1827.] 



Biographical Memoirs of Eminent Persons. 



99 



ley Park, Berkshire, Esq.; 4th, Susan, 

 married in 1793, William Moatagu, fifth 

 Duke of Manchester ; 5th, Louisa, married 

 in 1797,Charles,secorid Marquess Cornwallis ; 

 6th, Georgiana, married in 1803, John, 

 present and sixth Duke of Bedford ; and, 

 7th, Alexander, a captain in the 59th regt. of 

 foot, who died in 1808. 



Jane, Duchess of Gordon, distinguished by 

 her beauty, talents, and gallantry, having 

 died in the year 1812, the duke married, in 

 1820, a lady of the name of Christie ; but, 

 by her, who died in 1824, he had no issue. 

 His Grace died at half-past ten, on the night 

 of Sunday the 17th of June, at his residence 

 in Mount Street, Berkeley Square. Notwith- 

 standing his advanced period of life, his 

 Grace was in. the enjoyment of excellent 

 health, and had been as far as Clapton Com- 

 mon only a few hours before he died. 



George, his Grace's eldest son, and succes- 

 sor, the present duke, was summoned to the 

 House of Lords, in 1807, as Baron Gordon 

 of Huntley, in the county of Gloucester. He 

 is a general in the army, and colonel of the 

 1st regt. of foot. He married in 18 J3, a 

 daughter of Alexander Brodie, of Arne Hall, 

 North Britain, Esq. 



LORD DE TABLE Y. 



As a munificent patron of literature, and 

 the Fine Arts, the death of Lord de Tabley, 

 will be extensively and sincerely lamented. 

 The ancient Cheshire family of Leicester, re- 

 presented by his Lordship, derives its origin 

 from Sir Nicholas Leicester Kirk, who was 

 seneschal to Henry de Lacey, Earl of Lin- 

 coln and Constable of Leicester, in the reign 

 of Edward I. and 1 1. The family appears to 

 have been seated at Tabley for many gene- 

 rations. Sir Peter Leicester, fourteenth in 

 descent from Sir Nicholas, was created a 

 baronet in the year 1660. Sir Peter's grand- 

 son, Sir Francis, had a daughter, and heiress, 

 who married, as her second husband, Sir 

 John Byrne, of Timogue, in Ireland, Bart. 

 Her eldest son, Sir Peter, succeeded his 

 father in the Irish baronetcy, and his mater- 

 nal grandfather in the estate of Tabley. In 

 the year 1744, he, by Act of Parliament, 

 assumed the name of Leicester only. He 

 married, in 1755, Catherine, third daughter, 

 and co-heiress, of Sir William Fleming, of 

 Ryddal, Bart. Of this marriage, John Flem- 

 ing, late Lord de Tabley, was the fourth, and 

 eldest surviving son. 



Sir John was born on the 4th of April, 

 1762. Almost from infancy he was devoted 

 by personal attachment, and by congeniality 

 of mind and pursuits, to his present Majesty, 

 by whom be was honoured by close and fami- 

 liar intercourse. In early life he visited Italy, 

 where he spent a considerable time with the 

 late Francis, Duke of Bedford, in the culti- 

 vation of his taste for literature and the Fine 

 Arts. This taste became almost a passion 

 with him ; and, it is not too much to say, 

 that by his death, the English school of 



painting has lost one of its best friends. ID 

 the encouragement of painting, sculpture, 

 and engraving, he was at once liberal, gene- 

 rous, and indefatigable. As a connoisseur, his 

 judgment was correct his taste exquisite; 

 and, as a painter, he possessed great merit. 

 His superb collection, formed at immense 

 cost, was frequently opened for public in- 

 spection. Regarding it in a national light, 

 it is anxiously to be hoped that this collection 

 may not be dispersed. 



It may be said of Lord de Tabley, that he 

 was an elegant scholar, and a perfect gentle- 

 man. His manners were refined ; and, in 

 all the relations of life, he was an object of 

 respect, esteem, and love. Nothing could 

 surpass the delight of his domestic circle at 

 Tabley. 



Sir John Leicester married, in the year 

 1810, Georgiana Maria, daughter of Lieu- 

 tenant-Colonel Cotton. In the year 1826, he 

 was elevated to the peerage, by the title of 

 Baron de Tabley, of Tabley House, in the 

 county Palatine of Chester. His Lordship 

 was colonel of his Majesty's regiment of 

 Cheshire yeomanry. 



By Lady de Tabley, whose beauty, kind- 

 ness, and intelligence, diffused a charm over 

 all who came within the sphere of her influ- 

 enceof whom the exquisite portrait, as 

 Hope, by Sir Thomas Lawrence, can never 

 be forgotten his Lordship has left two sons ; 

 George, his successor, born on the 28th of 

 October, 1811; and William Henry, born on 

 the 4th of Julj', 1813. 



Lord de Tabley, who had endured a linger- 

 ing and painful illness, since the llth of De- 

 cember last, died at Tabley, on the J 8th of 

 June. 



THE REV. MARK NOBLE. 



The Rev. Mark Noble, F.A.S., a gentle- 

 man well known in the literary world, as an 

 antiquary and historian, was rector of Barm- 

 ing, in Kent. Residing upon his living, his 

 leisure allowed him to write and publish a 

 variety of works, extremely valuable, from 

 the indefatigable industry and research which 

 they display. Regarding his productions as 

 extremely useful for reference, we subjoin 

 the following list : Two Dissertations on the 

 Mintand Coins of the EpiscopalPalace of Dur- 

 ham, 4to. 1780; Genealogical Histories of 

 the present Royal Families of Europe, 8vo. 

 1781 ; Memoirs of the Protectorate House 

 of Cromwell, 2 vols. 8vo., 1781 ; Memoirs 

 of the House of Medici, 1797 ; Lives of the 

 English Regicides, 2 vols. 8vo., 1797 ; His- 

 tory of the College of Arms, 4to., 1801 ; 

 Biographical Anecdotes of England, in con- 

 tinuation of Granger, 2 vols.Svo., 1809. 



Mr. Noble died on the 26th of May. 



VOLTA. 



This celebrated natural philosopher, who 

 has just terminated his honourable career, 

 was born at Como, in the month of Febru- 

 ary, 1745. At the period when bis classical 



