BEAUMONT, Sir George, 4th Bt. (?1664-1737), of Stoughton Grange, nr. Leicester.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1715-1754, ed. R. Sedgwick, 1970
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

1702 - 9 Apr. 1737

Family and Education

b. ?1664, 2nd s. of Sir Henry Beaumont, 2nd Bt., of Stoughton Grange, M.P. Leicester 1679-87, by Elizabeth, da. of George Farmer of Holbeach, Lincs., prothonotary of the court of common pleas. educ. New Coll. Oxf. 9 Feb. 1683, aged 18. unm. suc. bro. Sir Thomas Beaumont, 3rd Bt., 5 Dec. 1690; his cos. Thomas, 3rd Visct. Beaumont of Swords [I] at Cole Orton, Leics. 11 June 1702.

Offices Held

Commr. of privy seal 1711-12; ld. of Admiralty Apr. 1714.

Biography

Beaumont, whose family had represented Leicester since the sixteenth century, was returned for it on the accession of Queen Anne, representing it for the rest of his life. A Tory and a member of the October Club, he lost his place on the board of the Admiralty in 1714, when, the county historian writes,

so far was the rage of party carried, as even to turn him ... out of the commission of the peace. In this the poor were the only sufferers, who in him found an impartial magistrate and a steady friend; but, so great and general was the discontent upon that account, that it was afterwards thought proper to restore him ... He had, nevertheless, the satisfaction to find that, however small his interest with men of power might be, yet, among the people he represented, it increased every day and every contest, particularly the last.1

Included in a list sent in 1721 to the Pretender of probable supporters in the event of a rising,2 on 4 Apr. 1723 he failed to carry a motion mitigating the bill of pains and penalties against George Kelly, Atterbury’s secretary, to imprisonment during the King’s pleasure.3 He died 9 Apr. 1737 ‘of an inflammation upon his lungs’. According to his obituary,

he was kind to his servants, compassionate to his tenants, charitable to the poor, indefatigable in serving his friends, and courteous to all men; and perhaps will, in the county where he lived and was best known, be more generally missed and lamented than any person in the memory of man.4

Ref Volumes: 1715-1754

Author: Eveline Cruickshanks

Notes

  • 1. Nichols, Leics, ii. 860.
  • 2. Stuart mss 65/16.
  • 3. Knatchbull Diary.
  • 4. Pol. State, liii. 431.