George William Tighe

George William Tighe (25 February 1776March 1837) was an Irish agricultural theorist who spent much of his life in Italy. Through his marriage to Margaret King, he exerted an influence on the radical poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. Family background George William Tighe was the son of Edward Tighe, an Irish lawyer, writer and politician, and his wife Ann Jones from Co. Westmeath. Edward's siblings included other MPs, Theodosia Blachford, a prominent Methodist, and Rev. Thomas Tighe, who was instrumental in helping the young Patrick Bronte, The poet Mary Tighe was one of George's cousins. Scientific career A scholar of Claire Clairmont's life characterises Tighe as achieving "some degree of fame for his agricultural writings". As an Irishman, he took his interest in potatoes abroad. While living in Italy, he had samples of the tubers sent to him from various regions, concluding gloomily that they were all of the same variety.