George Saunderson, 5th Viscount Castleton

Who was George Saunderson, 5th Viscount Castleton?

George Saunderson, 5th Viscount Castleton was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1660 to 1698.

Saunderson was born in Fillingham, Lincolnshire, the son of Sir Nicholas Saunderson, 2nd Viscount Castleton and his wife Frances Manners, daughter of Sir George Manners of Haddon, Derbyshire. He inherited the viscountcy in the Peerage of Ireland in 1650 on the death of his brother.

In 1660, Saunderson was elected Member of Parliament for Lincolnshire in the Convention Parliament. He was re-elected MP for Lincolnshire in 1661 for the Cavalier Parliament and held the seat until 1698.

Saunderson died in Sandbeck, West Riding, Yorkshire at the age of 82.

Saunderson married firstly Grace Belasyse, daughter of Henry Belasyse and secondly, Lady Sarah Fanshawe, widow of both her first husband Sir John Wray, 3rd Baronet of Glentworth and her second husband Lord Thomas Fanshawe, 2nd Viscount Fanshawe, She was also the daughter of Sir John Evelyn of West Dean. Her father only left her five shillings in his will because he disapproved of her marriage to Lord Castleton.