John Perceval, 1st Earl of Egmont

John Perceval, 1st Earl of Egmont, PC, FRS (12 July 1683 – 1 May 1748), known as Sir John Perceval, Bt, 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.

Perceval was born at Burton, County Cork, the second son of Sir John Perceval, 3rd Baronet, and Catherine, daughter of Sir Edward Dering, 2nd Baronet. His great-grandfather was Sir Philip Perceval (1605–1647), who had obtained estates in Ireland and England from his father, Richard (1550–1620), through the death of his elder brother, Walter. Richard Perceval in 1616 had sold a great part (1,200l. a year, according to Lodge) of his ancient patrimony, and invested the sum realised in purchases and mortgages in County Cork, thus laying the foundation of the prosperity and property of his family there.

Sir Philip had three children by Catherine Ussher: Judith, John and George. John would later become the first Baronet and grandfather Egmont; George would father the Very Reverend William Perceval, grandfather to, amongst others, the Irish landlord Robert Perceval-Maxwell (1813-1905), William Perceval and Spencer Perceval, who together would purchase, administer and settle Amherst Island in Upper Canada.

John Perceval's father died when he was two, and in 1691, he succeeded his elder brother as fifth Baronet. The following year his mother also died. Perceval was educated at Westminster School, London, and at Magdalen College, Oxford. However, he left university without taking a degree.

In 1703, he was elected to the Irish House of Commons for County Cork, and in 1704 he was admitted to the Irish Privy Council. Perceval was again elected for County Cork in 1713. He sat until 1715, when he was raised to the Peerage of Ireland as Baron Perceval, of Burton in the County of Cork, with remainder to the heirs male of his father. In 1722, he was created Viscount Perceval, of Kanturk in the County of Cork, in the Peerage of Ireland, with remainder to his heirs male. Lord Perceval was elected to the British House of Commons for Harwich in 1727, which constituency he continued to represent until 1734, and was also a Recorder of Harwich from 1728 to 1734. In 1733, he was further honoured when he was made Earl of Egmont in the Peerage of Ireland. However, he rejected the offer of a British peerage three times. Apart from his political career, he was also a Fellow of the Royal Society.

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