John Vanderbank (1694-1739) - Francis North (1704–1790), 1st Earl of Guilford, in Earl's Robes - 1175942 - National Trust

Francis North, 1st Earl of Guilford (13 April 1704 – 4 August 1790), of

Wroxton Abbey Wroxton Abbey is a Jacobean house in Oxfordshire, with a 1727 garden partly converted to the serpentine style between 1731 and 1751. It is west of Banbury, off the A422 road in Wroxton. It is now the English campus of Fairleigh Dickinson Uni ...

, Oxfordshire, styled as Lord Guilford between 1729 and 1752, was a British Whig politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

from 1727 until 1729 at which point he succeeded to the peerage as Baron Guildford. He also became the

Treasurer A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The significant core functions of a corporate treasurer include cash and liquidity management, risk management, and corporate finance. Government The treasury o ...

Queen Charlotte Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (Sophia Charlotte; 19 May 1744 – 17 November 1818) was Queen of Great Britain and of Ireland as the wife of King George III from their marriage on 8 September 1761 until the union of the two kingdoms ...

of the Royal

House of Mecklenburg The House of Mecklenburg, also known as Nikloting, is a North German dynasty of Slavic origin that ruled until 1918 in the Mecklenburg region, being among the longest-ruling families of Europe. Queen Juliana of the Netherlands (1909–2004), ...

. His son, Frederick North, was the famous Prime Minister of Great Britain who lost the

American Revolution War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

under his term.

Early life

North was the son of

Francis North, 2nd Baron Guilford Francis North, 2nd Baron Guilford PC (14 December 1673 – 17 October 1729) was a British peer and member of the House of Lords. Life In 1685, he succeeded his father Francis North as Baron Guilford. In 1701 he was one of five peers of the rea ...

, and his wife Alice Brownlow, daughter of

Sir John Brownlow, 3rd Baronet Sir John Brownlow, 3rd Baronet (26 June 1659 – 16 July 1697) of Belton House near Grantham in Lincolnshire, was an English member of parliament. He built the grand mansion of Belton House, which survives today. He was born on 26 June 1659, ...

, of Humby, Lincolnshire. He was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

and matriculated at

Trinity College, Oxford (That which you wish to be secret, tell to nobody) , named_for = The Holy Trinity , established = , sister_college = Churchill College, Cambridge , president = Dame Hilary Boulding , location = Broad Street, Oxford OX1 3BH , coordinates ...

on 25 March 1721, aged 16. He undertook a

Grand Tour The Grand Tour was the principally 17th- to early 19th-century custom of a traditional trip through Europe, with Italy as a key destination, undertaken by upper-class young European men of sufficient means and rank (typically accompanied by a tuto ...

in about 1722.

Career

At the

1727 British general election The 1727 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 7th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. The election was trigg ...

, North was returned unopposed as Whig

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for

Banbury Banbury is a historic market town on the River Cherwell in Oxfordshire, South East England. It had a population of 54,335 at the 2021 Census. Banbury is a significant commercial and retail centre for the surrounding area of north Oxfordshire ...

on the family interest. When he succeeded his father as third Baron Guilford on 17 October 1729, he vacated his seat in the

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 ...

. He became

Gentleman of the Bedchamber Gentleman of the Bedchamber was a title in the royal household of the Kingdom of England from the 11th century, later used also in the Kingdom of Great Britain. A Lord of the Bedchamber was a courtier in the Royal Household; the term being fir ...

Frederick, Prince of Wales Frederick, Prince of Wales, (Frederick Louis, ; 31 January 170731 March 1751), was the eldest son and heir apparent of King George II of Great Britain. He grew estranged from his parents, King George and Queen Caroline. Frederick was the fath ...

in October 1730. In 1734, he succeeded his cousin,

William North, 6th Baron North William North, 6th Baron North and 2nd Baron Grey (22 December 1678 – 31 October 1734), known as Lord North and Grey, was an English soldier and Jacobite, and a peer for more than forty years. He had the right to sit in the House of Lords be ...

as seventh

Baron North Baron North, of Kirtling Tower in the County of Cambridge, is an abeyant title in the Peerage of England. Its most famous holder was Frederick North, 2nd Earl of Guilford, 8th Baron North, who served as Prime Minister of Great Britain from 17 ...

. He was appointed governor to Prince George, later George III, in September 1750 which lasted until April 1751 and also gave up his other court position in 1751. On 8 April 1752, he was created

Earl of Guilford Earl of Guilford is a title that has been created three times in history. The title was created for the first time in the Peerage of England in 1660 (as Countess of Guilford) for Elizabeth Boyle. She was a daughter of William Feilding, 1st ...

in the

Peerage of Great Britain The Peerage of Great Britain comprises all extant peerages created in the Kingdom of Great Britain between the Acts of Union 1707 and the Acts of Union 1800. It replaced the Peerage of England and the Peerage of Scotland, but was itself r ...

. He was appointed

High Steward of Banbury The High Steward of Banbury is a ceremonial title bestowed by Banbury Town Council in Banbury, Oxfordshire, England. The stewardship was established by royal charter in 1554, during the reign of Mary I. By the same charter, Banbury became a par ...

for life in 1766. In December 1773 he was appointed treasurer to Queen Consort for life.

Family

North married Lady Lucy Montagu of the

House of Montagu The House of Montagu ( ; historically Montagud, Montaigu, Montague, Montacute and Litinised as ''de Monte Acuto'' ("from the sharp mountain" (French: "mont aigu")) is an English noble family founded in Somerset after the Norman Conquest of ...

, daughter of

George Montagu, 1st Earl of Halifax George Montagu, 1st Earl of Halifax (also spelt George Montague) (9 May 1739), of Horton, Northamptonshire, was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1705 to 1715 when he became a peer. Early life Montagu was the son of Ed ...

, in 1728. She died in 1734, and he married as his second wife Elizabeth Kaye, daughter of Arthur Kaye, 3rd Baronet, in 1736. After her death in 1745, he married as his third wife Catherine Furnase, daughter of Robert Furnese, 2nd Baronet, in 1751. She died in 1776, aged 86.

Death and legacy

Lord Guilford survived his third wife by fourteen years and died in August 1790, aged 86. He was succeeded by his son from his first marriage,

Frederick Frederick may refer to: People * Frederick (given name), the name Nobility Anhalt-Harzgerode *Frederick, Prince of Anhalt-Harzgerode (1613–1670) Austria * Frederick I, Duke of Austria (Babenberg), Duke of Austria from 1195 to 1198 * Frederick ...

, who had previously served as

Prime Minister of Great Britain The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern pri ...

from 1770 to 1782. His stepson

Lord Dartmouth Earl of Dartmouth is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1711 for William Legge, 1st Earl of Dartmouth, William Legge, 2nd Baron Dartmouth. History The Legge family descended from Edward Legge, Vice-President of Munster. ...

also served in government. Lord Guilford is the namesake of

Guilford County, North Carolina Guilford County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population is 541,299, making it the third-most populous county in North Carolina. The county seat, and largest municipality, is Greensboro. Si ...

. and Guilford, Windham County, Vermont.

References

Sources

*Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990. {{DEFAULTSORT:Guilford, Francis North, 1st Earl of 1704 births 1790 deaths 18th-century English nobility People educated at Eton College Alumni of Trinity College, Oxford British MPs 1727–1734 Earls of Guilford Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies

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 ...

Parents of prime ministers of the United Kingdom Barons Guilford Barons North