Henrietta Harley, Countess of Oxford and Mortimer
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John Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle
John Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, KG, PC was the son of the 3rd Earl of Clare and his wife Grace Pierrepont. Grace was daughter of The Hon. William Pierrepont and granddaughter of the 1st Earl of Kingston-upon-Hull....
and his wife, the former Lady Margaret Cavendish
Margaret Cavendish (1661-1717)
Margaret Cavendish was the second child of Henry Cavendish, 2nd Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne and his wife Frances Pierrepoint....
, daughter of Henry Cavendish, 2nd Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
Her hand was sought in marriage even in her youth, as a means of alliance with her powerful father, by the Intendant of the Court of a Count of the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
in December 1703, the Elector of Hanover's son
George I of Great Britain
George I was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1 August 1714 until his death, and ruler of the Duchy and Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg in the Holy Roman Empire from 1698....
in June 1706, the Duke of Somerset
Edward Seymour, 8th Duke of Somerset
Edward Seymour, 8th Duke of Somerset was a British nobleman....
's son Lord Hertford
Edward Seymour, 9th Duke of Somerset
Edward Seymour, 9th Duke of Somerset, etc. was the son of Edward Seymour, 8th Duke of Somerset and Mary Webb...
in 1707-11, Count Nassau in 1709, and finally Lord Danby (grandson of Thomas Osborne, 1st Duke of Leeds
Thomas Osborne, 1st Duke of Leeds
Thomas Osborne, 1st Duke of Leeds, KG , English statesman , served in a variety of offices under Kings Charles II and William III of England.-Early life, 1632–1674:The son of Sir Edward Osborne, Bart., of Kiveton, Yorkshire, Thomas Osborne...
) in 1711, before her father settled on Edward Harley, 2nd Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer
Edward Harley, 2nd Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer
Edward Harley, 2nd Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer , styled Lord Harley between 1711 and 1724, was a British politician, bibliophile, collector and patron of the arts.-Background:...
. They were married on 31 August 1713, at Wimpole
Wimpole Hall
Wimpole Hall is a country house located within the Parish of Wimpole, Cambridgeshire, England, about 8½ miles southwest of Cambridge. The house, begun in 1640, and its 3,000 acres of parkland and farmland are owned by the National Trust and are regularly open to the public.Wimpole is...
. They had two children. Their son, Henry Cavendish Harley, Lord Harley, lived only four days. Their only child to attain maturity was Margaret
Margaret Bentinck, Duchess of Portland
Margaret Cavendish Bentinck, Duchess of Portland , styled Lady Margaret Harley before 1734, Duchess of Portland from 1734 to her husband's death in 1761, and Dowager Duchess of Portland from 1761 until her own death in 1785...
(1715-1785), and so whilst Margaret inherited most of the combined Holles-Harley fortunes on her parents' deaths, the title of Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer
Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer
Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer was a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1711 for the statesman Robert Harley, with remainder, failing heirs male of his body, to those of his grandfather, Sir Robert Harley...
passed to Edward's cousin (also Edward
Edward Harley, 3rd Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer
Edward Harley, 3rd Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer was a British peer.Harley was the son of Edward Harley and his wife Sarah Foley. He succeeded his cousin Edward Harley, 2nd Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer in the earldom in 1741...
).
Sources
- http://www.nottshistory.org.uk/articles/tts/tts1923/oxford/oxford1.htm