321 



The following notes were read by Mr. James W. Lloyd :- 



NOTES ON THE HAELEY FAMILY. 



On the 29th of Jirne, 1882, the members of our Club visited Brampton Bryan 

 Castle and Park, the principal residence of the Harley family in this county, 

 with which they have been connected since the reign of Edward II. , and on that 

 occasion an interesting paper on "Brampton Bryan Castle, its sieges and Demoli- 

 tions," was read by the Rev. J. D. La Touche, which will be found in the volimie 

 of our Transactions for 1882. It will not therefore be necessary for me to refer to 

 the earlier history of the family or to the stirring scenes and times in which many 

 of its members played a part. A family which has given to our country, besides 

 its warriors, two bishops, several distinguished statesmen, liberal patrons of fine 

 arts and founders of a library and collection of manuscripts which form one of the 

 principal glories of our national collections in the British Museum, deserves at 

 least a few words of notice on this occasion, when we visit for the first time — 

 through the courtesy of the present noble occupant of Eywood — the beautiful 

 grounds surrounding this mansion, built by the Hon. Edward Harley, — second 

 son of Sir Edward Harley, to whom most of the touching letters written by his 

 mother, Lady Brilliana, during the civil war, which were inspected by some 

 of our members on our visit to Brampton Bryan in 1882, were written, — and 

 brother of Robert, 1st Earl of Oxford. He held the important office of Auditor 

 of the Imprest in the reign of Queen Anne, was Recorder of Leominster for 40 

 years, and represented that borough in Parliament for nearly 30 years. He died 

 in London on the 30th August, 1735, and is buried in the churchyard of this 

 parish of Titley, where a monument records his character and eminent virtues in 

 terms no higher than they deserved. 



INSCRIPTION ON THE TOMB OF THE HON. EDWARD HARLEY, TITLEY CHURCHYARD, 

 HEREFORDSHIRE. 



"Underneath this stone, by his own appointment, lie humbly interred the 

 remains of the Hon. Edward Harley, Esq., of Eywood, in the county of Hereford, 

 second son of Sir Edward Harley, Knight of the Bath, of Brampton Brian in the 

 same county, and brother of the Right Honourable Robert Earl of Oxford. He 

 married Sarah, third daughter of Thomas Foley, Esq., of Witley, in the county of 

 Worcester, by whom he had three sons and one daughter. He was Recorder of 

 Leominster for forty years, and represented that borough near thirty years in 

 Parliament, in which his skill in the law, an unwearied application to business, 

 and extensive knowledge of public afifairs, joined with a cakn and unprejudiced 

 judgment, a steady and unbiassed adherence to the Constitution, and a dis- 

 interested zeal for the good of the country, made him justly esteemed one of 

 the great supports and ornaments of it. In 1702, he was advanced by Queen 

 Anne to be one of the auditors of the Imprests, which important place he 

 21 



