George Brodrick, 4th Viscount Midleton (1 November 1754 – 12 August 1836) was an Anglo-Irish politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, 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 ...

from 1774 to 1796, when he was raised to 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 repla ...

as Baron Brodrick to allow him to sit in the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

Origins

Brodrick was the eldest son and heir of

George Brodrick, 3rd Viscount Midleton George Brodrick, 3rd Viscount Midleton (3 October 1730 – 22 August 1765) was a British nobleman. Origins Brodrick was the first and only surviving son of Alan Brodrick, 2nd Viscount Midleton and Mary Capell, the second daughter of Algernon ...

(died 22 August 1765) and Albinia, the daughter of the Hon Thomas Townshend. The Brodricks were an English family that had settled in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

in the mid-17th century. He was educated at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

from 1766 to 1771,G.E.Cokayne, ''The Complete Peerage'', Volume VIII (1932), p. 703 and was admitted to St. John's College, Cambridge in 1772. He succeeded his father in 1765, inheriting his Irish Viscouncy and the

Peper Harow Peper Harow is a rural village and civil parish in southwest Surrey close to the town of Godalming. It was a noted early cricket venue. Its easternmost fields are in part given up to the A3 road (Great Britain), A3 trunk road. Location and hist ...

estate in Surrey with its new but incomplete mansion, which he completed once he came of age. It is now a

Grade I listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

Career

From 1774 to 1796 Midleton was able as an Irish peer to sit as one of the two MPs for Whitchurch, the seat being in the gift of his mother's brother,

Thomas Townshend, 1st Viscount Sydney Thomas Townshend, 1st Viscount Sydney (24 February 1733 – 30 June 1800) was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1754 to 1783 when he was raised to the peerage as Baron Sydney. He held several important Cabinet posts in ...

. On 11 June 1796, Midleton was created Baron Brodrick of Peper Harrow, in the county of

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

. Midleton died at Peper Harrow (his principal ancestral estate in England) on 12 August 1836, and was buried at

Wandsworth Wandsworth Town () is a district of south London, within the London Borough of Wandsworth southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Toponymy Wandsworth takes its name ...

Family

Midleton married first (4 December 1778) Frances Pelham, the second daughter of Thomas Pelham, 1st Earl of Chichester by Anne, daughter of Frederick Meinhardt Frankland. By her, who died on 28 June 1783, he had a daughter: *Hon. Frances Anne Brodick (died 19 February 1828), who married Inigo Thomas (formerly Inigo Freeman), grandson of Sir George Thomas, 1st Baronet, on 24 August 1803, and had nine children Midleton married secondly (13 June 1797) Maria Benyon, second daughter of

Richard Benyon Richard Henry Ronald Benyon, Baron Benyon, (born 21 October 1960), is a British politician who has served as Lord Chamberlain of the Household since 4 November 2024. He previously was Minister of State for Climate, Environment and Energy from ...

MP and his wife Hannah Hulse daughter of Sir Edward Hulse of Breamore House,

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

. Maria survived him, dying on 22 January 1852. They had six children: * Hon. Maria Brodrick (28 March 1799 – 11 April 1893), died unmarried * Hon. Charlotte Brodrick (18 February 1801 – 12 April 1863), died unmarried * Hon. Harriet Brodrick (10 August 1804 – 13 August 1893) who married her cousin, Very Rev. William John Brodrick, 7th Viscount Midleton * George Alan Brodrick, 5th Viscount Midleton (10 June 1806 – 1 November 1848) * Hon. Emma Brodrick (13 August 1807 – 5 April 1894), died unmarried * Hon. Lucy Brodrick (3 July 1809 – 31 December 1895), died unmarried

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Midleton, George Brodrick, 4th Viscount 1754 births 1836 deaths Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge British MPs 1774–1780 British MPs 1780–1784 British MPs 1784–1790 British MPs 1790–1796 British MPs 1796–1800 Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies People educated at Eton College Viscounts in the Peerage of Ireland Peers of Great Britain created by George III Lord-lieutenants of Surrey