John Petty, 2nd Marquess of Lansdowne

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John Petty, 2nd Marquess of Lansdowne
Portrait of John Henry, 2nd Marquis of Lansdowne .PNG
Born6 December 1765 Edit this on Wikidata
Died15 November 1809 Edit this on Wikidata (aged 43)
Spouse(s)Mary Arabella Maddox Edit this on Wikidata
Parent(s)

John Henry Petty, 2nd Marquess of Lansdowne (6 December 1765 – 15 November 1809)[1] was a British peer and politician. He was the eldest son of Lady Sophia Carteret and British Prime Minister William Petty, 1st Marquess of Lansdowne, known to history as the Earl of Shelburne. The Earl concluded the Peace of Paris recognising American independence, by his first wife,

Lansdowne travelled widely despite his ill health, which in turn was not helped by the burden of the debts he inherited from his father. To repay them, he sold almost all of his father's collections, leaving Bowood House, the family seat, temporarily uninhabitable.

He served in the House of Commons for Wycombe, his father's old seat, from 1786 to 1802, but due to his weak constitution he only survived his father by four years. He died childless and was succeeded in the marquessate by his half brother, Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice.

He married Mary Arabella Maddox (died 24 April 1833), the daughter of Rev. Hinton Maddox and the widow of Duke Gifford, on 27 May 1805.

Petty's regular correspondence between 1797 and 1809 with Frances Stewart, Marchioness of Londonderry indicate his broad and liberal interests. Taking an often critical view of government policy, his letters discuss the affairs that intimately concerned Lady Londonderry's stepson, Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh, as Chief Secretary for Ireland during the United Irish agitation and risings in 1798 and as Foreign Secretary during the Napoleonic Wars. Touching on questions of social hierarchy, of child education and of religion ( "a bad substitute for common sense"), they also reveal an enlightenment perspective on contemporary society..[2]

References[]

  1. ^ History of Parliament
  2. ^ The National Archives, Reference U840/C562 (1797–1809). John Petty to Frances Stewart, Marchioness of Londonderry.CS1 maint: date format (link)

External links[]

Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by
Viscount Mahon
with Robert Waller 1780-1786 		Member of Parliament for Wycombe
with Robert Waller 1786–1790
with Sir John Jervis 1790–1794
1786 – 1802
With: Sir Francis Baring 1794–1796
Sir John Dashwood-King 1796–1802 		Succeeded by
Sir Francis Baring, Bt
with Sir John Dashwood-King 1802-1806
Peerage of Great Britain
Preceded by
William Petty-FitzMaurice 		Marquess of Lansdowne
1805 – 1809 		Succeeded by
Henry Petty-FitzMaurice
Earl of Shelburne
1805 – 1809

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