George Coventry, 7th Earl of Coventry

George William Coventry, 7th Earl of Coventry (25 April 1758 – 26 March 1831), styled Viscount Deerhurst until 1809, was a British peer and Member of Parliament.

Early life Coventry was born on 25 April 1758. He was the eldest son of George Coventry, 6th Earl of Coventry and, his first wife, Maria Gunning. After his mother's death in 1760 from mercury poisoning from toxins in her beauty regimen, his father married Hon. Barbara St John (a daughter of the 11th Baron St John of Bletso), in 1764, with whom he had a further two sons and a daughter.

Career On 7 May 1776, Coventry was commissioned an ensign in the 64th Regiment of Foot. On 21 January 1777, he became a lieutenant in the 17th Regiment of Light Dragoons.

He succeeded his father as Lord Lieutenant of Worcestershire in 1808, and upon his death on 3 September 1809, as the 7th Earl of Coventry.

In 1783, Coventry married Peggy Pitches (–1840) at St George's, Hanover Square. Peggy was the daughter of brandy merchant Sir Abraham Pitches and Jane Hassel. They had five sons and six daughters, one son and one daughter dying young, including:

George William Coventry, 8th Earl of Coventry (1784–1843), who married Lady Emma Lygon, daughter of William Lygon, 1st Earl Beauchamp, in 1808. After her death, he married Lady Mary Beauclerk, daughter of Aubrey Beauclerk, 6th Duke of St Albans, in 1811. – 1838), who married Lt.-Col. Alexander Charles Craufurd, son of Sir James Gregan-Craufurd, 2nd Baronet, in 1818.

Lord Coventry died on 26 March 1831 at Coventry House, Piccadilly. Upon his death in 1831, he was succeeded by his son, George.