Topham Beauclerk
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Topham Beauclerk ( ; 22 December 1739 – 11 March 1780) was a celebrated English wit and a friend of
Samuel Johnson Samuel Johnson ( – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, literary critic, sermonist, biographer, editor, and lexicographer. The ''Oxford ...
and
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 ...
.


Early life

Topham Beauclerk was born on 22 December 1739 in
Pall Mall, London Pall Mall is a street in the St James's area of the City of Westminster, Central London. It connects St James's Street to Trafalgar Square and is a section of the regional A4 road (England), A4 road. The street's name is derived f ...
. He was the only son of Lord Sidney Beauclerk and a great-grandson of King Charles II. He was christened on 19 January 1740 in
St James's Church, Piccadilly St James's Church, Piccadilly, also known as St James's Church, Westminster, and St James-in-the-Fields, is an Anglican church on Piccadilly in the centre of London, England. The church was designed and built by Sir Christopher Wren. The churc ...
, in
Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...
. In 1744, his father died and the four-year-old Topham, and his widowed mother, Mary Beauclerk, moved to Upper Brook Street in London and lived there until 1753. Between 1753 and 1757, Topham Beauclerk probably attended
Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...
(this is not completely certain as only his surname, Beauclerk, is noted in the college's register). It seems he did not live in the school as a boarder, but in the family home in nearby Windsor. In November 1757 he matriculated at
Trinity College, Oxford Trinity College (full name: The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity in the University of Oxford, of the foundation of Sir Thomas Pope (Knight)) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in E ...
, which had been attended by his father. His date of leaving is unknown, but he was still there in 1759, when he first met
Samuel Johnson Samuel Johnson ( – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, literary critic, sermonist, biographer, editor, and lexicographer. The ''Oxford ...
. Like most of his social class, he did not graduate.Noy (2016), pp.15-16 In 1763 he was in Italy with John Fitzpatrick.


Friendships and anecdotes

Beauclerk entertained Dr Johnson at his home in Old Windsor for a number of weeks. He appears several times in
James Boswell James Boswell, 9th Laird of Auchinleck (; 29 October 1740 ( N.S.) – 19 May 1795), was a Scottish biographer, diarist, and lawyer, born in Edinburgh. He is best known for his biography of the English writer Samuel Johnson, '' Life of Samuel ...
's '' Life of Samuel Johnson''. As Bennet Langton records: "His affection for Topham Beauclerk was so great, that when Beauclerk was labouring under that severe illness which at last occasioned his death, Johnson said (with a voice faultering with emotion), 'Sir, I would walk to the extent of the diameter of the earth to save Beauclerk'." (Boswell 1672). The artist Joseph Farington records
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 ...
as making the following remarks regarding Beauclerk:
Lord Orford mentioned many particulars relative to the late Mr. Topham Beauclerc. He said He was the worst tempered man He ever knew. Lady Di passed a most miserable life with him. Lord O, out of regard to her invited them occasionally to pass a few days at Strawberry Hill. They slept in separate beds. Beauclerc was remarkably filthy in his person which generated vermin. He took Laudanum regularly in vast quantities. He seldom rose before one or two o'clock. His principal delight was in disputing on subjects that occurred, this He did . Before He died He asked pardon of Lady Di, for his ill usage of her. He had one son and two daughters by Lady Di. One married Lord Herbert, the second went abroad with her Brother, Lord Bolingbroke .e. George St John, 3rd Viscount Bolingbroke">George_St_John,_3rd_Viscount_Bolingbroke.html" ;"title=".e. George St John, 3rd Viscount Bolingbroke">.e. George St John, 3rd Viscount Bolingbroke


Personal life

On 12 March 1768, Beauclerk was married to the Viscountess Bolingbroke, Diana St John (1734–1808), former Lady of the Bedchamber">Lady Diana Beauclerk">Diana St John (1734–1808), former Queen Charlotte. A member of the Spencer family">Lady of the Bedchamber to Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz">Queen Charlotte. A member of the Spencer family, she was the eldest daughter of Charles Spencer, 3rd Duke of Marlborough and the Hon. Elizabeth Spencer, Duchess of Marlborough, Elizabeth Trevor. Before their marriage, Diana had been married to Frederick St John, 2nd Viscount Bolingbroke in 1757. This marriage, which gave her two sons, including George St John, 3rd Viscount Bolingbroke, was unhappy and her husband was notoriously unfaithful. In February 1768, he petitioned for divorce on grounds of adultery ("criminal conversation"). The petition required an act of parliament, which was passed the next month. Soon thereafter she married Beauclerk. They had four children together: * Anne Beauclerk (born ), who died young. * Elizabeth Beauclerk (1766–1793), a twin who married her first cousin, George Herbert, 11th Earl of Pembroke. * Anne ''Mary'' Beauclerk (1766–1851), a twin who notoriously had a long-term relationship with her elder half-brother George St John. After he abandoned her to marry a Belgian baroness, she married Bavarian Count Franz von Jenison-Walworth, son of Count Francis Jenison, in 1797. * Charles George Beauclerk (1774–1846), briefly an MP; he married Emily Charlotte "Mimie" Ogilvie (1778–1832), daughter of William Ogilvie and the former Lady Emily Lennox, in 1799. From 1772 to 1776 he lived at 3 Adelphi Terrace. In 1774 he lived in
Muswell Hill Muswell Hill is a suburban district of the London Borough of Haringey, north London. The hill, which reaches over above sea level, is situated north of Charing Cross. Neighbouring areas include Highgate, London, Highgate, Hampstead Garden ...
, north London. Beauclerk died at his house in Great Russell Street,
Bloomsbury Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London, part of the London Borough of Camden in England. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural institution, cultural, intellectual, and educational ...
on 11 March 1780. Lady Diana later sold the house to retire in reduced circumstances to Richmond. The house at Great Russell Street, which was partly demolished in 1788, housed a library designed by
Robert Adam Robert Adam (3 July 17283 March 1792) was a British neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer. He was the son of William Adam (architect), William Adam (1689–1748), Scotland's foremost architect of the time, and train ...
. At the time of his death, Beauclerk had amassed a collection of around 30,000 books, although these were kept at his house in Muswell Hill. The books were sold by auction in 1781.


Descendants

Through his daughter Elizabeth, he was grandfather of four, including Lady Diana Herbert (who married Welbore Agar, 2nd Earl of Normanton), and Robert Herbert, 12th Earl of Pembroke. Through his daughter Mary's relationship with the 3rd Viscount Bolingbroke, he was a grandfather to four illegitimate boys. From her marriage to Count von Walworth, he was a grandfather to two boys, only one who survived to adulthood, and four girls, the youngest of whom was Countess Emilie (or Amelia) von Walworth, from whom descended the princes of Löwenstein-Wertheim, and through them, other German royalty. Through his son Charles, he was a grandfather to Aubrey Beauclerk (1801–1854), MP for East Surrey.


References


Bibliography

*Adamson, Donald and Beauclerk Dewar, Peter, ''The House of Nell Gwyn. The Fortunes of the Beauclerk Family, 1670-1974'', London: William Kimber, 1974, pp. 67–77. *Boswell, James. ''Life of Johnson'', ed. R. W. Chapman, intro. Pat Rogers. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 1998. *Farington, Joseph. ''The Farington Diary by Joseph Farington, R.A.'', edited by James Grieg. *


External links


Image(s)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beauclerk, Topham 1739 births 1780 deaths People from Bloomsbury People from Old Windsor Samuel Johnson Alumni of Trinity College, Oxford Topham Fellows of the Royal Society