George Coventry, 6th Earl of Coventry

Coventry was the second but eldest surviving son of William Coventry, 5th Earl of Coventry, and his wife Elizabeth (née Allen), and was educated at Winchester and University College, Oxford.

Croome Court

He was elected to the House of Commons for Bridport in 1744 (succeeding his elder brother Viscount Deerhurst), a seat he held until 1747, and then represented Worcestershire from 1747 to 1751. The latter year he succeeded his father in the earldom and entered the House of Lords. He also served as Lord Lieutenant of Worcestershire from 1751 to 1808 and was a Lord of the Bedchamber to George II from 1752 to 1760 and to George III from 1760 to 1770.

He inherited Croome Court, near Pershore, Worcestershire from his father and commissioned Capability Brown to redesign both the house and surrounding parkland.

Lord Coventry married firstly Maria, daughter of Colonel John Gunning, in 1752. She died in 1760, having produced a son and 2 daughters. He married secondly the Hon. Barbara, daughter of John St John, 11th Baron St John of Bletso, in 1764, with whom he had a further 2 sons and a daughter. Lady Coventry died in 1804.

Lord Coventry survived his second wife by five years and died in September 1809, aged 87. He was succeeded in his titles by his son from his first marriage, George Coventry, 7th Earl of Coventry. His youngest son was Thomas William Coventry.

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  Memorial to the 6th Earl of Coventry in the church at Croome Court
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  Angelica Kauffmann, Barbara St. John Bletsoe, Countess of Coventry, Princeton University Art Museum, the second wife of the Earl of Coventry

• Broadway Tower, a folly built for Lady Coventry in 1798-99.
• Croome Court

• Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990.

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Earl of Coventry