Sir George Downing, 3rd Baronet (baptised 24 October 1685 – 10 June 1749) was a British landowner and initially

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 ...

, but later Whig politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

between 1710 and 1749. Through a donation in his will, he was the founder of

Downing College, Cambridge Downing College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge and currently has around 950 students. Founded in 1800, it was the only college to be added to the university between 1596 and 1869, and is often described as the oldest of ...

Biography

Downing was the only son of Sir George Downing, 2nd Baronet, and his wife, Lady Catharine Cecil, daughter of James Cecil, 3rd Earl of Salisbury. His

grandfather Grandparents, individually known as grandmother and grandfather, or Grandma and Grandpa, are the parents of a person's father or mother – paternal or maternal. Every sexually reproducing living organism who is not a genetic chimera has a m ...

, who was created a baronet in 1663, was the namesake of

Downing Street Downing Street is a gated street in City of Westminster, Westminster in London that houses the official residences and offices of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and the Chancellor of the Exchequer. In a cul-de-sac situated off Whiteh ...

. Lady Catharine died in 1688, and, as her husband was apparently considered an unsuitable parent, the young George was brought up in the family of his maternal aunt, Lady Mary Cecil Forester, the wife of

Sir William Forester ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as part o ...

of Dothill Park, in

Wellington, Shropshire Wellington is a market town and a civil parish in the borough of Telford and Wrekin, Shropshire, England. It is situated northwest of Telford and east of Shrewsbury, near the western terminus of the M54 motorway. The summit of The Wrekin lie ...

. In 1700, aged 15, "by procurement and persuasion of those in whose keeping he was", he married his 13-year-old cousin, Sir William's daughter, Mary, who ultimately died childless in 1734. Between his marriage and 1704 he travelled in Europe, mainly

Holland Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former provinces of the Netherlands, province on the western coast of the Netherland ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

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and

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. While George was away, Mary went against George's explicit demand that she should not accept a place at court, when she became a Maid of Honour to Queen Anne. On George's return, it was apparent that the marriage had broken down. The couple agreed a financial settlement only in 1715, whereupon Mary petitioned the House of Lords to have the marriage dissolved because of non-consummation. The petition was refused and they remained married. They jointly petitioned again in 1717, asking for a separation, which was granted. That made them legally independent, with no responsibility to one another. However, neither could remarry, and neither could have a legitimate heir. He was a Member of Parliament for the

pocket borough A rotten or pocket borough, also known as a nomination borough or proprietorial borough, was a parliamentary borough or constituency in England, Great Britain, or the United Kingdom before the Reform Act of 1832, which had a very small electo ...

Dunwich Dunwich () is a village and civil parish in Suffolk, England. It is in the Suffolk & Essex Coast & Heaths National Landscape around north-east of London, south of Southwold and north of Leiston, on the North Sea coast. In the Anglo-Saxon ...

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

in the parliaments of 1710 and 1713. He lost the 1715 election but, with the aid of a 99-year lease from

George I George I or 1 may refer to: People * Patriarch George I of Alexandria (fl. 621–631) * George I of Constantinople (d. 686) * George of Beltan (d. 790) * George I of Abkhazia (ruled 872/3–878/9) * George I of Georgia (d. 1027) * Yuri Dolgoruk ...

for the borough, regained the seat in 1722. He held the seat from that time until his death. He was an uninspiring politician, but remained loyal to the ministries of

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 ...

and subsequently

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 ...

. In 1732, as a result of his loyalty, he was created a

Knight Companion of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior British Armed Forces, military officers or senior Civil Service ...

. Downing succeeded to his father's baronetcy and estates in 1711. He built a grand family seat in

Gamlingay Gamlingay is a village and civil parish in the South Cambridgeshire district of Cambridgeshire, England, about west southwest of Cambridge. The 2011 census gives the village's population as 3,247 and the civil parish's as 3,568. In addition ...

Park in

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfor ...

Death and estate

Upon his own death, aged 63, in 1749, his title passed to his cousin, Sir Jacob Downing, 4th Baronet, with his will providing that if his line should die out, his fortune and Gamlingay estate should be used to found a college at

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

. Sir Jacob Downing died childless in 1764, but his widow, Margaret, Lady Downing, argued that George Downing's fortune should pass to her. This case was tied up in

litigation A lawsuit is a proceeding by one or more parties (the plaintiff or claimant) against one or more parties (the defendant) in a civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. ...

for decades at considerable expense before the courts finally ordered that the estate should be used to found a college at Cambridge, which occurred with the founding of

in 1800.John Burke, ''A genealogical and heraldic history of the commoners of Great Britain'', Vol. IV, p. 299
/ref> Lady Downing then had the Downing mansion demolished in 1776.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Downing, George, 3rd Baronet 1685 births 1749 deaths Downing baronets British MPs 1710–1713 British MPs 1713–1715 British MPs 1722–1727 British MPs 1727–1734 British MPs 1734–1741 British MPs 1741–1747 British MPs 1747–1754 Knights Companion of the Order of the Bath Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies People from South Cambridgeshire District Tory MPs (pre-1834) Whig members of the Parliament of Great Britain