Marquessate of Londonderry | |
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Creation date | 13 January 1816 |
Created by | The Prince Regent (acting on behalf of his father King George III) |
Peerage | Peerage of Ireland |
First holder | Robert Stewart, 1st Earl of Londonderry |
Present holder | Frederick Vane-Tempest-Stewart, 10th Marquess |
Heir presumptive | Lord Reginald Vane-Tempest-Stewart |
Subsidiary titles | Earl of Londonderry Earl Vane (United Kingdom) Viscount Castlereagh Viscount Seaham (United Kingdom) Baron Londonderry Baron Stewart (United Kingdom) |
Status | Extant |
Former seat(s) | Mount Stewart Plas Machynlleth Seaham Hall Wynyard Hall |
Motto | METUENDA COROLLA DRACONIS (The dragon’s crest is to be feared) |
Marquess of Londonderry, of the County of Londonderry [1] ( /ˈlʌndəndreɪ/ LUN-dən-dree), [lower-alpha 1] is a title in the Peerage of Ireland.
The title was created in 1816 for Robert Stewart, 1st Earl of Londonderry. He had earlier represented County Down in the Irish House of Commons. Stewart had already been created Baron Londonderry in 1789, [3] Viscount Castlereagh, of Castlereagh in the County of Down, [4] [5] in 1795 and Earl of Londonderry, of the County of Londonderry, in 1796. [6] These titles are also in the Peerage of Ireland.
He was the son of Alexander Stewart, who had married Mary Cowan, sister and heiress of Robert Cowan, who gained great wealth as Governor of Bombay from 1729 to 1737. Alexander was from Ballylawn, a townland at the south-west corner of Inishowen in the north of County Donegal, a county located in the west of Ulster in the northern part of Ireland. However, much of the Stewart family's wealth was based on the estates which came into the family through this marriage.
The 1st Marquess was one of the few people to become a Marquess without inheriting any titles prior to the creation. He sat in the British House of Lords as one of the twenty-eight original Irish representative peer from 1800 to 1821. He was succeeded by his son from his first marriage to Lady Sarah Seymour. The 2nd Marquess, better known as Lord Castlereagh (he went by the courtesy title of Viscount Castlereagh from 1796 to 1821), was a noted statesman and diplomat. Castlereagh is best remembered for his tenure as Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom from 1812 to 1822 and played an important role at the Congress of Vienna of 1814 to 1815. He committed suicide in 1822, one year after succeeding his father in the marquessate. The 2nd Marquess did not follow his father as a Representative Peer into the House of Lords, this permitted him to continue fulfilling his roles in the House of Commons.
Castlereagh was succeeded by his half-brother, the 3rd Marquess. He was the only son from the 1st Marquess's second marriage to Lady Frances Pratt, daughter of Charles Pratt, 1st Earl Camden. He was a General in the Army and like his elder half-brother a prominent politician and diplomat. Lord Londonderry served as Under-Secretary of State for War and the Colonies from 1807 to 1809, fought in the Napoleonic Wars and was Ambassador to Austria from 1814 to 1823. In 1814 he was created Baron Stewart, of Stewart's Court and Ballylawn in County Donegal, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. [7] In 1819 Londonderry married as his second wife Frances Anne Vane-Tempest (died 1865), daughter and wealthy heiress of Sir Henry Vane-Tempest, 2nd Baronet, through which marriage substantial estates in County Durham came into the Stewart family. He assumed the additional surname of Vane on his marriage and in 1823 he was created Viscount Seaham, of Seaham in the County Palatine of Durham, and Earl Vane, with remainder to the male issue of his second marriage. These titles are in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. [8]
Lord Londonderry was succeeded in the viscountcy of Seaham and earldom of Vane according to the special remainder by his eldest son from his second marriage while he was succeeded in the Irish titles and the barony of Stewart by his son from his first marriage to Lady Catherine Bligh, the 4th Marquess. He died childless in 1872 and was succeeded by his half-brother, the 5th Marquess, who had already succeeded his father as second Earl Vane in 1854. He represented Durham North in the House of Commons and served as Lord-Lieutenant of County Durham. In 1851 the 5th Marquess assumed by Royal licence the additional surname of Tempest. On his death, the titles passed to his eldest son, the 6th Marquess. He was a Conservative politician and held office in the administrations of Lord Salisbury and Arthur Balfour as Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, as Postmaster General, as President of the Board of Education, as Lord Privy Seal and as Lord President of the Council. In 1885 he assumed by Royal licence the additional and principal surname of Stewart.
He was succeeded by his son, the 7th Marquess, who was also a Conservative politician. He had a career in both Irish and British politics but is best known for his role as Secretary of State for Air from 1931 to 1935. Lord Londonderry subsequently gained notoriety for his informal diplomatic contacts with senior members of the German government. He made six visits to Nazi Germany between January 1936 and September 1938 meeting Adolf Hitler on a number of occasions and sympathising with some of his viewpoints. [9] His wife Edith Vane-Tempest-Stewart, Marchioness of Londonderry, was an influential society hostess remembered for her close friendship with Ramsay MacDonald. Lord Londonderry was succeeded by his son, the 8th Marquess. He represented County Down in the House of Commons as a Conservative from 1931 to 1945.
The heir apparent to the marquessate is styled Viscount Castlereagh, although the Marquess is also the Earl Vane, and the heir apparent's heir apparent, when such exists, is styled Lord Stewart.[ citation needed ]
Between 1823 and 1854 and between 1872 and 1999, the Marquesses of Londonderry sat in the House of Lords as The Earl Vane. Between 1822 and 1823 and between 1854 and 1872, they sat as The Lord Stewart.
The principal family seats were Mount Stewart, near Newtownards, County Down, Northern Ireland, and the Wynyard Park estate in County Durham. Other properties included Seaham Hall in County Durham, as well as Londonderry House on Park Lane in London (where the Londonderry Hotel was later located), and Plas Machynlleth in mid-Wales.
The 4th Marquess did not inherit the Seaham viscountcy and Vane earldom as he was not the heir male of the 3rd Marquess's second wife, a limitation of the remainder of those peerages.
Frederick Aubrey Vane-Tempest-Stewart, 10th Marquess of Londonderry (born 6 September 1972), is the son of the 9th Marquess and his wife, Doreen Patricia Wells, who was a ballerina with the Royal Ballet between 1955 and 1974. He was styled as Viscount Castlereagh from birth and later as Earl Vane. [11]
On 20 June 2012, Earl Vane succeeded his father as Marquess of Londonderry (I., 1816), Earl of Londonderry (I., 1796), Earl Vane (U.K., 1823), Viscount Castlereagh (I., 1795), Viscount Seaham of Seaham (U.K., 1823), Baron Stewart of Stewart's Court and Ballylawn (U.K., 1814), and Baron Londonderry (I., 1789). [11]
The heir presumptive is Londonderry's brother, Lord Reginald Alexander Vane-Tempest-Stewart (born 1977), [11] whose heir apparent is his son Robin Gabriel Vane-Tempest-Stewart (born 2004).
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Robert Stewart, 1st Marquess of LondonderryPC (Ire) (1739–1821), was a County Down landowner, Irish Volunteer, and member of the parliament who, exceptionally for an Ulster Scot and Presbyterian, rose within the ranks of Ireland's "Anglican Ascendancy." His success was fuelled by wealth acquired through judicious marriages, and by the advancing political career of his son, Viscount Castlereagh. In 1798 he gained notoriety for refusing to intercede on behalf of James Porter, his local Presbyterian minister, executed outside the Stewart demesne as a rebel.
Marquess Conyngham, of the County of Donegal, is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1816 for Henry Conyngham, 1st Earl Conyngham. He was the great-nephew of another Henry Conyngham, 1st Earl Conyngham, a member of a family of Scottish descent which had settled during the Plantation of Ulster in County Donegal in Ireland in the early 17th century. The 'founder' of the dynasty in Ireland was The Very Rev. Dr. Alexander Cunningham, Dean of Raphoe. The earlier Henry was a member of both the Irish House of Commons and the British House of Commons and served as Vice-Admiral of Ulster and as Governor of the counties of Donegal and Londonderry. In 1753 he was raised to the Peerage of Ireland as Baron Conyngham, of Mount Charles in the County of Donegal, and in 1756 he was created Viscount Conyngham, in Ireland, also in the Peerage of Ireland. In 1781 he was made Baron Conyngham, of Mount Charles in the County of Donegal, with remainder to his nephew Francis Burton, and Earl Conyngham, of Mount Charles in the County of Donegal, which like the creations of 1753 and 1756 was created with normal remainder to the heirs male of his body. The latter titles were also in the Peerage of Ireland. Lord Conyngham was childless and on his death in 1781 the barony of 1753, the viscountcy and earldom became extinct while he was succeeded in the barony of 1781 according to the special remainder by his aforementioned nephew Francis. He was the eldest son of Mary, sister of the first Earl Conyngham, by her husband Francis Burton. The new 2nd Baron Conyngham, who had earlier represented Killybegs and County Clare in the Irish House of Commons, assumed by Royal licence the surname and arms of Conyngham on succeeding to the titles.
Baron Barnard, of Barnard Castle in the Bishopric of Durham, is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1698 for Christopher Vane, who had previously served as a member of parliament for County Durham and Boroughbridge. Vane was the son of Sir Henry Vane the Younger and grandson of Sir Henry Vane the Elder. His grandson, the third Baron, notably served as Paymaster of the Forces and as Lord Lieutenant of County Durham. In 1754 he was created Viscount Barnard and Earl of Darlington, both in the County Palatine of Durham. Lord Darlington was the husband of Lady Grace FitzRoy, daughter of Charles FitzRoy, 2nd Duke of Cleveland, the illegitimate son of King Charles II by his mistress Barbara Villiers, 1st Duchess of Cleveland.
Earl of Antrim is a title that has been created twice, both times in the Peerage of Ireland and both times for members of the MacDonnell family, originally of Scottish origins.
Charles William Vane, 3rd Marquess of Londonderry, was an Anglo-Irish nobleman, a British soldier and a politician. He served in the French Revolutionary Wars, in the suppression of the Irish Rebellion of 1798, and in the Napoleonic wars. He excelled as a cavalry commander in the Peninsular War (1807–1814) under John Moore and Arthur Wellesley.
Charles Stewart Henry Vane-Tempest-Stewart, 7th Marquess of Londonderry,, styled Lord Stewart until 1884 and Viscount Castlereagh between 1884 and 1915, was a British peer and politician. He is best remembered for his tenure as Secretary of State for Air in the 1930s and for his attempts to reach an understanding with Nazi Germany. In 1935 he was removed from the Air Ministry but retained in the Cabinet as Lord Privy Seal and Leader of the House of Lords.
Frederick William Robert Stewart, 4th Marquess of Londonderry (1805–1872), styled Viscount Castlereagh from 1822 to 1854, was a British nobleman and Tory politician. He was briefly Vice-Chamberlain of the Household under Sir Robert Peel between December 1834 and April 1835.
Edward Charles Stewart Robert Vane-Tempest-Stewart, 8th Marquess of Londonderry,, styled Lord Stewart until 1915 and Viscount Castlereagh between 1915 and 1946, was a British peer and politician.
Mount Stewart is a 19th-century house and garden in County Down, Northern Ireland, owned by the National Trust. Situated on the east shore of Strangford Lough, a few miles outside the town of Newtownards and near Greyabbey, it was the Irish seat of the Stewart family, Marquesses of Londonderry. Prominently associated with the 2nd Marquess, Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh, Britain's Foreign Secretary at the Congress of Vienna and with the 7th Marquess, Charles Vane-Tempest-Stewart, the former Air Minister who at Mount Stewart attempted private diplomacy with Hitler's Germany, the house and its contents reflect the history of the family's leading role in social and political life in Britain and Ireland.
George Henry Robert Charles William Vane-Tempest, 5th Marquess of Londonderry, KP, styled Viscount Seaham between 1823 and 1854 and known as The Earl Vane between 1854 and 1872, was a British aristocrat, businessman, diplomat and Conservative politician.
Seaham Hall is an English country house, now run as a spa hotel, in County Durham.
Alexander Charles Robert "Alastair" Vane-Tempest-Stewart, 9th Marquess of Londonderry was a British nobleman.
Lord Adolphus Frederick Charles William Vane-Tempest, known until 1854 as Lord Adolphus Vane, was a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom.
Frances Anne Vane, Marchioness of Londonderry was an Anglo-Irish heiress and noblewoman. She was the daughter of Sir Henry Vane-Tempest, 2nd Baronet. She married Charles William Stewart, 1st Baron Stewart. She became a marchioness in 1822 when Charles succeeded his half-brother as 3rd Marquess of Londonderry.
Charles Stewart Vane-Tempest-Stewart, 6th Marquess of Londonderry,, styled Viscount Castlereagh between 1872 and 1884, was a British Conservative politician, landowner and benefactor, who served in various capacities in the Conservative administrations of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. After succeeding his father in the marquessate in 1884, he was Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland between 1886 and 1889. He later held office as Postmaster General between 1900 and 1902 and as President of the Board of Education between 1902 and 1905. A supporter of the Protestant causes in Ulster, he was an opponent of Irish Home Rule and one of the instigators of the formal alliance between the Conservative Party and the Liberal Unionists in 1893.
The Vane, later Vane-Tempest Baronetcy, of Long Newton in the County of Durham, was a title in the Baronetage of Great Britain. The Vane baronetcy was created on 13 July 1782 for Reverend Henry Vane, D.D., second son of George Vane of Long Newton. He was a descendant of Sir Henry Vane the Elder. Vane married Frances Tempest, daughter of John Tempest of Sherburne, Durham. When her brother, John Tempest Sr., died in 1771 naming the baronet's son as his heir, the younger Vane assumed by Royal licence the additional surname of Tempest in accordance with his uncle's will. Thus, when the 1st baronet died in 1794, his son became Baronet Vane-Tempest. This second baronet represented both the city and county of Durham in Parliament and was a well-known sportsman. He married Anne MacDonnell, 2nd Countess of Antrim. They had one child Lady Frances Anne, who married Lord Charles Stewart, later 3rd Marquess of Londonderry, who assumed the surname of Vane and in 1823 was named Earl Vane and Viscount Seaham. When Vane-Tempest died in 1813, the baronetcy became extinct.
Alexander Stewart (1746–1831), known as Alexander Stewart of Ards, was an Irish landowner and member of parliament.
Alexander Stewart was an Irish landowner who grew rich by inheriting a fortune from Robert Cowan, a former governor of Bombay. His son Robert became the 1st Marquess of Londonderry.
The Custos Rotulorum of Londonderry and Down was the highest civil officer in counties Londonderry and Down.
Theresa Susey Helen Vane-Tempest-Stewart, Marchioness of Londonderry was a British socialite and political hostess. She was a leading Unionist campaigner against Irish Home Rule, serving as president of the Ulster Women's Unionist Council from 1913 to 1919. She was said to be one of the most "dominating feminine personalities" of the time and was referred to as the "Queen of Toryism" and a "highwaywoman in a tiara."