Clotworthy Skeffington, 2nd Earl of Massereene (28 January 1742 – 28 February 1805) was an

Anglo-Irish Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the establis ...

peer who was imprisoned in France for almost twenty years.

Biography

Massereene was the son of

Clotworthy Skeffington, 1st Earl of Massereene Clotworthy Skeffington, 1st Earl of Massereene PC (I) (1715 – 14 September 1757) was an Anglo-Irish peer. Massereene was the son of Clotworthy Skeffington, 4th Viscount Massereene and Lady Catherine Chichester, daughter of Arthur Chichester, 3 ...

and his second wife, Anne. He inherited his father's

earldom Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form ''jarl'', and meant "chieftain", particular ...

in 1757 and entered

Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Corpus Christi College (full name: "The College of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary", often shortened to "Corpus"), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. From the late 14th century through to the early 19th century ...

the following year. After visiting

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

in 1765, he was imprisoned in

For-l'Évêque The For-l’Évêque was a prison in Paris. It was in operation from 1674 until 1780, and was demolished at the start of the 19th century. History Sources * Jules Édouard Alboise du Pujol, Auguste Maquet, ''Les Prisons de l’Europe'', t. ...

in 1769/70 for having accrued huge debts of between 15,000 and 20,000

French livre The livre (abbreviation: £ or ₶., French for (pound)) was the currency of Kingdom of France and its predecessor state of West Francia from 781 to 1794. Several different livres existed, some concurrently. The livre was the name of coins ...

. He maintained a lavish lifestyle in the prison, entertaining fellow prisoners. Massereene attempted to escape in June 1770, but his plan failed. When For-l'Évêque was closed in 1780, Massereene was transferred to

La Force Prison La Force Prison was a French prison located in the Rue du Roi de Sicile, in what is now the 4th arrondissement of Paris. Originally known as the Hôtel de la Force, the buildings formed the private residence of Henri-Jacques Nompar de Caumont, duc ...

before he was freed alongside other prisoners by a mob on 13 July 1789, a day prior to the

Storming of the Bastille The Storming of the Bastille (french: Prise de la Bastille ) occurred in Paris, France, on 14 July 1789, when revolutionary insurgents stormed and seized control of the medieval armoury, fortress, and political prison known as the Bastille. At t ...

. He subsequently escaped to England, from where he returned to his family seat in

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, ) is one of six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and has a population o ...

. He died without issue in 1805 and was succeeded in his title by his younger brother,

Henry Henry may refer to: People *Henry (given name) *Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Massereene, Clotworthy Skeffington, 2nd Earl of 1742 births 1805 deaths Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge 18th-century Anglo-Irish people Earls of Massereene