Edmund Boyle, 7th Earl of Cork and 7th Earl of Orrery (21 November 1742 – 30 May 1798) was an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

peer and

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

landowner.

Family

A younger son of the 5th Earl of Cork and Margaret Hamilton, he succeeded to his half-brother's titles on 17 January 1764.''Burke's Peerage''. He died, aged 56 in Marston House and was buried in St John's Church in

Frome Frome ( ) is a town and civil parish in eastern Somerset, England. The town is built on uneven high ground at the eastern end of the Mendip Hills, and centres on the River Frome. The town, about south of Bath, is the largest in the Mendip d ...

The children of Edmund Boyle, 7th Earl of Cork by Richard Cosway

On 31 August 1764, he married firstly Anne Courtenay (1742–1785), daughter and eventual heir of

Kelland Courtenay Kelland is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Clarence Budington Kelland (1881-1964), American author * Gilbert Kelland (1924-1997), British police officer and Freemason *John Kelland *Peter Kelland Peter Alban Kelland (20 Se ...

(1707–1748). They had six children, including: * John Richard Boyle, Viscount Dungarven, born 27 May 1765, died 8 March 1768 * General

Edmund Boyle, 8th Earl of Cork General Edmund Boyle, 8th Earl of Cork and 8th Earl of Orrery KP (21 October 1767 – 29 June 1856), styled Viscount Dungarvan from 1768 to 1798, was an Irish soldier and peer. Early life Boyle was the eldest surviving son of Edmund Boyle, 7th E ...

, born 21 October 1767, succeeded his father 30 May 1798, died 29 June 1856 * Vice-Admiral Sir Courtenay Boyle, born 3 September 1770, died 21 May 1844 * Lady Lucy Isabella Boyle, married 28 July 1792, died 7 September 1801 the Hon Rev George Bridgeman The marriage was dissolved in 1782, and on 17 June 1786, he married secondly Mary Monckton, daughter of the 1st Viscount Galway: her salon was one of the centres of intellectual life in London for half a century. The

ODNB The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

considers that

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

used Maria, Lady Cork as the template for Mrs Leo Hunter in

The Pickwick Papers ''The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club'' (also known as ''The Pickwick Papers'') was Charles Dickens's first novel. Because of his success with ''Sketches by Boz'' published in 1836, Dickens was asked by the publisher Chapman & Hall to s ...

and that 'Benjamin Disraeli, who knew Lady Cork well, is said to have described her accurately as Lady Bellair in his 1837 novel Henrietta Temple'.

Militia career

In November 1774 Cork was commissioned as a

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

in the

Somerset Militia The Somerset Militia was an auxiliary military force in the county of Somerset in South West England. From their formal organisation as Trainband, Trained Bands in 1558 until their final service as the Special Reserve, the Militia (United Kingdom) ...

, and was promoted to

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

on 1 May 1778, just before the regiment was embodied for fulltime service during the

American War of Independence The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. His company assembled at

Bridgwater Bridgwater is a large historic market town and civil parish in Somerset, England. Its population currently stands at around 41,276 as of 2022. Bridgwater is at the edge of the Somerset Levels, in level and well-wooded country. The town lies alon ...

before the regiment left for home defence duties in the

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

defences and at Coxheath Camp in Kent. Cork was promoted to

lieutenant-colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...

in 1779 and was in active command of the regiment in the summer of 1781 while it was camped on Maker Heights. An inspecting officer found that the regiment had greatly improved under Cork's command. The following year the Somersets were part of 4th Brigade camped at Roborough. The Light Companies of the regiments in the brigade were detached to form a composite Light Battalion at Staddon, which Cork was selected to command. The

Militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

were disembodied early in 1783 at the conclusion of the war. Cork was promoted to

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

of the Somerset Militia on 23 November 1784, and retained the position until his death.Kerr, pp. 22–8, 68.

Notes

References

* ''Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage,'' 100th Edn, London, 1953. * W.J.W. Kerr, ''Records of the 1st Somerset Militia (3rd Bn. Somerset L.I.)'', Aldershot:Gale & Polden, 1930. {{DEFAULTSORT:Cork, Edmund Boyle, 7th Earl of 1742 births 1798 deaths

Edmund Edmund is a masculine given name or surname in the English language. The name is derived from the Old English elements ''ēad'', meaning "prosperity" or "riches", and ''mund'', meaning "protector". Persons named Edmund include: People Kings and ...

Somerset Militia officers

7th 7 (seven) is the natural number following 6 and preceding 8. It is the only prime number preceding a cube (algebra), cube. As an early prime number in the series of positive integers, the number seven has greatly symbolic associations in religion ...

4th