Francis Seymour-Conway, 3rd Marquess of Hertford
| The Most Honourable The Marquess of Hertford KG, GCH PC | |
|---|---|
|
The Marquess of Hertford. | |
| Vice-Chamberlain of the Household | |
|
In office 14 March 1812 – 28 July 1812 | |
| Monarch | George III |
| Prime Minister |
Spencer Perceval The Earl of Liverpool |
| Preceded by | Lord John Thynne |
| Succeeded by | Viscount Jocelyn |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 11 March 1777 |
| Died | 1 March 1842 (aged 64) |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Tory |
| Spouse(s) |
Maria Emilia Fagnani (1771–1856) |
Francis Charles Seymour-Conway, 3rd Marquess of Hertford KG, GCH PC (11 March 1777 – 1 March 1842), styled Viscount Beauchamp between 1793 and 1794 and Earl of Yarmouth between 1794 and 1822, was a British Tory politician and art collector.
Background
Seymour-Conway was the son of Francis Seymour-Conway, 2nd Marquess of Hertford, by his second wife Isabella Anne Ingram, daughter of Charles Ingram, 9th Viscount of Irvine.
Political career
Lord Yarmouth sat as Member of Parliament (MP) for Orford from 1797 to 1802,[1] for Lisburn from 1802 to 1812,[2] for Antrim from 1812 to 1818[3] and for Camelford from 1820 to 1822.[4] In March 1812 he was sworn of the Privy Council[5] and appointed Vice-Chamberlain of the Household under Spencer Perceval. He continued in the post after Lord Liverpool became prime minister in May 1812 after Perceval's assassination, but relinquished it in July of that year. The same year he was appointed Lord Warden of the Stannaries,[6] a post he held until his death. He succeeded his father in the marquessate in 1822. The same year he was also made a Knight of the Garter[7] and appointed Vice-Admiral of Suffolk, a post he retained until his death.
Lord Hertford was also a considerable art collector, as were his son and grandson; many of his pictures are in the Wallace Collection which they founded.[8]
Cricket
Seymour-Conway was an amateur cricketer who made three known appearances in first-class cricket matches from 1797 to 1799.[9] He was mainly associated with Surrey and was a member of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC).[10]
He died in March 1842, aged 64, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Richard. The Marchioness of Hertford died in March 1856, aged 84.
Family
Lord Hertford married Maria Emilia Fagnani, reputedly the illegitimate daughter of the 4th Duke of Queensberry and a married Italian aristocrat, the Marchesa Fagnani, on 18 May 1798. They had three children:
- Lady Francis Maria Seymour-Conway (d. 1822)
- Captain Richard Seymour-Conway, 4th Marquess of Hertford (1800–1870)
- Lord Henry Seymour-Conway (1805–1859)
Legacy
Lord Hertford was the prototype for the characters of the Marquess of Monmouth in Benjamin Disraeli's 1844 novel Coningsby and Lord Steyne in William Makepeace Thackeray's 1847–8 serial Vanity Fair. Thackeray's illustration of the Marquis for issue 11 was considered to bear such a resemblance to Hertford that threat of prosecution for libel effectively suppressed its publication.[11] In Hertford's last years, he was said to live with a retinue of prostitutes and the mental instability which afflicted several members of his family became noticeable.[12] Charles Greville described him as broken with infirmities and unable to speak due to paralysis of the tongue and claimed "there has been, so far as I know, no such example of undisguised debauchery".[13]
References
- ↑ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "O" (part 1)
- ↑ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "L" (part 3)
- ↑ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "A" (part 2)
- ↑ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "C" (part 2)
- ↑ The London Gazette: no. 16584. p. 517. 17 March 1812.
- ↑ The London Gazette: no. 16632. p. 1579. 11 August 1812.
- ↑ The London Gazette: no. 17872. p. 1914. 23 November 1822.
- ↑ wallacecollection.org The 3rd Marquess of Hertford
- ↑ CricketArchive
- ↑ Arthur Haygarth, Scores & Biographies, Volume 1 (1744-1826), Lillywhite, 1862
- ↑ "Suppressed Plates", Pall Mall Magazine, London, 1899.
- ↑ Hyde, Montgomery The Strange Death of Lord Castlereagh William Heinemann 1959 p.157
- ↑ Hyde, p.157
External links
- Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Marquess of Hertford