James Waldegrave, 1st Earl Waldegrave

James Waldegrave

James Waldegrave, 1st Earl Waldegrave KG PC (1684 – 11 April 1741) was a British ambassador.

Waldegrave was the son of the 1st Baron Waldegrave and Henrietta FitzJames, the illegitimate daughter of James II and Arabella Churchill.

Waldegrave inherited his father's title in 1690 and on 20 May 1714, he married Mary Webb (who died in childbirth in 1719), a daughter of Sir John Webb, 3rd Baronet and they had three surviving children:

• Hon. James Waldegrave (1715–1763)
• Hon. John Waldegrave (1718–1784)
• Lady Henrietta Waldegrave (1717–1753), married firstly, Lord Edward Herbert, a son of the 2nd Marquess of Powis and had issue; married secondly, John Beard (a singer at Covent Garden).

After the death of his wife, he converted from Roman Catholicism (the religion he was brought up with) to Anglicanism to take his seat in the House of Lords. He was briefly a Lord of the Bedchamber in 1723 and then from 1730–41 and Ambassador to Austria from 1727–30 and to France from 1730–40. During his ambassadorship to France, he still spent enough time in London to be one of the founding Governors of the new charity there, known as the Foundling Hospital (created in 1739). In 1729, he had been created Earl Waldegrave and on his death in 1741, was succeeded by his eldest son, James.

Sir James inherited Hever Castle in Kent which had remained in the Waldegrave family for 160 years. It was deemed too small for Sir James and he sold it in the early 1700s to Sir William Humfreys, Lord Mayor of London (1714).

Ancestry

Family of James Waldegrave, 1st Earl Waldegrave

16. Sir Edward Waldegrave, 1st Baronet, of Hever Castle               8. Sir Henry Waldegrave, 2nd Baronet, of Hever Castle                       17. Eleanor Lovell               4. Sir Charles Waldegrave, 3rd Baronet, of Hever Castle                             18. Edward Paston               9. Anne Paston                       19. Margaret Berney               2. Henry Waldegrave, 1st Baron Waldegrave                                   20. Sir Francis Englefield, 1st Baronet, of Wootton Basset               10. Sir Francis Englefield, 2nd Baronet, of Wootton Basset                       21. Jane Browne               5. Helen Englefield                             22. William Brooksby               11. Winifred Brooksby                       23. Dorothy Wiseman               1. James Waldegrave, 1st Earl Waldegrave                                         24. James I of England               12. Charles I of England                       25. Anne of Denmark               6. James II of England                             26. Henry IV of France               13. Henrietta Maria of France                       27. Marie de' Medici               3. Henrietta FitzJames                                   28. John Churchill               14. Sir Winston Churchill                       29. Sarah Winston               7. Arabella Churchill                             30. Sir John Drake               15. Elizabeth Drake                       31. The Hon. Eleanor Boteler

References

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Diplomatic posts
Preceded by François-Louis de Pesmes de Saint-Saphorin	British Ambassador to Austria 1727–1730	Succeeded by Thomas Robinson
Preceded by The Lord Walpole of Wolterton	British Ambassador to France 1730–1740	Succeeded by Anthony Thompson
Honorary titles
Preceded by Robert Honywood	Vice-Admiral of Essex 1735–1741	Vacant Title next held by The Earl of Rochford
Peerage of Great Britain
New creation	Earl Waldegrave 1729–1741	Succeeded by James Waldegrave
Peerage of England
Preceded by Henry Waldegrave	Baron Waldegrave 1690–1741	Succeeded by James Waldegrave