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Author: Talbot, Robert

Biography:

TALBOT, Robert (1776-1843: ancestry.co.uk)

He was probably born at Malahide Castle, County Dublin, Ireland, and baptised at Swords, Dublin, on 8 Apr. 1776, the eleventh of thirteen children of Richard Talbot (1736-88) and Margaret O’Reilly (1740-1834), who had married in 1765. The Talbots conformed to the Church of Ireland in 1779, probably to protect their property and open up career opportunities for the sons. The O’Reillys had already conformed and were Anglo-Irish aristocrats. His father left debts of £34,000 at his death and his mother’s family stepped in to save the estate. In 1831 his mother was created 1st Baroness Talbot and attended the coronation of George IV. Nothing is known of Robert Talbot’s early education. He was secretary to his brother James Talbot (1767-1850) on spying missions to Switzerland and Germany in 1798-9 and probably first learned German then. He entered the Middle Temple, London, on 25 Apr. 1800 and was called to the bar on 29 Apr. 1803. He went on to become a Commissioner of Bankrupts. His translation of Faust was highly regarded by Goethe’s widow. The GM regretted he had not included the German text, an omission he corrected in the second edition of 1839. Although none of the obituaries mentioned his German translations, they were well known. His authorship (and not another Robert Talbot) is confirmed by the Preface to the translation, dated Hampton Court, June 1834, and presentation copies his brother made in in 1856. He married, on 7 Oct. 1828, at St. James, Piccadilly, London, Arabella (Ogle) Bouverie, the second daughter of Admiral Sir Chaloner Ogle. There was no issue. In 1803 she had been awarded a grace and favour apartment at Hampton Court Palace and she and Talbot moved there at some point after their marriage. The 1841 census records them living there with four servants, and he died there on 17 Mar. 1843, aged 67. Arabella also died there in 1855. (ancestry.co.uk 20 Aug. 2023; Register of Admissions to…The Middle Temple [1949],2: 417; SJC 9 Oct. 1828; GM May 1835, 512, and May 1843, 550, and Dec. 1855, 670; Sarah E. Parker, Grace and Favour: A Handbook of Who Lived at Hampton Court Palace 1750-1950 [2005], 16; Elizabeth Sparrow, Secret Service: British Agents in France 1792-1815 [1999]; Bodleian Library, Talbot Family papers) AA

 

Other Names:

  • R. Talbot
 

Books written (3):

London: John Cumberland, [1828?]
London: Smith, Elder, and Co., 1835