The Minor Family of Somerset

Name Suffix:<NSFX> 4th Earl of Chesterfield, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland
Educated at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, till the age of nineteen, i
n 1715 he became M.P. for St.Germans. Taking his seat before h
e was of age, he narrowly escapeda fine of œ500. In 1715 he bec
ame Lord of the Bedchamber to the Prince of Wales and continue
d in this position when
the Prince became King George II. In1722 he became M.P. for Los
twithiel until, in 1723, he lost his seat on accepting office.
From 1728 until 1732 as Ambassador in The Hague, he distinguishe
d himself by the magnificence of his entertainments. On 18 Jun
e 1730 he was installed as a Knight of The Garter. From 1730 til
l 1733 he was Lord Steward of the Household. From this time onwa
rds he was a steady opponent of Walpole's ministry and, as a res
ult, was excluded from office till 1744.
His dismissal from Court in 1733 was said not to have been his o
pposing Walpole butof having offended the Queen by paying cour
t to Lady Suffolk, the King's mistress.
Also in 1733 he married Melusina de Schulenberg, Countess of Wal
singham, illegitimate daughter of King George I. He was about th
irty-nine and sheforty and no children were born from this unio
n.
From January 1744 till October 1746 he was Lord Lieutenant of Ir
eland, then from October 1746 till February 1748 Secretary of St
ate (North). He is the well-known author of the "Chesterfield'
s Letters" which were written to his illegitimate son. Dr. Johns
on remarked that they "inculcated the morals of a Strumpet and t
he manners ofa Dancing-master," and of the Earl himself that h
e was "a Wit among Lords anda Lord among Wits." In his seventy-
ninth year he died "of a slow decay" at Chesterfield House on 2
4 March 1773. As he had no son, he was succeeded by a nephew a
s Earl of Chesterfield.
Source: Leo van de Pas