Sir Gerard Noel Noel, 2nd Baronet (17 July 1759 – 25 February 1838), of Welham Grove in

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...

and Exton Park in

Rutland Rutland is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Leicestershire to the north and west, Lincolnshire to the north-east, and Northamptonshire to the south-west. Oakham is the largest town and county town. Rutland has a ...

, known as Gerard Edwardes until 1798, was an English Member of Parliament.

Background

Gerard Noel was born Gerard Edwardes at

Tickencote Tickencote is a small village and civil parish in the county of Rutland in the East Midlands of England. It is noted for St Peter's Church, Tickencote, St Peter's Church, with its Norman chancel arch. The population at the 2001 census was 67. At ...

, Rutland, on 17 July 1759. He was the son of Gerard Edwardes of Welham Grove and Lady Jane Noel, daughter of Baptist Noel, 4th Earl of Gainsborough. His father was the illegitimate son of the tycoon Mary Edwardes and

Lord Anne Hamilton Lord Anne Hamilton (12 October 1709 – 25 December 1748) was a Scottish nobleman. He is said to have married the richest woman in Great Britain and they had a child. Early life Hamilton was born at St. James's Square, London, the third son of ...

, younger son of James Hamilton, 4th Duke of Hamilton. He was educated at Eton and

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College, formally the College of St John the Evangelist in the University of Cambridge, is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch L ...

Career

Noel became partner in a

Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...

banking house. He entered Parliament in 1784 as member for

Maidstone Maidstone is the largest Town status in the United Kingdom, town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town, l ...

. However, on the death of his cousin, Thomas Noel, MP for

, he resigned so as to be elected for that county (where the Noels had regularly held one of the seats for centuries). He represented Rutland (in two spells) for well over forty years. Initially a supporter of Pitt the Younger, he was one of a group of MPs who in 1788 tried to form a third party independent of both Pitt and

Charles James Fox Charles James Fox (24 January 1749 – 13 September 1806), styled ''The Honourable'' from 1762, was a British British Whig Party, Whig politician and statesman whose parliamentary career spanned 38 years of the late 18th and early 19th centurie ...

; in later years, however, he was a consistent

Tory A Tory () is an individual who supports a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalist conservatism which upholds the established social order as it has evolved through the history of Great Britain. The To ...

. In 1798 he inherited the estates of his uncle, Henry Noel, 6th Earl of Gainsborough (though not the peerage, which could not pass through the female line), and changed his surname to Noel by royal licence. He served as High Sheriff of Rutland for 1812.

Personal life and death

Noel married three times. His first marriage, in 1780, was to Diana Middleton (d. 1823), daughter of Captain Charles Middleton, the Comptroller of the Navy. The following year Middleton was created a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

, with a special remainder to his new son-in-law should he have no sons of his own. Middleton later became

First Lord of the Admiralty First Lord of the Admiralty, or formally the Office of the First Lord of the Admiralty, was the title of the political head of the English and later British Royal Navy. He was the government's senior adviser on all naval affairs, responsible f ...

and was raised to a peerage as Lord Barham with a special remainder for the barony to his daughter. Lord Barham died on 17 June 1813 without male issue, and Noel consequently inherited his baronetcy, while Noel's wife inherited the peerage. They had eighteen children: * Charles Noel Noel (1781–1866), MP, who succeeded to his mother's barony and his father's baronetcy, later created Earl of Gainsborough * Rev. Gerard Thomas Noel (1782–1851), a canon of

Winchester Winchester (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs N ...

, and father of Caroline Maria Noel (1817–77), author of the hymn "At the Name of Jesus". * Major Horace Noel (1783–1807) * Henry Robert Noel (1784–1800) * William Middleton Noel (1789–1859), MP for Rutland 1838-1840 * Captain Frederic Noel (1790–1833), a naval officer * Rev. Francis James Noel (1793–1854), Rector of

Teston Teston The Place Names of Kent,Judith Glover,1976,Batsford. or BBC Pronouncing Dictionary of British Names — is a is a village and civil parish in the Maidstone (borough), Maidstone District of Kent, England. It is located on the A26 r ...

and Nettlestead in Kent * Berkeley Octavius Noel (1794–1841) * Rev. Leland Noel (1797–1870), Vicar of Exton and Rector of Horn * Baptist Wriothesley Noel (1799–1873) * Louisa Elizabeth Noel (d. 1816), who married the banker William Henry Hoare (d. 1819) * Emma Noel (d. 1873), who married Stafford O'Brien (d. 1864) * Charlotte Margaret Noel (d. 1869), who married (first, in 1813) Thomas Welman and (second, in 1839) Thomas Thompson * Augusta Julia Noel (d. 1833), who married Thomas Babington (d. 1871) * Juliana Hicks Noel (d. 1855), who married Rev. Samuel Phillips His second marriage, in 1823, was to Harriet Gill (d. 1826), his mistress of many years, by whom he had a daughter, Harriet Jane (m. Don Ysidro Lopez d'Arze).''Sir Gerard Noel MP and the Noels of Chipping Campden and Exton'' by Gerard Noel, 2004 After Harriet's death he married a third time, in 1831, to Isabella Evans. Noel died on 25 February 1838.

References

* Lewis Namier & John Brooke, ''The History of Parliament: The House of Commons 1754-1790'' (London: HMSO, 1964)

External links

* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Noel, Gerard 1759 births 1838 deaths Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Noel, Gerard, 2nd Baronet Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies People educated at Eton College Tory MPs (pre-1834) British MPs 1784–1790 British MPs 1790–1796 British MPs 1796–1800 UK MPs 1801–1802 UK MPs 1802–1806 UK MPs 1806–1807 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 1832–1835 UK MPs 1835–1837 UK MPs 1837–1841 High sheriffs of Rutland

Gerard Gerard is a masculine forename of Proto-Germanic language, Proto-Germanic origin, variations of which exist in many Germanic and Romance languages. Like many other Germanic name, early Germanic names, it is dithematic, consisting of two meaningful ...