James Stopford, 1st Earl of Courtown (1700 – 12 January 1770) 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 ...

politician. Courtown was the son of James Stopford, of

Courtown Courtown () is a village in County Wexford, Ireland. It was developed after Lord Courtown ordered the construction of a harbour during the Famine years, 1839–1846. The economic boost of the new harbour led to a small village developing with f ...

County Wexford County Wexford ( ga, Contae Loch Garman) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Southern Region. Named after the town of Wexford, it was based on the historic Gaelic territory of Hy Kinsella (''Uí Ceinns ...

, who represented Wexford County 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 ...

, and his wife Frances (née Jones). He succeeded his father as member of parliament for Wexford County in 1721, a seat he held until 1727, and then represented Fethard (County Wexford) from 1727 to 1758. In 1756 he was appointed

High Sheriff of Wexford The High Sheriff of Wexford was the British Crown's judicial representative in County Wexford, Ireland from the 16th century until 1922, when the office was abolished in the new Irish Free State and replaced by the office of Wexford County Sheriff ...

. In 1758 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 Courtown, of Courtown in the County of Wexford. Four years later he was further honoured when he was made Viscount Stopford and Earl of Courtown, in the County of Wexford, also in the Peerage of Ireland.

Family

Lord Courtown married Elizabeth, daughter of the Right Reverend Edward Smyth,

Bishop of Down and Connor The Bishop of Down and Connor is an episcopal title which takes its name from the town of Downpatrick (located in County Down) and the village of Connor (located in County Antrim) in Northern Ireland. The title is still used by the Catholic Chur ...

, and his first wife and cousin Elizabeth Smyth, in 1727. He died in January 1770 and was succeeded in the earldom by his eldest son

James James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

, who became a prominent

Tory A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. Th ...

politician. His second son the Hon. Edward Stopford (1732–1794) was a Lieutenant-General in the Army. Another son, the Hon

Thomas Stopford Thomas Stopford was Bishop of Cork and Ross from 1794 and died in post on 24 January 1805. He was the son of the first Earl of Courtown. He was Rector of Kiltinel and served as Dean of Killaloe from 1781 to 1787 before being appointed Dean ...

, became

Bishop of Cork and Ross The Bishop of Cork and Ross is an episcopal title which takes its name after the city of Cork and the town of Rosscarbery in Republic of Ireland. The combined title was first used by the Church of Ireland from 1638 to 1660 and again from 1679 to ...

. Lady Courtown survived her husband by 18 years and died in September 1788.

Notes

References

*Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990, * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Courtown, James Stopford, 1st Earl of 1700 births 1770 deaths Peers of Ireland created by George II Irish MPs 1715–1727 Irish MPs 1727–1760 Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Wexford constituencies High Sheriffs of Wexford

Earls of Courtown