LOVELACE, Nevill (1708-36)

Lovelace succeeded to the title while still an infant following the deaths of both his father and brother in New York. Longleat, Bath mss, Thynne pprs. 46, f. 101. Two other brothers, Wentworth and Charles Lovelace also died young. Thus by the time of his succession only Lovelace himself, his mother and sister, Martha, remained of the family. Besides the title, there was little else for the young lord to inherit. The Lovelace estates based on the manors of Hurley and Water Eaton had descended to Sir Henry Johnson^‡ on the death of the 3rd Baron and it had been in part financial necessity that had led the 4th Baron to accept the post of governor of New York, having previously attempted to sell most of his remaining lands. VCH Oxon. xii. 192-3; Marlborough Godolphin Corresp. 876, 881-2, 902. At his death, his baroness pleaded destitution. Add. 61623, f. 44. She was compelled to petition for payment of expenses and although it appears that there was no improvement in the family’s fortunes in the ensuing years, the dowager Lady Lovelace presumably wielded what residual influence remained throughout Lovelace’s minority. HMC Hastings, iii. 12. At barely two years old he was included as a minor in a list detailing the Lords’ votes on the Sacheverell trial. Details of the later part of his (brief) career will be covered in full in the second phase of this work.

Lovelace died of consumption at Rumsford in Essex in July 1736, ‘greatly esteemed, greatly lamented’. London Evening Post, 31 July 1736. He was buried at Water Eaton leaving his sister, Martha, who later married Lord Henry Beauclerk^‡, as his sole heir. Daily Gazetteer, 7 Aug. 1736. He did not leave a will but was prudent enough to have insured his life with the Amicable Society. London Evening Post, 2-5 July 1737. At his demise the barony became extinct.