Simon Luttrell, 1st Earl of Carhampton


Simon Luttrell, 1st Earl of Carhampton, was an Anglo-Irish politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1754 to 1780.

Biography

He was the second son of Henry Luttrell, of Luttrellstown and his wife Elizabeth Jones. His father had been a noted commander in the Jacobite Irish Army between 1689 and 1691. He later received a pardon from the Williamite authorities and was accused by his former Jacobite comrades of having betrayed them. He was murdered when his sedan chair was attacked in Dublin in 1717.
Simon Luttrell served as a Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of Great Britain for four constituencies: Mitchell, Wigan, Weobley and Stockbridge.
On 13 October 1768, he was created Baron Irnham of Luttrellstown in the Peerage of Ireland. As his title was an Irish peerage, he was able to keep his seat in the British House of Commons. He was elevated to the title of Viscount Carhampton on 9 January 1781 and was made Earl of Carhampton on 23 June 1785. He lived at Four Oaks Hall, Four Oaks, Sutton Coldfield, from 1751 to 1766.
In 1737 he married Judith Maria Lawes, daughter of Sir Nicholas Lawes, Governor of Jamaica, by whom he had eight children:
His rakish behaviour earned him the nickname "King of Hell", "Hell" being a district of Dublin notorious for its brothels. He is reputed to have started the courtesan Mary Nesbitt in her career by seducing her. He had a natural son, Henry Luttrell, possibly by a gardener's daughter. He became known in London as a conversationalist and sometime writer.