John Petty Fitzmaurice, 1st Earl of Shelburne PC (Ire) (1706 – 14 May 1761), known as John FitzMaurice until 1751 and as The Viscount FitzMaurice between 1751 and 1753, was an

Anglo-Irish Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the establis ...

peer and politician. He was the father of William Petty FitzMaurice, Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1782 to 1783.

Life

Born John FitzMaurice, Lord Shelburne was the second son of Thomas FitzMaurice, 1st Earl of Kerry, and Anne, daughter of

Sir William Petty Sir William Petty FRS (26 May 1623 – 16 December 1687) was an English economist, physician, scientist and philosopher. He first became prominent serving Oliver Cromwell and the Commonwealth in Ireland. He developed efficient methods to su ...

(1623–1687). He was the younger brother of

William FitzMaurice, 2nd Earl of Kerry William FitzMaurice, 2nd Earl of Kerry PC (Ire) (1694 – 4 April 1747) was an Irish peer and an officer in the British Army. He was the eldest son of Thomas Fitzmaurice, 1st Earl of Kerry and Anne Petty. In 1738, he married Lady Gertrude Lamb ...

, and the nephew of Charles Petty, 1st Baron Shelburne and

Henry Petty, 1st Earl of Shelburne Henry Petty, 1st Earl of Shelburne PC (I) (22 October 1675 – 17 April 1751) was an Anglo-Irish peer and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1715 to 1727. Background Petty was a younger son of Sir William Petty and Elizabeth, Barone ...

. He was educated at

Westminster School (God Gives the Increase) , established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560 , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , head_label = Hea ...

and was

called to the Bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn an ...

, in 1727.thepeerage.com John Petty, 1st Earl of Shelburne
/ref> In 1751 he succeeded to the estates of his uncle the

Earl of Shelburne Earl of Shelburne is a title that has been created two times while the title of Baron Shelburne has been created three times. The Shelburne title was created for the first time in the Peerage of Ireland in 1688 when Elizabeth, Lady Petty, was m ...

(who had died childless) and assumed by Act of Parliament the surname of Petty in lieu of his patronymic. Later the same year he was raised to the

Peerage of Ireland The Peerage of Ireland consists of those titles of nobility created by the English monarchs in their capacity as Lord or King of Ireland, or later by monarchs of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It is one of the five divisi ...

as Baron Dunkeron and Viscount FitzMaurice. Two years later the earldom of Shelburne was revived in his favour when he was made Earl of Shelburne, in the County of Wexford, in the Irish peerage. In 1754 he bought Bowood Park, an estate between Chippenham and Calne in Wiltshire, and rebuilt the mansion there.

Political career

FitzMaurice was

High Sheriff of Kerry The High Sheriff of Kerry was the British Crown's judicial representative in County Kerry, Ireland from the 16th century until 1922, when the office was abolished in the new Free State and replaced by the office of Kerry County Sheriff. The sheri ...

in 1732. In 1743 he entered the

Irish House of Commons The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from 1297 until 1800. The upper house was the House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, but on a highly restrictive fra ...

as one of two representatives for

County Kerry County Kerry ( gle, Contae Chiarraí) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and forms part of the province of Munster. It is named after the Ciarraige who lived in part of the present county. The population of the co ...

, a seat he held until 1751. He was Governor of County Kerry in 1754 and the same year he was returned to the

British House of Commons The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 mem ...

for Wycombe, a seat he held until 1760. He was sworn of the Irish Privy Council in 1754 and in 1760 he was created Lord Wycombe, Baron of Chipping Wycombe, in the County of Buckingham, 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 ...

, which entitled him to a seat in the

English House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster ...

Family

Lord Shelburne married his first cousin, Mary, daughter of the Hon. William FitzMaurice, in 1734. Their younger son the Hon. Thomas FitzMaurice married Mary O'Brien, later ''suo jure'' Countess of Orkney. Lord Shelburne died in May 1761 and was buried in

Bowood Bowood is a Grade I listed Georgian era, Georgian English country houses, country house in Wiltshire, England, that has been owned for more than 250 years by the Fitzmaurice family. The house, with interiors by Robert Adam, stands in extensive g ...

, Wiltshire. He was succeeded in the earldom by his eldest son,

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

, who became

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 ...

and was created

Marquess of Lansdowne Marquess of Lansdowne is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain created in 1784, and held by the head of the Petty-Fitzmaurice family. The first Marquess served as Prime Minister of Great Britain. Origins This branch of the Fitzmaurice famil ...

in 1784. The Countess of Shelburne died in 1780.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Shelburne, John Petty, 1st Earl of 1706 births 1761 deaths 18th-century Anglo-Irish people British MPs 1754–1761 Peers of Ireland created by George II Peers of Great Britain created by George II Fitzmaurice, John Irish emigrants to Great Britain Members of the Middle Temple Members of the Privy Council of Ireland People educated at Westminster School, London

Petty Petty may refer to: People * Bruce Petty (born 1929), Australian political satirist and cartoonist * Bryce Petty (born 1991), American football player * Dini Petty (born 1945), Canadian television and radio host * Eric D. Petty (born 1954), Amer ...

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

High Sheriffs of Kerry Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Kerry constituencies Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies Parents of prime ministers of the United Kingdom 2