Richard FitzWilliam, 6th Viscount FitzWilliam (24 July 1711 - 25 May 1776), KB, PC, FRS, of Mount Merrion, near Dublin, Ireland, was an Anglo-Irish peer and property developer.
Richard FitzWilliam, 6th Viscount FitzWilliam (24 July 1711 - 25 May 1776), KB, PC, FRS, of Mount Merrion, near Dublin, Ireland, was an Anglo-Irish peer and property developer.
He was the eldest son and heir of Richard FitzWilliam, 5th Viscount FitzWilliam by his wife Frances Shelley, a daughter of Sir John Shelley, 3rd Baronet and his first wife Bridget Nevill.
He replaced his father as Vice-Admiral of Leinster in 1728. He succeeded his father in the viscountcy in 1743 and took his seat in the Irish House of Lords. He was created a Knight Companion of the Order of the Bath (KB) in 1744 and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1747. [1] He was sworn of the Irish Privy Council in 1766. He lived for a time at Richmond Green in Surrey with his father-in-law Sir Matthew Decker, 1st Baronet, but later moved back to Mount Merrion, the family's principal seat near Dublin.
On 3 May 1744, he married Catherine Decker, eldest daughter and co-heiress of Sir Matthew Decker, 1st Baronet, a wealthy merchant of Dutch origin, by his wife Henrietta Watkins, at Sir Matthew's house in St James's Square. [2] Horace Walpole thought the marriage notable enough to mention in his correspondence. [3] By Catherine he had issue including:
Lord FitzWilliam died on 25 May 1776 at Mount Merrion and was buried at Donnybrook Cemetery.
Earl Waldegrave is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1729 for James Waldegrave, 2nd Baron Waldegrave.
Sir Matthew Decker, 1st Baronet of Richmond Green in Surrey, was a Dutch-born English merchant and economist who served as a Member of Parliament for Bishop's Castle in Shropshire from 1719 to 1722. He was a governor of the South Sea Company from 1711 to 1712, and a Director of the East India Company from 1713 to 1743. His published works show him as "such a strong supporter of the doctrine of free trade as to rank as one of the most important forerunners of Adam Smith", proposed amongst other measures, to abolish customs duties and replace them with a tax upon houses, to abolish the duty on tea replacing it with a licence duty on households wishing to consume it, and to repeal import duties and bounties in general. At his house in Richmond, he amassed a large collection of art, including many Dutch paintings, which later formed the core of the collection of the Fitzwilliam Museum, founded by his grandson. He was a pioneer in the growing of exotic fruits in England, including pineapple and lemon, in his heated greenhouses at Richmond.
Mount Merrion is a suburb of Dublin, Ireland. It is roughly 7 kilometres (5 mi) south of Dublin city centre and is situated on and around the hill of the same name.
Richard FitzWilliam, 5th Viscount FitzWilliam, PC (Ireland), of Mount Merrion in Dublin, was an Irish nobleman and Whig politician.
Viscount FitzWilliam, of Merrion in the County of Dublin, was a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1629 for Thomas FitzWilliam, along with the subsidiary title Baron FitzWilliam, of Thorncastle in the County of Dublin, also in the Peerage of Ireland. He was succeeded by his son Oliver, the second Viscount. In 1661 Oliver was created Earl of Tyrconnell in the Peerage of Ireland. The earldom became extinct on his death in 1667, but he was succeeded in the barony and viscountcy by his younger brother William FitzWilliam, the third Viscount. William's grandson Richard, the fifth Viscount, represented Fowey in the British Parliament. His son Richard, the sixth Viscount, was a member of both the Irish and English Privy Councils. The seventh Viscount was a benefactor and musical antiquarian. The titles became extinct on the death of the ninth Viscount in 1833.
George Nevill, 1st Earl of Abergavenny, known as Lord Bergavenny from 1744 to 1784, was an English peer. He married into a branch of the Pelham family seated at Stanmer and briefly held office as Lord Lieutenant of Sussex. Created an earl in 1784, he died the following year.
Oliver FitzWilliam, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell and 2nd Viscount FitzWilliam, was an Irish nobleman.
William Bagot, 1st Baron Bagot, known as Sir William Bagot, 6th Baronet, from 1768 to 1780, was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1754 to 1780. He was then raised to the peerage as Baron Bagot.
Richard FitzWilliam, 7th Viscount FitzWilliam of Mount Merrion, Dublin, Ireland, and of FitzWilliam House in the parish of Richmond in Surrey, England, was an Anglo-Irish nobleman in the Peerage of Ireland who was a benefactor and musical antiquarian who founded the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, England, with a bequest of his library and art collection. He was also a significant urban developer in the City of Dublin. He served as a Member of Parliament for Wilton in Wiltshire, England, from 1790 until his death.
The Lord High Treasurer of Ireland was the head of the Exchequer of Ireland, and chief financial officer of the Kingdom of Ireland. The designation High was added in 1695.
The High Sheriff of Carlow was the British Crown's judicial representative in County Carlow, Ireland from the 14th century until 1922, when the office was abolished in the new Free State and replaced by the office of Carlow County Sheriff. The sheriff had judicial, electoral, ceremonial and administrative functions and executed High Court Writs. In 1908, an Order in Council made the Lord-Lieutenant the Sovereign's prime representative in a county and reduced the High Sheriff's precedence. However, the sheriff retained his responsibilities for the preservation of law and order in the county. The usual procedure for appointing the sheriff from 1660 onwards was that three persons were nominated at the beginning of each year from the county and the Lord Lieutenant then appointed his choice as High Sheriff for the remainder of the year. Often the other nominees were appointed as under-sheriffs. Sometimes a sheriff did not fulfil his entire term through death or other event and another sheriff was then appointed for the remainder of the year. The dates given hereunder are the dates of appointment. All addresses are in County Carlow unless stated otherwise.
Merrion Castle was a castle situated about 300m south of the present-day Merrion Gates, to the south of Dublin city centre. Built in the early fourteenth century, it was from the sixteenth century to the early eighteenth century the principal seat of the Fitzwilliam family, who acquired the title Viscount Fitzwilliam. After the Fitzwiliams moved to Mount Merrion House in about 1710 the castle fell into ruin, and it was demolished in 1780, though there were remains visible as late as 1837. No trace of Merrion Castle survives today. It was located opposite Merrion Gates, on the site of St. Mary's Home and School for the Blind. Its location, and the modern site of St.Mary's, can be seen on historical maps, including the six-inch (1829-1841) Ordnance Survey of Ireland maps.
Thomas FitzWilliam, 1st Viscount Fitzwilliam (1581–1650) was an Irish nobleman of the Stuart age. He was born to wealth and privilege, and acquired a peerage, but due to his loyalty to the English Crown, he suffered considerable hardship during the English Civil War, and died in poverty.
William FitzWilliam, 3rd Viscount FitzWilliam (c.1610–1674) was an Irish nobleman of the Stuart era. He fought on the Royalist side during the English Civil War, but later made his peace with the Cromwellian regime. In his later years, he openly professed the Roman Catholic faith, which was then illegal.
General the Honourable John Fitzwilliam was a British Army officer.
Sir Cecil Bisshopp, 6th Baronet Bisshopp, was a British politician. He succeeded to the title of 6th Baronet Bishopp, of Parham, co. Sussex on 25 October 1725. He was Member of Parliament for Penryn between 1727 and 1734, having been returned unopposed on the interest of the Boscawen family into which he had married. He also represented Boroughbridge between 1755 and 1768. He married Hon. Anne Boscawen, daughter of Hugh Boscawen, 1st Viscount Falmouth and Charlotte Godfrey, in 1726. In addition to Parham Park, Sussex he was also the owner of a house at 11 Berkeley Square, London which Horace Walpole purchased from Bisshopp's heirs in 1779 and in which Walpole lived until he died there in 1797. Sir Cecil died on 15 June 1778 at the age of 77.
John Meade, 1st Earl of Clanwilliam, was an Anglo-Irish nobleman, known as Sir John Meade, 4th Baronet, until 1766. Elevated to the Peerage of Ireland, his debauchery and reckless spending led him to sell the family estate.
Lorenzo Moore (1744–1798) was a British Cavalry officer and a Member of the Irish Parliament for the constituency of Dungannon.
Henry Watkins (1666-1727) of Christ Church, Oxford, and Duke Street, Westminster, was an army administrator and diplomat who served briefly as a Member of Parliament for Brackley in Northamptonshire.