Robert Darcy, 4th Earl of Holderness, (17 May 1718 – 16 May 1778), known before 1721 as Lord Darcy and Conyers, was a British diplomat and politician.
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Career

In 1741 he collaborated with G.F. Handel in the production of Deidamia. From 1744 to 1746 he was ambassador at

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

and from 1749 to 1751 he represented his country at

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...

. In 1751 he became Secretary of State for the Southern Department, transferring in 1754 to the Northern Department, and he remained in office until March 1761, when he was dismissed by

King George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

in favour of

Lord Bute John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute, (; 25 May 1713 – 10 March 1792), styled Lord Mount Stuart between 1713 and 1723, was a British nobleman who served as the 7th Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1762 to 1763 under George III. He was arguabl ...

, although he had largely been a cipher in that position to the stronger personalities of his colleagues, successively the

Duke of Newcastle Duke of Newcastle upon Tyne was a title that was created three times, once in the Peerage of England and twice in the Peerage of Great Britain. The first grant of the title was made in 1665 to William Cavendish, 1st Marquess of Newcastle ...

, Thomas Robinson, Henry Fox, and

William Pitt the Elder William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, (15 November 170811 May 1778) was a British statesman of the Whig group who served as Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1766 to 1768. Historians call him Chatham or William Pitt the Elder to distinguish ...

. From 1771 to 1776 he acted as governor to two of the King's sons, a solemn phantom as Horace Walpole calls him. He left no sons who survived childhood, and all his titles became extinct except the Baronies of Darcy de Knayth and

Conyers Conyers is an Atlanta suburb, the county seat of and only city in Rockdale County, Georgia, Rockdale County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. The city is 24 miles (38.6 km) east of Atlanta, downtown Atlanta and is a part of t ...

, which were

baronies by writ The hereditary peers form part of the peerage in the United Kingdom. As of September 2022, there are 807 hereditary peers: 29 dukes (including five royal dukes), 34 marquesses, 190 earls, 111 viscounts, and 443 barons (disregarding subsid ...

inherited from his father, and the Portuguese countship of Mértola, inherited from his mother. In those peerages, he was succeeded by his daughter,

Amelia Osborne, Marchioness of Carmarthen Amelia Osborne, Marchioness of Carmarthen, 12th Baroness Darcy de Knayth, 9th Baroness Conyers, 5th Countess of Mértola (''née'' Darcy; 12 October 1754 – 27 January 1784), was a British peer and a Portuguese countess. Life She was the on ...

David Hume David Hume (; born David Home; 7 May 1711 NS (26 April 1711 OS) – 25 August 1776) Cranston, Maurice, and Thomas Edmund Jessop. 2020 999br>David Hume" ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Retrieved 18 May 2020. was a Scottish Enlightenment phil ...

wrote, "It is remarkable that this family of d'Arcy icseems to be the only male descendant of any of the Conqueror's barons now remaining among the Peers. Lord Holdernessae icis the heir of that family".

Family

He was the only surviving son of Robert Darcy, 3rd Earl of Holderness, and his wife Lady Frederica Schomberg. On 29 October 1743, Darcy married Mary Doublet, daughter of Francis Doublet and Constantia Van-der-Beck. The couple had three children, only one of whom survived childhood: *George Darcy, Lord Darcy and Conyers (September 1745 – 27 September 1747) *Thomas Darcy, Lord Darcy and Conyers (born and died 1750), buried 29 July 1750 in the Great or St. James Church in

, the NetherlandsWildeman, Marinus Godefridus
De grafboeken der Groote of St. Jacobskerk te 's Gravenhage, (1620-1830)...
Robijns Publishers, 1898 * Lady Amelia Darcy (12 October 1754 – 27 January 1784); married firstly Francis Osborne, Marquess of Carmarthen, and had issue. The couple divorced in 1779. She married secondly John "Mad Jack" Byron, father of

Lord Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and has been regarded as among the ...

, and had one daughter,

Augusta Leigh Augusta Maria Leigh (''née'' Byron; 26 January 1783 – 12 October 1851) was the only daughter of John "Mad Jack" Byron, the poet Lord Byron's father, by his first wife, Amelia, née Darcy (Lady Conyers in her own right and the divorced wife ...

References

External links

* , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Holderness, Robert Darcy, 4th Earl Of 1718 births 1778 deaths British Secretaries of State Secretaries of State for the Northern Department Darcy, Robert Diplomatic peers Earls of Holderness Lord-Lieutenants of the North Riding of Yorkshire Lords Warden of the Cinque Ports Members of the Privy Council of Great Britain Ambassadors of Great Britain to the Netherlands Ambassadors of Great Britain to the Republic of Venice 18th-century British politicians Barons Darcy de Knayth Barons Conyers

Career

Family

See also

References

External links