He was the eldest surviving son of
Edward King, 1st Earl of Kingston and Jane Caulfeild. From 1767 to 1768 he was educated at
Eton College. He sat in the
Irish House of Commons as the
Member of Parliament for
Boyle from 1776 to 1783, and for
County Cork between 1783 and 1797, and served as a
Governor of County Cork in 1789. In 1797 he succeeded to his father's titles and assumed his seat in the
Irish House of Lords. Between 1797 and his death he was
Custos Rotulorum of Roscommon. On 18 May 1798, he was tried by his peers in the Irish House of Lords after allegedly murdering his nephew Colonel Henry Gerald FitzGerald. FitzGerald was a married man who eloped with King's daughter Mary, and had submitted to an inconclusive duel with her brother
Robert. Public sympathy was on King's side and when after three summonses no witnesses came forward he was acquitted. The
Lord Chancellor pronounced the verdict, broke his wand and dismissed the assembly.
Family He married Caroline FitzGerald, daughter of
Richard FitzGerald and Margaret King, on 5 December 1769, from whom he later separated. Together they had nine children: • Hon. John King (died young) • Hon. Mary King •
George King, Viscount Kingsborough (28 April 1771 – 18 October 1839), succeeded to his father's titles and married Lady Helena Moore, daughter of
Stephen Moore, 1st Earl Mountcashell •
Hon. Henry King (1772 – 26 November 1839), married Mary Hewitt •
Hon. Edward King (1772 – 14 February 1848) •
Lady Margaret King (1773 – 29 January 1835), writer, married 1st
Stephen Moore, 2nd Earl Mountcashell and 2nd
George William Tighe, agricultural theorist •
Hon. Robert King (12 August 1773 – 20 November 1854), raised to the peerage as
Viscount Lorton, married Lady Frances Parsons, daughter of
Laurence Parsons, 1st Earl of Rosse • Hon. Richard FitzGerald King (8 April 1779 – 22 September 1856), married Williamina Ross • Lady Jane Diana King (1780 - 9 April 1838), married 1st
Count Wintzingerode (1778-1856), foreign minister of the
king of Württemberg; 2nd General John de Ricci.
A Naval Biographical Dictionary (1849) by
William Richard O'Byrne states that Robert King had a sixth son, James William, who became a rear-admiral in 1846. He married Caroline Cleaver, daughter of the
Archbishop of Dublin; one of their daughters was the prominent evangelist
Catherine King Pennefather. ==References==