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BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF EMINENT PERSONS. 



THE EARL OF KKLLIE. 



Thomas Erskine, Karl of Kellie, Vis- 

 count Fenton, Baron Dirleton, Premier 

 Viscount of Scotland, and a Baronet of 

 Nova Scotia ; one of the sixteen Peers for 

 North Britain in the Imperial Parliament, 

 and Lord Lieutenant of the County of Fife, 

 was born in the year 1745. The immediate 

 ancestor of this branch of the noble family 

 of Erskine was Sir Alexander Erskine, of 

 Gogar, third son of John, twelfth Lord 

 Erskine, and fifth Earl of Mar, by Lady 

 Margaret Campbell, daughter of Archi- 

 bald, second Earl of Argyll. Sir Alexander 

 was governor to the young King James 

 the Sixth of Scotland, and First of England. 

 His eldest surviving son, Sir Thomas 

 Erskine, was born in the same year with 

 King James, was educated with him from 

 his childhood, was constantly about his 

 majesty's person ; and he had the tfood 

 fortune to be one of the instruments in the 

 rescue of the king from the treasonable 

 attempt of the Earl of Gowrie, whose bro- 

 ther, Alexander Ruthven, he slew with his 

 own hand. In the year 1666, he was 

 created Baron Dirleton and Viscount Fen- 

 toun ; being the first person raised to the 

 dignity of viscount in Scotland. He was 

 created, in IGli), Earl of Kellie ; and was 

 K.G. and a Privy Councillor in England and 

 Scotland. Charles, eighth Earl of Kellie, 

 died unmarried in 1799, and was suc- 

 ceeded by his uncle, whose death we are 

 about to record. His lordship married, in 

 1771, Anne, daughter of Captain Adam 

 Gordon, of Ardock. On the 9th of July, 

 1808, he obtained His Majesty's royal per- 

 mission to accept and wear the royal order 

 of Vassa, conferred on him by Gustavus 

 Adolphus, fourth King of Sweden. He 

 died on the 6th of February ; and, having 

 left no issue, was succeeded by his brother, 

 the Right Hon. Methuen Kellie Erskine, 

 of Airbrie. 



LORD RADNOR. 



Early in February, died, in his 78th 

 year, tae Right Hon. Jacob Pleydell Bou- 

 v> rie, Eirl of Radnor, Viscount Folkstone, 

 B;ron of Longford, and Baron Pleydell 

 Bouverie, of Coleshill, Berkshire, Bart., 

 Recorder of Sarum, and High Steward of 

 Wallingford, M.A., F.R., and A.S. His 

 lordship was the descendant of Lawrence 

 De Bouveries, of S.iinghin, near Lisle, in 

 Flanders, who fled to England on account 

 of his religion, and settled at Canterbury, 

 in the year 1568. His son Edward was 

 father of Sir Edward De Bouveries, an an- 

 cient Turkey merchant, knighted by James 

 II. His eldest son, William, was created 

 a baronet in 1714, by Queen Anne. His 

 nephew, Sir Jacob Bouverie, the third 

 baronet, was created a peer in 1747, by the 

 titles of Baron of Longford, and Viscount 



Folkstone His eldest son, William, was 

 raised to the dignity of Earl of Radnor in 

 1765. His lordship's first wife was daugh- 

 ter and heir to Sir Mark Stuart Pleydell, 

 Bart , who left his estate to his grandson, 

 Jacob, the late earl, with remainder to the 

 issue male of William, first Earl Radnor, 

 and of Jacob, first Lord Folkstone, his 

 father ; directing each person, enjoying 

 the same, to use the name of Pleydell 

 Bouverie. His lordship died in 1776, and 

 was succeeded by his eldest son, Jacob, 

 the late earl, to whom this brief notice 

 refers. His lordship married, in 1777, 

 Anne, daughter and co-heir of Anthony 

 Duncombe, Lord Feversham. By this 

 marriage, his lordship had, besides other 

 children, a son and successor, William, 

 Viscount Folkstone. The latter nobleman, 

 long distinguished in the ranks of oppo- 

 sition, was one of the representatives of 

 the borough of New Sarum. He married, 

 in the year 1800, the Lady Catherine Pel- 

 ham Clinton, only child of Henry, Earl of 

 Lincoln, eldest son of the second Duke of 

 Newcastle. 



LADY CAROLINE LAMB. 



With one of the best and most benevo- 

 lent of hearts, Lady Caroline Lamb, who 

 has lately passed to her final audit, was, 

 perhaps, one of the unhappiest of women ; 

 a woman, at all times, if we mistake not, 

 more sinned against than sinning. Her 

 liaison with Lord Byron excited much no- 

 tice and much scandal in the fashionable 

 world ; but, from the best of sources, we 

 have reason to believe that her aberrations 

 were only the aberrations of the imagina- 

 tion in other words, that the attachment 

 on the part of Lady Caroline to Lord Byron 

 was not of a criminal nature. 



Lady Caroline Ponsonby, the only daugh- 

 ter of the Right Hon. Frederick Ponsonby, 

 Earl of Besborough, by the Lady Henrietta 

 Frances Spencer, daughter of John, the 

 first earl of that name, was born on the 

 13th of November, 1785. Her education 

 was under the immediate eye of her grand- 

 mother, the accomplished Countess Dowa- 

 ger Spencer. Slight and delicate in form, 

 beautiful in the expression of her counte- 

 nance, her dark hair and eyes contrasted 

 with the fairness of her complexion, it 

 was natural that she should have many ad- 

 mirers. Of these, the favoured one was 

 the Hon. William Lamb, eldest son of 

 Viscount Melbourne, to whom she was 

 united on the 3d of June, 1805, before she 

 had attained the age of twenty. Of three 

 children, the issue of this marriage, George 

 Augustus Frederick, so named in honour 

 of his present Majesty, his sponsor at the 

 font, is the only one now living. 



Mr. Lamb was a man of taste and talent ; 

 Lady Caroline's literary pursuits were con- 



