George Augustus Rochfort, 2nd Earl of Belvedere (12 October 1738 – 13 May 1814) was an
Anglo-Irish peer and politician.
Early years
George Augustus Rochfort was born on 12 October 1738, son of
Robert Rochfort, 1st Earl of Belvedere
Robert Rochfort, 1st Earl of Belvedere PC (26 March 1708 – 13 November 1774) was an Anglo-Irish politician and peer. He became notorious for his abusive treatment of his second wife, Mary Molesworth.
Early life
He was the son of Rt. Hon. G ...
and Hon. Mary Molesworth. The
Rochfort family, originally called De Rupe Forti, had settled in Ireland in 1243. Sir Maurice de Rochfort was
Lord Justice of Ireland
The Lords Justices (more formally the Lords Justices General and General Governors of Ireland) were deputies who acted collectively in the absence of the chief governor of Ireland (latterly the Lord Lieutenant) as head of the executive branch o ...
in 1302. Gerald Rochfort was summoned to Parliament as a baron in 1339. George's great-grandfather was the prominent lawyer
Robert Rochfort,
Attorney General of Ireland
The Attorney General of Ireland ( ga, An tArd-Aighne) is a constitutional officer who is the legal adviser to the Government and is therefore the chief law officer of the State. The attorney general is not a member of the Government but does pa ...
and Speaker of the House of Commons in 1695, and
Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer
The Chief Baron of the Exchequer was the first "baron" (meaning judge) of the English Exchequer of Pleas. "In the absence of both the Treasurer of the Exchequer or First Lord of the Treasury, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, it was he who ...
in 1707. The family estate of Gaulstown lay on the shore of
Lough Ennell
Lough Ennell () is a lake near the town of Mullingar, County Westmeath, Ireland. It is situated beside the N52 road, off the Mullingar/ Kilbeggan road. The lake is part of the Lough Ennell Special Protection Area. It is long by wide, with an ...
in
County Westmeath.
George's father, Robert Rochfort, was a favourite courtier of King
George II of Great Britain
, house = Hanover
, religion = Protestant
, father = George I of Great Britain
, mother = Sophia Dorothea of Celle
, birth_date = 30 October / 9 November 1683
, birth_place = Herrenhausen Palace,Cannon. or Leine ...
. He was made an Irish peer as Baron of Bellfield in 1737, and then
Earl of Belvedere in 1756. He was estranged from his mother during his childhood, after his father locked her away after an alleged affair with George's uncle, Arthur.
Politician
From 1756 to 1774 George Rochfort was styled Viscount Belfield. He was
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 o ...
for
Philipstown from 1758–61, and
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 o ...
for
Westmeath
"Noble above nobility"
, image_map = Island of Ireland location map Westmeath.svg
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Ireland
, subdivision_type1 = Province
, subdivision_name1 =
, subdivis ...
from 1761–1774.
The 1761 parliamentary election in County Westmeath followed the death of King
George II of Great Britain
, house = Hanover
, religion = Protestant
, father = George I of Great Britain
, mother = Sophia Dorothea of Celle
, birth_date = 30 October / 9 November 1683
, birth_place = Herrenhausen Palace,Cannon. or Leine ...
. George Rochfort, the Right Honorable Lord Belfield, won the election. He was supported by The Honorable Captain Richard Rochfort, Esq. and opposed by Mr. George Rochfort and Gustavus Lambert. The election thus seems to have been very much a family affair. Mr. George Rochfort supported the "Patriots", who demanded that parliaments last only seven years before being dissolved, rather than for the lifetime of the king, as was the custom.
In 1762 George Rochfort was
Sheriff of County Westmeath, and from 1772 to 1814
Governor of County Westmeath. An anonymous writer named "Dymoke" published a ''Review of the House of Commons'' in the ''
Freeman's Journal
The ''Freeman's Journal'', which was published continuously in Dublin from 1763 to 1924, was in the nineteenth century Ireland's leading nationalist newspaper.
Patriot journal
It was founded in 1763 by Charles Lucas and was identified with rad ...
'' in 1774. The purpose was to "rouse the electors of Ireland to a due exertion of their lawful powers, and stimulate them to fix on proper men to maintain their rights and privileges in parliament." He noted that Belfield, who was muster-master-general of Ireland and a Governor of the County of Westmeath, had voted for the stamp act. Dykmore declared that "The present members
ord Belfield; Anthony Malonefor the County of WESTMEATH will never represent it again if the Electors have either sense, honour, or remembrance".
Irish peer
![Jane Rochfort Lady Lanesborough 1737-1828](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7f/Jane_Rochfort_Lady_Lanesborough_1737-1828.jpeg)
On 13 November 1774 Rochfort succeeded to the titles of Baron Belfield, Viscount Belfield and
Earl of Belvedere after his father's death. He released his mother. She was prematurely aged, spoke in little more than a whisper but in a harsh, agitated and uneven manner, and was dressed in the style of thirty years earlier.
From 1775–76 Rochfort was Grand Master of the Freemasons
Grand Lodge of Ireland. On 20 August 1775 he married Dorothea Bloomfield, daughter of John Bloomfield and Jane Jocelyn. George Rochfort took his mother with him when he and his new wife visited the continent, but she found the travel too difficult. They left her to recuperate in a convent in France while they visited Italy for a few months, spending the winter in
Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...
. The next year the couple returned to London, where George's mother stayed with a friend in
Kensington Palace for a year. She then returned to Ireland and lived first with George in Dublin and then with his sister, now Countess of Lanesborough, and her young family. She died a few years after her husband.
Rochfort had
Belvedere House built on
Great Denmark Street, Dublin, at the great sum of £24,000. The site had been owned by Nicholas Archdall. The building had been started by the first Earl, with Robert West as the architect. Rochfort and his wife apparently did not plan to complete the work, and in 1777 offered it for sale. Later they decided to complete the house for their own use, and gave the job to
Michael Stapleton
Michael Stapleton (born Dublin, Ireland, in 1747, died 8 August 1801, in Dublin) is regarded as having been the most skilled stuccodore working in the neoclassical or "Adam" style that dominated Dublin interior decoration in the final decades of ...
. It was finally completed and occupied in 1786, and probably stood alone at first, since in 1787 Rochfort was recorded as living in
North Great George's Street. George's mother is thought to have died there.
During the struggle over 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 Ir ...
, Rochfort's position on the union of the crowns of Britain and Ireland was uncertain. A letter of 25 January 1800 from
Lord Altamont to the
Earl of Lucan
Earl of Lucan is a title which has been created twice in the Peerage of Ireland for related families.
History
Patrick Sarsfield was one of the senior commanders of James VII & II (deposed in 1688) in battles in Ireland with William of ...
said "Ld Belvedere has touched Government cash & possibly may not exert all his influence to give value in return for it".
Rochfort's first wife died on 6 April 1803, and on 10 November 1803, he married Jane Mackay, daughter of Reverend James Mackay. They had one son, who died in infancy. George Augustus Rochfort died in Great Denmark Street, Dublin on 13 May 1814 at the age of 75. He is buried in
St Sinian, Clonfad Parish Church, of the
Church of Ireland
The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the secon ...
. His tomb is adorned with a full-scale
neoclassical sculptural group by
John Bacon the younger. It represents the earl on his death bed, with his young wife weeping at the end. He is supported by Faith and an angelic figure is beckoning him to heaven.
Rochfort had no surviving children, and his three peerages became extinct. On his death, his sister Jane inherited the whole settled part of his great estate, since his brothers had died without children. He left his entire unsettled estate to his wife. This consisted of at least 2,500 Irish acres, bringing in a large income. The fortune was passed down to his wife's children by her second marriage to Abraham Boyd. The eldest son and heir was
George Augustus Boyd-Rochfort, and he assumed the arms and surname of Rochfort.
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Belvedere, George Rochfort, 2nd Earl of
1738 births
1814 deaths
Earls in the Peerage of Ireland
18th-century Anglo-Irish people
Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for King's County constituencies
Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Westmeath constituencies
Irish MPs 1727–1760
Irish MPs 1761–1768