James George Stopford, 3rd Earl of Courtown KP, PC (15 August 1765 – 15 June 1835), known as Viscount Stopford from 1770 to 1810, was an Anglo-Irish

Anglo-Irish

Anglo-Irish was a term used primarily in the 19th and early 20th centuries to identify a privileged social class in Ireland, whose members were the descendants and successors of the Protestant Ascendancy, mostly belonging to the Church of Ireland, which was the established church of Ireland until...

 peer

Peerage

The Peerage is a legal system of largely hereditary titles in the United Kingdom, which constitute the ranks of British nobility and is part of the British honours system...

 and Tory

Tory

Toryism is a traditionalist and conservative political philosophy which grew out of the Cavalier faction in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. It is a prominent ideology in the politics of the United Kingdom, but also features in parts of The Commonwealth, particularly in Canada...

 politician.

Courtown was the eldest son of James Stopford, 2nd Earl of Courtown

James Stopford, 2nd Earl of Courtown

James Stopford, 2nd Earl of Courtown KP, PC , known as Viscount Stopford from 1762 to 1770, was an Anglo-Irish peer and Tory politician....

, and his wife Mary (née Powys), and was educated at Eton

Eton College

Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....

. He served with the Coldstream Guards

Coldstream Guards

Her Majesty's Coldstream Regiment of Foot Guards, also known officially as the Coldstream Guards , is a regiment of the British Army, part of the Guards Division or Household Division....

 and achieved the rank of Captain. In 1790 he was elected to the House of Commons

British House of Commons

The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...

 for Great Bedwyn

Great Bedwyn (UK Parliament constituency)

Great Bedwyn was a parliamentary borough in Wiltshire, which elected two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons from 1295 until 1832, when the borough was abolished by the Great Reform Act.-1295–1640:-1640–1832:Notes...

, a seat he held until 1796 and again from 1806 to 1807, and also represented Lanark

Lanark Burghs (UK Parliament constituency)

Lanark Burghs was a district of burghs constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1708 to 1832, representing a seat for one Member of Parliament ....

 from 1796 to 1802, Dumfries

Dumfries Burghs (UK Parliament constituency)

Dumfries Burghs was a district of burghs constituency of the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1708 to 1801 and of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 until 1918...

 from 1803 to 1806 and Marlborough

Marlborough (UK Parliament constituency)

Marlborough was a parliamentary borough in Wiltshire, which elected two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons from 1295 until 1868, and then one member from 1868 until 1885, when the borough was abolished.e-1295-1640:-1640-1868:...

 from 1807 to 1810. In 1793 he succeeded his father as Treasurer of the Household

Treasurer of the Household

The position of Treasurer of the Household is theoretically held by a household official of the British monarch, under control of the Lord Steward's Department, but is, in fact, a political office held by one of the government's Deputy Chief Whips in the House of Commons...

 in the government of William Pitt the Younger

William Pitt the Younger

William Pitt the Younger was a British politician of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He became the youngest Prime Minister in 1783 at the age of 24 . He left office in 1801, but was Prime Minister again from 1804 until his death in 1806...

, a post he held until 1806 (from 1801 to 1804 under the premiership of Henry Addington), and again from 1807 to 1812 under the Duke of Portland

William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland

William Henry Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland, KG, PC was a British Whig and Tory statesman, Chancellor of the University of Oxford and Prime Minister. He was known before 1762 by the courtesy title Marquess of Titchfield. He held a title of every degree of British nobility—Duke,...

 and Spencer Perceval

Spencer Perceval

Spencer Perceval, KC was a British statesman and First Lord of the Treasury, making him de facto Prime Minister. He is the only British Prime Minister to have been assassinated...

.

Courtown succeeded his father in the earldom 1810 and held office in the House of Lords

House of Lords

The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....

 as Captain of the Honourable Band of Gentlemen Pensioners under the Earl of Liverpool between 1812 and 1827 and as Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard

Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard

The Captain of the Queen's Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard is a UK government post usually held by the Government Deputy Chief Whip in the House of Lords...

 under Sir Robert Peel

Robert Peel

Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet was a British Conservative statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 10 December 1834 to 8 April 1835, and again from 30 August 1841 to 29 June 1846...

 in 1835. He was admitted to the Privy Council in 1793 and made a Knight of the Order of St Patrick in 1821.

Lord Courtown married Lady Mary, daughter of Henry Scott, 3rd Duke of Buccleuch

Henry Scott, 3rd Duke of Buccleuch

Henry Scott, 3rd Duke of Buccleuch and 5th Duke of Queensberry KG KT FRSE was a Scottish nobleman and long-time friend of the notable Sir Walter Scott...

 and Lady Elizabeth Montagu, in 1791. They had five sons and one daughter. The two eldest sons died as infants. Their fifth and youngest son the Hon. Sir Montagu Stopford

Montagu Stopford (admiral)

Vice-Admiral Sir Montagu Stopford KCB was an officer in the Royal Navy.-Naval career:The fifth and youngest son of James Stopford, 3rd Earl of Courtown, he entered the Navy on 8 November 1810 and was commissioned as Lieutenant on 17 July 1819 and as Commander on 29 January 1822...

 (1798-1864) was a Vice-Admiral in the Royal Navy and the grandfather of General Sir Montagu George North Stopford

Montagu George North Stopford

General Sir Montagu George North Stopford GCB, KBE, DSO, MC , was a British Lieutenant General during the Second World War and Commander-in-Chief of the South East Asia Command from 1946 to 1947.-Early life:...

. Lady Courtown died in April 1823, aged 53. Lord Courtown survived her by twelve years and died in June 1835, aged 69. He was succeeded in the earldom by his third but eldest surviving son James

James Stopford, 4th Earl of Courtown

James Thomas Stopford, 4th Earl of Courtown , known as Viscount Stopford from 1810 to 1835, was an Anglo-Irish peer and Tory Member of Parliament....

.

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