Edward Conway, 1st Earl of Conway

Edward Conway, 1st Earl of Conway PC, FRS (c. 1623 – 11 August 1683) was an English peer and politician who served as Secretary of State for the Northern Department between 1681 and 1683.

Life

Conway was born circa 1623 to politician Edward Conway, 2nd Viscount Conway and Frances Popham, daughter of Sir Francis Popham. He married Anne Finch, daughter of Sir Heneage Finch, on 11 February 1651. He succeeded as 3rd Viscount Conway (in the Peerage of England) and 3rd Viscount Killultagh (in the Peerage of Ireland) following the death of his father in 1655.

Conway became a member of the Irish Privy Council in 1660 and was a confidant of James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde. He became a Fellow of the Royal Society on 2 January 1668, became governor of Charlemont Fort in 1671 and served as Master of the Ordnance in Ireland from 1679.

On 3 December 1679, Conway was created Earl of Conway. On 2 February 1681, he joined the English Privy Council and became Secretary of State for the Northern Department. He resigned in January 1683 amid allegations that he was complicit in "crimes and misdemeanours ... either in relation to the King's person or his public negotiations or transactions with foreign ambassadors, or in not rightly pursuing the King's instructions to ambassadors abroad". He also served as Lord Lieutenant of Warwickshire from 1682 to 1683.

His wife, Anne, died on 23 February 1679 and he retired to his family's seat, Ragley Hall in Warwickshire. He married Elizabeth Booth, daughter of George Booth, 1st Baron Delamer, who died in July 1681. He married for a third time, to Ursula Stawell (died 13 August 1697), daughter of George Stawell, before he died on 11 August 1683. He was buried in Arrow, Warwickshire, and with no heirs, his titles became extinct on his death. He was survived by his wife, who later married John Sheffield, later 1st Duke of Buckingham and Normanby.

References

• Kelsey, Sean (January 2008). "Conway, Edward, earl of Conway (c.1623–1683)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/39681. Retrieved 2009-06-28.  (subscription or UK public library membership required)