The Creevey Papers
Thomas Creevey to Elizabeth Ord, 15 July 1824
“15 July.
“. . . We had beautiful weather at Newmarket. . . .
Sefton has a capital house, and,
according to custom, his dinners were admirably arranged. Tavistock, Lord
Jersey, Punch
Greville† and Shelley
dined there each day, and on Tuesday the Duke of
Grafton and the Duke of York.
I had never seen the latter in this sort of way before, and was extreamly
entertained. He is the very image of the late Lord
Petre; perhaps not quite so clever, and certainly not so
polite—in short, a very civil and apparently most good-tempered idiot,
without any manners at all. Shelley played the fool in
patronising him and shewing him off, and Punch Greville
disgraced himself by hunching him; but he took both in the same good humor, and
we all drank freely in compliment to the royal guest. . . .”
Frederick Augustus, Duke of York (1763-1827)
He was commander-in-chief of the Army, 1798-1809, until his removal on account of the
scandal involving his mistress Mary Anne Clarke.
Charles Cavendish Fulke Greville (1794-1865)
The son of Captain Charles Greville (1762-1832); he was educated at Eton College and at
Christ Church, Oxford, and was clerk-in-ordinary to the privy council. His famous
Diary began appearing in 1874.
Francis Russell, seventh duke of Bedford (1788-1861)
Son of the sixth Duke (d. 1839); he took an MA from Trinity College, Cambridge in 1808
and served as Whig MP for Peterborough between 1809 and 1812 and for Bedfordshire between
1812 and 1832. He succeeded to the title in 1833.
Sir John Shelley, sixth baronet (1772-1852)
The son of Sir John Shelley of Michelgrove; educated at Eton, he served in the Coldstream
Guards and was patronized by the Duke of York; he was a Whig MP for Helston (1806) and a
Tory MP for Lewes (1816-31).
