Thomas Taylour, 2nd Marquess of Headfort KP PC (4 May 1787 – 6 December 1870), styled Viscount Headfort from 1795 to 1800 and Earl of Bective from 1800 to 1829, 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 ...

Whig politician. He was 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 ...

(MP) for Meath from 1812 to 1830. Headfort was the son of Thomas Taylour, 1st Marquess of Headfort, and his wife Mary (née Quin), and succeeded his father in the marquessate in 1829. In 1831 he was created Baron Kenlis, of Kenlis in the County of Meath, in the

Peerage of the United Kingdom The Peerage of the United Kingdom is one of the five Peerages in the United Kingdom. It comprises most peerages created in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland after the Acts of Union 1800, Acts of Union in 1801, when it replaced the ...

, which entitled him to an automatic seat in the

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 ...

(his other titles being in the Peerage of Ireland). He was sworn of the

Irish Privy Council His or Her Majesty's Privy Council in Ireland, commonly called the Privy Council of Ireland, Irish Privy Council, or in earlier centuries the Irish Council, was the institution within the Dublin Castle administration which exercised formal executi ...

in 1835 and served in the Whig administration of

Lord Melbourne William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, (15 March 177924 November 1848), in some sources called Henry William Lamb, was a British Whig politician who served as Home Secretary (1830–1834) and Prime Minister (1834 and 1835–1841). His first pre ...

as a

Lord-in-waiting Lords-in-waiting (male) or baronesses-in-waiting (female) are peers who hold office in the Royal Household of the sovereign of the United Kingdom. In the official Court Circular they are styled "Lord in Waiting" or "Baroness in Waiting" (without ...

(government whip in the House of Lords) from 1837 to 1841. Between 1831 and 1870 Headfort also held the post of

Lord Lieutenant of Cavan This is a list of people who have served as Lord-Lieutenant of Cavan. There were lieutenants of counties in Ireland until the reign of James II, when they were renamed governors. The office of Lord Lieutenant was recreated on 23 August 1831, ...

. He was made a Knight of the Order of St Patrick in 1839. Lord Headfort first married Olivia, daughter of

John Andrew Stevenson Sir John Andrew Stevenson (November 1761 – 14 September 1833) was an Irish composer. He is best known for his piano arrangements of ''Irish Melodies'' with poet Thomas Moore. He was granted an honorary doctorate by the University of Dublin and ...

, in 1822. At the time of her early death (at the hands of cholera) on 21 July 1834, she left her husband with nine children to mourn her passing. On 6 May 1853, he married Lady Frances Macnaghten, daughter of John Livingstone Martyn and widow of (i) Lieutenant-Colonel James McClintock of the Bombay Army and (ii) Sir William Hay Macnaghten, British Envoy to Afghanistan who was murdered in Kabul in 1841. Headfort died in December 1870, aged 83, and was succeeded in the marquessate by his son from his first marriage,

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the Ap ...

. Another of his children by his first marriage was the author

Virginia Sandars Virginia Sandars R.H.A. (17 March 1828 – 26 January 1922), was an Irish author. Biography Lady Virginia Frances Zerlina Taylour was born on 17 March 1828 at Headford, County Meath to Olivia Stevenson and Thomas Taylour, 2nd Marquess of Headfo ...

. The second Marchioness of Headfort died in 1878.

References

*Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990. * *
www.thepeerage.com

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Headfort, Thomas Taylour, 2nd Marquess of 1787 births 1870 deaths Knights of St Patrick Lord-Lieutenants of Cavan Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Meath constituencies (1801–1922) UK MPs 1812–1818 UK MPs 1818–1820 UK MPs 1820–1826 UK MPs 1826–1830 Members of the Privy Council of Ireland

Marquesses of Headfort Peers of the United Kingdom created by William IV