Family and Education

b. 27 Mar. 1772, 1st s. of William Charles Colyear, 3rd Earl of Portmore [S], by Lady Mary Leslie, da. of John, 10th Earl of Rothes [S]. m. (1) 26 May 1793, Lady Mary Elizabeth Bertie (d. 10 Feb. 1797), da. and h. of Brownlow Bertie^†, 5th Duke of Ancaster, 1s. d.v.p.; (2) 6 Sept. 1828, Frances, da. of William Murrells, s.p. suc. fa. as 4th Earl of Portmore [S] 15 Nov. 1823.

Offices Held

Col. R. North Lincs. militia 1795-d., brevet col. 1795.

Biography

Milsington came in for Boston after a contest in 1796, standing on the interest of his father-in-law the Duke of Ancaster. On 14 Dec. 1796 he was granted two weeks’ leave of absence for his private affairs. He voted for Pitt’s assessed taxes, 4 Jan. 1798, and is not known to have spoken or opposed government. His distractions after his wife’s death proved expensive: early in 1802 he had to pay £2,000 damages for crim. con. ‘with Mrs Jackson, daughter of Colonel Bishop’.1 He did not seek re-election that year.

He died on the Continent 18 Jan. 1835, whereupon the title became extinct. His only son, who in 1809 became heir to the Ancaster estate once he reached the age of 25, was murdered by banditti in Italy in 1819.2

Ref Volumes: 1790-1820

Author: Arthur Aspinall

Notes

• 1. Edinburgh Advertiser, 12-15 Jan. 1802. Perhaps she was the Harriet Jackson Shepperton who bore him two sons in 1805 and 1807. Both entered the Bengal army.
• 2. Gent. Mag. (1819), i. 279.