George Capel-Coningsby, 5th Earl of Essex

The Right Honourable
The Earl of Essex

Portrait from the studio of Sir Thomas Lawrence of George Capel-Conningsby, Fifth Earl of Essex
Earl of Essex
In office
1799–1839
Monarch George IV; William IV
Member of Parliament
for Westminster 1779-80
Member of Parliament
for Lostwithiel 1781-84
Member of Parliament
for Okehampton 1785-90
Member of Parliament
for Radnor 1794-99
Lord Lieutenant of Herefordshire 1802-17
Recorder and High Steward of Leominster 1802
Personal details
Born (1757-11-13)13 November 1757
Watford, Hertfordshire
Died 23 April 1839(1839-04-23)
Watford, Hertfordshire
Nationality British
Known for Commissioned the redesign of Cassiobury House

George Capel-Coningsby, 5th Earl of Essex FSA (13 November 1757 – 23 April 1839) was an English aristocrat and politician, and styled Viscount Malden until 1799. His surname was Capell until 1781.

Origins

1768 portrait by Sir Joshua Reynolds of George Capel, aged 10, with his sister, Elizabeth Capel

.

George Capell was the son and heir of William Anne Capell, 4th Earl of Essex (17321799), from his first marriage to Frances Williams. He was also the elder half-brother of Thomas Bladen Capel, Captain (later Admiral) in the Royal Navy and one of Horatio Nelson's Band of Brothers.

Career

1818 illustration of Cassiobury House after Coningsby's rebuilding

George Capell was educated at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, receiving his MA in 1777. In 1781 he took the additional name of Coningsby on succeeding to the estates of his grandmother, Lady Francis Hanbury-Williams, née Coningsby.[1]

He was one of the two members of parliament for Westminster from 1779 to 1780, a member for Lostwithiel from 1781 to 1784, for Okehampton from 1785 to 1790, and for Radnor from 1794 to 1799.[1]

On 4 March 1799 Capel-Coningsby succeeded his father as 5th Earl of Essex. He served as Recorder and High Steward of Leominster in 1802, and as Lord Lieutenant of Herefordshire from 1802 to 1817. He became a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in 1801, and received an honorary D.C.L. from Oxford University in 1810.[1]

Upon his succession to the title of Earl of Essex, he set about a major reconstruction of the family seat, Cassiobury House in Watford, Hertfordshire, engaging the services of the architect James Wyatt and landscape designer Humphrey Repton to develop the house and grounds.[2]

Essex was noted as a major patron of the arts and was responsible for building up a large fine art collection at Cassiobury.[3] An obituary of Essex in 1839 records that "his Lordship has richly embellished his house at Cassiobury, as well as his town mansion in Belgrave Square, with numerous choice works of our native painters", and that he had entertained a number of noted British artists of the day at Cassiobury and commissioned works from them, including J. M. W. Turner, Augustus Pugin, John Callcott Horsley, David Wilkie and Edwin Henry Landseer.[4]

Marriages

George Capel-Coningsby married twice:[5]

Death & burial

George Capel-Coningsby died on 23 April 1839 at Cassiobury, aged 81, and was buried at Watford,[1] leaving behind his operatic widow, Kitty Stephens, who was now the Countess Dowager.[7] Because he had no son of his own, his Earldom and estates passed to a nephew, Arthur Algernon Capell, the eldest son of his half-brother John Thomas Capell.[8]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Capell [Capel-Coningsby], George, Viscount Malden (CPL775G)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  2. Robinson, John (2014). Felling the ancient oaks : how England lost its great country estates. [S.l.]: Aurum Pr Ltd. p. 55. ISBN 9781781313343.
  3. "The Cassiobury Collection". Watford Museum. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
  4. "Obituary: The Earl of Essex". The Gentleman's Magazine. 165-166: 652. June 1839. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
  5. http://www.thepeerage.com/p2972.htm#i29716
  6. Bridgeman Art Library
  7. "Miscellaneous". The Spectator. 12: 387. 27 April 1839. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
  8. "Arthur Algernon Capell, 6th Earl of Essex". The Peerage. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by
Lord Thomas Pelham-Clinton
Viscount Petersham
Member of Parliament for Westminster
1779–1780
With: Lord Thomas Pelham-Clinton
Succeeded by
Sir George Brydges Rodney, Bt
Charles James Fox
Preceded by
Hon. Thomas de Grey
George Johnstone
Member of Parliament for Lostwithiel
1781–1784
With: George Johnstone
Succeeded by
John Sinclair
John Thomas Ellis
Preceded by
John Luxmoore
Thomas Wiggens
Member of Parliament for Okehampton
1785–1790
With: Humphrey Minchin
Succeeded by
John Hayes St Leger
Robert Ladbroke
Preceded by
David Murray
Member of Parliament for Radnor
1794–1799
Succeeded by
Richard Price
Honorary titles
Preceded by
The Viscount Bateman
Lord Lieutenant of Herefordshire
1802–1817
Succeeded by
The Lord Somers
Peerage of England
Preceded by
William Capell
Earl of Essex
1799–1839
Succeeded by
Arthur Algernon Capell
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 8/11/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.