Frederick Augustus Hervey, 4th Earl of Bristol,
PC (
1 August 1730 –
8 July 1803), known as
The Earl-Bishop, was
Bishop of Cloyne from
1767 to
1768 and
Bishop of Derry from
1768 to
1803.
He was educated at
Westminster School and
Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, graduating in 1754. Entering the church he became a royal chaplain; and while waiting for other preferment spent some time in
Italy, whither he was led by his great interest in art. In February 1767, while his brother, the
2nd Earl of Bristol, was
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, he was made Bishop of
Cloyne, and having improved the property of the see he was translated to the rich Bishopric of
Derry a year later. Here again he was active and philanthropic, although considered at times cheerfully sadistic towards those under him; in one famous example he had the portly priests who wished to be considered for a plum position compete in a midnight run through bogs and swamps.
While not neglecting his luxurious personal tastes he spent large sums of money on making roads and assisting
agriculture, and his munificence was shared by the city of
Derry. He built splendid residences at
Downhill and
Ballyscullion, which he adorned with rare works of art.
As a bishop, Hervey was industrious and vigilant [citation needed October 2007: he suffered long absences from Ireland], although a self-declared agnostic. At one point George III referred to him as "that wicked prelate." He favoured complete religious equality, and was opposed to the system of tithes. In December 1779 he succeeded his second brother, the
3rd Earl, as
Earl of Bristol, and in spite of his brother's will succeeded to a considerable property. Having again passed some time in Italy, he returned to Ireland and in 1782 threw himself ardently into the Irish volunteer movement, quickly attaining a prominent position among the volunteers, and in great state attending the convention held in
Dublin in November 1783.
Carried away by his position and his popularity he talked loudly of rebellion, and his violent language led the government to contemplate his arrest. Subsequently he took no part in politics, spending his later years mainly on the continent of Europe. In 1798 he was imprisoned by the French at
Milan as a suspected spy, remaining in custody for eighteen months. He died outdoors at
Albano, denied refuge, and was buried in Ickworth church.
Varying estimates have been found of his character. He was considered clever and cultured, but licentious and eccentric. He was a great collector of art and in later life he openly professed materialistic opinions. He fell in love with the countess Lichtenau, mistress of
Frederick William II of Prussia and by his bearing and often unusual and ostentatious style of dress he gave fresh point to the saying that God created men, women and Herveys. In 1752 he had married Elizabeth (d. 1800), daughter of
Sir Jermyn Davers, 4th Baronet, by whom he had two sons and three daughters (of whom the best-known is
Elizabeth Hervey, who married secondly her long-time lover the
Duke of Devonshire, who whom she'd previously been in a long-term menage-a-trois with his wife).
His elder son,
Augustus, Lord Hervey (1757–1796), had predeceased his father, and he was succeeded in the title by his younger son,
Frederick, Lord Hervey. He was succeeded in the Elizabethan-era title of
Baron Howard de Walden (inherited from a distant cousin) by his great-grandson
Charles Ellis, son of the
1st Baron Seaford, who was the son of the only daughter of his eldest son.
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