George Paulet, 12th Marquess of Winchester

George Paulet, 12th Marquess of Winchester (7 June 1722 – 22 April 1800), known as George Paulet or Powlett until 1794, was an English courtier and nobleman.

George was the eighth and youngest son of Norton Powlett or Paulet (d. 1741), of Amport. Norton was the grandson of Lord Henry Paulet, of Amport, and the great-grandson of William Paulet, 4th Marquess of Winchester.^[1]

Paulet held a series of court posts. On 29 October 1750, he was appointed an Extra Gentleman Usher Daily Waiter to Frederick, Prince of Wales, and served until the Prince's death in 1751.^[2] From 1758 to 1772, he was a Gentleman Usher Quarterly Waiter to Frederick's widow, Augusta, Dowager Princess of Wales.^[3] In 1761, Paulet was appointed High Sheriff of Hampshire. On 7 January 1762, he married Martha Ingoldsby (d. 1796), by whom he had three children:^[1]

• Charles Paulet, 13th Marquess of Winchester (1764–1843)
• V-Adm. Lord Henry Paulet (1767–1832)
• Lady Urania Anne Paulet (c.1767 – 27 December 1843), married first on 17 March 1785 Henry de Burgh, 1st Marquess of Clanricarde (d. 1797), married second on 28 October 1799 Col. Peter Kington (d. 1807), and married third on 22 May 1813 V-Adm. Sir Joseph Sidney Yorke, having issue by the second marriage only

He was elected Member of Parliament for Winchester as a Tory in 1765, after his third cousin once removed, Lord Harry Powlett, succeeded as Duke of Bolton in July. At the time, his only surviving brother, William, a naval officer, was heir presumptive to the Duke's marquessate of Winchester, although the Duke had taken a second wife in April of that year. Later in 1765, Paulet was appointed Groom Porter to King George III on 23 December 1765, holding the office until it was abolished on 14 November 1782.^[4] By the time Paulet left Parliament in 1774, his brother had died and he had become heir presumptive to the Duke.

In 1793, Paulet was the first commissioner for the Lord-Lieutenancy of Hampshire, formerly held by the Duke of Bolton, and in the following year, succeeded as Marquess of Winchester upon the Duke's death (the dukedom becoming extinct). Appointed Vice-Admiral of Dorset and of Hampshire in 1797, he died in 1800 and was succeeded in the marquessate by his eldest son Charles.

References

1. Cracroft's Peerage.
2. "Household of Prince Frederick 1729-51". Institute for Historical Research. 2010-08-17.
3. "Household of Princess Augusta 1736-72". Institute for Historical Research. 2010-08-17.
4. Robert Bucholz (2010-08-17). "Database of Court Officers".