Colonel Crofton Moore Vandeleur (1809 – 8 November 1881) was an Irish landowner and

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

politician from

Kilrush Kilrush () is a coastal town in County Clare, Ireland. It is also the name of a civil parish and an ecclesiastical parish in Roman Catholic Diocese of Killaloe. It is located near the mouth of the River Shannon in the south-west of the county. ...

in County Clare. He sat in the

House of Commons of the United Kingdom The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 me ...

from 1859 to 1874 as a

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(MP) for

Clare Clare may refer to: Places Antarctica * Clare Range, a mountain range in Victoria Land Australia * Clare, South Australia, a town in the Clare Valley * Clare Valley, South Australia Canada * Clare (electoral district), an electoral district * Cl ...

Family

He was the oldest son of John Ormsby Vandeleur of Kilrush, who had been an MP in both the pre-union

Parliament of Ireland The Parliament of Ireland ( ga, Parlaimint na hÉireann) was the legislature of the Lordship of Ireland, and later the Kingdom of Ireland, from 1297 until 1800. It was modelled on the Parliament of England and from 1537 comprised two chamb ...

and then in the union parliament. His mother was Lady Frances Moore, daughter of

Charles Moore, 1st Marquess of Drogheda Field Marshal Charles Moore, 1st Marquess of Drogheda (29 June 1730 – 22 December 1822), styled Viscount Moore from 1752 until 28 October 1758 and then Earl of Drogheda until 2 July 1791, was an Irish peer and later a British peer, and milita ...

, and Lady Anne Seymour-Conway. The Vandeleur family were of Dutch origin. They were initially based at Ralahine in

Sixmilebridge Sixmilebridge (), is a large village in County Clare, Ireland. Located midway between Ennis and Limerick city, the village is a short distance away from the main N18 road. Sixmilebridge partly serves as a dormitory village for workers in the ...

, by James Vandeleur in the late 1630s, and were compensated by the Cromwellians for losses during the 1641 rebellion. Their holdings were confirmed by Charles II. They arrived in Kilrush in 1688, and prospered. In 1828, he succeeded to his father's extensive estates, which by the middle of the century included almost 20,000 acres in County Clare, mostly in the barony of Moyarta. At the time of

Griffith's Valuation Griffith's Valuation was a boundary and land valuation survey of Ireland completed in 1868. Griffith's background Richard John Griffith started to value land in Scotland, where he spent two years in 1806-1807 valuing terrain through the examinati ...

in 1868, they held at least 17 townlands in the parish of Kilrush, where his father had built

Kilrush House Kilrush () is a coastal town in County Clare, Ireland. It is also the name of a civil parish and an ecclesiastical parish in Roman Catholic Diocese of Killaloe. It is located near the mouth of the River Shannon in the south-west of the county. ...

in 1808. The Vandeleurs effectively owned the town, which John had set about developing. His efforts were continued during the 19th century by Crofton and Crofton's son Hector Vandeleur. However, their lack of compassion during the Great Famine and later their bad record as absentee landlords, left a legacy of hostility to the family, exacerbated by widespread evictions in the 1880s.

Early life

Vandeleur was educated at Harrow and at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

. In 1862 he married Lady Grace Graham-Toler, second daughter of the 2nd Earl of Norbury.

Career

Vandeleur became a magistrate for

County Clare County Clare ( ga, Contae an Chláir) is a county in Ireland, in the Southern Region and the province of Munster, bordered on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. Clare County Council is the local authority. The county had a population of 118,817 ...

, and a Deputy Lieutenant of the county. He was High Sheriff of County Clare in 1832, and in 1838 he became Colonel of the Clare Militia. He stood unsuccessfully in the Clare constituency at the

1835 Events January–March * January 7 – anchors off the Chonos Archipelago on her second voyage, with Charles Darwin on board as naturalist. * January 8 – The United States public debt contracts to zero, for the only time in history. ...

1841 Events January–March * January 20 – Charles Elliot of the United Kingdom, and Qishan of the Qing dynasty, agree to the Convention of Chuenpi. * January 26 – Britain occupies Hong Kong. Later in the year, the first census of the i ...

and 1852 general elections. He won a seat on his fourth attempt, at the 1859 general election, and held it until

1874 Events January–March * January 1 – New York City annexes The Bronx. * January 2 – Ignacio María González becomes head of state of the Dominican Republic for the first time. * January 3 – Third Carlist War &ndas ...

Death

Vandeleur died on 8 November 1881. He was succeeded in his estates by his oldest son Hector Vandeleur. Kilrush House burned down near the end of the century, and the Vandeleurs gradually severed their connection with the town. His descendants included two distinguished soldiers who served in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Joe Vandeleur and Giles Vandeleur.

References

External links

Family: Vandeleur (Kilrush)
at the NUI Landed Estates database {{DEFAULTSORT:Vandeleur, Crofton Moore 1809 births 1881 deaths 19th-century Irish landowners People from Kilrush Politicians from County Clare Irish Conservative Party MPs People educated at Harrow School Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge UK MPs 1859–1865 UK MPs 1865–1868 UK MPs 1868–1874 Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Clare constituencies (1801–1922) High Sheriffs of Clare Deputy Lieutenants of County Clare