George North, 3rd Earl of Guilford

George Augustus North, 3rd Earl of Guilford, FRS (11 September 1757 – 20 April 1802), known as The Honourable George North until 1790 and as Lord North from 1790 to 1792, was a British politician.

Early life

Guilford was the eldest son of Frederick North, 2nd Earl of Guilford (commonly known as Lord North) who served as Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1770 to 1782, and his wife Anne (née Speke), Ranger of Bushy Park from 1771 to 1797. Among his siblings were Francis North (later the 4th Earl), Catherine Anne North (wife of Sylvester Douglas, 1st Baron Glenbervie), Lady Charlotte North (wife of Lt.-Col. John Lindsay, a son of the 5th Earl of Balcarres), Frederick North (later the 5th Earl), and Lady Anne North (wife of John Baker-Holroyd, 1st Earl of Sheffield).

Career He was elected to the House of Commons for Harwich in 1778, a seat he held until 1784, and then represented Wootton Bassett from 1784 to 1790, Petersfield in 1790 and Banbury from 1790 to 1792.

Personal life Lord Guilford married firstly Lady Maria Frances Mary Hobart, daughter of George Hobart, 3rd Earl of Buckinghamshire, on 24 September 1785. Before her death on 23 April 1794, they were the parents of one child, a daughter:

Lady Maria North (1793–1841), who married, as his first wife, John Crichton-Stuart, 2nd Marquess of Bute, in 1818. On his death his junior title of Baron North fell into abeyance between his daughters while he was succeeded in the earldom by his younger brother, Francis.

Guilford's son-in-law, the Marquess of Bute, brought a petition to the House of Lords to resolve the partition of the late Earl's estate between his widow and his daughters. This was finally enacted by William IV in October 1831. The Countess of Guilford died in 1837.