James Agar, 1st Viscount Clifden
- For others named James Agar, see the James Agar navigation page
James Agar, 1st Viscount Clifden (25 March 1734 – 1 January 1789) was an Irish peer and politician[1] and held the office of one of the joint Postmasters General of Ireland
Family
He was the second son of Henry Agar, a former MP for Gowran, and Anne Ellis, and probably born at Gowran Castle on 25 March 1734. On 20 March 1760 James married Lucia Martin, widow of Henry Boyle-Walsingham. Together they had three children; Henry-Welbore, John Ellis, b. 31 December 1763, and Charles-Bagnell, b. 13 August 1765. Agar was made a Baron Clifden on 27 July 1776 and Viscount Clifden on 12 January 1781 and on 13 August 1794 became Baron Mendip. He died on 1 January 1789 when his eldest son became the second viscount and Baron Mendip.[2] Agar's younger brother was Charles Agar, first Earl of Normanton (1736–1809), who became the Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin.[3]
Politics
In addition to being a Member of Parliament (MP) for Gowran, for which he sat three times, from 1753 to 1761, again from 1768 to 1769 and finally from 1776 to 1777, he controlled three other borough seats through the strength of his family holdings. Between 1761 and 1776, he represented Kilkenny County[4] and between 1768 and 1769 Thomastown. He held the post of joint Postmaster General of Ireland between 1784 until 1789[4] with William Ponsonby, 1st Baron Ponsonby.
References
- ^ "Person Page 1793". thepeerage.com. Retrieved 21 February 2010.
- ^ Debrett, John (1809). The Peerage of the United Kingdom of Great Britain & Ireland. Vol. II. London: John Debrett. pp. 850–851.
- ^ "Charles Agar, Earl of Normanton". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
- ^ a b Smith Ellis, William (1856). Notices of the Ellises of England, Scotland and Ireland from the Conquest to the Present Time its lords and families, ancient and modern. p. 123.
External links
- Postmasters general of Ireland
- 1735 births
- 1788 deaths
- Irish MPs 1727–1760
- Irish MPs 1761–1768
- Irish MPs 1769–1776
- Irish MPs 1776–1783
- Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Kilkenny constituencies
- Viscounts in the Peerage of Ireland
- Members of the Privy Council of Ireland
- Peers of Ireland created by George III
- Agar-Robartes family
- Postmasters General of Ireland