Edward Bouverie

Hon. Edward Bouverie (5 September 1738 – 3 September 1810) was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1761 and 1810.

Early life

Bouverie was born 5 September 1738 as the second son of Jacob Bouverie, 1st Viscount Folkestone and the former Mary Clarke. His elder brother William inherited their father's viscountcy before himself being made 1st Earl of Radnor. He had four sisters, Hon. Anne Bouverie (who married Rev. Hon. George Talbot, third son of Charles Talbot, 1st Baron Talbot), Hon. Mary Bouverie (second wife Anthony Ashley Cooper, 4th Earl of Shaftesbury), Hon. Charlotte Bouverie (wife of John Grant), and Hon. Harriet Bouverie (first wife Sir James Tylney-Long, 7th Baronet). Although he considered standing at a by-election in 1782 and the general election in 1784 he did not stand again until 1790 when he won one of the Northampton seats. Together, Edward and Harriet had three sons and five daughters, including:

Edward Bouverie (1767–1858), who inherited Delapré estate and married Catherine Castle, heiress and daughter of William Castle. John Bouverie (1779–1855), Jane Bouverie (1781–1805), who married Sir Francis Vincent, 9th Baronet in 1802. Diana Juliana Margaretta Bouverie (1786–1873), who married Hon. George Ponsonby, son of William Ponsonby, 1st Baron Ponsonby.

In 1811, a year after Bouverie died, his widow married Lord Robert Spencer (the son of Charles Spencer, 3rd Duke of Marlborough), with whom Harriet had a long liaison. Their daughter Diana, who was considered to be Spencer's daughter, was left the bulk of Spencer's estate. from Sir Charles Hardy, Governor of New York, the husband of the Mary Tate, the last of the Tate family, who had owned the estate since their purchase of the former nunnery on its dissolution.

At home, Edward worked to develop the Delapré estate. In 1765/6 he enclosed the open fields at Hardingstone, making him one of the pioneers of the early inclosure movement in Northamptonshire. In the early 1770s Hunsbury Hill farm, which was part of the estate and an early model farm, was built. We may never know where Bouverie got the design for his new farm but it is clear that his architect provided quite an innovative and effective solution.