George Harcourt, 2nd Earl Harcourt

George, 2nd Earl Harcourt, with his wife Elizabeth and brother William, group portrait by Joshua Reynolds

George Simon Harcourt, 2nd Earl Harcourt (1736–1809) was an English politician, patron of the arts, and gardener.^[1]

Life

His parents were Simon Harcourt, 1st Earl Harcourt, who died in 1777 until which time George was known as Viscount Nuneham, and his wife Rebecca.^[2] He spent two years at Westminster School,^[1] and had art lessons from Alexander Cozens and other masters.^[3]

In 1754 Harcourt travelled in Germany and Italy with George Bussy Villiers, and William Whitehead as tutor to Villiers. His Grand Tour continued to 1756.^[4][1] Whitehead later wrote poems about both family estates, Middleton Park and Nuneham Courtney.^[5]

Harcourt was elected to parliament for St Albans in 1761, remaining a member until 1767. He was not recorded as having spoken in the House.^[1] He was a supporter of John Wilkes, a friend of Catherine Macaulay, and an opponent of the war against the American colonies, having entered the House of Lords in 1777.^[6]

In 1772 Harcourt began to redesign the gardens at Nuneham Courtney, assisted by William Mason, moving on to the park in 1777. From 1779 Capability Brown was brought in to advise, on the park and gardens;^[7] and Paul Sandby, perhaps a contact made through Whitehead, on the interior of the house.^[6] As a patron Harcourt employed Thomas Pitt on a monument to his father,^[8] and set up a poetry prize on the Ancient Britons, won by George Richards.^[9]

Family

Harcourt married Elizabeth, daughter of George Venables-Vernon, 1st Baron Vernon, a cousin, in 1765.^[2]

Notes

1. "Harcourt, George Simon, Visct. Nuneham (1736–1809), History of Parliament Online". Retrieved 15 June 2015.
2. "Catalogue of papers of the Harcourt family, 1638–1910, Bodleian Library, University of Oxford". University of Oxford. Retrieved 15 June 2015.
3. Sloan, Kim. "Cozens, Alexander". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/6546. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
4. Scott, Rosemary. "Whitehead, William". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/29294. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
5. Clarissa Campbell Orr (2002). Queenship in Britain, 1660-1837: Royal Patronage, Court Culture, and Dynastic Politics. Manchester University Press. pp. 264 note 73. ISBN 978-0-7190-5769-4.
6. Clarissa Campbell Orr (2002). Queenship in Britain, 1660-1837: Royal Patronage, Court Culture, and Dynastic Politics. Manchester University Press. pp. 254–5. ISBN 978-0-7190-5769-4.
7. Jane Roberts (1997). Royal Landscape: The Gardens and Parks of Windsor. Yale University Press. p. 68. ISBN 978-0-300-07079-8.
8. Thorne, Roland. "Pitt, Thomas". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/22335. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
9. Mills, Rebecca. "Pitt, Thomas". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/23530. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)