Edward Conway, 1st Earl of Conway

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Edward Conway, 1st Earl of Conway (c.1623 – 11 August 1683) was an English nobleman and politician. He served as Secretary of State for the Northern Department from 1681 to 1683 under King Charles II and was Lord Lieutenant of Warwickshire from 1682 to 1683. Earlier he held roles in Ireland, including Governor of Charlemont Fort (1671) and Master of the Ordnance in Ireland (from 1679). He also became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1668 and joined the Irish Privy Council in 1660.

Born about 1623, he was the son of Edward Conway, 2nd Viscount Conway, and Frances Popham. He became the 3rd Viscount Conway and 3rd Viscount Killultagh after his father’s death in 1655 and was created Earl of Conway on 3 December 1679.

Conway married three times: Anne Finch (1651–1679), Elizabeth Booth (died 1681), and Ursula Stawell. He had no surviving children, so when he died in 1683 his titles became extinct. He was buried at Arrow, Warwickshire.

In his will he left Ragley Hall to his eight-year-old cousin Popham Seymour, on the condition that he adopt the Conway name, becoming Popham Seymour-Conway. This line later led to the Seymour-Conway family and Ragley Hall staying in the family for generations, eventually connected to the Marquesses of Hertford.