Sewallis Shirley (19 October 1709 – 31 October 1765) was a British Member of Parliament in the latter part of the reign of George II. His marriage to the Dowager Countess of Orford ended in divorce after three years, and Shirley spent the last few years of his life as an officer of

Queen Charlotte Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (Sophia Charlotte; 19 May 1744 – 17 November 1818) was Queen of Great Britain and Ireland as the wife of King George III from their marriage on 8 September 1761 until her death in 1818. The Acts of Un ...

's household.

Personal life

He was born the fourteenth son of

Robert Shirley, 1st Earl Ferrers Robert Shirley, 1st Earl Ferrers PC (20 October 1650 – 25 December 1717)—known as Sir Robert Shirley, 7th Baronet, from 1669 to 1677 and Robert Shirley, 14th Baron Ferrers of Chartley, from 1677 to 1711—was an English peer and courtier. ...

(and fourth son by his second wife, Selina).

Robert Shirley Sir Robert Shirley (or Sherley; c. 1581 – 13 July 1628) was an English traveller and adventurer, younger brother of Sir Anthony Shirley and Sir Thomas Shirley. He is notable for his help modernising and improving the Persian Safavid ...

, MP was his brother. Shirley was a noted

rake Rake may refer to: Common meanings * Rake (tool), a horticultural implement, a long-handled tool with tines * Rake (stock character), a man habituated to immoral conduct * Rake (poker), the commission taken by the house when hosting a poker game ...

, including amongst his lovers the notorious Lady Vane. In 1746, he began cohabiting with his mistress, Margaret, Countess of Orford, whom he married on 25 May 1751, shortly after the death of her long-estranged husband, the 2nd Earl of Orford. After three years of close attachment, they separated in June 1754. Margaret had taken care to legally protect her own estates and

jointure Jointure was a legal concept used largely in late mediaeval and early modern Britain, denoting the estate given to a married couple by the husband's family. One of its most important functions was providing a livelihood for the wife if she became ...

, so that Shirley could have no claims on her property. Shirley's persistent and aggressive demands for money ensured that the rupture would be permanent, although she ultimately settled £750 per year on him to extinguish his claims. An attempt by

Sir Horace Mann Sir Horatio (Horace) Mann, 2nd Baronet (2 February 1744 – 2 April 1814) was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1774 and 1807. He is remembered as a member of the Hambledon Club in Hampshire and a patron of Kent cricke ...

to bring about a reconciliation between them in 1758 was unsuccessful. They had no children.

Politics

Shirley entered Parliament in 1742 at

Brackley Brackley is a market town and civil parish in the West Northamptonshire unitary authority area of Northamptonshire, England. It is on the borders with Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, east-southeast of Banbury, north-northeast of Oxford, and ...

, on the interest of the 1st Duke of Bridgewater, who had withdrawn his support from George Lee after the latter accepted office in the Carteret Ministry. He followed his patron in backing the opposition under

Robert Walpole Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford (; 26 August 1676 – 18 March 1745), known between 1725 and 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole, was a British Whigs (British political party), Whig statesman who is generally regarded as the ''de facto'' first Prim ...

. After the death of Bridgewater in 1744 and the transfer of the Brackley interest to Sir Richard Lyttelton, who married Bridgewater's widow in 1745, Shirley conformed with Lyttelton's politics to support

Henry Pelham Henry Pelham (25 September 1694 – 6 March 1754) was a British Whig statesman who served as Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1743 until his death in 1754. He was the younger brother of Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle, who serv ...

's ministry. From 5 July to 14 November 1746, he was

Chief Secretary for Ireland The Chief Secretary for Ireland was a key political office in the British Dublin Castle administration, administration in Ireland. Nominally subordinate to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Lord Lieutenant, and officially the "Chief Secretar ...

under Lord Chesterfield, then

Lord Lieutenant A lord-lieutenant ( ) is the British monarch's personal representative in each lieutenancy area of the United Kingdom. Historically, each lieutenant was responsible for organising the county's militia. In 1871, the lieutenant's responsibility ov ...

. At the election of 1754, he was returned for Callington on his wife's interest, and was identified as a

Tory A Tory () is an individual who supports a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalist conservatism which upholds the established social order as it has evolved through the history of Great Britain. The To ...

. By the 1761 election, the two were separated, and Margaret put up one of her agents, Richard Stevens, in Shirley's place; he did not again sit in Parliament. In 1762, he was appointed comptroller of the household to

, a post which he filled until his death in 1765.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shirley, Sewallis 1709 births 1765 deaths British MPs 1741–1747 British MPs 1747–1754 British MPs 1754–1761 Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies Younger sons of earls Chief secretaries for Ireland Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Callington