Biography of Thomas Bruce 3rd Earl Elgin 2nd Earl Ailesbury 1656-1741

On 16th February 1645 [his father] Robert Bruce 2nd Earl Elgin 1st Earl Ailesbury (age 18) and [his step-mother] Diana Grey Countess Elgin and Ailesbury (age 15) were married. She the daughter of Henry Grey 1st Earl Stamford (age 46) and Anne Cecil Countess Stamford (age 49). He the son of [his grandfather] Thomas Bruce 1st Earl Elgin (age 46) and [his grandmother] Anne Chichester. They were fifth cousins.

In 1656 Thomas Bruce 3rd Earl Elgin 2nd Earl Ailesbury was born to [his father] Robert Bruce 2nd Earl Elgin 1st Earl Ailesbury (age 29).

On 21st December 1663 [his grandfather] Thomas Bruce 1st Earl Elgin (age 64) died. His son [his father] Robert (age 37) succeeded 2nd Earl Elgin, 2nd Baron Bruce of Whorlton in Yorkshire. [his step-mother] Diana Grey Countess Elgin and Ailesbury (age 33) by marriage Countess Elgin.

On 18th March 1664 [his father] Robert Bruce 2nd Earl Elgin 1st Earl Ailesbury (age 38) was created 1st Earl Ailesbury, 1st Viscount Bruce of Ampthill in Bedfordshire, 1st Baron Bruce of Skelton in Yorkshire. [his step-mother] Diana Grey Countess Elgin and Ailesbury (age 34) by marriage Countess Ailesbury.

On 31st August 1676 Thomas Bruce 3rd Earl Elgin 2nd Earl Ailesbury (age 20) and Elizabeth Seymour Countess Elgin and Ailesbury (age 21) were married. She the daughter of Henry Seymour and Mary Capell Duchess Beaufort (age 45). He the son of Robert Bruce 2nd Earl Elgin 1st Earl Ailesbury (age 50). They were fourth cousins. She a great x 5 granddaughter of King Henry VII of England and Ireland.

In 1679 [his son] Robert Bruce was born to Thomas Bruce 3rd Earl Elgin 2nd Earl Ailesbury (age 23) and [his wife] Elizabeth Seymour Countess Elgin and Ailesbury (age 24). He died aged six in 1685.

On 29th May 1682 [his son] Charles Bruce 4th Earl Elgin 3rd Earl Ailesbury was born to Thomas Bruce 3rd Earl Elgin 2nd Earl Ailesbury (age 26) and [his wife] Elizabeth Seymour Countess Elgin and Ailesbury (age 27). He married (1) before 1717 his fourth cousin once removed Anne Savile, daughter of William Savile 2nd Marquess Halifax and Elizabeth Grimston, and had issue (2) July 1717 his second cousin Juliana Boyle, daughter of Charles Boyle 2nd Earl Burlington and Juliana Noel Countess Burlington (3) March 1739 his fifth cousin once removed Caroline Campbell Countess Elgin and Ailesbury, daughter of John Campbell 4th Duke Argyll and Mary Drummond Bellenden, and had issue.

In 1685 [his son] Robert Bruce (age 6) died.

In 1685 James Butler 2nd Duke Ormonde (age 19) and [his sister-in-law] Mary Somerset Duchess Ormonde (age 21) were married. She the daughter of Henry Somerset 1st Duke Beaufort (age 56) and [his mother-in-law] Mary Capell Duchess Beaufort (age 54). He the son of Thomas Butler 6th Earl Ossory and Emilia Nassau Beverweert Countess Ossory (age 49).

On 20th October 1685 [his father] Robert Bruce 2nd Earl Elgin 1st Earl Ailesbury (age 59) died. His son Thomas (age 29) succeeded 3rd Earl Elgin, 2nd Earl Ailesbury, 2nd Viscount Bruce of Ampthill in Bedfordshire, 3rd Baron Bruce of Whorlton in Yorkshire, 2nd Baron Bruce of Skelton in Yorkshire. [his wife] Elizabeth Seymour Countess Elgin and Ailesbury (age 30) by marriage Countess Elgin, Countess Ailesbury.

On 24th June 1686 Henry Horatio O'Brien and [his sister-in-law] Henrietta Somerset Countess Suffolk (age 17) were married. She the daughter of Henry Somerset 1st Duke Beaufort (age 57) and [his mother-in-law] Mary Capell Duchess Beaufort (age 55). He the son of Henry O'Brien 7th Earl Thomond (age 66) and Sarah Russell Countess Thomond (age 48). They were fourth cousin once removed.

On 21st July 1688 James Butler 1st Duke Ormonde (age 77) died. His grandson James (age 23) de jure 2nd Duke Ormonde, 2nd Marquess Ormonde, 13th Earl Ormonde, 6th Earl Ossory. [his sister-in-law] Mary Somerset Duchess Ormonde (age 24) by marriage Duchess Ormonde.

In 1689 [his daughter] Elizabeth Bruce 3rd Countess Cardigan was born to Thomas Bruce 3rd Earl Elgin 2nd Earl Ailesbury (age 33) and [his wife] Elizabeth Seymour Countess Elgin and Ailesbury (age 34). She married 15th May 1707 her half fourth cousin once removed George Brudenell 3rd Earl Cardigan and had issue.

John Evelyn's Diary. 15th January 1689. I visited the Archbishop of Canterbury (age 71), where I found the Bishops of St. Asaph (age 61), Ely (age 51), Bath and Wells (age 51), Peterborough (age 61), and Chichester (age 65), the Earls of Aylesbury (age 33) and Clarendon, Sir George Mackenzie (age 53), Lord-Advocate of Scotland, and then came in a Scotch Archbishop, etc. After prayers and dinner, divers serious matters were discoursed, concerning the present state of the Public, and sorry I was to find there was as yet no accord in the judgments of those of the Lords and Commons who were to convene; some would have the Princess (age 26) made Queen without any more dispute, others were for a Regency; there was a Tory party (then so called), who were for inviting his Majesty (age 55) again upon conditions; and there were Republicans who would make the Prince of Orange (age 38) like a Stadtholder. The Romanists were busy among these several parties to bring them into confusion: most for ambition or other interest, few for conscience and moderate resolutions. I found nothing of all this in this assembly of Bishops, who were pleased to admit me into their discourses; they were all for a Regency, thereby to salve their oaths, and so all public matters to proceed in his Majesty's name, by that to facilitate the calling of Parliament, according to the laws in being. Such was the result of this meeting.

In 1691 Thomas Coventry 2nd Earl Coventry (age 29) and [his sister-in-law] Anne Somerset Countess Coventry (age 17) were married. She the daughter of Henry Somerset 1st Duke Beaufort (age 62) and [his mother-in-law] Mary Capell Duchess Beaufort (age 60). He the son of Thomas Coventry 1st Earl Coventry (age 62) and Winifred Edgecumbe (age 54). They were sixth cousins.

In 1697 [his wife] Elizabeth Seymour Countess Elgin and Ailesbury (age 42) died.

On 27th April 1700 Thomas Bruce 3rd Earl Elgin 2nd Earl Ailesbury (age 44) and Charlotte Argenteau Countess Elgin and Ailesbury (age 21) were married at Brussels [Map]. She by marriage Countess Elgin, Countess Ailesbury. The difference in their ages was 22 years. He the son of Robert Bruce 2nd Earl Elgin 1st Earl Ailesbury.

In 1704 [his daughter] Marie Thérèse Bruce was born to Thomas Bruce 3rd Earl Elgin 2nd Earl Ailesbury (age 48) and [his wife] Charlotte Argenteau Countess Elgin and Ailesbury (age 25).

Around 1706 Thomas Howard 8th Duke of Norfolk (age 22) was in secret negotiations for a marriage to [his daughter] Elizabeth (age 17), daughter of Thomas Bruce (age 50), 2nd earl of Ailesbury. When her brother, [his son] Charles (age 23), the future 3rd earl, discovered the intrigue he was horrified. He insisted that he would never give his consent to her marrying a Catholic, though he seems to have been just as worried about the 'worldly concerns' of Catholics who were 'in a very precarious way', as about their religious beliefs, citing the bill to limit their rights of inheritance which was then before Parliament. Instead, Norfolk began his pursuit of Maria (age 13), then only thirteen, daughter of Nicholas Shireburn 1st Baronet (age 47).

On 15th May 1707 [his son-in-law] George Brudenell 3rd Earl Cardigan (age 21) and [his daughter] Elizabeth Bruce 3rd Countess Cardigan (age 18) were married at St Martin in the Fields Church [Map]. She by marriage Countess Cardigan. She the daughter of Thomas Bruce 3rd Earl Elgin 2nd Earl Ailesbury (age 51) and [his former wife] Elizabeth Seymour Countess Elgin and Ailesbury. They were half fourth cousin once removed.

On 23rd July 1710 [his wife] Charlotte Argenteau Countess Elgin and Ailesbury (age 31) died.

Before 1717 [his son] Charles Bruce 4th Earl Elgin 3rd Earl Ailesbury (age 34) and [his daughter-in-law] Anne Savile (age 25) were married. She the daughter of William Savile 2nd Marquess Halifax and Elizabeth Grimston. He the son of Thomas Bruce 3rd Earl Elgin 2nd Earl Ailesbury (age 60) and [his former wife] Elizabeth Seymour Countess Elgin and Ailesbury. They were fourth cousin once removed.

In July 1717 [his son] Charles Bruce 4th Earl Elgin 3rd Earl Ailesbury (age 35) and [his daughter-in-law] Juliana Boyle (age 20) were married. She the daughter of Charles Boyle 2nd Earl Burlington and Juliana Noel Countess Burlington (age 45). He the son of Thomas Bruce 3rd Earl Elgin 2nd Earl Ailesbury (age 61) and [his former wife] Elizabeth Seymour Countess Elgin and Ailesbury. They were second cousins.

In 1736 [his daughter] Marie Thérèse Bruce (age 32) died.

1738. François Harrewijn (age 38). Portrait of Thomas Bruce 3rd Earl Elgin 2nd Earl Ailesbury (age 82).

In March 1739 [his son] Charles Bruce 4th Earl Elgin 3rd Earl Ailesbury (age 56) and [his daughter-in-law] Caroline Campbell Countess Elgin and Ailesbury (age 18) were married. The difference in their ages was 38 years. She the daughter of John Campbell 4th Duke Argyll (age 46) and Mary Drummond Bellenden. He the son of Thomas Bruce 3rd Earl Elgin 2nd Earl Ailesbury (age 83) and [his former wife] Elizabeth Seymour Countess Elgin and Ailesbury. They were fifth cousin once removed.

On 16th December 1741 Thomas Bruce 3rd Earl Elgin 2nd Earl Ailesbury (age 85) died. His son Charles (age 59) succeeded 4th Earl Elgin, 3rd Earl Ailesbury, 3rd Viscount Bruce of Ampthill in Bedfordshire. [his daughter-in-law] Caroline Campbell Countess Elgin and Ailesbury (age 20) by marriage Countess Elgin, Countess Ailesbury.

Adeline Horsey Recollections. The wicked Countess and her lover lived at Cliveden [Map] - "the bower of wanton Shrewsbury and of love" - and her spirit is supposed to haunt the beautiful riverside retreat, but I am thankful to say she has never appeared in the old home of her innocent girlhood. Her portrait by Sir Peter Lely hangs in the White Hall at Deene, and is a fine example of the artist's well-known very décolleté style of "robes loosely flowing, hair as free", with the usual mise en scène of a beauty of Charles II's time. The [his former son-in-law] third Earl of Cardigan was Master of the Buckhounds to Queen Anne; he married a [his daughter] daughter of the Earl of Ailesbury, and their [his grandson] fourth son inherited the Ailesbury title and estates. Lord Cardigan's [his grandson] eldest son married the [his granddaughter-in-law] heiress of the Duke of Montagu in 1766¹. He was a friend of Horace Walpole, the influence of whose pseudo-Gothic tastes may still be seen in the south front of Deene [Map], built at this time, and which now incorporates the great ball-room built for me by my dear husband.

Note 1. Married on 7th July 1730. He was created Duke in 1766.