General Sir John Saunders Sebright, 6th Baronet (19 October 1725 – 23 February 1794) was the sixth Sebright baronet, an officer in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

and a

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 ...

Sir John was a younger son of Sir Thomas Sebright, 4th Baronet and Henrietta Dashwood and 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 ...

. In 1761 he succeeded his elder brother to the baronetcy and the Beechwood Park estate in Hertfordshire. Sir John was

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

of the 83rd Regiment of Foot from 1758 to 1760, and then the 52nd Regiment of Foot, from 1760 to 1762. In 1762 he was promoted to the Colonelcy of the 18th (Royal Irish) Regiment of Foot, a position he held until his death. He was promoted full general on 20 November 1782. He was elected MP for Bath in 1763, was defeated in 1774, but returned in a by-election a few months later, sitting until 1780. He was a close friend of the Irish statesman and writer

Edmund Burke Edmund Burke (; 12 January NS.html"_;"title="New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">NS">New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">NS/nowiki>_1729_–_9_July_1797)_was_an_ NS.html"_;"title="New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style"> ...

. In 1765, on a visit to Sebright's home at Beechwood Park Burke came across a considerable number of medieval Irish manuscripts in the library. The manuscripts had been given to Sebright's father by the antiquary and philologist

Edward Lhuyd Edward Lhuyd FRS (; occasionally written Llwyd in line with modern Welsh orthography, 1660 – 30 June 1709) was a Welsh naturalist, botanist, linguist, geographer and antiquary. He is also named in a Latinate form as Eduardus Luidius. Life ...

who had acquired them on a tour of Ireland in 1700. In 1786, these were bequeathed to the library of

Trinity College Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

and formed the foundation of the Irish manuscript collections there. The manuscripts presented by Sebright included the

Yellow Book of Lecan The Yellow Book of Lecan (YBL; Irish: ''Leabhar Buidhe Leacáin''), or TCD MS 1318 (''olim'' H 2.16), is a late medieval Irish manuscript. It contains much of the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology, besides other material. It is held in the Library ...

and the

Book of Leinster The Book of Leinster ( mga, Lebor Laignech , LL) is a medieval Irish manuscript compiled c. 1160 and now kept in Trinity College, Dublin, under the shelfmark MS H 2.18 (cat. 1339). It was formerly known as the ''Lebor na Nuachongbála'' "Book ...

. In 1766, he had married Sarah Knight, daughter of Edward Knight and Elizabeth James, and had 2 sons and 2 daughters. Their eldest son,

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 ...

, inherited the baronetcy. Their daughter Henrietta Sebright (DOB. 6 May 1770) married

Henry Lascelles, 2nd Earl of Harewood Henry Lascelles, 2nd Earl of Harewood DL (25 December 1767 – 24 November 1841), known as Viscount Lascelles from 1814 to 1820, was a British peer, slave plantation and other land owner, chiefly inherited art collector, and Member of Parliament. ...

.The Peerage
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References

1725 births 1794 deaths People educated at Westminster School, London 52nd Regiment of Foot officers Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1761–1768 British MPs 1768–1774 British MPs 1774–1780 Sebright, 06th Baronet Royal Irish Regiment (1684–1922) officers British Army generals {{England-baronet-stub