George Parker, 4th Earl of Macclesfield PC (24 February 1755 – 20 March 1842), styled Viscount Parker between 1764 and 1795, was a British peer and politician.

Background

Macclesfield was the son of Thomas Parker, 3rd Earl of Macclesfield

Thomas Parker, 3rd Earl of Macclesfield

Thomas Parker, 3rd Earl of Macclesfield FRS , styled Viscount Parker between 1732 and 1764, was a British peer and politician.-Background:...

, and Mary, daughter of Sir William Heathcote, 1st Baronet

Sir William Heathcote, 1st Baronet

Sir William Heathcote, 1st Baronet was a British merchant and politician.Heathcote was a successful merchant who purchased the Hursley estate in 1718. Between the years of 1721 and 1724 William built a red brick, Queen Anne style mansion now known as Hursley House on the site of a hunting lodge...

.

Political career

Macclesfield was returned to Parliament for Woodstock

Woodstock (UK Parliament constituency)

Woodstock, sometimes called New Woodstock, was a parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom. It comprised the town of Woodstock in the county of Oxfordshire and the surrounding countryside and villages, and elected two Members of Parliament from its re-enfranchisement in 1553 until 1832...

 in 1777, a seat he held until 1784, and later represented Minehead

Minehead (UK Parliament constituency)

Minehead was a parliamentary borough in Somerset, which elected two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons from 1563 until 1832, when the borough was abolished by the Great Reform Act.- MPs 1563–1629 :...

 between 1790 and 1795. In 1791 he was sworn of the Privy Council and appointed Comptroller of the Household

Comptroller of the Household

The Comptroller of the Household is an ancient position in the English royal household, currently the second-ranking member of the Lord Steward's department, and often a cabinet member. He was an ex officio member of the Board of Green Cloth, until that body was abolished in the reform of the local...

, which he remained until 1797. In 1795 he succeeded his father in the earldom and entered the House of Lords

House of Lords

The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....

. From 1804 to 1830 he held office as Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard

Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard

The Captain of the Queen's Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard is a UK government post usually held by the Government Deputy Chief Whip in the House of Lords...

 under eight different prime ministers.

He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in November 1818.

Family

Lord Macclesfield married Mary Frances, daughter of Reverend Thomas Drake, in 1780. She died in January 1823. Macclesfield died in March 1842, aged 87, and was succeeded in the earldom by his younger brother, Thomas.

Canal and Park

Lord Macclesfield was a director of the Regent's Canal from 1812 and its Chairman from 1816. He was appointed as a Commissioner of the Crown Estates and Paving Commission in August 1824. As Chair of the canal company he saw it through its most testing times as a variety of problems and obstacles had to be surmounted before the canal could be opened in 1820.