The Creevey Papers
Thomas Creevey to Elizabeth Ord, 23 November 1833
“Tower, Nov. 23.
“. . . I never was so much struck with the
agreeableness of Lord Holland. I
don’t suppose there is any Englishman living who covers so much ground as
he does—biographical, historical and anecdotical. I had heard from him
before of the volumes upon volumes he still has in his possession of Horace Walpole’s, entrusted to him by
Lord Waldegrave, which Lord
Holland advises the latter never to allow to be published, from
the abusive nature of them; but I was happy to hear him add that there was no
saying what circumstances might induce a man to do; so
it is quite clear that, with Lord Waldegrave’s
wonted [illegible], the abuse will some day see the
light. I never knew before that Horace was not the son of
Sir Robert Walpole, but of a
Lord Hervey, and that Sir
Robert knew it and shewed that he did.
“My lady
[Holland] was very complaining, and eating like a horse. Lord Holland quite well, and yet his legs quite
gone, and for ever—carried in
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and out of the carriage, and up and down stairs, and
wheeled about the house. . . . You mentioned seeing Berkeley Molyneux* and his Pop. The
other day, his sisters told me that when he was at Croxteth lately on a visit
to Mull,† old
Heywood took him into a corner of the room and put
£500 into his hand, and I have no doubt will leave him a handsome fortune. He
was always his favorite, and he must have a fellow feeling for him, for he
himself adopted a London Pop imported into Liverpool by an old fellow I well
remember, and when he died old Arthur took her and was
married to her many years before her death. As she was a remarkably good kind
of woman, he may perhaps think that Berkeley’s tit
may be the same.”
Elizabeth Fox, Lady Holland [née Vassall] (1771 c.-1845)
In 1797 married Henry Richard Fox, Lord Holland, following her divorce from Sir Godfrey
Webster; as mistress of Holland House she became a pillar of Whig society.
Henry Richard Fox, third baron Holland (1773-1840)
Whig politician and literary patron; Holland House was for many years the meeting place
for reform-minded politicians and writers. He also published translations from the Spanish
and Italian;
Memoirs of the Whig Party was published in 1852.
Lord Carr Hervey (1691-1723)
The son of John Hervey, first Earl of Bristol; he was MP for Bury St. Edmunds and Groom
of the Bedchamber to the Prince of Wales. There is no evidence to support the allegation
that he was the father of Horace Walpole.
George Berkeley Molyneux (1799-1841)
The second son of the second earl of Sefton; he was lieutenant-colonel of the 8th
Dragoons. He was the second husband of Eliza Stuart.
Henry William Paget, first marquess of Anglesey (1768-1854)
Originally Bayly, educated at Westminster and Christ Church, Oxford; he was MP
(1790-1810), commander of cavalry under Sir John Moore, lost a leg at Waterloo, and raised
to the peerage 1815; he was lord-lieutenant of Ireland (1828-29, 1830-33).
John James Waldegrave, sixth earl Waldegrave (1785-1846)
The son of the fourth earl; educated at Eton, he was a lieutenant-colonel who served in
the Pensinsular War and at Waterloo; in 1815 he married Anne King in Paris. He inherited
Horace Walpole's Strawberry Hill from his mother, Lady Elizabeth Waldegrave.
Robert Walpole, first earl of Orford (1676-1745)
English politician whose management of the financial crisis resulting from the South Sea
Bubble led to his commanding career the leader of the Whigs in Parliament (1721-42).
Richard Wellesley, first marquess Wellesley (1760-1842)
The son of Garret Wesley (1735-1781) and elder brother of the Duke of Wellington; he was
Whig MP, Governor-general of Bengal (1797-1805), Foreign Secretary (1809-12), and
Lord-lieutenant of Ireland (1821-28); he was created Marquess Wellesley in 1799.
