John Perceval, 2nd Earl of Egmont

John Perceval, 2nd Earl of Egmont PC FRS (24[1] or 25[2] February 1711 – 4 December 1770) was a British politician, political pamphleteer, and genealogist who served as First Lord of the Admiralty. Of Anglo-Irish background, he sat in both the Irish and British Parliaments. He was the father of the Regency Era Prime Minister Spencer Perceval.

The Earl of Egmont
Portrait by Thomas Hudson
First Lord of the Admiralty
In office
1763–1766
Preceded byThe Earl of Sandwich
Succeeded bySir Charles Saunders
Postmaster General
In office
1762–1763
Preceded byThe Earl of Bessborough
Robert Hampden-Trevor
Succeeded byThe Lord Hyde
Robert Hampden-Trevor
Member of Parliament for Ilchester
In office
1761–1761
Serving with Joseph Tolson Lockyer
Preceded byThomas Lockyer
Joseph Tolson Lockyer
Succeeded byWilliam Wilson
Joseph Tolson Lockyer
Member of Parliament for Bridgwater
In office
1754–1762
Serving with Robert Balch, Edward Southwell
Preceded byGeorge Dodington
Robert Balch
Succeeded byViscount Perceval
Edward Southwell
Member of Parliament for Weobly
In office
1747–1754
Serving with Savage Mostyn
Preceded byMansel Powell
Savage Mostyn
Succeeded byJohn Craster
Savage Mostyn
Member of Parliament for Westminster
In office
1741–1747
Serving with Charles Edwin
Preceded bySir Charles Wager
The Lord Sundon
Succeeded byViscount Trentham
Sir Peter Warren
Member of Parliament for Dingle
In office
1731–1749
Preceded byThomas Crosbie
John FitzGerald
Succeeded bySir William Fownes, 2nd Baronet
Robert FitzGerald
Personal details
Born
John Perceval

(1711-02-25)25 February 1711
Died4 December 1770(1770-12-04) (aged 59)
Pall Mall, London
Spouses
Lady Catherine Cecil
(m. 1737; died 1752)
(m. 1756)
Children16
Parent(s)John Perceval, 1st Earl of Egmont
Catherine Parker
ResidenceEnmore Castle

Early life

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He was the son and heir of John Perceval, 1st Earl of Egmont, by his wife Catherine Parker. He was baptised at the Palace of Westminster, London. His two siblings were Lady Catharine Perceval (wife of Thomas Hanmer MP of The Fenns) and Lady Helena Perceval (wife of John Rawdon, 1st Earl of Moira).[3]

His paternal grandparents were Sir John Perceval, 3rd Baronet of Lohort Castle and the former Catherine Dering (daughter of Sir Edward Dering, 2nd Baronet). His maternal grandparents were Sir Philip Parker, 2nd Baronet of Arwarton and the former Mary Fortray (a daughter of landowner and author Samuel Fortrey of Byall Fen).[3]

He succeeded his father in 1748 as 2nd Earl of Egmont in the Peerage of Ireland.[3]

Career

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Enmore Castle, 1779

Perceval sat in the Irish House of Commons for Dingle between 1731 and 1749. In April 1748, he was created Gentleman of the Bedchamber to the Prince of Wales. He was made a Privy Counsellor in January 1755.[4]

He sat in the Parliament of Ireland for Dingle (1731–49) and in the House of Commons for Westminster (1741–47), Weobley (1747–54) and Bridgwater (1754–62). In 1762 he was created Baron Lovel and Holland, of Enmore in the County of Somerset, in the Peerage of Great Britain, which gave him an automatic seat in the House of Lords.[5] From 1751 to 1757, he designed and created Enmore Castle at Enmore in Somerset, which received "the dismissive mockery of Horace Walpole".[6]

He was appointed joint Postmaster-General for 1762–3 alongside Robert Hampden, 4th Baron Trevor[citation needed] and served as First Lord of the Admiralty from 1763 to 1766.[7] As First Sea Lord, places named in his honour were Port Egmont, the first British settlement in the Falkland Islands and Mount Taranaki in New Zealand, which was named Mount Egmont by Captain James Cook in 1770 during his first voyage around the world.[8]

Personal life

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Arms of Perceval, Earls of Egmont: Quarterly 1st & 4th: Argent, on a chief indented gules three crosses patée of the field (Perceval); 2nd & 3rd: Barry nebulée of six or and gules (Lovel)[9]

Perceval married twice. His first marriage was on 15 February 1737 to Lady Catherine Cecil, who was the second daughter of James Cecil, 5th Earl of Salisbury. Before her death on 16 August 1752, aged 33, they had five sons and two daughters:[10]

 
John, 2nd Earl of Egmont and His Second Wife Catherine.

His second marriage was to Catherine Compton, the third daughter of the Hon. Charles Compton and sister of Charles Compton, 7th Earl of Northampton and Spencer Compton, 8th Earl of Northampton, on 26 January 1756.[18] By Catherine Compton he had three sons and six daughters as follows:[3]

Lord Perceval died on 4 December 1770 at Pall Mall, London, aged 59. Following his death, his widow was created on 23 May 1770 Baroness Arden of Lohort Castle in the county of Cork in the peerage of Ireland, with remainder to her heirs male. She survived her husband and died at Langley, Buckinghamshire, on 11 June 1784, aged 53.[22]

Legacy

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Port Egmont in the Falkland Islands, established in 1765, is named after him.[23]

Mount Egmont in New Zealand was named after him by James Cook in recognition of his encouragement of Cook's first voyage. While the mountain has returned to its original Maori name of Taranaki since the 2000s, the Egmont name still applies to the national park that surrounds the peak and geologists still refer to the peak as the Egmont Volcano.[24]

References

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  1. ^ "John Perceval, 2nd earl of Egmont". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  2. ^ "Egmont, John Perceval, Earl of, 1711-1770". snaccooperative.org/. SNAC. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  3. ^ a b c d e f "Egmont, Earl of (I, 1733 - 2011)". cracroftspeerage.co.uk. Heraldic Media Limited. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
  4. ^ Barker, George Fisher Russell (1895). "Perceval, John (1683-1748)" . In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 44. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
  5. ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Egmont, Earls of" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 9 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 18.
  6. ^ Against the Time in Which the Fabric and Use of Gunpowder Shall Be Forgotten: Enmore Castle, Its Origins and Its Architect - Tim Mowl 1990
  7. ^ Chisholm 1911.
  8. ^ "Chapter IV. — Cook completes his survey, 1769 and 1770". NZETC. Archived from the original on 22 October 2012. Retrieved 21 February 2013.
  9. ^ Debrett's Peerage, 1968, p.409
  10. ^ Wilkinson, Clive. "Perceval, John, second earl of Egmont (1711–1770)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/21912. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  11. ^ The Third Register Book of the Parish of St James in the Liberty of Westminster For Births & Baptisms. 1723-1741. 16 February 1737.
  12. ^ The Third Register Book of the Parish of St James in the Liberty of Westminster For Births & Baptisms. 1723-1741. 1 November 1739.
  13. ^ The Register of Births & Baptisms in the Parish of St James within the Liberty of Westminster Vol. IV. 1741-1760. 12 March 1741.
  14. ^ Born in Pall Mall at "one of ye Clock in ye afternoon". Source: The Register of Births & Baptisms in the Parish of St James within the Liberty of Westminster Vol. IV. 1741-1760. 15 May 1744.
  15. ^ The Register of Births & Baptisms in the Parish of St James within the Liberty of Westminster Vol. IV. 1741-1760. 13 March 1745.
  16. ^ The Register of Births & Baptisms in the Parish of St James within the Liberty of Westminster Vol. IV. 1741-1760. 18 October 1748.
  17. ^ The Register of Births & Baptisms in the Parish of St James within the Liberty of Westminster Vol. IV. 1741-1760. 11 March 1749.
  18. ^ a b The Register of Births & Baptisms in the Parish of St James within the Liberty of Westminster Vol. IV. 1741-1760. 11 January 1760.
  19. ^ The Register of Births and Baptisms in the Parish of St James within the Liberty of Westminster. 1761-1786. 19 February 1761.
  20. ^ The Register of Births and Baptisms in the Parish of St James within the Liberty of Westminster. 1761-1786. 31 December 1767.
  21. ^ The Register of Births and Baptisms in the Parish of St James within the Liberty of Westminster. 1761-1786. 14 April 1769.
  22. ^ Barker 1895.
  23. ^ A Voyage Round the World, in His Majesty's Ship the Dolphin, Commanded by the Honourable Commodore Byron. (with Plat.). Newbery and Carnan. 1768. pp. 66–67.
  24. ^ "Egmont National Park - Things to see and do - Taranaki | New Zealand". newzealand.com. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
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Parliament of Ireland
Preceded by
Thomas Crosbie
John FitzGerald
Member of Parliament for Dingle
1731–1749
With: John FitzGerald 1731–1741
Robert FitzGerald 1741–1749
Succeeded by
Sir William Fownes, 2nd Baronet
Robert FitzGerald
Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Westminster
17411747
With: Charles Edwin
Succeeded by
Preceded by
Mansel Powell
Savage Mostyn
Member of Parliament for Weobly
17471754
With: Savage Mostyn
Succeeded by
Preceded by
George Dodington
Robert Balch
Member of Parliament for Bridgwater
1754–1762
With: Robert Balch 1754–1761
Edward Southwell 1761–1762
Succeeded by
Preceded by
Thomas Lockyer
Joseph Tolson Lockyer
Member of Parliament for Ilchester
1761
With: Joseph Tolson Lockyer
Succeeded by
William Wilson
Joseph Tolson Lockyer
Political offices
Preceded by Postmaster General
1762–1763
with Robert Hampden-Trevor
Succeeded by
Preceded by First Lord of the Admiralty
1763–1766
Succeeded by
Honorary titles
Vacant
Title last held by
The Lord Melcombe
Vice-Admiral of Somerset
1766–1770
Vacant
Title next held by
The Duke of Somerset
Peerage of Ireland
Preceded by Earl of Egmont
1748–1770
Succeeded by
Peerage of Great Britain
New creation Baron Lovel and Holland
1762–1770
Succeeded by