Henry Seymour Conway (1721-9 July 1795) was Leader of the House of Commons from 14 July 1765 to 20 October 1768, succeeding George Grenville and preceding Frederick North.
Biography[]
Henry Seymour Conway was born in Chelsea, Middlesex, England in 1721, and he went to Eton College with his cousin Horace Walpole. He joined the British Army dragoons in 1737 as a lieutenant, and he was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel in 1742. In 1741, he was elected to the Irish Parliament for County Antrim, and to the British Parliament for Higham Ferrers that same year; he changed constituencies several times. Seymour Conway also fought in the War of the Austrian Succession at the Battle of Dettingen and the Battle of Fontenoy in Europe, at the Battle of Culloden in Scotland, and at the Battle of Lauffeld back in Europe, in which he was he was captured by the French Army and later paroled. In 1755, he was promoted to Major-General, and he was made Chief Secretary for Ireland that same year. He was removed from field command after a failed 1757 expedition to Rochefort, France, but he was promoted to Lieutenant-General in 1759. In 1761, he was re-elected to the House of Commons as the MP for Thetford, and he became a member of the Whigs; he was dismissed from his post as Groom of the Bedchamber in 1764 for his opposition to King George III's legal actions against the reformist John Wilkes. Seymour Conway urged a moderate approach to the situation in the Thirteen Colonies, supporting the repeal of the Stamp Act and opposing taxation. In 1772, he was made a full general, and he became commander-in-chief of the forces under Lord Rockingham in 1782. He retained this post until his 1793 retirement, upon which he was promoted to Field Marshal. He died in Remenham, Berkshire in 1795.