Page:The Complete Peerage Ed 2 Vol 2.djvu/418

 402 BUCKINGHAMSHIRE 1755-56; P.C. 27 Jan. 1756; Lord of the Bedchamber to George II and III 1756-60, and 1760-67; Envoy to St. Petersburg 1762-65; Lord Lieut, of Ireland 1776 (sworn 25 Jan. 1777) to 1780; F.S.A. i Apr. 1784; F.R.S. 3 Feb. 1785. Hew., istly, 14 July i76i,atLadyDrury'shouse, St. Anne's, Soho, Mary Anne (a fortune of j/^50,000), da. and coh. of Lieut. Gen. Sir Thomas Drury, Bart., of Overstone, Northants, by Martha, da. of Sir John Tyrell, Bart. She, who was b. 29 June 1740, d. s.p.m., 30 Dec. 1769, and was bur. 6 Jan. 1770, at Blickling. He m., 2ndly, 24 Sep. 1770, at St. Geo., Han. Sq., CaroHnCjC*) 3rd da. of the Rt. Hon. William Conolly, of Stretton Hall, co. Stafford, and of Ireland, by Ann, da. of Thomas (Went- worth), Earl of Strafford. He d. s.p.m.s.,{^) 3 Sep. 1793, aged 70, at Blickling, and was bur. there under a mausoleum which he had built in the woods. Will pr. Oct. i793-('') His widow d. 26 Jan. 18 17, in Grosvenor Place, Midx., and was bur. at Blickling. W^ill pr. 18 17. [John Hobart, styled Lord Hobart, s. and h. ap. by 2nd wife, b. 30 Aug., and bap. 20 Sep. 1773, at Stepney; d. an infant, and was bur. at Blickling 19 Dec. 1775.] [Henry Philip Hobart, styled L.ord Hobart, 2nd but ist surv. s. and h. ap., b. II Feb., and bap. 8 Mar. 1775; d. an infant, 15 Feb. 1776.] [George Hobart, sty/ed hov.D Hobart, 3rd but ist surv. s. and h. ap., b. 1 Apr. 1777; d. an infant, 30 Oct. 1778, at Dublin Castle.] (*) She is mentioned, a tew months before her marriage, as "a young lady of blooming fifteen." V.G. ('') "An account is come of the sudden death of Lord Buckinghamshire: he had the gout in his foot, dipped it in cold water, and killed himself." (Horace Walpole to Lady Ossory, 6 Sep. 1793). Henrietta, his 1st da. and coh. (by his ist wife), who d. 14 July 1805, m., 2ndly, William Kerr, styled Earl of Ancram, afterwards (1815) 6th Marquess of Lothian [S.]. Caroline, the 2nd da., who m. the 2nd Baron SufBeld, inherited Blickling Hall and the Norfolk estates (some 8,000 acres), which had long been owned by the Hobart family; at her death s.p., in 1850, they appear to have passed to the grandson of her elder sister, Henrietta abovenamed, William, Marquess of Lothian, and are now (191 2) the property of the present Marquess. if) In the very difficult task of governing Ireland he bore himself creditably, though the strain was so great that he described himself as "a man whose mind has been lacerated with a variety of embarrasments for thirty weary months." To carry out the views of the home government he was compelled to resort to the most unblush- ing and wholesale bribery, and to a reckless creation of Irish peerages; as to which see vol. iii. Appendix H. As to his partiality to "an old coat," see vol. i. Appendix H. He was strikingly handsome, to which fact, as being likely to ingratiate him with the Empress Catherine, he in some measure owed his appointment to St. Petersburg. His rule in Ireland has been severely criticised, but, according to Grattan, "he excited in his favour, among the Irish people, a passion approaching to love." The Royal Register states that he refused a green ribbon (Thistle) because he thought the accept- ance of a Scottish Order might create a suspicion that he was under the influence ot Lord Bute. His portrait by Gainsborough was (1902) at Blickling. V.G.