January 1762 – 25 June 1857) was a British politician and baronet.
He was the illegitimate son of the 17th Baron Dacre and Elizabeth FitzThomas. Barrett-Lennard was educated at Downing Colleg ...
); Lady Caroline Keppel, who married the Very Reverend
Thomas Garnier; and Lady Georgiana Charlotte, who married William Henry Magan.
Papers
Documents relating to Edward Southwell, including family papers, deeds, financial records and estate records, are held by
Bristol Archives
Bristol Archives (formerly Bristol Record Office) was established in 1924. It was the first borough record office in the United Kingdom, since at that time there was only one other local authority record office (Bedfordshire) in existence. It ...
(Ref. 42725 and 45317)
online catalogue page 1online catalogue page 2
References
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:De Clifford, Edward Southwell, 20th Baron
1738 births
1777 deaths
18th-century English nobility
People educated at Westminster School, London
Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge
Southwell, Edward
Southwell, Edward
Southwell, Edward
Southwell, Edward
Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Cork constituencies
Southwell, Edward
Barons de Clifford