Boyle, Charles, 4th Earl of Orrery (1674 -1731)

Charles Boyle was the second son of Roger, 2nd Earl of Orrery and Lady Mary Sackville, daughter of Richard, 5th Earl of Dorset. Educated at Christ Church, Oxford, Member of Parliament for Huntingdon in 1700, a Lieutenant General in the army and Envoy Extraordinary to Brabant and Flanders, he was created a peer of Great Britain as Baron Boyle of Marston in Somerset in 1711, having succeeded his brother Roger as Earl of Orrery in 1703. He is better known for his literary dispute with Richard Bentley, and because of the astronomical instrument, the orrery, which was named after him by its inventor George Graham. He married Elizabeth Cecil, daughter of John, Earl of Exeter. He fell out with his son, the 5th Earl, and changed his will to leave his library to Christ Church, Oxford. the Earl and his heir eventually reconciled, but the Earl died before he could reverse his will.