Peregrine Osborne, 2nd Duke of Leeds (1659 – 25 June 1729), styled
Lord Osborne between 1673 and 1689,
Earl of Danby between 1689 and 1694 and
Marquess of Carmarthen between 1694 and 1712, was an
English Tory politician.
Background
Osborne was the second son of the
Thomas Osborne (later 1st
Duke of Leeds) and his wife, Bridget, a daughter of the
2nd Earl of Lindsey. In 1673, his father was created
Viscount Osborne in the
Peerage of Scotland, but surrendered the title in favour of Peregrine when the former was created
Viscount Latimer in the
Peerage of England later that year.
Political career
In 1677, Osborne sat in Parliament as
MP for
Berwick-upon-Tweed and then briefly for
Corfe Castle when he succeeded his brother to the seat in 1679. In 1689, he briefly sat in Parliament again, this time for
York. He held the seat for almost a year when he left the Commons in 1689 after being
called up to House of Lords in his father's
barony of Osborne.
From them on, however, he did not take an active role in the Lords, instead choosing a career in the
Royal Navy and eventually becoming
Vice Admiral of the Red in 1702/03. He was involved in the
Attack on Brest on 18 June 1694. As a ship designer he served as liaison with the Russian
Tsar Peter the Great on his visit to London in 1698. He also helped negotiate a proposal of tobacco merchants to ship their products to Russia.
Family
On 25 April 1682, he married Bridget Hyde (the only daughter and heiress of
Sir Thomas......
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