Family and Education

b. 1739, 3rd but 2nd surv. s. and event. h. of Richard Gorges, MP [I], of Kilbrew by Elizabeth, da. of John Fielding. m. (1) 6 Apr. 1768, Anne, da. and coh. of Gorges Edmond Howard, 2s. 4da.; (2) June 1793, Mary, da. of Conway Spencer of Dominic Street, Dublin, s.p. suc. bro. Richard 1765; fa. 1778.

Offices Held

MP [I] 1792-1800.

Sheriff, co. Meath 1770-1.

Biography

Gorges was returned for the county in succession to his cousin Lowther Gorges in 1792 and supported opposition. Though the grandson of Lady Beresford and father-in-law of Edward Cooke, under-secretary at the Castle, who married his eldest daughter in 1791 with a portion of nearly £10,000, Gorges could not be brought to support the Union: and this despite lucrative offers to relieve his financial embarrassment—money, the collectorship of the port of Dublin for his second son John and the revival of a family peerage.

The Castle were uncertain of his intentions at Westminster but he appears to have given a silent support to government, except on 7 May 1802 when he was reported to have been swayed by John Foster’s anti-Union speech into joining the minority. He died in Dublin 14 June 1802, a fortnight before the close of the session. Much of his estate had to be sold to pay his debts.

Add. 34439, f. 40; 35713, f. 92; R. Gorges, Story of a Fam. through Eleven Cents. 256; J. Barrington, Hist. Anecs. of Legislative Union, ii. 372; Gent. Mag. (1802), ii. 787.

Ref Volumes: 1790-1820

Author: Arthur Aspinall

Notes