Edward Harley, 3rd Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer explained

Honorific-Prefix:The Right Honourable
The Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer
Office:Member of Parliament for Herefordshire
Term Start:1727
Term End:1741
Predecessor:Velters Cornewall
Sir Edward Goodere
Alongside:Velters Cornewall
Successor:Velters Cornewall
Thomas Foley
Birth Name:Edward Harley
Death Place:Bath, Somerset
Education:Westminster School
Alma Mater:Christ Church, Oxford
Parents:Edward Harley
Sarah Foley

Edward Harley, 3rd Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer (– 11 April 1755) was a British peer and Member of Parliament. He was the nephew of Britain's First Minister between 1710 and 1714, Robert Harley.

Early life

Harley was the son and heir of Sarah Foley (the third daughter of Thomas Foley of Witley Court) and Edward Harley of Eywood, the Auditor of the Imprest and the next younger brother of Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer.

Harley was educated at Westminster School and Christ Church, Oxford.[1]

Career

He was returned to Parliament as the member for Herefordshire in 1727, sitting until 1741. He was known as a Hanoverian Tory.[2] He vigorously defended the past record of his uncle Robert's governments during Queen Anne's reign.[3]

He succeeded his father in 1735 to the Eywood estate at Titley, Herefordshire and his cousin Edward Harley, 2nd Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer in 1741 to the earldom and the family seat, Brampton Bryan Hall at Brampton Bryan in Herefordshire.[4]

One of his first acts on succeeding his cousin was to auction off his predecessor's art and coin collection through the auctioneer Cock, at an art sale held under the Piazza, Covent Garden, on 8 March 1741/2 and the five following days, with six more days being required by the coins. Nearly all the leading men of the day, including Horace Walpole, attended or were represented at this sale, and the prices varied from five shillings for an anonymous bishop's "head" to 165 guineas for van Dyck's group of "Sir Kenelm Digby, lady, and son".

Personal life

On 16 March 1724 or 1725, at St. Anne's Church, Soho, he married Martha Morgan, a daughter of Sir John Morgan of Tredegar and Martha Vaughan (a daughter and co-heiress of Gwyn Vaughan of Trebarried) and the sister of Sir William Morgan and Sir Thomas Morgan. They had several children:[5]

Lord Oxford died on 11 April 1755 and was succeeded in his titles by his eldest son Edward.[5]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Edward Harley, 3rd Earl of Oxford. ThePeerage.com.
    • Burkes Peerage (1851 edition)
  2. Hill p.231
  3. Hill, Brian W. Robert Harley: Speaker, Secretary of State and Premier Minister. Yale University Press, 1988.
  4. Web site: HARLEY, Edward (?1699-1755), of Eywood, Herefs.. History of Parliament Online. 8 March 2018.
  5. Web site: Oxford and Mortimer, Earl of (GB, 1711 - 1853) . www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk . Heraldic Media Limited . 22 October 2020.