John Poulett, 4th Earl Poulett

John Poulett, 4th Earl Poulett, KT (3 April 1756 – 14 January 1819), styled Viscount Hinton between 1764 and 1788, was a British peer and militia officer.

Arms of Poulett: Sable, three swords pilewise points in base proper pomels and hilts or

Poulett was the son of Vere Poulett, 3rd Earl Poulett, by Mary Butt, daughter of Richard Butt, of Arlington, Gloucestershire. From 22 January 1779 until 1798 he was Colonel of the East Devon Militia, which was on active service in home defence until 1783.[1][2]

He succeeded his father in the earldom in 1788.[3] In 1792 he was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Somerset,[4] a post he held until his death. He was also a Recorder of Bridgwater. The East Devon Militia was again embodied, under his colonelcy, for active service in March 1794,[5] and he was also commissioned colonel of the Somersetshire Fencible Cavalry.[6] On 30 May, he was invested a Knight of the Thistle.[7] He was appointed a Lord of the Bedchamber to George III on 19 November 1795, an office he held until his death.[8] When the colonel of the 1st Somerset Militia died, Poulett as lord lieutenant took personal command as colonel of the regiment on 25 October 1798.[1][9][10] He was also commissioned as colonel of the East Somerset Regiment of Yeomanry Cavalry on 17 September 1803.[9][11]

Margaret Smith-Burgess, portrait by George Romney

Lord Poulett married firstly Sophia Pocock, daughter of Admiral Sir George Pocock, in 1782. They had ten children, including Vice-Admiral the Honourable George Poulett, father of William Poulett, 6th Earl Poulett. One daughter, Lady Sophia Poulett, was the wife of Henry Vane, 2nd Duke of Cleveland, while another daughter, Lady Mary Poulett, was the second wife of Lord Charles Somerset. After Sophia's death in January 1811 Poulett married secondly Margaret Burges, daughter of Ynyr Burges and widow of Sir John Smith-Burges, 1st Baronet, in 1816. He died in January 1819, aged 62, and was succeeded in the earldom by his eldest son, John. The Countess Poulett died at Brighton on 28 May 1838.[12]

References
  1. Doyle, James William Edmund (1886). The Official Baronage of England, v. 3. London: Longmans, Green. p. 78.
  2. Col Henry Walrond, Historical Records of the 1st Devon Militia (4th Battalion The Devonshire Regiment), With a Notice of the 2nd and North Devon Militia Regiments, London: Longmans, 1897/Andesite Press, 2015, ISBN 978-1-37617881-4, Appendix A, p. 410.
  3. G. E. Cokayne, The Complete Peerage, vol X (1945) p. 622.
  4. "No. 13470". The London Gazette. 23 October 1792. p. 805.
  5. "No. 13633". The London Gazette. 18 March 1794. p. 245.
  6. "No. 13661". The London Gazette. 20 May 1794. p. 475.
  7. "No. 13665". The London Gazette. 27 May 1794. p. 497.
  8. Bucholz, Robert. "Index of Court Officers: Index P" (PDF). The Database of Court Officers 1660–1837. Department of History, Loyola University Chicago. p. 82. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 October 2012. Retrieved 18 February 2012.
  9. War Office, A List of the Officers of the Militia, the Gentlemen & Yeomanry Cavalry, and Volunteer Infantry of the United Kingdom, 11th Edn, London: War Office, 14 October 1805/Uckfield: Naval and Military Press, 2005, ISBN 978-1-84574-207-2.
  10. W.J.W. Kerr, Records of the 1st Somerset Militia (3rd Bn. Somerset L.I.), Aldershot:Gale & Polden, 1930, p. 40.
  11. "No. 15802". The London Gazette. 27 April 1805. p. 574.
  12. G. E. Cokayne, The Complete Peerage, vol X (1945) p. 622.
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