- Edward Venables-Vernon-Harcourt
Infobox Person
name = Edward Harcourt
image_size =
caption = Image from English Heritage
birth_date = 1757Dictionary of National Biography now in the public domain]
birth_place =Sudbury Hall ,Derbyshire
death_date = 1847
death_place =Bishopthorpe , nearYork
education =Westminster School ,Christ Church, Oxford &All Souls College
occupation = Clergyman
spouse = Anne Leveson-Gower
parents =George Venables-Vernon, 1st Baron Vernon
children = sixteen childrenEdward Venables-Vernon-Harcourt (
October 10 ,1757 -February 5 ,1847 ) was an English clergyman who wasBishop of Carlisle from 1791 to 1807, and thenArchbishop of York until his death.He was the third son of the
George Venables-Vernon, 1st Baron Vernon (1710-1780), and took the additional name of Harcourt on succeeding to the property of his cousin, the last Earl Harcourt, in 1831. [http://books.google.com/books?id=seAKAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA3-PA653&lpg=RA3-PA653&dq=%22archbishop+of+york%22+edward+harcourt&source=web&ots=oqqJmG4sTR&sig=h3xJrd7mTNIkFFoPJqLc9suLSdY A General and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage] ]Biography
Harcourt was born at
Sudbury Hall ,Derbyshire on the10 October 1757. He was educated atWestminster School ; matriculated atChrist Church, Oxford on the2 July 1774 ; was elected fellow ofAll Souls College in 1777 ; and graduated B.C.L. 27 April 1786, and D.C.L.4 May following. After his ordination he was instituted to the family living of Sudbury. He became a canon ofChrist Church, Oxford ,13 October 1785, and aprebendary ofGloucester on10 November in the same year . He resigned his prebendal stall in 1791, but held his other appointments to 1808.On
18 August 1791 he was nominatedBishop of Carlisle in succession to Dr.John Douglas , and was consecrated on6 November following. For sixteen years he administered the affairs of the see of Carlisle with good sense and discretion, spending more than the whole income of the see upon the wants of his diocese.Archbishop of York
After the death of Archbishop William Markiam. Harcourt was nominated on the
26 November 1807 as archbishop of York, and was confirmed in St. James's Church,Westminster on the19 January 1808. [ [http://www.ucl.ac.uk/~ucgbmxd/success1.htm Episcopal succession at ucl.ac.uk] accessed10 November 2007] In the same year, on20 January , he was gazetted aprivy councillor , and madeLord High Almoner toGeorge III , an office which he also held underQueen Victoria 's reign.Harcourt was a member of the queen's council who had charge of
George III during his illness. He was an eloquent speaker, and occasionally spoke in theHouse of Lords on ecclesiastical matters, but usually abstained from political contentions. He lived under five successive monarchs, and was respected for benevolence and simplicity of character. On15 January 1831 he took the surname of Harcourt only on inheriting the large estates of the Harcourt family, which came to him on the death of his cousin, Field-marshal William, third and last Earl Harcourt.In 1835 he was appointed one of the first members of the ecclesiastical commission. In 1838 he was offered the renewal of the Harcourt peerage, but declined it, not wishing to be fettered in his parliamentary votes.
York Minster was twice burnt down during his primacy, 1829 and 1841, and he contributed largely to both restorations. Archbishop Harcourt preached his valedictory sermon in York Minster on13 November 1838. However Harcourt continued to enjoy good health, and as late as1 November 1847 visited York and inspected the repairs of the chapterhouse. He died at the palace,Bishopthorpe , nearYork , on5 November 1847, and was buried atStanton Harcourt , Oxfordshire,13 Nov Family
On
5 February 1784 he married Anne Leveson-Gower, third daughter of Granville, firstmarquis of Stafford and they had sixteen children. His wife died atBishopthorpe Palace on the16 November 1832, aged 72.His second son, the Rev. Levesox Vernon Harcourt [1788-1860] , was chancellor of York and the author of "The Doctrine of the Deluge," [London, 1838 in 2 volumes] , and of other theological works. His fourth son was William Vernon Harcourt, the founder of the
British Association for the Advancement of Science . His eighth son was Admiral Octavius Henry Cyril Harcourt whilst his youngest daughter, Georgiana, distinguished herself as a translator.Cato Street conspiracy
As a director of the Ancient Concerts, Harcourt entertained his fellow-directors (the
prince regent and Prince Adolphus - the Duke of Cambridge, the Duke of Cumberland (later Ernest Augustus I of Hanover), and the Duke of Wellington) at his house inGrosvenor Square on23 February 1821. On the same night the Cato Street conspirators had designed the murder of the cabinet ministers at the house adjoining Harcourt's, where the ministers had agreed to dine with Lord Harrowby.Harcourt's publications
# "A Sermon preached before the Lords on the Anniversary of the Martyrdom of King Charles the First," 1794.
# "A Sermon preached before the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel," 1798.
# "A Sermon preached at the Coronation of George IV," 1821, which was twice reprinted.References
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