Robert Darcy, 4th Earl of Holderness

The Right Honourable The Earl of Holderness PC
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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
Monarch	George II George III
Preceded by	The Duke of Newcastle
Succeeded by	The Earl of Bute
Personal details
Born	17 May 1718
Died	Syon Hill, London, England
Nationality	Great Britain
Spouse(s)	Mary Doublet
Children	Amelia Osborne, Marchioness of Carmarthen
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 favor 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, and the Portuguese countship of Mértola. 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 [sic] seems to be the only male descendant of any of the Conqueror's barons now remaining among the Peers. Lord Holdernessae [sic] is the heir of that family".

Family

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)
• Lady Amelia Darcy (12 October 1754 – 27 January 1784); married firstly Francis Osborne, Marquess of Carmarthen, and had issue. They couple divorced in 1779. She married secondly John "Mad Jack" Byron, father of Lord Byron, and had one daughter, Augusta Leigh.

See also

• Great Britain in the Seven Years War

External links

• Archival material relating to Robert Darcy, 4th Earl of Holderness listed at the UK National Archives

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