James Waldegrave, 1st Earl Waldegrave KG

Order of the Garter

The Most Noble Order of the Garter, founded in 1348, is the highest order of chivalry, or knighthood, existing in England. The order is dedicated to the image and arms of St...

 PC (1684 – 11 April 1741) was a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 ambassador

Ambassador

An ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....

.

Waldegrave was the son of the 1st Baron Waldegrave

Henry Waldegrave, 1st Baron Waldegrave

Henry Waldegrave, 1st Baron Waldegrave was an English peer and Jacobite supporter.The son of Sir Charles Waldegrave, 3rd Baronet, Waldegrave inherited his father's title in about 1684. A year earlier, on 29th November, he had married Henrietta FitzJames, an illegitimate daughter of King James II...

 and Henrietta FitzJames, the illegitimate daughter of James II

James II of England

James II & VII was King of England and King of Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland...

 and Arabella Churchill

Arabella Churchill (royal mistress)

Arabella Churchill was the mistress of King James II, and the mother of four of his children...

.

Waldegrave inherited his father's title in 1690 and on 20 May 1714, he married Mary Webbe (who died in childbirth in 1719), a daughter of Sir John Webb, 3rd Baronet and they had three surviving children:

• Hon. James Waldegrave
  James Waldegrave, 2nd Earl Waldegrave
  James Waldegrave, 2nd Earl Waldegrave KG PC FRS was a British statesman.The eldest son of the 1st Earl Waldegrave, Waldegrave was educated at Westminster and Eton and he inherited his father's titles in 1741...
  
   (1714–1763)
• Hon. John Waldegrave
  John Waldegrave, 3rd Earl Waldegrave
  John Waldegrave, 3rd Earl Waldegrave was a British politician and soldier.Waldegrave was the youngest son of the 1st Earl Waldegrave. He joined the 1st Regiment of Foot in 1735, rising to the rank of Captain in 1739...
  
   (1718–1784)
• Lady Henrietta Waldegrave (1717–1753), married firstly, Lord Edward Herbert, a son of the 2nd Marquess of Powis and had issue; married secondly, John Beard
  John Beard (tenor)
  John Beard was an English tenor of the 18th century. He is best remembered for creating an extensive number of roles in the operas and oratorios of George Frideric Handel....
  
   (a singer at Covent Garden
  Covent Garden
  Covent Garden is a district in London on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St. Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit and vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and the Royal Opera House, which is also known as...
  
  ).

After the death of his wife, he converted from Roman Catholicism (the religion he was brought up with) to Anglicanism

Church of England

The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...

 in order to take his seat in the House of Lords

House of Lords

The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....

. He was briefly a Lord of the Bedchamber

Lord of the Bedchamber

A Lord of the Bedchamber, previously known as a Gentleman of the Bedchamber was a courtier in the Royal Household of the King of the United Kingdom and the Prince of Wales. A Lord of the Bedchamber's duties consisted of assisting the King with his dressing, waiting on him when he ate in private,...

 in 1723 and then from 1730–41 and Ambassador to Austria from 1727–30 and to France from 1730–40. During his ambassadorship to France, he still spent enough time in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 to be one of the founding Governors of the new charity there, known as the Foundling Hospital

Foundling Hospital

The Foundling Hospital in London, England was founded in 1741 by the philanthropic sea captain Thomas Coram. It was a children's home established for the "education and maintenance of exposed and deserted young children." The word "hospital" was used in a more general sense than it is today, simply...

 (created in 1739). In 1729, he had been created Earl Waldegrave

Earl Waldegrave

Earl Waldegrave is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1729 for James Waldegrave, 2nd Baron Waldegrave. The Waldegrave family descends from Sir Richard Waldegrave, Speaker of the House of Commons from 1381 to 1382. His son and namesake, Sir Richard Waldegrave, was a soldier...

 and on his death in 1741, was succeeded by his eldest son, James

James Waldegrave, 2nd Earl Waldegrave

James Waldegrave, 2nd Earl Waldegrave KG PC FRS was a British statesman.The eldest son of the 1st Earl Waldegrave, Waldegrave was educated at Westminster and Eton and he inherited his father's titles in 1741...

.

Waldegrave was the first person to discuss what would become game theory

Game theory

Game theory is a mathematical method for analyzing calculated circumstances, such as in games, where a person’s success is based upon the choices of others...

in a 1713 letter concerning the card game le Her.