| Honorific-Prefix: | The Right Honourable |
| The Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer | |
| Birth Name: | Edward Harley |
| Birth Date: | 20 February 1773 |
| Death Date: | 28 December 1848 (aged 75)[1] |
| Death Place: | Brampton Bryan Hall, Herefordshire |
| Parents: | John Harley Roach Vaughan |
| Spouse: | Jane Elizabeth Scott |
Edward Harley, 5th Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer (20 February 1773 – 28 December 1848) was an English peer.
Harley was the son of John Harley (dean of Windsor) and Roach Vaughan. Edward succeeded to the titles and estates (including the Harley family seat at Brampton Bryan) of his father's elder brother Edward Harley, 4th Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer on the 4th Earl's death without issue in 1790.
In 1803 Henry Bickersteth became the Earl's medical attendant whilst the Earl was on a tour of Italy, staying with him until 1805. Edward became Bickersteth's friend and patron and in 1835 Bickersteth married the earl's eldest daughter. In 1804 Edward sold the Ewyas Lacy tithes by auction.[2] He commissioned work from the architect Robert Smirke.[3]
He was commissioned as Major-Commandant of the Royal Radnor Light Infantry, a Militia regiment, on 23 June 1819; his eldest son, Edward, Lord Harley, took over command on 1 July 1822.[4]
He and his wife Jane Elizabeth Scott (a notable mistress of Lord Byron) married 3 March 1794 and had eight children, including the following:[5] [6]
Due to his wife's infidelity, doubts were expressed about the paternity of many of the children, who were unkindly referred to as "the Harleian Miscellany."
The earl died on 28 December 1848 at his seat at Brampton Bryan Hall.[1]