Richard Boyle, 2nd Viscount Shannon

The Viscount Shannon
Unfinished portrait by Sir Godfrey Kneller (circa 1710) National Portrait Gallery
Born	1675 Westminster, Middlesex
Died	20 December 1740 (aged 65)
Allegiance	Kingdom of Great Britain
Service/branch	British Army
Rank	Field Marshal
Commands held	Ireland

Field Marshal Richard Boyle, 2nd Viscount Shannon PC (1675 – 20 December 1740) was a British military officer and statesman.

Military career

Born in Westminster, Middlesex, Boyle started his military career as a volunteer in the service of the Duke of Ormonde at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690. He went on to fight in the Battle of Landen in 1693. He was commissioned into Ormonde's Troop of Horse Guards the following year.

Boyle inherited the title of Viscount Shannon from his paternal grandfather, Francis Boyle, 1st Viscount Shannon, in 1699. He entered the House of Commons in 1708 as Member of Parliament (MP) for Arundel, then he served successively as MP for Hythe and East Grinstead. In 1720, Boyle was constituted the Commander in Chief of the Irish military forces by King George II. In 1739, he received a promotion to the rank of field marshal; however, he died a year after receiving it.

Family

On 7 July 1702, he married Mary Sackville, widow of Lionel Boyle, 3rd Earl of Orrery, who died twelve years later, bearing no children. In January 1720, Boyle remarried, this time to Grace Senhouse, and they had one child, Grace Boyle, Countess of Middlesex.

References

Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by Edmund Dummer James Butler	Member of Parliament for Arundel with Sir Henry Peachey 1708 Viscount Lumley 1708–1710 1708–1710	Succeeded by The Earl of Thomond Viscount Lumley
Preceded by John Boteler John Fane	Member of Parliament for Hythe with John Fane 1710–1711	Succeeded by John Boteler William Berners
Preceded by John Conyers Spencer Compton	Member of Parliament for East Grinstead with John Conyers 1715–1722	Succeeded by John Conyers Sir Spencer Compton
Preceded by John Conyers Sir Spencer Compton	Member of Parliament for East Grinstead with John Conyers 1722–1725 Edward Conyers 1725–1727 The Viscount Palmerston 1727–1734 1722–1734	Succeeded by Edward Conyers Earl of Middlesex
Military offices
New regiment	Colonel of The Viscount Shannon's Regiment of Marines 1702–1713	Regiment disbanded
Preceded by William Breton	Colonel of The Viscount Shannon's Regiment of Foot 1715–1721	Succeeded by John Middleton
Preceded by Richard Waring	Colonel of The King's Regiment of Carabineers 1721–1727	Succeeded by George MacCartney
Preceded by The Lord Forrester	Captain and Colonel of the 4th Troop of Horse Guards 1727–1740	Succeeded by The Earl of Effingham
Preceded by The Lord Tyrawley	Commander-in-Chief, Ireland 1721–1740	Succeeded by Unknown
Preceded by The Duke of Argyll	Governor of Portsmouth 1737–1740	Succeeded by Philip Honywood
Peerage of Ireland
Preceded by Francis Boyle	Viscount Shannon 1699–1740	Extinct