George Damer, 2nd Earl of Dorchester
The Earl of Dorchester | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Chief Secretary for Ireland | |
| In office 1794–1795 | |
| Monarch | George III |
| Prime Minister | Hon. William Pitt the Younger |
| Preceded by | Sylvester Douglas |
| Succeeded by | Hon. Thomas Pelham |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 28 March 1746 |
| Died | 7 March 1808 (aged 61) Park Lane, London |
| Nationality | British |
| Alma mater | Trinity College, Cambridge |
George Damer, 2nd Earl of Dorchester PC, PC (Ire) (28 March 1746 – 7 March 1808), styled Viscount Milton between 1792 and 1798, was a British politician. He served as Chief Secretary for Ireland between 1794 and 1795.
Background
Dorchester was the second son of Joseph Damer, 1st Earl of Dorchester. He was educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he took his MA in 1767.[1][2]
Political career
Lord Dorchester sat as Member of Parliament for Cricklade between 1768 and 1774,[3] for Anstruther Burghs between 1778 and 1780,[4] for Dorchester between 1780 and 1790[5] and for Malton between 1792 and 1798.[6] He also represented Naas in the Irish House of Commons between 1795 and 1798[7] and served under William Pitt the Younger as Chief Secretary for Ireland between 1794 and 1795. He was sworn of the English Privy Council in 1794[8] and of the Irish Privy Council in 1795.[9] He succeeded his father in the earldom on 12 January 1798 and entered the House of Lords. On 25 June 1798, he was appointed colonel of the Dorset Militia in succession to Lord Rivers,[10] but resigned in late 1799.[11] Lord Dorchester was also Lord Lieutenant of Dorset, and colonel of the Dorsetshire Yeomanry Cavalry, from 1803 to 1808.[12]
Personal life
Lord Dorchester was a great favourite of the Royal family who always stayed with him at his estate in Weymouth.[13] He died unmarried in Park Lane, London,[14] in March 1808, aged 61, when his titles became extinct. His estates were inherited by his sister Lady Caroline Damer, and on her death in 1828 by their Dawson cousins, who assumed the additional name of Damer. John Dawson-Damer, 2nd Earl of Portarlington, inherited the large but encumbered Irish properties, and his younger brothers Henry and George Dawson-Damer received respectively the estates of Milton Abbey and Came.[15]
References
- ^ "Damer, the Hon. George (DMR763G)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
- ^ The Athenaeum Magazine, April 1808
- ^ leighrayment.com House of Commons: Cornwall-Cynon Valley
- ^ leighrayment.com House of Commons: Andover - Armagh South
- ^ leighrayment.com House of Commons: Devizes - Dorset West
- ^ leighrayment.com House of Commons: Macclesfield - Marylebone West
- ^ leighrayment.com Irish House of Commons
- ^ leighrayment.com Privy Counsellors 1679-1835
- ^ leighrayment.com Privy Counsellors - Ireland
- ^ "No. 15038". The London Gazette. 3 July 1798.
- ^ "No. 15214". The London Gazette. 17 December 1799.
- ^ leighrayment.com Peerages: Desborough-Dorchester
- ^ The Athenaeum Magazine, April 1808
- ^ The Athenaeum Magazine, April 1808
- ^ Burke's Peerage, 1831; Journal of Mary Frampton [1885]
- 1746 births
- 1808 deaths
- Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge
- British Militia officers
- British MPs 1768–74
- British MPs 1774–80
- British MPs 1780–84
- British MPs 1784–90
- British MPs 1790–96
- British MPs 1796–1800
- Earls in the Peerage of Great Britain
- Irish MPs 1790–97
- Lord-Lieutenants of Dorset
- Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies
- Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Scottish constituencies
- Members of the Privy Council of Ireland
- Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
- Queen's Own Dorset Yeomanry officers
- Whig (British political party) MPs
- Chief Secretaries for Ireland