William Anne Holles Capell, 4th Earl of Essex (7 October 1732 – 4 March 1799), was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

landowner and peer, a member of the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

Early life

Capell was born on 7 October 1732 in

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) 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 from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

. 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, 2 ...

(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 Henry Hyde, 4th Earl of Clarendon and 2nd Earl of Rochester, Privy Council of Great Britain, PC (June 1672 – 10 December 1753), styled Lord Hyde from 1682 to 1711, was an English Army officer and Tory politician who sat in the English House of ...

), 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 a ...

(wife of

Thomas Villiers, 1st Earl of Clarendon Thomas Villiers, 1st Earl of Clarendon, Privy Council of the United Kingdom, PC (1709 – 11 December 1786) was a Kingdom of Great Britain, British politician and diplomat from the Villiers family. Clarendon was the second son of William Villie ...

), and Lady Mary Capell (wife of

Admiral of the Fleet An admiral of the fleet or shortened to fleet admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to field marshal and marshal of the air force. An admiral of the fleet is typically senior to an admiral. It is also a generic ter ...

John Forbes, second son of George Forbes, 3rd Earl of Granard). His paternal grandparents were Algernon Capell, 2nd Earl of Essex and Lady Mary Bentinck (eldest daughter of

William Bentinck, 1st Earl of Portland William Bentinck, 1st Earl of Portland ( Dutch: ''Hans Willem Bentinck''; 20 July 164923 November 1709) was a Dutch-born English nobleman who became in an early stage the favourite of William, Prince of Orange, Stadtholder in the Netherlands, ...

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 L ...

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 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 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 King of Ireland, Ireland from 25 October 1760 until his death in 1820. The Acts of Union 1800 unified Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and ...

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.

Personal life

Frances Hanbury Capel Countess of Essex 1757 mezzotint by James McArdell

On 1 August 1754, the Earl of Essex married, firstly, Frances Hanbury Williams, the daughter of

Charles Hanbury Williams Sir Charles Hanbury Williams, Order of the Bath, KB (8 December 1708 – 2 November 1759) was a British politician, diplomat and writer. He was a Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament from 1734 until his death. Early life ...

of Coldbroke and of Lady Francis Coningsby of Hampton Court Castle (a daughter and co-heiress of Thomas Coningsby, 1st Earl Coningsby). 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 who specialised in portraits. The art critic John Russell (art critic), John Russell called him one of the major European painters of the 18th century, while Lucy P ...

in 1768, now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York): * Lady Elizabeth Capell (1755–1834), who married John Monson, 3rd Baron Monson. * George Capell-Coningsby, 5th Earl of Essex (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 of

Glastonbury Abbey Glastonbury Abbey was a monastery in Glastonbury, Somerset, England. Its ruins, a grade I listed building and scheduled ancient monument, are open as a visitor attraction. The abbey was founded in the 8th century and enlarged in the 10th. It wa ...

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

. 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 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 south-west Hertfordshire, England, located approximately north-west of central London, south-west of Watford and inside the perimeter of the M25 motorway. The town is mainly to the north of the Grand Union Canal ( ...

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

Vice-Admiral of the Blue 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, rear a ...

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, England. 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. Although no longer the principal residence ...

, Westminster.

Early life

Career

Personal life

References

Further reading