The Rt.Hon. George Hampden Evans (died 2 July 1842) was an Irish

Irish people

The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...

 politician.

He was the eldest son of Captain Hampden Evans and his wife Margaret née Davis of Portrane

Portrane

Portrane or Portraine ) is a small seaside town one kilometre from, and merging into the larger town of Donabate in Fingal, north County Dublin, Ireland.- St. Ita's Hospital :...

, County Dublin

County Dublin

County Dublin is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Dublin Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the city of Dublin which is the capital of Ireland. County Dublin was one of the first of the parts of Ireland to be shired by King John of England following the...

. in 1805 he married Sophia Parnell, only daughter of Sir John Parnell former Chancellor of the Exchequer of Ireland. The Evans family were the principal landowners in the Portrane area, and in 1820, on the death of his father, George inherited the family estates. He was High Sheriff of County Dublin

High Sheriff of County Dublin

The High Sheriff of County Dublin was the Sovereign's judicial representative in County Dublin. Initially an office for lifetime, assigned by the Sovereign, the High Sheriff became an annual appointment following the Provisions of Oxford in 1258. Besides his judicial importance, the sheriff had...

 in 1829–1830.

At the 1832 general election

United Kingdom general election, 1832

-Seats summary:-Parties and leaders at the general election:The Earl Grey had been Prime Minister since 22 November 1830. His was the first predominantly Whig administration since the Ministry of all the Talents in 1806-1807....

, Evans was elected to the United Kingdom House of Commons as member of parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 for County Dublin. He described himself as an independent, although he took the Whig whip

Whip (politics)

A whip is an official in a political party whose primary purpose is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. Whips are a party's "enforcers", who typically offer inducements and threaten punishments for party members to ensure that they vote according to the official party policy...

. In June 1834 he was involved in an angry public confrontation with Daniel O'Connell

Daniel O'Connell

Daniel O'Connell Daniel O'Connell Daniel O'Connell (6 August 1775 – 15 May 1847; often referred to as The Liberator, or The Emancipator, was an Irish political leader in the first half of the 19th century...

, leader of the Repeal Association

Repeal Association

The Repeal Association was an Irish mass membership political movement set up by Daniel O'Connell to campaign for a repeal of the Act of Union of 1800 between Great Britain and Ireland....

. O'Connell dismissed Evans as both a landlord and a Whig. Evans replied that "I belong to no party, I have no object in view but the happiness and prosperity of Ireland." He was highly critical of what he saw as O'Connell's autocratic leadership style and assumption that he represented all shades of Irish opinion. He argued that O'Connell was trying to silence the "men of property and education" adding that he would sooner "be doomed to perpetual exile than submit to such a tyranny". By November 1834 the two parliamentarians had patched up their differences, jointly forming an Anti-Tory Association in Dublin. He was appointed to the Privy Council of Ireland

Privy Council of Ireland

The Privy Council of Ireland was an institution of the Kingdom of Ireland until 31 December 1800 and of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland 1801-1922...

 by Lord Fortescue, the Lord Lieutenant

Lord Lieutenant of Ireland

The Lord Lieutenant of Ireland was the British King's representative and head of the Irish executive during the Lordship of Ireland , the Kingdom of Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...

.

Evans held his seat at the general elections of 1835

United Kingdom general election, 1835

The 1835 United Kingdom general election was called when Parliament was dissolved on 29 December 1834. Polling took place between 6 January and 6 February 1835, and the results saw Robert Peel's Conservatives make large gains from their low of the 1832 election, but the Whigs maintained a large...

 and 1837

United Kingdom general election, 1837

The 1837 United Kingdom general election saw Robert Peel's Conservatives close further on the position of the Whigs, who won their fourth election of the decade....

, but was unseated in 1841

United Kingdom general election, 1841

-Seats summary:-Whig MPs who lost their seats:*Viscount Morpeth - Chief Secretary for Ireland*Sir George Strickland, Bt*Sir Henry Barron, 1st Baronet-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987...

. He died suddenly at his residence, Portrane House, from what was described as "an attack of flying gout to the heart". In 1844 his widow built a replica of an Irish round tower

Round tower

Round tower may refer to:Types of tower:* Irish round tower, a type of early mediaeval stone tower* Broch, a type of Iron Age drystone structure found in Scotland* Round-tower church, a type of church found mainly in England...

in his memory, which now stands in the grounds of St Ita's Hospital, Portrane.