The Creevey Papers
Thomas Creevey to Elizabeth Ord, 19 June 1833
“19th.
“. . . I met Brougham at dinner yesterday at Miss Berry’s, and a most agreeable dinner we had. In
addition to Brougham—Sydney Smith, Ld. and
Ly. Lyttelton, Ly. Charlotte Lindsay, Mr. and Mrs.
Stanley (the member for Cheshire). She is a person greatly
admired, a daughter of the late Lord
Dillon. Ly. Lyttelton, you know, is a
sister of Althorp’s, and seemed quite
as worthy, and in her dress as homely as he, tho’ the
Berry told me she was very highly accomplished. It was shortly
after I came into Parliament that Ward* and
Lyttelton† came into the H. of Commons, each
with great academical fame and every prospect of being distinguished public
men. Poor Ward, with all his acquirements and talents,
made little of it, went mad and died. Lyttelton having
married, and being very poor, could not afford to continue in Parliament; and
tho’ he wanted little to enable him to do so, the meanness of
Lord Spencer would not supply him with it, and he has
been an exile almost ever since. Tho’ grown very grey for his age, he is
as lively and charming a companion as the town can produce, and they are said
to be the happiest couple in the world.”
Mary Berry (1763-1852)
Of Twickenham, the elder sister of her companion Agnes Berry (1764-1852); she was a
diarist and one of Horace Walpole's primary correspondents.
Henry Peter Brougham, first baron Brougham and Vaux (1778-1868)
Educated at Edinburgh University, he was a founder of the
Edinburgh
Review in which he chastised Byron's
Hours of Idleness; he
defended Queen Caroline in her trial for adultery (1820), established the London University
(1828), and was appointed lord chancellor (1830).
Henry Augustus Dillon-Lee, thirteenth viscount Dillon (1777-1832)
Irish peer, son of the twelfth viscount; he was MP for Harwich (1799-1802) and Mayo
(1802-13) and contributed to the
New Monthly Magazine. Hazlitt said
of him, “but for some twist in his brain, would have been a clever man.”
Lady Charlotte Lindsay [née North] (1771 c.-1849)
The daughter of Frederick North, second Earl of Guilford; in 1800 she married Lt.-Col.
John Lindsay (d. 1826), son of James Lindsay, fifth Earl of Balcarres. She was Lady in
Waiting to Queen Caroline.
Lady Sarah Lyttelton [née Spencer] (1787-1870)
The daughter of George, second earl of Spencer, she married William Henry, third baron
Lyttelton in 1813; following his death in 1837 she was lady-in-waiting to Queen Victoria,
managing the nursery.
William Henry Lyttelton, third baron Lyttelton (1782-1837)
Whig politician and wit, son of William Henry, first baron Lyttelton of the second
creation; a noted Greek scholar at Christ Church, Oxford, he was MP for Worcestershire
(1807-20); in 1828 he succeeded his brother as baron.
Sydney Smith (1771-1845)
Clergyman, wit, and one of the original projectors of the
Edinburgh
Review; afterwards lecturer in London and one of the Holland House
denizens.
John Charles Spencer, third earl Spencer (1782-1845)
English politician, son of the second earl (d. 1834); educated at Harrow and Trinity
College, Cambridge, he was Whig MP for Northamptonshire (1806-34) and chancellor of the
exchequer and leader of the lower house under Lord Grey (1830).
Edward John Stanley, second baron Stanley (1802-1869)
The son of John Thomas Stanley, first Baron Stanley, educated at Christ Church, Oxford;
he was Whig MP for Hindon (1831), North Cheshire (1832-41, 1847-48), raised to the peerage
as baron Eddisbury (1848), president of the Board of Trade (1855-58) and postmaster-general
(1860-66).
Lady Henrietta Maria Stanley [née Dillon-Lee] (1807-1895)
Political hostess, the daughter of Henry Augustus Dillon-Lee, 13th Viscount Dillon; in
1826 she married Edward John Stanley, second Baron Stanley of Alderley. Bertrand Russell
was her grandson.
John William Ward, earl of Dudley (1781-1833)
The son of William Ward, third Viscount Dudley (d. 1823); educated at Edinburgh and
Oxford, he was an English MP, sometimes a Foxite Whig and sometimes Canningite Tory, who
suffered from insanity in his latter years.
