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THE LIFE

OF THE

RIGHT HONORABLE GEORGE CANNING.

I.

GENEALOGY.-FAMILY HISTORY.-BIRTH OF GEORGE

CANNING.-MRS. HUNN.

THE name of Canning is derived from the original seat of the family at Bishop's Canninges, in Wiltshire, where the line continued until the reign of Henry VII., when it expired in co-heiresses. One of the cadets of the family had, long before, in the reign of Edward II., settled at Bristol, and founded that branch which afterward became so famous in the annals of the city, and from which the illustrious subject of this memoir was descended.

William Canynge represented Bristol in several successive Parliaments, and was mayor no less than six times in the reigns of Edward III. and Richard II. He died in 1396, and his eldest son, John, succeeded to his honors, both in Parliament and the corporation. Of three sons he left at his death, in 1406, Thomas, the second, was knighted, and became Lord-mayor of London; and William, the youngest, was elected to the mayoralty of Bristol, which had become a sort of heir-loom in the family. William Canynge was a foremost man in his day, and stands out so prominently in the list of local worthies, that he was selected as the hero of the

Rowley forgeries. He is supposed to have founded the beautiful church of St. Mary, Radcliffe, but his claim to that distinction is unfortunately set aside by the date of its erection, 1294. It must be recorded, however, to his honor, that he repaired the edifice at his own private expense, on some occasion when it had been damaged by a thunder-storm -glory quite enough for the epitaph of a wealthy burgess. It was in the muniment-room, over the northern porch of this church, Chatterton pretended to have discovered his poetical relics and his list of painters; but, unluckily, the industrious Vertue had been there before him, and, finding nothing half so interesting, furnished Walpole with the cue which enabled him to show such sagacity in denouncing the delinquent genius.*

The monument of William Canynge is still to be seen in the interior of the church; and by a paper, discovered a few years since in the cabinet of Mr. Browning, of Barton, it appears that he was a liberal contributor of ghostly emblems for its embellishment, such as sundry figures of angels with wings; a holy sepulcher, well gilt; a heaven, made of wood and stained clothes, and other equally curious proofs of his munificent piety. In the latter

*There were six or seven old chests in the muniment-room, one of which was said to be Mr. Canynge's cofre. It was secured by six keys; but in process of time the six keys were lost, and the corporation resolved to break open the locks, under an impression that it contained writings of value. This was done in 1727, and all the documents relating to the Church were removed, while the rest, which were of no importance, were left exposed. It was out of these dusty scrolls and parchments that Chatterton persisted in asserting he had collected the Rowley poems.

This singular document runs as follows:

"Item, that Maister Canynge has delivered, this 4th day of July, in the yeare of our Lord 1470, to Maister Nicholas Petters, vicar of St. Mary Radcliffe, Moses Conterin, Philip Barthelmew, procurators of St. Mary Radcliffe aforesaid, a new sepulcher, well gilt with gold, and a civer thereto.-Item, an image of rising out of the same sepulcher, with all the ordinance that 'long

part of his life he entered into holy orders, and founded the Priory of Westbury, where he died in 1476.

John, the eldest of the three brothers, was the father of Thomas Canning, who married the heiress of the Le Marshalls of Foxcote, in Warwickshire, a family which had enjoyed that possession from the time of the Conquest. The eldest branch of the Canning family removed upon this marriage to Foxcote, where its lineal representatives are still seated.*

George, a younger son of Richard Canning, of Foxcote, received a grant of the manor of Garvagh, in Londonderry, from James I., in 1618; and, proceeding to Ireland, established a junior branch of the family on that property. This grant must be regarded as one of those violent appropriations of land in that country which, under the pretext of defective titles, or other legal quibbles industriously supplied by the attorney-general of the day, formed so conspicuous a feature in the management of Irish affairs throughout that memorable eth thereto (that is to say), a lathe made of timber and the iron work thereto.-Item, thereto 'longeth h-v-n, made of timber and stained clothes.-Item, h-ll, made of timber and iron work thereto, with devils to the number of 13.-Item, 4 knights armed, keeping the sepulcher, with their weapons in their hands (that is to say), two axes and two spears, with two pares.-Item, 4 parys of angels' wings for 4 angels, made of timber, and well painted.Item, the fadre, the crown and visage, the well, with a cross upon it, well gilt with fine gould.-Item, the H- G- coming out of h-v-n into the sepulchre.-Item, 'longeth to the 4 angels, 4 chevaliers."

* See Genealogical Table.

† A correspondent of the "Gentleman's Magazine" (vol. xcviii.) says that there is a pedigree at Foxcote, attested by Sir William Segar in 1622, in which George Canning, of Barton-on-the-Heath (then, or afterward, Garvagh), is stated to be the eighth, and not the fourth son, as set forth in the Peerages.

In nearly all the notices extant of the Canning family, this grant is said to have been made by Queen Elizabeth; but it is dated 1618, and Queen Elizabeth died in 1603.

reign. The new proprietors of Garvagh could hardly hope to escape the common penalties of a position so odious in the eyes of the people; and the Cannings, accordingly, had their share of the wild justice which made reprisals upon the settlers for the misdeeds of the government. One of them was killed by the populace, and another attainted by the Parliament of James II. But, notwithstanding these disasters, the family managed to keep possession of their property. George Canning, the grand-son of the first settler, married a daughter of Robert Stratford, Esq., of Baltinglass (aunt of the first Earl of Aldborough), by whom he had two sons, Stratford and George. The line was continued through Stratford Canning, who had three sons, George, the father of the statesman; Paul, whose son was created Baron Garvagh, and Stratford,

* A transparent form of judicial inquiry was occasionally instituted into defective titles, of which many were known to exist; and wherever the slightest flaw could be detected, the property was forfeited to the crown. To such a proceeding, however hard in particular instances, no legal objection could be offered; but the true character of the appropriation is unveiled by the notorious fact, that, when the juries refused to find for the king, they were censured or imprisoned. The result was, that convictions were obtained in almost every case. Leland says that "there are not wanting proofs of the most iniquitous practices, of hardened cruelty, of vile perjury, and scandalous subornation employed to despoil the fair and unoffending proprietor of his inheritance." It is needless to say that such forfeitures, although apparently accomplished through a process of law, were, in reality, acts of naked spoliation.

† Paul, the second son, died in November, 1784. He married Jane, second daughter of Conway Spencer, of Tremany, county of Down, sister of Sir Brent Spencer, and of the Marchioness of Donegal. This lady died in Dublin in October, 1825. There were four children by this marriage, but only one, George, lived to maturity, and he was created Baron Garvagh in 1818. He was twice married, first to Lady Georgiana Stewart, fourth daughter of the first Marquis of Londonderry; and, second, to Rosabelle Charlotte Isabella, eldest daughter of the late Henry Bonham, Esq., and now lady dowager. By this marriage there was issue, two sons and a daughter. Charles Henry Spencer George Canning,

afterward a London merchant, and father of Sir Stratford Canning the diplomatist.

The descent of the Right Hon. George Canning from the Mayor of Bristol, through the Cannings of Foxcote and Garvagh, is thus clearly traced. The following table exhibits the pedigree of the family:

the present Baron Garvagh, was born in 1826, and succeeded to the title in 1840.

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