George Harrison (10 February 1680 – 1759), of

Balls Park Balls Park in Hertford is a Grade I Listed mid-17th-century house. The estate and house are set in over 63 acres of parkland which is listed Grade II on the English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest. The estate an ...

, near Hertford, was a British 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. ...

for 25 years between 1727 and 1759.

Early life

Harrison was the fifth, but second surviving son of Richard Harrison and Audrey Villiers daughter of

George Villiers, 4th Viscount Grandison George Villiers, 4th Viscount Grandison was an Anglo-Irish peer from the Villiers family. He is known for being the maternal grandfather of Pitt the elder, prime minister of Great Britain from 1766 to 1768. He was also the uncle of two royal mis ...

. He was educated at

Charterhouse School (God having given, I gave) , established = , closed = , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , president ...

from 1695 to 1697 and matriculated at

Wadham College, Oxford Wadham College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is located in the centre of Oxford, at the intersection of Broad Street and Parks Road. Wadham College was founded in 1610 by Dorothy W ...

on 3 July 1697, aged 17.

Career

Harrison replaced his brother Edward Harrison, who was appointed

Postmaster General A Postmaster General, in Anglosphere countries, is the chief executive officer of the postal service of that country, a ministerial office responsible for overseeing all other postmasters. The practice of having a government official respons ...

, as

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

Hertford Hertford ( ) is the county town of Hertfordshire, England, and is also a civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district of the county. The parish had a population of 26,783 at the 2011 census. The town grew around a ford on the River Lea, ne ...

at a by-election on 23 January 1727. He succeeded to the estates of his brother in 1732 and did not stand at the 1734 general election. He was returned for Hertford without a contest at the general elections of

1741 Events January–March * January 13 – Lanesborough, Massachusetts is created as a township. * February 13 – Sir Robert Walpole, the Prime Minister of Great Britain, popularizes the term "the balance of power" in a spe ...

1747 Events January–March * January 31 – The first venereal diseases clinic opens at London Lock Hospital. * February 11 – King George's War: A combined French and Indian force, commanded by Captain Nicolas Antoine II Coul ...

and

1754 Events January–March * January 28 – Horace Walpole, in a letter to Horace Mann, coins the word ''serendipity''. * February 22 – Expecting an attack by Portuguese-speaking militias in the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Pla ...

. voting with the Administration in every recorded division. He drew a secret service pension of £500 in 1753 and 1754, but was a wealthy man and does not appear to have drawn them subsequently.

Later life and legacy

Harrison married Mary Feilde, daughter of Edward Feilde of Stanstead Abbots, Hertfordshire on 12 June 1737. .He died without issue on 2 December 1759, leaving his principal estate to his niece Audrey or Etheldreda, who married

Charles Townshend, 3rd Viscount Townshend Charles Townshend, 3rd Viscount Townshend (11 July 1700 – 12 March 1764), known as The Lord Lynn from 1723 to 1738, was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1722 to 1723 when he was elevated to the House of Lords by wri ...

. This was with the proviso that it was to be free from any ‘intermeddling’ from her husband, from whom she separated formally around 1740. As well as Edward, his brother Thomas Harrison, and brother-in-law Edward Hughes were also Members of Parliament.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harrison, George 1680 births 1759 deaths People educated at Charterhouse School Alumni of Wadham College, Oxford Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1722–1727 British MPs 1727–1734 British MPs 1734–1741 British MPs 1741–1747 British MPs 1747–1754 British MPs 1754–1761