Charles Philip Yorke, Fourth Earl of Hardwicke, Vice-Admiral R.N. — a Memoir

It is with great diffidence that I lay this memoir before the public; it is my first experience in such work, but my reasons for so doing appear to me unanswerable. It was to my care and judgment that my father, by his will, committed his letters and journals, and my heart confirms the judgment of my mind, that his active and interesting life, so varied in the many different positions he was called upon to fill, and the considerable part he played in the affairs of his time, deserve a fuller record than the accounts to be found in biographical works of reference.

It has been a labour of love to me to supply these omissions in the following pages, and to present in outline the life of a capable, energetic Englishman, for whom I can at least claim that he was a loyal and devoted servant of his Sovereign and his country.

In fulfilling what I hold to be a filial obligation I have made no attempt to give literary form to a work which, so far as possible, is based upon my father's own words. Primarily it is addressed to his grandchildren and great-grandchildren, to whom, I trust, it may serve as an inspiration; but I have also some hope that a story which touches the national life at so many points may prove of interest to the general public. I am greatly indebted to my son, Mr. Adeane, and to my son-in-law, Mr. Bernard Mallet, for the help and encouragement they have given me; and I have also to acknowledge the assistance of Mr. W. B. Boulton in editing and preparing these papers for publication.

ELIZABETH PHILIPPA BIDDULPH.

LEDBURY: January 1910.

CONTENTS

I. THE YORKE FAMILY

II. ALGIERS. 1815-1816

III. THE NORTH AMERICAN STATION. 1817-1822

IV. GREEK PIRACY. 1823-1826

V. A HOLIDAY IN NORTHERN REGIONS. 1828

VI. GREEK INDEPENDENCE. 1829-1831

VII. COURT DUTIES AND POLITICS. 1831-1847

VIII. GENOA. 1849

IX. POLITICS AND LAST YEARS. 1850-1873

INDEX

LIST OF PORTRAITS

CHARLES PHILIP, FOURTH EARL OF HARDWICKE From a painting by E. U. Eddis

THE HONBLE. CHARLES YORKE SOLICITOR-GENERAL From a painting by Allan Ramsay (?)

SIR JOSEPH SYDNEY YORKE As A MIDSHIPMAN, R.N. From a painting by George Romney

SIR JOSEPH SYDNEY YORKE As A LIEUTENANT, R.N. from a painting by George Romney

CHARLES PHILIP, FOURTH EARL OF HARDWICKE From a chalk drawing by E. U. Eddis

SUSAN, COUNTESS OF HARDWICKE From a chalk drawing by E. U. Eddis

CHARLES PHILIP YORKE

FOURTH EARL OF HARDWICKE

CHAPTER I

THE YORKE FAMILY

The family of Yorke first came into prominence with the great Chancellor Philip Yorke, first Earl of Hardwicke. This remarkable man, who was the son of an attorney at Dover, descended, it is claimed, from the Yorkes of Hannington in North Wiltshire, a family of some consequence in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, was born in that town in the year 1690, and rose from a comparatively humble station to the commanding position he held so long in English public life.

My object in this chapter is to recall some of the incidents of his career and of those of his immediate successors and descendants.

Philip Yorke was called to the bar in 1715, became Solicitor-General only five years later, and was promoted to be Attorney-General in 1723. In 1733 he was appointed Lord Chief Justice of England, and received the Great Seal as Lord Chancellor in 1737, and when his life closed his political career had extended over a period of fifty years.

Lord Campbell, the author of the 'Lives of the Chancellors,' 'that extraordinary work which was held to have added a new terror to death, and a fear of which was said to have kept at least one Lord Chancellor alive,' claimed to lay bare the shortcomings of the subjects of his memoirs with the same impartiality with which he pointed out their excellences. He mentions only two failings of Lord Chancellor Hardwicke: one, that he was fond of acquiring wealth, the other, that he was of an overweening pride to those whom he considered beneath him. Neither of these is a very serious charge, and as both are insufficiently corroborated, one may let them pass. He acquired immense wealth in the course of his professional career, but in an age of corruption he was remarked for his integrity, and was never suspected or accused of prostituting his public position for private ends. In his capacity of Attorney-General Lord Campbell remarks of him: