Family and Education

b. ?1707, 2nd s. of William Courtenay, M.P., of Tremeer by Susanna, da. of John Kelland, wid. of Moses Gould of Hayes, and h. to her nephew John Kelland of Painsford. educ. Oriel, Oxf. 10 June 1724, aged 16; I. Temple 1722. m. 1 Sept. 1737, Elizabeth, da. of Edward Richard Montagu, Visct. Hinchingbrooke, 1s. 2da. suc. bro. William 1719.

Offices Held

Biography

Courtenay, whose father and grandfather had represented Mitchell, where his family had a ‘good natural interest’, came in for Truro in 1734 ‘by compromise with Lord Falmouth’.1 He voted with the Opposition on the Spanish convention in 1739 and the place bill in 1740, but did not stand in 1741. In 1747 he was brought in by his brother-in-law, Lord Sandwich, for Huntingdon vice Albert Nesbitt, who was brought in for Mitchell on Courtenay’s interest. He was described by Sandwich as a person ‘whose principles I can depend upon’, and was classed as a government supporter. Falling ill in the winter of that year,2 he died soon after (buried 8 Mar. 1748).

Ref Volumes: 1715-1754

Author: Eveline Cruickshanks

Notes

• 1. Thomas Pitt's survey of the Cornish boroughs c. Oct. 1740, Chatham mss.
• 2. Sandwich to Pelham, 23 May and 29 Dec. 1747, Newcastle (Clumber) mss.