Francis Nathaniel Conyngham, 2nd Marquess Conyngham, KP, GCH, PC (11 June 1797 – 17 July 1876), styled Lord Francis Conyngham between 1816 and 1824 and Earl of Mount Charles between 1824 and 1832, 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 State rel ...

soldier, courtier, politician and

absentee landlord In economics, an absentee landlord is a person who owns and rents out a profit-earning property, but does not live within the property's local economic region. The term "absentee ownership" was popularised by economist Thorstein Veblen's 1923 b ...

Background and education

Born in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, Conyngham was the second son of

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

Henry Conyngham, 1st Marquess Conyngham and Elizabeth, daughter of Joseph Denison, and the brother of Henry Conyngham, Earl of Mount Charles, and

Albert Denison, 1st Baron Londesborough Albert Denison Denison, 1st Baron Londesborough, Royal Guelphic Order, KCH, Royal Society, FRS, Society of Antiquaries of London, FSA (''né'' Conyngham; 21 October 1805 – 15 January 1860), was a British Whigs (British political party), Whig Pa ...

. His mother was previously the infamous last mistress of King

George IV George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 29 January 1820 until his death in 1830. At the time of his accession to the throne, h ...

. He was educated at Eton. He became known as Lord Francis Conyngham in 1816 when his father was created Marquess Conyngham and gained the

courtesy title A courtesy title is a title that does not have legal significance but is rather used by custom or courtesy, particularly, in the context of nobility, the titles used by children of members of the nobility (cf. substantive title). In some context ...

Earl Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. In modern Britain, an earl is a member of the Peerages in the United Kingdom, peerage, ranking below a marquess and above a viscount. A feminine form of ''earl'' never developed; instead, ...

of Mount Charles in 1824 on the early death of his unmarried elder brother.

Political career

Conyngham was returned to

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

for Westbury in 1818, a seat he held until 1820, and later represented Donegal (succeeding his deceased elder brother the Earl of Mount Charles) between 1825 and 1831. He served under the

Earl of Liverpool Earl of Liverpool is a title that has been created twice in British history. The first time was in the Peerage of Great Britain in 1796 for Charles Jenkinson, 1st Baron Hawkesbury, a favourite of King George III (see Jenkinson baronets for e ...

as Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs between 1823 and 1826 and under Liverpool,

George Canning George Canning (; 11 April 17708 August 1827) was a British Tory statesman. He held various senior cabinet positions under numerous prime ministers, including two important terms as foreign secretary, finally becoming Prime Minister of the U ...

, Lord Goderich and the

Duke of Wellington Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they ar ...

as a Lord of the Treasury between 1826 and 1830. In 1832 he succeeded his father in the marquessate and entered the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

. In July 1834 Lord Conyngham joined the Whig government of

Lord Melbourne Henry William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne (15 March 177924 November 1848) was a British Whig politician who served as the Home Secretary and twice as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. His first premiership ended when he was dismissed ...

as Postmaster General, a post he retained until the government fell in December of the same year, and briefly held the same post under Melbourne again between April and May 1835. The latter month he was sworn of the Privy Council and appointed Lord Chamberlain of the Household. He remained in this position until 1839, when he was succeeded by his brother-in-law the Earl of Uxbridge. Lord Conyngham was also Vice-Admiral of Ulster between 1849 and 1876 and Lord-Lieutenant of County Meath between 1869 and 1876. He was made a Knight Grand Cross of the

Royal Guelphic Order The Royal Guelphic Order (), sometimes referred to as the Hanoverian Guelphic Order, is a Kingdom of Hanover, Hanoverian order of chivalry instituted on 28 April 1815 by the Prince Regent (later King George IV). It takes its name from the House ...

in 1830 and a Knight of the

Order of St Patrick The Most Illustrious Order of Saint Patrick is a dormant British order of chivalry associated with Ireland. The Order was created in 1783 by King George III at the request of the then Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, George Nugent-Temple-Grenville, ...

in 1833.

Military career

On 21 September 1820, Conyngham purchased a cornetcy in the 22nd Light Dragoons, but this appointment did not take place, and he was replaced by his brother Lord Albert Conyngham, after he was appointed, without purchase, to be cornet and sub-lieutenant in the 2nd Regiment of Life Guards on 23 April 1821. He purchased a lieutenancy in the 9th Light Dragoons on 24 October 1821, and on 13 December, he exchanged from the half-pay of the 9th Light Dragoons into the

1st Regiment of Life Guards The 1st Regiment of Life Guards was a Cavalry regiments of the British Army, cavalry regiment in the British Army, part of the Household Cavalry. It was formed in 1788 by the union of the 1st Troop of Horse Guards and 1st Troop of Horse Grenadi ...

. He exchanged again, into the 17th Light Dragoons, on 3 April 1823, and purchased an unattached captaincy on 12 June 1823. Mount Charles, as he then was, transferred to the

Ceylon Rifle Regiment The Ceylon Rifle Regiment (CRR) was a regular native regiment formed by the United Kingdom, British in Ceylon. Its history goes back to 1795. The nucleus of the Regiment was two companies of Malays recruited from among prisoners at St Helena. In ...

, and then purchased an unattached majority on 2 October 1827. He was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel of the disembodied Clare Militia on 28 December 1825, resigning in 1854. He became a Major-General in 1858, a

Lieutenant-General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was normall ...

in 1866 and a full

in 1874. He was appointed Honorary Colonel of the Royal Meath Militia on 20 December 1870.

Ireland and the Hunger

Burton-Conyngham was an

over estates in Ireland; particularly in

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county of the Republic of Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is the northernmost county of Ireland. The county mostly borders Northern Ireland, sharing only a small b ...

(covering Glenties,

Arranmore ''Árainn Mhór'' (English language, English name: Arranmore) is an island off the west coast of County Donegal in Ulster, the northern Provinces of Ireland, province in Ireland. Arranmore is the largest inhabited island of County Donegal, wit ...

and most of the barony of Boylagh) in

Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...

. He showed little interest in these estates he claimed there. According to Thomas Campbell Foster in an 1845 report for ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' of London newspaper, entitled ''"Commissioner to report on the condition of the people of Ireland"'', he had visited the area once in his life for a few days. Burton-Conyngham instead hired John Benbow, an English MP, as his chief managing agent, who visited once a year and sub-agents collected rent from tenants each half a year. Foster's report described these estates as such "from one end of his large estate here to the other, nothing is to be found but poverty, misery, wretched cultivation, and infinite subdivision of land." As the poverty was particularly severe on Burton-Conyngham's estates, the Great Hunger of 1845–52 was miserable for his tenants. They had been surviving on a diet of potatoes and water, due to the constantly raising rent levels and those in Arranmore lived on seaweed part of the year. Including all of County Donegal, not just territories controlled by Burton-Conyngham, around 13,000

Irish people The Irish ( or ''Na hÉireannaigh'') are an ethnic group and nation native to the island of Ireland, who share a common ancestry, history and Culture of Ireland, culture. There have been humans in Ireland for about 33,000 years, and it has be ...

died as a consequence of the Hunger from 1845 to 1850 and many more emigrated. Burton-Conyngham sold Arranmore in 1847 to the land speculator Walter Chorley of Belfast for £200, who proved more interested in the estate but also far more ruthless (who decided to evict all the sub-tenants, many of whom fled to

Donegal Town Donegal ( ; , "fort of the foreigners") is a town in County Donegal in Ulster, the northern Provinces of Ireland, province in Ireland. Although Donegal gave its name to the county, now Lifford is the county town. From the 15th until the early 1 ...

, while other Islanders were shipped off to the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes spanning the Canada–United States border. The five lakes are Lake Superior, Superior, Lake Michigan, Michigan, Lake Huron, H ...

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

Courtier

In his youth, Lord Conyngham was a

Page of Honour A Page of Honour is a ceremonial position in the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. It requires attendance on state occasions, but does not now involve the daily duties which were once attached to the office of page. The only ...

to the Prince Regent (later

). Between 1820 and 1830 he was a

Groom of the Bedchamber Groom of the Chamber was a position in the Royal Household, Household of the monarch in early modern Kingdom of England, England. Other ''Ancien Régime'' royal establishments in Europe had comparable officers, often with similar titles. In King ...

and Master of the Robes to George IV. As

Lord Chamberlain The Lord Chamberlain of the Household is the most senior officer of the Royal Households of the United Kingdom, Royal Household of the United Kingdom, supervising the departments which support and provide advice to the Monarchy of the United Ki ...

, it fell to him on the death of

William IV William IV (William Henry; 21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death in 1837. The third son of George III, William succeeded hi ...

to go with the

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the Primus inter pares, ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the bishop of the diocese of Canterbury. The first archbishop ...

Kensington Palace Kensington Palace is a royal residence situated within Kensington Gardens in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, England. It has served as a residence for the British royal family since the 17th century and is currently the ...

at 5 a.m. on 20 June 1837 to inform Princess Victoria that she was now Queen of Great Britain and Ireland. He was the first to address her as " Your Majesty".* Woodham-Smith, Cecil (1972) ''Queen Victoria: Her Life and Times 1819–1861'', London: Hamish Hamilton, , p. 138

Family

Lord Conyngham married Lady Jane Paget, daughter of

Henry Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey Henry William Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey (17 May 1768 – 29 April 1854), styled Lord Paget between 1784 and 1812 and known as the Earl of Uxbridge between 1812 and 1815, was a British Army officer and politician. After serving as a member ...

, on 23 April 1824. They had six children: * George Henry Conyngham, 3rd Marquess Conyngham (1825–1882) * Lady Jane Conyngham (1826–1900), married Francis Spencer, 2nd Baron Churchill and had issue. *Lady Frances Caroline Martha Conyngham (1827–1898), married Gustavus Lambart and had issue. *Lady Elizabeth Georgiana Conyngham (1829–1904), married George Finch-Hatton, 11th Earl of Winchilsea. *Lady Cecilia Augusta Conyngham (1831–1877), married Sir Theodore Brinckman, 2nd Baronet and had issue. * Lord Francis Nathaniel Conyngham (1832–1880), politician. Lady Conyngham died at

Folkestone Folkestone ( ) is a coastal town on the English Channel, in Kent, south-east England. The town lies on the southern edge of the North Downs at a valley between two cliffs. It was an important harbour, shipping port, and fashionable coastal res ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, in January 1876, aged 77. Lord Conyngham only survived her by five months and died in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in July 1876, aged 79, after an operation for lithotomy. He was succeeded in the marquessate by his eldest son, George.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Conyngham, Francis Conyngham, 2nd Marquess 1797 births 1876 deaths People educated at Eton College Irish unionists Knights of St Patrick Lord-lieutenants of Meath Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Mount Charles, Francis Conyngham, Earl of Conyngham, Francis, Lord Postmasters general of the United Kingdom Conyngham, Francis, Lord Mount Charles, Francis Conyngham, Earl of Mount Charles, Francis Conyngham, Earl of Mount Charles, Francis Conyngham, Earl of UK MPs who inherited peerages British Army generals

Francis Francis may refer to: People and characters *Pope Francis, head of the Catholic Church (2013–2025) *Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Francis (surname) * Francis, a character played by YouTuber Boogie2 ...

9th Queen's Royal Lancers officers 17th Lancers officers British Life Guards officers Clare Militia officers Meath Militia officers Deputy lieutenants of Donegal Marquesses Conyngham Military personnel from County Dublin Politicians from County Dublin