The Creevey Papers
Thomas Creevey to Eleanor Creevey, 9 February 1810
“9th.—. . . Went with
Lord Archibald Hamilton to the
Westminster meeting in Palace Yard. There were 5000 or 6000 persons present,
apparently of the lowest extraction. Cochrane and
Burdett spoke with great applause,
and Burdett has since presented to the House the petition
of the meeting for a reform of Parliament—the same petition that was
presented by Lord Grey in 1798, and
beginning—‘Whereas by a petition presented in 1798 by
Charles Grey Esq., now Earl Grey.’ This is
comical enough, and we shall see how he takes it.
Sir Francis Burdett, fifth baronet (1770-1844)
Whig MP for Westminster (1807-1837) who was imprisoned on political charges in 1810 and
again in 1820; in the 1830s he voted with the Conservatives.
Charles Grey, second earl Grey (1764-1845)
Whig statesman and lover of the Duchess of Devonshire; the second son of the first earl
(d. 1807), he was prime minister (1831-34).
Lord Archibald Hamilton (1770-1827)
The second son of Archibald, ninth duke of Hamilton (d. 1819); a Whig MP for Lanarkshire
from 1802, he was a supporter of Charles James Fox and radical causes.
