John Petty, 1st Earl of Shelburne

John Petty, 1st Earl of Shelburne PC (Ire) (1706 14 May 1761), known as John FitzMaurice until 1751 and as The Viscount FitzMaurice between 1751 and 1753, was an Anglo-Irish peer and politician. He was the father of William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne, Prime Minister of Great Britain.

Background and education

Born John FitzMaurice, Lord Shelburne was the second son of Thomas FitzMaurice, 1st Earl of Kerry, and Anne, daughter of Sir William Petty. He was the younger brother of William FitzMaurice, 2nd Earl of Kerry, and the nephew of Charles Petty, 1st Baron Shelburne and Henry Petty, 1st Earl of Shelburne. He was educated at Westminster School and was called to the Bar, Middle Temple, in 1727.[1]

Political career

FitzMaurice was High Sheriff of Kerry in 1732.[1] In 1743 he entered the Irish House of Commons as one of two representatives for County Kerry, a seat he held until 1751.[1][2] The latter year he succeeded to the estates of his uncle the Earl of Shelburne (who had died childless) and assumed by Act of Parliament the surname of Petty in lieu of his patronymic.[3] Later the same year he was raised to the Peerage of Ireland as Baron Dunkeron and Viscount FitzMaurice. Two years later the earldom of Shelburne was revived in his favour when he was made Earl of Shelburne, in the County of Wexford, in the Irish peerage. He was Governor of County Kerry in 1754[1] and the same year he was returned to the British House of Commons for Wycombe, a seat he held until 1760.[4] He was sworn of the Irish Privy Council in 1754[1][5] and in 1760 he was created Lord Wycombe, Baron of Chipping Wycombe, in the County of Buckingham, in the Peerage of Great Britain, which entitled him to a seat in the English House of Lords.[6]

Family

Lord Shelburne married his first cousin, Mary, daughter of the Hon. William FitzMaurice, in 1734. Their younger son the Hon. Thomas FitzMaurice married Mary O'Brien, later suo jure Countess of Orkney. Lord Shelburne died in May 1761 and was buried in Bowood, Wiltshire. He was succeeded in the earldom by his eldest son, William, who became Prime Minister of Great Britain and was created Marquess of Lansdowne in 1784. The Countess of Shelburne died in 1780.[1]

References

Parliament of Ireland
Preceded by
Sir Maurice Crosbie
Arthur Denny
Member of Parliament for County Kerry
17431751
With: Sir Maurice Crosbie
Succeeded by
Sir Maurice Crosbie
John Blennerhassett
Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by
Edmund Waller
Edmund Waller
Member of Parliament for Wycombe
17541760
With: John Waller 17541757
Edmund Waller 17571760
Succeeded by
Edmund Waller
Viscount FitzMaurice
Peerage of Ireland
New creation Earl of Shelburne
1753–1761
Succeeded by
William Petty
Viscount FitzMaurice
1751–1761
Peerage of Great Britain
New creation Baron Wycombe
1760–1761
Succeeded by
William Petty
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