George Richard St John, 3rd Viscount Bolingbroke (5 March 1761 – 11 December 1824), styled The Honourable George St John from his birth until 1787, was a British politician. He became famous in his own lifetime for embarking on an extra-marital relationship with his own half-sister, Mary Beauclerk (his mother's daughter by her second marriage), that produced four sons. The two lovers had to leave England and live on the continent for a time.
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Background
He was the elder son of the famously unhappy marriage between Frederick St John, 2nd Viscount Bolingbroke and Diana Spencer, daughter of Charles Spencer, 3rd Duke of Marlborough. St John was educated at Eton College in Berkshire and Christ Church, Oxford, where he matriculated in 1777. He succeeded his father as viscount in 1787.
Career
St John entered the British House of Commons for Cricklade in 1782, at the age of 21, representing the constituency as Member of Parliament (MP) until 1784.
Family
On 26 February 1783, he married firstly Charlotte Collins, daughter of his former tutor Thomas Collins. He had by her two sons and a daughter.