Sir George Anson

Lodged a counterclaim with Earl of Lichfield, Rt Hon Anne Margaret Viscountess Anson, Thomas William Coke of Holkham, Norfolk for the enslaved people on Lear's (Barbados claim no. 270), as trustees of the marriage settlement of Sir George Anson's sister Mary and Sir Francis Ford Bart. The original trustee must have been Sir George Anson's father, George Anson ne Adams or Sir George's brother Thomas 1st Viscount Anson.

2nd son of George Adams, afterwards Anson, of Shugborough and Mary, daughter of George Venables Vernon, 1st Baron Vernon. Brother of Thomas Anson, first Viscount Anson (1769–1818) (who preceded him as MP for Lichfield). His brother's sons included Major-General George Anson (13 October 1797 – 27 May 1857) who became Commander-in-Chief of the British army in India (1856) and who died of cholera during the Indian Mutiny/Rebellion in 1857. This nephew George Anson was also MP for Great Yarmouth (1818-1835), Stoke-upon-Trent (1836-1837), and Staffordshire South (1837-1853).

Educated at Eton (1779-1785). Married Frances, daughter of John William Hamilton - who was one of the 13 children (8 s., 5 d.) of Sir Robert Hamilton, 4th Bt. of Silvertonhill, Lanark.

Joined the Army in 1786; Brigadier-General by 1809, Major-General, 1810, Lt.-Gen. 1819, General 1837 (as well as other commissions). Had a distinguished career as an army officer during Napoleonic Wars.

Groom of the Bedchamber to the Duke of Kent, 1800, equerry, 1810-1820 (and later to the Duchess of Kent); ADC to the King, 1805; groom of the bedchamber to Prince Albert, 1840-41.

Was serving in Jamaica in the 1790s and stood unsuccessfully as MP for Great Yarmouth in 1795. (His family had an interest there.) Succeeded his brother as MP for Lichfield 1806. [See Political legacies for more details.]

Supporter of the Grenville ministry [1806-1807] and 'was listed as a staunch friend of the abolition of the slave trade'. From 1814 supported Catholic Relief; voted against suspension of habeas corpus and its consequences 1817-1818.

T71/895 Barbados claim no. 270 (Lewis [Lear's?] Plantation).

R. G. Thorne (ed.), The House of Commons, 1790-1820 (5 vols., London, Secker & Warburg for the History of Parliament Trust, 1986), vol. 3; D. R. Fisher (ed.), The House of Commons 1820-1832 (7 vols., Cambridge, Cambridge University Press for the History of Parliament Trust, 2009), vol. 5.

http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1790-1820/member/anson-george-1769-1849 [accessed 06/08/2012].