William Godolphin, Marquess of Blandford
William Godolphin, Marquess of Blandford (1700 – 24 August 1731) was an English nobleman.
He was born the eldest son of The Hon. Francis Godolphin and his wife Lady Henrietta Godolphin, née Churchill. His grandparents were the Lord and Lady Godolphin and the Earl and Countess of Marlborough.
In 1712 his father succeeded as 2nd Earl of Godolphin (Lord Godolphin had been promoted in 1706). As heir-apparent to the earldom, William assumed the courtesy title Viscount Rialton. He was educated at Pembroke College, Cambridge.[1]
On 9 June 1720, Hugh Boscawen, the Member of Parliament for Penryn, was raised to the House of Lords as Viscount Falmouth. Lord Rialton was elected to the House of Commons in his place on 24 June 1720, sitting as a Whig. He was related to Lord Falmouth on both his father's and his mother's side, as Falmouth was a grandson of Sir Francis Godolphin and had married Charlotte Godfrey, daughter of Arabella Churchill. Rialton represented Penryn for the remainder of the Parliament and was not re-elected in the general election of 1722.
On 16 June 1722 Lord Rialton's maternal grandfather the Duke of Marlborough died, and was succeeded by his daughter Henrietta under a special Act of Parliament. William Godolphin was now heir-apparent to his mother's dukedom as well as his father's earldom, and adopted the higher courtesy title of Marquess of Blandford. He returned to Parliament at the general election of 1727, being elected for Woodstock on 21 August.
On 25 April 1729 Lord Blandford married Maria Catherina de Jong, the daughter of Peter de Jong, a Mayor of Utrecht. Lady Blandford's sister Isabella was wife of the Earl of Denbigh. On 30 August 1730 he was made an honorary Doctor of Civil Laws by the University of Oxford.
Lord Blandford died at Oxford of apoplexy on 24 August 1731. Lord Egmont noted in his diary that this was probably brought on by a drinking bout. As he had no children and no surviving brother, the heir to the Dukedom of Marlborough was now his first cousin the Earl of Sunderland. Lord Sunderland's brother John Spencer was elected to Parliament in Blandford's place on 22 January 1732. The Earldom of Godolphin now had no heir, but Lord Godolphin was granted a barony in 1735 that would allow more distant members of the Godolphin family to succeed.
Lady Blandford remarried on 1 June 1734, Harlington, Middlesex, the Tory MP Sir William Wyndham, as his second wife. She was widowed again on 17 June 1740 and died at Sheen on 7 September 1779.
References
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- http://www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk/online/content/Godolphin1706.htm
- http://www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk/online/content/Marlborough1702.htm
- http://www.angelfire.com/realm/gotha/gotha/marlborough.html
- http://www.leighrayment.com/commons/Pcommons1.htm
- http://www.leighrayment.com/commons/Wcommons5.htm
- http://thepeerage.com/p10561.htm#i105603
| Parliament of Great Britain | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament for Penryn 1720–1722 With: Samuel Trefusis |
Succeeded by Sidney Meadows Edward Vernon |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament for Woodstock 1727–1731 With: Samuel Trotman |
Succeeded by Samuel Trotman Hon. John Spencer |
- 1700 births
- 1731 deaths
- British courtesy marquesses
- Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge
- Heirs apparent who never acceded
- Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for constituencies in Cornwall
- Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies
- British MPs 1715–22
- British MPs 1727–34
- Whig (British political party) MPs
- Godolphin family
