Sir George Downing, 3rd Baronet, KB was a politician and, through a donation in his will, the founder of Downing College, Cambridge.
Background
He was only son of Sir George Downing, 2nd Baronet, and his wife, Lady Catherine Cecil, daughter of James Cecil, 3rd Earl of Salisbury. His mother died in 1688, and, with his father considered an unsuitable parent, he was brought up in the family of his maternal aunt, the wife of Sir William Forester of Dothill Park, in Wellington, Shropshire.
Career
He lost the 1715 election but, with the aid of a 99-year lease from George I for the borough, regained the seat in 1722. He held the seat from that time until his death. He was an uninspiring politician, but remained loyal to the ministries of Robert Walpole and subsequently Henry Pelham.
In 1732, as a result of his loyalty, he was created a Knight Companion of the Order of the Bath.
Downing succeeded to his father"s baronetcy and estates in 1711. Sir Jacob Downing died childless in 1764, but his widow, Lady Downing, argued that Downing"s fortune should pass to her.
This case was tied up in litigation for decades before the courts finally ordered that the fortune should be used to found a college at Cambridge, which occurred with the founding of Downing College, Cambridge in 1800.
Membership
3rd Parliament of Great Britain. 4th Parliament of Great Britain. 6th Parliament of Great Britain.
7th Parliament of Great Britain.
8th Parliament of Great Britain. 9th Parliament of Great Britain.
10th Parliament of Great Britain]
He was a Member of Parliament for the pocket borough of Dunwich, Suffolk in the parliaments of 1710 and 1713.