Henry Graham, of Levens

Levens, Cumbria

Levens is a village and civil parish in the South Lakeland district of the English county of Cumbria. It has a population of 1,007. The village lies south of Kendal off the A6 and A590 roads. Levens Hall is within the parish.- External links :**...

 (born ca. 1676, died 7 January 1706/1707), also spelt Grahme, was an English

Kingdom of England

The Kingdom of England was, from 927 to 1707, a sovereign state to the northwest of continental Europe. At its height, the Kingdom of England spanned the southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain and several smaller outlying islands; what today comprises the legal jurisdiction of England...

 gentleman

Gentleman

The term gentleman , in its original and strict signification, denoted a well-educated man of good family and distinction, analogous to the Latin generosus...

, heir to a Westmorland

Westmorland

Westmorland is an area of North West England and one of the 39 historic counties of England. It formed an administrative county from 1889 to 1974, after which the entirety of the county was absorbed into the new county of Cumbria.-Early history:...

 estate

Landed gentry

Landed gentry is a traditional British social class, consisting of land owners who could live entirely off rental income. Often they worked only in an administrative capacity looking after the management of their own lands....

, and member of parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

.

Graham, born about 1676, was the eldest of the three sons of Colonel

Colonel

Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...

 James Grahme or Graham of Levens (1649–1729), by his marriage to Dorothy Howard, daughter of William Howard and a grand-daughter of Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Berkshire

Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Berkshire

Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Berkshire was the second son of Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk and Catherine Knyvet....

 (1587–1669). James Graham, who was a younger brother of Richard Graham, 1st Viscount Preston

Richard Graham, 1st Viscount Preston

Richard Graham, 1st Viscount Preston PC was an English politician and diplomat. He became a Jacobite conspirator, but his reputation in the Jacobite community suffered when he gave evidence against his co-conspirators in exchange for a pardon.-Origins and education:Graham was born at Netherby,...

, became Keeper

Keeper of the Privy Purse

The Keeper of the Privy Purse and Treasurer to the King/Queen is responsible for the financial management of the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom....

 of the Privy Purse

Privy Purse

The Privy Purse is the British Sovereign's remaining private income, mostly from the Duchy of Lancaster. This amounted to £13.3 million in net income for the year to 31 March 2009. The Duchy is a landed estate of approximately 46,000 acres held in trust for the Sovereign since 1399. It also has...

 to King James II

James II of England

James II & VII was King of England and King of Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland...

.

Henry Graham first stood for parliament

Parliament of England

The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England. In 1066, William of Normandy introduced a feudal system, by which he sought the advice of a council of tenants-in-chief and ecclesiastics before making laws...

 in the summer of 1700, at a county of Westmorland

Westmorland (UK Parliament constituency)

Westmorland was a constituency covering the county of Westmorland in the North of England, which returned Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.The constituency had two separate periods of existence....

 by-election which did not take place because of the dissolution of parliament. A Tory

Tory

Toryism is a traditionalist and conservative political philosophy which grew out of the Cavalier faction in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. It is a prominent ideology in the politics of the United Kingdom, but also features in parts of The Commonwealth, particularly in Canada...

, his campaign was dogged by allegations that he and his father were Roman Catholics. However, in 1701 he was elected as a knight of the shire for Westmorland and held this seat in the House of Commons

House of Commons of England

The House of Commons of England was the lower house of the Parliament of England from its development in the 14th century to the union of England and Scotland in 1707, when it was replaced by the House of Commons of Great Britain...

 until his early death.

Graham's Westmorland home was at Levens Hall

Levens Hall

Levens Hall is a manor house in the county of Cumbria in northern England. The first house on the site was a pele tower built by the Redman family in around 1350. Much of the present building dates from the Elizabethan era, when the Bellingham family extended the house...

, a country house

English country house

The English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a London house. This allowed to them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these people, the term distinguished between town and country...

 with a large estate four miles south of Kendal

Kendal

Kendal, anciently known as Kirkby in Kendal or Kirkby Kendal, is a market town and civil parish within the South Lakeland District of Cumbria, England...

 which his father had bought in 1689 for £

Pound sterling

The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...

24,000. However, although he was his father's heir, Graham inherited nothing from him. His father outlived him by more than twenty years and, indeed, outlived both of his brothers, so that in the end the property went to an heiress.

On 23 May 1705, at Knightsbridge

Knightsbridge

Knightsbridge is a road which gives its name to an exclusive district lying to the west of central London. The road runs along the south side of Hyde Park, west from Hyde Park Corner, spanning the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea...

, Graham married Lady Mary Tudor

Lady Mary Tudor

Lady Mary Tudor was the illegitimate daughter of Charles II of England by his mistress, the actress and singer Mary 'Moll' Davis, a celebrated rival of Nell Gwynn, King Charles' London-born mistress who was also an actress...

, an illegitimate daughter of King Charles II

Charles II of England

Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...

 by Moll Davies. This wedding came less than a week after the death of the bride's first husband, Edward Radclyffe, 2nd Earl of Derwentwater

Edward Radclyffe, 2nd Earl of Derwentwater

Edward Radclyffe, 2nd Earl of Derwentwater was an English peer, styled Viscount Radclyffe from 1688 to 1695.He inherited the earldom from his father, Francis Radclyffe, 1st Earl of Derwentwater in 1697...

, on 29 April. It was later reported that the two had been living together before her husband's death. The marriage caused Graham great trouble, both with his family and with others. Before it, Graham had held an office in the household of Prince George of Denmark, the husband of Queen Anne

Anne of Great Britain

Anne ascended the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland on 8 March 1702. On 1 May 1707, under the Act of Union, two of her realms, England and Scotland, were united as a single sovereign state, the Kingdom of Great Britain.Anne's Catholic father, James II and VII, was deposed during the...

, but as a result of the wedding he was dismissed from it.

Graham died at Westminster

Westminster

Westminster is an area of central London, within the City of Westminster, England. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, southwest of the City of London and southwest of Charing Cross...

on 7 January 1707.