Francis Nathaniel Conyngham, 2nd Marquess Conyngham, KP, GCH, 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 Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the establis ...

soldier, courtier, politician and absentee landlord.

Background and education

Born in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, Conyngham was the second son of

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

The 1st Marquess Conyngham and Elizabeth, daughter of Joseph Denison, and the brother of Henry, Earl of Mount Charles, and The 1st Baron Londesborough. He was educated at

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England * Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States * Éton, a commune in the Meuse dep ...

. He became known as Lord Francis Conyngham in 1816 when his father was created

Marquess Conyngham Marquess Conyngham, of the County of Donegal, is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1816 for Henry Conyngham, 1st Earl Conyngham. He was the great-nephew of another Henry Conyngham, 1st Earl Conyngham, a member of a family of ...

and gained the

courtesy title A courtesy title is a title that does not have legal significance but rather is used through custom or courtesy, particularly, in the context of nobility, the titles used by children of members of the nobility (cf. substantive title). In some co ...

Earl Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form ''jarl'', and meant "chieftain", particular ...

of Mount Charles in 1824 on the early death of his unmarried elder brother.thepeerage.com General Sir Francis Nathaniel Conyngham, 2nd Marquess Conyngham
/ref>

Political career

Conyngham was returned to Parliament for Westbury in 1818, a seat he held until 1820, and later represented

Donegal Donegal may refer to: County Donegal, Ireland * County Donegal, a county in the Republic of Ireland, part of the province of Ulster * Donegal (town), a town in County Donegal in Ulster, Ireland * Donegal Bay, an inlet in the northwest of Ireland b ...

(succeeding his deceased elder brother the Earl of Mount Charles) between 1825 and 1831. He served under the

Earl of Liverpool Earl of Liverpool is a title that has been created twice in British history. The first time was in the Peerage of Great Britain in 1796 for Charles Jenkinson, 1st Baron Hawkesbury, a favourite of King George III (see Jenkinson baronets for e ...

as Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs between 1823 and 1826 and under Liverpool,

George Canning George Canning (11 April 17708 August 1827) was a British Tory statesman. He held various senior cabinet positions under numerous prime ministers, including two important terms as Foreign Secretary, finally becoming Prime Minister of the Unit ...

Lord Goderich Frederick John Robinson, 1st Earl of Ripon, (1 November 1782 – 28 January 1859), styled The Honourable F. J. Robinson until 1827 and known between 1827 and 1833 as The Viscount Goderich (pronounced ), the name by which he is best known to ...

and the

Duke of Wellington Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of 19th-century Britain, serving twice as prime minister of ...

as a Lord of the Treasury between 1826 and 1830. In 1832 he succeeded his father in the marquessate and entered the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

. In July 1834 Lord Conyngham joined the

Whig government In British politics, a Whig government may refer to the following British governments administered by the Whigs: * Whig Junto, a name given to a group of leading Whigs who were seen to direct the management of the Whig Party **First Whig Junto, th ...

Lord Melbourne William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, (15 March 177924 November 1848), in some sources called Henry William Lamb, was a British Whig politician who served as Home Secretary (1830–1834) and Prime Minister (1834 and 1835–1841). His first pre ...

as Postmaster General, a post he retained until the government fell in December of the same year, and briefly held the same post under Melbourne again between April and May 1835. The latter month he was sworn of the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

and appointed Lord Chamberlain of the Household. He remained in this position until 1839, when he was succeeded by his brother-in-law the

Earl of Uxbridge Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form ''jarl'', and meant "chieftain", particular ...

. Lord Conyngham was also Vice-Admiral of Ulster between 1849 and 1876 and

Lord-Lieutenant of County Meath This is a list of people who served as Lord Lieutenant of County Meath, Ireland. There were lieutenants of counties in Ireland until the reign of James II, when they were renamed governors. The office of Lord Lieutenant was recreated on 23 Augu ...

between 1869 and 1876. He was made a Knight Grand Cross of the Hanoverian Order in 1830 and a Knight of the Order of St Patrick in 1833.

Military career

On 21 September 1820, Conyngham purchased a cornetcy in the

22nd Light Dragoons The 22nd Dragoons was the title held by five separate Cavalry regiments of the British Army raised and disbanded between 1716 and 1945. The last regiment of this name existed during the Second World War, from 1 December 1940 until 30 November ...

, but this appointment did not take place, and he was replaced by his brother Lord Albert Conyngham, after he was appointed, without purchase, to be cornet and sub-lieutenant in the

2nd Regiment of Life Guards The 2nd Regiment of Life Guards was a cavalry regiment in the British Army, part of the Household Cavalry. It was formed in 1788 by the union of the 2nd Troop of Horse Guards and 2nd Troop of Horse Grenadier Guards. In 1922, it was amalgamated ...

on 23 April 1821. He purchased a lieutenancy in the

9th Light Dragoons The 9th Queen's Royal Lancers was a cavalry regiment of the British Army, first raised in 1715. It saw service for three centuries, including the First and Second World Wars. The regiment survived the immediate post-war reduction in forces, but w ...

on 24 October 1821, and on 13 December, he exchanged from the half-pay of the 9th Light Dragoons into the

1st Regiment of Life Guards The 1st Regiment of Life Guards was a cavalry regiment in the British Army, part of the Household Cavalry. It was formed in 1788 by the union of the 1st Troop of Horse Guards and 1st Troop of Horse Grenadier Guards. In 1922, it was amalgamated w ...

. He exchanged again, into the 17th Light Dragoons, on 3 April 1823, and purchased an unattached captaincy on 12 June 1823. Mount Charles, as he then was, entered the Ceylon Regiment, and purchased an unattached majority on 2 October 1827. He became a Major-General in 1858, a

Lieutenant-General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

in 1866 and a full

in 1874.

Ireland and the Hunger

Burton-Conyngham was an absentee landlord in control of some territories in Ireland; particularly in

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ga, Contae Dhún na nGall) is a county of Ireland in the province of Ulster and in the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Donegal in the south of the county. It has also been known as County Tyrconne ...

(covering Glenties,

Arranmore ''Árainn Mhór'' (English name: Arranmore) is an island off the west coast of County Donegal, Ireland. Arranmore is the largest inhabited island of County Donegal, with a population of 469 in 2016, but has had a gradually falling native popula ...

and most of the barony of Boylagh) in

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United King ...

. He showed little interest in these estates he claimed there. According to

Thomas Campbell Foster Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the Ap ...

in an 1845 report for ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

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

Great Hunger The Great Famine ( ga, an Gorta Mór ), also known within Ireland as the Great Hunger or simply the Famine and outside Ireland as the Irish Potato Famine, was a period of starvation and disease in Ireland from 1845 to 1852 that constituted a h ...

of 1845–52 was miserable for his tenants. They had been surviving on a diet of potatoes and water, due to the constantly raising rent levels and those in Arranmore lived on seaweed part of the year. Including all of County Donegal, not just territories controlled by Burton-Conyngham, around 13,000

Irish people The Irish ( ga, Muintir na hÉireann or ''Na hÉireannaigh'') are an ethnic group and nation native to the island of Ireland, who share a common history and culture. There have been humans in Ireland for about 33,000 years, and it has been c ...

died as a consequence of the Hunger from 1845 to 1850 and many more emigrated. Burton-Conyngham sold Arranmore in 1847 to the land speculator Walter Chorley of Belfast for £200, who proved more interested in the estate but also far more ruthless (who decided to evict all the sub-tenants, many of whom fled to Donegal Town, while other Islanders were shipped off to the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

Courtier

In his youth, Lord Conyngham was a Page of Honour to the Prince Regent (later

George IV George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from the death of his father, King George III, on 29 January 1820, until his own death ten y ...

). Between 1820 and 1830 he was a

Groom of the Bedchamber Groom of the Chamber was a position in the Household of the monarch in early modern England. Other ''Ancien Régime'' royal establishments in Europe had comparable officers, often with similar titles. In France, the Duchy of Burgundy, and in Eng ...

and Master of the Robes to George IV. As Lord Chamberlain, it fell to him on the death of William IV to go with

the Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...

Kensington Palace Kensington Palace is a royal residence set in Kensington Gardens, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, England. It has been a residence of the British royal family since the 17th century, and is currently the official L ...

at 5 a.m. on 20 June 1837 to inform Princess Victoria that she was now Queen of Great Britain and Ireland. He was the first to address her as " Your Majesty".* Woodham-Smith, Cecil (1972) ''Queen Victoria: Her Life and Times 1819–1861'', London: Hamish Hamilton, , p. 138

Family

Lord Conyngham married Lady Jane Paget, daughter of

Henry Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey Henry William Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey (17 May 1768 – 29 April 1854), styled Lord Paget between 1784 and 1812 and known as the Earl of Uxbridge between 1812 and 1815, was a British Army officer and politician. After serving as a member ...

, on 23 April 1824. They had six children: * George Henry Conyngham, 3rd Marquess Conyngham (1825–1882) * Lady Jane Conyngham (1826–1900), married Francis Spencer, 2nd Baron Churchill and had issue. *Lady Frances Caroline Martha Conyngham (1827–1898), married Gustavus Lambart and had issue. *Lady Elizabeth Georgiana Conyngham (1829-1904), married

George Finch-Hatton, 11th Earl of Winchilsea George James Finch-Hatton, 11th Earl of Winchilsea and 6th Earl of Nottingham (31 May 1815 – 9 June 1887), styled Viscount Maidstone between 1826 and 1857, was a British peer and Tory politician. Early life Winchilsea in May 1815 and was the s ...

. *Lady Cecilia Augusta Conyngham (1831-1877), married

Sir Theodore Brinckman, 2nd Baronet Sir Theodore Henry Brinckman, 2nd Baronet DL (12 September 1830 – 7 May 1905) was a British Liberal politician and soldier. He was the son of Sir Theodore Brinckman, 1st Baronet and his first wife Hon. Charlotte Godolphin Osborne, only daughte ...

and had issue. * Lord Francis Nathaniel Conyngham (1832–1880), politician. Lady Conyngham died at

Folkestone Folkestone ( ) is a port town on the English Channel, in Kent, south-east England. The town lies on the southern edge of the North Downs at a valley between two cliffs. It was an important harbour and shipping port for most of the 19th and 20t ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, in January 1876, aged 77. Lord Conyngham only survived her by five months and died in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in July 1876, aged 79, after an operation for lithotomy. He was succeeded in the marquessate by his eldest son, George.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Conyngham, Francis Conyngham, 2nd Marquess 1797 births 1876 deaths People educated at Eton College Irish unionists Knights of St Patrick Lord-Lieutenants of Meath Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Mount Charles, Francis Conyngham, Earl of Conyngham, Francis, Lord United Kingdom Postmasters General Conyngham, Francis, Lord Mount Charles, Francis Conyngham, Earl of Mount Charles, Francis Conyngham, Earl of Mount Charles, Francis Conyngham, Earl of UK MPs who inherited peerages British Army generals

Francis Francis may refer to: People *Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State and Bishop of Rome *Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Francis (surname) Places * Rural M ...

9th Queen's Royal Lancers officers 17th Lancers officers British Life Guards officers Deputy Lieutenants of Donegal Marquesses Conyngham