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RICE, Hon. George Talbot (1765-1852), of Newton alias Dynevor, Carm.
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Biography Detail
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Constituency
Dates
Family and Education
b. 8 Oct. 1765, 1st s. of George Rice† of Newton by Lady Cecil Talbot, s.j. Baroness Dynevor, da. and h. of William, 1st Earl Talbot. educ. Westminster 1773; Christ Church, Oxf. 1783. m. 20 Oct. 1794, Hon. Frances Townshend, da. of Thomas Townshend†, 1st Visct. Sydney, 1s. 6da. suc. fa. 1770; mother as 3rd Baron Dynevor 14 Mar. 1793 and took name of De Cardonnel 30 Apr. 1793; resumed name of Rice 4 Feb. 1817.
Offices Held
Mayor, Carmarthen 1790; ld. lt. Carm. June 1804-d.
Capt. commdt. Carm. yeoman cav. 1794, maj. commdt. 1814; lt. col. 1 batt. Carm. vols. 1803, col. commdt. 1 regt. Carm. militia 1808; col. R. Carm. fusiliers 1821.
Biography
In 1790 Rice obtained the county seat unopposed by renewing his family’s alliance with John George Philipps* of Cwmgwili: his father had represented Carmarthenshire on the same terms with the concurrence of Philipps’s father.1 Rice eschewed, however, the Blue colours of the Cwmgwili Whigs and sported those of the ‘Gray Coats Independent’: moreover, he accepted the assistance of the Red deputy recorder of Carmarthen, Herbert Lloyd: these acts were symptomatic of the transference of the house of Dynevor from the Whigs to the Tories.2
Rice is not recorded as having voted against ministers in Parliament, where he made no known speech. He was listed among opponents of repeal of the Test Act in Scotland in 1791. He was subsequently a friend to Pitt’s government3 and ‘Lord Done-Over’ to his foes. Having succeeded to his mother’s barony in 1793, he became the leader of the Reds in the county, marrying into a ministerialist family. In 1796, having only an infant heir (his only brother was a clergyman), he committed the faux pas of putting up his brother-in-law Dorien Magens both for the borough and the county (Magens eventually lost both). He was, however, largely responsible for the return of James Hamlyn Williams in 1802 and of Lord Robert Seymour in 1807 and his son obtained the county seat at the first opportunity after coming of age. He also led the Red opposition in Carmarthen borough, which did not triumph until 1821, by which time he had ceased to be effective leader. His politics remained conservative. He died 9 Apr. 1852.
