William Capell, 3rd Earl of Essex, (11 January 16978 January 1743) was an English courtier and diplomat.

Early life

He was the son of the 2nd Earl of Essex and Lady Mary Bentinck. His younger sister, Lady Mary Capel, married

Alan Brodrick, 2nd Viscount Midleton Alan Brodrick, 2nd Viscount Midleton (31 January 1702 – 8 June 1747) was a British peer and significant cricket patron who was jointly responsible for creating the sport's earliest known written rules. Cricket patronage Midleton succeeded his ...

. After his father's death, his mother remarried Rt. Hon. Sir Conyers Darcy (d. 1758), son of Hon. John Darcy. His paternal grandparents were

Arthur Capell, 1st Earl of Essex Arthur Capell, 1st Earl of Essex, PC (163113 July 1683), also spelt Capel, of Cassiobury House, Watford, Hertfordshire, was an English statesman. Early life He was the son of Arthur Capell, 1st Baron Capell of Hadham (executed in 1649) by ...

and

Lady Elizabeth Percy John Clifford, 7th Baron de Clifford (c. 1389 – 13 March 1422), also known as John, Lord Clifford, 7th Lord of the Honor of Skipton, KG, was an English peer. He was killed at the siege of Meaux, France. Family John Clifford, born about 138 ...

(a daughter of

Algernon Percy, 10th Earl of Northumberland Algernon Percy, 10th Earl of Northumberland, 4th Baron Percy, KG, JP (29 September 160213 October 1668) was an English aristocrat, and supporter of the Parliamentary cause in the First English Civil War. The Percies had been the leading famil ...

). His mother was the eldest daughter of

William Bentinck, 1st Earl of Portland Hans William Bentinck, 1st Earl of Portland, (20 July 164923 November 1709) was a Dutch and English nobleman who became in an early stage the favourite of William, Prince of Orange, Stadtholder in the Netherlands, and future King of England. H ...

and Anne Villiers (the fourth daughter, by his first wife, of Sir Edward Villiers,

Knight Marshal The Knight Marshal is a former office in the British Royal Household established by King Henry III in 1236. The position later became a Deputy to the Earl Marshal from the reign of King Henry VIII until the office was abolished in 1846. The Knig ...

of the Royal Household).

Career

Capell was one of the founding governors of the charity, the

Foundling Hospital The Foundling Hospital in London, England, was founded in 1739 by the philanthropic sea captain Thomas Coram. It was a children's home established for the "education and maintenance of exposed and deserted young children." The word "hospital" w ...

, created in October 1739 to care for

abandoned children Child abandonment is the practice of relinquishing interests and claims over one's offspring in an illegal way, with the intent of never resuming or reasserting guardianship. The phrase is typically used to describe the physical abandonment of a ...

.Cassiobury Collection

Watford Museum Watford Museum is a local museum in Watford, Hertfordshire, in the United Kingdom. It is owned by Watford Borough Council and is located on the Lower High Street in Watford. The museum opened in 1982 and is housed in a Grade II-listed Georgian ...

. Lord Essex was a

Gentleman of the Bedchamber Gentleman of the Bedchamber was a title in the royal household of the Kingdom of England from the 11th century, later used also in the Kingdom of Great Britain. A Lord of the Bedchamber was a courtier in the Royal Household; the term being fir ...

to the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...

from to 1727;

Lord Lieutenant of Hertfordshire This is an incomplete list of people who have served as Lord Lieutenant of Hertfordshire. From 1660 the office holder was also Custos Rotulorum of Hertfordshire. * William Parr, 1st Marquess of Northampton 1553 – * Sir Ralph Sadleir 1570–? *He ...

from 1722 to . He was made a

Knight of the Thistle A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

on 2 February 1724 but resigned in 1738. He served as Ranger of

St James's Park St James's Park is a park in the City of Westminster, central London. It is at the southernmost tip of the St James's area, which was named after a leper hospital dedicated to St James the Less. It is the most easterly of a near-continuous c ...

from 1727 to 1739 and Ranger of

Hyde Park Hyde Park may refer to: Places England * Hyde Park, London, a Royal Park in Central London * Hyde Park, Leeds, an inner-city area of north-west Leeds * Hyde Park, Sheffield, district of Sheffield * Hyde Park, in Hyde, Greater Manchester Austra ...

from 1728 to 1739. He served as the British Ambassador to Turin from 1732 to 1737. He was made a

Privy Councillor 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 ...

, a

Knight of the Garter The Most Noble Order of the Garter is an order of chivalry founded by Edward III of England in 1348. It is the most senior order of knighthood in the British honours system, outranked in precedence only by the Victoria Cross and the George ...

, and was

Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard The Captain of the King's Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard is a UK Government post usually held by the Government Deputy Chief Whip in the House of Lords. The present Captain is The 9th Earl of Courtown, who was appointed to the position in ...

from 1739 until his death in 1743.

Personal life

On 27 November 1718, Capell married Lady Jane Hyde, a

Lady of the Bedchamber Lady of the Bedchamber is the title of a lady-in-waiting holding the official position of personal attendant on a British queen regnant or queen consort. The position is traditionally held by the wife of a peer. They are ranked between the Mis ...

to the

Princess of Wales Princess of Wales (Welsh: ''Tywysoges Cymru'') is a courtesy title used since the 14th century by the wife of the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. The current title-holder is Catherine (née Middleton). The title was firs ...

and the third daughter of the 4th Earl of Clarendon. Before Lady Jane died in 1724, they were the parents of two children: * Lady Charlotte Capell (1721–1790), who married

Thomas Villiers, 1st Earl of Clarendon Thomas Villiers, 1st Earl of Clarendon, PC (1709 – 11 December 1786) was a British politician and diplomat from the Villiers family. Clarendon was the second son of William Villiers, 2nd Earl of Jersey, and his wife Judith Herne, daughter of ...

. * Lady Mary Capell (d. 1782), who married Admiral of the Fleet Hon. John Forbes, a son of

George Forbes, 3rd Earl of Granard George Forbes, 3rd Earl of Granard PC (21 October 1685 – 19 June 1765) was an Anglo-Irish naval commander and diplomat. He was at the Capture of Gibraltar. He took a very valuable prize ship and was briefly a Governor of the Leeward Islands. ...

. On 3 February 1726, William was married to Lady Elizabeth Russell, a daughter of the 2nd Duke of Bedford and the former Elizabeth Howland (daughter and heiress of John Howland of Streatham). Together, they had one surviving son: * William Anne Capell, 4th Earl of Essex (1732–1799), who married Frances Hanbury Williams, daughter of

Charles Hanbury Williams Sir Charles Hanbury Williams, KB (8 December 1708 – 2 November 1759) was a Welsh diplomat, writer and satirist. He was a Member of Parliament from 1734 until his death. Early life Hanbury was the son of a Welsh ironmaster and Member of Parl ...

. After her death, he married Harriet Bladen, a daughter of Col. Thomas Bladen. Lord Essex died on 8 January 1743. His titles and estates were inherited by his ten-year-old son,

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

Descendants

Through his second daughter, he was a grandfather of two girls, Maria Eleanor Forbes who married

John Villiers, 3rd Earl of Clarendon John Charles Villiers, 3rd Earl of Clarendon, PC (14 November 1757 – 22 December 1838) was a British peer and Member of Parliament from the Villiers family. Biography Villiers was born on 14 December 1757, the second son of Lady Charlotte, da ...

, and Katherine Elizabeth Forbes who married

William Wellesley-Pole, 3rd Earl of Mornington William Wellesley-Pole, 3rd Earl of Mornington, (20 May 1763 – 22 February 1845), known as Lord Maryborough between 1821 and 1842, was an Anglo-Irish politician and an elder brother of the Duke of Wellington. His surname changed twice: he was ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Essex, William Capell, 3rd Earl of 1697 births 1743 deaths 17th-century English people 18th-century English people Knights of the Garter Knights of the Thistle Lord-Lieutenants of Hertfordshire Members of the Privy Council of Great Britain Fellows of the Royal Society

Freemasons of the Premier Grand Lodge of England