John Hervey, 1st Earl of Bristol

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For other persons named John Hervey, see John Hervey (disambiguation).

John Hervey, 1st Earl of Bristol (27 August 1665 – 20 January 1751) was educated at Clare College, Cambridge, and became Member of Parliament for Bury St Edmunds in March 1694.

In March 1703 he was created Baron Hervey, of Ickworth in the County of Suffolk, and in October 1714 was created Earl of Bristol as a reward for his zeal in promoting the principles of the revolution and supporting the Hanoverian succession. By his first wife, Isabella (d. 1693), daughter of Sir Robert Carr, 3rd Baronet, of Sleaford, he had one son, Carr, Lord Hervey (1691-1723), who was also educated at Clare College, Cambridge, and was Member for Bury St Edmunds from 1713 to 1722. (It has been suggested that Carr, who died unmarried on 14 November 1723, was the father of Horace Walpole.)

He married secondly Elizabeth (d. 1741), daughter and co-heiress of Sir Thomas Felton, 4th Baronet, of Playford, Suffolk, by whom he had ten sons and six daughters. His eldest son, John, took the courtesy title Lord Hervey on the death of his half-brother, Carr, in 1723, and gained some renown both as a writer and a politician.

Another son, Thomas (1699-1775), was one of the members for Bury from 1733 to 1747; held various offices at court; and eloped with Elizabeth, wife of Sir Thomas Hanmer. He had very poor health, and his reckless life frequently brought him into pecuniary and other difficulties. He wrote numerous pamphlets, and when he died Dr Johnson said of him, "Tom Hervey, though a vicious man, was one of the genteelest men who ever lived".

Another of Lord Bristol's sons, Felton (1712-1773), was also Member for the family borough of Bury St Edmunds. Having assumed the additional name of Bathurst, Felton's grandson, Felton Elwell Hervey-Bathurst (1782-1819), was created a baronet in 1818, and on his death a year later the title descended to his brother, Frederick Anne (1783-1824). Lord Bristol died in January 1751, the title and estates descending to his grandson.