George Nugent, 7th Earl of Westmeath

George Frederick Nugent, 7th Earl of Westmeath PC (18 November 1760 – 30 December 1814), styled Lord Delvin until 1792, was an Irish peer. He gained some notoriety in his lifetime due to his unhappy first marriage, which ended in divorce, following a much-publicised action for criminal conversation.

Nugent was the only surviving son of Thomas Nugent, 6th Earl of Westmeath, by his second wife Catherine White, daughter of Henry White of Pitchfordstown, County Kildare. He sat in the Irish House of Commons as member for Fore from 1780 until 1792, when he succeeded his father in the earldom. He became a member of the Irish Privy Council the following year, and held the offices of Custos Rotulorum for Westmeath and Auditor of Foreign Accounts. He was a Colonel in the Westmeath Militia.

As a young man he was described as "gay, social and convivial". At the age of 24 he married Maryanne Jeffries, who was about a year older. She was the daughter of Major James St.John Jeffries of Blarney Castle and Arabella Fitzgibbon, sister of John Fitzgibbon, 1st Earl of Clare. She was described as a young woman of "great beauty, education and high accomplishments". It was generally regarded as a love marriage, and according to the evidence at the trial, in its early years it was happy. After about six years the couple effectively parted, he living in Ireland, she in London. At an unknown date Maryanne became intimate with Augustus Cavendish-Bradshaw, younger son of Sir Henry Cavendish, 2nd Baronet and brother of the future Baron Waterpark.

There is no reason to doubt the claim made by Lord Westmeath's counsel at the trial that he hesitated for a long time before deciding on divorce: divorce then invariably caused scandal, and the process was slow and expensive, requiring a Private Act of Parliament. Although he was a rich man, financial motives may partly explain his decision to sue for criminal conversation, seeking the (then) very large sum of £20,000; such a suit was also then a necessary first step towards divorce.

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