John Hervey, 1st Earl of Bristol (27 August 1665 – 20 January 1751) was an English Whig politician and peer.
John Hervey was born in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, the son of Sir Thomas Hervey and Isabella, daughter of Sir Humphrey May. He was educated at Bury St Edmunds Grammar School and Clare College, Cambridge.
Hervey first contested the Bury St Edmunds constituency in 1689, but was unsuccessful. He was, however, returned as one of two Members of Parliament for the seat at a by-election in 1694. He maintained good relations with his constituents and was returned at every subsequent general election with unanimous support.
Hervey was a Whig in his politics; he was quick to sign the Association of 1696 and on 25 November that year he voted in favour of the attainder of Sir John Fenwick, 3rd Baronet. In 1700, he was listed as being a supporter of the Whig Junto. On 21 May 1701 he spoke against a Tory proposal to reduce the civil list. At the November 1701 English general election, he successfully ousted the Tory Sir Robert Davers, 2nd Baronet from the second seat in Bury and had him replaced by the Whig Sir Thomas Felton, 4th Baronet. In the following parliament, he was listed by Robert Harley as being among the Whig parliamentarians. He found less favourable political circumstances following the accession of Anne in 1702, and applauded the May 1702 resignations of the Duke of Devonshire and the Earl of Carlisle.
Nonetheless, in early 1703, the Duchess of Marlborough successfully petitioned the queen to include Hervey among the new peers. On 27 March 1703 he was created 1st Baron Hervey, of Ickworth in the county of Suffolk and assumed his seat in the House of Lords. Hervey's elevation met considerable hostility from Tories including Sir John Leverson-Gower, one the Tory nominees.
Once a peer, Hervey took a more independent political line, but retained an affinity with Whig principles. 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. He became a critic of Court Whiggery under the Walpole ministry.
The principal estate owned by John Hervey was Ickworth House, which his ancestor Thomas Hervey (died 1467) acquired following his marriage to Jane Drury, the sole heiress to Henry Drury. He made Ickworth his primary residence in 1702. However, when he married Elizabeth Felton, he acquired property in other parts of Suffolk: Tuddenham, Playford and Shotley following the death of her father Sir Thomas Felton, 4th Baronet in 1709.
to Isabella (died 1693), daughter of Sir Robert Carr, 3rd Baronet, of Sleaford, Lincolnshire
25 July 1695, Boxted Hall in Suffolk, to Elizabeth (died 1741), daughter and co-heir of local Suffolk dignitary Sir Thomas Felton, 4th Baronet and his noble wife styled from birth Lady Elizabeth, daughter and co-heir of James Howard, 3rd Earl of Suffolk.
By his marriage to Isabella he had three children:
Lady Isabella Hervey (died November 1711), unmarried
Carr Hervey, Lord Hervey (1691–1723), who was educated at Clare College, Cambridge and was a Tory MP for the same seat as his father and grandfather from 1713 to 1722. He died unmarried on 14 November 1723.
Catherine Hervey (b. 1693), died young
By his marriage to Lady Elizabeth he had seventeen children:
John Hervey, 2nd Baron Hervey (1696–1743), was a politician, court wit and pamphleteer. On the death of his half-brother Carr in 1723 he took the courtesy title of Lord Hervey and gained some renown both as a writer and in politics. In 1733, he was summoned to the House of Lords through a writ of acceleration in his father's junior title of Baron Hervey. He also predeceased his father.
Lady Elizabeth Hervey (1698–1727), married Bussy Mansel, without issue
Thomas Hervey (20 January 1699 – 16 January 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, 4th Baronet. 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 [ie a man of vice], was one of the genteelest men who ever lived".
Capt. William Hervey, RN (25 December 1699 – January 1776), married Elizabeth Ridge and had issue