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George Francis Wyndham, 4th Earl of Egremont (30 August 1786 – 2 April 1845) of Orchard Wyndham, Somerset and Silverton Park, Devon, was an English nobleman and naval officer.
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Origins
He was the son of William Frederick Wyndham (1763–1828), youngest son of Charles Wyndham, 2nd Earl of Egremont (1710–1763) and his wife Frances Mary Harford (born 1759), the illegitimate daughter of Frederick Calvert, 6th Baron Baltimore by Hester Whelan.
Inheritance
His father's elder brother George O'Brien Wyndham, 3rd Earl of Egremont (1751–1837) of Petworth House, Sussex, died without legitimate male issue and so George Francis Wyndham as the heir male succeeded him as Earl of Egremont (and Baron Wyndham and Baron Cockermouth). Perhaps to his surprise, and certainly disappointment, he did not however inherit the great estate and mansion of Petworth (inherited by the 2nd Earl ultimately from the ancient and noble Percy family), which the 3rd Earl bequeathed instead to his natural son Col. George Wyndham, created Baron Leconfield in 1859.
Career
George Francis received his first Royal Navy commission in 1799, rising to captain in 1812.
Buildings
The 4th Earl's principal residence was at Orchard Wyndham, Watchet, in Somerset, the ancient seat of the Wyndham family since the 16th century. He was a prolific builder and early patron of the architect James Thomas Knowles (senior) (1806-1884) and built the following:
Marriage
On 14 November 1820 he married Jane Roberts (died 1876), third daughter of Rev. William Roberts, vice-provost of Eton College; but left no surviving issue.
Death and succession
He died on 2 April 1845 at Silverton Park, without issue and his titles thus became extinct. Under his will his heir for her life was his widow who died in 1876, and in remainder thereafter to his cousin, William IV Wyndham (1769–1841) of Dinton, Wiltshire, who shared common descent from Sir John Wyndham (1558–1645) of Orchard Wyndham, Somerset. William IV had died in 1841, four years before the Earl's death, but his heir in 1876 became William IV's grandson, William VI Wyndham (1834–1914) of Dinton, who thus inherited the ancient family manor of Orchard Wyndham in Somerset.