George William Coventry, 6th Earl of Coventry (26 April 1722 – 3 September 1809), styled Viscount Deerhurst from 1744 to 1751, was a British

peer Peer may refer to: Sociology * Peer, an equal in age, education or social class; see Peer group * Peer, a member of the peerage; related to the term "peer of the realm" Computing * Peer, one of several functional units in the same layer of a ne ...

and

Tory A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. The ...

politician.

Early life

Coventry was the second but eldest surviving son of

William Coventry, 5th Earl of Coventry William Coventry, 5th Earl of Coventry (c.1676 – 18 March 1751), of London and later Croome Court, Worcestershire, was a British Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1708 to 1719. Early life Coventry was the son of Walter Coven ...

, and his wife Elizabeth (née Allen), and was educated at

Winchester Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...

and

University College, Oxford University College (in full The College of the Great Hall of the University of Oxford, colloquially referred to as "Univ") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It has a claim to being the oldest college of the unive ...

Career

He was elected to 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. T ...

for

Bridport Bridport is a market town in Dorset, England, inland from the English Channel near the confluence of the River Brit and its tributary the Asker. Its origins are Saxon and it has a long history as a rope-making centre. On the coast and wit ...

in 1744 (succeeding his elder brother

Viscount Deerhurst A viscount ( , for male) or viscountess (, for female) is a title used in certain European countries for a noble of varying status. In many countries a viscount, and its historical equivalents, was a non-hereditary, administrative or judicial ...

), a seat he held until 1747, and then represented

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see H ...

from 1747 to 1751. The latter year he succeeded his father in the earldom and entered the

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 Westminst ...

. He also served as

Lord Lieutenant of Worcestershire This is a list of people who have served as Lord Lieutenant of Worcestershire. Since 1719, all Lord Lieutenants have also been Custos Rotulorum of Worcestershire. Lord Lieutenants of Worcestershire to 1974 *''see Lord Lieutenant of Wales for pre- ...

from 1751 to 1808 and was a

Lord of the Bedchamber Gentleman of the Bedchamber was a title in the royal household of the Kingdom of England from the 11th century, later used also in the Kingdom of Great Britain. A Lord of the Bedchamber was a courtier in the Royal Household; the term being fir ...

to George II from 1752 to 1760 and to

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 ...

from 1760 to 1770. He inherited

Croome Court Croome Court is a mid-18th-century Neo-Palladian mansion surrounded by extensive landscaped parkland at Croome D'Abitot, near Upton-upon-Severn in south Worcestershire, England. The mansion and park were designed by Lancelot "Capability" Brown fo ...

, near Pershore, Worcestershire from his father and commissioned

Capability Brown Lancelot Brown (born c. 1715–16, baptised 30 August 1716 – 6 February 1783), more commonly known as Capability Brown, was an English gardener and landscape architect, who remains the most famous figure in the history of the English lan ...

to redesign both the house and surrounding parkland.

Private life

Lord Coventry married firstly

Maria Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial * 170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 * Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, ...

, daughter of Colonel John Gunning, in 1752. She died in 1760, having produced a son and 2 daughter: *Lady Anne Margaret Coventry; married firstly Hon. Edward Foley, son of

Thomas Foley, 1st Baron Foley (1716–1777) Thomas Foley, 1st Baron Foley (8 August 1716 – 18 November 1777), was a British landowner and politician. Foley was the son of Thomas Foley MP and his wife Hester (née Andrews) and was educated at Westminster School (1724–732) and Trini ...

. Married secondly Capt. Samuel Wright. *Lady Mary Alicia Coventry; married Sir Andrew Baynton-Rolt 2nd Bt. Had issue. *

George Coventry, 7th Earl of Coventry George William Coventry, 7th Earl of Coventry (25 April 1758 – 26 March 1831), styled Viscount Deerhurst until 1809, was a British peer and Member of Parliament. Life On 7 May 1776, Coventry was commissioned an ensign in the 64th Regiment of F ...

; married firstly Lady Catherine Henley, daughter of

Robert Henley, 1st Earl of Northington Robert Henley, 1st Earl of Northington, PC (c. 1708 – 14 January 1772), was the Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain. He was a member of the Whig Party in the parliament and was known for his wit and writing. Family Born the second son of ...

. Married secondly Peggy Pitches, daughter of Sir Abraham Pitches. Had issue from his second marriage. He married secondly the Hon. Barbara, daughter of

John St John, 11th Baron St John of Bletso John St John, 11th Baron St John of Bletso (died 24 June 1757) was an English peer. The son of Andrew St John and his wife Jane Blois, daughter of William Blois of Cockfield Hall, Suffolk, he was a nephew of Paulet St John, 8th Baron St John of ...

, in 1764, with whom he had a further 2 sons and a daughter. Lady Coventry died in 1804. Lord Coventry survived his second wife by five years and died in September 1809, aged 87. He was succeeded in his titles by his son from his first marriage,

. His youngest son was Thomas William Coventry.

Gallery

File:St Mary Magdalene, Croome, Worcs - 6th Earl of Coventry wall tablet 1.JPG, Memorial to the 6th Earl of Coventry in the

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chri ...

File:Kauffmann, Angelica, Barbara St. John Bletsoe, Countess of Coventry.jpg,

Angelica Kauffmann Maria Anna Angelika Kauffmann ( ; 30 October 1741 – 5 November 1807), usually known in English as Angelica Kauffman, was a Swiss Neoclassical painter who had a successful career in London and Rome. Remembered primarily as a history painter, K ...

, ''Barbara St. John Bletsoe, Countess of Coventry'',

Princeton University Art Museum The Princeton University Art Museum (PUAM) is the Princeton University gallery of art, located in Princeton, New Jersey. With a collecting history that began in 1755, the museum was formally established in 1882, and now houses over 113,000 works ...

, the second wife of the Earl of Coventry

References

*Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990.

External links