George_Forbes,_4th_Earl_of_Granard
George Forbes, 4th Earl of Granard
Irish soldier and politician
George Forbes, 4th Earl of Granard (15 March 1710 – 16 October 1769)[1] was an Irish soldier and politician.
The Earl of Granard | |
|---|---|
| Member of the Irish House of Commons for Mullingar | |
| In office 1749–1765 | |
| Preceded by | Sir Arthur Acheson, 5th Bt |
| Succeeded by | Richard Steele |
| Personal details | |
| Born | George Forbes (1710-03-15)15 March 1710 |
| Died | 16 October 1769(1769-10-16) (aged 59) |
| Spouse | |
| Relations | John Forbes (brother) William Stewart, 1st Viscount Mountjoy (grandfather) Arthur Forbes, 2nd Earl of Granard (grandfather) |
| Children | George Forbes, 5th Earl of Granard |
He was the eldest son of George Forbes, 3rd Earl of Granard by his wife Mary, daughter of William Stewart, 1st Viscount Mountjoy;[1] while heir-apparent to the earldom he was styled Viscount Forbes.[2]
Forbes entered the Army in 1726, and served as Quartermaster-General in Ireland from 1754 to 1757. He was lieutenant-colonel in the Tangier Regiment in 1756, then colonel of the 76th Regiment of Foot the same year.[1] He was promoted to major-general in 1759, transferred to the colonelcy of the 29th Regiment of Foot in 1761, and was promoted lieutenant-general in 1765.[3]
Besides his military career, Forbes sat in the Irish House of Commons for Mullingar from 1749 until he succeeded to his father's seat in the Irish House of Lords in 1765. He was a Governor of County Longford from 1756 and Custos Rotulorum of Longford from 1765 until his death.[3]
On 16 July 1736 Forbes was married to his cousin Letitia Davys,[4] daughter of Arthur Davys of Hampstead by his wife Catherine, daughter of the 1st Viscount Mountjoy.[5] They had one son:[2]
- George Forbes, 5th Earl of Granard (1740–1780), who married Dorothea Bayly in 1759. She was the second daughter of Sir Nicholas Bayly, 2nd Baronet of Plas Newydd and Caroline Paget (daughter and heiress of Brig.-Gen. Thomas Paget, Governor of Minorca). Dorothea's brother was Henry Paget, 1st Earl of Uxbridge. After Dorothea's death in 1764, he married Lady Georgiana Augusta Berkeley, eldest daughter of Augustus Berkeley, 4th Earl of Berkeley.[2]
Lord Granard died on 16 October 1769 and was succeeded in his earldom by his only son, George. His widow, Lady Granard, died on 19 May 1778.[3]
- Forbes (hon.), John (1868). Memoirs of the Earls of Granard, ed. by George Arthur Hastings, earl of Granard. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
- Lodge, Edmund (1832). The Peerage of the British Empire as at Present Existing: Arranged and Printed from the Personal Communications of the Nobility : to which is Added a View of the Baronetage of the Three Kingdoms. Saunders and Otley. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
- Cracroft-Brennan, Patrick. "Granard, Earl of (I, 1684)". www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk. Heraldic Media Limited. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
- Debrett, John (1831). Debrett's Peerage of England, Scotland, and Ireland. [Another]. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
- Gasper, Julia (13 April 2018). Elizabeth Craven: Writer, Feminist and European. Vernon Press. ISBN 978-1-62273-408-5. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
| Military offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Colonel of the 29th Regiment of Foot 1761–1769 |
Succeeded by Hon. William Evelyn |
| Peerage of Ireland | ||
| Preceded by | Earl of Granard 1765–1769 |
Succeeded by |
| Viscount Granard 1765–1769 | ||
| Baronetage of Nova Scotia | ||
| Preceded by | Baronet (of Castle Forbes) 1765–1769 |
Succeeded by |