George Carpenter, 3rd Earl of Tyrconnell

George Carpenter, 3rd Earl of Tyrconnell (1788 – 20 December 1812), known as George Carpenter until 1805, was a British peer and soldier who died fighting the French forces led by Napoleon Bonaparte at Wilna (Vilnius), in then Russian Empire.

Background Carpenter was the eldest son of the Honourable Charles Carpenter (3 January 1757 – 5 September 1803), a naval officer and MP for Berwick-upon-Tweed, and Elizabeth, the only daughter of Thomas Mackenzie. He inherited his earldom from his uncle, George Carpenter, 2nd Earl of Tyrconnell, who died on 15 April 1805. He was educated at St John's College, Cambridge.

Career Lord Tyrconnell became an officer for the British Crown. He volunteered in the summer of 1812 to serve as an officer under Alexander I of Russia, and served under Admiral Pavel Vasilyevich Chichagov. While opposing the French forces of Napoleon he died of disease as "his zeal and desire to see every transaction of that army led him to expose himself to cold and fatigue beyond his strength." Upon his death his brother John became the 4th Earl of Tyrconnell.

Coat of arms Lord Tyrconnell's Arms appear to be of French or Norman heritage, "Paly of six, argent and gules, on a chevron azure, 3 cross crosslets or." Crest, on a wreath a globe in a frame all or. Supporters, two horses, party-perfess, embattled argent and gules. Motto: "Per Acuta Belli" (Through the Asperities of War). These arms descend from John Carpenter, the younger (abt. 1372 – 1442) who was the noted Town Clerk of London during the reigns of King Henry V & King Henry VI.

These Arms are often referred to as the Hereford Arms, named for the later ancestral home of the Carpenter Family in Hereford, England. The Crest, supporters & motto apparently has changed several times over the centuries. Sample of a medieval knight with an early Carpenter Coat of Arms on shield.

Sir William Boyd Carpenter (1841 – 1918), an English clergyman of the Established church of England, Bishop of Ripon, afterwards a Canon of Westminster and Chaplain to the reigning sovereign of England, wrote in a letter dated 7 August 1907 that his family bore the Hereford Arms. Sir Noel Paton, upon painting the Family Arms, informed him that the supporters were originally a round-handled sword, which in drawing over time became shortened, until nothing but the cross and globe were left beneath it. Those Hereford Arms were used by "John Carpenter, town clerk of London, who died 1442 A. D."