Lot Essay
John Carteret (1690-1763) was the eldest surviving son of George, 1st Baron Carteret, and his wife Lady Grace Granville, youngest daughter of John, 1st Earl of Bath. His mother was eventual co-heiress to the Bath estates on the death of her nephew William Henry Granville in 1711, last Earl of Bath of that family, at which point she was created Viscountess Carteret and Countess Granville with remainder to her son and his heirs.
On his coming of age in 1711 he took up his seat in the House of Lords and for the rest of his life was never far from the centre of public life. His early diplomatic career was marked by the instrumental role he played as ambassador to Sweden and later to the Congress of Brunswick in re-adjusting the turbulent politics of Northern Europe, bringing about a reconciliation between Sweden and Prussia which formed a prelude to peace between Sweden and Denmark. By 1721, after a time as Ambassador to the Court of France, he had moved to the political centre stage with his appointment as Secretary of State for the Southern Department in Sir Robert Walpole's Administration. He soon gained the trust of George I but with Walpole he was to be a rival for the rest of his career. Partly as a result of this rivalry he was nominated to be Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in 1724, a post which he filled for six years. On the death of George I in 1725, Carteret was admitted to the Privy Council of George II, but when he left Ireland in 1730 he refused to take office under Walpole and used his oratorial skills in the service of the opposition until Walpole's resignation in 1742. He was appointed Secretary of State in the succeeding administration. His support of Hanoverian policy on the continent however, made him deeply unpopular, and this, together with the rise of Henry Pelham as Prime Minister, led to his resignation. Nevertheless he still retained influence over the king and in 1749 was made a Knight of the Garter.
The Earl married first Isabel (d.1743), only daughter of Sir Robert Worsley, Bt. at Longleat in 1710. By this marriage he had four daughters, Grace, Louisa, Georgiana-Carolina and Frances, and a son Robert (born 1721), who succeeded him on his death in 1763. His second daughter, Louisa, married Thomas Thynne, second Viscount Weymouth, whose second son, Henry Frederick, succeeded to the Carteret estates after his uncle Robert died without an heir in 1776, and was created Baron Carteret with remainder to the younger sons of his eldest brother, Thomas, Marquess of Bath. On his death in 1826 the barony passed to his nephew Lord George Thynne. He married, secondly, after the death of his first wife, Lady Sophia Fermor, daughter of Thomas, Earl of Pomfret, by whom he had an only daughter Sophia, who later married William Petty, 2nd Earl Shelburne.
On his death in 1763, the Earl was buried at Westminster Abbey in General Monck's Vault in Henry VII Chapel. In this picture he is depicted together with his first wife and their children.
On his coming of age in 1711 he took up his seat in the House of Lords and for the rest of his life was never far from the centre of public life. His early diplomatic career was marked by the instrumental role he played as ambassador to Sweden and later to the Congress of Brunswick in re-adjusting the turbulent politics of Northern Europe, bringing about a reconciliation between Sweden and Prussia which formed a prelude to peace between Sweden and Denmark. By 1721, after a time as Ambassador to the Court of France, he had moved to the political centre stage with his appointment as Secretary of State for the Southern Department in Sir Robert Walpole's Administration. He soon gained the trust of George I but with Walpole he was to be a rival for the rest of his career. Partly as a result of this rivalry he was nominated to be Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in 1724, a post which he filled for six years. On the death of George I in 1725, Carteret was admitted to the Privy Council of George II, but when he left Ireland in 1730 he refused to take office under Walpole and used his oratorial skills in the service of the opposition until Walpole's resignation in 1742. He was appointed Secretary of State in the succeeding administration. His support of Hanoverian policy on the continent however, made him deeply unpopular, and this, together with the rise of Henry Pelham as Prime Minister, led to his resignation. Nevertheless he still retained influence over the king and in 1749 was made a Knight of the Garter.
The Earl married first Isabel (d.1743), only daughter of Sir Robert Worsley, Bt. at Longleat in 1710. By this marriage he had four daughters, Grace, Louisa, Georgiana-Carolina and Frances, and a son Robert (born 1721), who succeeded him on his death in 1763. His second daughter, Louisa, married Thomas Thynne, second Viscount Weymouth, whose second son, Henry Frederick, succeeded to the Carteret estates after his uncle Robert died without an heir in 1776, and was created Baron Carteret with remainder to the younger sons of his eldest brother, Thomas, Marquess of Bath. On his death in 1826 the barony passed to his nephew Lord George Thynne. He married, secondly, after the death of his first wife, Lady Sophia Fermor, daughter of Thomas, Earl of Pomfret, by whom he had an only daughter Sophia, who later married William Petty, 2nd Earl Shelburne.
On his death in 1763, the Earl was buried at Westminster Abbey in General Monck's Vault in Henry VII Chapel. In this picture he is depicted together with his first wife and their children.