The Creevey Papers
Thomas Creevey to Elizabeth Ord, 17 June 1828
“Whitehall, June 17th.
“. . . At night Frances* and I were at Lady
Jersey’s by half-past eleven. I wish it had been earlier,
for we met the Duke of Wellington coming
downstairs with a lady under his arm. He put his hand out to me, and gave me a
very natural shake, and this was all, you know, that could pass between us
under such circumstances. I must say my curiosity to be mixed up with him again
is much abated by his late horrible appointments—Croker a Privy Councillor—Vesey Fitzgerald a Cabinet Minister—and,
above all, that offensive, inefficient sprig of nobility, Lord Francis Leveson Gower, to be Secretary for
Ireland is really beyond all enduring. The last, I presume, is Lady Charlotte Greville’s doing, and
must, one should think, be most prejudicial to the Beau.
As for Jack Calcraft, I don’t care
a fig, and I am sure the dirty Canning
Whigs have no cause of complaint against him. Talking of Secretaries for
Ireland, do you know of Wm.
Lamb’s† crim. con. case? The facts are these. Lord Brandon,† who is a divine as well as a
peer, got possession of a correspondence between his
lady and Mr. Secretary Lamb, which left no
doubt to him or any one else as to the nature of the connection between these
young people. So he writes a letter to the lady announcing his discovery, as
well as the conclusion he naturally draws from it; but he adds, if she will
exert her interest with Mr. Lamb to procure him a
bishopric, he will overlook her offence and restore her the letters. To which
my lady replies, she shall neither degrade herself nor Mr.
Lamb by making any such application; but
that she is very grateful to my lord for the letter he has written her, which
she shall put immediately into Mr. Lamb’s
possession.”
John Calcraft the younger (1765-1831)
The illegitimate son of John Calcraft (d. 1772), he was educated at Harrow and Eton and
was a member of the Whig Club and MP for Wareham (1800-06, 1818-31), Rochester (1806-18),
and Dorset (1831). He cut his throat after betraying the Tories and voting for the Reform
Bill.
George Canning (1770-1827)
Tory statesman; he was foreign minister (1807-1809) and prime minister (1827); a
supporter of Greek independence and Catholic emancipation.
John Wilson Croker (1780-1857)
Secretary of the Admiralty (1810) and writer for the
Quarterly
Review; he edited an elaborate edition of Boswell's
Life of
Johnson (1831).
Lady Elizabeth Crosbie [née La Touche] (d. 1862)
The daughter of Colonel David La Touche; in 1815 she married William Crosbie, fourth
Baron Branden. She was accused of having an affair with William Lamb, viscount
Melbourne
Francis Egerton, first earl of Ellesmere (1800-1857)
Poet, statesman, and Tory MP; a younger son the second marquess of Stafford, he was
educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford, was chief secretary for Ireland (1828-30), and
translated Goethe and Schiller and contributed articles to the
Quarterly
Review.
William Vesey Fitzgerald, second Baron Fitzgerald and Vesey (1783 c.-1843)
Educated at Christ Church, Oxford, he was a Tory MP for Ennis (1808-12, 1813-18,
1831-32), County Clare (1818-28), Newport (1829-30), and Lostwithiel (1830); he was
chancellor of the Irish Exchequer (1812-16) when engaged with the scandals involving Mary
Ann Clarke.
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.
Frances Ann Taylor [née Vane] (d. 1835)
Whig hostess, the daughter of Sir Henry Vane, first baronet (1729–1794); in 1789 she
married the politician Michael Angelo Taylor.
