Francis Conyngham, 2nd Marquess Conyngham

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Victoria
Prime MinisterThe Viscount Melbourne
Preceded byThe Marquess Wellesley
Succeeded byThe Earl of Uxbridge
Personal details
Born
Francis Nathaniel Conyngham

(1797-06-11)11 June 1797
Dublin, Ireland
Died17 July 1876(1876-07-17) (aged 79)
London, England
NationalityBritish
Spouse(s)Lady Jane Paget
(1804–1876)

Francis Nathaniel Conyngham, 2nd Marquess Conyngham,

PC (11 June 1797 – 17 July 1876), styled Lord Francis Conyngham between 1816 and 1824 and Earl of Mount Charles between 1824 and 1832, was an Anglo-Irish soldier, courtier, politician and absentee landlord
.

Background and education

Born in

Henry, Earl of Mount Charles, and The 1st Baron Londesborough. His mother was previously the infamous last mistress of King George IV. He was educated at Eton. He became known as Lord Francis Conyngham in 1816 when his father was created Marquess Conyngham and gained the courtesy title of Earl of Mount Charles in 1824 on the early death of his unmarried elder brother.[1]

Political career

Conyngham was returned to Parliament for

Lord of the Treasury between 1826 and 1830. In 1832 he succeeded his father in the marquessate and entered the House of Lords.[1]

In July 1834 Lord Conyngham joined the

Lord Chamberlain of the Household. He remained in this position until 1839,[1] when he was succeeded by his brother-in-law the Earl of Uxbridge
.

Lord Conyngham was also Vice-Admiral of Ulster between 1849 and 1876 and Lord-Lieutenant of County Meath between 1869 and 1876. He was made a Knight Grand Cross of the Hanoverian Order in 1830[1] and a Knight of the Order of St Patrick in 1833.[5]

Military career

On 21 September 1820, Conyngham purchased a cornetcy in the

General in 1874.[1]

Ireland and the Hunger

Burton-Conyngham was an absentee landlord in control of some territories in Ireland; particularly in County Donegal (covering Glenties, Arranmore and most of the barony of Boylagh) in Ulster.[14] He showed little interest in these estates he claimed there. According to Thomas Campbell Foster in an 1845 report for The Times of London newspaper, entitled "Commissioner to report on the condition of the people of Ireland", he had visited the area once in his life for a few days.[14] Burton-Conyngham instead hired John Benbow, an English MP, as his chief managing agent, who visited once a year and sub-agents collected rent from tenants each half a year. Foster's report described these estates as such "from one end of his large estate here to the other, nothing is to be found but poverty, misery, wretched cultivation, and infinite subdivision of land."[14]

As the poverty was particularly severe on Burton-Conyngham's estates, the

Donegal Town, while other Islanders were shipped off to the Great Lakes of North America).[15][16]

Courtier

Drawing of two men on their knees in front of Victoria
Queen Victoria receives the news of her accession from Lord Conyngham (left) and the Archbishop of Canterbury.

In his youth, Lord Conyngham was a

Queen of Great Britain and Ireland. He was the first to address her as "Your Majesty".[17][18]

Family

Lord Conyngham married Lady Jane Paget, daughter of Henry Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey, on 23 April 1824. They had six children:

Lady Conyngham died at Folkestone, Kent, in January 1876, aged 77. Lord Conyngham only survived her by five months and died in London in July 1876, aged 79, after an operation for lithotomy. He was succeeded in the marquessate by his eldest son, George.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j thepeerage.com General Sir Francis Nathaniel Conyngham, 2nd Marquess Conyngham
  2. ^ "leighrayment.com House of Commons: Waterloo to West Looe". Archived from the original on 1 May 2009. Retrieved 24 August 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  3. ^ "leighrayment.com House of Commons: Devizes to Dorset West". Archived from the original on 11 October 2017. Retrieved 24 August 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  4. ^ "No. 19272". The London Gazette. 22 May 1835. p. 980.
  5. ^ "No. 19034". The London Gazette. 29 March 1833. p. 617.
  6. ^ "No. 17638". The London Gazette. 30 September 1820. p. 1848.
  7. ^ "No. 17697". The London Gazette. 14 April 1821. p. 838.
  8. ^ "No. 17708". The London Gazette. 19 May 1821. p. 1082.
  9. ^ "No. 17769". The London Gazette. 1 December 1821. p. 2343.
  10. ^ "No. 17778". The London Gazette. 1 January 1822. p. 1.
  11. ^ "No. 17915". The London Gazette. 19 April 1823. p. 626.
  12. ^ "No. 17935". The London Gazette. 28 June 1823. p. 1050.
  13. ^ "No. 18401". The London Gazette. 2 October 1827. p. 2033.
  14. ^ a b c d "The Famine--"The Times"--and Donegal: Part III". Vindicator. 5 December 2015.
  15. ^ a b "Famine Times in Donegal". Irish Famine Pots. 5 December 2015.
  16. ^ "Beaver Island and Arranmore Island". We Love Donegal. 5 December 2015. Archived from the original on 4 July 2017. Retrieved 10 December 2016.
  17. ISBN 1-85619-086-2
    , pp. 55–57
  18. ISBN 0-241-02200-2
    , p. 138

External links
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Ralph Franco
Ralph Franco 1818–1819
William Leader Maberly
1819–1820 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Earl of Mount Charles
George Vaughan Hart
 Member of Parliament for Donegal
1825–1831
With: George Vaughan Hart 		Succeeded by
Sir Edmund Hayes
Edward Conolly
Political offices
Preceded by
Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
1823–1826
With: The Lord Howard de Walden
from 1824 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
The Duke of Richmond
Postmaster General

1834 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Postmaster General

1835 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Lord Chamberlain
1835–1839 		Succeeded by
Court offices
Preceded by Master of the Robes
1820–1830 		Succeeded by
Honorary titles
Preceded by Lord Lieutenant of Meath
1869–1876 		Succeeded by
Peerage of Ireland
Preceded by Marquess Conyngham
1832–1879 		Succeeded by
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Francis_Conyngham,_2nd_Marquess_Conyngham&oldid=1193120490"