Francis (Conway) Ingram-Seymour-Conway (1742 - 1822)

Born 12 Feb 1742 in Westminster, London, England

Ancestors

Husband of Isabella Anne (Ingram) Ingram-Seymour-Conway — married 1778 in England

Descendants

Died 28 Jun 1822 at age 80 in Westminster, London, England

Biography

Francis (Conway) Ingram-Seymour-Conway is Notable.

Francis Ingram Seymour Conway also known as Marquess of Hertford.

SEYMOUR, FRANCIS (INGRAM), second Marquess of Hertford (1743-1822), born in London on 12 Feb 1743, was son of Francis Seymour Conway first of Hertford q v by Isabella, daughter of Charles Fitzroy, second Duke of Grafton. After being educated at Eton he matriculated from Christ Church, Oxford, 2 Feb 1760, and was created MA, 15 June 1762. As Viscount Beauchamp he represented Lisburne in the Irish House of Commons 1761-8. In 1765 he was made a privy councillor for Ireland, and for one year, 1765-6, was chief secretary to the lord lieutenant of Ireland; on resigning that post he was appointed constable of Dublin Castle (Grenville Papers, iii, 325). In 1766 he entered the English House of Commons, sitting from 1766 to 1768 as member for Lostwithiel, and for Orford from 1768 to 1794. He was a lord of the treasury in Lord North's administration from 11 March 1774 to 31 Jan 1780, and was appointed cofferer of the household 1 Feb 1780, and a privy councillor for Great Britain, 2 Feb 1780. From 1774 to 1788 he was a frequent speaker in the House of Commons, speaking whenever he addressed the House 'if not with eloquence, at least with knowledge of the subject' (Wraxall, Memoirs, iv 137). He opposed, in April 1774, the motion for the repeal of the American tea duty, declaring himself by no means prepared to cede the mother country's right of taxing colonies (Parl. Hist xviii 1271), and in December 1777 he moved the previous question on Wilkes's motion to repeal the American Declaratory Act. But although a member of Lord North's administrations, his political sympathies were largely with Fox. In May 1778 he declared himself strongly in favour of the repeal of the penal acts affecting Roman Catholics in Ireland (ibid. xix 1141), and throughout his parliamentary career showed himself in favour of religious toleration (ibid. xxvi 823). He introduced an act for the relief of debtors with respect to the imprisonment of their persons in February 1780, when he was highly complimented by Burke, who supported the bill (ibid. xx 1399). On Fox's motion for the repeal of the Irish Declaratory Act (6 Geo. I) on 16 April 1782, he declared that the simple repeal would not satisfy Ireland unless a counter declaratory clause of Irish parliamentary independence was inserted in the repealing act (Parl. Hist xxiii 31,;Life of the Rt Hon Henry Flood, p 165; Lecky, Hist Eighteenth Cent vi 105). These views he emphasised in a pamphlet, A Letter to the First Company of Belfast Volunteers, published in Dublin (1782). On 4 Feb 1784 the House of Lords resolved that an attempt in any one branch of the legislature to suspend the execution of law by assuming to itself the direction of discretionary power is unconstitutional. Beauchamp proposed a few days later six counter resolutions, which he carried against the ministers by a majority of thirty one (Parl. Hist xxiv 546). When the subject of commercial union between England and Ireland was before the house in May 1786 Beauchamp opposed Pitt's fourth proposition, which bound Ireland to adopt such regulations as Great Britain should enact (ibid. xxv 738), and expressed himself as opposed to any idea of compulsion of the Irish parliament, his opinion being that 'the only connection between the two countries be of freedom and common interest, not power' (Letter to the First Company, Belfast Volunteers). Although a advocate of the independence of the parliament he regarded the interests of the two countries as inseparable and their political connection as indissoluble (Parl. Hist xx 1202).

After 1788 Beauchamp ceased to take as prominent a part in the House of Commons, but in 1793 he gave strong support to Pitt in the matter of the alien bill, and during the debate on the king's message asking for the augmentation of the forces (ibid. xxx 197-291). On his father being created Marquis of Hertford in 1793 he took title of Earl of Yarmouth, and was, as ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to Berlin and Vienna, (1793-4) succeeded to the peerage as second Marquis of Hertford on his father's death, 23 June 1794, but in the debates of the House Lords on political matters he took no part.

Hertford was appointed master of the horse 11 July 1804, holding that office till 12 Feb 1806. He was invested knight of the Garter 18 July 1807, and appointed lord chamberlain of the household 7 March 1812, and held that office till 11 Dec. 1821. In 1822 he was created vice admiral of Suffolk. He died, 17 June, 1822, at Hertford House, Manchester Square, and was buried in the family vault at Ragley in Warwickshire. He married, in February 1768, Alicia Elizabeth, second daughter and coheir of Herbert, first viscount Windsor; she died on 11 Feb 1772, aged 22. He married secondly, 20 May, 1776, Isabella Anne Ingram Shepherd, daughter and coheir of Charles, ninth and last Viscount Irvine (d 1778), by his wife, Frances Gibson (born Shepherd). Upon the death of the latter, on 20 Nov 1807, leaving a 'very large fortune', Hertford and his wife took the name of Ingram before that of Seymour. The Marchioness of Hertford, who survived her husband until 12 April 1836, was a lady of great wealth, and possessed great personal charms; for many years she exercised considerable influence over the regent (Wraxall, Memoirs, iv 138).

The only son by the second marriage was Francis Charles Seymour Conway, third Marquis of Hertford (1777-1842). Born 11 March, 1777, he graduated BA from St Mary Hall, Oxford (1796), and represented the family boroughs of Orford, Lisburne, and Camelford (1819-1822). He had great influence with the regent, of whose household he was vice-chamberlain, and was created KG on 22 Nov, 1822, shortly after succeeding to the peerage. He was in 1827 envoy extraordinary (bearing the order of the Garter) to Nicholas I of Russia, from whom he had in 1821 received the order of St Anne; but he is best remembered as the original of the Marquis of Steyne in Thackeray's 'Vanity Fair' and Lord Monmouth in Disraeli's 'Coningsby'. He married, 18 May 1798, the great heiress Maria Fagniani (see under Selwywn, George) and died at Dorchester House, Park Lane, on 1 March 1842. He was buried in Holy Trinity Churchyard, Arrow, Warwickshire^[1].

His portrait by Sir Thomas Lawrence was engraved for Doyle's Official Baronage (cf Croker's Corresp., GEC's Complete Peerage). He was succeeded as fourth marquis by his son, Richard Seymour Conway (1800-1870), known from 1822 until his father's death as Earl of Yarmouth. Like his brother, Lord Henry Seymour (q.v.), he led an epicurean existence in Paris, rarely, if ever, visiting England, and amassing a splendid collection of pictures and articles of vertu, which he left, along with his Irish estates to, Sir Richard Wallace (q.v.) Upon the fourth marquis's death, on 26 Aug 1870, the peerage passed to Francis George Hugh, son of Sir George Francis Seymour (q.v.) (Collins's Peerage of Engl., ed. M Brydges, ii S66; Doyle's Official Baronage; Gent. Mag 1822, i.561; Wraxall's Memoirs, ed. 1884, iii. 137)

W. C-R

Sources

1. ↑ Find A Grave Memorial# 117049028: Francis Ingram-Seymour-Conway

• Stephen, Leslie (ed.), "Dictionary of National Biography, Vol. 51". Smith, Elder & Co., London (1897). P. 318-319.
• Ancestry Family Trees Publication: Name: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com. Original data: Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members.; Repository: #R1 NOTEThis information comes from 1 or more individual Ancestry Family Tree files. This source citation points you to a current version of those files. Note: The owners of these tree files may have removed or changed information since this source citation was created.
• Repository: R1 Name: Ancestry.com Address: http://www.Ancestry.com E-Mail Address: Phone Number:

See also:

• Wikipedia: Francis Ingram-Seymour-Conway, 2nd Marquess of Hertford
• ThePeerage.com: Francis Seymour-Ingram, 2nd Marquess of Hertford
• Wikidata: Item Q4297289, en:Wikipedia
• Hertford, Marquess of (GB, 1793) Cracroft's Peerage

Acknowledgments

• Thank you to Robert Warner for creating WikiTree profile Seymour-1357 through the import of Robert Warner Family Tree.ged on Aug 9, 2013. Click to the Changes page for the details of edits by Robert and others.