Archives: The Journal of the British Records Association

Abstract

This article considers the letters of Edward Weston, undersecretary of state 1730–46 and 1761–3, which relate to ecclesiastical matters. Weston took a considerable interest in church matters and was a regular correspondent of leading churchmen on a range of religious and political issues, including the distribution of patronage. His letters cover the period of the 1745 Jacobite rising and the dispute over the appointment of a preceptor to Prince George, heir to George II. They shed light on the working of ecclesiastical networks and on the interest churchmen took in political issues.