William Paston, 2nd Earl of Yarmouth

William Paston, 2nd Earl of Yarmouth FRS (1654 – 25 December 1732) of Oxnead, Norfolk and Turnham Green, Chiswick, Middlesex was a British peer and politician.

The Earl of Yarmouth
Member of Parliament for Norwich
In office
1678–1683
Preceded byChristopher Jay
Francis Corie
Succeeded byRobert Paston
Sir Nevill Catlin
Personal details
Born
William Paston

1654
Died25 December 1732(1732-12-25) (aged 77–78)
Epsom, Surrey
Spouse(s)
(m. 1671; died 1684)

(m. 1687; died 1730)
RelationsSir William Paston, 1st Baronet (grandfather)
Children4, including Charles Paston, Lord Paston
Parent(s)Robert Paston, 1st Earl of Yarmouth
Rebecca Clayton
Alma materTrinity College, Cambridge

Early life

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Born in 1654, he was the eldest surviving son of six sons and three daughters of Robert Paston, 1st Earl of Yarmouth and his wife, Rebecca, née Clayton and was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge. He succeeded his father as 2nd Earl of Yarmouth in 1683, inheriting his estate and Oxnead Hall.[1]

His paternal grandparents were the antiquarian and arts collector Sir William Paston, 1st Baronet of Oxnead and, his first wife, Lady Katherine Bertie (a daughter of the 1st Earl of Lindsey). His maternal grandfather was Sir Jasper Clayton, a haberdasher from London.[2]

Career

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Oxnead Hall today

Paston was elected as a Tory Member of Parliament for Norwich from 1678. In 1679, when his father was made an earl, William adopted the style of Lord Paston. He continued to represent Norwich until he inherited his father's title.[1]

He converted to Roman Catholicism and in February 1687, James II appointed him Treasurer of the Household. He was also appointed joint Lord-Lieutenant of Wiltshire and Custos Rotulorum of Wiltshire in 1688.[1]

He reconverted to Anglicanism in 1689, but refused to swear allegiance to William and Mary when they came to the throne that year, subsequently losing all his offices.[1]

Suspected of Jacobitism, he was imprisoned twice, but was admitted to the House of Lords in 1696. He was briefly Vice-Admiral of Norfolk in 1719.[1]

He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1722.[3]

Personal life

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In 1671, he had married the widowed Charlotte Jemima Henrietta Maria Howard (née FitzRoy) (c. 1650–1684), the illegitimate daughter of Charles II and Elizabeth Killigrew Boyle,[4] wife of Francis Boyle (afterwards Viscount Shannon in Ireland). With her first husband, dramatist James Howard,[5] she had a daughter, Stuarta Werburge Howard, a lady-in-waiting to Queen Mary II who died unmarried. Before her death in London on 28 July 1684, they had four children who survived childhood, though only one survived him:

Charlotte was buried at Westminster Abbey. After her death, he married another wealthy widow, Hon. Elizabeth Wiseman (née North) (1647–1730) in March 1687.[9] The widow of Sir Robert Wiseman, she was a daughter of Dudley North, 4th Baron North and sister to Francis North, 1st Baron Guilford, Roger North, and John North.[10]

Lady Yarmouth died in 1830 and Lord Yarmouth died, heavily in debt, on 25 December 1732 at Epsom, Surrey, aged seventy-eight. As his sons, his brothers and their male heirs had predeceased him, his titles became extinct. His heavily mortgaged estate had to be sold.[citation needed]

Descendants

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Throug his eldest son Charles, he was a grandfather of Hon. Elizabeth Paston (d. 1724), who also predeceased Lord Yarmouth.[2]

Through his daughter, Lady Charlotte, he was a grandfather of Paston Herne, whose illegitimate daughter, Anne Herne, married Sir Everard Buckworth (later Buckworth-Herne), 5th Baronet, and was the mother of Sir Buckworth Buckworth-Herne-Soame, 6th Baronet.[2]

References

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Notes
  1. ^ Reportedly, Elizabeth Pitt's father was a porter and her mother was an apple-seller.[2]
Sources
  1. ^ a b c d e "PASTON, Hon. William (c.1654-1732), of Oxnead, Norf. and Turnham Green, Chiswick, Mdx". History of Parliament Trust. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d e Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes. Wilmington, Delaware: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003, volume 1, page 1289.
  3. ^ "Fellows details". Royal Society. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
  4. ^ David Hilliam, Monarchs, Murders and Mistresses, p. 239 ISBN 978-0752452357
  5. ^ Alison Weir, Britain's Royal Families: The Complete Genealogy (London, U.K.: The Bodley Head, 1999), page 256.
  6. ^ Henning, B. D. (1983). "PASTON, Charles, Lord Paston (1673-1718), of Oxnead Hall, Norf". The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1660-1690. Boydell and Brewer. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
  7. ^ George Edward Cokayne, editor, The Complete Baronetage, 5 volumes (no date (c. 1900); reprint, Gloucester: Alan Sutton Publishing, 1983), volume IV, page 170.
  8. ^ Hayton, D. W. "HOLLAND, Sir John (c.1669-c.1724), of Quidenham Hall, Norf". www.historyofparliamentonline.org. History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 24 July 2024.
  9. ^ Matthew, H. C. G.; Harrison, B., eds. (23 September 2004), "The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography", Elizabeth Wiseman in The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. ref:odnb/69890, doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/69890, retrieved 9 May 2023
  10. ^ Matthew, H. C. G.; Harrison, B., eds. (23 September 2004). "Elizxabeth Wiseman in The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. ref:odnb/69890. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/69890. Retrieved 9 May 2023. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
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Parliament of England
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Norwich
1678–1683
With: Francis Corie 1678
Augustine Briggs 1678–1683
Succeeded by
Honorary titles
Preceded by Custos Rotulorum of Wiltshire
1683–1688
Succeeded by
Preceded by Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire
(jointly with The Earl of Pembroke)

1688–1699
Succeeded by
Preceded by Vice-Admiral of Norfolk
1719
Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Treasurer of the Household
1687–1689
Succeeded by
Peerage of England
Preceded by Earl of Yarmouth
1683–1732
Extinct