William Nassau de Zuylestein, 4th Earl of Rochford
Encyclopedia
William Henry Nassau, 4th Earl of Rochford, PC
, KG
(17 September 1717 O.S. – 29 September 1781) was a British
courtier
, diplomat
and statesman
of Anglo-Dutch descent. He occupied senior ambassador
ial posts at Madrid
and Paris
, and served as Secretary of State
in both the Northern and Southern Departments. He is credited with the earliest-known introduction of the Lombardy poplar to England
in 1754.
He was a personal friend of such major cultural figures as the actor David Garrick
, the novelist Laurence Sterne
, and the French playwright Beaumarchais
. George III
valued Rochford as his expert advisor on foreign affairs in the early 1770s, and as a loyal and hard-working cabinet minister
. Rochford was the only British secretary of state between 1760 and 1778 who had been a career diplomat.
Rochford played key roles in the Manila Ransom
negotiation with Spain
(1763–66), the French acquisition of Corsica
(1768), the Falkland Islands crisis of 1770-1, the crisis following the Swedish Revolution of 1772, and the aftermath of the Royal Marriages Act of 1772. In addition to his work as foreign secretary, he carried a heavy burden of domestic responsibilities in the early 1770s, especially Irish
affairs. He was a key member of the North administration in the early phase of the American War of Independence
. Illness and a political scandal forced him from office in November 1775.
. His ancestry was Anglo
-Dutch
, descended in an illegitimate line from William the Silent
’s son Frederick Henry
(1584–1647), Prince of Orange. Rochford’s grandfather and great-grandfather both had English wives, ladies-in-waiting at the courts of William II
and William III
of Orange. His grandfather was a close companion of William III, accompanying him to England in the Glorious Revolution of 1688-9
, and later rewarded with the earldom of Rochford
.
Educated at Eton College
(1725–32) as Viscount
Tunbridge, Rochford’s school friends included three future secretaries of state
, Conway
, Halifax
and Sandwich
. However, he also made a lifelong enemy at Eton of the Prime minister
’s son, the influential writer Horace Walpole
. Instead of going to university, Rochford was sent to the Academy at Geneva
, where he lodged with the family of Professor Antoine Maurice. From Geneva
he emerged as fluent in French
as he was in Dutch and English, and succeeded his father as 4th Earl of Rochford in 1738 at the age of twenty-one.
to George II
in 1739 (a mark of special royal favour) and served in this role until 1749. He inherited strong Whig principles and was a loyal supporter of the Hanover
ian Protestant succession
, but also admired Sir Robert Walpole’s
peaceful foreign policy. At the time of the 1745 Jacobite Rebellion he offered to raise a regiment
, but this was not needed. He was active in Essex
politics in the government’s interest, but he was no orator and made no impression in the House of Lords
. He was appointed Vice-Admiral of the coasts of Essex in 1748. Though ambitious for high political office, he avoided the factions
and cultivated the King’s son, the Duke of Cumberland, as his patron
. Cumberland successfully lobbied for Rochford to be given a diplomatic post at the end of the War of the Austrian Succession
, and he was named Envoy
to Turin
in January 1749.
on 9 September 1749. This was still the most important of the Italian courts for British foreign policy at this time, and he started as Envoy Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
, the highest rank in the British diplomatic service short of ambassador. However, he had agreed to accept an ordinary Envoy’s salary for a probationary period, and this gave him a strong incentive to show zeal and become a thoroughly professional diplomat. His first negotiations, on behalf of a company of English miners and the Protestant Vaud
ois communities of the Piedmont Alps
, were entirely successful, and he then obtained his full salary. He ingratiated himself with the king, Carlo-Emmanuele III
, by accompanying him on early morning hunting rides. Rochford made useful friends at court, and was highly-regarded by the diplomatic corps at Turin. He played a minor but useful role in the complex negotiations for the Treaty of Aranjuez (1752)
. He made a tour of Italy in 1753 and used a spy to gain intelligence of the Young Pretender’s
court at Rome
. He also made full use of British consuls
in the region to obtain information about trade matters and French involvement in Corsica
, rewarding them with the removal of the duty on British shipping at Villafranca
.
, Rochford resumed his career as a courtier, appointed by George II as First Lord of the Bedchamber
and Groom of the Stole
, highly prestigious posts. He was also appointed a member of the Privy Council
in 1755. As Lord Lieutenant
of Essex
from May 1756, Rochford was closely involved in forming the Essex regiment of militia
, becoming its Colonel
in November 1759. At the death of George II
in 1760 Rochford lost his lucrative court posts, but was compensated with a generous pension
. He spent the early 1760s involved in local Essex politics and ‘improved’ the Park at his St Osyth estate, adding a formal Dutch garden and a maze
. However, his landed income was small for an earl, and a return to diplomacy became a financial necessity. He was named Ambassador
to Spain
on 18 June 1763.
were mainly concerned with countering French influence over the king, Carlos III
, and reporting on Spain’s naval
reconstruction after her late and disastrous entry into the Seven Years’ War. His first major negotiation resulted from Spain’s expulsion of British logwood cutters from the Yucatán Peninsula
in Honduras
. With strong support from Grenville’s
administration, Rochford’s threats of naval force made the Spanish back down, but gave him a reputation as an anti-Bourbon. Less successful were his efforts to compel Spain to pay the disputed Manila Ransom, which the French foreign minister Choiseul
suggested should be submitted to arbitration
. Rochford’s alertness uncovered a French plot to set fire to British naval dockyards, a scheme which was postponed until 1770. His friendship with the British consul-general at Madrid, Stanier Porten (uncle of the historian Edward Gibbon
) deepened his interest in trade matters, and he used the consuls as well as paid spies
to get accurate information about Spain’s naval rebuilding. While at Madrid he befriended the young French playwright Beaumarchais
, whose experiences in Spain later formed the basis of his play ‘The Marriage of Figaro
’. Near the close of his embassy, Rochford was an eyewitness to the Madrid Riots of 1766
.
was unexpected, and he left Madrid in such haste that he had to pawn his plate to settle his debts. He insisted on taking the exceptionally capable Porten to Paris as his secretary of embassy. Choiseul
at once embroiled Rochford in a scheme to trade off Britain’s claim to the Manila Ransom for relinquishment of the Falkland Islands
, but the misreporting of a previous ambassador, Lord Hertford, and the inexperience of the secretary of state, Lord Shelburne
, wrecked this transaction. Choiseul was furious, and unfairly blamed Rochford. Rochford was almost the only member of the diplomatic corps at Paris brave enough to stand up to Choiseul’s bullying, and their negotiations over such matters as Dunkirk, the Canada Bills and the East India Company
’s claim for compensation for wartime expenses in India
were often acrimonious. Rochford prepared thoroughly and mastered the details, winning grudging concessions from Choiseul on all three issues.
Choiseul’s greatest coup
(and Rochford’s greatest failure) concerned France’s secret acquisition of Corsica
from the Republic of Genoa
in 1768. Though Rochford gave early warning of the likely terms, and paid a spy to get a copy of the draft treaty
, the British cabinet
led by Lord Grafton was too preoccupied by rioting in London and failed to support their ambassador in Paris. Rochford also had the misfortune to fall seriously ill for a fortnight at the height of the crisis, enabling Choiseul to clinch the deal with Genoa. Britain’s protests thereafter were ineffectual, and an angry Rochford returned to London to resign his embassy. Instead, he was offered a cabinet
seat, which he finally accepted on 21 October 1768, on condition that Porten became his under-secretary.
and the anonymous letter-writer ‘Junius’ thought it odd that Rochford was appointed northern secretary
when all of his diplomatic experience had been in southern courts, but Lord Weymouth had insisted on taking the Southern Department
as the more important of the secretaryships. British foreign policy, and Britain’s reputation in Europe, had sunk to their lowest ebb of the eighteenth century thanks to the 1768 Corsican fiasco, but Rochford’s realistic and capable handling of his new portfolio
strengthened British foreign policy in several ways. British diplomats abroad were relieved to be dealing with a secretary of state who knew the business of diplomacy, and regularly kept them informed. Hamish Scott has suggested that Rochford ‘almost single-handed’ averted the impending shipwreck for Britain’s reputation in Europe
.
Britain’s main goal at this time was a treaty of alliance with Russia
, but the Empress Catherine II
and her foreign minister Panin
insisted on a hefty subsidy
, which Rochford refused. Instead he persuaded George III
to pour secret service money into Swedish
politics, to support Russia and undermine French influence. Britain’s envoy at Stockholm
, Sir John Goodricke
, made adroit use of this money, and helped to maintain Sweden’s liberal constitution. According to Michael Roberts
, Rochford was much more practical and realistic than Choiseul in his handling of Swedish affairs.
of a British garrison from the Falkland Islands
in May 1770 sparked a major diplomatic crisis that brought Europe to the brink of war. Historians have hitherto attributed the resolution of this crisis to a ‘secret promise’ by the British Prime Minister
Lord North
that Britain would quietly evacuate the islands at some future date if the Spanish agreed to disavow their officers and restore the fort to Britain. Recent research in the foreign diplomatic archives suggests an entirely different view of the British side of this crisis. Far from resolving the crisis, North’s ‘secret promise’ nearly wrecked an agreed policy of firm response backed by the threat of naval force. This was Rochford’s policy, backed by George III
. Though he was Northern Secretary in 1770, Rochford’s advice to cabinet as a former ambassador to Madrid and Paris was decisive. Weymouth
’s laziness and frequent absences left his Southern portfolio for Rochford to manage as well as his own. It was Rochford who ordered the Admiralty to prepare a fleet for war, and sent a simple demand for disavowal and restitution to Madrid. Spain’s response crucially depended on French support in the event of war, and France began to prepare a fleet, but the French king’s dismissal of Choiseul
in December 1770 removed that prospect, and the recall of the British envoy Harris
from Madrid
showed that Britain was still prepared to go to war. Weymouth
also resigned in December 1770, and Rochford replaced him as southern secretary
on 19 December 1770.
, who spent a year improving his French so that he could converse with the foreign diplomats in London. In the meantime, Rochford was de facto
foreign minister
, handling all of Britain’s diplomatic correspondence until 1772. Before the creation of separate Home
and Foreign offices
in 1782, the Southern Secretary
carried a heavy burden of domestic responsibilities, including oversight of Ireland
. The Irish correspondence almost equalled the rest of Rochford’s domestic correspondence across 1771-5.
Rochford’s first successes as Southern Secretary
were to persuade the new French foreign minister the duc d’Aiguillon
to settle the long-standing Canada Bills dispute, and to forestall a French attempt to reinforce their depleted possessions in India. After George III
’s clumsy intervention in Denmark
in 1772 to support his disgraced sister, Queen Caroline, Rochford’s first big challenge as southern secretary was the Swedish crisis of 1772-3, following the constitutional coup by Gustavus III
in August 1772. This crisis again brought Europe to the brink of war, as Russia threatened to invade Sweden and France threatened to send a fleet to the Baltic
to support Gustavus. Rochford played a key role in this crisis, advising caution to the Russians and warning the French that Britain would also send a fleet to the Baltic. Panin finally decided not to invade, and the crisis eased as the French switched their naval armament from Brest
to Toulon
.
The First Partition of Poland
in 1772 had, as Rochford noted, ‘changed absolutely the System of Europe’, demonstrating the emergence of Russia and Prussia as predatory new powers. With encouragement from George III, Rochford had embarked on a risky new policy of secret friendship with France, with the long-term goal of forming a defensive alliance of the maritime colonial powers as a counterbalance to the ‘eastern powers’. The Swedish crisis wrecked this initiative, and Rochford then turned to cultivate friendship with Spain, in an attempt to ‘drive a wedge’ into the Family Compact
. Relations with both Bourbon
powers were more cordial by 1775 than they had been since 1763, but France’s clandestine support for the American colonies increasingly negated one leg of this policy.
Rochford’s most difficult domestic duty as southern secretary was to act on behalf of George III
in the painful negotiations of May 1773 with his brother, the Duke of Gloucester
, who had secretly married Horace Walpole’s niece, Maria Waldegrave
, in 1766. She was now pregnant, and Gloucester wanted an assurance of financial support for his family. In view of the Royal Marriages Act of 1772
, George III
regarded this news as a betrayal by his most trusted sibling, and was deeply hurt, refusing at first to make any reply. Rochford was the only cabinet member willing to act as intermediary. Horace Walpole’s dislike for Rochford now turned to bitter hatred
. He vilified Rochford because he could not openly vilify the king.
, on suspicion of a plot to kidnap George III, prompted Rochford’s retirement on 11 November 1775, with a generous pension and a promise of the ‘Blue Ribband’ (Knight of the Garter
). He was twice offered the lucrative viceroyalty of Ireland
in 1776, and would have been an ideal candidate, but he declined on health grounds. On 12 June 1776 Rochford was elected Master of Trinity House
, the corporation responsible for lighthouses, pilots and mariners’ welfare. On behalf of George III he also undertook secret talks with Beaumarchais, and made a quick trip incognito to Paris to try to persuade the French government to stop sending aid to the American rebels, concluding that France was about to declare open war. He became a Knight of the Garter in 1779. His last years were devoted to the Essex Militia, even after the threat of a French invasion had passed. He died at St Osyth on 29 September 1781. He was succeeded by his bachelor nephew, at whose death in 1830 the Rochford title became extinct.
, but the marriage produced no children. As a young married man Rochford became a close personal friend of the actor David Garrick
, and they remained firm friends for over thirty years. Rochford and Lucy first lived at Easton
in Suffolk
, a property inherited from his uncle Henry Nassau, and they only moved to the family seat at St Osyth in Essex
after the death of Rochford’s mother in 1746. Rochford also bought a town house in London, at 48 Berkeley Square, which he owned until 1777. The Rochfords allowed each considerable freedom in their personal lives, even by the rather relaxed standards of the eighteenth century nobility, and Lucy Rochford was notorious for her numerous lovers, who included the Duke of Cumberland and the Prince of Hesse. Rochford had mistresses at Turin, one of whom, an opera-dancer named Signora Banti, followed him to London, but he never acknowledged her children as his own. Lucy objected to this expensive mistress, and Rochford agreed to give her up if Lucy also gave up her current lover, Lord Thanet. She responded that he was not a drain on their finances, but quite the contrary.
Rochford’s next mistress, Martha Harrison, gave him a daughter, Maria Nassau, who was adopted by Lucy as her surrogate daughter. Maria lived with them in Paris, and thereafter at St Osyth. Rochford had affairs in Paris with the wives of two of Choiseul’s friends, the marquise de Laborde and Mme Latournelle. Another mistress, Ann Labbee Johnson, followed him to London and bore him a son and daughter. After Lucy’s death in 1773 Rochford brought Ann and the children to live with him at St Osyth. His will made her sole executrix of his estate and paid tribute to her ‘friendship and affection’.
In his youth Rochford was an accomplished horseman and an expert yachtsman, once racing his yacht from Harwich to London against that of Richard Rigby
, and was also involved in early Essex cricket matches. He used his yacht to visit his estates at Zuylestein in Holland’s Utrecht province. He was an enthusiast for English country dancing, fostering their popularity at the court of Turin in the 1750s. His greatest loves (apart from his various mistresses) were the theatre, music and opera. (He played the baroque guitar.) Confessing himself ‘excessively curious for plants’, he collected specimens on a visit to the Swiss Alps
in 1751 to send home to St Osyth. Most famously, he is credited with the first known introduction of the Lombardy poplar to southern England, bringing home a sapling strapped to the centre-pole of his carriage in 1754.
Detailed research in British and foreign diplomatic archives has enabled a more accurate assessment of the 4th Earl of Rochford’s public career. As a diplomat he was thoroughly professional, in an age of titled amateurs. He was businesslike and methodical, mastering the detail of complex negotiations, and was widely respected as a tough negotiator and an honest broker. His diplomatic experience proved invaluable when he became secretary of state, and it is clear from the foreign archives how well he managed British foreign policy up to the outbreak of the American War of Independence
. He was exceptionally well-informed, and his unpublished ‘Plan to Prevent War in Europe’ (1775) reveals him as a strategic thinker, and one of the most imaginative of Britain’s eighteenth century secretaries of state.
George III once remarked on Rochford’s ‘many amiable qualities’, adding that his ‘Zeal makes him rather in a hurry’. The king also told Stanier Porten that Rochford was ‘more active and had more spirit’ than anyone else in the North cabinet of the early 1770s. Hamish Scott has described Rochford as ‘the ablest man to control foreign policy in the first decade of peace [after 1763], a statesman of intelligence, perception and considerable application’.
Rochford’s major diplomatic legacy was his policy of trying to detach Spain
from the Family Compact
with France
. In his last year in office Rochford had reassured the Spanish ministers that Britain wanted them to remain neutral and would not strike first. He also warned the Spanish that their colonies in Central and South America might be tempted to follow the example of the rebellious North American colonies. These considerations meant that Spain did not automatically join France in open war at sea in 1778, but delayed for another year. That British commanders in America squandered the time thus gained was not Rochford’s fault. Historians now agree that the American rebels won the war mainly because Britain’s naval resources were too thinly stretched by the involvement of the Bourbon powers.
, illegitimate son of Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange
Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, usually known simply as the Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the Sovereign in the United Kingdom...
, KG
Order of the Garter
The Most Noble Order of the Garter, founded in 1348, is the highest order of chivalry, or knighthood, existing in England. The order is dedicated to the image and arms of St...
(17 September 1717 O.S. – 29 September 1781) was a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
courtier
Courtier
A courtier is a person who is often in attendance at the court of a king or other royal personage. Historically the court was the centre of government as well as the residence of the monarch, and social and political life were often completely mixed together...
, diplomat
Diplomat
A diplomat is a person appointed by a state to conduct diplomacy with another state or international organization. The main functions of diplomats revolve around the representation and protection of the interests and nationals of the sending state, as well as the promotion of information and...
and statesman
Statesman
A statesman is usually a politician or other notable public figure who has had a long and respected career in politics or government at the national and international level. As a term of respect, it is usually left to supporters or commentators to use the term...
of Anglo-Dutch descent. He occupied senior ambassador
Ambassador
An ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....
ial posts at Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
and Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, and served as Secretary of State
Secretary of State
Secretary of State or State Secretary is a commonly used title for a senior or mid-level post in governments around the world. The role varies between countries, and in some cases there are multiple Secretaries of State in the Government....
in both the Northern and Southern Departments. He is credited with the earliest-known introduction of the Lombardy poplar to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
in 1754.
He was a personal friend of such major cultural figures as the actor David Garrick
David Garrick
David Garrick was an English actor, playwright, theatre manager and producer who influenced nearly all aspects of theatrical practice throughout the 18th century and was a pupil and friend of Dr Samuel Johnson...
, the novelist Laurence Sterne
Laurence Sterne
Laurence Sterne was an Irish novelist and an Anglican clergyman. He is best known for his novels The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, and A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy; but he also published many sermons, wrote memoirs, and was involved in local politics...
, and the French playwright Beaumarchais
Pierre Beaumarchais
Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais was a French playwright, watchmaker, inventor, musician, diplomat, fugitive, spy, publisher, arms dealer, satirist, financier, and revolutionary ....
. George III
George III of the United Kingdom
George III was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of these two countries on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death...
valued Rochford as his expert advisor on foreign affairs in the early 1770s, and as a loyal and hard-working cabinet minister
Minister (government)
A minister is a politician who holds significant public office in a national or regional government. Senior ministers are members of the cabinet....
. Rochford was the only British secretary of state between 1760 and 1778 who had been a career diplomat.
Rochford played key roles in the Manila Ransom
Battle of Manila (1762)
The Battle of Manila was fought during the Seven Years' War , from September 24, 1762 to October 6, 1762, between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Spain in and around Manila, the capital of the Philippines, a Spanish colony at that time.-Prelude:British troops stationed in India were...
negotiation with Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
(1763–66), the French acquisition of Corsica
Corsica
Corsica is an island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is located west of Italy, southeast of the French mainland, and north of the island of Sardinia....
(1768), the Falkland Islands crisis of 1770-1, the crisis following the Swedish Revolution of 1772, and the aftermath of the Royal Marriages Act of 1772. In addition to his work as foreign secretary, he carried a heavy burden of domestic responsibilities in the early 1770s, especially Irish
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
affairs. He was a key member of the North administration in the early phase of the American War of Independence
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
. Illness and a political scandal forced him from office in November 1775.
Early life
William Henry Nassau van Zuylestein was born in 1717, the elder son of Frederick Nassau van Zuylestein, 3rd Earl of Rochford, and his wife Elizabeth (‘Bessy’) Savage, daughter of the 4th Earl RiversRichard Savage, 4th Earl Rivers
Richard Savage, 4th Earl Rivers PC was the second son of Thomas, 3rd Earl; and after the death about 1680 of his elder brother Thomas, styled Viscount Colchester, he was designated by that title until he succeeded to the peerage....
. His ancestry was Anglo
Anglo
Anglo is a prefix indicating a relation to the Angles, England or the English people, as in the terms Anglo-Saxon, Anglo-American, Anglo-Celtic, Anglo-African and Anglo-Indian. It is often used alone, somewhat loosely, to refer to people of British Isles descent in The Americas, Australia and...
-Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, descended in an illegitimate line from William the Silent
William the Silent
William I, Prince of Orange , also widely known as William the Silent , or simply William of Orange , was the main leader of the Dutch revolt against the Spanish that set off the Eighty Years' War and resulted in the formal independence of the United Provinces in 1648. He was born in the House of...
’s son Frederick Henry
Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange
Frederick Henry, or Frederik Hendrik in Dutch , was the sovereign Prince of Orange and stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel from 1625 to 1647.-Early life:...
(1584–1647), Prince of Orange. Rochford’s grandfather and great-grandfather both had English wives, ladies-in-waiting at the courts of William II
William II, Prince of Orange
William II, Prince of Orange was sovereign Prince of Orange and stadtholder of the United Provinces of the Netherlands from 14 March 1647 until his death three years later.-Biography:...
and William III
William III of England
William III & II was a sovereign Prince of Orange of the House of Orange-Nassau by birth. From 1672 he governed as Stadtholder William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic. From 1689 he reigned as William III over England and Ireland...
of Orange. His grandfather was a close companion of William III, accompanying him to England in the Glorious Revolution of 1688-9
Glorious Revolution
The Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688, is the overthrow of King James II of England by a union of English Parliamentarians with the Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange-Nassau...
, and later rewarded with the earldom of Rochford
Earl of Rochford
Earl of Rochford was a a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1695 for William Nassau de Zuylestein, one of the most trusted companions of his kinsman, William of Orange. He was made Viscount Tunbridge at the same time, also in the Peerage of England. He was the son of Frederick...
.
Educated at Eton College
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
(1725–32) as Viscount
Viscount
A viscount or viscountess is a member of the European nobility whose comital title ranks usually, as in the British peerage, above a baron, below an earl or a count .-Etymology:...
Tunbridge, Rochford’s school friends included three future secretaries of state
Secretary of State
Secretary of State or State Secretary is a commonly used title for a senior or mid-level post in governments around the world. The role varies between countries, and in some cases there are multiple Secretaries of State in the Government....
, Conway
Henry Seymour Conway
Field Marshal Henry Seymour Conway was a British general and statesman. A brother of the 1st Marquess of Hertford, and cousin of Horace Walpole, he began his military career in the War of the Austrian Succession and eventually rose to the rank of Field Marshal .-Family and education:Conway was...
, Halifax
George Montagu-Dunk, 2nd Earl of Halifax
George Montagu-Dunk, 2nd Earl of Halifax, KG, PC was a British statesman of the Georgian era.-Early life:...
and Sandwich
John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich
John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, PC, FRS was a British statesman who succeeded his grandfather, Edward Montagu, 3rd Earl of Sandwich, as the Earl of Sandwich in 1729, at the age of ten...
. However, he also made a lifelong enemy at Eton of the Prime minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
’s son, the influential writer Horace Walpole
Horace Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford
Horatio Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford was an English art historian, man of letters, antiquarian and Whig politician. He is now largely remembered for Strawberry Hill, the home he built in Twickenham, south-west London where he revived the Gothic style some decades before his Victorian successors,...
. Instead of going to university, Rochford was sent to the Academy at Geneva
Rousseau Institute
Rousseau Institute is a private school in Geneva, Switzerland. In 1912, Édouard Claparède created an institute to turn educational theory into a science...
, where he lodged with the family of Professor Antoine Maurice. From Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
he emerged as fluent in French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
as he was in Dutch and English, and succeeded his father as 4th Earl of Rochford in 1738 at the age of twenty-one.
Courtier
Rochford was appointed a Gentleman of the BedchamberGentleman of the Bedchamber
A Gentleman of the Bedchamber was the holder of an important office in the royal household of the Kingdom of England from the 11th century, later used also in the Kingdom of Great Britain.-Description and functions:...
to George II
George II of Great Britain
George II was King of Great Britain and Ireland, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Archtreasurer and Prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire from 11 June 1727 until his death.George was the last British monarch born outside Great Britain. He was born and brought up in Northern Germany...
in 1739 (a mark of special royal favour) and served in this role until 1749. He inherited strong Whig principles and was a loyal supporter of the Hanover
House of Hanover
The House of Hanover is a deposed German royal dynasty which has ruled the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg , the Kingdom of Hanover, the Kingdom of Great Britain, the Kingdom of Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
ian Protestant succession
Order of succession
An order of succession is a formula or algorithm that determines who inherits an office upon the death, resignation, or removal of its current occupant.-Monarchies and nobility:...
, but also admired Sir Robert Walpole’s
Robert Walpole
Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford, KG, KB, PC , known before 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole, was a British statesman who is generally regarded as having been the first Prime Minister of Great Britain....
peaceful foreign policy. At the time of the 1745 Jacobite Rebellion he offered to raise a regiment
Regiment
A regiment is a major tactical military unit, composed of variable numbers of batteries, squadrons or battalions, commanded by a colonel or lieutenant colonel...
, but this was not needed. He was active in Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
politics in the government’s interest, but he was no orator and made no impression in the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
. He was appointed Vice-Admiral of the coasts of Essex in 1748. Though ambitious for high political office, he avoided the factions
Political faction
A political faction is a grouping of individuals, such as a political party, a trade union, or other group with a political purpose. A faction or political party may include fragmented sub-factions, “parties within a party," which may be referred to as power blocs, or voting blocs. The individuals...
and cultivated the King’s son, the Duke of Cumberland, as his patron
Patrón
Patrón is a luxury brand of tequila produced in Mexico and sold in hand-blown, individually numbered bottles.Made entirely from Blue Agave "piñas" , Patrón comes in five varieties: Silver, Añejo, Reposado, Gran Patrón Platinum and Gran Patrón Burdeos. Patrón also sells a tequila-coffee blend known...
. Cumberland successfully lobbied for Rochford to be given a diplomatic post at the end of the War of the Austrian Succession
War of the Austrian Succession
The War of the Austrian Succession – including King George's War in North America, the Anglo-Spanish War of Jenkins' Ear, and two of the three Silesian wars – involved most of the powers of Europe over the question of Maria Theresa's succession to the realms of the House of Habsburg.The...
, and he was named Envoy
Diplomacy
Diplomacy is the art and practice of conducting negotiations between representatives of groups or states...
to Turin
Turin
Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...
in January 1749.
Envoy at Turin
Rochford arrived at TurinTurin
Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...
on 9 September 1749. This was still the most important of the Italian courts for British foreign policy at this time, and he started as Envoy Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Envoy (title)
In diplomacy, an Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary is, under the terms of the Congress of Vienna of 1815, a diplomat of the second class, ranking between an Ambassador and a Minister Resident....
, the highest rank in the British diplomatic service short of ambassador. However, he had agreed to accept an ordinary Envoy’s salary for a probationary period, and this gave him a strong incentive to show zeal and become a thoroughly professional diplomat. His first negotiations, on behalf of a company of English miners and the Protestant Vaud
Vaud
Vaud is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland and is located in Romandy, the French-speaking southwestern part of the country. The capital is Lausanne. The name of the Canton in Switzerland's other languages are Vaud in Italian , Waadt in German , and Vad in Romansh.-History:Along the lakes,...
ois communities of the Piedmont Alps
Pennine Alps
The Pennine Alps are a mountain range in the western part of the Alps. They are located in Switzerland and Italy...
, were entirely successful, and he then obtained his full salary. He ingratiated himself with the king, Carlo-Emmanuele III
Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia
Charles Emmanuel III was the Duke of Savoy and King of Sardinia from 1730 until his death.-Biography:...
, by accompanying him on early morning hunting rides. Rochford made useful friends at court, and was highly-regarded by the diplomatic corps at Turin. He played a minor but useful role in the complex negotiations for the Treaty of Aranjuez (1752)
Treaty of Aranjuez (1752)
The Treaty of Aranjuez was signed on June 14, 1752 between Austria and the Spanish Empire. Based on the terms of the accord, both signatories normalized their relations. Moreover, both agreed to acknowledge each of their respective interests in Italy....
. He made a tour of Italy in 1753 and used a spy to gain intelligence of the Young Pretender’s
Charles Edward Stuart
Prince Charles Edward Louis John Casimir Sylvester Severino Maria Stuart commonly known as Bonnie Prince Charlie or The Young Pretender was the second Jacobite pretender to the thrones of Great Britain , and Ireland...
court at Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
. He also made full use of British consuls
Consul (representative)
The political title Consul is used for the official representatives of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, and to facilitate trade and friendship between the peoples of the two countries...
in the region to obtain information about trade matters and French involvement in Corsica
Corsica
Corsica is an island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is located west of Italy, southeast of the French mainland, and north of the island of Sardinia....
, rewarding them with the removal of the duty on British shipping at Villafranca
Villafranca
Villafranca is a town and municipality located in the province and the autonomous community of Navarre, northern Spain.-External links:*...
.
Lord Lieutenant of Essex
Recalled from Turin for the duration of the Seven Years’ War (1755-63)Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War was a global military war between 1756 and 1763, involving most of the great powers of the time and affecting Europe, North America, Central America, the West African coast, India, and the Philippines...
, Rochford resumed his career as a courtier, appointed by George II as First Lord of the Bedchamber
Lord of the Bedchamber
A Lord of the Bedchamber, previously known as a Gentleman of the Bedchamber was a courtier in the Royal Household of the King of the United Kingdom and the Prince of Wales. A Lord of the Bedchamber's duties consisted of assisting the King with his dressing, waiting on him when he ate in private,...
and Groom of the Stole
Groom of the Stole
Groom of the Stole in the British Royal Household is a position dating from the Stuart era but which evolved from the earlier Groom of the Stool, an office in existence until the accession of Elizabeth I. The original nomenclature derived from the chair used in the performance of the function...
, highly prestigious posts. He was also appointed a member of the Privy Council
Privy council
A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a nation, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the monarch's closest advisors to give confidential advice on...
in 1755. As Lord Lieutenant
Lord Lieutenant
The title Lord Lieutenant is given to the British monarch's personal representatives in the United Kingdom, usually in a county or similar circumscription, with varying tasks throughout history. Usually a retired local notable, senior military officer, peer or business person is given the post...
of Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
from May 1756, Rochford was closely involved in forming the Essex regiment of militia
Militia
The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...
, becoming its 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...
in November 1759. At the death of George II
George II of Great Britain
George II was King of Great Britain and Ireland, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Archtreasurer and Prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire from 11 June 1727 until his death.George was the last British monarch born outside Great Britain. He was born and brought up in Northern Germany...
in 1760 Rochford lost his lucrative court posts, but was compensated with a generous pension
Pension
In general, a pension is an arrangement to provide people with an income when they are no longer earning a regular income from employment. Pensions should not be confused with severance pay; the former is paid in regular installments, while the latter is paid in one lump sum.The terms retirement...
. He spent the early 1760s involved in local Essex politics and ‘improved’ the Park at his St Osyth estate, adding a formal Dutch garden and a maze
Maze
A maze is a tour puzzle in the form of a complex branching passage through which the solver must find a route. In everyday speech, both maze and labyrinth denote a complex and confusing series of pathways, but technically the maze is distinguished from the labyrinth, as the labyrinth has a single...
. However, his landed income was small for an earl, and a return to diplomacy became a financial necessity. He was named Ambassador
Ambassador
An ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....
to Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
on 18 June 1763.
Ambassador to Spain
Rochford’s secret instructions for his Madrid embassyDiplomatic mission
A diplomatic mission is a group of people from one state or an international inter-governmental organisation present in another state to represent the sending state/organisation in the receiving state...
were mainly concerned with countering French influence over the king, Carlos III
Charles III of Spain
Charles III was the King of Spain and the Spanish Indies from 1759 to 1788. He was the eldest son of Philip V of Spain and his second wife, the Princess Elisabeth Farnese...
, and reporting on Spain’s naval
Navy
A navy is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake- or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions...
reconstruction after her late and disastrous entry into the Seven Years’ War. His first major negotiation resulted from Spain’s expulsion of British logwood cutters from the Yucatán Peninsula
Yucatán Peninsula
The Yucatán Peninsula, in southeastern Mexico, separates the Caribbean Sea from the Gulf of Mexico, with the northern coastline on the Yucatán Channel...
in Honduras
Honduras
Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...
. With strong support from Grenville’s
George Grenville
George Grenville was a British Whig statesman who rose to the position of Prime Minister of Great Britain. Grenville was born into an influential political family and first entered Parliament in 1741 as an MP for Buckingham...
administration, Rochford’s threats of naval force made the Spanish back down, but gave him a reputation as an anti-Bourbon. Less successful were his efforts to compel Spain to pay the disputed Manila Ransom, which the French foreign minister Choiseul
Étienne François, duc de Choiseul
Étienne-François, comte de Stainville, duc de Choiseul was a French military officer, diplomat and statesman. Between 1758 and 1761, and 1766 and 1770, he was Foreign Minister of France and had a strong influence on France's global strategy throughout the period...
suggested should be submitted to arbitration
Arbitration
Arbitration, a form of alternative dispute resolution , is a legal technique for the resolution of disputes outside the courts, where the parties to a dispute refer it to one or more persons , by whose decision they agree to be bound...
. Rochford’s alertness uncovered a French plot to set fire to British naval dockyards, a scheme which was postponed until 1770. His friendship with the British consul-general at Madrid, Stanier Porten (uncle of the historian Edward Gibbon
Edward Gibbon
Edward Gibbon was an English historian and Member of Parliament...
) deepened his interest in trade matters, and he used the consuls as well as paid spies
Espionage
Espionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. Espionage is inherently clandestine, lest the legitimate holder of the information change plans or take other countermeasures once it...
to get accurate information about Spain’s naval rebuilding. While at Madrid he befriended the young French playwright Beaumarchais
Pierre Beaumarchais
Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais was a French playwright, watchmaker, inventor, musician, diplomat, fugitive, spy, publisher, arms dealer, satirist, financier, and revolutionary ....
, whose experiences in Spain later formed the basis of his play ‘The Marriage of Figaro
The Marriage of Figaro
Le nozze di Figaro, ossia la folle giornata , K. 492, is an opera buffa composed in 1786 in four acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, based on a stage comedy by Pierre Beaumarchais, La folle journée, ou le Mariage de Figaro .Although the play by...
’. Near the close of his embassy, Rochford was an eyewitness to the Madrid Riots of 1766
Esquilache Riots
The Esquilache Riots occurred in March 1766 during the rule of Charles III of Spain. Caused mostly by the growing discontent in Madrid about the rising costs of bread and other staples, they were sparked off by a series of measures regarding Spaniards' apparel that had been enacted by Leopoldo de...
.
Ambassador to France
Rochford’s appointment to ParisParis
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
was unexpected, and he left Madrid in such haste that he had to pawn his plate to settle his debts. He insisted on taking the exceptionally capable Porten to Paris as his secretary of embassy. Choiseul
Étienne François, duc de Choiseul
Étienne-François, comte de Stainville, duc de Choiseul was a French military officer, diplomat and statesman. Between 1758 and 1761, and 1766 and 1770, he was Foreign Minister of France and had a strong influence on France's global strategy throughout the period...
at once embroiled Rochford in a scheme to trade off Britain’s claim to the Manila Ransom for relinquishment of the Falkland Islands
Falkland Islands
The Falkland Islands are an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean, located about from the coast of mainland South America. The archipelago consists of East Falkland, West Falkland and 776 lesser islands. The capital, Stanley, is on East Falkland...
, but the misreporting of a previous ambassador, Lord Hertford, and the inexperience of the secretary of state, Lord Shelburne
William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne
William Petty-FitzMaurice, 1st Marquess of Lansdowne, KG, PC , known as The Earl of Shelburne between 1761 and 1784, by which title he is generally known to history, was an Irish-born British Whig statesman who was the first Home Secretary in 1782 and then Prime Minister 1782–1783 during the final...
, wrecked this transaction. Choiseul was furious, and unfairly blamed Rochford. Rochford was almost the only member of the diplomatic corps at Paris brave enough to stand up to Choiseul’s bullying, and their negotiations over such matters as Dunkirk, the Canada Bills and the East India Company
East India Company
The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...
’s claim for compensation for wartime expenses in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
were often acrimonious. Rochford prepared thoroughly and mastered the details, winning grudging concessions from Choiseul on all three issues.
Choiseul’s greatest coup
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
(and Rochford’s greatest failure) concerned France’s secret acquisition of Corsica
Corsica
Corsica is an island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is located west of Italy, southeast of the French mainland, and north of the island of Sardinia....
from the Republic of Genoa
Republic of Genoa
The Most Serene Republic of Genoa |Ligurian]]: Repúbrica de Zêna) was an independent state from 1005 to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italian coast, as well as Corsica from 1347 to 1768, and numerous other territories throughout the Mediterranean....
in 1768. Though Rochford gave early warning of the likely terms, and paid a spy to get a copy of the draft treaty
Treaty
A treaty is an express agreement under international law entered into by actors in international law, namely sovereign states and international organizations. A treaty may also be known as an agreement, protocol, covenant, convention or exchange of letters, among other terms...
, the British cabinet
Cabinet of the United Kingdom
The Cabinet of the United Kingdom is the collective decision-making body of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom, composed of the Prime Minister and some 22 Cabinet Ministers, the most senior of the government ministers....
led by Lord Grafton was too preoccupied by rioting in London and failed to support their ambassador in Paris. Rochford also had the misfortune to fall seriously ill for a fortnight at the height of the crisis, enabling Choiseul to clinch the deal with Genoa. Britain’s protests thereafter were ineffectual, and an angry Rochford returned to London to resign his embassy. Instead, he was offered a cabinet
Cabinet of the United Kingdom
The Cabinet of the United Kingdom is the collective decision-making body of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom, composed of the Prime Minister and some 22 Cabinet Ministers, the most senior of the government ministers....
seat, which he finally accepted on 21 October 1768, on condition that Porten became his under-secretary.
Northern Secretary
Contemporary observers such as Edmund BurkeEdmund Burke
Edmund Burke PC was an Irish statesman, author, orator, political theorist and philosopher who, after moving to England, served for many years in the House of Commons of Great Britain as a member of the Whig party....
and the anonymous letter-writer ‘Junius’ thought it odd that Rochford was appointed northern secretary
Secretary of State for the Northern Department
The Secretary of State for the Northern Department was a position in the Cabinet of the government of Great Britain up to 1782. Before the Act of Union, 1707, the Secretary of State's responsibilities were in relation to the English government, not the British. Even after the Union, there was...
when all of his diplomatic experience had been in southern courts, but Lord Weymouth had insisted on taking the Southern Department
Secretary of State for the Southern Department
The Secretary of State for the Southern Department was a position in the cabinet of the government of Kingdom of Great Britain up to 1782.Before 1782, the responsibilities of the two British Secretaries of State were divided not based on the principles of modern ministerial divisions, but...
as the more important of the secretaryships. British foreign policy, and Britain’s reputation in Europe, had sunk to their lowest ebb of the eighteenth century thanks to the 1768 Corsican fiasco, but Rochford’s realistic and capable handling of his new portfolio
Ministry (government department)
A ministry is a specialised organisation responsible for a sector of government public administration, sometimes led by a minister or a senior public servant, that can have responsibility for one or more departments, agencies, bureaus, commissions or other smaller executive, advisory, managerial or...
strengthened British foreign policy in several ways. British diplomats abroad were relieved to be dealing with a secretary of state who knew the business of diplomacy, and regularly kept them informed. Hamish Scott has suggested that Rochford ‘almost single-handed’ averted the impending shipwreck for Britain’s reputation in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
.
Britain’s main goal at this time was a treaty of alliance with Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, but the Empress Catherine II
Catherine II of Russia
Catherine II, also known as Catherine the Great , Empress of Russia, was born in Stettin, Pomerania, Prussia on as Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg...
and her foreign minister Panin
Nikita Ivanovich Panin
Count Nikita Ivanovich Panin was an influential Russian statesman and political mentor to Catherine the Great for the first eighteen years of her reign. In that role he advocated the Northern Alliance, closer ties with Frederick the Great of Prussia and the establishment of an advisory privy...
insisted on a hefty subsidy
Subsidy
A subsidy is an assistance paid to a business or economic sector. Most subsidies are made by the government to producers or distributors in an industry to prevent the decline of that industry or an increase in the prices of its products or simply to encourage it to hire more labor A subsidy (also...
, which Rochford refused. Instead he persuaded George III
George III of the United Kingdom
George III was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of these two countries on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death...
to pour secret service money into Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
politics, to support Russia and undermine French influence. Britain’s envoy at Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
, Sir John Goodricke
Goodricke Baronets
The Baronetcy of Goodricke of Ribston was created in the Baronetage of England by King Charles I on 14 August 1641 for his loyal supporter John Goodricke of Ribston, Yorkshire...
, made adroit use of this money, and helped to maintain Sweden’s liberal constitution. According to Michael Roberts
Michael Roberts (historian)
Michael Roberts was an English historian specializing in the early modern period and particularly known for his studies of Swedish history.Roberts was born in Lytham St Annes, Lancashire and educated at Brighton College...
, Rochford was much more practical and realistic than Choiseul in his handling of Swedish affairs.
Falklands Crisis
Spain’s expulsionDeportation
Deportation means the expulsion of a person or group of people from a place or country. Today it often refers to the expulsion of foreign nationals whereas the expulsion of nationals is called banishment, exile, or penal transportation...
of a British garrison from the Falkland Islands
Falkland Islands
The Falkland Islands are an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean, located about from the coast of mainland South America. The archipelago consists of East Falkland, West Falkland and 776 lesser islands. The capital, Stanley, is on East Falkland...
in May 1770 sparked a major diplomatic crisis that brought Europe to the brink of war. Historians have hitherto attributed the resolution of this crisis to a ‘secret promise’ by the British Prime Minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
Lord North
Frederick North, Lord North
Frederick North, 2nd Earl of Guilford, KG, PC , more often known by his courtesy title, Lord North, which he used from 1752 until 1790, was Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1770 to 1782. He led Great Britain through most of the American War of Independence...
that Britain would quietly evacuate the islands at some future date if the Spanish agreed to disavow their officers and restore the fort to Britain. Recent research in the foreign diplomatic archives suggests an entirely different view of the British side of this crisis. Far from resolving the crisis, North’s ‘secret promise’ nearly wrecked an agreed policy of firm response backed by the threat of naval force. This was Rochford’s policy, backed by George III
George III of the United Kingdom
George III was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of these two countries on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death...
. Though he was Northern Secretary in 1770, Rochford’s advice to cabinet as a former ambassador to Madrid and Paris was decisive. Weymouth
Thomas Thynne, 1st Marquess of Bath
Thomas Thynne, 1st Marquess of Bath KG was a British politician who held office under George III serving as Southern Secretary, Northern Secretary and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. Between 1751 and 1780 he was known as Lord Weymouth...
’s laziness and frequent absences left his Southern portfolio for Rochford to manage as well as his own. It was Rochford who ordered the Admiralty to prepare a fleet for war, and sent a simple demand for disavowal and restitution to Madrid. Spain’s response crucially depended on French support in the event of war, and France began to prepare a fleet, but the French king’s dismissal of Choiseul
Étienne François, duc de Choiseul
Étienne-François, comte de Stainville, duc de Choiseul was a French military officer, diplomat and statesman. Between 1758 and 1761, and 1766 and 1770, he was Foreign Minister of France and had a strong influence on France's global strategy throughout the period...
in December 1770 removed that prospect, and the recall of the British envoy Harris
James Harris, 1st Earl of Malmesbury
James Harris, 1st Earl of Malmesbury GCB was an English diplomatist.-Early life :...
from Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
showed that Britain was still prepared to go to war. Weymouth
Thomas Thynne, 1st Marquess of Bath
Thomas Thynne, 1st Marquess of Bath KG was a British politician who held office under George III serving as Southern Secretary, Northern Secretary and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. Between 1751 and 1780 he was known as Lord Weymouth...
also resigned in December 1770, and Rochford replaced him as southern secretary
Secretary of State for the Southern Department
The Secretary of State for the Southern Department was a position in the cabinet of the government of Kingdom of Great Britain up to 1782.Before 1782, the responsibilities of the two British Secretaries of State were divided not based on the principles of modern ministerial divisions, but...
on 19 December 1770.
Southern Secretary
Rochford had already taken charge of the Falklands negotiation, and now received the Spanish acceptance of his demands. The disarmament talks over the next few months were often stormy, however, and there was still a risk of war until April 1771, when all sides disarmed simultaneously, as Rochford had proposed. After Sandwich was named as First Lord of the Admiralty, Rochford’s successor as northern secretary was Lord SuffolkHenry Howard, 12th Earl of Suffolk
Henry Howard, 12th Earl of Suffolk, 5th Earl of Berkshire, KG, PC was a British politician, styled Viscount Andover from 1756 to 1757....
, who spent a year improving his French so that he could converse with the foreign diplomats in London. In the meantime, Rochford was de facto
De facto
De facto is a Latin expression that means "concerning fact." In law, it often means "in practice but not necessarily ordained by law" or "in practice or actuality, but not officially established." It is commonly used in contrast to de jure when referring to matters of law, governance, or...
foreign minister
Foreign minister
A Minister of Foreign Affairs, or foreign minister, is a cabinet minister who helps form the foreign policy of a sovereign state. The foreign minister is often regarded as the most senior ministerial position below that of the head of government . It is often granted to the deputy prime minister in...
, handling all of Britain’s diplomatic correspondence until 1772. Before the creation of separate Home
Home Office
The Home Office is the United Kingdom government department responsible for immigration control, security, and order. As such it is responsible for the police, UK Border Agency, and the Security Service . It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs,...
and Foreign offices
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, commonly called the Foreign Office or the FCO is a British government department responsible for promoting the interests of the United Kingdom overseas, created in 1968 by merging the Foreign Office and the Commonwealth Office.The head of the FCO is the...
in 1782, the Southern Secretary
Secretary of State for the Southern Department
The Secretary of State for the Southern Department was a position in the cabinet of the government of Kingdom of Great Britain up to 1782.Before 1782, the responsibilities of the two British Secretaries of State were divided not based on the principles of modern ministerial divisions, but...
carried a heavy burden of domestic responsibilities, including oversight of Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. The Irish correspondence almost equalled the rest of Rochford’s domestic correspondence across 1771-5.
Rochford’s first successes as Southern Secretary
Secretary of State for the Southern Department
The Secretary of State for the Southern Department was a position in the cabinet of the government of Kingdom of Great Britain up to 1782.Before 1782, the responsibilities of the two British Secretaries of State were divided not based on the principles of modern ministerial divisions, but...
were to persuade the new French foreign minister the duc d’Aiguillon
Emmanuel-Armand de Richelieu, duc d'Aiguillon
Emmanuel-Armand de Vignerot du Plessis de Richelieu, duc d'Aiguillon was a French soldier and statesman and a nephew of Louis François Armand du Plessis, duc de Richelieu. He served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs under Louis XV.-Early life:Before the death of his father, he was known at court...
to settle the long-standing Canada Bills dispute, and to forestall a French attempt to reinforce their depleted possessions in India. After George III
George III of the United Kingdom
George III was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of these two countries on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death...
’s clumsy intervention in Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
in 1772 to support his disgraced sister, Queen Caroline, Rochford’s first big challenge as southern secretary was the Swedish crisis of 1772-3, following the constitutional coup by Gustavus III
Gustav III of Sweden
Gustav III was King of Sweden from 1771 until his death. He was the eldest son of King Adolph Frederick and Queen Louise Ulrica of Sweden, she a sister of Frederick the Great of Prussia....
in August 1772. This crisis again brought Europe to the brink of war, as Russia threatened to invade Sweden and France threatened to send a fleet to the Baltic
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
to support Gustavus. Rochford played a key role in this crisis, advising caution to the Russians and warning the French that Britain would also send a fleet to the Baltic. Panin finally decided not to invade, and the crisis eased as the French switched their naval armament from Brest
Brest, France
Brest is a city in the Finistère department in Brittany in northwestern France. Located in a sheltered position not far from the western tip of the Breton peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French military port after Toulon...
to Toulon
Toulon
Toulon is a town in southern France and a large military harbor on the Mediterranean coast, with a major French naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur region, Toulon is the capital of the Var department in the former province of Provence....
.
The First Partition of Poland
First Partition of Poland
The First Partition of Poland or First Partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth took place in 1772 as the first of three partitions that ended the existence of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth by 1795. Growth in the Russian Empire's power, threatening the Kingdom of Prussia and the...
in 1772 had, as Rochford noted, ‘changed absolutely the System of Europe’, demonstrating the emergence of Russia and Prussia as predatory new powers. With encouragement from George III, Rochford had embarked on a risky new policy of secret friendship with France, with the long-term goal of forming a defensive alliance of the maritime colonial powers as a counterbalance to the ‘eastern powers’. The Swedish crisis wrecked this initiative, and Rochford then turned to cultivate friendship with Spain, in an attempt to ‘drive a wedge’ into the Family Compact
Pacte de Famille
The Pacte de Famille is one of three separate, but similar alliances between the Bourbon kings of France and Spain.- The first Pacte de Famille :...
. Relations with both Bourbon
House of Bourbon
The House of Bourbon is a European royal house, a branch of the Capetian dynasty . Bourbon kings first ruled Navarre and France in the 16th century. By the 18th century, members of the Bourbon dynasty also held thrones in Spain, Naples, Sicily, and Parma...
powers were more cordial by 1775 than they had been since 1763, but France’s clandestine support for the American colonies increasingly negated one leg of this policy.
Rochford’s most difficult domestic duty as southern secretary was to act on behalf of George III
George III of the United Kingdom
George III was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of these two countries on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death...
in the painful negotiations of May 1773 with his brother, the Duke of Gloucester
Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh
Prince William, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh was a member of the British Royal Family, a grandson of George II and a younger brother of George III.-Early life:...
, who had secretly married Horace Walpole’s niece, Maria Waldegrave
Maria, Duchess of Gloucester and Edinburgh
Maria Walpole , the Countess Waldegrave and Duchess of Gloucester and Edinburgh, was a member of the British Royal Family, the wife of Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh...
, in 1766. She was now pregnant, and Gloucester wanted an assurance of financial support for his family. In view of the Royal Marriages Act of 1772
Royal Marriages Act 1772
The Royal Marriages Act 1772 is an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain which prescribes the conditions under which members of the British Royal Family may contract a valid marriage, in order to guard against marriages that could diminish the status of the Royal House...
, George III
George III of the United Kingdom
George III was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of these two countries on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death...
regarded this news as a betrayal by his most trusted sibling, and was deeply hurt, refusing at first to make any reply. Rochford was the only cabinet member willing to act as intermediary. Horace Walpole’s dislike for Rochford now turned to bitter hatred
Hatred
Hatred is a deep and emotional extreme dislike, directed against a certain object or class of objects. The objects of such hatred can vary widely, from inanimate objects to animals, oneself or other people, entire groups of people, people in general, existence, or the whole world...
. He vilified Rochford because he could not openly vilify the king.
Retirement
Poor health and the bungled arrest of an American banker in London, Stephen SayreStephen Sayre
Stephen Sayre was a member of a thousand-strong American community living in London at the time of the outbreak of the War of Independence in 1775. A close associate of John Wilkes, the radical Lord Mayor of London, Sayre, a merchant and a city sheriff, is alleged to have planned to kidnap George...
, on suspicion of a plot to kidnap George III, prompted Rochford’s retirement on 11 November 1775, with a generous pension and a promise of the ‘Blue Ribband’ (Knight of the Garter
Order of the Garter
The Most Noble Order of the Garter, founded in 1348, is the highest order of chivalry, or knighthood, existing in England. The order is dedicated to the image and arms of St...
). He was twice offered the lucrative viceroyalty of Ireland
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland
The Lord Lieutenant of Ireland was the British King's representative and head of the Irish executive during the Lordship of Ireland , the Kingdom of Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
in 1776, and would have been an ideal candidate, but he declined on health grounds. On 12 June 1776 Rochford was elected Master of Trinity House
Trinity House
The Corporation of Trinity House of Deptford Strond is the official General Lighthouse Authority for England, Wales and other British territorial waters...
, the corporation responsible for lighthouses, pilots and mariners’ welfare. On behalf of George III he also undertook secret talks with Beaumarchais, and made a quick trip incognito to Paris to try to persuade the French government to stop sending aid to the American rebels, concluding that France was about to declare open war. He became a Knight of the Garter in 1779. His last years were devoted to the Essex Militia, even after the threat of a French invasion had passed. He died at St Osyth on 29 September 1781. He was succeeded by his bachelor nephew, at whose death in 1830 the Rochford title became extinct.
Personal life
In May 1742 Rochford married Lucy Younge, daughter of Edward Younge of Durnford in WiltshireWiltshire
Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...
, but the marriage produced no children. As a young married man Rochford became a close personal friend of the actor David Garrick
David Garrick
David Garrick was an English actor, playwright, theatre manager and producer who influenced nearly all aspects of theatrical practice throughout the 18th century and was a pupil and friend of Dr Samuel Johnson...
, and they remained firm friends for over thirty years. Rochford and Lucy first lived at Easton
Easton, Suffolk
The former estate village of Easton in England is situated on the River Deben around three miles south of Framlingham. Following the end of the World War 1 the British government imposed super taxes on the rich to help defray the cost of the war...
in Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
, a property inherited from his uncle Henry Nassau, and they only moved to the family seat at St Osyth in Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
after the death of Rochford’s mother in 1746. Rochford also bought a town house in London, at 48 Berkeley Square, which he owned until 1777. The Rochfords allowed each considerable freedom in their personal lives, even by the rather relaxed standards of the eighteenth century nobility, and Lucy Rochford was notorious for her numerous lovers, who included the Duke of Cumberland and the Prince of Hesse. Rochford had mistresses at Turin, one of whom, an opera-dancer named Signora Banti, followed him to London, but he never acknowledged her children as his own. Lucy objected to this expensive mistress, and Rochford agreed to give her up if Lucy also gave up her current lover, Lord Thanet. She responded that he was not a drain on their finances, but quite the contrary.
Rochford’s next mistress, Martha Harrison, gave him a daughter, Maria Nassau, who was adopted by Lucy as her surrogate daughter. Maria lived with them in Paris, and thereafter at St Osyth. Rochford had affairs in Paris with the wives of two of Choiseul’s friends, the marquise de Laborde and Mme Latournelle. Another mistress, Ann Labbee Johnson, followed him to London and bore him a son and daughter. After Lucy’s death in 1773 Rochford brought Ann and the children to live with him at St Osyth. His will made her sole executrix of his estate and paid tribute to her ‘friendship and affection’.
In his youth Rochford was an accomplished horseman and an expert yachtsman, once racing his yacht from Harwich to London against that of Richard Rigby
Richard Rigby
Richard Rigby , was an English civil servant and politician. He served as Secretary of Ireland and Paymaster of the Forces...
, and was also involved in early Essex cricket matches. He used his yacht to visit his estates at Zuylestein in Holland’s Utrecht province. He was an enthusiast for English country dancing, fostering their popularity at the court of Turin in the 1750s. His greatest loves (apart from his various mistresses) were the theatre, music and opera. (He played the baroque guitar.) Confessing himself ‘excessively curious for plants’, he collected specimens on a visit to the Swiss Alps
Swiss Alps
The Swiss Alps are the portion of the Alps mountain range that lies within Switzerland. Because of their central position within the entire Alpine range, they are also known as the Central Alps....
in 1751 to send home to St Osyth. Most famously, he is credited with the first known introduction of the Lombardy poplar to southern England, bringing home a sapling strapped to the centre-pole of his carriage in 1754.
Legacy and Significance
With no spectacular triumphs or major treaties to his name, and with his most important secret negotiations unknown at the time, Rochford was soon forgotten after his death. His reputation also suffered at the hands of Horace Walpole, who never missed a chance to belittle Rochford. In his Memoirs of the Reign of King George III, Walpole described Rochford as ‘a man of no abilities and of as little knowledge, except in the routine of office’. Yet elsewhere Walpole had recognised Rochford’s honesty and flexibility. The disappearance of Rochford’s personal papers (until those relating to his Turin appointment were rediscovered in 1971) meant that historians had very little with which to reconstruct his personal life, but many of his letters have survived in their recipients’ collections, especially those of Garrick and Denbigh.Detailed research in British and foreign diplomatic archives has enabled a more accurate assessment of the 4th Earl of Rochford’s public career. As a diplomat he was thoroughly professional, in an age of titled amateurs. He was businesslike and methodical, mastering the detail of complex negotiations, and was widely respected as a tough negotiator and an honest broker. His diplomatic experience proved invaluable when he became secretary of state, and it is clear from the foreign archives how well he managed British foreign policy up to the outbreak of the American War of Independence
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
. He was exceptionally well-informed, and his unpublished ‘Plan to Prevent War in Europe’ (1775) reveals him as a strategic thinker, and one of the most imaginative of Britain’s eighteenth century secretaries of state.
George III once remarked on Rochford’s ‘many amiable qualities’, adding that his ‘Zeal makes him rather in a hurry’. The king also told Stanier Porten that Rochford was ‘more active and had more spirit’ than anyone else in the North cabinet of the early 1770s. Hamish Scott has described Rochford as ‘the ablest man to control foreign policy in the first decade of peace [after 1763], a statesman of intelligence, perception and considerable application’.
Rochford’s major diplomatic legacy was his policy of trying to detach Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
from the Family Compact
Pacte de Famille
The Pacte de Famille is one of three separate, but similar alliances between the Bourbon kings of France and Spain.- The first Pacte de Famille :...
with France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. In his last year in office Rochford had reassured the Spanish ministers that Britain wanted them to remain neutral and would not strike first. He also warned the Spanish that their colonies in Central and South America might be tempted to follow the example of the rebellious North American colonies. These considerations meant that Spain did not automatically join France in open war at sea in 1778, but delayed for another year. That British commanders in America squandered the time thus gained was not Rochford’s fault. Historians now agree that the American rebels won the war mainly because Britain’s naval resources were too thinly stretched by the involvement of the Bourbon powers.
Chronology
- 1717 - birth of William Henry Nassau van Zuylestein at St Osyth
- 1725-38 - educated at Eton College and the Academy, Geneva
- 1738 - succeeds his father as 4th Earl of Rochford
- 1738-49 - Lord of the Bedchamber to George II
- 1748 - Vice-Admiral of the coasts of Essex
- 1749-55 - Envoy Extraordinary at the court of Turin
- 1755-60 - member of the Privy Council, Groom of the Stole to George II
- 1756 - Lord Lieutenant of Essex
- 1759 - Colonel of the Essex Militia
- 1763-66 - Ambassador to Spain
- 1766 - witnesses the Madrid Riots
- 1766-68 - Ambassador to France
- 1768 - fails to prevent French acquisition of Corsica
- 1768-70 - Secretary of State, Northern Department
- 1770-71 - takes charge in Falklands Crisis
- 1770-75 - Secretary of State, Southern Department
- 1773 - conducts secret negotiations with France
- 1773 - helps resolve the Swedish Crisis
- 1775 - unpublished ‘Plan to Prevent War in Europe’
- 1775-81 - retirement
- 1776 - Master of Trinity House
- 1779 - Knight of the Garter
- 1781 - dies at St Osyth on 29 September
Arms
The earls of Rochford used the arms below, inherited via the founder of their Family Fredrick of Nassau, lord of ZuylesteinFrederick Nassau de Zuylestein
Frederick Nassau de Zuylestein was an illegitimate son of Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange.-Life:In 1640 his father gave him the castle and title Heer van Zuylestein and made him captain of infantry for the state. In 1659, he was made governor of the household of his nephew, William III of Orange...
, illegitimate son of Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange
Sources
- Geoffrey W. Rice (2010 b), The Life of the Fourth Earl of Rochford (1717–1781), Eighteenth-Century Anglo-Dutch Courtier, Diplomat and Statesman (Lewiston NY, Edwin Mellen Press, 2010), 766 pp
- Geoffrey W. Rice, ‘Nassau van Zuylestein, William Henry, fourth earl of Rochford (1717-81)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, eds. H.C.G. Matthew & H.C. Gray (Oxford & New York, 2004), vol. 40 pp. 260–263.
- G.W. Rice (1992), ‘Archival Sources for the Life and Career of the Fourth earl of Rochford (1717-81), British Diplomat and Statesman’, Archives (British Records Association, London), v.20, n.88 (October 1992), 254-68
- G.W. Rice (1977), ‘British Consuls and Diplomats in the Mid-Eighteenth Century: An Italian Example’, English Historical Review, 92 (1977), 834-46
- G.W. Rice (1989), ‘Lord Rochford at Turin, 1749-55: A Pivotal Phase in Anglo-Italian Relations in the Eighteenth Century’, in Knights Errant and True Englishmen: British Foreign Policy, 1660–1800, ed. Jeremy Black (Edinburgh, 1989), pp. 92–112
- G.W. Rice (1980), ‘Great Britain, the Manila Ransom and the First Falkland Islands Dispute with Spain, 1766’, The International History Review, v.2, n.3 (July, 1980), 386-409
- G.W. Rice (2006), ‘Deceit and Distraction: Britain, France and the Corsican Crisis of 1768’, The International History Review, v.28, n.2 (June, 2006), 287-315
- G.W. Rice (2010 a), ‘British Foreign Policy and the Falkland Islands Crisis of 1770-71’, The International History Review, v.32, n.2 (2010), 273-305
- W.M.C. Regt, ‘Nassau-Zuylestein’, in Genealogische en Heraldische Bladen (1907)
- Collins, Peerage of England, 5th edition (London, 1779)
- Horace Walpole, Memoirs of the Reign of King George the Third , ed. G.F. Russell Barker (London, 1894)
- Hamish Scott, ‘Anglo-Austrian Relations after the Seven Years’ War: Lord Stormont in Vienna, 1763-1772’, unpublished PhD thesis, University of London, 1977
- Hamish Scott, British Foreign Policy in the Age of the Democratic Revolution (Oxford, 1990)
- Stella Tillyard, A Royal Affair: George III and his Troublesome Siblings (London, 2006)
- Nicholas Tracy, ‘Parry of a Threat to India, 1768-1774’, The Mariner’s Mirror, 59 (1973), 35-48
- Julie Flavell, ‘The Plot to Kidnap King George III’, BBC History Magazine (November, 2006), 12-16
- Letitia M. Hawkins, Memoirs, Anecdotes, etc. (London, 1824)
- Ian McIntyre, Garrick (Harmondsworth, 1999)
- Michael Roberts, British Diplomacy and Swedish Politics, 1758-1773 (London, 1980)
- N.A.M. Rodger, The Insatiable Earl: a Life of John Montagu, Fourth Earl of Sandwich, 1718-1792 (New York, 1994)
- Jeremy Black, George III: America’s Last King (New Haven, 2006)
- Brendan Simms, Three Victories and a Defeat: The Rise and Fall of the First British Empire, 1714-1783 (London, 2007)