Robert Stewart, 1st Marquess of Londonderry
The Marquess of Londonderry | |
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,_1st_Marquess_of_Londonderry,_MP_by_Hugh_Douglas_Hamilton.jpg) The Marquess of Londonderry by Hugh Douglas Hamilton. | |
| Personal details | |
| Spouse(s) | Lady Sarah Frances Seymour Lady Frances Pratt |
| Children | Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh Charles William Vane, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry |
| Parent(s) | Alexander Stewart Mary Cowan |
Robert Stewart, 1st Marquess of Londonderry PC (Ire) (27 September 1739 – 6 April 1821), was an Irish politician and landowner, the father of politician Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh. He is an ancestor of Winston Churchill.
Early life in Dublin
Robert Stewart was born in 1739, son of Alexander Stewart, alderman of Londonderry (or Derry) in 1760, and Mary Cowan, daughter of John Cowan, also an alderman of that same town. Through his mother Robert was the nephew of Robert Cowan, the wealthy Governor of Bombay.[1]
As second son he expected to take up the linen trading business in Dublin, while his elder brother would inherit the family estate in Ulster. So he did and his firm traded with many Baltic cities, including Saint Petersburg, Reval, and Memel. At the death of his older brother, he moved to Ulster to be nearer to his father and help look after the family properties in counties Donegal, Londonderry, and Down.
Irish House of Commons 1771–1783
He was elected to the Irish House of Commons in 1771 as member for Down. Between 1775 and 1783 he lived in Bangor with his wife, while his father was living at Mount Stewart.
In 1779, worried by the presence of American and French vessels in the Irish sea, he organised the Newtownards Company of 115 men to act as fencibles. When he lost his seat in 1783, he was appointed to the Irish Privy Council. In the same year he inherited his father's properties in counties Londonderry and Down and settled at Mount Stewart, in the grounds of which he completed the Temple of the Winds, which his father had commissioned.
Irish House of Lords
In 1789 he was created Baron Londonderry in the Peerage of Ireland.[2] The following year he took his son (the future Viscount Castlereagh) out of Cambridge University and had him run for the seat of County Down in the Parliament in Dublin, which he won. In 1795 he became Viscount Castlereagh.[3] The following year he was elevated to Earl of Londonderry.[4] His second son at this point also gained a seat in the Dublin Parliament.
Robert Stewart and his two sons favoured the Act of Union and fought to have it presented once more after it had been turned down in 1799. As a result of the vote, Robert Stewart obtained a seat in the House of Lords in London, which he never took up. In 1816 he was created Marquess of Londonderry, due to the influence of his son, Lord Castlereagh. This title is again in the Peerage of Ireland. From 1801 until his death he was an Irish representative peer. It is a rare feat to rise from a commoner to a Marquess.
Marriages and issue
Lord Londonderry married twice. He married firstly Lady Sarah Frances Seymour (27 September 1747 – 20 July 1770), daughter of Francis Seymour-Conway, 1st Marquess of Hertford. Together they had a son:
- Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh (1769–1822), who married Lady Amelia Hobart, daughter of John Hobart, 2nd Earl of Buckinghamshire. The younger Robert Stewart became the 2nd Marquess of Londonderry upon his father's death, but committed suicide the following year. He is most commonly known as "Viscount Castlereagh", the title by which he was known for most of his life. He and his wife had no issue.
After Lady Sarah's death in childbirth, the elder Robert Stewart married, on 7 June 1775, Lady Frances Pratt, daughter of Charles Pratt, 1st Earl Camden (1714–1794).[5] With Lady Frances he had another son:
- Charles William Vane, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry (1778-1854); born "Charles William Stewart", who married firstly, in 1804, Lady Catherine Bligh, daughter of John Bligh, 3rd Earl of Darnley, and had a son from her, and secondly, in 1819, Lady Frances Anne Vane-Tempest, daughter of Sir Henry Vane-Tempest, and had issue. Through his daughter Lady Frances Anne, he was the great-grandfather of Winston Churchill.
He died at his home of Mount Stewart, County Down, and was buried at the nearby Newtownards Priory, where his father already had been laid to rest.
References
- ^ "The Cowan inheritance" (PDF). The Londonderry Estate Office Archive. Public Record Office of Northern Ireland. Retrieved 1 November 2008.
- ^ "No. 13131". The London Gazette. 9 September 1789. p. 597.
The Right Honourable Robert Stewart, Baron Londonderry
- ^ "No. 13821". The London Gazette. 10 October 1795. p. 1052.
To Robert Lord Londonderry, and the Heirs Male of his Body lawfully begotten, the Dignity of Viscount Castlereagh, of Castlereagh in the County Down
- ^ "No. 13922". The London Gazette. 10 August 1796. p. 781.
To Robert Lord Viscount Castlereagh, and the Heirs Male of his Body lawfully begotten, by the Name Stile and Title of Earl of Londonderry, of the County of Londonderry
- ^ Rigg, J. M. (1896). . In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 46. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
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