SHREWSBURY, CHARLES TALBOT, DUKE OF (166o 1718), only son by his second wife of Francis Talbot, n th earl of Shrewsbury, was born on July 24, 1660. His mother was a daughter of Robert Brudenell, 2nd earl of Cardigan, and the notorious mistress of the 2nd duke of Buckingham, by whom his father was killed in a duel in 1668. Charles was a godson of Charles II., and he was brought up as a Roman Catholic, but in 1679 under the influence of Tillotson he became a member of the Church of England. On his father's death in 1668 he suc ceeded to the earldom of Shrewsbury; he received an appointment in the household of Charles II., and served in the army under James II. But in 1687 he was in correspondence with the Prince of Orange, and he was one of the seven signatories of the letter of invitation to William in the following year. He crossed to Holland to join William, and landed with him in England in November 1688. Shrewsbury became a secretary of state in the first administration of William and Mary, but he resigned office in 1690 when the Tories gained the upper hand in parliament. While in opposition he brought forward the triennial bill, to which the king refused assent. In 1694 he again became secretary of state; but there is some evidence that as early as 1690, when he resigned, he had gone over to the Jacobites and was in corre spondence with James at St. Germains. It has been stated that William connived at the correspondence. However this may be, William seems not to have suspected Shrewsbury's loyalty, for he was created marquess of Alton and duke of Shrewsbury, and acted as one of the regents during the king's absence from Eng land. In 1696 definite accusations of treason were brought against him by Sir John Fenwick, which William himself communicated to Shrewsbury. The latter asked to resign on ground of health, and in 1700 the king accepted his resignation reluctantly.
For the next seven years Shrewsbury lived abroad, chiefly at Rome, whence in 1701 he wrote a letter to Lord Somers declar ing that if he had a son he "would sooner bind him to a cobbler than a courtier, and a hangman than a statesman." When he
returned to England in 1707 he gradually became alienated from his old Whig associates, and in 1710 became lord chamberlain in the Tory administration, to which the queen appointed him with out the knowledge of Godolphin and Marlborough, while his wife was at the same time made a lady of the bedchamber. Shrews bury became lord lieutenant of Ireland in 1713 ; but he was in London in July 1714 during the crisis occasioned by the impend ing death of Queen Anne. On July 27, when the queen was dying, Oxford was dismissed, and Anne appointed Shrewsbury to the vacant treasurership. When the queen died on Aug. 1, Shrewsbury was able to influence the succession to the crown. He threw his influence into the scale in favour of the elector of Hanover, and powerfully promoted the peaceful accession of George I. He exchanged his onerous office for that of lord chamberlain. This also he resigned in 1715. He died on Feb. 1, 1718.
In 1705 Shrewsbury married Adelaide, daughter of the Marquis Paleotti of Bologna. On the accession of George I. the duchess became a lady of the bedchamber to the princess of Wales. Shrewsbury left no children, and at his death the dukedom became extinct, the earldom of Shrewsbury passing to his cousin Gilbert Talbot. (See TALBOT.) See Correspondence of Charles Talbot, Duke of Shrewsbury, with King William, the Leaders of the Whig Party, &c., edited by W. Coxe (London, 1821) ; Gilbert Burnet, History of his own Time (6 vols., znd ed., Oxford, 1833) ; F. W. Wyon, History of Great Britain during the Reign of Anne (2 vols., London, 1876) ; Earl Stanhope, History of England comprising the Reign of Anne until the Peace of Utrecht (London, 187o), and History of England from the Peace of Utrecht, vol. i. (7 vols., London, 1836-54) ; The Wentworth Papers, edited by J. J. Cartwright (London, 1883) ; W. E. H. Lecky, History of England in the Eighteenth Century, vol. i. (new edition, 7 vols., London, 1892) ; and G. E. C., Complete Peerage, vol. vii. (London, 1896).