Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
John, Lord Hervey (1696-1743) was a successful politician and member of court where he
served as Keeper of the Privy Council. However, during his lifetime he was denounced as
a sexually ambitious figure. Known for his bisexual relationships and effeminate style, he
shared a mistress with Frederick, Prince of Wales and engaged in a ten-year relationship
with his lover, Stephen Fox. There was so much confusion about his sexuality that his
friend, the poet Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, quipped “there are three human species:
men, women and Herveys.” Lord Hervey is also remembered for his memoirs and political
writings and his literary quarrels with Alexander Pope.
Augustus Hervey (1724-1779) was 11 years old when he joined the British Navy and went
to sea. By the time he was 20, he was a distinguished Lieutenant and had secretly mar-
ried Elizabeth Chudleigh, but the marriage did not last. Hervey spent the next 15 years at
sea, and kept journals of his wartime adventures afloat and his amorous adventures ashore.
The list of his conquests included princesses, duchesses, contessas, artists, models, singers,
dancers, and nuns. His reputation afloat and ashore caused Hervey to become known as the
English Casanova. Modern scholars (and voyeurs) can study Hervey's journals in the Brit-
ish Museum. In recognition of what we assume are his naval exploits, Captain James Cook
named Hervey Bay in Queensland, Australia, for Augustus Hervey.
Victor Hervey, 6 th Marquess of Bristol (1915-1985) was best known as “Mayfair Playboy
No. 1” and declared bankruptcy at the age of 21. He was reputed to have used a shotgun
to take potshots at his houseguests from the upstairs windows of Ickworth. After an un-
successful attempt at arms dealing during the Spanish Civil War, Victor joined a gang of
upper class London jewel thieves. In 1939 he was convicted on two counts of robbery from
Mayfair addresses and sentenced to three years hard labor. It was rumored he was the last
person to be publicly flogged in Britain.
After his release from prison, Victor Hervey spent his later years living what appeared to
be a respectable life. In 1960, he inherited the title of 6 th Marquess of Bristol and became
chairman of the Monarchist League. In recent years, declassified police documents have
sparked speculation that Victor Hervey did not entirely quit his life of crime in his later
years and was the real Pink Panther.
In 2009, a decade after his death, the Daily Mail speculated that John Hervey, 7 th Marquess
of Bristol (1954-1999) may have been Britain's all-time amoral aristocrat. With plenty of
competition, the stinging title was quite an accomplishment for someone who only lived
44 years. John Hervey was heir and millionaire by the age of 16, with a personal fortune at
one point worth 35 million British pounds.
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