Lord Robert Seymour JP (20 January 1748 – 23 November 1831) was a British politician who sat in the

Irish House of Commons The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from 1297 until the end of 1800. The upper house was the Irish House of Lords, House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, ...

from 1771 to 1776 and in the

British House of Commons The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 memb ...

from 1771 to 1807. He was known as Hon. Robert Seymour-Conway until 1793, when his father was created a

marquess A marquess (; ) is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German-language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman with the rank of a marquess or the wife (or wid ...

; he then became Lord Robert Seymour-Conway, but dropped the surname of Conway after his father's death in 1794.

Early life

Seymour was the third son of

Francis Seymour-Conway, 1st Marquess of Hertford Francis Seymour-Conway, 1st Marquess of Hertford (5 July 1718 – 14 June 1794) of Ragley Hall, Arrow, in Warwickshire, was a British courtier and politician who, briefly, was Viceroy of Ireland where he had substantial estates. Background ...

and Lady Isabella Fitzroy. He was educated at

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England *Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States *Éton, a commune in the Meuse depa ...

, before being commissioned an

ensign Ensign most often refers to: * Ensign (flag), a flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality * Ensign (rank), a navy (and former army) officer rank Ensign or The Ensign may also refer to: Places * Ensign, Alberta, Alberta, Canada * Ensign, Ka ...

in the

40th Regiment of Foot The 40th (the 2nd Somersetshire) Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1717 in Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 82nd Regiment of Foot (Prince of Wales's Volunte ...

in 1766, and became a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

in the 2nd Regiment of Irish Horse the same year. In 1770, he became a

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

in the

8th Dragoons The 8th King's Royal Irish Hussars was a cavalry regiment in the British Army, first raised in 1693. It saw service for three centuries including the First and Second World Wars. The regiment survived the immediate post-war reduction in forces ...

Career

Seymour-Conway was returned for two Parliamentary seats in 1771:

Lisburn Lisburn ( ; ) is a city in Northern Ireland. It is southwest of Belfast city centre, on the River Lagan, which forms the boundary between County Antrim and County Down. First laid out in the 17th century by English and Welsh settlers, with t ...

, in the

Parliament of Ireland The Parliament of Ireland () was the legislature of the Lordship of Ireland, and later the Kingdom of Ireland, from 1297 until the end of 1800. It was modelled on the Parliament of England and from 1537 comprised two chambers: the Irish Hou ...

, and the family borough of Orford in the

. In 1773, he became a

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

in the 3rd Irish Horse. He transferred into the

1st Foot Guards The Grenadier Guards (GREN GDS) is the most senior infantry regiment of the British Army, being at the top of the Infantry Order of Precedence. It can trace its lineage back to 1656 when Lord Wentworth's Regiment was raised in Bruges to protect ...

as a Captain-Lieutenant on 7 November 1775, and became captain of a company in the regiment on 30 January 1776. He gave up his seat at Lisburn that year, but continued to sit for Orford. He served as an aide-de-camp to Sir Henry Clinton in America from 1780 to 1781, but resigned his commission in 1782. Plas Taliaris Mansion

In Parliament, Seymour-Conway followed the rest of his family in supporting the North Ministry and the Fox-North Coalition, and opposing the ministry of Shelburne. In 1784, he turned over the Orford seat to his younger brother,

George George may refer to: Names * George (given name) * George (surname) People * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Papagheorghe, also known as Jorge / GEØRGE * George, stage name of Gior ...

, having purchased a seat at

Wootton Bassett Royal Wootton Bassett , formerly Wootton Bassett, is a market town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, with a population of 13,570 at the 2021 Census. In the north of the county, it lies to the west of the town of Swindon and northeast of ...

from Henry St John, who managed it. In 1787, he bought the estate of Taliaris in

Llandeilo Llandeilo () is a town and Community (Wales), community in Carmarthenshire, Wales, situated where the River Towy is crossed by the A483 road, A483 on a 19th-century stone bridge. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census the community had ...

Carmarthenshire Carmarthenshire (; or informally ') is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. The three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford. Carmarthen is the county town and administrative centre. ...

, which would become his principal seat. He left his Commons seat in 1790, the year that he and his brother

Henry Henry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Henry (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters * Henry (surname) * Henry, a stage name of François-Louis Henry (1786–1855), French baritone Arts and entertainmen ...

were granted, for life, the sinecures of joint

prothonotary A prothonotary is the "principal clerk of a court," from Late Latin, L.L. ''prothonotarius'' (Wiktionary:circa, c. 400), from Greek ''protonotarios'' "first scribe," originally the chief of the college of recorders of the court of the Byzantine E ...

, clerk of the crown, filazer, and keeper of the declarations of the King's Bench in Ireland. By 1816, these offices brought an income of more than £10,000 a year. He returned to Parliament for Orford in 1794, and continued to hold the seat until 1807. He took some interest in agriculture, as in 1796, he invented a new one-horse cart. On 2 December 1803, he was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel Commandant of the 2nd Battalion, Carmarthenshire Volunteers. He resigned that command on 6 January 1808. During the 1807 election, Seymour was returned both for Orford and

, choosing to sit for the latter, which he represented until 1820. On 1 July 1807, Seymour, who owned a house in

Portland Place Portland Place is a street in the Marylebone district of central London. Named after the 3rd Duke of Portland, the unusually wide street is home to the BBC's headquarters Broadcasting House, the Chinese and Polish embassies, the Royal Insti ...

, was sworn a Justice of the Peace for

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

. He took an active role in civic affairs in London, and was for some time Director of the Poor for his parish of

St Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also ) is an area in London, England, and is located in the City of Westminster. It is in Central London and part of the West End. Oxford Street forms its southern boundary. An ancient parish and latterly a metropoli ...

. This included a particular interest in the care and treatment of the insane, culminating in his appointment in 1827 to the commission superintending the building of Hanwell Asylum and as a Metropolitan Commissioner in Lunacy in 1828. However, he was now approaching the end of his life and played little active role as a Lunatic Commissioner. In 1829, Seymour funded the building of the north transept and a vicarage for Taliaris Chapel.

Personal life

On 15 June 1773, Lord Robert was married to Anne Delmé, a daughter of Peter Delmé, MP for Ludgershall and Southampton. Before her death on 29 November 1804, they were the parents of five children:Mosley, Charles, editor. ''Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes.''

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington is the List of municipalities in Delaware, most populous city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish colonization of the Americas, Swedish settlement in North America. It lie ...

Burke's Peerage Burke's Peerage Limited is a British genealogical publisher, considered an authority on the order of precedence of noble families and information on the lesser nobility of the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1826, when the Anglo-Irish genea ...

(Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003. * Elizabeth Seymour (1775–1848), who married William Griffith Davies in 1805. After his death in 1814, she married Herbert Evans in 1817. * Henry Seymour (–1843), who married Hon. Emily Byng (d. 1824), daughter of

George Byng, 4th Viscount Torrington George Byng, 4th Viscount Torrington (11 October 1740 – 14 December 1812) was an English peer. Early life He was the eldest son and heir of Major-General George Byng, 3rd Viscount Torrington (1701–1750), by his wife Elizabeth Daniel. His ...

, in 1800. * Frances Isabella Seymour (d. 1838), who married George FitzRoy, 2nd Baron Southampton. * Anna Maria Seymour (b. 1781) * Gertrude Hussey Carpenter Seymour (1784–1825), who married John Hensleigh Allen in 1812. After the death of his first wife, Seymour married Hon. Anderlechtia Clarissa Chetwynd (d. 1855), daughter of

William Chetwynd, 4th Viscount Chetwynd William Chetwynd, 4th Viscount Chetwynd of Bearhaven (25 November 1721 – 12 November 1791) was a British Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1747 to 1754. Early life Chetwynd was born on 25 November 1721 and was baptised on 2 ...

, on 2 May 1806. They had no children. Lord Robert died on 23 November 1831.

References

Links

*
Extracts from Lord Robert's diary for 1788
{{DEFAULTSORT:Seymour, Robert, Lord 1748 births 1831 deaths 5th Dragoon Guards officers 8th King's Royal Irish Hussars officers Seymour Conway, Robert Seymour Conway, Robert Seymour Conway, Robert Seymour Conway, Robert British MPs 1796–1800 Carabiniers (6th Dragoon Guards) officers Grenadier Guards officers Robert Seymour Seymour Conway, Robert Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Carmarthenshire constituencies People educated at Eton College South Lancashire Regiment officers Tory MPs (pre-1834) UK MPs 1801–1802 UK MPs 1802–1806 UK MPs 1806–1807 UK MPs 1807–1812 UK MPs 1812–1818 UK MPs 1818–1820 Younger sons of marquesses Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Antrim constituencies Prothonotaries