Colonel Alexander Saunderson (1783–1857) was a Whig MP for

Cavan Cavan ( ; ) is the county town of County Cavan in Ireland. The town lies in Ulster, near the border with County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland. The town is bypassed by the main N3 road that links Dublin (to the south) with Enniskillen, Bally ...

1826–1831. He was a landed gentleman with 12,000 acres. Although from the Protestant planter tradition, he supported

Catholic Emancipation Catholic emancipation or Catholic relief was a process in the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland, and later the combined United Kingdom in the late 18th century and early 19th century, that involved reducing and removing many of the restricti ...

. Alexander Saunderson was a keen racing yachtsman on Lough Erne and a founder member c. 1818 of the group that became Lough Erne Yacht Club. He designed and built fast sailing boats at

Castle Saunderson Castle Saunderson ( ga, Caisleán Shandarsan) is a castle near Belturbet in County Cavan, Ireland. It was the former family seat of the Saunderson family, and is now in ruins. The Finn River flows along the north-eastern edge of the Castle Sau ...

– as did his son and successor Edward. One of his most successful boats he called Bluestocking. His mother and aunt were

Bluestockings ''Bluestocking'' is a term for an educated, intellectual woman, originally a member of the 18th-century Blue Stockings Society from England led by the hostess and critic Elizabeth Montagu (1718–1800), the "Queen of the Blues", including Eli ...

. He may also have been a member of the Royal Dublin Society.

Family

Alexander was born to

Francis Saunderson Francis Saunderson (1754–1827) was an Anglo-Irish M.P. in both the Parliament of Ireland and the post- Acts of Union UK Parliament. He was a member of the Saunderson family seated at Castle Saunderson. Saunderson attend Eton College. He was ...

and Anne Bassett White. The Irish Saundersons were a 17th-century branch of an old family, originally of

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county * Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...

; a Lincolnshire branch, the Saundersons of Saxby, held the titles of Viscount Castleton (Irish: c. 1628) and

Baron Saunderson The title Earl Castleton, of Sandbeck Park, Sandbeck in the Yorkshire, County of York, was created in the Peerage of Great Britain in 1720 for the James Saunderson, 1st Earl Castleton, 6th Viscount Castleton, who had previously been created Baro ...

(British: c. 1714) up to 1723. On 18 March 1828, Saunderson married Sarah Juliana, sister of fellow Cavan MP, Henry Maxwell and daughter of the

Henry Maxwell, 6th Baron Farnham The Reverend Henry Maxwell, 6th Baron Farnham (1774 – 19 October 1838) was an Irish peer and Church of Ireland clergyman who reputedly used his prerogatives as landlord to induce his distressed tenants to abandon their Catholic faith and take ...

. They had three sons and two daughters. Their son

Edward James Saunderson Colonel Edward James Saunderson (1 October 183721 October 1906) was an Anglo-Irish landowner and prominent Irish unionist politician. He led the Irish Unionist Alliance between 1891 and 1906. Early life Saunderson was born at the family seat ...

was also MP for Cavan 1865–1874 and later became MP for North Armagh 1885–1906. In 1947, Saunderson's great-grandson, also named Alexander, married Louise Astor Van Alen, granddaughter of James John Van Alen and grandniece of

RMS Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United ...

victim

John Jacob Astor IV John Jacob Astor IV (July 13, 1864 – April 15, 1912) was an American business magnate, real estate developer, investor, writer, lieutenant colonel in the Spanish–American War, and a prominent member of the Astor family. He died in the sink ...

, and the ex-wife of two different Georgian Mdivani princes.Moore, Steven. ''Archives: Ulsterman to marry Georgian Princess''

The Belfast News Letter The ''News Letter'' is one of Northern Ireland's main daily newspapers, published from Monday to Saturday. It is the world's oldest English-language general daily newspaper still in publication, having first been printed in 1737. The newspape ...

, 25 August 1999

References

External links

* 1783 births 1857 deaths Politicians from County Cavan UK MPs 1826–1830 Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Cavan constituencies (1801–1922) {{Ireland-UK-MP-stub