Sir Gerard Noel, 2nd Baronet

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Sir Gerard Noel, 2nd Baronet (17 July 1759-25 February 1838), of Welham Grove in Leicestershire and Exton Park in Rutland, was an English Member of Parliament.

He was born as Gerard Noel Edwards, the son of Gerard Edwards of Welham Grove and Lady Jane Noel, daughter of the 4th Earl of Gainsborough. After education at Eton College and St John's College, Cambridge, he became partner in a Westminster banking house. He entered Parliament in 1784 as member for Maidstone. However, on the death of his cousin, Thomas Noel, MP for Rutland, he resigned so as to be elected for that county (where the Noels had regularly held one of the seats for centuries). He represented Rutland (in two spells) for well over forty years. Initially a supporter of Pitt the Younger, he was one of a group of MPs who in 1788 tried to form a third party independent of both Pitt and Charles James Fox; in later years, however, he was a consistent Tory.

In 1798 he inherited the estates of his uncle, Henry Noel, 6th Earl of Gainsborough (though not the peerage, which could not pass through the female line), and changed his surname to Noel.

Noel married three times. His first marriage, in 1780, was to Diana Middleton (d. 1823), daughter of Captain Charles Middleton, the Comptroller of the Navy. The following year Middleton was created a baronet, with a special remainder to his new son-in-law should he have no sons of his own. Middleton later became First Lord of the Admiralty and was raised to a peerage as Lord Barham; he died on 17 June 1813 without male issue, and Noel consequently inherited his baronetcy, while Noel's wife inherited the peerage. They had at least fifteen children:

Charles Noel Noel (1781-1866), MP, who succeeded to his father's baronetcy and his mother's barony, later created Earl of Gainsborough
Rev. Gerard Thomas Noel (1782-1851), a canon of Winchester
Major Horace Noel (1783-1807)
Henry Robert Noel(1784-1800)
William Middleton Noel (1789-1859), MP for Rutland 1838-1840
Captain Frederic Noel (1790-1833), a naval officer
Rev. Francis James Noel (1793-1854), Rector of Teston and Nettlestead in Kent
Berkeley Octavius Noel (1794-1841)
Rev. Leland Noel (1797-1870), Vicar of Exton
Baptist Wriothesley Noel (1799-1873)
Louisa Elizabeth Noel (d. 1816), who married William Hoare (d. 1819)
Emma Noel (d. 1873), who married Stafford O'Brien (d. 1864)
Charlotte Margaret Noel (d. 1869), who married (first, in 1813) Thomas Welman and (second, in 1839) Thomas Thompson
Augusta Julia Noel (d. 1833), who married Thomas Babington (d. 1871)
Juliana Hicks Noel (d. 1855), who married Rev. Samuel Phillips

His second marriage, in 1823, was to Harriett Gill (d. 1826), and his third, in 1831, to Isabella Evans. Both these marriages were childless.

Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by Clement Taylor Sir Horatio Mann	Member of Parliament for Maidstone with Clement Taylor 1784–1788	Succeeded by Clement Taylor Sir Matthew Bloxham
Preceded by George Bridges Brudenell Thomas Noel	Member of Parliament for Rutland with George Bridges Brudenell 1788-1790 John Heathcote 1790-1795 Lord Sherard 1795-1796 Sir William Lowther 1796-1800 1788–1800	Succeeded by Parliament of the United Kingdom
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Parliament of Great Britain	Member of Parliament for Rutland with Sir William Lowther 1801-1802 The Lord Carbery 1802-1805 The Lord Henniker 1805-1808 1801–1808	Succeeded by Charles Noel Noel The Lord Henniker
Preceded by Charles Noel Noel Sir Gilbert Heathcote	Member of Parliament for Rutland with Sir Gilbert Heathcote 1814–1838	Succeeded by William Middleton Noel Sir Gilbert Heathcote
Baronetage of Great Britain
Preceded by Charles Middleton	Baronet (of The Navy) 1813-1838	Succeeded by Charles Noel Noel

[edit] References

Leigh Rayment's Peerage Page
Noel genealogy
Lewis Namier & John Brooke, The History of Parliament: The House of Commons 1754-1790 (London: HMSO, 1964)