Edward Harley, 2nd Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer

Edward Harley, 2nd Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer (2 June 1689 – 16 June 1741), was the only son of Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer (1661–1724), by his first wife Elizabeth Foley, and was also a statesman and collector.

He was M.P. for Radnor (as his father and paternal grandfather had been before him) from 1711 to 1714, and for Cambridgeshire from 1722 until he succeeded his father in 1724 and entered the House of Lords.

Through his wife, he inherited Welbeck Abbey in Nottinghamshire, and Wimpole Hall in Cambridgeshire. Wimpole became their main residence, but they had to sell it in 1740 to pay Edward's debts.

He was a bibliophile, collector and patron of the arts, and took little interest in public affairs. He extended his father's library and expanded the Harleian Collection, now in the British Library.

The department of Manuscripts and Special Collections, The University of Nottingham holds a number of papers relating to the 2nd Earl and the management of his estates in the Portland (London) collection. Harley family papers (Pw2Hy) are part of the Portland (Welbeck) Collection.

Family

On 31 August 1713 he married Lady Henrietta Cavendish Holles (1694-1755), only daughter and heir of the 1st Duke of Newcastle and his wife, the former Lady Margaret Cavendish, daughter of the 2nd Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

He had one daughter, Margaret Cavendish Harley (1715–1785), who married William Bentinck, 2nd Duke of Portland in 1734. This lack of male issue meant that his titles passed to his cousin Edward.

London Estate

Harley had acquired a considerable amount of land in the West End of London which was developed during his life. Many of the now famous streets took their names from Harley connections - primarily Harley Street and Oxford Street. Other streets, named after Harley properties, include Wigmore Street and Wimpole Street.

References

David Stoker, ‘Harley, Edward, second earl of Oxford and Mortimer (1689–1741)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2005 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/12337]

External links

* [http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/mss/online/family-estate/collections/portland.phtml Biographies of the Dukes of Portland and associated families, with links to online catalogues, from Manuscripts and Special Collections, The University of Nottingham]
* [http://www.thepeerage.com/p1364.htm#i13638 Edward Harley] at thePeerage.com