Francis Vernon, 1st Earl of Shipbrook (1715 – 15 October 1783), known as The Lord Orwell between 1762 and 1776 and as The Viscount Orwell between 1776 and 1777, was an English politician. Vernon was the son of

James Vernon James Vernon (1646–1727) was an English administrator and Whig politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons between 1679 and 1710. He was Secretary of State for both the Northern and the Southern Departments during the rei ...

by his wife Arethusa, daughter of Charles Boyle, Lord Clifford. Vernon sat as

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

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...

from 1762 to 1768. In 1762 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 Orwell, of

Newry Newry (; ) is a city in Northern Ireland, divided by the Clanrye river in counties Armagh and Down, from Belfast and from Dublin. It had a population of 26,967 in 2011. Newry was founded in 1144 alongside a Cistercian monastery, althoug ...

in the County of Down. He was further honoured when he was made Viscount Orwell in 1776 and in 1777 Earl of Shipbrooke "of Newry in the County of Down", also in the Irish peerage.

Shipbrook Castle Shipbrook Castle near Davenham in Cheshire was a Norman castle situated beside the River Dane, the exact site of which is now unknown. Davenham is recorded in the Domesday Book as ''Devenham''. Its name means "hamlet on the River Dane". The site ...

in Cheshire was the earliest recorded seat of the Vernon family. He married Alice, daughter of Samuel Ibbetson of

Denton Hall, Wharfedale Denton Hall is an English country house located to the north of the River Wharfe, at Denton, Borough of Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England between Otley and Ilkley, and set within a larger Denton estate of about , including a village, church, ...

, Yorkshire. Their son, Francis (1752–1760) died early.Catalogue note for the painting ''Alice, Countess of Shipbrook'' by Francis Cotes
/ref> Lord Shipbrooke died in October 1783 when all the titles became extinct.

References

Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Ipswich 1715 births 1783 deaths Earls in the Peerage of Ireland Peers of Ireland created by George III British MPs 1761–1768 {{Ireland-earl-stub