George Augustus Selwyn (11 August 1719 – 25 January 1791) of Matson House in Gloucestershire, England, was a

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 ...

. A renowned eccentric and "necrophiliac, gay transvestite, he sat mute, loved, and undisturbed in the House of Commons for 44 years".

Origins

He was the eldest surviving son of John Selwyn (1688–1751), MP, of Matson, by his wife Mary Farrington, a daughter of General Thomas Farrington. 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

Hart Hall, Oxford Hertford College ( ), previously known as Magdalen Hall, is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It is located on Catte Street in the centre of Oxford, directly opposite the main gate to the Bodleian Library. The colleg ...

(1739) and studied law at the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wal ...

(1737).

Political career

Selwyn spent 44 years 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. ...

without having made a speech. As the patron of several

rotten borough A rotten or pocket borough, also known as a nomination borough or proprietorial borough, was a parliamentary borough or constituency in England, Great Britain, or the United Kingdom before the Reform Act 1832, which had a very small electorat ...

s, including both seats at Ludgershall and one in

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

, he put his electoral interests at the disposal of the King's ministers, and received in return three lucrative

sinecure A sinecure ( or ; from the Latin , 'without', and , 'care') is an office, carrying a salary or otherwise generating income, that requires or involves little or no responsibility, labour, or active service. The term originated in the medieval chu ...

offices and a pension, which offset his gambling debts. He himself served as one of the MPs for Ludgershall in 1747–1754 and for the constituency of Gloucester from 1754 to 1780. After he lost his patronage in Gloucester, Selwyn served again as a Member for Ludgershall from 1780 until his death in 1791. He served as Mayor of Gloucester twice, for 1758 and 1765. He was also elected for the Scottish constituency of Wigtown Burghs in 1768, when he thought he might be defeated at Gloucester, becoming the first Englishman to be elected to Parliament by a constituency in Scotland. He chose to retain the English seat.

Personal life

He was a

homosexual Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...

and was attracted to various forms of sexual eccentricity, including

necrophilia Necrophilia, also known as necrophilism, necrolagnia, necrocoitus, necrochlesis, and thanatophilia, is sexual attraction towards or a sexual act involving Cadaver, corpses. It is classified as a paraphilia by the World Health Organization (WHO) ...

and tranvestitism. He was known for his fascination with the macabre, and was a keen observer of public executions. When attempting to visit the dying Henry Fox, the latter quipped ''"If Mr. Selwyn calls again, show him up; if I am alive I shall be glad to see him and if I am dead I am sure he will be delighted to see me".'' He was a member of the

Hellfire Club Hellfire Club was a name for several exclusive clubs for high-society rakes established in Britain and Ireland in the 18th century. The name most commonly refers to Francis Dashwood's Order of the Friars of St. Francis of Wycombe. Such clubs, ...

and was a friend of

Horace Walpole Horatio Walpole (), 4th Earl of Orford (24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English writer, art historian, man of letters, antiquarian, and Whigs (British political party), Whig politician. He had Strawb ...

Adopted daughter

He adopted as his daughter Maria Emilia Fagnani, who married

Francis Seymour-Conway, 3rd Marquess of Hertford Francis Charles Seymour-Conway, 3rd Marquess of Hertford, (11 March 1777 – 1 March 1842), styled Viscount Beauchamp between 1793 and 1794 and Earl of Yarmouth between 1794 and 1822, of Ragley Hall in Warwickshire and of Sudbourne Hall in Su ...

. She was reputedly the illegitimate daughter of

William Douglas, 4th Duke of Queensberry William Douglas, 4th Duke of Queensberry, (16 December 172423 December 1810) was a Scottish noble landowner. He was popularly known as Old Q and was reputed as a high-stakes gambler. In 1799 he was estimated the eighth-wealthiest man (or small ...

, by his mistress Costanza Brusati ("the Marchesa Fagnani"), the wife of Giacomo II Fagnani, IV marchese di Gerenzano (1740-1785), an Italian nobleman descended from the jurist Raffaele Fagnani (1552-1623), a resident of the Duchy of Milan. He constructed for her use a Roman Catholic chapel in the attic of Matson House, which survives. Maria became one of the wealthiest heiresses in Britain, having inherited a large part of the estate of her natural father the Duke of Queensberry, the eighth richest man in Britain.

Death and burial

He died unmarried in 1791 and was buried in the Selwyn vault at St. Katherine's Church at Matson on 6 February 1791. The vault has since been filled in and the brass plate from his coffin is now affixed on a wall inside the church. He left his estate to his adopted daughter Maria Fagnani, Marchioness of Hertford.

Portraits

* George Augustus Selwyn and

Frederick Howard, 5th Earl of Carlisle Frederick Howard, 5th Earl of Carlisle (28 May 1748 – 4 September 1825) was a British peer, statesman, diplomat, and author. Life He was the son of Henry Howard, 4th Earl of Carlisle and his second wife Isabella Byron. His mother was a ...

(c.1770) by

Sir Joshua Reynolds Sir Joshua Reynolds (16 July 1723 – 23 February 1792) was an English painter, specialising in portraits. John Russell said he was one of the major European painters of the 18th century. He promoted the "Grand Style" in painting which depend ...

is in the possession of the present

Earl of Carlisle Earl of Carlisle is a title that has been created three times in the Peerage of England. History The first creation came in 1322, when Andrew Harclay, 1st Baron Harclay, was made Earl of Carlisle. He had already been summoned to Parliame ...

Castle Howard Castle Howard is a stately home in North Yorkshire, England, within the civil parish of Henderskelfe, located north of York. It is a private residence and has been the home of the Carlisle branch of the Howard family for more than 300 years. ...

, Yorkshire. * George Augustus Selwyn at the age of fifty-one by

Hugh Douglas Hamilton Hugh Douglas Hamilton ( – 10 February 1808) was an Irish people, Irish portrait-painter. He spent considerable periods in London and Rome before returning to Dublin in the early 1790s. Until the mid-1770s he worked mostly in pastel. His s ...

, a pastelle drawn in 1770. This drawing is also in the possession of the Earl of Carlisle at Castle Howard. * George Augustus Selwyn (1776) by

was displayed at the Tate Gallery between 26 May and 18 September 2005 in the exhibitio
Joshua Reynolds: The Creation of Celebrity

References

External links

* * * * * *
George Selwyn: His Letters and His Life
', E. S. Roscoe and Helen Clergue eds., London, 1899
''George Selwyn and the Wits''
S. Parnell Kerr, London, 1909 {{DEFAULTSORT:Selwyn, George Augustus 1719 births 1791 deaths People educated at Eton College Alumni of Hart Hall, Oxford Members of the Inner Temple Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies Members of Parliament for Gloucester British MPs 1747–1754 British MPs 1754–1761 British MPs 1761–1768 British MPs 1768–1774 British MPs 1774–1780 British MPs 1780–1784 British MPs 1784–1790 British MPs 1790–1796 Mayors of Gloucester