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JOHN HENRY PETTY, MARQUIS OF
LANSDOWNE
1754.
The name o£ this family, in the male line, is Fitzmaurice.
Thomas Fitzmaurice, lord Kerry, of Ireland, having married Anne,
sister and heir of Henry Petty, earl of
Shelburne, descended from the celebrated sir
Henry Petty, the political arithmetician, had a younger son, John, on whom
the Shelburne estates were settled, and who took the name of Petty.
He was created earl of Shelburne, in Ireland,
1753 and baron Wycombe, in England, 1760 He died 1761; and
William, his son, second earl
passed a life of constant political exertion, by which his name is
sufficiently distinguished in our history. In
May, 1766, he was appointed secretary of Rate,
which he held tall Jan. 1768--in 1782 he was
again appointed to that office; and in July following, on the death of the
marquis of Rockingham, first lord of the Treasury; which he held till
April 5, 1783; and during that period
concluded a general peace. But in the
arrangements he made to obtain the command of
this ministry, he so displeased the majority of his
former friends, that they immediately formed a strong opposition to hint,
which soon drove him from the helm; and he could never afterwards recover
the confidence of any powerful and efficient party. For many years he
acted an insulated part, and exhibited continual proofs of a mortified
ambition, which probably embittered his latter days. This subjected him to
the suspicion of being disaffected to the government, and his wide
correspondence with persons in every court of Europe, which probably arose
from his anxious desire of priority and pre-eminence in political
information, gave color to the idea. He was created marquis of Lansdowne,
1784, by Mr. Pitt, whom he had brought forward
as his chancellor of the Exchequer, at the age of 24.
He died 1805.
The present marquis,
his eldest son, was born 1765,
and married 1805, the widow of sir Duke Giffard.
Female Descent.]
Principally Irish, of whom the latter were, Obrien, Fitzgerald, Long of
Yorkshire, Petty, Fitzmaurice Carteret.
Chief Seat.]
Bow-wood, near Calne, in Wiltshire.
Heir.]
His brother, lord Henry, born 1780, late
chancellor of the Exchequer.
GEORGE GRANVILLE LEVESON GONER,
MARQUIS OF STAFFORD.
1756.
Of this ancient family, sir John
Leveson Gower, fifth baronet, having a large fortune, and being highly
allied, was one of five peers, created in 1702, to make a majority in the
Upper House; he died 1709. John, his
son, was created earl Gower,
1746, and dying 1754,
was father of Granville, third earl Gower; who, when lord Trentham, flood
the memorable contested election for Westmister, in 1749, against
sir George Vandeput. During a long life of
splendor, he continued to fill many important offices of Elate, and died
1803, aged 84, having been created marquis of
Stafford, in 1786.
His
son, the present marquis, was born 1758, and added to his paternal
estates, inherits an immense property, (not less than 60,000l. a year), as
heir to his uncle, Francis Egerton, late duke of Bridgewater, who died in
Jan. 1803;
--He married also a great Scotch heiress,
Elizabeth, countess of Sutherland, in her own right.
Female Descent.]
Doyley, Levefon, Granville, Manners, Pierrepoint,, Egerton.
Chief Seat.] Trentham-hall, Staffordshire.
Heir.] George Granville, earl Gower, born
1786.
Younger Branches.] Lord Granville Leveson
Gower, member of parliament for Staffordshire ; and colonel Leveson Gower.