George Townshend, 3rd Marquess Townshend

The Marquess Townshend
The Most Honourable; The Marquess Townshend
Born	George Ferrars Townshend; 13 December 1778
Died	31 December 1855 (aged 77); Genoa, Kingdom of Sardinia
Spouse(s)	Sarah Dunn Gardner (m. 1807)
Parent(s)	George Townshend, 2nd Marquess Townshend; Charlotte Ellerker

George Ferrars Townshend, 3rd Marquess Townshend (13 December 1778 – 31 December 1855), known as Lord Ferrers of Chartley from 1782 to 1807 and as Earl of Leicester from 1807 to 1855, was a British peer.

Biography

Townshend was the eldest son of George Townshend, 2nd Marquess Townshend by his wife Charlotte Ellerker. His father, the eldest son of a marquess, was created Earl of Leicester and Baron Ferrers of Chartley in 1782 for services to the crown. Townshend therefore received the courtesy title of Lord Ferrers of Chartley at this time. When his father succeeded to the marquessate in 1807, Townshend gained the courtesy title of Earl of Leicester.

Lord Townshend, as he became after his father's death in 1811, was educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge.[1]

Marriage and scandal

Lord Leicester (as he was then known) married Sarah, daughter and heiress of William Dunn Gardner, in 1807. They had no children and Sarah left him only a year later, after accusing him both of being impotent and of having homosexual relations with his Italian Secretary.[2] She sued for annulment in the ecclesiastical courts, but very shortly afterwards, she eloped with another man. Thus, the marriage was never dissolved although she committed adultery by entering into a bigamous marriage. Following this scandal, Townshend was disinherited by his father for bringing disgrace to the family, and lived mainly abroad thereafter.

In 1809, shortly after abandoning her husband, Sarah went through a (legally invalid) ceremony of marriage with John Margetts, a brewer from St. Ives. The ceremony was held at Gretna Green. They had several children who bore their biological father's name until 1823. In that year, Sarah conveniently decided that the children should bear the surname of her legal husband, which they proceeded to do. The strictly legal position was that since Sarah's marriage had never been annulled, any children she bore would be deemed the progeny of her husband and ipso facto eligible to succeed him in his estates and titles. With this in mind, the eldest son John (20 July 1811 – 11 January 1903) was baptised with the surname Townshend and assumed the courtesy title of "Earl of Leicester". He was later to represent Bodmin in the House of Commons. In 1843, after the Act of Parliament declaring him illegitimate was passed, he assumed his mother's maiden surname of Dunn Gardner.

Alarmed at the pretensions of Sarah and her children, Townshend's younger brother Charles (who would inherit if Townshend had no legitimate sons) petitioned in May 1842 to have Sarah's children delegitimated. Townshend supported the petition, and all the children were duly declared illegitimate by Act of Parliament in 1842.[3] Sarah died on 11 September 1858.[4]

Later years

Townshend died in Genoa in December 1855, aged 77. His only brother Charles, the petitioner in the legitimacy case, had predeceased him and left no sons either. Therefore, the earldom of Leicester became extinct upon Townshend's death, while the baronies of Ferrers of Chartley and Compton fell into abeyance between his nephew and his younger sister. He was succeeded in the marquessate by his first cousin, John Townshend.

Titles and styles

The Hon George Townshend (13 December 1778 – 1784)
Lord Ferrers of Chartley (1784 – 14 September 1807)
Earl of Leicester (14 September 1807 – 27 July 1811)
The Most Hon The Marquess Townshend (27 July 1811 – 31 December 1855)

Notes

"Ferrars, Lord George (FRRS798G)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
Bryant, Chris (5 November 2015). Parliament - the Biography: Reform. ISBN 9780552779968.
Francois Velde (2007) "Genetically Challenged" Queen message from alt.talk.royalty, posted 30 May 2007. The message says in part:
"The Townshend peerage case was one where marquis Townshend (then called Lord Chartley) married Sarah Dunn Gardner in 1807; a year later she left her husband, sued in Ecclesiastical court to have the marriage annulled because of his impotence but dropped the suit and eloped with a brewer of St. Ives. Their children initially bore the brewer's name (Margetts) but from 1823 took the name Townshend, and one took the style of Earl of Leicester. The marquis took no steps to dissolve the marriage, and his brother had no means to dispute the legitimacy of the so-called Earl of Leicester, because no property depended on the title. As time went by and witnesses died off, it seemed the imposture might not be preventable. So the brother and heir presumptive petitioned the house of Lords for inquiry respecting the descent of these honours in May 1842. The next year the marquis himself also petitioned the House.

Ultimately a private bill was brought "to declare the illegitimacy of certain persons alleged or claiming to be children of the Most Honourable George Ferrars, Marquis Townshend". There was much debate (how could you bastardize the children of a valid and continuing marriage? Was the royal prerogative not infringed? What about ordinary courts?). In the end the bill received royal assent on July 12, 1843 entitled "An Act to declare that certain persons therein mentioned are not children of the Most Honourable George Ferrars, Marquis Townshend" (6 & 7 Vict c. 35) and declaring that "the said several children of the said Sarah Gardner, Marchioness Townshend, hereinbefore respectively mentioned, are not nor were, nor shall they or any of them, be taken to be or be deemed the lawful issue of the said George Ferrars Marquis Townshend" (According to Francois Velde, one child, being a minor and having no legal guardian, was exempted from the act's provisions). (Based on Frederick Clifford, A History of Private Bill Legislation, 1885, vol. 1 p. 443–450)."
Ibid.

References

Lee, Sidney, ed. (1899). "Townshend, George (1755-1811)" . Dictionary of National Biography. 57. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990.
Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages
Information on the Townshend family

External links

Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Marquess Townshend

Peerage of Great Britain
Preceded by George Townshend	Marquess Townshend 1811 – 1855	Succeeded by John Townshend
Preceded by George Townshend	Earl of Leicester 6th creation 1811 – 1855	Extinct
Peerage of England
Preceded by George Townshend	Baron Ferrers of Chartley Baron Compton 1811 – 1855	In abeyance

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[1] "Ferrars, Lord George (FRRS798G)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.

[2] Bryant, Chris (5 November 2015). Parliament - the Biography: Reform. ISBN 9780552779968.

[3] Francois Velde (2007) "Genetically Challenged" Queen message from alt.talk.royalty, posted 30 May 2007. The message says in part:
"The Townshend peerage case was one where marquis Townshend (then called Lord Chartley) married Sarah Dunn Gardner in 1807; a year later she left her husband, sued in Ecclesiastical court to have the marriage annulled because of his impotence but dropped the suit and eloped with a brewer of St. Ives. Their children initially bore the brewer's name (Margetts) but from 1823 took the name Townshend, and one took the style of Earl of Leicester. The marquis took no steps to dissolve the marriage, and his brother had no means to dispute the legitimacy of the so-called Earl of Leicester, because no property depended on the title. As time went by and witnesses died off, it seemed the imposture might not be preventable. So the brother and heir presumptive petitioned the house of Lords for inquiry respecting the descent of these honours in May 1842. The next year the marquis himself also petitioned the House.

Ultimately a private bill was brought "to declare the illegitimacy of certain persons alleged or claiming to be children of the Most Honourable George Ferrars, Marquis Townshend". There was much debate (how could you bastardize the children of a valid and continuing marriage? Was the royal prerogative not infringed? What about ordinary courts?). In the end the bill received royal assent on July 12, 1843 entitled "An Act to declare that certain persons therein mentioned are not children of the Most Honourable George Ferrars, Marquis Townshend" (6 & 7 Vict c. 35) and declaring that "the said several children of the said Sarah Gardner, Marchioness Townshend, hereinbefore respectively mentioned, are not nor were, nor shall they or any of them, be taken to be or be deemed the lawful issue of the said George Ferrars Marquis Townshend" (According to Francois Velde, one child, being a minor and having no legal guardian, was exempted from the act's provisions). (Based on Frederick Clifford, A History of Private Bill Legislation, 1885, vol. 1 p. 443–450)."

[4] Ibid.