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- BIOGRAPHY
Edward Cavendish Harley was born 2 June 1689, son of Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford, 1st Earl of Mortimer, and Elizabeth Foley. He married, 31 August 1713 at Wimpole, Lady Henrietta Cavendish Holles. They became the parents of a daughter and a son.
Educated at Westminster, he matriculated at Oxford on 30 October 1707. From 1711 onwards he was styled Lord Harley until, in 1724, he succeeded his father as Earl of Oxford and Earl of Mortimer. He was a Tory M.P. for Radnor from 1711 until 1715; for Cambridgeshire from 1722 until 1724. On 10 January 1728 he was appointed High Steward of Cambridge which he remained until he died. In 1733 he was an original Vice-President of St.George's Hospital and, in 1739, became Governor of the Foundling Hospital.
In his will dated 22 December 1725, he thanks God he was born of such religious parents 'who brought me up in the true faith and fear of God'. He left his 'personalty', including 'my very valuable libraries in London and at Wimpole,' to his wife for life, then to be passed on to their daughter. The unrivalled Harleian Collection consisted in 1721 of nearly 6,000 volumes, 14,000 charters and 500 rolls. He had added considerably to the collection, though not always judiciously, by which he had impoverished his large fortune. His latest acquisitions were sold by auction, shortly after his death, to Osborne, a bookseller, for £13,000 which was considerably less than what the binding had cost. In 1753 his widow sold the famous Harleian Manuscripts to the nation for £10,000, being 7,639 volumes, besides 14,236 rolls, charters and deeds.
Edward Cavendish Harley died 16 June 1741 in Dover Street, London, and was buried in Westminster Abbey.
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