The Creevey Papers
Thomas Creevey to Elizabeth Ord, 7 December 1833
“Dec. 7th.
“At Essex’s yesterday we had Lord
Grey, Melbourne and
Palmerston; and of the minor
poets—Spring Rice, Poulet Thomson, Luttrell and myself. Althorp was prevented coming by the gout. . . . Ld.
Grey seems to have changed his opinion all at once about
Talleyrand and the Dino. He said he had no doubt they were both
against him and in favor of Wellington,
which is the entire reverse of the opinion I had heard him uniformly express on
the same subject.”
Dorothée, duchesse de Dino (1793-1862)
The daughter of Dorothea von Medem, Duchess of Courland, she was the lover of Talleyrand
and spouse of his nephew. In 1831 Maria Edgeworth described her as “little, and
ugly—plain, I should say.”
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).
William Lamb, second viscount Melbourne (1779-1848)
English statesman, the son of Lady Melbourne (possibly by the third earl of Egremont) and
husband of Lady Caroline Lamb; he was a Whig MP, prime minister (1834-41), and counsellor
to Queen Victoria.
Henry Luttrell (1768-1851)
English wit, dandy, and friend of Thomas Moore and Samuel Rogers; he was the author of
Advice to Julia, a Letter in Rhyme (1820).
Thomas Spring Rice, first Baron Monteagle (1790-1866)
The son of Stephen Edward of Limerick; he was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge and
was MP for Limerick City (1820-32) and Cambridge borough (1832-39). He was chancellor of
the exchequer (1835-39) and contributed to the
Edinburgh
Review.
George Julius Poulett Scrope (1797-1876)
Originally Thomson: geologist and political economist, author of
Considerations on Volcanos (1825) and
Principles of Political
Economy (1833); FRS (1826). He took the name of his wife, Emma Phipps Scrope,
daughter of William Scrope (1772-1852).
John Charles Spencer, third earl Spencer (1782-1845)
English politician, son of the second earl (d. 1834); educated at Harrow and Trinity
College, Cambridge, he was Whig MP for Northamptonshire (1806-34) and chancellor of the
exchequer and leader of the lower house under Lord Grey (1830).
Edward Stanley, first Baron Monteagle (1460 c.-1523)
The son of Thomas Stanley, first earl of Derby; fighting under Thomas Howard, earl of
Surrey, he was instrumental in the English victory at Flodden Field.
Henry John Temple, third viscount Palmerston (1784-1865)
After education at Harrow and Edinburgh University he was MP for Newport (1807-11) and
Cambridge University (1811-31), foreign minister (1830-41), and prime minister (1855-58,
1859-65).
