George Matthew Fortescue (21 May 1791 – 24 January 1877) was a British military officer and Whig politician, who served as MP for Hindon 1826–1831. Fortescue was the son of

Hugh Fortescue, 1st Earl Fortescue Hugh Fortescue, 1st Earl Fortescue (12 March 1753 – 16 June 1841) was a British peer, created Earl Fortescue in 1789. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Beaumaris from 1784 to 1785. Origins He was the son of Matthew Fortescue, 2nd ...

and his wife Hester Grenville, daughter of Prime Minister

George Grenville George Grenville (14 October 1712 – 13 November 1770) was a British Whig statesman who rose to the position of Prime Minister of Great Britain. Grenville was born into an influential political family and first entered Parliament in 1741 as an ...

. In the army, Fortescue served in India and reached the rank of captain. Due to ill health, he took

half-pay Half-pay (h.p.) was a term used in the British Army and Royal Navy of the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries to refer to the pay or allowance an officer received when in retirement or not in actual service. Past usage United Kingdom In the En ...

in 1816. Fortescue was elected unopposed as one of the two MPs for Hindon in the

1826 Events January–March * January 15 – The French newspaper '' Le Figaro'' begins publication in Paris, initially as a weekly. * January 30 – The Menai Suspension Bridge, built by engineer Thomas Telford, is opened between the island ...

and 1830 elections. He voted for

Lord John Russell John Russell, 1st Earl Russell, (18 August 1792 – 28 May 1878), known by his courtesy title Lord John Russell before 1861, was a British Whig and Liberal statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1846 to 1852 and a ...

's first Reform Bill in March 1831 (which would have abolished the constituency of Hindon if it had passed), and stood down at the 1831 election which followed the bill's defeat. He was buried at Boconnoc Church.

Family

On 19 February 1833, he married Lady Louisa Elizabeth Ryder, daughter of

Dudley Ryder, 1st Earl of Harrowby Dudley Ryder, 1st Earl of Harrowby, PC, FSA (22 December 176226 December 1847) was a prominent British politician of the Pittite faction and the Tory party. Background and education Born in London, Ryder was the eldest son of Nathaniel Ryder ...

. They had four sons and four daughters: * Louisa Susan Anne Fortescue (1833–1864), married William Westby Moore * George Grenville Fortescue (1835–1856) * Harriet Eleanor Fortescue (1836–1924), married Admiral Sir

Augustus Phillimore Admiral Sir Augustus Phillimore (24 May 1822 – 25 November 1897) was a Royal Navy officer who went on to be Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth. He is credited with first proposing the creation of a modern naval dockyard in Gibraltar. Early life P ...

* Hugh Granville Fortescue (1838–1875), Captain in the Coldstream Guards * Mary Fortescue (1840–1925), married Rev. Vernon Harcourt Aldham * Elizabeth Frances Fortescue (1843–) * Cyril Dudley Fortescue (1847–1890), Lieutenant-Colonel in the Coldstream Guards * John Bevill Fortescue (1850–1938), barrister, High Sheriff of Cornwall in 1894

Notes

References

1791 births 1877 deaths Younger sons of earls People educated at Eton College Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Hindon Whig (British political party) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1826–1830 UK MPs 1830–1831 {{England-UK-MP-stub