RODNEY, George (1753-1802).

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1754-1790, ed. L. Namier, J. Brooke., 1964
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

1780 - 1784

Family and Education

b. 25 Dec. 1753, 1st s. of Sir George Bridges Rodney by his 1st w.  educ. Harrow 1766-7;1 Grand Tour 1773.  m. 10 Apr. 1781, Anne, da. and coh. of Hon. Thomas Harley, 9s. 1da.  suc. fa. as 2nd Baron Rodney 24 May 1792.

Offices Held

Ensign 3 Ft. Gds. 1773, lt. and capt. 1777, capt. and lt.-col. 1783; ret. 1792.

Biography

In 1780 Rodney was returned unopposed for Northampton on the interest of his uncle Spencer, Lord Northampton, as a stop-gap for his cousin Charles, Lord Compton, then a minor. In Parliament he constantly supported North’s Administration till its fall; voted for Shelburne’s peace preliminaries, 18 Feb. 1783; for Fox’s East India bill, 27 Nov. 1783, and both in Robinson’s list of January 1784 and Stockdale’s of 19 Mar. appears as a supporter of Pitt’s Administration. His only reported speech was on 5 June 1782 when, Fox moving a new writ for Westminster, he confirmed that his father intended to accept a peerage. Rodney did not stand in 1784, nor apparently at any other time.

He died 2 Jan. 1802.

Ref Volumes: 1754-1790

Author: Mary M. Drummond

Notes

  • 1. Ex inf. D. Spinney, Esq.