George Henry Conyngham, 3rd Marquess Conyngham (3 February 1825 – 2 June 1882), styled Earl of Mount Charles from 1832 to 1876, was a British peer and soldier.

"Mount". Caricature by Spy in Vanity Fair, 1 January 1881

Biography

He was born on 3 February 1825, the son and heir of Francis Nathaniel Conyngham, 2nd Marquess Conyngham, and was baptised at St James's Church, Westminster.[1] He entered the Army as a cornet in the 2nd Regiment of Dragoons on 31 December 1844,[2] and exchanged to be a cornet and sub-lieutenant in the 1st Regiment of Life Guards on 28 April 1848;[3] on 19 October 1850 he was promoted to lieutenant.[4] Besides his military career, Mount Charles served as State Steward to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (Lord Clarendon) from 1847 to 1852.

Mount Charles was promoted to captain in the 1st Life Guards on 4 August 1854[5] and to major and lieutenant-colonel on 24 August 1861.[6] He served simultaneously in the yeomanry, being made captain in the Royal East Kent Mounted Rifles on 20 April 1859,[7] major on 24 June 1862[8] and lieutenant-colonel commandant on 2 February 1863.[9] He was granted brevet rank as a full colonel on 24 August 1866[10] and went on half-pay on 13 June 1868.[11] He was then an Equerry to the Queen from 1870[12] to 1872, when he was made an Extra Equerry.[13] On 17 July 1876 he succeeded his father as Marquess Conyngham in the Peerage of Ireland and Baron Minster in the Peerage of the United Kingdom,[1] and he took his seat in the House of Lords on 2 July 1877.[14] In politics he was a Liberal. Like his father, he held the office of Vice-Admiral of Ulster.[1] He was promoted to major-general on 1 October 1877[15] and retired with the honorary rank of lieutenant-general on 1 October 1881,[16] with seniority later backdated to 1 July.[17]

Conyngham died at the age of 57 on 2 June 1882, in Belgrave Square. He was buried at Patrixbourne. His widow died at The Mount, Ascot, on 28 November 1907, and was buried on 3 December at Bifrons.[1]

He owned 166,000 acres including almost 10,000 in Kent, 122,000 acres in Donegal and 7,000 acres in Meath.[18]

Family

On 17 June 1854 he married Lady Jane St Maur Blanche, only daughter and heiress of Charles Stanhope, 4th Earl of Harrington.[1] They had seven children.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e G.E.C., ed. Vicary Gibbs and H. Arthur Doubleday, The Complete Peerage, volume III (1913) page 414.
  2. ^ "No. 20428". The London Gazette. 31 December 1844. p. 5353.
  3. ^ "No. 20850". The London Gazette. 28 April 1848. p. 1656.
  4. ^ "No. 21154". The London Gazette. 15 November 1850. p. 2994.
  5. ^ "No. 21578". The London Gazette. 4 August 1854. p. 2391.
  6. ^ "No. 22548". The London Gazette. 17 September 1861. p. 3746.
  7. ^ "No. 22255". The London Gazette. 26 April 1859. p. 1728.
  8. ^ "No. 22648". The London Gazette. 27 June 1862. p. 3265.
  9. ^ "No. 22705". The London Gazette. 6 February 1863. p. 646.
  10. ^ "No. 23162". The London Gazette. 14 September 1866. p. 5031.
  11. ^ "No. 23389". The London Gazette. 12 June 1868. p. 3302.
  12. ^ "No. 23669". The London Gazette. 18 October 1870. p. 4507.
  13. ^ "No. 23904". The London Gazette. 1 October 1872. p. 4559.
  14. ^ https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1877/jul/02/minutes. Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). House of Lords. 2 July 1877. col. 590. ((cite book)): |chapter-url= missing title (help)CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  15. ^ "No. 24508". The London Gazette. 2 October 1877. p. 5461.
  16. ^ "No. 25021". The London Gazette. 30 September 1881. p. 4895.
  17. ^ "No. 25042". The London Gazette. 29 November 1881. p. 6215.
  18. ^ The great landowners of Great Britain and Ireland
Peerage of Ireland Preceded byFrancis Conyngham Marquess Conyngham 1876–1882 Succeeded byHenry Conyngham
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