v.1. Edward WORTLEY MONTAGU, geb. 1713
Edward WORTLEY MONTAGU was die seun van Edward Wortley Montagu en Lady Mary Pierrepoint.
(Foster, Joseph:.Pedigrees of the County Families of Yorkshire, Vol. 2, West Riding. London: 1874)
Member in three parliaments for Bosiney; disinherited.
Edward Wortley Montagu is nooit gedoop nie, wat toegeskryf kan word aan sy grootwordjare in die Turkse Ryk. I can find no record of young Wortley's baptism and superstition might persuade one that, with the Turkish infection, he had imbibed Turkish morals, for a more thorough scapegrace can scarcely be imagined than was quickly developed in this unnatural child. Toe die gesin na Engeland teruggekeer het, is hy na die Westminster-skool gestuur om behoorlike Engelse onderwys te ontvang. Where he at once exhibited the possession of remarkable abilities. Maar vir onbekende redes het hy van die skool af weggehardloop om 'n visverkoper in Blackwell te word , by crying "fish " through the streets, and carrying a basket of them on his head. After a long and vain police search had been made for the truant, his voice betrayed him to an acquaintance of the family who happened to be on the spot when he was shouting for custom, and he was taken home and sent back to school.. Hy het weer weggehardloop. Hy het op 'n boot wat na Porto (die tweede grootste stad in Portugal) gevaar het geklim ; and there he deserted, and went up the country, finding work in the vineyards for two or three years.
Mary Wortley Montagu en haar seun Edward, by Jean-Baptiste van Mour
The same friend who discovered him at Blackwall again traced him, through the English Consul, and Mr. Wortley permitted Mr. Forster, who was the rescuer, to take the place of a travelling tutor, and so give vent to the vagabond spirit of his son. This plan lasted for awhile, with apparent success. The youth applied his mind to study, with excellent results ; and from a post which he held in the service of the Government, he was elected member for Huntingdonshire in 1747. Maar daar was geen standvastigheid van lewe of doel in die man nie. Hy het by skuld betrokke geraak en om dit vry te spring, het hy na Parys gevlug, waar hy 'n baie ernstige gevangenisstraf ondergaan het op die valse beskuldiging van 'n dobbel Jood.
Ons sien in sy portret dat hy kies om nie tradisionele Engelse aristokratiese klere te dra nie, maar die drag van Turkse reisigers. Edward Wortley Montagu, Lady Mary’s son. Highly influenced by living in Constantinople while his father was an ambassador, he left England in 1762 to permanently travel in the Middle East and study as an archaeologist. Painted 1775 by Matthew William Peters. Photo Credit: National Portrait Gallery, London.
Hy het teruggekeer om 'n Parlementslid vir Bossiney te wees. Die rede waarom hy hierdie area verteenwoordig het, was omdat sy pa die Tintagel-landgoed wat in die area geleë was, gekoop het. To revert to the son's adventures. He was returned member of Parliament for Bossiney — a private borough, with its seventeen eledtors, which was disfranchised by the first Reform Bill. This formed part of the Tintagel estate, which his father had purchased. He wrote a book at this period, called " Reflections on the Rise and Fall of the Ancient Republics, Adapted to the Present State of Great Britain," and this pleased his father; indeed, he seemed, like Falstaff, inclined to " purge and live cleanly " for the rest of his days. But "confidence," said Lord Chatham, " is a plant of slow growth in an aged bosom ;" and Mr. Wortley was not deceived by appearances, but wholly disinherited his son in favour of his daughter, the Countess of Bute.
Teen 1763 bevind Edward hom in Alexandria.
And now we come to an episode of this son's life which seems to be almost incredible. He was residing at Alexandria, about the year 1763, when a Captain Ferve, a Dane, arrived there, with his wife, in the capacity of English Consul. The lady was young and very handsome — her maiden name was Catherine Dormer, and she was of English descent, but a Roman Catholic by faith. Wortley Montagu is described at this time as " an amiable man, of much wit and immense erudition, knowing all the European languages, also Latin, ancient and modern Greek, Hebrew, Arabic, Persian, and Turkish." His portrait, by Romney, shows that he possessed a fine countenance and person and he had all the experience of a great traveller. On becoming acquainted with Mrs. Ferve, he fell violently in love and, being determined to possess her, he conceived the plot of employing her husband on a lucrative commission, which would detain him in Europe for some time. During his absence, Wortley Montagu forged letters, and produced a certificate of the death of her husband, which enabled him to make proposals of marriage to the wife. To this she assented, on the condition that he became a Roman Catholic and he was received into the Roman Church at Jerusalem, on the 7th of Odober, 1764. The husband, hearing of this scandalous alliance, hastened back from Europe, and demanded his wife. A lawsuit followed, which was tried in Italy, and Mr. Wortley was triumphant; as the previous marriage was declared null and void, on account of Ferve being a Protestant. Pending the enquiry, the lady had taken refuge in a monastery, near Mount Lebanon, from which she was now released by Mr. Wortley. After residing some time in Smyrna, they returned to Egypt, in 1771, and lived at Rosetta, where this eccentric man conceived the wish to become a Mussulman, and make a pilgrimage to Mecca. He tried to induce his wife to join him in this apostacy, also to acknowledge a negro boy, whom he had adopted, and who finally became his heir, as her own son. She refused both requests, and he left her in 1773, and travelled into Italy, when the lady found a home, with her married sister, in Egypt.
Edward Wortley Montagu. By George Romney in 1775. Photo Credit: Museums Sheffield.
We find Edward in Venice in 1776 where he printed an ad in the Public Advertiser which claimed, …a gentleman, who had sat in two successive Parliaments, was nearly 60 years of age, lived in great splendor and hospitality, and from whom a considerable estate must pass, if he died without issue, was willing to marry a widow, or single lady, of genteel birth and polite manners. Lord Wharncliffe later describes this advertisement and states that it is believed to have been successful and a woman was sent to Paris to meet Edward however while she was on her way there, Edward was eating dinner and a bone caught in his throat which killed him. No other records can be found on Edward on his living conditions in Venice that he describes in the advertisement. It’s hard to believe that he would have had as much money as he says since he received no inheritance and had no job that was recorded. The ad could have been a ploy just to get a wife so he could create an heir. Though is does raise questions about what happened to the boy he adopted as no more information was ever given about him. (https://udspace.udel.edu/bitstream/handle/19716/17153/Worthley%2C%20Nicole.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y)
