John Spencer, 1st Earl Spencer

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Thomas Gainsborough : John Spencer, 1st Earl Spencer, oil on canvas, circa 1775

John Spencer, 1st Earl Spencer (born December 19, 1734 in Althorp , Northamptonshire , † October 31, 1783 in Bath , Somerset ) was a British nobleman and politician.

Life

He was the only son of the politician the Hon. John Spencer (1708-1746) and his wife Lady Georgiana Caroline Carteret (1716-1780), youngest daughter of John Carteret, 2nd Earl Granville , and his first wife Frances Worsley. He was a great-grandson of John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough and a grandson of the politician Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl of Sunderland , who particularly by its involvement in the South Sea Bubble was known (South Sea Bubble).

He studied at Trinity College of the University of Cambridge philosophy and policy and undertook to 1754 a grand tour through Europe. His father had left him estates in Bedfordshire , Northamptonshire , Surrey and Warwickshire in 1746 , including the family manors at Althorp and Wimbledon Park . In 1756 he also had a seat in London built with Spencer House .

He belonged to the Whigs political party . In March 1756 he ran unsuccessfully in a by-election for a seat in the House of Commons for the Borough of Bristol . In December 1756 he was elected to the House of Commons as MP for Borough Warwick . On April 3, 1761 he was by King George III. raised to hereditary British nobility as Viscount Spencer and Baron Spencer of Althorp . He became a member of the House of Lords and resigned from the House of Commons. On November 1, 1765, he was further elevated to Earl Spencer and Viscount Althorp .

From 1772 he was also High Steward of St Albans and in 1779 he became Mayor of St Albans .

Thomas Gainsborough: Margaret Georgiana, Countess Spencer, 1775

Marriage and offspring

On December 20, 1755, John Spencer married Margaret Georgiana Poyntz (1737-1814), daughter of Stephen Poyntz and Anna Maria Mordaunt, at Althorp House in Northamptonshire . Five children emerged from the mutual connection:

John Spencer, 1st Earl Spencer died during a spa stay in Bath, southern England, and his remains were interred in Great Brington, Northamptonshire.

literature

  • Charles Mosley: Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage. Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, Stockesay 2003. ISBN 0-9711966-2-1
  • Charles Mosley: Burke's Peerage and Baronetage. Fitzroy Dearborn, London 1998. ISBN 1-57958-083-1
  • Duncan Warrand, Lord Howard de Walden: The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom. Alan Sutton Publishing, Gloucester 2000. ISBN 0-904387-82-8
  • Peter W. Hammond: The Complete Peerage or a History of the House of Lords and All its Members From the Earliest Times. Addenda & Corrigenda, Gloucestershire 1998. ISBN 0-7509-0154-3
  • Lewis Namier: SPENCER, John (1734-83), of Althorp, no. Northampton and Wimbledon Park, Surr. In: Lewis Namier, John Brooke (Eds.): The History of Parliament. The House of Commons 1754-1790. HMSO, London 1964, ISBN 0-4363-0420-1 ( online ).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ London Gazette . No. 10562, HMSO, London, October 1, 1765, p. 1 ( PDF , English).
  2. ↑ London Gazette . No. 10092, HMSO, London, March 31, 1761, p. 1 ( PDF , English).
predecessor Office successor
New title created Earl Spencer
1765-1783 		George Spencer
New title created Viscount Spencer
1761-1783 		George Spencer
personal data
SURNAME Spencer, John, 1st Earl Spencer
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Spencer, John, 1st Viscount Spencer
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British nobleman and politician
DATE OF BIRTH December 19, 1734
PLACE OF BIRTH Althorp , Northamptonshire
DATE OF DEATH October 31, 1783
Place of death Bath , Somerset