Page:The Complete Peerage Ed 1 Vol 7.djvu/146

 144 SHREWSBURY. Bologna, by (— ), da. of Car!o DrDr.nr, titular Duke of Northumberland. (") He d. s.p. at his seat at Isleworth, co. Midx., 1 Feb. 1717/8, in his 58th year, when the Dukedom of Shrewsbury ami the Marqueuatt of Alton became extinet.{ b ) Will pr. 171S. His widow, who. from' 1714 till her death, was one of the Ladies of the Bedchamber to the Princess of Wales, rf. 29 June 1728. Earldom. 13. Gilbert Talbot, do, jure Karl of Shrewsbury, ■-.rr 171 S <l ' so Earl of Watkrkokd [}.], 1st cousin and h., being second . 1. Klc. s j c ^ )f t(je Q ilbert 'I'aluot, by Jane, da. of (— ) Flats- bury, which Gilbert (who was bur. at Twickenham, 23 Sep. 17111, was 4th s. of the 10th Karl. He was 4. 1670 ; became a novice of the Jesuits, 1694: Priest about 1700. and Father, 1 709, taking the name of Grey. He sue. to the peerage, 1 Feb. 1717/8, but never assumed the title ; Itector of the College of St, Aloysius (Lancashire District;, 1734-38. lie d. unm, 22 July 1743, aged about 73, and was bur. at St. Pancras, Midx. Will pr. 1744. XVII. 1743. 14- George (Talbot), Karl of Shrewsbury, also Eahl op W.vmiKoitu [I.], nephew ami h., being 1st s. and h. of the Hon. George Talbot, by M iry, da. of Thomas (Fitzwili.iam), 4 th Viscob.yt Fitzwilliam of Mkhrion [I.], which" George(d) llHt n:ime ,{ (who d. 12 Dec. 1733, that her [the Duchess's] brother had forced the Duke to marry her after an intrigue together," and she describes her as entertaining ami diverting, tho' sometimes exceed- ing the bounds <»f decency, having a great memory and speaking three languages to perfection, and finally as being " the most cunning designing woman alive." The Earl of Strafford, also [Wentworth Papers, p. 134, edit. 1883], speaks of the Duke as having Hi. "a lady very poor and of an indifferent reputation, which lost him credit amongst his old friends." The Duke himself writes to the Bishop of Oxford (his cousin) that his wife " au Italian lady of excellent accomplishments, that she is turned from the church of Rome," &c. See Hearue's " Collections," 29 Sep. 170;", in which wurk, 25 Dec. 1705, are these verses ; "Oh yes ! from henceforth sit omnibus notum, That a great Duke of England and Statesman of Gotham, Hath rob-bed the public by stealing a woman And pounding iu wedlock a beast of the common ; So dotage concludes the great feats of his life, And Brachiano's cheap mistress is Talbot's dear wife." (') See vol. "i, p. 89, note " d," sub " Northumberland." ( b ) Iu spite of his ill health, (caused by a fall out hunting, which occasioned frequent spitting of blood) his high position and the suavity of his manners secured him a great place in the annals of his time. Macaulay says of him " his person was ple;ising, his temper singularly sweet, his parts such as if he been horn in a humble rank might well have raised him to the height of civil greatness. . His morals by no means escaped the contagion of fashionable libertinism ... He was early called the King of Hearts." Bishop Burnet enthusiastically says of him " never was a greater mixture of honour, virtue [as to which Swift interpolates " none"] and good sense in any one person. . . and altho' but one eye, yet he has a very charming countenance and is the most generally-beloved, by the ladies, of any gentleman in his time." His portrait "after Sir G. Kneller " is engraved in "Doyle." He purchased the estate of Heythorpf, co. Oxon, which, till 1856, was the chief residence of his successors, on whom he entailed all his estates, procur- ing an Act of Pari, to establish it in perpetuity. ( c ) John Talbot, the 1st son, is spoken of as " a Jesuit ami cannot take the title. He lives with my Lady Petre." [Harley's "Memoranda." See p. 17, note "c," sub "Saint John."] He d. s.p. presumably before 1 Feb. 1717/8. (dj This George Talbot (owing to the lion assumption thereof by his eldest hr.) " did pretend to the title, and his widow is so silly aa to preteud to it, and suffers her three daughters to be called Ladies, and puts the Earl's coronet over glasses and upon plate, but durst not put it on the achievement, nor coach, tho' in writings she signs Alary Talbot. Mr. George Talbot left six sons and three daughters, the eldest son, George, is at Paris fur hia education, 1735." [Harley's " Memoranda, See p. 17, note "c," sub "Saint John."