Edward Harley, 5th Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer


Edward Harley, 5th Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer was an English nobleman.
Harley was the son of John Harley and Roach Vaughan. Edward succeeded to the titles and estates of his father's elder brother Edward Harley, 4th Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer on the 4th Earl's death without issue in 1790.
In 1803 Henry Bickersteth became the Earl's medical attendant whilst the Earl was on a tour of Italy, staying with him until 1805. Edward became Bickersteth's friend and patron and in 1835 Bickersteth married the earl's eldest daughter. In 1804 Edward sold the Ewyas Lacy tithes by auction. He commissioned work from the architect Robert Smirke.

Family

He and his wife Jane Elizabeth Scott married 3 March 1794 and had eight children, including the following:
Due to his wife's infidelity, doubts were expressed about the paternity of many of the children, who were unkindly referred to as "the Harleian Miscellany."
The earl died on 28 December 1848 at his seat at Brampton Bryan Hall.