The Right Honourable
The Earl of Buckinghamshire
PC
John, 2nd Earl of Buckinghamshire (1723-1793), by Thomas Gainsborough.jpg
Portrait by Thomas Gainsborough
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland
In office
7 December 1776 – 19 November 1780
Preceded byThe Earl Harcourt
Succeeded byThe Earl of Carlisle
Personal details
Born17 August 1723
Died3 August 1793(1793-08-03) (aged 69)
Spouse(s)Mary Anne Drury
Caroline Conolly
Children7
Parent(s)John Hobart, 1st Earl of Buckinghamshire
Judith Britiffe

John Hobart, 2nd Earl of Buckinghamshire (17 August 1723 – 3 August 1793) was a British nobleman and politician.

Blickling Hall
Blickling Hall

Biography

The son of John Hobart, 1st Earl of Buckinghamshire by his first wife Judith Britiffe, he was educated at Westminster School and Christ's College, Cambridge.[1] He was Member of Parliament for Norwich from 1747 to 1756, having also been elected for St Ives in 1747 but opting to sit for Norwich. He held office as Comptroller of the Household in 1755-56 and as a Lord of the Bedchamber from 1756 to 1767, having succeeded his father as Earl in 1756.[2] He was Ambassador from the United Kingdom to Russia from 1762 to 1765 and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland from 1776 to 1780, when his Chief Secretary was Sir Richard Heron, Bt. In the latter role, he had to concede free trade and, more importantly, the enactment of the Papists Act 1778 which partially repealed the Penal laws and provided measures for the relief of Roman Catholics and Dissenters.

Family

He married firstly Mary Anne Drury, daughter of Sir Thomas Drury, 1st Baronet, and secondly, Caroline, daughter of William James Conolly, but died without surviving male issue and was succeeded by his half-brother George Hobart, 3rd Earl of Buckinghamshire.

He had three daughters by his first wife:[3]

and three sons, who died young, and one daughter by his second wife:

Mausoleum of the 2nd Earl in Blickling Park, Norfolk
Mausoleum of the 2nd Earl in Blickling Park, Norfolk

He was laid to rest in the family mausoleum at Blickling Hall, the family seat in Norfolk. The bodies of his two wives are also in the mausoleum, which is an unusual grade II* listed pyramidal structure designed by architect Joseph Bonomi the Elder, based on Pyramid of Cestius in Rome.[4]

References

  1. ^ "Hobart, John (HBRT739J)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  2. ^ Kelly, James. "Hobart, John, second earl of Buckinghamshire". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/13394. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  3. ^ "John Hobart, 2nd Earl of Buckinghamshire". The Peerage. Darryl Lundy. 29 July 2013. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
  4. ^ Historic England. "THE MAUSOLEUM (1051437)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 12 March 2014.
Parliament of the United Kingdom Preceded byThomas Vere Horatio Walpole Member of Parliament for Norwich 1747–1756 With: Horatio Walpole 1747–1756Edward Bacon 1756 Succeeded byHarbord Harbord Political offices Preceded byEarl of Hillsborough Comptroller of the Household 1756 Succeeded byLord Edgcumbe Preceded byEarl Harcourt Lord Lieutenant of Ireland 1776-80 Succeeded byEarl of Carlisle Court offices Preceded byNew government Lord of the Bedchamber 1760–1767 Succeeded byThe Duke of Roxburghe Diplomatic posts Preceded byRobert Murray Keith Ambassador from the United Kingdom to Russia 1762–1764 Succeeded byEarl Macartney Peerage of Great Britain Preceded byJohn Hobart Earl of Buckinghamshire 1756–1793 Succeeded byGeorge Hobart
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