The Creevey Papers
Thomas Creevey to Elizabeth Ord, 19 March 1829
“19th.
“. . . Does your paper ever give you any light upon
the old affair of Garth? Did it contain
his affidavit? You see it is now established in proof in a suit in Chancery
that Sir Herbert Taylor had agreed to
give Garth £3000 a year for his life, and to pay his
debts; and that, upon this being done, certain letters were to be given up to
Taylor. In the meantime they were deposited in
Snow’s bank in the joint holding of the said bankers and Mr. Westmacott, the editor of the Age newspaper. . .
. There is quite enough in this—Taylor being the
purchaser and the price so monstrous, to make it quite certain the letters must
contain great scandal affecting very great parties. . . . General Garth is still alive, and it was when
he was extremely ill and thought himself quite sure of dying, that he wrote to
young Garth, telling him who he was, explaining the part
he—the General—had been induced to act out of respect and deference
to the royal family. . . . General Garth recovered
unexpectedly, and applied to young Garth for the document;
but, I thank you! they had been seen and read and deemed much too valuable to
be given back again.”
Thomas Garth (1744-1829)
Military officer, the son of John Garth MP; there were rumors abroad to the effect that
his son, Thomas Garth (1800–1875), had been fathered by Ernest Augustus, son of George III,
and that the mother was his sister, Princess Sophia.
Thomas Garth (1800-1875)
Military officer, the son of General Thomas Garth and Princess Sophia; he claimed to have
letters proving that his father was the Duke of Cumberland with which he tried to blackmail
the government.
Sir Herbert Taylor (1775-1839)
He was aide-de-camp and private secretary to the duke of York, afterwards to George III
and William IV; he was MP for Windsor (1820-23) and published
Memoirs of
the Last Illness and Decease of HRH the Duke of York (1827).
Charles Molloy Westmacott (1788 c.-1868)
The illegitimate half-brother of the sculptor Richard Westmacott; he was educated at St
Paul's School and pursued a career as a Tory satirist, first with the
Gazette of Fashion (1822) and then with
The Age
(1827-38).
The Age. (1825-1843). A Tory newspaper that dealt in scandal, owned and edited by Charles Molloy
Westmacott.
