George Forbes, 7th Earl of Granard


George Arthur Hastings Forbes, 7th Earl of Granard KP, styled Viscount Forbes from 1836 to 1837, was an Irish peer and soldier.

Background and education

He was the son of Major-General George Forbes, Viscount Forbes, and his wife, the Viscountess Forbes ; he succeeded his grandfather as Earl of Granard in 1837. He was educated at Eton.

Military career

Granard became the lieutenant-colonel commandant of the 9th Battalion of the Rifle Brigade, and was appointed honorary colonel of the Westmeath Militia on 29 May 1878. He was made a Knight of St Patrick in 1857.
Granard was President of the British Association of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta from 1875 until his death, and was made a Knight Grand Cross of the Papal Order of St. Gregory the Great. He was also a member of the Senate of the Royal University of Ireland. Lord and Lady Granard converted to Roman Catholicism in 1869.

Family

By his first marriage to Jane Colclough Morgan on 2 June 1858, Granard had two daughters:
By his second marriage to the Honourable Frances Mary Petre, daughter of William Petre, 12th Baron Petre, on 4 September 1873, he had eight children: