| Authorised form of name | Harley; Edward (1689 - 1741); 2nd Earl of Oxford and Mortimer |
| Dates | 1689 - 1741 |
| Nationality | British |
| Date of birth | 02 June 1689 |
| Place of death | Dover Street, Westminster |
| Date of death | 16 June 1741 |
| DatesAndPlaces | Burial:
Duke of Newcastle's vault, Westminster Abbey, London |
| Activity | Education:
Westminster School; Christ Church, Oxford. MA (1712), DCL (1730)
Career:
MP for Radnor (1711-1715, Cambridgeshire (1722-1724); Burgess of Edinburgh (1723); High Steward of Cambridge (1728-death); Vice President of St George's Hospital (1733); Governor of the Foundling Hospital; friend and patron of many men of letters, including Alexander Pope and Jonathan Swift; despite marrying a bride with a dowry of £500,000, he fell into debt and sold Wimpole (1740); his huge collection of books, prints coins, etc was sold after his death, his manuscripts were sold to the nation and now form the Harleian Collection in the British Library
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| Membership category | Fellow |
| Date of election | 23/11/1727 |
| Relationships | Son of Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford and Mortimer (FRS 1712), and his first wife, Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Foley of Witley Court, Worcestershire, and his wife, Elizabeth, daughter of Edward Ashe of Heytesbury, Wiltshire; married Henrietta Cavendish, daughter of John Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle (cr 1694) and his wife, Margaret, daughter of Henry Cavendish, 2nd Duke of Newcastle (cr 1665); grandson of Sir Edward Harley (FRS 1663); nephew of Thomas Foley, 1st Baron Foley of Kidderminster (FRS 1696) of and Richard Foley (FRS 1708); brother-in-law of George Hay, 8th Earl of Kinnoull (FRS 1712) |
| Source | Sources:
Bulloch's Roll; DNB; GEC; Foster; Sedgwick
References:
'Gentleman's Magazine' 1741, p332 |
| Code | NA7379 |