George Coventry, 8th Earl of Coventry

George William Coventry, 8th Earl of Coventry (16 October 1784 – 15 May 1843), styled Viscount Deerhurst from 1809 to 1831, was a British peer and Tory Member of Parliament.

Coventry was the eldest son of George Coventry, 7th Earl of Coventry, and his wife Peggy (née Pitches), and was educated at Christ Church, Oxford. He was elected to the House of Commons as one of two representatives for Worcester in 1816, a seat he held until 1826. In 1831 he succeeded his father in the earldom and entered the House of Lords. In 1838 he served as Lord Lieutenant of Worcestershire.

Lord Coventry married firstly the Hon. Emma Susanna, daughter of William Lygon, 2nd Baron Beauchamp, subsequently created 1st Earl Beauchamp, in 1808. She died in 1810. At around the time of his marriage, he was also involved with Sophia Dubochet, a girl in her early teens with whom he eloped and whom he subsequently kept as a mistress while she was courted by Thomas Noel Hill, 2nd Baron Berwick, who married her in 1812. Her relationship with Coventry (then Viscount Deerhurst) is recorded in some detail by Sophia's sister, the noted courtesan Harriette Wilson.^[1]

Coventry married secondly Lady Mary, daughter of Aubrey Beauclerk, 6th Duke of St Albans, in 1811. He died in May 1843, aged 58. His son from his first marriage, George William Coventry, Viscount Deerhurst, had predeceased him and he was succeeded in his titles by his grandson George. Lady Coventry died on 11 September 1845, aged 54.

His granddaughter, Mary Augusta Henrietta Coventry (1841–1894), married John Turner Hopwood. His great-granddaughter, Geraldine Sarah Ponsonby (d. 29 November 1944), married Dermot Bourke, 7th Earl of Mayo.

Memorial to Viscount Deerhurst, eldest son of the 8th Earl of Coventry, in the church at Croome Court
Memorials to the 8th (1784–1843) and the 10th Earl of Coventry (1900–1940) in the church at Croome Court

Notes

^ Harriette Wilson's Memoirs; selected and edited by Lesley Blanch. London: Phoenix Press, 2003

References

Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990, ^{[page needed]}
Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages ^{[self-published source]} ^{[better source needed]}
Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs

External links

Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Earl of Coventry

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Abraham Robarts William Gordon	Member of Parliament for Worcester 1816–1826 With: William Gordon 1816–1818 Thomas Henry Hastings Davies 1818–1826	Succeeded by Thomas Henry Hastings Davies George Richard Robinson
Peerage of England
Preceded by George William Coventry	Earl of Coventry 1831–1843	Succeeded by George William Coventry

[memoirs-1] Harriette Wilson's Memoirs; selected and edited by Lesley Blanch. London: Phoenix Press, 2003

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