Sir Robert Wilmot, 1st Baronet (1708–1772) was an English servant of the Crown, Secretary to successive
Viceroys of Ireland from 1740 to 1772, and after 1758 Secretary to the
Lord Chamberlain of the Household.
[Handlist to papers of Wilmot-Horton of Osmaston and Catton]
/ref> By 1750 several correspondents regarded him as "the channel through which all Irish business, especially that concerning patronage, must flow".[
]
Life
Robert Wilmot was the elder son of Robert Wilmot (ca. 1674 - September 1738) of Osmaston Hall
Osmaston Hall was a country house built in 1696 in extensive grounds at Osmaston, Derbyshire, now an area of the city of Derby. The house was the home of the Wilmot baronets, and the Fox family before being used for a golf club and railway busine ...
, and his younger brother was the judge John Eardley Wilmot (1709-1792). He graduated from Oxford University in 1729, and studied law at the Inner Temple.[Introduction: Wilmot Papers]
Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, November 2007
About 1730 he became private secretary to William Cavendish, 3rd Duke of Devonshire. When Cavendish was appointed Viceroy of Ireland in 1737, Wilmot became the Viceroy's Deputy Resident Secretary in England. He was promoted to Resident Secretary in June 1740, serving twelve successive Viceroys until the year of his death in 1772. Wilmot acted as an intermediary for William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire in the complicated negotiations which led to Cavendish briefly serving as titular 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 ...
in 1756–57.[ He was rewarded in 1758, when Devonshire patronage helped him become Deputy Secretary, and subsequently Secretary, to the Lord Chamberlain of the Household.][
Robert Wilmot's first marriage was childless. After his wife died in 1769, he married his mistress, mother of his illegitimate children. In October 1772 he was created a baronet, Wilmot of Osmaston. He was granted a special remainder to allow his eldest son Robert to succeed to the baronetcy.][
The papers relating to his official activities are held at ]Derbyshire Record Office
The Derbyshire Record Office, established in 1962, is the county record office for Derbyshire, England. It holds archives and local studies material for the County of Derbyshire and the City of Derby and Diocese of Derby. It is situated in Matl ...
, with copies at the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland.[
]
References
External links
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1708 births
1772 deaths
English civil servants
People from Osmaston, Derby
Baronets in the Baronetage of Great Britain
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