William Anne Holles Capell, 4th Earl of Essex (7 October 1732 – 4 March 1799), was a British landowner and peer, a member of the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

Early life

Capell was born on 7 October 1732 in

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

. He was the son of

William Capell, 3rd Earl of Essex 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, 2n ...

(1696–1743), by his second marriage, to Lady Elizabeth Russell. From his father's first marriage to Lady Jane Hyde (a Lady of the Bedchamber to the Princess of Wales and the third daughter of Henry Hyde, 4th Earl of Clarendon), he had several older half-sisters, including

Lady Charlotte Capell Charlotte Villiers, Countess of Clarendon (2 October 1721 – 3 September 1790), formerly Lady Charlotte Capell, was the wife of Thomas Villiers, the son of William Villiers, 2nd Earl of Jersey. Thomas would later be raised to the peerage as ...

(wife of Thomas Villiers, 1st Earl of Clarendon), and Lady Mary Capell (wife of Admiral of the Fleet John Forbes, second 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. ...

). His paternal grandparents were

Algernon Capell, 2nd Earl of Essex Algernon Capell, 2nd Earl of Essex PC (28 December 1670 – 10 January 1710, Watford) of Cassiobury House, Watford, Hertfordshire, was an English nobleman, a soldier and courtier. Origins He was the son of Arthur Capell, 1st Earl of Essex ...

and Lady Mary Bentinck (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). His mother was a daughter of

Wriothesley Russell, 2nd Duke of Bedford Wriothesley Russell, 2nd Duke of Bedford KG (1 November 1680 – 26 May 1711) was an English nobleman and politician. He was the son of William Russell, Lord Russell, and his wife Lady Rachel Wriothesley. From 1683 until 1694, he was styled Lor ...

and the former Elizabeth Howland (daughter and heiress of John Howland of Streatham).

Career

In January 1743, at the age of ten, he inherited his father's titles and estates. In 1753, at the age of twenty-one, he took his seat in the

.Charles Mosley, ed., ''Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage'', (107th edition, 2003), vol. 1, p. 1348 From 1755 to 1769, he was a Lord of the Bedchamber to King George II. He again served in this role for

King George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

from 1782 to 1799. Lord Essex served as Lord Lieutenant of Hertfordshire from 1764 to 1771. In 1770, he was made the last

Master of the Staghounds Master of the Staghounds was a position in the British Royal Household created in 1738 and abolished in 1782. cited at The office was responsible for the oversight and care of the Royal staghounds (dogs bred for hunting deer). "Master of Staghou ...

Personal life

On 1 August 1754, the Earl of Essex married, firstly, Frances Hanbury Williams, the daughter of Charles Hanbury Williams of Coldbroke and of Lady Francis Coningsby of

Hampton Court Castle Hampton Court Castle, also known as Hampton Court, is a castellated country house in the English county of Herefordshire. The house is in the parish of Hope under Dinmore south of Leominster and is a Grade I listed building, which is the hi ...

(a daughter and co-heiress of

Thomas Coningsby, 1st Earl Coningsby Thomas Coningsby, 1st Earl Coningsby PC (2 November 1656 – 1 May 1729) of Hampton Court Castle, Herefordshire, was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times from 1679 until 1716 when he was created a peer and sat ...

). By his first wife, he had three children (George and his sister Elizabeth were painted in a double-portrait by

Sir Joshua Reynolds Sir Joshua Reynolds (16 July 1723 – 23 February 1792) was an English painter, specialising in portraits. John Russell said he was one of the major European painters of the 18th century. He promoted the "Grand Style" in painting which depend ...

in 1768, now in the

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

): * Lady Elizabeth Capell (1755–1834), who married John Monson, 3rd Baron Monson. *

George Capell-Coningsby, 5th Earl of Essex George Capel-Coningsby, 5th Earl of Essex FSA (13 November 1757 – 23 April 1839) was an English aristocrat and politician, and styled Viscount Malden until 1799. His surname was Capell until 1781. Early life George Capell was the eldest so ...

(1757–1839), who married two times. * Lady Frances Capell (1759–1759), who died shortly after her mother gave birth to her in 1759. Several years after her death in childbirth in 1759, he married, secondly, Harriet Bladen (1735–1821), on 2 March 1767. Harriet was the daughter of Colonel

Thomas Bladen Thomas Bladen (23 February 1698 – 2 February 1780) was a colonial governor in North America and politician who sat in the British House of Commons between 1727 and 1741. He served as the 19th Proprietary Governor of Maryland from 1742 to 1747 ...

of Glastonbury Abbey,

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

. By his second wife, he had four children: * John Thomas Capell (1769–1819), who married Lady Caroline Paget, a daughter of

Henry Paget, 1st Earl of Uxbridge Henry Paget, 1st Earl of Uxbridge (13 January 166330 August 1743), of Beaudesert, Staffordshire, and West Drayton, Middlesex, was a British landowner and Tory politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons from 1695 until 171 ...

and sister of

Henry Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey Henry William Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey (17 May 1768 – 29 April 1854), styled Lord Paget between 1784 and 1812 and known as the Earl of Uxbridge between 1812 and 1815, was a British Army officer and politician. After serving as a member ...

. * Thomas Edward Capell (1770–1855), a general who died unmarried. * William Robert Capell (1775–1854), who married Sarah Salter, only daughter of Samuel Salter of

Rickmansworth Rickmansworth () is a town in southwest Hertfordshire, England, about northwest of central London and inside the perimeter of the M25 motorway. The town is mainly to the north of the Grand Union Canal (formerly the Grand Junction Canal) and t ...

, in 1802. * Bladen Thomas Capell (1776–1853), the

Vice-Admiral of the Blue The Vice-Admiral of the Blue was a senior rank of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom, immediately outranked by the rank Vice-Admiral of the White (see order of precedence below). Royal Navy officers currently holding the ranks of commodore, re ...

who married Harriet Catherine Smyth, daughter of Francis George Smyth, in 1816. Essex died on 4 March 1799 at

St James's Palace St James's Palace is the most senior royal palace in London, the capital of the United Kingdom. The palace gives its name to the Court of St James's, which is the monarch's royal court, and is located in the City of Westminster in London. Altho ...

, Westminster.

Early life

Career

Personal life

References

Further reading