James Waldegrave, 1st Earl Waldegrave, (168411 April 1741) was a British diplomat who served as ambassador to

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Life

Waldegrave was the son of the 1st Baron Waldegrave and Henrietta FitzJames, the illegitimate daughter of James II and Arabella Churchill. Educated in France, Waldegrave inherited his father's title in 1690, and on 20 May 1714 he married

Mary Webb Mary Gladys Webb (25 March 1881 – 8 October 1927) was an English romance novelist and poet of the early 20th century, whose work is set chiefly in the Shropshire countryside and among Shropshire characters and people whom she knew. Her ...

(who died in childbirth in 1719), a daughter of Sir John Webb, 3rd Baronet and they had three surviving children: *

James Waldegrave, 2nd Earl Waldegrave James Waldegrave, 2nd Earl Waldegrave, (4 March 171513 April 1763) was a British politician who is sometimes regarded as one of the shortest-serving British prime ministers in history. His brief tenure as First Lord of the Treasury is lent a m ...

(1715–1763) *

John Waldegrave, 3rd Earl Waldegrave General John Waldegrave, 3rd Earl Waldegrave (28 April 1718 – 22 October 1784) was a British politician and soldier. Career Waldegrave was the youngest son of the 1st Earl Waldegrave. He joined the 1st Regiment of Foot in 1735, rising to the r ...

(1718–1784) *

Lady Henrietta Waldegrave Lady Henrietta (Waldegrave) Herbert Beard,(2 January 1717 – 31 May 1753), was an English aristocrat. She was the wife of Lord Edward Herbert and the mother of Barbara Herbert, Countess of Powis. Following her first husband’s death she m ...

(1717–1753), married firstly, Lord Edward Herbert, a son of the 2nd Marquess of Powis and had issue; married secondly,

John Beard John Beard may refer to: * John Beard (artist) (born 1943), Welsh artist and painter * John Beard (colonial administrator) (died 1685), Chief Agent and Governor of Bengal * John Beard (embryologist) (1858–1924), Scottish embryologist and anatomi ...

(a singer at

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist si ...

). After the death of his wife, he converted from

Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

(the religion he was brought up in) to

Anglicanism Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of t ...

to take his seat 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 ...

. He was briefly a

Lord of the Bedchamber Gentleman of the Bedchamber was a title in the royal household of the Kingdom of England from the 11th century, later used also in the Kingdom of Great Britain. A Lord of the Bedchamber was a courtier in the Royal Household; the term being fir ...

in 1723 and again from 1730 to 1741. He was ambassador extraordinary to France in 1725 and Ambassador to Austria from 1727 to 1730. He then succeeded Horatio Walpole as ambassador to France from 1730 to 1740. During his ambassadorship to France, he still spent enough time in London to be one of the founding Governors of the new charity there, known as the

Foundling Hospital The Foundling Hospital in London, England, was founded in 1739 by the philanthropic sea captain Thomas Coram. It was a children's home established for the "education and maintenance of exposed and deserted young children." The word " hospita ...

(created in 1739). In 1729, he had been created Earl Waldegrave and on his death in 1741, was succeeded by his eldest son, James. Sir James inherited

Hever Castle Hever Castle ( ) is located in the village of Hever, Kent, near Edenbridge, south-east of London, England. It began as a country house, built in the 13th century. From 1462 to 1539, it was the seat of the Boleyn (originally 'Bullen') family. ...

in Kent which had remained in the Waldegrave family for 160 years. It was deemed too small for Sir James and he sold it in the early 1700s to Sir William Humfreys,

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the mayor of the City of London and the leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded precedence over all individuals except the sovereign and retains various traditional pow ...

(1714).

Ancestry

References

External links

* 1684 births 1741 deaths People from Mendip District People from Somerset Earls Waldegrave Knights of the Garter Converts to Anglicanism from Roman Catholicism Members of the Privy Council of Great Britain

James Waldegrave, 1st Earl Waldegrave James Waldegrave, 1st Earl Waldegrave, (168411 April 1741) was a British diplomat who served as ambassador to Ambassadors from the United Kingdom to Austria, Austria and British Ambassador to France, France. Life Waldegrave was the son of t ...

Diplomatic peers Ambassadors of Great Britain to France Freemasons of the Premier Grand Lodge of England Ambassadors of Great Britain to the Holy Roman Emperor Montesquieu {{GB-earl-stub