Robert Craggs-Nugent, 1st Earl Nugent, PC (1709 – 13 October 1788) was an Anglo-Irish politician and poet. He was tersely described by Richard Glover as a jovial and voluptuous Irishman who had left "

Popery The words Popery (adjective Popish) and Papism (adjective Papist, also used to refer to an individual) are mainly historical pejorative words in the English language for Roman Catholicism, once frequently used by Protestants and Eastern Orthodox ...

" for the Protestant religion, money and widows.

Background

The son of Michael Nugent and Mary, daughter of Robert Barnewall, 9th Baron Trimlestown and Margaret Dongan, he was born at Carlanstown,

County Westmeath County Westmeath (; or simply ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It formed part of the historic Kingdom of ...

, in 1709. He succeeded his father in the Carlanstown property on 13 May 1739.

Political career

His wife's property included the borough of

St Mawes St Mawes () is a village on the end of the Roseland Peninsula, in the eastern side of Falmouth, Cornwall, Falmouth harbour, on the south coast of Cornwall, England. The village, formerly two separate hamlets, lies on the east bank of the Carri ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

, and Nugent sat for that constituency from 1741 to 1754, after which date he represented

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

until 1774,Pages 88 to 91,

Lewis Namier Sir Lewis Bernstein Namier (; 27 June 1888 – 19 August 1960) was a British historian of Polish-Jewish background. His best-known works were '' The Structure of Politics at the Accession of George III'' (1929), ''England in the Age of the Ame ...

, ''

The Structure of Politics at the Accession of George III ''The Structure of Politics at the Accession of George III'' is the title of a book written by Lewis Namier. At the time of its first publication in 1929, it caused a historiographical revolution in understanding the 18th century by challenging t ...

'' (2nd edition - London: St Martin's Press, 1957) when he returned to St Mawes. By 1782, he had become the longest continually-serving member of the Commons, and so became the

Father of the House Father of the House is a title that has been traditionally bestowed, unofficially, on certain members of some legislatures, most notably the House of Commons in the United Kingdom. In some legislatures the title refers to the longest continuously ...

. In 1747 he succeeded Lord Doneraile as

Comptroller of the Household The Comptroller of the Household is an ancient position in the British royal household, nominally the second-ranking member of the Lord Steward's department after the Treasurer of the Household. The Comptroller was an ''ex officio'' member of ...

the Prince of Wales Prince of Wales (, ; ) is a title traditionally given to the male heir apparent to the History of the English monarchy, English, and later, the British throne. The title originated with the Welsh rulers of Kingdom of Gwynedd, Gwynedd who, from ...

. Nugent lent the Prince large sums of money, which were never repaid; the appointments and peerages he received later in life have been attributed to the wish of the Prince of Wales's son,

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland, Ireland from 25 October 1760 until his death in 1820. The Acts of Union 1800 unified Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and ...

, to compensate Nugent. Robert Craggs-Nugent, as he then was, served as a

Lord of the Treasury In the United Kingdom there are at least six Lords (or Ladies) Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury, serving as a commission for the ancient office of Treasurer of the Exchequer. The board consists of the First Lord of the Treasury, the Second L ...

from 1754 to 1759, and was made a

Privy Counsellor The Privy Council, formally His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its members, known as privy counsellors, are mainly senior politicians who are current or former ...

on 15 December 1759. He was Vice-Treasurer of Ireland from 1759 to 1765,

First Lord of Trade The president of the Board of Trade is head of the Board of Trade. A committee of the His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, Privy Council of the United Kingdom, it was first established as a temporary committee of inquiry in the 17th centur ...

from 1766 to 1768, and Vice-Treasurer of Ireland again from 1768 to 1782. In 1768 he was made a member of the

Irish Privy Council 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 execut ...

. His support of the ministry was so useful that he was created in 1767 Baron Nugent and Viscount Clare, and in 1776 Earl Nugent, all Irish peerages. Apart from his political career, Lord Nugent was also the author of some poetical productions, several of which are preserved in the second volume of Dodsley's ''Collections'' (1748).

Family

Lord Nugent married firstly, on 14 July 1730, Emilia (died in childbirth 16 August 1731), daughter of Peter Plunkett, 4th Earl of Fingall. They had one son, Edmund, who became a Lieutenant-Colonel and the father of two illegitimate sons (later

Field Marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army (in countries without the rank of Generalissimo), and as such, few persons a ...

)

Sir George Nugent, 1st Baronet Field marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal Sir George Nugent, 1st Baronet, (10 June 1757 – 11 March 1849) was a British Army officer. After serving as a junior officer in the American Revolutionary War, he fought with the Coldstream Guard ...

, and

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 ...

Sir Charles Edmund Nugent) before dying in 1771. Nugent married secondly, on 23 March 1736, Anna Knight (died 22 November 1756), widow of John Knight and daughter of James Craggs and sister of the Right Honourable James Craggs, the secretary of state. Nugent adopted the surname of Craggs-Nugent. She had already been widowed twice, but Robert, who was born a Roman Catholic, had abandoned his Church very early in life. He married thirdly, on 2 January 1757, Elizabeth Drax (died 29 January 1792), the widow of the fourth Earl of Berkeley, who brought him a large fortune and with whom he had two daughters. The earldom descended by special remainder to the earl's son-in-law,

George Nugent-Temple-Grenville, 1st Marquess of Buckingham George Nugent-Temple-Grenville, 1st Marquess of Buckingham (17 June 1753 – 11 February 1813), known as George Grenville before 1779 and as The Earl Temple between 1779 and 1784, was a British statesman. Background and early life Grenville w ...

, and so to his successors, the

dukes of Buckingham and Chandos Duke of Buckingham, referring to the market town of Buckingham, England, is an extinct title that has been created several times in the peerages of Peerage of England, England, Peerage of Great Britain, Great Britain, and the Peerage of the Uni ...

References

Attribution

External links

Robert Craggs Nugent
at th
Eighteenth-Century Poetry Archive (ECPA)
, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Nugent, Robert Nugent, 1st Earl 1709 births 1788 deaths 18th-century Irish poets 18th-century Irish male writers Converts to Anglicanism from Roman Catholicism Earls Nugent Members of the Privy Council of Great Britain Members of the Privy Council of Ireland Politicians from County Westmeath Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Bristol Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for St Mawes Hereditary peers elected to the House of Commons British MPs 1741–1747 British MPs 1747–1754 British MPs 1754–1761 British MPs 1761–1768 British MPs 1768–1774 British MPs 1774–1780 British MPs 1780–1784 British MPs 1784–1790 Presidents of the Board of Trade

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, prais ...

Peers of Ireland created by George III Barons Nugent Irish male poets