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George Forbes, 5th Earl of Granard PC (2 April 1740 – 15 April 1780) was an Anglo-Irish politician and peer.

Early life

Forbes was born on 2 April 1740. He was the only son of Lt.-Gen. George Forbes, 4th Earl of Granard and the former Letitia Davys (d. 1778), who were first cousins (their mother's were sisters).

His paternal grandparents were George Forbes, 3rd Earl of Granard and the Hon. Mary (née Stewart) Preston (widow of Phineas Preston and eldest daughter of William Stewart, 1st Viscount Mountjoy). His mother was the daughter of Arthur Davys and Hon. Catherine Stewart (second daughter of the 1st Viscount Mountjoy). His paternal uncle was Admiral of the Fleet John Forbes, the father of his cousins, Katherine Wellesley-Pole, Countess of Mornington (wife of William Wellesley-Pole, 3rd Earl of Mornington) and Maria Villiers, Countess of Clarendon (wife of John Villiers, 3rd Earl of Clarendon).

Career

Between 1762 and 1768 he sat in the Irish House of Commons as the Member of Parliament for St Johnstown.

On 16 October 1769 Forbes succeeded to his father's earldom and assumed his seat in the Irish House of Lords. From 1769 to his death he served as Custos Rotulorum of Longford. In 1771, he was made a privy councillor of Ireland.

Personal life

Forbes was twice married. His first marriage was on 12 July 1759 to Dorothea Bayly (1738–1764), the second daughter of Sir Nicholas Bayly, 2nd Baronet of Plas Newydd, by his first wife Caroline Paget (daughter and heiress of Brig.-Gen. Thomas Paget, Governor of Minorca). Dorothea's brother, Henry Bayly, later took the surname of their maternal grandfather was elevated to the peerage as the Earl of Uxbridge. Before Dorothea's death on 19 February 1764, they were the parents of one child:

• George Forbes, 6th Earl of Granard (1760–1837), who married Lady Selena Frances Rawdon (1759–1827), the second daughter of John Rawdon, 1st Earl of Moira, by his third wife Lady Elizabeth Hastings (the only surviving daughter and heiress of Theophilus Hastings, 9th Earl of Huntingdon and Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon).

Forbes remarried on 22 April 1766 to Lady Georgiana Augusta Berkeley (1749–1820) in London. Lady Georgiana was the eldest daughter of Augustus Berkeley, 4th Earl of Berkeley and Elizabeth Drax (eldest daughter of Henry Drax of Ellerton Abbey). Together, they were the parents of six children, including:

• Hon. Henry Forbes (b. 1767), who married Elizabeth Preston, second daughter of John Preston, in 1794.
• Hon. Frederick Forbes (1776–1817), who married Mary Butler, only daughter of John Butler, in 1796.
• Lady Georgiana Anne Forbes, who married Col. Archibald Macneil of Colonsay in 1796.
• Lady Augusta Forbes, who married Lt.-Gen. Sir James Leith of Leith Hall in 1798.
• Lady Louisa Georgiana Forbes (1779–1830), who married Sir William Call, 2nd Baronet of Whiteford in 1806.
• Lady Elizabeth Forbes (d. 1843)

Upon his death on 15 April 1780, he was succeeded in his title by his eldest son from his first marriage, George Forbes. His widow remarried to Rev. Samuel Little in January 1781.

Coat of arms

Coat of arms of George Forbes, 5th Earl of Granard

Coronet A coronet of an Earl Crest Azure three Bears' Heads couped Argent muzzled Gules. Escutcheon A Bear statant Argent guttée de sang muzzled Gules. Supporters Dexter: an Unicorn Erminois armed maned tufted and unguled Or; Sinister: a Dragon wings expanded Ermine. Motto Fax Mentis Incendium Gloriae (The incitement to glory is the firebrand of the mind)

References

1. Forbes (hon.), John (1868). Memoirs of the Earls of Granard, ed. by George Arthur Hastings, earl of Granard. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
2. ^ Gasper, Julia (13 April 2018). Elizabeth Craven: Writer, Feminist and European. Vernon Press. ISBN 978-1-62273-408-5. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
3. Lodge, Edmund (1832). The Peerage of the British Empire as at Present Existing: Arranged and Printed from the Personal Communications of the Nobility : to which is Added a View of the Baronetage of the Three Kingdoms. Saunders and Otley. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
4. ^ Cracroft-Brennan, Patrick. "Granard, Earl of (I, 1684)". www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk. Heraldic Media Limited. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
5. Cokayne, George Edward (1926). The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom: Gordon to Hurstpierpoint. St. Catherine Press, Limited. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
6. E. M. Johnston-Liik, MPs in Dublin: Companion to History of the Irish Parliament, 1692-1800 (Ulster Historical Foundation, 2006), p.89 (Retrieved 7 April 2020).
7. Debrett's peerage & baronetage 2003. London: Macmillan. 674. p. 456.

External links

• George Forbes, 5th Earl of Granard at The British Museum
• Marrige document between George Forbes, later 5th Earl of Granard and Lady Georgiana Augusta Berkeley

• 1740 births
• 1780 deaths
• 18th-century Anglo-Irish people
• Earls of Granard
• Irish MPs 1761–1768
• Members of the Irish House of Lords
• Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Longford constituencies