George Carpenter, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell

The Right Honourable The Earl of Tyrconnell
Personal details
Born	26 August 1723 Herefordshire, England
Died	9 March 1762 (aged 38)
Nationality	British
Spouse(s)	Lady Frances Clifton

George Carpenter, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell (26 August 1723 – 9 March 1762), known as The Lord Carpenter between 1749 and 1761, was a British peer and politician.

Background

Carpenter was the only surviving son of George Carpenter, 2nd Baron Carpenter by Elizabeth (née Petty), of Ocle Pychard, Herefordshire, England.^[1][2][3]

This nobleman married in March 1747/1748, Frances, the only daughter and heiress of Sir Robert Clifton, 5th Baronet, of Clifton, county of Nottingham, England and heiress of her mother, Lady Frances Coote, only daughter of Nanfan Coote, 2nd Earl of Bellamont.^[2] They had six children;

• George Carpenter, later 2nd Earl, (1750 – 1805)
• Hon. Frances Carpenter, (1751 – 1751/1752) who died as an infant
• Lady Almeria Carpenter (abt 1745 – 1809), relationship with William Henry von Hannover, duke of Gloucester and they had Louisa Maria La Coast Carpenter (1762 – 1835) who married Godfrey Macdonald, 3rd Baron Macdonald of Slate.
• Hon. Elizabeth Carpenter (1753 – 1753) who died as an infant
• Hon. Charles Carpenter (1757 – 1803), a naval officer and MP for Berwick-upon-Tweed, whose son George succeeded as 3rd Earl of Tyrconnell.
• Lady Caroline Carpenter (abt 1759 – 1826) married Uvedale Price, of Foxley.

Career

Lord Carpenter sat as Member of Parliament for Taunton between 1754 and 1762.^[4] He was created Viscount Carlingford, in the County of Louth, and Earl of Tyrconnell, in the Province of Ulster, in the Peerage of Ireland on 29 May 1761. This line became extinct in 1853.^[5][6]

Coat of arms

Lord Carpenter's Arms appear to be of French or Norman heritage, "Paly of six, argent and gules, on a chevron azure, 3 cross crosslets or." Crest, on a wreath a globe in a frame all or. Supporters, two horses, party-perfess, embattled argent and gules. Motto: "Per Acuta Belli" (Through the Asperities of War). These arms descend from John Carpenter, the younger (abt. 1372 – 1442) who was the noted Town Clerk of London during the reigns of King Henry V & King Henry VI.^[7]

These Arms are often referred to as the Hereford Arms, named for the later ancestral home of the Carpenter Family in Hereford, England. The Crest, supporters & motto apparently has changed several times over the centuries.^[8]

Sample of a medieval knight with an early Carpenter Coat of Arms on shield.

Sir William Boyd Carpenter (1841–1918), an English clergyman of the Established church of England, Bishop of Ripon, afterwards a Canon of Westminster and Chaplain to the reigning sovereign of England, wrote in a letter dated 7 August 1907 that his family bore the Hereford Arms. Sir Noel Paton, upon painting the Family Arms, informed him that the supporters were originally a round-handled sword, which in drawing over time became shortened, until nothing but the cross and globe were left beneath it. Those Hereford Arms were used by "John Carpenter, town clerk of London, who died 1442 A. D."^[8] His grandson John Boyd-Carpenter, Baron Boyd-Carpenter (1908–1998), continued the Arms into the new century by passing it down to his son, Thomas Boyd-Carpenter, who was himself knighted after a military career as a Lieutenant-General and for public service.^[8] There is no direct male to male Carpenter descent connecting Lord Carpenter and Sir William Boyd Carpenter. The family connection is by marriage through the females in the family.^[2]

The Hereford Coat of Arms described above should not be confused with the Arms of Bishop Richard Carpenter (c1450s?–1503) presented in the "Visitations of the County of Oxford taken in 1566, 1574, and 1634, published in 1871, which describe the arms displayed in the buildings at the University in Oxford - "In the Lyberarye of Baliall College." - as recorded by the officials performing the visitations in those years. The Visitations describe the arms of Richard Carpenter (theologian) as: "Paly of nine Gu. and Az. on a chevron Arg. surmounted by a mitre Or, three cross crosslets of—nine pales alternating red and blue, with a silver chevron bearing three gold cross-crosslets.^[9]

References

1. "The Life of Lord George Carpenter", published 1736 in London.
2. Carpenter, John R. Carpenters' Encyclopedia of Carpenters 2009 (DVD format). George the 3rd is RIN 11687.
3. Carpenter, Amos B. A Genealogical History of the Rehoboth Branch of the Carpenter Family in America, a.k.a. "The Carpenter Memorial", Press of Carpenter & Morehouse, Amherst, Mass., 1898), reprinted and duplicated by many organizations in print, CD, and DVD formats. See page 829.
   • Note: This 900-plus page tome was remarkable for its day, but many corrections has been made in the genealogies it contains over the last century. The best compiled corrections to this work and related lines is in the "Carpenters' Encyclopedia of Carpenters 2009", data DVD format.
4. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "T" (part 1)
5. Burke, Bernard, Sir, A Genealogical History of the Dormant, Abeyant, Forfeited and Extinct Peerages of the British Empire"
6. Lynch, William, Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, "A View of the Legal Institutions, Honorary Hereditary Offices, and Feudal Baronies established in Ireland" , published by Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green, Paternoster Row, London, 1830.
7. Historical Manuscripts Commission, UK National Register of Archives, George Carpenter (1657–1732) 1st Baron Carpenter Lieutenant General, HMC.gov.uk
8. Utah Genealogical and Historical Magazine; vol. 16, Number 2, April 1925, Page 60–70, article by J. Hatton Carpenter "The Carpenter Family of England and the United States."
9. Visitations of the County of Oxford taken in 1566, 1574, and 1634, published in 1871.