Page:The Complete Peerage Ed 2 Vol 4.djvu/97

 DARLINGTON 8i whose son, Georg Ludwig, afterwards George 1 of England, she (as also the wife of Count von Platen, her eldest brother) held a similar post. She, who was b. about 1 673, w. (when young) Johann Adolph Kielmansegge, afterwards Baron von Kielmansegge, and IVIaster of the Horse to George I, before he was King. He (after whom his wife's (^) children were named) d. 15, and was bur. 17 Nov. 1717, at St. James's, Westm. The lady followed her Royal lover to England in 17 14, gaining a march thereby on her rival (afterwards Duchess of Kendal), who was unwilling to quit Hanover.C') On 1 1 Sep. 1721, she was cr. COUNTESS OF LEINSTER [I.], for life, and on 6 Apr. 1722, was cr. BARONESS OF BRENTFORD, Midx., and COUNTESS OF DARLINGTON, co. Durham, for life. She d. at her house in St. James's, 20, and was bur. 24 Apr. 1725, in Westm. Abbey, when all her Peerages (being for life only) became extinct.(f) Will dat. 3 Dec. 1723 to 18 Apr. 1725, pr. 20 Mar. i'/2 ^16. II. 1754. I. Henry Vane, s. and h. of Gilbert (Vane), 2nd Baron Barnard, by Mary, da. and coh. of Morgan Randyll, of Chilworth, Surrey, was b. about 1705; M.P. (Whig) for Launceston (<^) 1726-27, for St. Mawes 1727-41, for Ripon 1741-47, and for CO. Durham 1747-53; P.C. [I.] 18 Sep. 1742; Vice Treasurer and Paymaster Gen. [I.] 1742-44; a Lord of the Treasury 1749-55. ITe sue. his father in the Peerage, as Baron Barnard, 27 Apr. 1753. Lord Lieut. CO. Durham 1753-58. On 3 Apr. 1754, he was cr. VISCOUNT BAR- (^) In her will she mentions her sons, George Lewis, Charles Augustus, and Ernest Augustus, Count von Kielmansegge, her da.. Lady Howe, and her youngest da., "Carolina, Lady von Kielmansegge." It was proved by "George Lewis, Count von Kielmansegge." The death of "Count Kilmansegg, a German nobleman," occurred in Feb. 1733/4. C") The Countess, from her enormous bulk, was called "the Elephant and Castle," while her said rival ("the head of the extraordinary seraglio"), "whose elongated figure was attenuated almost to emaciation," was called " the Maypole." She "was complaisant enough to allow the King to extend his favours to younger rivals." Of the honours conferred on these ladies, Sir Philip Francis, in Historical Questions, 1818, says they were given "to reward their merits in their respective departments, and to encourage the surrender of prudery in younger and handsomer subjects." As not only the King himself, but his s. and h. ap. (afterwards George II), also kept a bevy of such ladies, while his grandson Frederick (afterwards Prince of Wales), though a mere boy, "maintained an established mistress; the world was startled by the discreditable fact of three generations in the same family, indulging openly in the same vice at the same time." See Jesse's Court of Hanover, vols, ii and iii. For some account of Royal mistresses and bastards see vol. vi, Appendix F. G.E.C. and V.G. ("=) Horace Walpole says of her, " I remember, as a boy, being terrified at her enormous figure. The fierce black eyes, large and rolling, beneath two lofty arched eyebrows, two acres of cheeks spread with crimson, an ocean of neck that overflowed and was not distinguished from the lower part of her body, and no part restrained by stays." V.G. {^) Being, however, a prominent opponent of Walpole in the later years of his administration. V.G. II