Edward Venables-Vernon-Harcourt (10 October 1757 – 5 November 1847) was a
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Brit ...
bishop
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ...
. He was the
Bishop of Carlisle
The Bishop of Carlisle is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Carlisle in the Province of York.
The diocese covers the county of Cumbria except for Alston Moor and the former Sedbergh Rural District. The see is in the city of ...
from 1791 to 1807
[ and then the ]Archbishop of York
The archbishop of York is a senior bishop in the Church of England, second only to the archbishop of Canterbury. The archbishop is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and the metropolitan bishop of the province of York, which covers ...
until his death.
He was the third son of the George Venables-Vernon, 1st Baron Vernon (1709–1780), and took the additional name of Harcourt on succeeding to the property of his cousin, the last Earl Harcourt, in 1831.[A General and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage]
/ref>
Biography
Edward Venables-Vernon was born at Sudbury Hall, Derbyshire on 10 October 1757. He was educated at Westminster School
(God Gives the Increase)
, established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560
, type = Public school Independent day and boarding school
, religion = Church of England
, head_label = Hea ...
; matriculated at Christ Church, Oxford
Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniq ...
on 2 July 1774 ; was elected fellow of All Souls College
All Souls College (official name: College of the Souls of All the Faithful Departed) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Unique to All Souls, all of its members automatically become fellows (i.e., full members of ...
in 1777 ; and graduated B.C.L. 27 April 1786, and D.C.L. 4 May following. After his ordination he was instituted to the family living of Sudbury Sudbury may refer to:
Places Australia
* Sudbury Reef, Queensland
Canada
* Greater Sudbury, Ontario (official name; the city continues to be known simply as Sudbury for most purposes)
** Sudbury (electoral district), one of the city's federal el ...
. He became a canon of Christ Church, Oxford
Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniq ...
, 13 October 1785, and a prebendary
A prebendary is a member of the Roman Catholic or Anglican clergy, a form of canon with a role in the administration of a cathedral or collegiate church. When attending services, prebendaries sit in particular seats, usually at the back of th ...
of Gloucester
Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east o ...
on 10 November in the same year . He resigned his prebendal stall in 1791, but held his other appointments to 1808.
On 18 August 1791 he was nominated as the Bishop of Carlisle
The Bishop of Carlisle is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Carlisle in the Province of York.
The diocese covers the county of Cumbria except for Alston Moor and the former Sedbergh Rural District. The see is in the city of ...
[ in succession to John Douglas and was consecrated on 6 November following. For 16 years he administered the affairs of the see of Carlisle with good sense and discretion, spending more than the whole income of the see upon the wants of his diocese.][
]
Archbishop of York
After the death of Archbishop William Markham. Venables-Vernon was nominated on 26 November 1807 as archbishop of York,[ and was confirmed in St. James's Church, ]Westminster
Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster.
The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...
on 19 January 1808. In the same year, on 20 January, he was gazetted a privy councillor
A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mo ...
, and made Lord High Almoner
The Royal Almonry is a small office within the Royal Households of the United Kingdom, headed by the Lord High Almoner, an office dating from 1103. The almoner is responsible for distributing alms to the poor.
The Lord High Almoner is usually a ...
to George III
George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...
, an office which he also held under Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...
's reign.
According to the account of Dean Alford
Clarence "Dean" Alford (born July 17, 1953) is a former Republican Party member of the General Assembly and convicted criminal.
Alford is the president and chief executive officer of Allied Energy Services, LLC and spokesman for Power4Georgia ...
:
"Archbishop Harcourt was very fond of hunting, so fond that he was very near refusing the archbishopric because he thought if he accepted he should have to give it up. He consulted a friend, who said that he must take counsel with others. 'Of course I should never join the meet,’ said the Archbishop, 'but you know I might fall in with the hounds by accident.' After some time the friend came back and said that on the whole the party considered that the Archbishop might hunt, provided he did not shout."
Venables-Vernon was a member of the queen's council who had charge of George III
George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...
during his illness. He was an eloquent speaker, and occasionally spoke in the House of Lords
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminst ...
on ecclesiastical matters, but usually abstained from political contentions. He lived under five successive monarchs, and was respected for benevolence and simplicity of character. On 15 January 1831 he took the surname of Harcourt only on inheriting the large estates of the Harcourt family, which came to him on the death of his cousin, Field-marshal William, third and last Earl Harcourt.[
In 1835 he was appointed one of the first members of the ecclesiastical commission. In 1838 he was offered the renewal of the Harcourt peerage, but declined it, not wishing to be fettered in his parliamentary votes. ]York Minster
The Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Saint Peter in York, commonly known as York Minster, is the cathedral of York, North Yorkshire, England, and is one of the largest of its kind in Northern Europe. The minster is the seat of the Arch ...
twice suffered fires during his primacy, 1829 and 1841, and he contributed largely to both restorations. Archbishop Harcourt preached his valedictory sermon in York Minster on 13 November 1838. However Harcourt continued to enjoy good health, and as late as 1 November 1847 visited York and inspected the repairs of the chapterhouse. He died at the palace, Bishopthorpe, near York
York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...
, on 5 November 1847, and was buried at Stanton Harcourt, Oxfordshire, 13 November[
A memorial to Harcourt was erected in York Minster in 1855 sculpted by ]Matthew Noble
Matthew Noble (23 March 1817 – 23 June 1876) was a leading British portrait sculptor. Carver of numerous monumental figures and busts including work memorializing Victorian era royalty and statesmen displayed in locations such as Westminster Ab ...
.
Family
On 5 February 1784 he married Lady Anne Leveson-Gower, third daughter of Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Marquess of Stafford
Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Marquess of Stafford, KG PC (4 August 172126 October 1803), known as Viscount Trentham from 1746 to 1754 and as The Earl Gower from 1754 to 1786, was a British politician from the Leveson-Gower family.
Background ...
, and they had sixteen children. His wife predeceased him at Bishopthorpe Palace on 16 November 1832, aged 72.
His second son, the Revd. Leveson Vernon Harcourt, was chancellor of York, an author of ''The Doctrine of the Deluge'' and of other theological works. His fourth son was William Vernon Harcourt, the founder of the British Association for the Advancement of Science
The British Science Association (BSA) is a charity and learned society founded in 1831 to aid in the promotion and development of science. Until 2009 it was known as the British Association for the Advancement of Science (BA). The current Chi ...
. Two of his sons became Admirals and his youngest daughter, Georgiana
Georgiana is a Catalan, English, Greek and Romanian name. It is the feminine form of the male name George and a variation of the female names Georgina and Georgia. It comes from the Greek word Γεώργιος, meaning farmer. A variant spelli ...
, distinguished herself as a translator.
The children included:
* George Granville Vernon-Harcourt (6 Aug 1785 – 19 Dec 1861)
*The Reverend Leveson Venables-Vernon-Harcourt (1788 – 26 Jul 1860)
* Reverend William Vernon Harcourt (Jun 1789 – 1 Apr 1871)
*Admiral Frederick Edward Vernon-Harcourt (15 Jun 1790 – 1 May 1883), forefather to the 11th Lord Vernon
*Lt.-Col. Henry Venables-Vernon-Harcourt (1791 – 26 Feb 1853)
* Granville Harcourt-Vernon (26 Jul 1792 – 8 Dec 1879)
* Vice-Admiral Octavius Henry Cyril Harcourt (26 Dec 1793 – 14 Aug 1863)
*The Reverend Charles Vernon-Harcourt (14 Nov 1798 – 10 Dec 1870)
* Colonel Francis Venables-Vernon-Harcourt (6 Jan 1801 – 23 Apr 1880)
*Egerton Vernon-Harcourt (1803 - 19 Oct 1883 Whitwell Hall, Yorkshire), who was a president of the United Debating Society in 1824 while educated at Christ Church, Oxford
Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniq ...
.
*Louisa Augusta Venables-Vernon-Harcourt (c. 1804 – 4 Aug 1869), who married Sir John Vanden-Bempde-Johnstone, Baronet, of Hackness
Hackness is a village and civil parish in the Scarborough district of the county of North Yorkshire, England. It lies within the North York Moors National Park. The parish population rose from 125 in the 2001 UK census to 221 in the 2011 UK c ...
, on 14 June 1825 at St. George's, Hanover Square. He died 24 Feb 1869, the widow dying only a few months later on 4 Aug 1869, at Eridge Castle, Kent.
* Georgiana Charlotte Frances Harcourt (1807–1886)
Cato Street conspiracy
As a director of the Ancient Concerts, Harcourt entertained his fellow-directors (the prince regent
A prince regent or princess regent is a prince or princess who, due to their position in the line of succession, rules a monarchy as regent in the stead of a monarch regnant, e.g., as a result of the sovereign's incapacity (minority or illne ...
and Prince Adolphus – the Duke of Cambridge, the Duke of Cumberland (later the King of Hanover), and the Duke of Wellington) at his house in Grosvenor Square
Grosvenor Square is a large garden square in the Mayfair district of London. It is the centrepiece of the Mayfair property of the Duke of Westminster, and takes its name from the duke's surname "Grosvenor". It was developed for fashionable ...
on 23 February 1821. On the same night the Cato Street conspirators had designed the murder of the cabinet ministers at the house adjoining Harcourt's, where the ministers had agreed to dine with Lord Harrowby.[
]
Harcourt's publications
# ''A Sermon preached before the Lords on the Anniversary of the Martyrdom of King Charles the First,'' 1794.
# ''A Sermon preached before the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel,'' 1798.
# ''A Sermon preached at the Coronation of George IV,'' 1821, which was twice reprinted.
An account of the life of Margaret Godolphin who died in 1678 was written by John Evelyn
John Evelyn (31 October 162027 February 1706) was an English writer, landowner, gardener, courtier and minor government official, who is now best known as a diarist. He was a founding Fellow of the Royal Society.
John Evelyn's diary, or m ...
and this was passed down through his family to Harcourt. Harcourt allowed it to be published in 1847 with the assistance of the Bishop of Oxford.
See also
* Vernon Islands
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Venables-Vernon-Harcourt, Edward
Archbishops of York
Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford
1757 births
1847 deaths
Bishops of Carlisle
Fellows of All Souls College, Oxford
Edward
Edward is an English given name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortune; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”.
History
The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-Sax ...
People educated at Westminster School, London
Younger sons of barons
18th-century Church of England bishops
19th-century Anglican archbishops
People from Sudbury, Derbyshire
18th-century Anglican theologians
19th-century Anglican theologians