George Markham (30 March 1763 – 30 September 1822)[1] served as Dean of York[2] from 1802 and Rector of Stokesley[3] until his death.[4]
He was born into a large clerical family, the third son of William Markham, Archbishop of York from 1776 to 1807;[5] his brother John Markham was a noted Naval officer, and one of his sisters was Frederica Murray, Countess of Mansfield. He received his education at Westminster School.[6] He matriculated at Christ Church, Oxford in 1780, graduating B.A. in 1784 and M.A. in 1787.[7]
Markham served as Rector of Tattenhall,[8] then as Prebendary of Bilton before becoming Dean of York.[9]
He married Elizabeth Evelyn,[10] daughter of Sir Richard Sutton, of Norwood in 1789:[11] the marriage was to end in divorce in 1803.[12] Of their children:
After the divorce, Elizabeth Evelyn Markham was taken under the wing of her cousin Laura Pulteney, 1st Countess of Bath. She also inherited a substantial fortune when the Countess died in 1808. She married her lover John Fawcett, adultery with whom was the basis of the divorce, and he took the surname Pulteney.[16][17] There were two sons and four daughters of this marriage.[18]
John Fawcett (1766/7–1849) was a Christ Church, Oxford graduate, the son of Richard Fawcett of Grendon. His change of surname to Pulteney was by royal licence, in 1813.[19] The couple had a son, John Apsley Pulteney of the 12th Lancers (1805/6–1840).[20] Their eldest daughter Henrietta Laura Pulteney (1804–1898) married in 1832 the Rev. Philip Gurdon, and was mother of General Evelyn Pulteney Gurdon.[21]
As Elizabeth Evelyn Sutton, she was known as a landscape artist.[22]