The Creevey Papers
Frances Ann Taylor to Thomas Creevey, 1 June 1827
“June 1, 1827.
“. . . Mr.
Canning’s weakness was pretty visible in the Penryn
case.† Brougham was so very tipsy,
* George III. † Gross bribery and corruption had been proved
to prevail in the little Cornish borough of Penryn, which returned two
members. Lord John Russell’s
motion that it be disfranchised was opposed by the Government, and
defeated by 124 votes to 69. |
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| 120 | THE CREEVEY PAPERS | [Ch. V. |
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that for some time after he got up to speak he did not
know what he said, and neither Tierney,
Macdonald nor Abercromby were in the House. Little Sir T. T[yrwhitt] has just come in to tell me
he was this moment passed in the street by Mr.
Lambton in a travelling carriage alone; so that he is come up to
see if peerages are plenty!”
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).
George Canning (1770-1827)
Tory statesman; he was foreign minister (1807-1809) and prime minister (1827); a
supporter of Greek independence and Catholic emancipation.
Sir James Macdonald, second baronet (1784-1832)
The son of Sir Archibald Macdonald (d. 1826) and Lady Louisa Leveson-Gower; educated at
Westminster School, he was MP for Tain burghs (1805-06), Newcastle-under Lyme (1806-12),
Sutherland (1812-16), Calne (1816-31), and Hampshire (1831-32); he was clerk of the Privy
Seal.
John Russell, first earl Russell (1792-1878)
English statesman, son of John Russell sixth duke of Bedford (1766-1839); he was author
of
Essay on the English Constitution (1821) and
Memoirs of the Affairs of Europe (1824) and was Prime Minister (1865-66).
George Tierney (1761-1830)
Whig MP and opposition leader whose political pragmatism made him suspect in the eyes of
his party; he fought a bloodless duel with Pitt in 1798. He is the “Friend of Humanity” in
Canning and Frere's “The Needy Knife-Grinder.”
Sir Thomas Tyrwhitt (1762-1833)
The nephew of the scholar of the same name; he was educated at Eton and Christ Church,
Oxford, and was MP for Okehampton (796-1802), Portarlington (1802-06) and Plymouth
(1806-12), private secretary to the Duke of Clarence, and Black Rod.
