John Perceval, 2nd Earl of Egmont PC, FRS (25 February 1711 – 4 December 1770) was a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 politician, political pamphleteer, and genealogist. He is noted for holding the office of First Lord of the Admiralty.

The son of John Perceval, 1st Earl of Egmont

John Perceval, 1st Earl of Egmont

John Perceval, 1st Earl of Egmont PC, FRS , known as Sir John Perceval, 5t, from 1691 to 1715, as The Lord Perceval from 1715 to 1722 and as The Viscount Perceval from 1722 to 1733, was an Anglo-Irish politician....

 and Catherine Parker (daughter of Sir Philip Parker, 2nd Baronet of Arwarton), he was baptised at Westminster Palace, London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

.

Career

Perceval sat in the Irish House of Commons

Irish House of Commons

The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland, that existed from 1297 until 1800. The upper house was the House of Lords...

 for Dingle

Dingle (Parliament of Ireland constituency)

Dingle was a constituency represented in the Irish House of Commons to 1800.- Boundaries and Boundary Changes :This constituency was based in the town of Dingle in County Kerry.- History :...

 between 1731 and 1749. In April 1748, he was created Lord of the Bedchamber

Lord of the Bedchamber

A Lord of the Bedchamber, previously known as a Gentleman of the Bedchamber was a courtier in the Royal Household of the King of the United Kingdom and the Prince of Wales. A Lord of the Bedchamber's duties consisted of assisting the King with his dressing, waiting on him when he ate in private,...

 to the Prince of Wales

Frederick, Prince of Wales

Frederick, Prince of Wales was a member of the House of Hanover and therefore of the Hanoverian and later British Royal Family, the eldest son of George II and father of George III, as well as the great-grandfather of Queen Victoria...

. He served as First Lord of the Admiralty from 1763 to 1766 and sat in the House of Commons

British House of Commons

The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...

 for several constituencies.

Enmore Castle

From 1751 to 1757, he designed and created Enmore Castle

Enmore Castle

Enmore Castle is a historic building in the village of Enmore, Somerset, England. It is a Grade II listed building.-Construction:Enmore was the seat of the family of William Malet who built a great house, although the original date of construction is uncertain. The house passed to Elizabeth Malet...

, Enmore, Somerset

Enmore, Somerset

Enmore is a village and civil parish west of Bridgwater on the Quantock Hills in the Sedgemoor district of Somerset, England. The parish includes the hamlet of Bare Ash.-History:The parish name means Duck marsh....

, which received 'the dismissive mockery of Horace Walpole'.

Family

He was twice married, firstly to Lady Catherine Cecil (d. 1752), and secondly to Catherine Compton. There were eight sons and eight daughters. One of his younger sons from the second marriage was Spencer Perceval

Spencer Perceval

Spencer Perceval, KC was a British statesman and First Lord of the Treasury, making him de facto Prime Minister. He is the only British Prime Minister to have been assassinated...

, later British Prime Minister.

Lord Perceval died 4 December 1770 at Pall Mall, London

Pall Mall, London

Pall Mall is a street in the City of Westminster, London, and parallel to The Mall, from St. James's Street across Waterloo Place to the Haymarket; while Pall Mall East continues into Trafalgar Square. The street is a major thoroughfare in the St James's area of London, and a section of the...

, aged 59.

Mount Egmont

Mount Egmont in New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

 was named after him by James Cook

James Cook

Captain James Cook, FRS, RN was a British explorer, navigator and cartographer who ultimately rose to the rank of captain in the Royal Navy...

 in recognition of his encouragement of Cook's first voyage. Since the 1980s, the mountain has two official names, either Mount Taranaki or Mount Egmont, to give equal recognition to its Māori

Maori language

Māori or te reo Māori , commonly te reo , is the language of the indigenous population of New Zealand, the Māori. It has the status of an official language in New Zealand...

and English names.