British politician and peer
Francis Ingram-Seymour-Conway, 2nd Marquess of Hertford
,
KG
,
PC
,
PC (Ire)
(12 February 1743 ? 17 June 1822), styled
The Honourable Francis Seymour-Conway
until 1750,
Viscount Beauchamp
between 1750 and 1793, and
Earl of Yarmouth
between 1793 and 1794, was a British peer and politician. He held seats in the
Irish House of Commons
from 1761 to 1776 and in the
British House of Commons
from 1766 to 1794. He served as
Chief Secretary for Ireland
under his father. He subsequently held positions in the
Royal Household
, including serving as
Lord Chamberlain
between 1812 and 1822.
Background and education
[
edit
]
A member of the
Seymour family
headed by the
Duke of Somerset
, Hertford was the eldest son of
Francis Seymour-Conway, 1st Marquess of Hertford
, and Lady Isabella Fitzroy, daughter of
Charles FitzRoy, 2nd Duke of Grafton
, born on 12 January 1743 in London.
[1]
He was the elder brother of
Lord Robert Seymour
and
Lord Hugh Seymour
. He was educated at
Eton
and
Christ Church, Oxford
.
[2]
Political career
[
edit
]
In 1761, Hertford entered the
Irish House of Commons
for
Lisburn
,
[2]
[3]
and later represented
County Antrim
between 1768 and 1776.
[2]
[3]
He was sworn of the
Irish Privy Council
in 1775, and served as
Chief Secretary for Ireland
between 1765 and 1766 to the
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland
, his father.
[1]
In 1766, he entered the
British House of Commons
as Member of Parliament for
Lostwithiel
, changing in 1768 to represent
Orford
until he succeeded his father in 1794.
[4]
In 1783, Hertford was defied by his tenants in
Lisburn
. They elected Todd Jones, a captain in the
Irish Volunteer movement
, on a platform calling for the independence and reform of the
Irish parliament
. In 1790, with Jones arguing that reform was impossible without
Catholic Emancipaton
, Hertford's nominees regained parliamentary control of the borough.
[5]
[6]
Hertford was himself sympathetic to the case for Catholic "relief" (in May 1778 he declared himself strongly in favour of the repeal of the penal acts affecting Roman Catholics) and in "A Letter to the First Company of Belfast Volunteers", published in Dublin, 1782, he endorsed the case for Ireland's legislative independence. He did not, however, embrace the call for parliamentary reform (abolition of the proprietary boroughs and a broader franchise) and he was averse to any further assertion of Irish independence.
[7]
Hertford served under
Lord North
, firstly as a
Lord of the Treasury
from 1774, and then from 1780 as
Cofferer of the Household
,
[8]
a post he held until its abolishment in 1782. In 1780 he was also sworn of the
British Privy Council
.
[9]
He remained out of office until 1804,
[10]
when he was made
Master of the Horse
by
William Pitt the Younger
. He continued in this position until Pitt's death in 1806 and later served under
Spencer Perceval
and
Lord Liverpool
as
Lord Chamberlain of the Household
between 1812
[11]
and 1821.
[12]
Apart from his political career Hertford was also
Lord Lieutenant of Warwickshire
between 1816 and 1822, and Governor of County Antrim.
[2]
In 1807 he was appointed a
Knight of the Garter
.
[13]
Shortly before his death, he was refused a dukedom by Lord Liverpool.
[1]
In 1829, he ordered MPs beholden to him to vote for the
Roman Catholic Relief Act
which finally removed the Protestant monopoly on Parliament.
[14]
Family
[
edit
]
Lord Hertford married, firstly, the
Hon. Alice Elizabeth Windsor
, daughter of
Herbert Windsor, 2nd Viscount Windsor
, on 4 February 1768. After her death in 1772 he married, secondly, the Hon.
Isabella Anne Ingram
, daughter of
Charles Ingram, 9th Viscount of Irvine
and Frances Shepherd, on 20 May 1776. She was a mistress of
George IV
. On the death of his mother-in-law in 1807, he and his wife added the surname Ingram to their own, due to the fortune they inherited from her. Lord Hertford died in London in June 1822, aged 79, and was succeeded by his son from his second marriage,
Francis
. The Marchioness of Hertford died in April 1834.
[2]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
Hochstrasser, T. J. (May 2008).
"Conway, Francis Ingram-Seymour-, second marquess of Hertford (1743?1822)"
.
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
(online ed.). Oxford University Press.
doi
:
10.1093/ref:odnb/25167
. Retrieved
30 December
2012
.
(Subscription or
UK public library membership
required.)
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
thepeerage.com Francis Seymour-Ingram, 2nd Marquess of Hertford
- ^
a
b
"leighrayment.com Irish House of Commons 1692?1800"
. Archived from the original on 1 June 2009
. Retrieved
25 November
2009
.
{{
cite web
}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (
link
)
- ^
Brooke, John
.
"Seymour Conway, Francis, Visct. Beauchamp (1743?1822)"
.
The History of Parliament
Online
. Retrieved
30 December
2012
.
- ^
Kelly, James (1988).
"The Parliamentary Reform Movement of the 1780s and the Catholic Question"
.
Archivium Hibernicum
.
43
: (95?117) 99.
doi
:
10.2307/25487483
.
ISSN
0044-8745
.
JSTOR
25487483
.
- ^
"Jones, William Todd | Dictionary of Irish Biography"
.
dib.ie
. Retrieved
24 September
2021
.
- ^
"Francis (Ingram) Seymour, second Marquis of Hertford 1743-1822"
.
historyhome.co.uk
. Retrieved
24 September
2021
.
- ^
"No. 12053"
.
The London Gazette
. 29 January 1780. p. 1.
- ^
"No. 12054"
.
The London Gazette
. 1 January 1780. p. 1.
- ^
"No. 15720"
.
The London Gazette
. 17 July 1804. p. 877.
- ^
"No. 16580"
.
The London Gazette
. 3 March 1812. p. 425.
- ^
"No. 17772"
.
The London Gazette
. 11 December 1821. p. 2405.
- ^
"No. 16049"
.
The London Gazette
. 21 July 1807. p. 974.
- ^
"Orford | History of Parliament Online"
.
historyofparliamentonline.org
. Retrieved
24 September
2021
.
- ^
Debrett's Peerage, 1968, pp.571,1036
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