Henry Luttrell, 2nd Earl of Carhampton

The Earl of Carhampton
The Earl of Carhampton
Born	7 August 1743
Died	25 April 1821(1821-04-25) (aged 77) London
Allegiance	Kingdom of Great Britain
Service/branch	British Army
Years of service	1757–1798
Rank	General
Commands held	Ireland
Battles/wars	Seven Years' War United Irishmen Rebellion

General Henry Lawes Luttrell, 2nd Earl of Carhampton PC (7 August 1743 – 25 April 1821) was an Anglo-Irish politician and soldier. He was the son of Simon Luttrell, 1st Earl of Carhampton and brother-in-law of Prince Henry, Duke of Cumberland and Strathearn. He had command in Ireland during the 1798 rebellion, and was renowned for a violent counter-insurgency untrammelled by legal considerations.

Career[]

Luttrell was the scion of an Anglo-Irish landed family, descendants of Sir Geoffrey de Luterel, who established Luttrellstown Castle, County Dublin, in the early 13th century.^[1] Educated at Westminster School and Christ Church, Oxford, Luttrell was commissioned into the 48th Regiment of Foot in 1757.^[2] Two years later he became lieutenant of the 34th Regiment of Foot.

Father and son, both accounted "notorious womanizers", had a bitter relationship. His father once challenged Luttrell to a duel, but he declined, observing that his father was not a gentleman.^[3]

Luttrell, described as "strong in body, if not in mind", achieved a reputation for bravery as a soldier during the Seven Years' War,^[4] becoming Deputy Adjutant-General of the British Forces in Portugal. In 1768 he became a Tory Member of Parliament in for the village of Bossiney, Cornwall.^[5]

Service to the Tory Ministry against Wilkes[]

With the support of the Grafton ministry and of the Court, in 1769 Luttrell stood in Middlesex against John Wilkes, the radical and popular figure who had already been the constituency's three-time democratic choice. Luttrell lost the poll (1,143 votes to 269) but was seated in Parliament, Wilkes having once again been barred as an adjudged felon.^[6] As a result of the affair, for some months, Luttrell dared not appear in the street, and was "the most unpopular man in the House of Commons".^[4]

The government rewarded Luttrell by appointing him Adjutant General for Ireland in 1770. He continued to sit in the Commons, where he described the Whigs in their opposition to the conduct of the American War, as "the abetters of treason and rebellion combined purposely for the ruin of their country."^[4]

Ireland, the Case of Mary Neal and the crushing of the 1798 rebellion[]

Luttrell became active in Irish politics and between 1783 and 1787, he sat in the Irish House of Commons for Old Leighlin.^[2] On his father's death in 1787, he succeeded to the earldom of Carhampton and other titles.^[2] He became Colonel of the 6th Dragoon Guards and Lieutenant-General of the Ordnance in Ireland.^[2]

In 1788, Luttrell was publicly accused in Dublin of the rape of a 12 year-old girl. Having been paid to deliver a message, Mary Neal claimed she was bundled into a brothel and there assaulted throughout the night by Luttrell. The keeper of the house, Maria Llewellyn, was charged in a case marked by accusations of witness tampering, the death in prison of Mary's mother and new-born baby sister and by the insinuation that Mary was already working as a prostitute. The affair became a cause célèbre with the public intervention of Archibald Hamilton Rowan (later United Irishman). To clear Mary's name he brought her to Dublin Castle to see the Lord Lieutenant, the Earl of Westmorland. Westmorland, unmoved, pardoned Llewellyn and set her at liberty.^[7]

Luttrell was never asked to answer for raping Mary Neal. He re-entered the Westminster Parliament as Member for Plympton Erle in 1790.^[2] Then in 1796 he was made Commander-in-Chief, Ireland,^[2] and in 1798 he led the British suppression of the United Irishmen Rebellion.^[2] His command had the unusual distinction of being upbraided by his successor as Commander in Chief, Sir Ralph Abercromby for an army "in a state of licentiousness, which must render it formidable to every one but the enemy".^[8]

When the Dublin Post of 2 May 1811 erroneously reported his death, he demanded a retraction which they printed under the headline Public Disappointment.^[9]

He purchased an estate at Painshill Park in Surrey and re-entered parliament in June 1817 as Member for Ludgershall and held the seat until his death.^[2]

Family[]

He briefly married Elizabeth Mullen in 1759, and had a daughter, Harriet Luttrell. This marriage was later annulled.^[10]

He married Jane Boyd in 1776, but they had no children and was succeeded by his brother John.^[2]

References[]

External links[]

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Henry Luttrell
• Henry Luttrell & the Middlesex Election - UK Parliament Living Heritage