George Cornewall

Sir George Cornewall, 2nd Baronet (8 November 1748 – 26 August 1819) of Moccas Court, Herefordshire, was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1774 and 1807. Origins Born George Amyand, he was the eldest son and heir of Sir George Amyand, 1st Baronet (1720–1766) by his wife Anna Maria Korteen, daughter of John Abraham Korteen, a Hamburg merchant. In 1766 he succeeded his father as 2nd Baronet and inherited his interest in the banking firm of Amyand, Staples and Mercer. Career Amyand was educated at Eton College then at Christ Church, Oxford, where he graduated Master of Arts in 1769. On 18 July 1771 he married Catherine Cornewall, only daughter and heiress of Velters Cornewall of Moccas in Herefordshire, MP. In 1771 he assumed by royal licence the surname and arms of Cornewall in lieu of his patronymic, in accordance with the bequest from his father-in-law, an inheritance which included Moccas Park in Herefordshire. In 1773 he received a Doctorate of Civil Law from the University of Oxford. Cornewall entered Parliament at the 1774 general election, as Member of Parliament for Herefordshire and held the seat until 1796. In 1784 he was a member of the St. Alban's Tavern group who tried to bring Fox and Pitt together. He was returned again for Herefordshire in a contest at the 1802 general election and was returned again in 1806. He decided not to face another contest at the 1807 general election. He was volunteer in the Herefordshire Militia and became its colonel in 1805.