George Forbes, 5th Earl of Granard PC (2 April 1740 – 15 April 1780) 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 ...

politician and peer.

Early life

Forbes was born on 2 April 1740. He was the only son of Lt.-Gen.

George Forbes, 4th Earl of Granard George Forbes, 4th Earl of Granard (15 March 1710 – 16 October 1769) was an Irish soldier and politician. Early life He was the eldest son of George Forbes, 3rd Earl of Granard by his wife Mary, daughter of William Stewart, 1st Viscount ...

and the former Letitia Davys (died 1778), who were first cousins (their mother's were sisters). His paternal grandparents were

George Forbes, 3rd Earl of Granard George may refer to: Names * George (given name) * George (surname) People * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Papagheorghe, also known as Jorge / GEØRGE * George, stage name of Gior ...

and the Hon. Mary (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Stewart) Preston (widow of Phineas Preston and eldest daughter of

William Stewart, 1st Viscount Mountjoy William Stewart, 1st Viscount Mountjoy (1653–1692), was an Anglo-Irish soldier. Early life William Stewart was born in 1653, the son of Sir Alexander Stewart, 2nd Baronet, of Ramelton. His family was from Donegal, Ulster Scots, and Protes ...

). His mother was the daughter of Arthur Davys and Hon. Catherine Stewart (second daughter of the 1st Viscount Mountjoy). His paternal uncle was

Admiral of the Fleet An admiral of the fleet or shortened to fleet admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to field marshal and marshal of the air force. An admiral of the fleet is typically senior to an admiral. It is also a generic ter ...

John Forbes, the father of his cousins,

Katherine Wellesley-Pole, Countess of Mornington Katherine (), also spelled Catherine and other variations, is a feminine given name. The name and its variants are popular in countries where large Christian populations exist, because of its associations with one of the earliest Christian sa ...

(wife of

William Wellesley-Pole, 3rd Earl of Mornington William Wellesley-Pole, 3rd Earl of Mornington, (20 May 1763 – 22 February 1845), known as Lord Maryborough between 1821 and 1842, was an Anglo-Irish politician and an elder brother of the Duke of Wellington. His surname changed twice: he was ...

) and Maria Villiers, Countess of Clarendon (wife of

John Villiers, 3rd Earl of Clarendon John Charles Villiers, 3rd Earl of Clarendon, PC (14 November 1757 – 22 December 1838) was a British peer and Member of Parliament from the Villiers family. Biography Villiers was born on 14 December 1757, the second son of Lady Charlotte, ...

Career

Between 1762 and 1768 he sat in the

Irish House of Commons The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from 1297 until the end of 1800. The upper house was the Irish House of Lords, House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, ...

as the Member of Parliament for St Johnstown.E. M. Johnston-Liik
''MPs in Dublin: Companion to History of the Irish Parliament, 1692-1800''
(Ulster Historical Foundation, 2006), p.89 (Retrieved 7 April 2020). On 16 October 1769 Forbes succeeded to his father's

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

and assumed his seat in the

Irish House of Lords The Irish House of Lords was the upper house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from medieval times until the end of 1800. It was also the final court of appeal of the Kingdom of Ireland. It was modelled on the House of Lords of Englan ...

. From 1769 to his death he served as Custos Rotulorum of Longford. In 1771, he was made a

privy councillor of Ireland His or Her Majesty's Privy Council in Ireland, commonly called the Privy Council of Ireland, Irish Privy Council, or in earlier centuries the Irish Council, was the institution within the Dublin Castle administration which exercised formal executi ...

Personal life

Forbes was twice married. His first marriage was on 12 July 1759 to Dorothea Bayly (1738–1764), the second daughter of

Sir Nicholas Bayly, 2nd Baronet Sir Nicholas Bayly, 2nd Baronet (1709 – 9 December 1782), was a British landowner and Member of Parliament. Background and education Bayly was the eldest son of Sir Edward Bayly, 1st Baronet, and Dorothy, daughter of the Hon. Oliver Lambar ...

of Plas Newydd, by his first wife Caroline Paget (daughter and heiress of Brig.-Gen. Thomas Paget,

Governor of Minorca Below is a list of (known) governors of British Minorca from the time of the British occupation in 1708 until the British relinquished control of the island for the last time in 1802. Background It was commonplace for governors to be absent from ...

). Dorothea's brother, Henry Bayly, later took the surname of their maternal grandfather was elevated to the peerage as the

Earl of Uxbridge 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, ...

. Before Dorothea's death on 19 February 1764, they were the parents of one child: * George Forbes, 6th Earl of Granard (1760–1837), who married Lady Selena Frances Rawdon (1759–1827), the second daughter of

John Rawdon, 1st Earl of Moira John Rawdon, 1st Earl of Moira (17 March 1720 – 20 June 1793), known as Sir John Rawdon, Bt, between 1724 and 1750 and as The Lord Rawdon between 1750 and 1762, was an Irish peer. Background Rawdon was the only son of Sir John Rawdon, 3rd Baro ...

, by his third wife

Lady Elizabeth Hastings Lady Elizabeth Hastings (19 April 1682 – 21 December 1739), also known as Lady Betty, was an English philanthropist, religious devotee and supporter of women's education. She was an intelligent and energetic woman, with a wide circle of conn ...

(the only surviving daughter and heiress of

Theophilus Hastings, 9th Earl of Huntingdon Theophilus Hastings, 9th Earl of Huntingdon (12 November 1696 – 13 October 1746) was an English peer. Theophilus, the son of Theophilus Hastings, 7th Earl of Huntingdon and his second wife Mary Frances Fowler, was born at Donnington on 12 Nove ...

and

Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon ( Shirley; 24 August 1707 – 17 June 1791) was an English Methodist leader who played a prominent part in the religious revival of the 18th century and the Methodist movement in England and Wales. She ...

). Forbes remarried on 22 April 1766 to Lady Georgiana Augusta Berkeley (1749–1820) in London. Lady Georgiana was the eldest daughter of

Augustus Berkeley, 4th Earl of Berkeley Lieutenant-Colonel Augustus Berkeley, 4th Earl of Berkeley, KT (18 February 1715 – 9 January 1755) was the son of Vice-Admiral James Berkeley, 3rd Earl of Berkeley, and the former Lady Louisa Lennox. Biography He was made an ensign in the 1 ...

and

Elizabeth Drax Elizabeth Berkeley, Countess Berkeley (c.1720 – 29 June 1792), formerly Elizabeth Drax, was a British court official, the wife of Augustus Berkeley, 4th Earl of Berkeley. She was the daughter of Henry Drax and his wife, the former Elizabe ...

(eldest daughter of Henry Drax of

Ellerton Abbey Ellerton Abbey is a civil parishes in England, civil parish in the county of North Yorkshire, England. It is located on the River Swale in lower Swaledale, south-west of Richmond, North Yorkshire, Richmond. The population of the parish was e ...

). Together, they were the parents of six children, including: * Hon. Henry Forbes (b. 1767), who married Elizabeth Preston, second daughter of John Preston, in 1794. * Hon. Frederick Forbes (1776–1817), who married Mary Butler, only daughter of John Butler, in 1796. * Lady Georgiana Anne Forbes, who married Col.

Archibald Macneil of Colonsay Colonel Archibald Macneil 5th laird of Colonsay ( 1773–1805), was a Scottish laird who served as an officer in the British Army during the Napoleonic Wars.Also Archibald McNeill of Colonsay Biography Archibald McNeill was the son of Donald McNe ...

in 1796. * Lady Augusta Forbes, who married Lt.-Gen. Sir James Leith of

Leith Hall Leith Hall is a country house in Kennethmont, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It was built in 1650, on the site of the medieval Peill Castle, and was the home of the Leith-Hay family for nearly three centuries. Since 1945 it has been run by the N ...

in 1798. * Lady Louisa Georgiana Forbes (1779–1830), who married

Sir William Call, 2nd Baronet Sir William Pratt Call, 2nd Baronet (28 September 1781 – 3 December 1851) is best known for holding the office of High Sheriff of Cornwall between 1807 and 1808, and for being a partner in a London banking house. He was the fifth child and se ...

of Whiteford in 1806. * Lady Elizabeth Forbes (d. 1843) Upon his death on 15 April 1780, he was succeeded in his title by his eldest son from his first marriage, George Forbes. His widow remarried to Rev. Samuel Little in January 1781.

Coat of arms

References

External links

George Forbes, 5th Earl of Granard
at

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 ...

Marriage document between George Forbes, later 5th Earl of Granard and Lady Georgiana Augusta Berkeley
{{DEFAULTSORT:Granard, George Forbes, 5th Earl of 1740 births 1780 deaths 18th-century Anglo-Irish people Earls of Granard Irish MPs 1761–1768 Members of the Irish House of Lords Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Longford constituencies