Francis Mathew, 1st Earl Landaff (September 1738 – 30 July 1806) 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 ...

politician and peer. Mathew was the only son and heir of Thomas and Mary Mathew. His father's family had settled in Ireland from Wales a generation before. He had one sister, Catherine, who married firstly Philip Roe, and secondly

John Scott, 1st Earl of Clonmell John Scott, 1st Earl of Clonmell PC (Ire) KC SL (8 June 1739 – 23 May 1798), known as The Lord Earlsfort between 1784 and 1789 and as The Viscount Clonmell between 1789 and 1793, was an Irish barrister and judge. Sometimes known as "Copperfa ...

. She died in 1771. Mathew served in the

Irish House of Commons The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from 1297 until 1800. The upper house was the House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, but on a highly restrictive fra ...

as the

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for

County Tipperary County Tipperary ( ga, Contae Thiobraid Árann) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary, and was established in the early 13th century, shortly after th ...

between 1768 and 1783. In 1769 he was High Sheriff of Tipperary. On 12 October 1783 he was raised to the

Peerage of Ireland The Peerage of Ireland consists of those titles of nobility created by the English monarchs in their capacity as Lord or King of Ireland, or later by monarchs of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It is one of the five divisi ...

as Baron Landaff, of

Thomastown Thomastown (), historically known as Grennan, is a town in County Kilkenny in the province of Leinster in the south-east of Ireland. It is a market town along a stretch of the River Nore which is known for its salmon and trout, with a number of ...

in the County of Tipperary, and assumed his seat in the

Irish House of Lords The Irish House of Lords was the upper house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from medieval times until 1800. It was also the final court of appeal of the Kingdom of Ireland. It was modelled on the House of Lords of England, with membe ...

.''Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage''
Volume 3 (1830), p.447. On 4 December 1793 he was further honoured when he was made Viscount Landaff. From 1794 to 1797, Lord Landaff was Colonel of the

14th Regiment of Foot 14 (fourteen) is a natural number following 13 and preceding 15. In relation to the word "four" ( 4), 14 is spelled "fourteen". In mathematics * 14 is a composite number. * 14 is a square pyramidal number. * 14 is a stella octangula number. ...

. On 22 November 1797 he was made Earl Landaff. Following the implementation of the

Acts of Union 1800 The Acts of Union 1800 (sometimes incorrectly referred to as a single 'Act of Union 1801') were parallel acts of the Parliament of Great Britain and the Parliament of Ireland which united the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Irela ...

, he was elected as one of the 28 original Irish

representative peers In the United Kingdom, representative peers were those peers elected by the members of the Peerage of Scotland and the Peerage of Ireland to sit in the British House of Lords. Until 1999, all members of the Peerage of England held the right to ...

and took his seat in the British

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

. Between 1769 and his death he also held the position of Custos Rotulorum of Tipperary. Lord Landaff married three times. He was succeeded in his titles by his eldest son from his first marriage, Francis Mathew. Another son was the politician,

Montague James Mathew Lieutenant General Montague James Mathew (18 August 1773 – 19 March 1819) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and politician, a member of the Irish House of Commons for Ballynakill until 1800 and of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom for County ...

. Francis married first 6 September 1764 to Ellis Smyth, daughter of James Smyth Esq. of Tinny Park, of Co. Wicklow. She died in 1781. Children included: # Francis James Mathew (1768-1833) marriage childless with Gertrude Cecilia La Touche. # Montague James Mathew (1773-1819) died unmarried. Francis married secondly in June 1784 to Catherine Skeffington, daughter of Clotworthy Skeffington, 1st Earl of Massereene. She died in 1796. Children included: # George Toby Skeffington Mathew, died unmarried in 1832. # Elizabeth Skeffington Mathew, survived all her brothers and died unmarried in 1842, bequeathing the property to her cousin the Comte de Jarnac and Vicomte de Chabot (1780-1875), whose mother was Elizabeth Smyth, sister of Ellis, Countess of Llandaff. Francis's third and final marriage was to the younger daughter of Jeremiah Coghlan of Co. Waterford. The marriage was childless.

References

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Landaff, Francis Mathew, 1st Earl 1738 births 1806 deaths 1

Francis Francis may refer to: People *Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State and Bishop of Rome *Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Francis (surname) Places * Rural M ...

Peers of Ireland created by George III High Sheriffs of Tipperary Irish MPs 1769–1776 Irish MPs 1776–1783 Members of the Irish House of Lords Irish representative peers West Yorkshire Regiment officers Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Tipperary constituencies