George Agar-Ellis, 1st Baron Dover

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George James Welbore Agar-Ellis, Baron Dover (1797 – 1833), English man of letters, born on the 14th of January 1797, was the only son of the 2nd Viscount Clifden. He was educated at Westminster School and at Christ Church, Oxford.

In 1818 he was returned to parliament as member for Heytesbury. He afterwards represented Seaford (1820), Ludgershall (1826) and Okehampton (1830). He seconded Canning's motion in 1822 for a bill to relieve the disabilities of Roman Catholic peers, and consistently supported liberal principles. In party politics, however, he took little interest, but he zealously advocated in parliament and elsewhere that state encouragement should be given to the cause of literature and the fine arts.

In 1824 he was the leading promoter of the grant of 57,000 for the purchase of John Julius Angerstein's collection of pictures, which formed the foundation of the National Gallery. On the formation of Lord Grey's administration, in November 1830, he was appointed chief commissioner of woods and forests, but was compelled by delicate health to resign it after two months' occupancy.

In June 1831, during the lifetime of his father, he was raised to the House of Lords, receiving an English peerage with the title of Baron Dover. He was president (1832) of the Royal Society of Literature, a trustee of the British Museum and of the National Gallery, and a commissioner of public records. He died on the 10th of July 1833.

George married Lady Georgiana Howard, daughter of George Howard, 6th Earl of Carlisle, in 1822. They had two sons, who became respectively the 3rd Viscount and 5th Viscount, and a daughter.

[edit] References

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
• Pedigree at thePeerage.com