suc. fa. 14 Jan. 1690 (a minor) as 2nd Bar. WALDEGRAVE; cr. 13 Sept. 1729 Earl WALDEGRAVE
First sat 12 Feb. 1722; last sat 13 Feb. 1741
b. 1684, s. of Henry Waldegrave, (later Bar. Waldegrave) and Henrietta Fitzjames (d.1730),1 illegit. da. of James Stuart, duke of York (later King James II) and Arabella Churchill. educ. abroad (Jesuit College, La Flèche, Anjou, France; Italy).2 m. 20 May 1714 (with £12,000) Mary (d.1719), da. of Sir John Webb, bt. of Hatherop, Glos., 2s., ?1da. KG 20 Feb. 1738. d. 11 Apr. 1741; will (at Paris) 29 Jan. 1739 n.s., (at London) 8 Mar. 1741 o.s., pr. 21 Apr. 1741.3
Gent. of bedchamber, 1723-7, 1730-d.; PC 12 Feb. 1735-d.
V.-adm., Essex 1735-d.
Envoy extraordinary, Paris Sept.-Oct. 1725, Dec. 1727-Apr. 1728; amb. extraordinary and plenip., Vienna 1728-30; amb. extraordinary, Paris 1730-40.4
Associated with: Navestock, Essex and Chewton, Som.
Likenesses: pastel by Gustaf Lundberg, c.1738-40, NPG 1875.
Although brought up a Catholic and closely related to the exiled Stuart dynasty, Waldegrave conformed after his wife’s death in 1719 and established himself as a significant diplomat in the service of both George I and George II. He was rewarded for his services with household office and promotion in the peerage to an earldom. Full details of his career will be considered in the second part of this work. He died of dropsy and jaundice in the spring of 1741 and was succeeded in the peerage by his eldest son as 2nd Earl Waldegrave.5
R.D.E.E.