George James Welbore Agar-Ellis, 1st Baron Dover (14 January 1797 – 10 July 1833) was a British politician and man of letters. He was briefly First Commissioner of Woods and Forests under Lord Grey between 1830 and 1831.

Background and education

Agar-Ellis was the only son of Henry Agar-Ellis, 2nd Viscount Clifden, and Lady Caroline, daughter of

George Spencer, 4th Duke of Marlborough George Spencer, 4th Duke of Marlborough, (26 January 1739 – 29 January 1817), styled Marquess of Blandford until 1758, was a British courtier, nobleman, and politician from the Spencer family. He served as Lord Chamberlain between 1762 a ...

. He was educated at

Westminster School Westminster School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Westminster, London, England, in the precincts of Westminster Abbey. It descends from a charity school founded by Westminster Benedictines before the Norman Conquest, as do ...

and

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...

. He was elected a Fellow of both the Society of Antiquaries and

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

in 1816.thepeerage.com George James Welbore Agar-Ellis, 1st Baron Dover
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Political career

Agar-Ellis 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

Heytesbury Heytesbury is a village (formerly considered to be a town) and a civil parish in Wiltshire, England. The village lies on the north bank of the Wylye, about southeast of the town of Warminster. The civil parish includes most of the small nei ...

in 1818, a seat he held until 1820. He afterwards represented Seaford between 1820 and 1826, Ludgershall between 1826 and 1830 and

Okehampton Okehampton ( ) is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in West Devon in the English county of Devon. At the 2021 census, the parish had a population of 7,313, which was slightly more than the 7,104 recorded at the 2011 census. Th ...

between 1830 and 1831. He supported

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 ...

's motion in 1822 for a bill to relieve the disabilities of

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

peers, and consistently supported liberal principles. He took little interest in party politics but was a strong advocate of state support for the causes of literature and the fine arts. He commissioned the painting '' The Trial of Queen Caroline'' by

George Hayter Sir George Hayter (17 December 1792 – 18 January 1871) was an England, English Painting, painter, specialising in portraits and large works involving sometimes several hundred individual portraits. Queen Victoria appreciated his merits and app ...

, which was exhibited in 1823. In 1824 Agar-Ellis was the leading promoter of the grant of £57,000 for the purchase of

John Julius Angerstein John Julius Angerstein (1735 – 22 January 1823) was a Russian-born British businessman and art collector who worked an underwriter for Lloyd's of London. It was the prospect that his collection of paintings was about to be sold by his es ...

's collection of pictures, which formed the foundation of the

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of more than 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current di ...

. On the formation of Lord Grey's Whig administration in November 1830, he was sworn of the Privy Council and appointed First Commissioner of Woods and Forests. However, he was forced to resign after two months due to bad health. In June 1831, during his father's lifetime, Agar-Ellis was raised to the peerage as Baron Dover, of Dover in the County of Kent. He was president of the

Royal Society of Literature The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820 by King George IV to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the RSL has about 800 Fellows, elect ...

in 1832, a trustee of the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

and of the National Gallery, and a commissioner of public records.

Family

Lord Dover married his

third cousin once removed A cousin is a relative who is the child of a parent's sibling; this is more specifically referred to as a first cousin. A parent of a first cousin is an aunt or uncle. More generally, in the kinship system used in the English-speaking world, c ...

Lady Georgiana Howard, daughter of

George Howard, 6th Earl of Carlisle George Howard, 6th Earl of Carlisle (17 September 17737 October 1848), styled Viscount Morpeth until 1825, was a British statesman. He served as Lord Privy Seal between 1827 and 1828 and in 1834 and was a member of Lord Grey's Whig government ...

, in 1822. They had two sons, who became respectively the 3rd Viscount and 5th Viscount, and two daughters. He died on 10 July 1833, aged only 36, predeceasing his father by three years. Lady Dover died in March 1860.

Works

Lord Dover's works were chiefly historical, and include: * ''The True History of the State Prisoner, Commonly Called the Iron Mask'' (1826) * ''Inquiries respecting the Character of Clarendon'' (1827) * a ''Life of Frederick II.'' (1831) He also edited the ''Ellis Correspondence'' (1829) and ''Walpole's Letters to Sir Horace Mann'' (1833).

References

Attribution: *

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dover, George James Welbore Agar-Ellis, 1st Baron 1797 births 1833 deaths Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies English non-fiction writers People educated at Westminster School, London People associated with the National Gallery, London UK MPs 1818–1820 UK MPs 1820–1826 UK MPs 1826–1830 UK MPs 1830–1831 UK MPs who were granted peerages Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London Presidents of the Royal Society of Literature Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom Peers of the United Kingdom created by William IV Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Heirs apparent who never acceded English male non-fiction writers Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Okehampton Committee members of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge