George Parkyns, 2nd Baron Rancliffe

Parkyns was educated at Harrow, under Rev Dr Drury.[2] His father died of dropsy[7] in November 1800, when George was only 15.[9] He succeeded his father as the second Baron Rancliffe and was placed under guardianship of the Earl Moira (later Marquess of Hastings).[2]

In 1801 Moira purchased a commission[2] in the British Army for the young Lord Rancliffe, as a cornet in the 10th Light Dragoons,[10] which was then seen as a first-rate regiment.[2] In 1803 he purchased a promotion to the rank of lieutenant in the 15th Light Dragoons.[11][12] The transfer placed of regiment placed him on half-pay,[2][13] retaining his rank until the half-pay was stopped in 1834.[14] He also became an equerry to his godfather the Prince of Wales,[13] retaining a close friendship until the prince parted company with the Whigs.[9]

On 17 March 1806 he succeeded to the baronetcy of his grandfather Sir Thomas Parkyns, 3rd Baronet.[15] Later the same month he joined Brooks's club,[12] and on his twenty-first birthday in June, he came into an annual income of £21,000 a year[12] (equivalent to £1.72 million in 2021[16]). His inheritance included Bunny Hall and the manor of Bunny in Nottinghamshire, which had been in the Parkyns family since 1574 when it was bought by the barrister Richard Parkyns.[13]

Earl Moira then helped to negotiate for Rancliffe a seat in Parliament. At the general election in November 1806, the 21-year-old Rancliffe was returned as a member of parliament (MP) for Minehead in Somerset.[17] Minehead was a rotten borough, under the patronage of John Fownes Luttrell,[18] whose family had controlled the borough's elections for large periods since its enfranchisement in the 16th century. Fownes Luttrell charged Rancliffe £5,000 for the seat[18] (equivalent to £408,000 in 2021[16]). Rancliffe later cited his experience in Minehead as evidence in favour of parliamentary reform, saying that he had paid a lot of money for the seat but had never in his life set foot in the town.[9]

In October 1807 Rancliffe married Earl Moira's niece,[6] Lady Elizabeth Mary Theresa Forbes, daughter of George Forbes, 6th Earl of Granard. The wedding took place by special licence[19] in Castle Forbes,[20] County Longford, Ireland, where the "beautiful and accomplished" bride was given away by her uncle.[19] The honeymoon was in another seat of the Earl of Granard, Clanhugh Lodge[20] near Mullingar in County Westmeath.[21]

The couple had no legitimate children.[9]