The Creevey Papers
Thomas Creevey to Elizabeth Ord, 25 June 1824
“25th June.
“I dined last night at Lord
Carnarvon’s, where by comparison for amusement Bedlam*
decidedly kept the lead, altho’ our company were no other than the
Dukes of Sussex and Leinster, Marquis
Downshire, Earls Grey,
Jersey, Darnley, Cowper and
Rosslyn, Lords King, Ellenborough and
John Russell, and last and least
Messrs. Brougham and Creevey. Carnarvon never
uttered, and little Sussex very justly whispered to me as
we came away that ‘it had been a malancholy
day.’. . . Grey,
Rosslyn, Cowper and Jersey went
full fig from Carnarvon’s to the Beau’s, to meet the King who dined there, and
Grey says to-day cut him most
clearly and decidedly. . . .’
Henry Peter Brougham, first baron Brougham and Vaux (1778-1868)
Educated at Edinburgh University, he was a founder of the
Edinburgh
Review in which he chastised Byron's
Hours of Idleness; he
defended Queen Caroline in her trial for adultery (1820), established the London University
(1828), and was appointed lord chancellor (1830).
Ulysses Bagenal de Burgh, second Baron Downes (1788-1863)
Irish military officer, the son of Thomas Burgh; he was aide-de-camp to Wellington in the
Peninsular War and was a Tory MP for Carlow County (1818–26) and for Queenborough
(1826–30). He succeeded his cousin in the Irish peerage in 1826.
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.
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).
Peter King, seventh baron King (1775-1833)
Whig politician, son of the sixth baron; he was educated at Harrow and Trinity College,
Cambridge before succeeding to the title in 1793. His son William married Ada Byron.
John Russell, first earl Russell (1792-1878)
English statesman, son of John Russell sixth duke of Bedford (1766-1839); he was author
of
Essay on the English Constitution (1821) and
Memoirs of the Affairs of Europe (1824) and was Prime Minister (1865-66).
Henry Stewart, duke of Albany (1546-1567)
The second consort of Mary Queen of Scots and father of James VI and I; his murderers
have never been discovered.
