Morton Eden, 1st Baron Henley

Morton Frederick Eden, 1st Baron Henley (8 July 1752 – 6 December 1830), was a British diplomat and peer.

Early life and education Eden was the fifth son of Sir Robert Eden, 3rd Baronet, and Mary Davison, youngest daughter of William Davison of Beamish, County Durham. His three eldest brothers were Sir John Eden, 4th Baronet, Sir Robert Eden, 1st Baronet, of Maryland, and William Eden, 1st Baron Auckland.

He was educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford.

Career From 1776 to 1779, Eden was Minister to Bavaria, then to Copenhagen 1779–1782, Dresden 1783–1791, Berlin 1791–1793 and Vienna 1793–1794. From 1794 to 1795, he was Ambassador to Spain, and returned as Minister to Vienna in 1794–1799. He then retired with a pension of £2000.

Eden was knighted in 1791 and admitted to the Privy Council in 1794. In 1799, Eden was created Baron Henley (Henly), of Chardstock, in the Peerage of Ireland, in honour of his wife's family. His wife was the co-heiress to her brother, Robert Henley, 2nd Earl of Northington, who died unmarried in 1786, and his earldom and subsidiary title of Baron Henley in the Peerage of Great Britain had become extinct. The Irish peerage did not allow Henley to sit in the House of Lords.

Marriage and issue On 7 August 1783, Eden married Lady Elizabeth Henley (the youngest daughter of the 1st Earl of Northington) and they had four children:

Hon. Frederick Eden (19 August 1784 – 5 November 1823), barrister; died unmarried at his chambers at Inner Temple Hon. Robert Eden (1789–1841), succeeded his father in the barony Hon. Rev. William Henley (7 November 1792 – 4 May 1859), Rector of Bishopsbourne, Kent; married in 1820 Anna Maria Yelverton, daughter of William Kellam and widow of the 19th Lord Grey de Ruthyn Hon. Mary Jane (22 November 1795 – 12 September 1843); married in 1824 Sir Edmund Cradock-Hartopp, 2nd Baronet

Lord Henley died in 1830 and was succeeded by his eldest surviving son, Robert, who adopted the surname Henley.

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