George Edgcumbe, 1st Earl of Mount Edgcumbe

George Edgcumbe, 1st Earl of Mount Edgcumbe
George Edgcumbe, 1st Earl of Mount Edgcumbe, by Joshua Reynolds
Born	3 March 1720
Died	4 February 1795 (1795-02-05) (aged 74)
Allegiance	Kingdom of Great Britain
Service/branch	Royal Navy
Rank	Admiral
Commands held	Plymouth Command
Battles/wars	Seven Years' War

George Edgcumbe, 1st Earl of Mount Edgcumbe, PC (3 March 1720 – 4 February 1795) was a British peer, naval officer and politician.

Edgcumbe was the second surviving son of Richard Edgcumbe, 1st Baron Edgcumbe and his wife Matilda, the only child of Sir Henry Furnese. He is thought to have been educated at Eton.

He was commissioned a lieutenant in the Royal Navy in 1739 and in 1742 was promoted to be commander of the bomb vessel HMS Terrible. In the course of 1743 he was appointed acting captain of the 20-gun HMS Kennington, and was officially confirmed on 19 August 1744. He commanded her in the Mediterranean until 1745, when he was advanced to the 50-gun HMS Salisbury. This ship, as part of the Western Fleet under Edward Hawke and Edward Boscawen, initially patrolled the Bay of Biscay during the War of the Austrian Succession. Her ship's surgeon was James Lind, who conducted his experiments on scurvy during such a patrol in 1747. The war ended in 1748. About this time Edgcumbe was painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds and the Salisbury appears in the background.

In 1746, Edgcumbe was returned as Member of Parliament for Fowey at a by-election, on his father's interest. He was considered a government Whig, but rarely attended Parliament as he was at sea. In 1747, he was appointed Clerk of the Council of the Duchy of Lancaster, an office he retained until 1762.