William Craven, 1st Earl of Craven (1770–1825)

Major-General William Craven, 1st Earl of Craven (28 September 1770 – 30 July 1825) was a British soldier.

The Right Honourable The Earl of Craven
Portrait of Lt Gen Craven, by Thomas Lawrence, c. 1815
Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire
In office 1819–1825
Preceded by	The Earl of Radnor
Succeeded by	The Earl of Abingdon
Personal details
Born	William Craven 28 September 1770
Died	30 July 1825 (aged 54)
Spouse(s)	Louisa Brunton ​ ​ (m. 1807; his death 1825)​
Children	4
Parents	William Craven, 6th Baron Craven Lady Elizabeth Berkeley
Residence	Combe Abbey
Military service
Rank	Major-general

Early life

William Craven, 1st Earl of Craven, by Anne Mee née Foldsone.

Craven was the eldest son of William Craven, 6th Baron Craven, and his wife Lady Elizabeth Berkeley. Among his siblings was Maria Craven (wife of William Molyneux, 2nd Earl of Sefton) and Arabella Craven (wife of General the Hon. Frederick St John). In 1780, after thirteen years of marriage, and reported affairs on both sides, his parents parted permanently.[1] After the death of his father in 1791, his mother married Charles Alexander, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach. Charles' wife, Princess Frederica Caroline of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, also died earlier in 1791.[2]

His paternal grandfather was the Rev. John Craven, brother of William Craven, 5th Baron Craven, who his father succeeded as Baron Craven in 1769.[3] His maternal grandparents were Augustus Berkeley, 4th Earl of Berkeley and the former Elizabeth Drax (a daughter of Henry Drax).[4]

Career

He succeeded his father as seventh Baron Craven in 1791. In 1801 he was created Viscount Uffington, in the County of Berkshire, and Earl of Craven, in the County of York. The earldom was a revival of the title held by his 17th-century kinsman and namesake William Craven, 1st Earl of Craven.[5]

He was commissioned into the 43rd (Monmouthshire) Regiment of Foot in 1793, and subsequently served with the 80th and 84th Regiments. In 1798, Craven was appointed aide-de-camp to King George III, serving until 1805. This was followed by active service in the Netherlands and the Mediterranean, ultimately achieving the rank of Major-general.[6]

From 1819 until his death in 1825, Lord Craven served as Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire and was opposed to Catholic emancipation.[4]

Marriage & issue

In 1807, Craven married Louisa Brunton, famous actress.[7] Louisa was a daughter of John Brunton, a grocer who later became an actor and manager of the Norwich Theatre. She was one of seven sisters, several were actresses, one, Ann Brunton Merry married the poet and dilettante Robert Merry.[8][9]

Together, they were the parents of:[4]

• William Craven, 2nd Earl of Craven (1809–1866), who married Lady Emily Mary Grimston, the second daughter of James Grimston, 1st Earl of Verulam.[4]
• Hon. George Augustus Craven (1810–1836), an Army Officer who married Georgina Smythe (1814-1868), a daughter of Walter Smythe. Georgina's aunt (Walter's sister), Maria, was a longtime companion of George IV before he became king. After Craven's death, Georgina married Edmond, Duc de la Force.[4]
• Hon. Frederick Keppel Craven (1812–1864), a prominent cricketer.[4]
• Lady Louisa Elizabeth Craven (d. 1858), who married Sir Frederick Johnstone, 7th Baronet. After his death, she married Alexander Oswald, a Member of Parliament for Ayrshire.[4]

Lord Craven mostly resided at Coombe Abbey, near Coventry in Warwickshire and occasionally at Hamstead Marshall in Berkshire. He is not entirely forgotten — Harriette Wilson begins her famous memoir, "I shall not say why and how I became, at the age of fifteen, the mistress of the Earl of Craven."[10]

He died in July 1825, aged 54, and was succeeded in his titles by his son William.[4]

Coat of arms of William Craven, 1st Earl of Craven

Coronet A Coronet of an Earl Crest On a Chapeau Gules turned up Ermine a Griffin statant wings elevated Ermine beaked and foremembered Or Escutcheon Argent a Fess between six Cross Crosslets fitchée Gules Supporters On either side a Griffin wings elevated Ermine beaked and foremembered Or Motto Virtus in Actione Consistit (Virtue consists in action)

References

1. Huberty, Michel; Alain Giraud; F. and B. Magdelaine (1988). L'Allemagne Dynastique Tome V Hohenzollern-Waldeck (in French). France. p. 148. ISBN 2-901138-05-5.
2. Williams, Kate (2009). England's Mistress: The Infamous Life of Emma Hamilton (Large Print ed.). BBC Audiobooks Ltd by arr. with Random House. p. 164. ISBN 9781408430781.
3. Debrett's Illustrated Peerage, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Under the Immediate Revision and Correction of the Peers. Bosworth. 1865. p. 408. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
4. "Craven, Earl of (UK, 1801)". cracroftspeerage.co.uk. Heraldic Media Limited. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
5. The British Imperial Calendar. Winchester and Varnham. 1823. p. 54. Retrieved 1 July 2013.
6. "Lieutenant-General William Craven (1770–1825), 1st Earl of Craven". artuk.org. Art UK. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
7. John Britton; James Norris Brewer; Edward Wedlake Brayley; Joseph Nightingale; Frederic Shoberl; John Hodgson; Francis Charles Laird; John Bigland; John Evans; Thomas Rees (1815). The beauties of England and Wales: or, Delineations, topographical, historical, and descriptive, of each county. Verner & Hood. p. 557 note. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
8. "Robert Merry". Stamford Mercury. 1 March 1799. p. 2.
9. Dorothy A. Mays (1 January 2004). Women in Early America: Struggle, Survival, And Freedom in a New World. ABC-CLIO. p. 262. ISBN 978-1-85109-429-5. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
10. Wilson, Harriette (1909). The Memoirs of Harriette Wilson, Written by Herself. London: Eveleigh Nash. Retrieved 22 April 2018.

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Earl of Craven