Thomas Mahon, 2nd Baron Hartland

Last updated • 6 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

The Right Honourable
Baron Hartland
Member of Parliament
for Roscommon
In office
1801–1802

Lieutenant-General Thomas Mahon, 2nd Baron Hartland (12 August 1766 – 8 December 1835), styled Hon. Thomas Mahon from 1800 to 1819, was an Irish soldier, politician and peer. Son of a landed proprietor with an estate at Strokestown, he joined the British Army, serving for most of his career with the 9th Light Dragoons. His garrison skillfully ambushed and destroyed a force of United Irishmen at the Battle of Carlow in 1798. He briefly represented County Roscommon in the Irish and UK Parliaments as part of his father's successful scheme to obtain a peerage by supporting the Union, but this was not popular with the county electors, and he abandoned Parliament in 1802 to return to the military. He had the misfortune to be present at two military debacles of the Napoleonic Wars, the second invasion of the Río de la Plata and the Walcheren Campaign, and while he was not personally implicated in either, he saw no further notable military service. Mahon succeeded his father as Lord Hartland in 1819 and died without issue in 1835, his title and estates passing to his youngest brother.

Contents

Early life and military service

Mahon was born in Dublin in 1766, the eldest son of Maurice Mahon and his wife Hon. Catherine Moore, and grandson of Thomas Mahon, then the representative for County Roscommon in the Parliament of Ireland. Thomas was educated at Portarlington School and The Royal School, Armagh. He was admitted to Trinity College Dublin on 10 July 1782 and obtained his BA in 1786. [1] While at Trinity, he was commissioned an ensign in the 47th Regiment of Foot on 17 April 1784. [2] Admitted as a fellow-commoner to St John's College, Cambridge on 31 October 1786, he received his MA, by incorporation, in 1787. [1]

After college, Mahon continued his military career. On 18 December 1790, he purchased a lieutenancy in the 47th Regiment. [3] He obtained a captaincy in the newly raised 33rd Light Dragoons in 1794, and transferred into the 32nd Light Dragoons as a major on 26 November 1794. [4] Major Mahon transferred into the 24th Light Dragoons on 30 April 1796, [5] after the 32nd was disbanded. On 1 January 1797, he became a lieutenant-colonel in the 9th Light Dragoons. [1] Mahon was in command of the garrison of Carlow when the United Irishmen rebelled in 1798. When he obtained intelligence of a planned attack by the rebels on the night of 24 May 1798, Mahon set a deadly ambush. Some of the townsmen left the town to join the rebels; after they left, the garrison was dispersed among strong points throughout the town. The rebels were allowed to penetrate without resistance to the Potato Market, only to be met by a withering fire. Many took refuge in houses along Tullow Street, by which they had entered. These were promptly set on fire by the garrison, and the rebels who fled the flames were shot or bayoneted in the streets. The Battle of Carlow had come to an end by the next morning, when from four to six hundred of the rebels lay dead, with no loss to the garrison. Swift reprisals followed: martial law was imposed, and two hundred executions took place shortly after, including that of Sir Edward Crosbie. [6]

MP for Roscommon

In 1799 Viscount Kingsborough succeeded his father as Earl of Kingston and vacated his seat for County Roscommon. The Kingston interest, which opposed the Union, put forth the new earl's brother, Col. Hon. Robert King to succeed him. Mahon, a pro-Unionist, gained the backing of the Lord-Lieutenant, and the Dublin Castle administration enlisted the independent and Catholic interests in the county on his behalf. King ultimately retired from the contest without going to a poll, and Mahon took the seat at Roscommon. [7] His father hoped to obtain a peerage from the administration in exchange for arranging Thomas's vote for the Union in Parliament. But Thomas found his constituents implacably hostile to the Union, and dared not vote in favour, absenting himself from Parliament instead. Maurice was forced to buy a seat at Knocktopher for Thomas's younger brother Stephen to carry out his obligations to the administration. [8]

Maurice was rewarded with the title of Baron Hartland after the Union, and Thomas, like other Irish county members, continued to sit for Roscommon in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. His tenure would not last long; the King's interest was far from defeated, and when Lord Hartland proposed a candidate for High Sheriff of Roscommon in 1801, he was informed by Charles Abbott, the Chief Secretary for Ireland, that Col. King, now Lord Erris, had put forth his own candidate and that the government would not disoblige him. Erris was wealthy and capable of fighting an expensive electoral contest; Hartland attempted to persuade Henry Augustus Dillon to stand alongside Thomas for Roscommon to bolster his popularity. Hartland failed to do so, so Thomas declined to stand for the county at the 1802 election. [7] Absent on military service for the 1806 election, he did not return to politics, leaving his brother Stephen to represent the family interest in that seat. [9]

Napoleonic Wars and after

He received a promotion to colonel on 2 November 1805. [10] The 9th Light Dragoons were among the regiments sent to South America after the capture of Montevideo. They were not provided with mounts, and fought as infantry. Mahon was given command of a brigade consisting of the 9th, four dismounted troops of the Carabiniers, and the 40th and 45th regiments of foot. [11] Mahon, with part of his brigade, was ordered to guard the heavy artillery at Reduction, and did not personally take part in the bungled attack on Buenos Aires.

He was afterwards appointed a colonel on the staff of the Walcheren Expedition, again commanding the 9th. [12] The regiment represented the only cavalry of the army's left wing, and was so badly affected by sickness acquired there as to cripple it for the remainder of the Napoleonic Wars. [13] He was promoted to major-general on 4 June 1811. [14]

On 14 October 1811, Mahon married Catherine, the daughter of James Topping; they had no children. He succeeded his father as Lord Hartland on 4 January 1819 and inherited the main family estates at Strokestown. [9] Mahon and his brother Stephen were both promoted to lieutenant-general on 12 August 1819, in part to conciliate them over their lack of other military preferments, and their father's unrequited desire to be made a viscount. This was unsuccessful; Stephen, still sitting for Roscommon, went over to the opposition. [15] Thomas died in London, aged 69, on 8 December 1835 [1] and was succeeded by his youngest brother, Rev. Maurice.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">5th Royal Irish Lancers</span> British Army cavalry regiment

The 5th Royal Irish Lancers was a cavalry regiment of the British Army. It saw service for three centuries, including the First World War. It amalgamated with the 16th The Queen's Lancers to become the 16th/5th Lancers in 1922.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sir George Nugent, 1st Baronet</span> British Army officer

Sir George Nugent, 1st Baronet, GCB was a British Army officer. After serving as a junior officer in the American Revolutionary War, he fought with the Coldstream Guards under the Duke of York during the Flanders Campaign. He then commanded the Buckinghamshire Volunteers in the actions of St. Andria and Thuyl on the river Waal and participated in the disastrous retreat from the Rhine. He went on to be commander of the northern district of Ireland, in which post he played an important part in placating the people of Belfast during the Irish Rebellion, and then became Adjutant-General in Ireland. He went on to be Governor of Jamaica, commander of the Western District in England, commander of the Kent District in England and finally Commander-in-Chief, India.

This is a list of people who served as Lord Lieutenant of County Roscommon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Prosperous</span> Engagement during 1798 Irish rebellion

The Battle of Prosperous was a military engagement between British Crown forces and United Irishmen rebels during the Irish Rebellion of 1798 in the town of Prosperous, County Kildare. Prosperous was founded by Sir Robert Brooke in 1780 as a village for processing cotton produced in the Americas. When a rebellion spearheaded by the United Irishmen broke out against British rule in Ireland, rebel forces led by John Esmonde made plans to capture Prosperous. Esmonde had 200 rebels under his command, while Prosperous was garrisoned by elements of the Royal Cork City Militia under the command of Captain Richard Swayne reinforced by detachments of a Welsh mounted fencible regiment, the Ancient British Regiment of Fencible Cavalry Dragoons, numbering 150 men in all.

Baron Hartland, of Strokestown in the County of Roscommon, was a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created on 30 July 1800 for Maurice Mahon, who had earlier represented County Roscommon in the Irish House of Commons. He was the son of Thomas Mahon, who also represented this constituency in the Irish Parliament, grandson of John Mahon and great-grandson of Captain Nicholas Mahon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">14th King's Hussars</span> British Army cavalry regiment

The 14th King's Hussars was a cavalry regiment in the British Army, first raised in 1715. It saw service for two centuries, including the First World War, before being amalgamated with the 20th Hussars to form the 14th/20th King's Hussars in 1922.

General Robert Taylor or Taylour styled The Honourable from birth, was an Irish soldier and politician.

Thomas Knox, 1st Earl of Ranfurly, styled The Honourable Thomas Knox between 1781 and 1818 and known as The Viscount Northland between 1818 and 1831, was an Irish peer and politician.

Maurice Mahon, 1st Baron Hartland, was an Irish politician and landowner. He and his sons intermittently represented County Roscommon in the Parliament of Ireland and the United Kingdom Parliament. He was able to transform his support of the Union of Great Britain and Ireland into a peerage, but was frustrated in his subsequent desire to become a viscount.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Strokestown Park</span> 18th-century house in Roscommon, Ireland

Strokestown Park House is a Palladian style Georgian house in Strokestown, County Roscommon, Ireland, set on about 300 acres (120 ha).

The High Sheriff of Roscommon was the British Crown's judicial representative in County Roscommon, Ireland from 1575 until 1922, when the office was abolished in the new Free State and replaced by the office of Roscommon 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 Roscommon unless stated otherwise.

Brigadier-General Marcus Beresford was an Irish soldier and Member of Parliament.

Major-General The Hon. William Herbert was a British Army officer and politician. He was the fifth son of Thomas Herbert, 8th Earl of Pembroke by his wife Margaret, daughter of Sir Robert Sawyer of Highclere.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maurice Keatinge</span> Irish landowner, soldier and politician

Maurice Bagenal St Leger Keatinge or Keating (c.1761–1835) was an Irish landowner, soldier and politician.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Loftus (British Army officer)</span> British general and politician

General William Loftus was a British Army officer and Member of Parliament.

Maurice Mahon, 3rd Baron Hartland was a Church of Ireland clergyman and Irish peer.

Captain Edward King was a Royal Navy officer who represented Roscommon for several years in the United Kingdom Parliament.

Lieutenant-General Hon. John Meade CB was an Irish officer in the British Army. After leaving the professional army he served as a militia officer in Ireland, and sat in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom for twelve years before taking up a diplomatic post.

Major-General Lord Frederick Cavendish-Bentinck known as Lord Frederick Bentinck was a British soldier and politician.

For the British collector and art historian, see Denis Mahon.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Mahon, Thomas (MHN786T)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  2. ↑ "No. 12540". The London Gazette . 4 May 1784. p. 2.
  3. ↑ "No. 13265". The London Gazette . 14 December 1790. p. 754.
  4. ↑ "No. 13748". The London Gazette . 31 January 1795. p. 112.
  5. ↑ "No. 13888". The London Gazette . 30 April 1796. p. 402.
  6. ↑ Maxwell, William Hamilton (1881). History of the Irish Rebellion in 1798. G. Bell & Sons. pp. 75–77.
  7. 1 2 Jupp, P. J. (1986). "Co. Roscommon". In Thorne, R. G. (ed.). The House of Commons 1790-1820. The History of Parliament Trust.
  8. ↑ Duffy, Peter (2008). The Killing of Major Denis Mahon: A Mystery of Old Ireland. Harper Collins. pp. 23–24.
  9. 1 2 Aspinall, Arthur (1986). "Mahon, Hon. Thomas (1766-1835), of Strokestown, co. Roscommon.". In Thorne, R. G. (ed.). The House of Commons 1790-1820. The History of Parliament Trust.
  10. ↑ "No. 15856". The London Gazette . 29 October 1805. p. 1341.
  11. ↑ Reynard, Frank H. (1904). The Ninth (Queen's Royal) Lancers, 1715-1903. William Blackwood. pp. 21–23.
  12. ↑ St. Clair, Thomas Staunton (1834). A Soldier's Recollections of the West Indies and America. Vol. 2. R. Bentley. p. 269.
  13. ↑ Bamford, Andrew (2014). Gallantry and Discipline: The 12th Light Dragoons at War with Wellington. Frontline Books. p. 125. ISBN   9781848327436.
  14. ↑ "No. 16492". The London Gazette . 1 June 1811. p. 1027.
  15. ↑ Jupp, P. J. (1986). "Mahon, Hon. Stephen (1768-1828), of Strokestown, co. Roscommon.". In Thorne, R. G. (ed.). The House of Commons 1790-1820. The History of Parliament Trust.
Parliament of Ireland
Preceded by Member of Parliament for County Roscommon
1799–1800
With: Arthur French 		Irish Parliament abolished
Parliament of the United Kingdom
New constituency Member of Parliament for Roscommon
1801–1802
With: Arthur French 		Succeeded by
Peerage of Ireland
Preceded by Baron Hartland
1819–1835		Succeeded by
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.