Francis Osborne, 5th Duke of Leeds

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Francis Godolphin Osborne, 5th Duke of Leeds (29 January 1751 – 31 January 1799), was a British politician.

He was educated at Westminster School and at Christ Church, Oxford. He was a member of parliament in 1774 and 1775; in 1776 having received a writ of acceleration as Baron Osborne, he entered the House of Lords, and in 1777 Lord Chamberlain of the Queen's Household. In the House of Lords he was prominent as a determined foe of the prime minister, Lord North, who, after he had resigned his position as chamberlain, deprived him of the office of Lord Lieutenant of the East Riding of Yorkshire in 1780. He regained this, however, two years later. Early in 1783 the Marquess of Carmarthen, as he was called until he succeeded his father in 1789, was selected as ambassador to France, but he did not take up this appointment, becoming instead Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs under William Pitt in December of the same year. As secretary he was little more than a cipher, and he left office in April 1791. Subsequently he took little part in politics, and he died in London. His Political Memoranda were edited by Oscar Browning for the Camden Society in 1884, and there are eight volumes of his official correspondence in the British Museum. His first wife was Amelia (1754—1784), daughter of Robert Darcy, 4th Earl of Holdernesse, who became Baroness Conyers in her own right in 1778. Their elder son, George William Frederick (1775—1838), succeeded his father as duke of Leeds and his mother as Baron Conyers.

[edit] Reference

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

Political offices
Preceded by The Earl De La Warr	Lord Chamberlain to The Queen 1777–1780	Succeeded by The Earl of Ailesbury
Preceded by The Earl Temple	Foreign Secretary 1783–1791	Succeeded by The Lord Grenville
Preceded by The Lord Sydney	Leader of the House of Lords 1789–1790
Honorary Titles
Preceded by ?	Lord Lieutenant of the East Riding of Yorkshire 1778–1780	Succeeded by The Earl of Carlisle
Preceded by The Earl of Carlisle	Lord Lieutenant of the East Riding of Yorkshire 1782–1799	Succeeded by The Earl of Carlisle
Peerage of England
Preceded by Thomas Osborne	Duke of Leeds 1789–1799	Succeeded by George Osborne