Page:The Complete Peerage Ed 2 Vol 1.djvu/109

 AiLESBURY COMPLETE PEERAGE 59 at St. Alphage's, London Wall, Diana, 2nd da. of Henry (Grey), ist Earl OF Stamford, by Anne (heiress of Stamford), yst. da. and coh. of William (Cecil), 2nd Earl of Exeter. By her he had 8 sons and 9 daughters. He d. at Houghton Park, Beds, 20, and was bur. 16 Oct. 1685, aged 59, at Maulden in that co. (^) Will dat. i, and pr. 15 Dec. 1685. His widow, who was b. in the same parish as her husband, Q) d. 8, and was bur. 12 Apr. 1689, at Maulden. Will dat. 14 Jan. 1685/6, pr. 26 Feb. 1689/90. II. 1685. 2. Thomas (Bruce), Earl of Ailesbury, Cffc. [E.], also Earl of Elgin, tfc. [S.], 5th C') but ist surv. s. and h., b. 1656. M.P. for Marlborough, 1679-81 ; for Wilts, 1685. Page of Honour, at the Coronation of James II, 23 Apr. 1685. Groom of the Bedchamber, 1685-88. Lord Lieut, of cos. Bedford and Huntingdon 1685-88. He was one of the few noblemen who offered their services to James II after the Prince of Orange had embarked for England, and was one of the four Peers ('^) deputed to invite that King to return from Sheerness to Whitehall ; and when the King, two days later (18 Dec. 1688), was ejected from Whitehall, he was one of the four Peers (*) who accom- panied him to Rochester. The Earl returned to London, and took the oath to the Revolution Government. (') He was accused of having conspired, in May 1695, to plan the restoration of King James, and was imprisoned in the Tower of London, Feb. 1695/6, but admitted to bail 12 Feb. 1696/7, and subsequently allowed to quit the Kingdom. Hew., istly, 31 Aug. (or 30 Oct.) 1676, Elizabeth (who was raised, by royal warrant, 28 June 1672, to the precedency of a da. of the Duke of Somerset), 3rd da., but (*) Ailesbury House or " St. John's, " Clerkenwell, Midx. (where some of the ist Earl's children were born, 1646-62) was the London residence of this family till they sold it in 1706. It was part of the old Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem, and came to the Bruce family through that of Cecil, to whom it had been granted by James I. C) See p. 58, note "a." His elder brothers, Edward, ii«?-. 21 Mar. 1662 at Maulden, Robert, bur. there 17 Feb. 1652, Charles, bur. there 19 Nov. i66i,and Henry, all d. young, unm., and v.p.^ as did his yr. br., Bernard, bap. 3 Sep. 1666, at Ampthill, and bur. 31 May 1669, at Maulden. V.G. (") These were the Earls of Ailesbury, Yarmouth, and Feversham [E.], and the Earl of Middleton [S.]. C') These were the Earl of Ailesbury and the Earl of Lichfield [E.], the Earl of Dunbarton and the Earl of Arran, afterwards Duke of Hamilton, [S.]. (') He took the oath, regarding it, to use his own expression, as " a Garrison one," and thinking, moreover, that those "who desired protection (from the de facto King) ought to take some oath. " He sent, however, a message to William that he would accept nothing so long as James or his son lived. " Ailesbury and Dartmouth had as little scruple about taking the oath of allegiance [to William and Mary] as they afterwards had about breaking it ; " and in 1690, "Clarendon, who had refused the oaths, and Ailesbury, who had dishonestly taken them, were among the chief traitors." — See Macaulay, History of England. It is surely Whiggery run mad to brand as " Chief traitor " a man who only formally acknowledged the Revolution, and who preferred a long life in poverty, obscurity, and exile, to breaking the oath of allegiance which he had taken to King James. V.G.