Robert Darcy, 4th Earl of Holderness

British diplomat

The Right HonourableThe Earl of HoldernessPC


Secretary of State for the Southern Department
In office 6 April 1757 – 27 June 1757
Monarch	George II
Preceded by	William Pitt
Succeeded by	William Pitt
In office 18 June 1751 – 23 March 1754
Monarch	George II
Preceded by	The Duke of Bedford
Succeeded by	Thomas Robinson
Secretary of State for the Northern Department
In office 23 March 1754 – 25 March 1761
Monarchs	George II George III
Preceded by	The Duke of Newcastle
Succeeded by	The Earl of Bute

Personal details
Born	17 May 1718
Died	16 May 1778(1778-05-16) (aged 59) Syon Hill, London, England
Nationality	Great Britain
Spouse	Mary Doublet
Children	Amelia Osborne, Marchioness of Carmarthen
Parent(s)	Robert Darcy, 3rd Earl of Holderness Lady Frederica Schomberg
Occupation	Diplomat, politician

Robert Darcy, 4th Earl of Holderness, PC (17 May 1718 – 16 May 1778), known before 1721 as Lord Darcy and Conyers, was a British diplomat and politician.

Career

In 1741 he collaborated with G.F. Handel in the production of Deidamia. From 1744 to 1746 he was ambassador at Venice and from 1749 to 1751 he represented his country at The Hague. In 1751 he became Secretary of State for the Southern Department, transferring in 1754 to the Northern Department, and he remained in office until March 1761, when he was dismissed by King George III in favour of Lord Bute, although he had largely been a cipher in that position to the stronger personalities of his colleagues, successively the Duke of Newcastle, Thomas Robinson, Henry Fox, and William Pitt the Elder. From 1771 to 1776 he acted as governor to two of the King's sons, a solemn phantom as Horace Walpole calls him. He left no sons who survived childhood, and all his titles became extinct except the Baronies of Darcy de Knayth and Conyers, which were baronies by writ inherited from his father, and the Portuguese countship of Mértola, inherited from his mother. In those peerages, he was succeeded by his daughter, Amelia Osborne, Marchioness of Carmarthen.

David Hume wrote, "It is remarkable that this family of d'Arcy seems to be the only male descendant of any of the Conqueror's barons now remaining among the Peers. Lord Holdernessae is the heir of that family".

Family

He was the only surviving son of Robert Darcy, 3rd Earl of Holderness, and his wife Lady Frederica Schomberg. On 29 October 1743, Darcy married Mary Doublet, daughter of Francis Doublet and Constantia Van-der-Beck. The couple had three children, only one of whom survived childhood:

George Darcy, Lord Darcy and Conyers (September 1745 – 27 September 1747)
Thomas Darcy, Lord Darcy and Conyers (born and died 1750), buried 29 July 1750 in the Great or St. James Church in The Hague, the Netherlands
Lady Amelia Darcy (12 October 1754 – 27 January 1784); married firstly Francis Osborne, Marquess of Carmarthen, and had issue. The couple divorced in 1779. She married secondly John "Mad Jack" Byron, father of Lord Byron, and had one daughter, Augusta Leigh.

References

"D'Arcy, Robert" . Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
^ Record for Robert Darcy, 4th Earl of Holderness on thepeerage.com
A New Chronology of Venetian Opera and Related Genres, 1660-1760 by Eleanor Selfridge-Field, p. 492
History of England (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1975), p. 16 n. 14.
Wildeman, Marinus Godefridus, De grafboeken der Groote of St. Jacobskerk te 's Gravenhage, (1620-1830)... Robijns Publishers, 1898

External links

"Archival material relating to Robert Darcy, 4th Earl of Holderness". UK National Archives.

Diplomatic posts
Preceded by?	Minister at Venice 1744–1746	Succeeded bySir James Gray
Preceded by?	Minister at the Hague 1749–1751	Succeeded byJoseph Yorke
Political offices
Preceded byThe Duke of Bedford	Secretary of State for the Southern Department 1751–1754	Succeeded byThomas Robinson
Preceded byThe Duke of Newcastle	Secretary of State for the Northern Department 1754–1761	Succeeded byThe Earl of Bute
Preceded byWilliam Pitt	Secretary of State for the Southern Department 1757	Succeeded byWilliam Pitt
Honorary titles
Preceded bySir Conyers Darcy	Lord Lieutenant of the North Riding of Yorkshire 1740–1778	Succeeded byThe Earl Fauconberg
Preceded byThe Marquess of Rockingham	Custos Rotulorum of the North Riding of Yorkshire 1762–1765	Succeeded byThe Marquess of Rockingham
Preceded byThe Marquess of Rockingham	Vice-Admiral of Yorkshire 1763–1776	Succeeded byThe Marquess of Rockingham
Preceded byThe Duke of Dorset	Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports 1765–1778	Succeeded byThe Lord North
Peerage of England
Preceded byRobert Darcy	Earl of Holderness 1722–1778	Extinct
Preceded byRobert Darcy	Baron Darcy de Knayth and Conyers 1722–1778	Succeeded byAmelia Osborne
Portuguese nobility
Preceded byFrederica Mildmay	Count of Mértola 1751–1778	Succeeded byAmelia Osborne

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