George Selwyn (politician)

For other people with the same name, see George Selwyn (disambiguation).

George Augustus Selwyn (standing); Richard Edgcumbe, 2nd Baron Edgcumbe (writing at desk); George James Williams (looking over his shoulder). Engraving by James Scott after a painting by Sir Joshua Reynolds

George Augustus Selwyn (11 August 1719 – 25 January 1791) of Matson House in Gloucestershire, England, was a Member of Parliament. A renowned eccentric and "necrophiliac, gay transvestite, he sat mute, loved, and undisturbed in the House of Commons for 44 years".

Origins

He was the eldest surviving son of John Selwyn (1688–1751), MP, of Matson, by his wife Mary Farrington, a daughter of General Thomas Farrington. He was educated at Eton College and Hart Hall, Oxford (1739) and studied law at the Inner Temple (1737).

Political career

Selwyn spent 44 years in the House of Commons without having made a speech. As the patron of several rotten boroughs, including both seats at Ludgershall and one in Gloucester, he put his electoral interests at the disposal of the King's ministers, and received in return three lucrative sinecure offices and a pension, which offset his gambling debts. He himself served as one of the MPs for Ludgershall in 1747–1754 and for the constituency of Gloucester from 1754 to 1780. After he lost his patronage in Gloucester, Selwyn served again as a Member for Ludgershall from 1780 until his death in 1791. He served as Mayor of Gloucester twice, for 1758 and 1765.

He was also elected for the Scottish constituency of Wigtown Burghs in 1768, when he thought he might be defeated at Gloucester, becoming the first Englishman to be elected to Parliament by a constituency in Scotland. He chose to retain the English seat.

Personal life

He was a homosexual and was attracted to various forms of sexual eccentricity, including necrophilia and tranvestitism. He was known for his fascination with the macabre, and was a keen observer of public executions. When attempting to visit the dying Henry Fox, the latter quipped "If Mr. Selwyn calls again, show him up; if I am alive I shall be glad to see him and if I am dead I am sure he will be delighted to see me". He was a member of the Hellfire Club and was a friend of Horace Walpole and Etheldreda Townshend.

Adopted daughter

He adopted as his daughter Maria Emilia Fagnani, who married Francis Seymour-Conway, 3rd Marquess of Hertford. She was reputedly the illegitimate daughter of William Douglas, 4th Duke of Queensberry, by his mistress Costanza Brusati ("the Marchesa Fagnani"), the wife of Giacomo II Fagnani, IV marchese di Gerenzano (1740-1785), an Italian nobleman descended from the jurist Raffaele Fagnani (1552-1623), a resident of the Duchy of Milan. He constructed for her use a Roman Catholic chapel in the attic of Matson House, which survives. Maria became one of the wealthiest heiresses in Britain, having inherited a large part of the estate of her natural father the Duke of Queensberry, the eighth richest man in Britain.

Death and burial

He died unmarried in 1791 and was buried in the Selwyn vault at St. Katherine's Church at Matson on 6 February 1791. The vault has since been filled in and the brass plate from his coffin is now affixed on a wall inside the church. He left his estate to his adopted daughter Maria Fagnani, Marchioness of Hertford.

Portraits

• George Augustus Selwyn and Frederick Howard, 5th Earl of Carlisle (c.1770) by Sir Joshua Reynolds is in the possession of the present Earl of Carlisle at Castle Howard, Yorkshire.
• George Augustus Selwyn at the age of fifty-one by Hugh Douglas Hamilton, a pastelle drawn in 1770. This drawing is also in the possession of the Earl of Carlisle at Castle Howard.
• George Augustus Selwyn (1776) by Sir Joshua Reynolds was displayed at the Tate Gallery between 26 May and 18 September 2005 in the exhibition Joshua Reynolds: The Creation of Celebrity
• The "Out of Town" Party (c. 1759) by Sir Joshua Reynolds, a portrait of George Selwyn, George "Gilly" Williams & Dick Edgecumbe is on display at the Bristol Museum & Art Gallery

Further reading

• History of Parliament: House of Commons 1754–1790, by Sir Lewis Namier and James Brooke (Sidgwick & Jackson, 1964)
• Jesse, John Heneage, George Selwyn and his contemporaries, London : Bickers & Son, 1882, 2nd ed.; 1st edition, 1843–1844
• George Selwyn; his letters and his life, edited by E.S. Roscoe and Helen Clergue, London, 1899.
• Sherwin, Oscar, A gentleman of wit and fashion: the extraordinary life and times of George Selwyn, New York : Twayne Publishers, (1963).
• George Augustus Selwyn (1719–1791) and France : unpublished correspondence, edited by Rex A. Barrell, Lewiston, N.Y., USA : E. Mellen Press, (c. 1990).
• The Ghosts of Piccadilly, Chapters IV & XIV, by G. S. Street, London: Constable & Company Ltd.
• The Age of Scandal, Chapter named The Necrophilist by T.H. White

External links

• Works by George Augustus Selwyn at Project Gutenberg
• Works by or about George Selwyn at the Internet Archive
• "Selwyn, George Augustus (1719-1791)" . Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
• "Selwyn, George Augustus. An English wit" . New International Encyclopedia. 1905.
• Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Selwyn, George Augustus (wit)" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 24 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 615.
• George Selwyn: His Letters and His Life, E. S. Roscoe and Helen Clergue eds., London, 1899
• George Selwyn and the Wits, S. Parnell Kerr, London, 1909