Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England.
Eton may also refer to:
Places
*Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England
* Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States
* Éton, a commune in the Meuse dep ...
in 1703 and was educated at
Eton College
Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, ...
and at
King's College, Cambridge
King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the cit ...
, where he was admitted in 1719, graduating B.A. in 1723 and M.A. in 1727.
Horace Walpole states that he went in 1725 to
Bexley
Bexley is an area of south-eastern Greater London, England and part of the London Borough of Bexley. It is sometimes known as Bexley Village or Old Bexley to differentiate the area from the wider borough. It is located east-southeast of Ch ...
in Kent with his cousins, "the four younger sons of Lord Townshend, and with a tutor, Edward Weston ... and continued there some months." (The first date is considered a misprint for 1723, since Walpole was under Weston's charge in July 1724.
Career
Weston was secretary to Lord Townshend during the king's residence at Hanover in 1729, and, on his retirement from office, lost "a very generous friend and patron". In May 1730 he offered his services to
Lord Harrington
Earl of Harrington is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain that was created in 1742.
History
The earldom of Harrington was granted in 1742 to William Stanhope, 1st Baron Harrington, the former Secretary of State and then Lord President o ...
, and when that peer was made secretary of state for the northern department, Weston became under-secretary, remaining in the position until 1746. He was appointed on 8 September 1741 to be editor of the '' London Gazette'', with a salary of £500 per annum, and held that post until his death. In November 1746 Harrington went to Ireland as Lord Lieutenant, and Weston accompanied him as chief secretary, where he was a member of parliament for Cavan Borough from 1747 to 1760 and was created a privy councillor for Ireland. He remained there until 1751, and then through ill-health went into retirement for ten years.
He had purchased from his relative, Mr. Rossiter, the parish of Somerby, and the greater part of the next parish of Searby, in
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-we ...
. He lived at Somerby Hall, as did many of his descendants until the 1930s. The house was demolished in 1964.
At
Lord Bute
John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute, (; 25 May 1713 – 10 March 1792), styled Lord Mount Stuart between 1713 and 1723, was a British nobleman who served as the 7th Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1762 to 1763 under George III. He was arguabl ...
's request returned in March 1761 to his old post in the northern department. He was a clerk of the signet and was allowed to perform his duties by deputy. In August 1762 he received a grant for 31 years of the office of alnager in Ireland, and next August resigned it on receiving a pension of £500 per annum for the same period. On 1 September in that year, he was appointed one of the commissioners to execute the office of privy seal. In July 1763 he addressed a letter to
George Grenville
George Grenville (14 October 1712 – 13 November 1770) was a British Whig statesman who rose to the position of Prime Minister of Great Britain. Grenville was born into an influential political family and first entered Parliament in 1741 as an ...
on his ill-health and his sole reward "of £275 per annum, with the honourable title of gazetteer" in the secretary's department.
Weston then served under
Lord Halifax
Edward Frederick Lindley Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax, (16 April 1881 – 23 December 1959), known as The Lord Irwin from 1925 until 1934 and The Viscount Halifax from 1934 until 1944, was a senior British Conservative politician of the 19 ...
in the southern department and recommended the issue of a general warrant against
John Wilkes
John Wilkes (17 October 1725 – 26 December 1797) was an English radical journalist and politician, as well as a magistrate, essayist and soldier. He was first elected a Member of Parliament in 1757. In the Middlesex election dispute, he f ...
. Next May his health broke down, and he retired from office, a pension of £750 per annum being granted to him for his services. He died at
Buxton
Buxton is a spa town in the Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, England. It is England's highest market town, sited at some above sea level.Somerby, Lincolnshire, where a monument recorded his memory.
Family
Weston married, early in 1730, Penelope, granddaughter of Bishop
Simon Patrick
Simon Patrick (8 September 1626 – 31 May 1707) was an English theologian and bishop.
Life
He was born at Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, eldest son of
Henry Patrick, a wealthy merchant, on 8 September 1626, and attended Boston Gramma ...
, and eldest daughter and coheiress of the Rev. Symon Patrick of Dalham, Suffolk, by Anne, daughter of Thomas Fountayne of Melton, Yorkshire. Weston's second wife was Anne, younger daughter of John Fountayne of Melton. Both his wives were nieces of the wife of
Thomas Sherlock
Thomas Sherlock (167818 July 1761) was a British divine who served as a Church of England bishop for 33 years. He is also noted in church history as an important contributor to Christian apologetics.
Life
Born in London, he was the son of the ...
,
Bishop of London
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...
. Weston had several children. Anne, one of his daughters, married Sir Jacob Wolff.
Works
Junius, under the impression that Weston was the author of ''A Vindication of the Duke of Grafton'', assailed him in his tenth letter, calling him ''comptroller of the salt office, a clerk of the signet, and a pensioner on the Irish establishment''; but Weston denied the authorship. He also disclaimed in 1769 a pamphlet entitled ''The Political Conduct of the Earl of Chatham''.
*''The Englishman directed in the Choice of his Religion'', 1740, 4th e. 1767 (anon.)
*''The Country Gentleman's Advice to his Son on Coming of Age'', 1755 (anon.)
*''The Country Gentleman's Advice to his Neighbours'', 1755 (anon.), 3rd e. by Edward Weston, with a letter to the Bishop of London, 1756; 4th e., with a second addition to the letter, 1756.
*''Family Discourses by a Country Gentleman'', 1768 (anon.), 2nd e. by the late Edward Weston, 1776, edited by his son, Charles Weston, prebendary of Durham. Weston wrote on the Jew Bill (1753) and replied to Bishop Warburton (''Letters to Hurd'', 1759, in 2nd e. pp. 280 and 284).
Weston was a good Classical scholar, and composed a Latin ode on the marriage of George III. He also drew up the long epitaph in Fulham churchyard to Bishop Sherlock.Harwood's ''Alumni Eton.'', p. 300; ''Notes and Queries'', 4th series, i. 124, ii. 453–4; ''Nichols's Lit. Anecd.'', iii. 216, ix. 494; Junius, ed. 1812, i. 121–5; Halkett and Laing's ''Anon. Literature'', i. 522, 763, ii. 889; ''Grenville Papers'', i. 360, ii. 79–80, iv. 468, 476–7. His papers, the property of a descendant, Weston Underwood, are calendared in the ''Hist. MSS. Comm. 10th Rep.'', pp. 9–13, and ''App.'', pp. 199–520. Many of his letters are in the Newcastle and Titley Correspondence in the British Museum and others in Yale University. Information kindly supplied by Weston Underwood.