George Richard St John (1761-1824), 3rd Viscount Bolingbroke by John Hoppner, 1785

George Richard, 3^rd Viscount Bolingbroke

George Richard St. John was born in 1761 the elder son of the warring couple Frederick St. John, 2^nd Viscount Bolingbroke and his aristocratic wife Lady Diana Spencer, daughter of Charles, 3^rd Duke of Marlborough.

Frederick and Diana’s marriage was famously unhappy and ended in divorce by Act of Parliament in 1768.

Frederick retained custody of their two sons, as was the way in the 18^th century, and Diana had very little access to the boys. While she remarried immediately, Frederick worked hard to spend the St. John money on partying, Sevres porcelain and thoroughbred horses. (He was the earliest great patron of the equestrian artist George Stubbs).

George Richard, apparently, inherited all the worse traits of his father.

In 1783 George Richard married Charlotte Collins the daughter of his tutor Rev Thomas Collins. During the early years of their marriage Lydiard House was let to a tenant and George Richard and Charlotte lived at various rented properties. The couple had three children, George, Mary and Henry.

And then George’s half sister Mary Beauclerk, Diana’s daughter by her second marriage to Topham Beauclerk, came to visit and life was never the same again!

In an attempt to avoid the scandalous news becoming common knowledge, when Mary became pregnant by George Richard Charlotte accompanied her to Paris for the birth. Charlotte tried to claim the child as her own, but George Richard had a different solution. He deserted Charlotte and set up home in Paris with Mary where they called themselves Mr and Mrs Barton. A further three sons were born and then George Richard tired of her.

Fast forward to 1793 and George Richard was travelling through Europe where he met 17-year-old Baroness Isabella Marianne Charlotte Sophia Hompesch. The couple were married in a bogus ceremony before departing for London where their first child was still born in 1794. Isabella would go on to have a further 10 pregnancies, not all of which resulted in a live birth.

Gossip continued to circulate in the upper echelons of society and a hard, hitting letter to George Richard survives dated from around this time and signed RJ:

‘The misfortune of your life has been that you have always given way not only to every passion but to every fancy you ever had & that you have never been used to resist the natural violence of your temper. I now see that this disposition remains in full force & that you retain the same obstinacy & willfullness.’

George Richard soon felt the need to leave England and in 1798 the couple bought a property in New Jersey, USA called Liberty Hall where they lived under the alias Mr & Mrs Belasise.

In 1804 Charlotte died back home at Lydiard House. George Richard married Isabella, again, and the family returned to England and their Wiltshire home.

He died in Pisa in 1824 where he was travelling with his daughter. His body was returned to England and he was buried in the St. John family vault beneath St. Mary’s Church.

It is difficult to find anything complimentary to say about George Richard. Perhaps he was the product of his childhood, craving love and affection. Or perhaps he was just a thoroughly despicable person.

About the Portrait

Medium - oil on canvas

Measurements - H 72 x W 57 cm

Purchased in 1965 from Vernon St.John, 6th Viscount Bolingbroke