George Damer, 2nd Earl of Dorchester

The Right Honourable The Earl of Dorchester PC, PC (Ire)
Chief Secretary for Ireland
In office 1794–1795
Monarch	George III
Prime Minister	Hon. William Pitt the Younger
Preceded by	Sylvester Douglas
Succeeded by	Hon. Thomas Pelham
Personal details
Born	(1746-03-28)28 March 1746
Died	7 March 1808(1808-03-07) (aged 61) Park Lane, London
Nationality	British
Spouse(s)	Unmarried
Alma mater	Trinity College, Cambridge

George Damer, 2nd Earl of Dorchester PC, PC (Ire) (28 March 1746 – 7 March 1808), styled Viscount Milton between 1792 and 1798, was a British politician. He served as Chief Secretary for Ireland between 1794 and 1795.

Background

Dorchester was the second son of Joseph Damer, 1st Earl of Dorchester. He was educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he took his MA in 1767.^[1][2]

Political career

Lord Dorchester sat as Member of Parliament for Cricklade between 1768 and 1774,^[3] for Anstruther Burghs between 1778 and 1780,^[4] for Dorchester between 1780 and 1790^[5] and for Malton between 1792 and 1798.^[6] He also represented Naas in the Irish House of Commons between 1795 and 1798^[7] and served under William Pitt the Younger as Chief Secretary for Ireland between 1794 and 1795. He was sworn of the English Privy Council in 1794^[8] and of the Irish Privy Council in 1795.^[9] He succeeded his father in the earldom on 12 January 1798 and entered the House of Lords. On 25 June 1798, he was appointed colonel of the Dorset Militia in succession to Lord Rivers,^[10] but resigned in late 1799.^[11] Lord Dorchester was also Lord Lieutenant of Dorset, and colonel of the Dorsetshire Yeomanry Cavalry, from 1803 to 1808.^[12]

Personal life

Lord Dorchester was a great favourite of the Royal family who always stayed with him at his estate in Weymouth.^[13] He died unmarried in Park Lane, London,^[14] in March 1808, aged 61, when his titles became extinct. His estates were inherited by his sister Lady Caroline Damer, and on her death in 1828 by their Dawson cousins, who assumed the additional name of Damer. John Dawson-Damer, 2nd Earl of Portarlington, inherited the large but encumbered Irish properties, and his younger brothers Henry and George Dawson-Damer received respectively the estates of Milton Abbey and Came.^[15]

References