Page:The Complete Peerage Ed 1 Vol 5.djvu/256

254 MARLBOROUGH. Sep. 1709, with the capture of Hons. ITe forced the French lines at Arleux, 6 Aug. and captured Pouchain, 13 Sep. 171 1 . Havingnomaleissuesurviving, heobtained'21 Dec, 1 "O'i, an act of Pari. «i Anne, cap. viil leherrby, after reciting that John, Puke of Marl- borough, had been created Huron Churchill of Sandridgt and Earl of Marlborough, to him and the heirs male of his bod}-, and that by letters patent dat. M Dec. [1702] 1 Anne, he had been created ifarquta n1 Blandford and Duke uf Marlborough, to him and the heirs male of his body, the mill honmrt were limited, failing the heirs male uf his body, to Lady Harriet, his eldest da., wife of Francis Godolphin. Esq. (s. and h. ap. of Sidney, Lord Godolphin), and the heirs male of her body begotten ; in default of which, to Anne, Countess of Sunderland, his 2d da., wife of Charles, Karl of .Sunderland, and the heirs male of her body begotten ; in default of which, to Elizabeth, Countess of Eridgewater, his 3rd da., wife of Scroope, Karl of P.ridgewatcr, and the heirs male of her body begotten : in default of which to Mary, his youngest (jit, wife of John Montagu [s. and hi ap. of {Gdph, Puke of Montagu), and the heirs male of her body begotten ; in default of which, to such other daughter or daughters of the said Duke to be begotten, severally and respectively according to priority of birth, and the heirs male of their bodies severally and respectively ; in default of which, to the 1st da. of the aforesaid Lady Harriet Godolphin, and the heirs male of the body of such 1st da. begotten, failing which to every other da. of the said Lady Harriet, severally and respectively, and the heirs male of their bodies respectively : in default of which, to each of the daughters of the other daughters of the said Duke, according to to priority of birth (in the same manner as is limited to the daughters of I.ady Harriet), and the heirs male of their bodies severally and respectively; and lastly, "to all and every other the issue male and female, lineally descending of or from the said Duke of Marlborough, in such manner and for such estate as the same are before limited to the before-mentioned issue of the said Duke, it being intended that the said honours shall continue, remain, and be invested in all the issue of the said Duke, so long as any such issue male or female shall continue, and be held and enjoyed by them severally and successively in manner and form aforesaid, the elder and the descendants of every elder issue to be preferred before the younger of such issue." By the next clause it is provided that all persons to whom the said honours shall descend shall have the same precedence as was then enjoyed by the said Duke in virtue of the said letters patent bearing date the 1-1 Dec. [1702] 1 Anne. The Duke was, however, dismissed from allhis ojlires.( :i ) 30 Dec. 1711, tbo' after the accession of Qeorge I., he was in 171 1, restored to many of them, being made Capt. Gen. of the Forces, Master Gen. of the Ordnance, Col. of the 1st Foot Guards, Gov. of Chelsea Hospital and P.C.( b ) He IS. 1 Oct. 1G78,{ C ) Sarah, '2d da. and coheir of Richard Jknninos, of Sandridge, Herts, by Frances, da. and coheir of Sir Gifferd ThokmiuHst. Bart, (so (') "The Duke had £7,000 as Plenipotentiary: £10,000 as General of the English forces; £3,000 as Master of the Ordnance ; £2,000 as Col. of the Guards ; £10,000 from the States General; £5,000 pension; f 1,825 for travelling and £1,000 for a table ; in all £39,825. He received also £ 1 .".000 as per ccuhuje (which, according to him. was spent on secret service) and handsome presents from foreign powers. The Duchess had £3,000 as Groom of the Stole, and £l,. r >00 for each of her three oflices as Ranger of Windsor park, Mistress of the Robes and Keeper of the Privy Purse, or in all £7,500. The united sums thus amount to £62,325. She ultimately received also the nine years pension at £2,000 a year. Besides this she had, after the death [1705] of the Queen Dowager, a lease ' for 50 yeura at first' of the ground called the ' briery' in St. James' park, on which Marlborough bouse was built in 1709, at a cost, she says, of from £40,000 to £50,000." [Nat. liioijr.] " A commission, appointed to examine into the public accounts, reported that among other evidences of corruption and abuse, there was full proof of the Duke having received in the shape of a bribe an annual present of £5,000 or £6,000 from the contractors of bread for the army." Jesse's " Court of England, 1688-1760," vol. i, p. 100 — where is epioted Evelyn's account of his dismissal for like " venality " in 1 1>£>2, who states that such dismissal was " for his excessive taking of bribes, covetousness, and extortion on all occasions from his inferior officers." ( h ) His character is ably compared with that of the great Duke of Wellington, by Earl Stanhope, in bis " Hittory of linijland, 1701-13 " (edit. 1870) p. 67. ( c ) The marriage (which was in the presence of Mary, Duchess of York) is some- times said to have taken place when she was 15 (1675) and to have been declared " in the winter of 1677." See Miss Strickland's " Queen Mary 11."