Family and Education

bap. 21 Apr. 1700, 1st surv. s. of Adm. Charles Cornwall. unm. suc. fa. 1718.

Offices Held

Cornet 2 Drag. Gds. ?1715, lt. 1717, res. ?1718; sheriff, Rad. 1738; grand master of freemasons, western shires of England 1753.

Biography

Cornwall entered the army but appears not to have risen above the rank of lieutenant, probably resigning when he succeeded to the family estates in 1718. Soon afterwards, on the strength of an alleged promise by George I to make his father a baronet, he assumed the style of ‘Sir Robert de Cornwall, Bt.’.1 Both the ‘de’ and the baronetcy were dropped by his successors. After contesting Leominster unsuccessfully in 1734 and 1742, he was returned for it in 1747, classed as Opposition. He stood unsuccessfully for Bishop’s Castle in 1754, dying 11 Apr. 1756.

Ref Volumes: 1715-1754

Author: A. N. Newman

Notes

• 1. GEC Baronetage, Index and Appendix, 70-72.