He was twice married; first (July 21st, 1708), to the Lady Catharine Seymour, second daughter of his Grace, Charles, Duke of Somerset, by whom he had two sons, and two daughters; Sir Charles his successor, late Earl of Egremont; and Percy Obrien, of Shortgrove, in Essex, Esq. who inheriting the estate of his uncle, Henry, Earl of Thomond, bore the name and arms of Obrien, and was advanced to the dignity of Baron I Brickan, and Earl of Thomond, in the kingdom of Ireland, but died a batchelor July 21st, 1774; Catharine, who died uninarried in April 1734; and Elizabeth, who died at Wootton, in Buckinghamshire, on 5th of December, 1769, having been married in 1749 to the Honourable George Grenville, Esq. second son of the Right Honourable Hester, Countess Temple, and father by her to the present Marquis of Buckingham.

His second Lady was Maria-Catharina, daughter of M. Peter D'Jong, of the province of Utrecht, in Holland, and relict of William, Marquis of Blandford, who died August 24th, 1731, also sister to the Countess of Denbigh; but had no issue by her.

He died at Wells, in Somersetshire, after an illness of a few days, July 17th, 1740.

He was in person very amiable, and accomplished in all parts of fine breeding; well read in learning, and of a happy memory; of great honour and integrity, in every act of life; and strictly attached to the interest of his country. He was esteemed one of the best speakers in the House of Commons, where his eloquence was well heard. Mr. Pope has transmitted to posterity this cha, racter of him, among others:m

How can I, Pult'ney, Chesterfield forget,
While Roman spirit charms, and Attic wit!
Or Wyndham, just to freedom and the throne,
The master of our passions, and his own?'

On the accession of the house of Hanover, he took a strenuous part in opposition, and became for many years the leader of the Tories, against the Walpole administration; in which he was of so much importance, that the union of Tories and discontented Whigs was dissolved by his death." By his marriage in 1708, with Lady" Catherine Seymour, second daughter of Charles, the proud duke of Somerset, he much increased his consequence. Coxe says, that he was brought forward, at a very early age, by his See Coxe, pessim、

Pope's second dialogue for the year 1738.

friend Bolingbroke, with whom he lived in babits of the strictest intimacy; and by whose brilliant talents he was seduced into similar excesses of pleasure and gallantry." Speaker Onslow says, "He was, in my opinion, the most made for a great man, of any one that I have known in this age:-every thing about him seemed great:-there was no inconsistency in his composition:all the parts of his character suited, and were a help to one another. There was much of grace and dignity in his person, and the same in his speaking. He had no acquirements of learning; but his eloquence, improved by use, was strong, full, and without affectation, arising chiefly from his clearness, propriety, and argumentation; in the method of which last, by a sort of induction, almost peculiar to himself, he had a force beyond any man I ever heard in public debates. He had not the vivacity of wit and pleasantry in his speeches, so entertaining in Daniel Pulteney; but there was a spirit and power in his speaking, that always animated himself and his hearers, and with the decoration of his manner, which was, indeed, very ornamental, produced not only the most attentive, respectful, but even a reverend, regard to whatever he spoke."

He was succeeded in dignity and estate by his eldest son,

Sir CHARLES Wyndham, Bart. who succeeded to the titles of EARL OF EGREMONT, and BARON OF COCKERMOUTH, by the death of his Grace, Algernon, Duke of Somerset, without heir male, who had been created Earl of Egremont, and Baron of Cockermouth, in the county of Cumberland, by letters patent, bearing date October 3d, 23 George II. with limitation of those honours to his said nephew, Charles, late Earl of Egremont, and his heirs male; and, in default of such issue, to his brother, Percy Wyndham Obrien, Esq.

His Lordship, whilst he was a Commoner, was elected to Parliament,, as soon as he came of age,P for the borough of Bridgewater, in Somersetshire, on the decease of Thomas Palmer, Esq. who died in March, 1735; and for 9 Appleby, in Westmoreland, in the succeeding Parliament, summoned to meet June 25th, 1741. Also in the Parliament, summoned August 13th, 1741, he was chosen for Taunton, in Somersetshire, and for Cockermouth, in Cumberland. On 30th April, 1751, he took the oaths before the King at St. James's, as Lord Lieutenant and Custos Rotulorum of the county of Cumberland, and continued so till his death.

• Coxe, II. 562, where see more of him.

P British Parliam. Register, No. 180.

1 Ibid. No. 201.

His Lordship, on April 24th, 1761, was nominated the first of the three Plenipotentiaries, on the part of Great Britain, to the intended Congress at Augsburg, for a general pacification between the belligerent powers, Great Britain, France, Hungary, Sweden, Russia, Prussia, and Saxony. He was sworn of his Majesty's Privy-council on July 8th, and constituted Secretary of State on October 9th, that year, on the resignation of William Pitt, Esq. On December 29th, 1762, his Lordship took the oaths, at St. James's, as Lord Lieutenant and Custos Rotulorum of the county of Sussex; and was elected Governor of the Charter-House, in June, 1763; but died of an apoplectic fit on August 21st following, at his house in Piccadilly, London."

On March 12th, 1750-1, his Lordship married Alicia-Maria, daughter of George, Lord Carpenter, and sister to George Earl of Tyrconnel, in Ireland; and by her Ladyship (who was, at the establishment of the present Queen's household, in September, 1761, appointed one of the Ladies of the Bedchamber to her Majesty, and re-married on July 6th, 1767, to Count Bruhl, a Saxon nobleman, and died in 1794), had four sons, and three daughters. 1. George, now Earl of Egremont.

2. Percy-Charles, born on September 23d, 1757.

3. Charles-William, born on October 8th, 1759; now M. P. for Sussex; married, February 4th, 1801, Lady Anne, daughter of George, late Earl of Jersey, and widow of W. H. Lambton, Esq. 4. William-Frederick (to whom their Majesties were sponsors in person), born April 6th, 1763, married Miss Harford, natural daughter of the late Frederick Lord Baltimore; and has issue, 1. George-Francis, born August 30th, 1785. 2. Laura. 3. Julia. 4. A son born at Florence in July 1794; where the father was his Majesty's Minister in 1798.

Lady Elizabeth-Alicia-Maria, born on November 30th, 1752, and married July 1771, to Henry Earl of Caernarvon.

Lady Frances, born on July 10th, 1755, and married to Charles, now Earl Romney; and died January 15th, 1795.

Lady Charlotte, born on September 5th, 1756, but died young. GEORGE, the present and SECOND EARL OF EGREMONT, was born on December 7th, 1751, succeeded his father, in titles and estate, on August 21st, 1763, and is unmarried. His Lordship resides principally at his magnificent seat of Petworth, where he has distinguished himself by his attention to agricultural purguits.

See Park's R. and N. A. IV. 256.

Titles. George, Earl of Egremont, Lord and Baron of Cockermouth, and Bart.

Creations. Earl of Egremont, and Baron of Cockermouth, both in the county of Cumberland, October 3d, 1749, 23 George II.; and Bart. December 3d, 1661, 13 Car. II.

Arms. Azure, a chevron, between three lions heads erased, Or.

Crest. A lion's head, erased, within a Fetterlock, Or: but whether granted by the house of York, whose cognisance was a Fetterlock, or in an allusion to the family of Felbrigge, who also bore it, is not known.

Supporters. On the dexter side, a lion rampant, Azure, winged invertedly, Or. On the sinister side, a griphon, argent, gutté de

sang.

Motto. Au BON DROIT.

Chief Seats. Petworth, in the county of Sussex; and Wresilcastle, in Yorkshire; and at Orchard Windham, and Witham, in Somersetshire.

THIS ancient and illustrious family is descended from BERNARD, a nobleman of the blood royal of Saxony, who, being born in Denmark, was surnamed the Dane, This Bernard was chief counsellor, and second in command to the famous Rollo, progenitor to the Kings of England of the Norman line, in his descent upon Normandy, A. D. 876, and obtained the Lordships of Harcourt, Caileville, and Beauficel, in recompence for his eminent services, when Rollo, who was also a Dane, made himself master of that province. Bernard was likewise minister to Rollo's son, and successor, William, styled Longa-Spatha, and guardian to his son Richard, Duke of Normandy, surnamed the Hardy, as well as regent of the Norman territories, during his minority. This renowned statesman and warrior married de Sprote,

a lady of the Royal family of Burgundy, and by her left an only son and heir,

TORF, surnamed the Rich, who added Torville, Torcy, Torny, and Pontatou, to his paternal inheritance; and by Ertemberga his wife, daughter of Launcelot de Briquebec, a nobleman of Danish extraction, had three sons, viz.

1. Touroude, or Turulph.

2. Turchetil, ancestor to the present Earl Harcourt (as shall be fully shewn, after giving an account of the descendants of his said elder brother Touroude).

3. William de Torville.

And,

Touroude, or Turulph, the eldest son, was Lord of Pont-au-demer (or Pontaudomare), Torville, Torcy, Pontatou, and Bourgtouroude, and joint governor and guardian, with his brother Turchetil, to the aforesaid William Duke of Normandy, during his