George Nugent-Grenville, 2nd Baron Nugent of Carlanstown,
GCMG (31 December 1788 – 26 November 1850), was an
Irish politician.
Life
A younger son of
George Nugent-Temple, 1st Marquess of Buckingham, by Lady Mary Elizabeth Nugent, only daughter and heiress of
Robert Nugent, 1st Earl Nugent, he was born on 31 December 1788. His mother was created a baroness of the kingdom of Ireland in 1800, with remainder to her second son; and on her death (16 March 1813) he consequently succeeded to the peerage. Nugent was educated at
Brasenose College, Oxford
Brasenose College (BNC) is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It began as Brasenose Hall in the 13th century, before being founded as a college in 1509. The l ...
, and in 1810 received the honorary degree of D.C.L. from the university.
He was
Whig Member of Parliament for
Buckingham
Buckingham ( ) is a market town in north Buckinghamshire, England, close to the borders of Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire, which had a population of 12,890 at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 Census. The town lies approximately west of ...
, 1810–1812. This was a
rotten borough
A rotten or pocket borough, also known as a nomination borough or proprietorial borough, was a parliamentary borough or Electoral district, constituency in Kingdom of England, England, Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain, or the United Kin ...
controlled by the Grenvilles. At the
general election of 1812 Nugent was returned to Parliament for the
borough of Aylesbury; but in 1818 he was in some danger of losing his seat in consequence of his brother
Richard
Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language">Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'st ...
, then by courtesy the Marquess of Buckingham, having joined the ministry. Nugent stood in his own interest, however, and was returned. He fought another successful contest in 1831, and remained one of the members for Aylesbury until the dissolution in 1832.
In November 1830 Nugent was made one of the
Lords of the Treasury, but he resigned this position in August 1832, to become
Lord High Commissioner of the Ionian Islands. This office he retained for three years, returning to England with the
Grand Cross of St. Michael and St. George
The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III ...
. He again offered himself for Aylesbury in 1837 and 1839, but was defeated on both occasions; and in 1843, when he stood, with the reformer
George Thompson, for
Southampton
Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...
, he sustained a third defeat. On reappearing at Aylesbury in 1847 he was returned.
Nugent was an extreme Whig, or a whig-radical, in politics. He was a strong supporter of Queen
Caroline of Brunswick, and he visited Spain as a partisan of the Spanish Liberals against the
Carlists. In the session of 1848 Nugent moved for leave to bring in a bill abolishing the separate imprisonment in
gaols of persons committed for trial, but the motion was lost. During the same session he advocated the abolition of
capital punishment
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence (law), sentence ordering that an offender b ...
. In 1849 he voted for limiting the powers of the
Habeas Corpus (Ireland) Suspension Bill, and also supported a measure for the further repeal of
Penal Laws.
He was a member of the
Reform Club and the
Athenaeum Club.
Nugent died on 26 November 1850, at his residence in
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...
.
Works
In 1812 Nugent published ''Portugal, a Poem'' then in 1829 ''Oxford and Locke'', which defended the expulsion of Locke from the University of Oxford against the censures of
Dugald Stewart. Nugent's sympathetic ''Memorials of John Hampden'' appeared in 1832. The work was favourably reviewed by
Thomas Babington Macaulay in the ''
Edinburgh Review
The ''Edinburgh Review'' is the title of four distinct intellectual and cultural magazines. The best known, longest-lasting, and most influential of the four was the third, which was published regularly from 1802 to 1929.
''Edinburgh Review'', ...
'', and adversely by
Robert Southey in the ''
Quarterly Review'', resulting in a flurry of correspondence.
''Legends of the Library at Lillies'' (his
family seat) appeared in 1832: "from the fireside of the... little oak library the following legends proceed."
[''XIX Century Fiction'', Part I, A–K (Jarndyce, Bloomsbury, 2019).] It was followed by the two-volume travelogue ''Lands Classical and Sacred'' in 18456. Nugent also wrote pamphlets on political, social, and ecclesiastical subjects.
Family
Nugent married, 6 September 1813, Anne Lucy, second daughter of Major-General the Hon.
Vere Poulett. She died without issue in 1848, and the barony became extinct on the death of Nugent.
References
;Attribution
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nugent-Grenville, George
1788 births
1850 deaths
19th-century Irish people
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies
Hereditary peers elected to the House of Commons
Nugent, George Nugent-Grenville, 2nd Baron
Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George
Nugent, George Nugent-Grenville, 2nd Baron
UK MPs 1807–1812
UK MPs 1812–1818
UK MPs 1818–1820
UK MPs 1820–1826
UK MPs 1826–1830
UK MPs 1830–1831
UK MPs 1831–1832
UK MPs 1847–1852
UK MPs who inherited peerages
George
Alumni of Brasenose College, Oxford
Barons Nugent
Committee members of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge