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.

Early life

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]

Peerage

Lord Harry Powlett, the 6th Duke of Bolton and 11th Marquess of Winchester, was George's third cousin once removed. George's elder brother was heir presumptive to the title Marquess of Winchester. As George's brother predeceased him, upon the death of Lord Harry Powlett on 25 December 1794, George succeeded to the title as the 12th Marquess of Winchester.[1]

Career

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.

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.[1]

Personal life

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)
• Lord Henry Paulet (1767–1832), a Vice Admiral who saw service in the American War of Independence, the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars
• Lady Urania Anne Paulet (c.1767–1843), who married first on 17 March 1785 Henry de Burgh, 1st Marquess of Clanricarde (d. 1797). After his death, she married Col. Peter Kington (d. 1807) on 28 October 1799, with whom she had issue. After her second husband's death, she married V-Adm. Sir Joseph Sidney Yorke on 22 May 1813.

References

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