with his Norman-descended family holding their seat at Portumna. During the years of the Great Hunger in Ireland, his record was mixed. A supporter of the British Whigs and a sitting member of the Russell Ministry, his principal aim was upholding the interests of the Anglo-Irish landowning class. Although he did not initiate mass clearances of destitute tenants from the estates, as Palmerston and Lansdowne were notoriously known for, there were more small-scale displacements over a longer period of time. de Burgh was the Crown's Lord Lieutenant of Galway during the Famine and did not condemn the large-scale evictions by his fellow Galway landowners, John Gerrard (and his wife Marcella Netterville) at Ballinlass, Christopher St George at Connemara and Patrick Blake at Tully. On the other hand, de Burgh highlighted in his correspondence with Russell and the Whig administration in Ireland the plight of starving tenants. He advocated a paternalistic state intervention, rather than a purely laissez-faire approach. He suggested state-sponsored public works and land drainage and sought to have corn depots set up in Loughrea and Portumna to distribute food. He donated some monies to local relief committees. de Burgh also financially assisted the emigration of poor tenants; this issue is controversial due to the fact that it still meant the displacement of the native population from the land, but supporters argue that it would have at least saved more lives (Charles Trevelyan opposed such programmes). de Burgh did not initiate any private work schemes on the estates under his control for tenants, like some neighbouring landlords, nor did he improve agriculture on the estates. Family Lord Clanricarde married the Hon. Harriet Canning (13 April 1804 – 8 January 1876), daughter of Prime Minister George Canning, on 4 April 1825 at Gloucester Lodge in Brompton. The couple had seven children: Lady Elizabeth Joanna de Burgh (22 February 1826 – 26 February 1854); married Henry Lascelles, 4th Earl of Harewood Ulick Canning de Burgh, Lord Dunkellin (12 July 1827 – 16 August 1867) Lady Emily Charlotte de Burgh (19 October 1828 – 10 October 1912); married Richard Boyle, 9th Earl of Cork Lady Catherine de Burgh (c. 1830 – 8 April 1895); married John Weyland, and together they had a son. Lady Margaret Anne de Burgh (c. 1831 – 31 March 1888); married Wentworth Beaumont, 1st Baron Allendale Hubert George de Burgh-Canning, 2nd Marquess of Clanricarde (30 November 1832 –