The Creevey Papers
Thomas Creevey to Elizabeth Ord, 24 September 1827
“Wentworth, Sept. 24.
“. . . Another instance of our Bruffam’s hypocrisy. Wm. Powlett (I beg pardon, Lord William Powlett)* said to
me:—‘Brougham is very sore at your
not having called upon him during your stay at Lowther. My father shewed me
a letter from him in which he said—“I cannot but feel
greatly hurt that, after the long and intimate connection between
Creevey and me, he should
have been at Lowther, and never come to see me.”’
Now was there ever such a canting, mischievous fellow? He has done all he could
to injure me—has washed his hands of me in every way—he knows I
could not come to him—he knows that, if I could have done so, he was not at home. He does not care one damn if I was at the
bottom of the sea—most probably would rather I was there than
not—and yet, for some base purpose of his own—gets up this scene of
lying sentiment; to Darlington, too, of all
men. . . . At dinner I heard Princess
Lieven say to Lord
Fitzwilliam:—‘Your house, my lord, or your
palace, I should rather say, is the finest I have seen in England. It is
both beautiful and magnificent.’—To which old
Billy replied—‘It is indeed.’ She then
proceeded:—‘When foreigners have applied to me heretofore
for information as to the houses best worth seeing in England, I have sent
them to Stowe and Blenheim; but in future I shall tell them to go down to
Wentworth.’ The last compliment was received by old
Billy in solemn silence! not an atom
of reply!”
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).
Thomas Creevey (1768-1838)
Whig politician aligned with Charles James Fox and Henry Brougham; he was MP for Thetford
(1802-06, 1807-18) Appleby (1820-26) and Downton (1831-32). He was convicted of libel in
1813.
William Wentworth Fitzwilliam, second earl Fitzwilliam (1748-1833)
The nephew of the Marquis of Rockingham and lifelong friend of Charles James Fox and Lord
Carlisle; he was president of the Council (1806-07) and lieutenant of the West Riding from
1798 to 1819 when he was dismissed for his censure of the Peterloo massacre.
William Harry Vane, first duke of Cleveland (1766-1842)
The son of Henry Vane, second earl of Darlington (d. 1792); educated at Christ Church,
Oxford, he was a lifelong friend of Henry Brougham and a notable sportsman.
William John Frederick Vane, third duke of Cleveland (1792-1864)
The son of Sir William Henry Vane, first Duke of Cleveland; he assumed the name of
Powlett. He was educated at Brasenose College, Oxford, and was a Whig MP for Winchelsea
(1812-15), Durham County (1815-31), St. Ives (1846-52), and Ludlow (1852-57).
