Robert King, 4th Earl of Kingston

Kingston served in the British army in occupied France after the fall of the Emperor Napoleon.

Kingston was returned to Parliament for County Cork in 1826 (succeeding his elder brother Lord Kingsborough), a seat he held until 1832.

He gained the courtesy title Viscount Kingsborough when he became heir apparent to the earldom on the death of his elder brother in 1837.

When Cull resisted his advances, Kingston gave him money to buy a glass of ale at a nearby public house, and left quickly.

The next morning he appeared before a magistrate and was charged with indecent assault on the younger man—a misdemeanour at that time—and was required to post bail in the astronomical amount of £10,000 (equivalent to £1,270,000 in 2023[2]).