Robert Hampden-Trevor, 1st Viscount Hampden (17 February 1706 – 22 August 1783) was a British diplomat at

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

and then joint Postmaster General.

Origins

He was the eldest son of the second marriage of his father Thomas Trevor, 1st Baron Trevor to Anne Bernard, née Weldon.

Career

He studied at

The Queen's College, Oxford The Queen's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford, England. The college was founded in 1341 by Robert de Eglesfield in honour of Philippa of Hainault, queen of England. It is distinguished by its predominantly neoclassi ...

, graduated in 1725 and then became a fellow of

All Souls College, Oxford All Souls College (official name: The College of All Souls of the Faithful Departed, of Oxford) 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 me ...

. In 1729 he was appointed as a clerk in the Secretary of State's office. In 1734 he went to the United Provinces as secretary to the embassy under Horatio Walpole. He succeeded as head of the embassy in 1739, initially as Envoy-Extraordinary, and from 1741 as Minister-Plenipotentiary. During this time he maintained a regular correspondence with

Horace Walpole Horatio Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford (; 24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English Whig politician, writer, historian and antiquarian. He had Strawberry Hill House built in Twickenham, southwest London ...

. In 1750 he was appointed a Commissioner of the Revenue in Ireland. He took the additional surname of Hampden in 1754, on succeeding to the estates of his relative

John Hampden John Hampden (24 June 1643) was an English politician from Oxfordshire, who was killed fighting for Roundhead, Parliament in the First English Civil War. An ally of Parliamentarian leader John Pym, and a cousin of Oliver Cromwell, he was one of ...

. Twelve years after he had succeeded his brother as Baron Trevor, he was created, on 14 June 1776, Viscount Hampden, of Great and Little Hampden in the County of Buckingham. From 1759 to 1765 he was joint Postmaster General. He wrote some

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

poems Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

which were published at

Parma Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...

in 1792 as ''Poemata Hampdeniana''.

Marriages

He first had an unacknowledged Fleet Marriage and had two sons, one of whom, the Rev. Dr John Trevor, (1740-1796) was appointed Rector of Otterhampton in 1771, but who later moved to the Continent and eventually became Minister of the Protestant chapel at Ostend, where he died in 1796. He had five daughters by his first wife, one of whom was the seafarer Frances Barkley. Trevor married secondly, on 6 Feb. 1743, at The Hague, Constantia, daughter of Peter Anthony de Huybert, lord of Van Kruyningen, by whom he left four children—Maria Constantia (who married Henry Howard, 12th Earl of Suffolk), Thomas, second viscount Hampden, John Hampden-Trevor, third viscount Hampden . v. and Anne. Article: Trevor, Robert Hampden-Trevor, ''Dictionary of National Biography,'' 1885-1900, Volume 57 His second son, John Hampden-Trevor, 3rd Viscount Hampden (1749–1824), died only three weeks after he had succeeded his elder brother Thomas Hampden-Trevor, 2nd Viscount Hampden, when the titles became extinct.

References

*William Carr, "Trevor, Robert Hampden-, first Viscount Hampden (1706–1783)", rev. Martyn J. Powell, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', (Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008

accessed 10 Aug 2008. {{DEFAULTSORT:Hampden, Robert Hampden-Trevor, 1st Viscount 1706 births 1783 deaths 1 Alumni of the Queen's College, Oxford Diplomatic peers Fellows of All Souls College, Oxford Postmasters general of the United Kingdom Ambassadors of Great Britain to the Dutch Republic