Watson, Lewis, 2nd Earl of Rockingham (1714 -1745)

Lewis Watson was the eldest son of Edward Watson, and Catharine, eldest daughter and coheir of Thomas Tufton, 6th Earl of Thanet, and grandson of Lewis, 1st Earl of Rockingham. He was educated at Eton College, 1725 1728. On the death of his father in 1721 he was styled Viscount Sondes, and on his grandfather's death in 1724 he succeeded as Earl of Rockingham. After Eton he travelled in Italy, taking his seat in the House of Lords on his return. On 10 April 1734 he married his cousin Catharine, sister and co heir of Sir Henry Furnese, with whom he had a fortune of £200,000. They had no children. He was succeeded by his brother, Thomas, 3rd Earl, who died unmarried in 1745. Lewis Watson's widow married Francis North, Earl of Guildford, and as the Earldom of Rockingham became extinct with the 3rd Earl, and the Barony passed to a cousin, the library passed with the other property through her to her second husband, the Earl of Guildford. The library of Frederick North, 5th Lord Guildford was sold in a series of sales by R.H. Evans, 15 December 1828; 12 January and 28 February 1829; the manuscripts and the library imported from Corfu, 8 and 20 December 1830; 5 January 1831; and 9 November and 17 December 1835.