ASHBURNHAM COMPLETE PEERAGE 273 1 765-75, First Lord of the Bedchamber and Groom of the Stole, 1 775-82. He m., 28 June 1756, at St. Geo., Han. Sq. (spec, lie), Elizabeth, (a fortune of ;^200,ooo) da. and coh. of John Crowley, of Barking, Suffolk, Alderman of London (who was only s. and h. of Sir Ambrose Crowley, Alderman of London), by Theodosia, (") da. of the Rev. Joseph Gascoyne, D.D., Rector of Enfield, Midx. She d. at Bath, 5, and was " carried away" (Abbey Reg.) 15 Feb. 1781, aged ^t,. He d. 8 Apr. 1812, aged 87. () Will pr. June 1812. Both were bur. at Ashburnham. (") [George Ashburnham, styled Viscount St. Asaph, s. and h. ap,, b. 2, and d. 13 Feb. 1758, and was bur. at Ashburnham.] EARLDOM. in. BARONY V. 3 and 5. George (Ashburnham), Earl of Ashburnham, fe'c, 2nd, but ist surv. s. and h., n ^.25 Dec. 1760, and bap. 29 Jan. 1761, at St. Geo., Han. Sq., the King, the Duke of New- castle, and the Princess Dowager of Wales, being sponsors. Ed. at Trin. Coll. Cambridge. M.A. 1780. Lord of the Bedchamber to the Prince of Wales, 1784-95. Trustee of the Brit. Museum 18 10 till death. He was sum. by writ, 23 Mar. 1803, v-p., in his father's Barony, as LORD ASHBURNHAM. F.S.A., G.C.H., 1827; el. K.G. 10, and inst. 22 June 1829. In politics hewasaTory. He »»., istly, 28 Aug. 1784, (spec, lie.) at her father's house in Arlington Str., St. Geo., Han. Sq., Sophia, 3rd da. of Thomas (Thynne), ist Marquess of Bath, by Elizabeth Cavendish, da. of William (Bentinck), ist Duke of Portland. She was b. 19 Dec. 1763, and d. 9 Apr. 1791, in childbed, as Viscountess St. Asaph. He m., 2ndly, 25 July 1795, at Orwell Park, near Ipswich, Charlotte, ('^) ist da. of Algernon (Percy), ist Earl of Beverley, by Isabella Susanna, 2nd da. (*) Through this lady the estate of Barking in Suffolk came to the family of Ashburnham, her mother, Anne, being da. and h. of Sir Francis Theobald, of Barking. This Theodosia Crowley survived all her children, and </. i 7 May 1782, aged 89, when Barking devolved on her grandson, George Ashburnham, afterwards the 5th Earl. C*) " A most decent, reserved and servile courtier. He did not want sense, but it all centred in self interest. " (Horace Walpole). George Selwyn writes of him in 1782. — " I have the greatest opinion of his iudgment in the conductive part of life. I really believe, if any man ever went through life with consummate discretion, it has been himself, and he has preserved his reputation at the same time. " He was originally a Whig, and protested against the disqualification of Wilkes, but became a Tory late in life. V.G. (') For them apparently (the arms of Ashburnham, with those of Crowley in pretence, being on the screen in front) was built Ashburnham House, in Dover street, Midx., one of the few old patrician mansions still (1885) remaining in the Metropolis, but which has, alas, now (19 10) been gone some few years. C^) The Earl's 4th da. by his 2nd wife, Jane Henriette, was mother of Algernon Charles Swinburne, b. 5 Apr. 1837, d. 10 Apr. 1909, the last of the great Victorian poets. V.G. 36
