George Agar-Ellis, 1st Baron Dover

{{Short description|British politician and writer (1797-1833)}} {{Use British English|date=August 2014}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2026}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = The Right Honourable | name = The Lord Dover | honorific_suffix = PC FRS FSA | image = Sir Thomas Lawrence - George James Welbore Agar-Ellis, later 1st Lord Dover - Google Art Project.jpg | order1 = First Commissioner of Woods and Forests | term_start1 = 2 December 1830 | term_end1 = 7 February 1831 | monarch1 = William IV | prime_minister1 = The Earl Grey | predecessor1 = Viscount Lowther | successor1 = Viscount Duncannon | birth_name = George James Welbore Agar-Ellis | birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1797|01|14}} | birth_place = | death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1833|07|10|1797|01|14}} | death_place = | party = Whig | alma_mater = Christ Church, Oxford | spouse = Lady Georgiana Howard (d. 1860) }}

'''George James Welbore Agar-Ellis, 1st Baron Dover''' (14 January 1797 – 10 July 1833) was a British politician and man of letters. He was briefly First Commissioner of Woods and Forests under Lord Grey between 1830 and 1831.

==Background and education== Agar-Ellis was the only son of Henry Agar-Ellis, 2nd Viscount Clifden, and Lady Caroline, daughter of George Spencer, 4th Duke of Marlborough. He was educated at Westminster School and Christ Church, Oxford. He was elected a Fellow of both the Society of Antiquaries and Royal Society in 1816.

==Political career== Agar-Ellis was returned to Parliament for Heytesbury in 1818, a seat he held until 1820.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.leighrayment.com/commons/Hcommons3.htm |title=leighrayment.com House of Commons: Hertford to Honiton |access-date=15 October 2009 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181011152457/http://www.leighrayment.com/commons/Hcommons3.htm |archive-date=11 October 2018 }}</ref> He afterwards represented Seaford between 1820 and 1826,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.leighrayment.com/commons/Scommons2.htm |title=leighrayment.com House of Commons: Salisbury to Shaftesbury |access-date=15 October 2009 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180914215309/http://www.leighrayment.com/commons/Scommons2.htm |archive-date=14 September 2018 }}</ref> Ludgershall between 1826 and 1830<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.leighrayment.com/commons/Lcommons4.htm |title=leighrayment.com House of Commons: London University to Lymington |access-date=15 October 2009 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111203104125/http://www.leighrayment.com/commons/Lcommons4.htm |archive-date=3 December 2011 }}</ref> and Okehampton between 1830 and 1831.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.leighrayment.com/commons/Ocommons.htm |title=leighrayment.com House of Commons: Ochil to Oxford University |access-date=15 October 2009 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110816023438/http://www.leighrayment.com/commons/Ocommons.htm |archive-date=16 August 2011 }}</ref> He supported George Canning's motion in 1822 for a bill to relieve the disabilities of Roman Catholic peers, and consistently supported liberal principles. He took little interest in party politics but was a strong advocate of state support for the causes of literature and the fine arts.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=452}}

He commissioned the painting ''The Trial of Queen Caroline'' by George Hayter, which was exhibited in 1823. In 1824 Agar-Ellis was the leading promoter of the grant of £57,000 for the purchase of John Julius Angerstein's collection of pictures, which formed the foundation of the National Gallery. On the formation of Lord Grey's Whig administration in November 1830, he was sworn of the Privy Council<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=18748 |date=23 November 1830 |page=2449 }}</ref> and appointed First Commissioner of Woods and Forests.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=18753 |date=3 December 1830 |page=2539 }}</ref> However, he was forced to resign after two months due to bad health.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=452}}

In June 1831, during his father's lifetime, Agar-Ellis was raised to the peerage as '''Baron Dover''', of Dover in the County of Kent.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=18814 |date=17 June 1831 |page=1193 }}</ref> He was president of the Royal Society of Literature in 1832, a trustee of the British Museum and of the National Gallery, and a commissioner of public records.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=452}}

==Family== [[File:Georgiana Agar Ellis, attributed to Joseph Lee.jpg|thumb|Georgiana Agar Ellis (after a painting by Thomas Lawrence)]] Lord Dover married his third cousin once removed Lady Georgiana Howard, daughter of George Howard, 6th Earl of Carlisle, in 1822. They had two sons, who became respectively the 3rd Viscount and 5th Viscount, and two daughters. He died on 10 July 1833, aged 36, predeceasing his father by three years. Lady Dover died in March 1860.

==Works== Lord Dover's works were chiefly historical, and include: * ''The True History of the State Prisoner, Commonly Called the Iron Mask'' (1826) * ''Inquiries respecting the Character of Clarendon'' (1827) * a ''Life of Frederick II.'' (1831) He also edited the ''Ellis Correspondence'' (1829) and ''Walpole's Letters to Sir Horace Mann'' (1833).{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=453}}

==References== {{Reflist}} '''Attribution:''' * {{EB1911|wstitle=Dover, George James Welbore Agar-Ellis, Baron|volume=8|pages=452–453}}

==External links== {{Commons category|George Agar-Ellis, 1st Baron Dover}} * {{Gutenberg author | id=41679| name=George Agar Ellis}} * {{Internet Archive author |sname=George James Welbore Agar-Ellis, 1st Baron Dover}} * {{hansard-contribs | mr-george-agar-ellis | Mr George Agar-Ellis }}

{{s-start}} {{s-par|uk}} {{s-bef| before = Samuel Hood Charles Duncombe }} {{s-ttl| title = Member of Parliament for Heytesbury | with = William Henry John Scott | years = 1818–1820 }} {{s-aft| after = Edward Henry A'Court Charles Ashe A'Court }} {{s-bef| before = Charles Ellis George Watson-Taylor }} {{s-ttl| title = Member of Parliament for Seaford | with = Charles Ellis | years = 1820–1826 }} {{s-aft| after = John Fitzgerald Augustus Frederick Ellis }} {{s-bef| before = Sandford Graham The Earl of Brecknock }} {{s-ttl| title = Member of Parliament for Ludgershall | with = Edward Thomas Foley | years = 1826–1830 }} {{s-aft| after = Edward Thomas Foley Sir Sandford Graham, Bt }} {{s-bef| before = Sir Compton Domvile, Bt Joseph Strutt }} {{s-ttl| title = Member of Parliament for Okehampton | with = Lord Seymour | years = 1830–1831 }} {{s-aft| after = William Henry Trant John Thomas Hope }} {{s-off}} {{succession box | title = First Commissioner of Woods and Forests | years = 1830–1831 | before = Viscount Lowther | after = Viscount Duncannon}} {{s-reg|uk}} {{s-new | creation}} {{s-ttl | title=Baron Dover | years=1831–1833}} {{s-aft | after=Henry Agar-Ellis}} {{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dover, George James Welbore Agar-Ellis, 1st Baron}} Category:1797 births Category:1833 deaths Category:Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies Category:English non-fiction writers Category:People educated at Westminster School, London Category:People associated with the National Gallery, London Category:UK MPs 1818–1820 Category:UK MPs 1820–1826 Category:UK MPs 1826–1830 Category:UK MPs 1830–1831 Category:UK MPs who were granted peerages Category:British fellows of the Royal Society Category:Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London Category:Presidents of the Royal Society of Literature Category:Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom Category:Peers of the United Kingdom created by William IV Category:Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Category:Heirs apparent who never acceded Category:English male non-fiction writers Category:Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Okehampton Category:Committee members of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge Category:19th-century English non-fiction writers