Simon Harcourt, 1st Earl Harcourt, (1714 – 16 September 1777), known as Viscount Harcourt between 1727 and 1749, was a British diplomat and general who became
Viceroy of Ireland.
Biography
Harcourt was born in Oxfordshire, the son of Hon.
Simon Harcourt, M.P. for
Wallingford and
Abingdon, and Elizabeth Evelyn, sister of
Sir John Evelyn, 1st Baronet. His father died in 1720, when Simon was still a small child. 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 in 1727 succeeded his grandfather
Simon Harcourt, 1st Viscount Harcourt as 2nd Viscount Harcourt. In 1745, having raised a regiment for service during the
Jacobite Rebellion, the
76th Foot (Lord Harcourts Regiment), he received a commission as a
colonel
Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations.
In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...
in the army.
The regiment was disbanded on 10 June 1746.
In 1749, he was created Earl Harcourt of Stanton Harcourt. He was appointed governor to the prince of Wales, afterward
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 ...
, in 1751; and after the accession of the latter to the throne, in 1761, he was appointed as special ambassador to
Mecklenburg-Strelitz, to negotiate a marriage between King George and
Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (Sophia Charlotte; 19 May 1744 – 17 November 1818) was List of British royal consorts, Queen of Great Britain and Ireland as the wife of King George III from their marriage on 8 September 1761 until her ...
(Princess Charlotte), whom he conducted to England.
He held a number of appointments at court and in the diplomatic service. He was the British ambassador to Paris from 1768 to 1772. He was promoted to the rank of general in 1772; and in October of the same year he succeeded
Lord Townshend as
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (), or more formally Lieutenant General and General Governor of Ireland, was the title of the chief governor of Ireland from the Williamite Wars of 1690 until the Partition of Ireland in 1922. This spanned the K ...
, an office which he held until 1777. His proposal to impose a tax of 10% on the rents of
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 ...
s had to be abandoned owing to opposition in England; but he succeeded in conciliating the leaders of Opposition in Ireland, and he persuaded
Henry Flood
Henry Flood (1732 – 2 December 1791) was an Irish people, Irish politician, statesman and Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench for Ireland. He was educated at Trinity College Dublin, and afterwards at Christ Church, Oxford, where he becam ...
to accept office in the government. Resigning in January 1777, he retired to
Nuneham Park.
He died there shortly afterwards by accidentally
drowning
Drowning is a type of Asphyxia, suffocation induced by the submersion of the mouth and nose in a liquid. Submersion injury refers to both drowning and near-miss incidents. Most instances of fatal drowning occur alone or in situations where othe ...
in a well while trying to rescue his favourite dog, which had fallen into the well while the pair had been out for a walk.
He succeeded in rescuing the dog despite losing his life; several hours after going missing, Harcourt was found head first down the well with only his lower legs and feet visible above the water and the dog sitting on his feet.
Personal life
He married, on 16 October 1735, Rebecca Samborne Le Bass (died 16 January 1765), daughter and heiress of Charles Samborne Le Bass, of
Pipewell Abbey,
Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire ( ; abbreviated Northants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshi ...
.
They had two sons and two daughters:
*
George Simon Harcourt, 2nd Earl Harcourt (1 August 1736 – 20 April 1809), married on 26 September 1765 his first cousin the Hon. Elizabeth Venables-Vernon (21 January 1746 – 25 January 1826), daughter of
George Venables-Vernon, 1st Baron Vernon and Martha Harcourt, without issue.
*Lady Elizabeth Harcourt (18 June 1739 – 21 January 1811), married on 20 June 1763
Sir William Lee, 4th Baronet, of Hartwell (12 September 1726 – 6 July 1799)
*Hon. Anne Harcourt (June 1741 – August 1746)
*
William Harcourt, 3rd Earl Harcourt
Field marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal William Harcourt, 3rd Earl Harcourt, (20 March 1743 – 17 June 1830) was a Kingdom of Great Britain, British nobleman and British Army officer. He served as an ''aide-de-camp'' to George Keppel, 3r ...
(20 March 1743 – 17 June 1830), upon whose death without male issue the family titles became extinct.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harcourt, Simon Harcourt, 1st Earl
1714 births
1777 deaths
Earls in the Peerage of Great Britain
Members of the Privy Council of Great Britain
People educated at Westminster School, London
Diplomatic peers
Simon
Fellows of the Royal Society
Ambassadors of Great Britain to France
Deaths by drowning in the United Kingdom
British Army generals
Accidental deaths in England
Lords Lieutenant of Ireland