Margaretta Amelia Foster, 1st Viscountess Ferrard (''née'' Burgh; c. 1737 – 20 January 1824), 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 ...

peeress and wife of

John Foster, 1st Baron Oriel John Foster, 1st Baron Oriel PC (Ire) (1740 – 23 August 1828) was an Anglo-Irish peer and politician, who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer of Ireland (1784–1785, 1804–1806, 1807–1811) and as the last Speaker of the Irish House of ...

who was the last

Speaker of the Irish House of Commons The Speaker of the Irish House of Commons was the presiding officer of the Irish House of Commons until its disestablishment in 1800. In the absence of a government chosen from and answerable to the Commons, the Speaker was the dominant politica ...

. She was the daughter of Thomas Burgh and Anne Downes, daughter of

Dive Downes Dive Downes (b Thornby, Northamptonshire 1652 – d Dublin 1709) was Bishop of Cork and Ross from 1699 to 1709. Downes was born in Northamptonshire, son of the Reverend Lewis Downes. He was educated at Trinity College, Dublin. He was ordained in ...

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 ...

, and his fourth wife Lady Catherine Fitzgerald. On 14 December 1764, she married the politician John Foster. On 5 June 1790, she 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 Baroness Oriel in her own right. The title was created in honour of her husband, but in such a way that would enable him to continue to serve as

(1785–1800). On 22 November 1797, she was further honoured when she was made Viscountess Ferrard.''The Present Peerage of the United Kingdom''
(John Stockdale, 1821), p.137. Retrieved 2 November 2016. Her husband was created

Baron Oriel Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knigh ...

in his own right in 1821.

Family

Viscountess Ferrard had three children. She was succeeded in her titles by her eldest surviving son by John Foster,

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 ...

, who also succeeded to his father's barony on his death in 1828.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferrard, Margaretta Foster, 1st Viscountess Year of birth unknown 1824 deaths 18th-century Anglo-Irish people 19th-century Anglo-Irish people Viscounts in the Peerage of Ireland Year of birth uncertain Hereditary peeresses of Ireland created by George III Margaretta 1737 births