George Harcourt Explained

George Granville Harcourt (né Venables-Harcourt and Vernon-Harcourt, 6 August 1785 – 19 December 1861) was a British Whig^[1] and then Conservative Party politician.^[2]

Background

Harcourt was the eldest son of clergyman Edward Venables-Vernon-Harcourt.^{[3] [4]}

Political career

Harcourt was elected as MP for Lichfield in 1806 and which he represented until he was elected for Oxfordshire in 1831. By 1850 he had become the longest-serving member, and so became the Father of the House of Commons for the last 11 years of his life.

Family

On 27 March 1815, he married Lady Elizabeth Bingham (the eldest daughter of the 2nd Earl of Lucan) and they had one child, Elizabeth Lavinia Anne (d. 1858, married Montagu Bertie, 6th Earl of Abingdon. It was through this marriage that Wytham Abbey passed to the Earls of Abingdon). Harcourt's wife died in 1838 and he then married Frances Waldegrave (the widow of the 7th Earl Waldegrave and future wife of the 1st Baron Carlingford), a daughter of the noted tenor, John Braham.^[5]

Notes and References

1. Book: Stooks Smith , Henry. . Craig, F. W. S. . F. W. S. Craig . . 1844-1850 . 2nd . 1973 . Parliamentary Research Services . Chichester . 0-900178-13-2 . 258–259, 298 .
2. Book: Craig , F. W. S. . F. W. S. Craig . British parliamentary election results 1832–1885 . 1977 . 2nd . 1989 . Parliamentary Research Services . Chichester . 0-900178-26-4 . 442.
3. http://thepeerage.com/p1334.htm#i13339 Record for George Granville Vernon-Harcourt on thepeerage.com
4. G. E. Cokayne; with Vicary Gibbs, H.A. Doubleday, Geoffrey H. White, Duncan Warrand and Lord Howard de Walden, editors. The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, new ed., 13 volumes in 14 (1910-1959; reprint in 6 volumes, Gloucester, U.K.: Alan Sutton Publishing, 2000), volume I, page 49.
5. L. G. Pine. The New Extinct Peerage 1884-1971: Containing Extinct, Abeyant, Dormant and Suspended Peerages With Genealogies and Arms (London, U.K.: Heraldry Today, 1972), page 54.