The Creevey Papers
Thomas Creevey to Elizabeth Ord, 28 March 1831
“28th.
“. . . Our dinner at Sefton’s yesterday was very agreeable—the Cowpers, Edward and Mrs. Stanley,
Duke of Argyll, Melbourne, Palmerston, Foley,
Alava, Charles Greville and myself. Alava and I
were there ten minutes before anybody else, and he was very instructive about
France, where he has been living for the last 5 years. As he says of himself,
he naturally hates a Frenchman, but he has the greatest opinion of Casimir. . . . When little Derby was going to kneel upon being sworn a Privy
Councillor, the King said:—‘I
beg you won’t kneel, Lord Derby; you have the
gout.’—‘Your Majesty must allow
me.’—‘I won’t hear of it!’ and he
would not let him. Then he said:—‘How long have you been Lord
Lieutenant of Lancashire, my lord?’ and when he told him, the
King said:—‘I have often heard my father say you was the best
Lord Lieutenant in England, and so you are now!’”
Miguel de Alava (1770-1843)
A Spanish officer and statesman who fought with the Duke of Wellington in the Peninsular
War and at Waterloo.
Thomas Foley, third baron Foley (1780-1833)
Whig peer, the son of the second baron (d. 1793); educated under Samuel Parr at Hatton
and at Christ Church, Oxford, he was a privy councillor and Lord-Lieutenant of
Worcestershire (1831-33).
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.
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.
Casimir, Comte de Montrond (1768-1843)
French military officer, diplomat, and political agent allied to Talleyrand. Sydney Smith
described him as “a very witty, agreeable man” Thomas Creevey as an “infernal
scoundrel.”
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).
