Henry Moore, 4th Earl of Drogheda (7 October 1700 – 29 May 1727), styled Viscount Moore from 21 May to 7 June 1714, was an Irish peer and

rake Rake may refer to: * Rake (stock character), a man habituated to immoral conduct * Rake (theatre), the artificial slope of a theatre stage Science and technology * Rake receiver, a radio receiver * Rake (geology), the angle between a feature on a ...

who briefly served in the

Parliament of Great Britain The Parliament of Great Britain was formed in May 1707 following the ratification of the Acts of Union by both the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland. The Acts ratified the treaty of Union which created a new unified Kingdo ...

. He inherited his title and estates at the age of 13, when his father and grandfather died in quick succession. Drogheda rapidly became a debauchee, and after squandering large sums, died at the age of 26, leaving his younger brother a heavily encumbered estate. Moore was the eldest son of

Charles Moore, 2nd Viscount Moore of Drogheda Charles Moore, 2nd Viscount Moore of Drogheda (1603-1643) was an Irish aristocrat noted for his leadership of Irish Royalist forces in northern Leinster during the early stages of the Irish Confederate Wars. Background He was the third but elde ...

by his wife Lady Jane Loftus, the daughter of Arthur Loftus, 3rd Viscount Loftus. His father Charles was the heir apparent of Henry Hamilton-Moore, 3rd Earl of Drogheda. Viscount Moore died on 21 May 1714, followed shortly after by his father the 3rd Earl on 7 June, upon which Henry succeeded in the earldom and family estates and quickly became a drunkard. Sent on the

Grand Tour The Grand Tour was the principally 17th- to early 19th-century custom of a traditional trip through Europe, with Italy as a key destination, undertaken by upper-class young European men of sufficient means and rank (typically accompanied by a tuto ...

by his guardian, the Dowager Countess of Drogheda, he escaped from his

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Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

in June 1717. Proceeding alone to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, he returned home when he ran out of money. In 1719, his grandmother obtained a release of responsibility for him from the

Lord Chancellor of Ireland The Lord High Chancellor of Ireland (commonly known as Lord Chancellor of Ireland) was the highest judicial office in Ireland until the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922. From 1721 to 1801, it was also the highest political office of ...

, writing that "he exceeds all the youth that ever went before him for wickedness". Drogheda regularly overspent his allowance of £1,500 per year. In 1720, he married Charlotte, the daughter of

Hugh Boscawen, 1st Viscount Falmouth Hugh Boscawen, 1st Viscount Falmouth (pronounced "Boscowen") ( ; ca. 1680 – 25 October 1734), was an English Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons for Cornish constituencies from 1702 until 1720 when he was raised to the peerage ...

, on 11 February, by whom he had one daughter, who died in infancy. Drogheda's father-in-law was the Government electoral manager for the Cornish boroughs and obtained for him a seat at

Camelford Camelford ( kw, Reskammel) is a town and civil parish in north Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, situated in the River Camel valley northwest of Bodmin Moor. The town is approximately ten miles (16 km) north of Bodmin and is governed by ...

at the 1722 election. In 1725, upon the death of his maternal grandfather Viscount Loftus, he inherited the Loftus estate of

Monasterevin Monasterevin (), also Monasterevan, and Mevin is a town in County Kildare, Ireland. The town lies on the River Barrow and the Barrowline, a canal branch of the Grand Canal. The population was 4,246 at the 2016 Census. Location and Access Situ ...

. Drogheda continued to spend immense sums on

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and other extravagances and died in Dublin on 29 May 1727. He was succeeded by his brother

Edward Edward is an English given name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortune; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-Sa ...

, who had to sell much of the Moore estates in

County Louth County Louth ( ; ga, An Lú) is a coastal county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. Louth is bordered by the counties of Meath to the south, Monaghan to the west, Armagh to the north and Down to the ...

to meet Henry's debts of over £180,000; thenceforth the family made their seat at Monasterevin, where they later built

Moore Abbey Moore Abbey () is a monastic house on the east bank of the River Barrow at Monasterevin in County Kildare, Ireland. History Moore Abbey was designed by the English engineer Christopher Myers in the Gothic style and was built in the late 1760 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Drogheda, Henry Moore, 4th Earl of 1700 births 1727 deaths British MPs 1722–1727 Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for constituencies in Cornwall Earls of Drogheda