King, George (1771–1839), 3rd earl of Kingston, MP and militia colonel, was born 28 April 1771 in Chelsea, London, eldest son of Robert King (qv), 2nd earl of Kingston, and his wife Caroline, daughter and heir of Richard Fitzgerald of Mount Ophaly, Co. Kildare. Styled Lord Kingsborough in his youth, and usually known as ‘Big George’, he was a godson of George III and later became a favourite of the prince of Wales. His early education was at Eton (1781–7) and his portrait, painted by George Romney, was presented to the college when he left. He matriculated for Exeter College, Oxford, in November 1787 but there is no record of him taking his degree. Around 1791 he eloped to the West Indies with a Miss Johnstone, who later bore him three children. Although it is believed that the couple were married, his father persuaded him to return to Ireland, and in May 1794 he married Helena, only daughter of Stephen Moore, 1st earl of Mountcashell. He was one of the first members of the Orange order, and in 1796 was appointed as a captain of the Roscommon Cavalry, a Yeomanry corps, and soon afterwards became colonel of the North Cork Militia.
In 1797 he became MP for Roscommon borough, a seat controlled by his family. In the same year, he aided his father in his vendetta against Col. Henry Fitzgerald after Fitzgerald's elopement with his sister Mary. In April 1798 his regiment moved to Wexford and he was captured while sailing off Wexford town in June. Amazingly he was not executed and secured prisoner-of-war status from the rebel leader, Matthew Keugh (qv). Several times mobs gathered outside his lodgings in the ‘Cape of Good Hope’ tavern on the quayside but were turned away. He escaped being executed with other loyalists on Wexford bridge on 20 June and, as the forces of Gen. Lake (qv) approached the town the next day, he concluded terms of surrender with the United Irish leadership. He sent emissaries to Lake to inform him that he had agreed terms. Despite the fact that he had guaranteed the safety of the United Irish leaders, Lake's men embarked on a series of reprisals and executions. Fr Philip Roche (qv), Beauchamp Bagenal Harvey (qv), and Matthew Keugh were executed and, despite his later brutal reputation, King protested to both Lake and Gen. Abercromby (qv).
During the rebellion he came to be renowned for his brutality. His North Cork Militia became synonymous with the summary execution and arbitrary torture of prisoners. He encouraged his men in these practices and ordered prisoners to be mutilated, whipped, and subjected to pitch-capping. Since his teenage years he had been renowned for his predatory attitude to women, but this reached new proportions during the rebellion. He boasted that he had secured sexual favours in return for promising women that their menfolk would be spared, guaranteeing them ‘If you grant me one favour, I'll grant you another’, but complained ‘I have been very unfortunate, since out of all these I have hitherto only had two maidenheads’ (cited in Todd, 198).
After the rebellion he accused Capt. (later Gen.) Philip Hay of the 18th Light Dragoons of being in league with the United Irishmen. Hay was naturally furious and confronted King, challenging him to a duel. King declined, stating that he did not consider Hay to be a gentleman, and later set out his version of events in a pamphlet, Narrative of the proceedings of the commissioners of suffering loyalists (Dublin, 1808).
He was appointed recorder of Boyle in 1799. His career as an MP was brief and he voted against the act of union in 1799. Following the death of his father in April 1799, he became 3rd earl of Kingston and took his seat in the Irish lords on 2 May 1799. He voted against the union in the lords and when the act was passed received £15,000 in compensation for the Boyle borough, which had been in his family's control. He was a representative peer for Ireland (1807–39) and was a supporter of catholic emancipation. In July 1821 he was created Baron Kingston (in the UK peerage) and attended George IV during his visit to Ireland. Following the death of his mother (1823) he took control of the family's Mitchelstown estate and embarked on an expensive programme of restoration. He was determined to create an impressive castle, fit to accommodate George IV during future royal visits. His plans included provision for royal apartments, which were named the ‘Royal Tower’, and the costs for the renovations have been estimated variously at between £100,000 and £200,000. He also had the family shooting lodge in the Galtees rebuilt and engaged in a costly legal battle with his brother, Lord Lorton, over the family's Sligo property.
Within a few years of succeeding to one of the richest estates in Ireland, he was facing bankruptcy and suffered a mental breakdown. In 1830 he summoned his newly emancipated catholic tenants to the house to berate them for not supporting his candidate in the election. As his tenants pressed into the great hall he began to scream: ‘They are come to tear me in pieces’ (Todd, 336). By 1832, when he was committed for the last time, he had been confined in an asylum on at least two previous occasions. He died in a private asylum for the mentally ill in London on 18 October 1839 and his remains were returned to Mitchelstown for burial.
By his legal wife, Helena Moore, he had three sons and two daughters. Their eldest son, the antiquarian Edward King (qv), Viscount Kingsborough, died in the debtors’ prison in Dublin in 1837. Their second son, Robert Henry King (1796–1867), succeeded as 4th earl of Kingston and, renowned for his unusual behaviour, died in an asylum in 1867. Their youngest son, James King (1800–69), succeeded as 5th earl of Kingston, and did much to restore the fortunes of the Mitchelstown estate.