Simon Harcourt, 1st Earl Harcourt

Simon Harcourt, 1st Earl Harcourt, of Stanton Harcourt, Oxfordshire, PC FRS (1714 – 16 September 1777), known as 2nd Viscount Harcourt, of Stanton Harcourt, Oxfordshire, between 1727 and 1749, was a British diplomat and general who became Viceroy of Ireland.

Life and work

Simon Harcourt, 1st Earl Harcourt, was educated at Westminster School. He succeeded his grandfather Simon Harcourt, 1st Viscount Harcourt in 1727. In 1745, having raised a regiment for service during the Jacobite Rebellion, the 76th Foot (Lord Harcourts Regiment), he received a commission as a Colonel in the army, The regiment was disbanded on 10 June 1746.

In 1749 he was created Earl Harcourt of Stanton Harcourt. He was appointed governor to the prince of Wales, afterwards George III, in 1751; and after the accession of the latter to the throne, in 1761, he was appointed as special ambassador to Mecklenburg-Strelitz, to negotiate a marriage between King George and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (Princess Charlotte), whom he conducted to England.

Simon Harcourt

Simon Harcourt may refer to:

Simon Harcourt (1653–1724)

Simon Harcourt (1653–1724), of the Middle Temple and Pendley, Hertfordshire, was an English politician.

Family

Harcourt was the son of Rev. Vere Harcourt and Lucy née Thornton. He married Elizabeth née Anderson, then Elizabeth née Cannon, then Elizabeth née Morse and finally Mary née Harcourt.

Career

He was a Member (MP) of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Great Britain for Aylesbury 21 December 1702 – 1705 and 1710–1715.

References

Simon Harcourt (soldier)

Sir Simon Harcourt (1603–1642) was an English soldier of fortune, and wartime governor of the city of Dublin.

Life

Harcourt was the eldest son of Robert Harcourt and Frances, daughter of Geoffrey Vere, third son of John de Vere, 15th Earl of Oxford. Succeeding to a somewhat embarrassed estate, he sought a military career abroad. At the age of sixteen he served under his uncle, Sir Horace Vere, against the Spanish forces in the Low Countries, and was knighted at Whitehall Palace on 26 June 1627. The greater part of his life was spent in Holland in the service of the Prince of Orange. He was also in favour with Elizabeth of Bohemia, who commended him to Archbishop Laud, when business of a domestic nature (connected probably with the recovery of Stanton Harcourt obliged him to repair to England in 1636. Though holding a commission as sergeant-major from the Prince of Orange, he took an active part in the Bishops' Wars against Scotland in 1639-40, as commander of a regiment of foot. A diary kept by him during this campaign still exists.

Earl Harcourt

Earl Harcourt, of Stanton Harcourt in the County of Oxford, was a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1749 for Simon Harcourt, 2nd Viscount Harcourt. He was made Viscount Nuneham at the same time, also in the Peerage of Great Britain. Harcourt was the son of the Honourable Simon Harcourt and the grandson of Simon Harcourt, Lord Chancellor of Great Britain, who had been created Baron Harcourt, of Stanton Harcourt in the County of Oxford, in 1711, and Viscount Harcourt, of Stanton Harcourt in the County of Oxford, in 1721. Both these titles were also in the Peerage of Great Britain. Two of the first Earl's sons, George, the second Earl, and William, the third Earl, both succeeded in the titles. The peerages became extinct on the latter's death in 1830.

The viscountcy was revived in 1917 in favour of Lewis Vernon Harcourt. He was a descendant of the Right Reverend Edward Venables-Vernon-Harcourt, the son of George Venables-Vernon, 1st Baron Vernon, by his third wife Martha Harcourt, daughter of the aforementioned Simon Harcourt, son of Simon Harcourt, 1st Viscount Harcourt. See Viscount Harcourt for further history of this branch of the family.