The Creevey Papers
Thomas Creevey to Eleanor Creevey, [September 1812]
“. . . Forster speaks very
mysteriously about Ossulston’s having
the Duke’s seat (for Thetford) again,
which alarmed me not a little. Our neighbour, Marchioness Cornwallis, was passing in her barouche, and calls
Howard to the carriage, who was alone
in the road.
“‘And so,’ says she, ‘the
Duke of Grafton turns Mr. Creevey out of Thetford at
last.’
“‘Upon your soul!’ says Barny, ‘then there’s a volley for
you, for Mr. Creevey is now at my
house, and is to be member for Thetford next Thursday, and for Liverpool
the week after.’
“So the Gordon chienne* went off as grumpy as be damned! . . .
Howard is very good to me and I amuse
him very much. He is confidential about young Harry and
the dukedom, which he evidently expects to be in possession of before long.
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| 1812.] | RE-ELECTED FOR THETFORD. | 169 |
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I see he means never to sell
his seats. Jockey does.”*
Charles Augustus Bennet, fifth earl of Tankerville (1776-1859)
Son of Charles Bennet, the fourth earl (d. 1822); educated at Eton, he was Whig MP for
Steyning (1803-06), Knaresborough (1806-18), and Berwick-on-Tweed) (1820-22); in 1806 he
married Armandine Sophie Leonie Corisande de Gramont.
Thomas Creevey (1768-1838)
Whig politician aligned with Charles James Fox and Henry Brougham; he was MP for Thetford
(1802-06, 1807-18) Appleby (1820-26) and Downton (1831-32). He was convicted of libel in
1813.
Jane Gordon, duchess of Gordon [née Maxwell] (1748-1812)
One of London's most prominent hostesses; in 1767 she married Alexander Gordon, fourth
duke of Gordon. She was active in Tory politics and married three of her daughters to
dukes.
Bernard Edward Howard, twelfth duke of Norfolk (1765-1842)
Educated at the English College at Douai, in 1815 he succeeded his third cousin, Charles
Howard, eleventh duke (d. 1815), and took his seat in Parliament after passage of the Roman
Catholic Relief Bill of 1829.
