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

Lady Elizabeth Bingham, wife of George Harcourt, by Sir George Hayter

Background

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

Political career

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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

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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).[4] 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]

References

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  1. ^ Stooks Smith, Henry. (1973) [1844-1850]. Craig, F. W. S. (ed.). The Parliaments of England (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. pp. 258–259, 298. ISBN 0-900178-13-2.
  2. ^ Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1977]. British parliamentary election results 1832–1885 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 442. ISBN 0-900178-26-4.
  3. ^ Record for George Granville Vernon-Harcourt on thepeerage.com
  4. ^ a b 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.
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Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Lichfield
1806–1831
With: Sir George Anson
Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Oxfordshire
1831–1861
With: Richard Weyland 1831–1837
Lord Norreys 1832–1852
Hon. Thomas Parker 1837–1841
Joseph Warner Henley 1841–1861
John North 1852–1861
Succeeded by
Honorary titles
Preceded by Father of the House
1850–1861
Succeeded by