Marcus Beresford, 1st Earl of Tyrone (16 July 1694 – 4 April 1763), known as Sir Marcus Beresford, 4th Baronet, until 1720 and subsequently as The Viscount Tyrone until 1746, was an Irish peer, freemason and politician.

Background

He was the only son of Sir Tristram Beresford, 3rd Baronet, and his wife Nichola Sophia Hamilton, youngest daughter of

Hugh Hamilton, 1st Viscount of Glenawly Hugh Hamilton, 1st Viscount Glenawly (c. 1600–1678) was a soldier in Swedish and English service. He was awarded the title of ''friherre'' for his service to Sweden. Background He came from a family that descended from the Hamiltons of Dalse ...

and his second wife Susanna Balfour. In 1701 his father died and Beresford, aged only five, succeeded to the baronetcy. His guardian was The 3rd Viscount Dungannon (1669-1706). After Lord Dungannon's death in 1706, his widow (Beresford's maternal aunt), Arabella, Viscountess Dungannon, served as Beresford's guardian.

Career

In 1715, he entered 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 ...

, sitting for

Coleraine Coleraine ( ; from ga, Cúil Rathain , 'nook of the ferns'Flanaghan, Deirdre & Laurence; ''Irish Place Names'', page 194. Gill & Macmillan, 2002. ) is a town and civil parish near the mouth of the River Bann in County Londonderry, Northern I ...

until 1720, when 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 ...

with the titles Baron Beresford, of Beresford, in the County of Cavan, and Viscount Tyrone by

King George I of Great Britain George I (George Louis; ; 28 May 1660 – 11 June 1727) was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1 August 1714 and ruler of the Electorate of Hanover within the Holy Roman Empire from 23 January 1698 until his death in 1727. He was the first ...

. A year later, he joined the

Irish House of Lords The Irish House of Lords was the upper house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from medieval times until 1800. It was also the final court of appeal of the Kingdom of Ireland. It was modelled on the House of Lords of England, with membe ...

. In 1736, he became Grandmaster of the

Grand Lodge of Ireland The Grand Lodge of Ireland is the second most senior Grand Lodge of Freemasons in the world, and the oldest in continuous existence. Since no specific record of its foundation exists, 1725 is the year celebrated in Grand Lodge anniversaries, as ...

, serving for the next two years. Beresford was further honoured in 1746, when he was created Earl of Tyrone.

Family

On 18 July 1717, he married Catherine, only daughter of James Power, 3rd Earl of Tyrone and had by her seven sons and eight daughters. Beresford died at

Tyrone House Tyrone House in County Galway is a ruined manor house, built in the 1770s on a promontory by the estuary of the Kilcolgan river, about from the village of Kilcolgan, County Galway, Ireland. The house was destroyed by the local Irish Republ ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

and was succeeded in his titles by his fourth and oldest surviving son

George George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presiden ...

. His fifth son

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

was also a

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 ...

and his seventh son

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

was ennobled in his own right as

Baron Decies Baron Decies, of Decies in the County of Waterford, is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1812 for the Right Reverend William Beresford, Archbishop of Tuam from 1794 to 1819. He was the third son of the Marcus Beresford, 1st Ea ...

. His third daughter Catherine married Thomas Christmas MP, and after his death remarried to Theophilus Jones MP. His fifth daughter Frances married the statesman

Henry Flood Henry Flood (1732 – 2 December 1791), Irish statesman, son of Warden Flood, Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench for Ireland, was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, and afterwards at Christ Church, Oxford, where he became proficient i ...

, and the sixth daughter Eliza married Colonel Thomas Cobbe MP, son of

Charles Cobbe Charles Cobbe (1686 in Swarraton – 1765) was Archbishop of Dublin from 1743 to 1765, and as such was Primate of Ireland. Early life Cobbe was the second son of Thomas Cobbe, of Swarraton, Winchester, Receiver General for County Southampton ...

Archbishop of Dublin The Archbishop of Dublin is an archepiscopal title which takes its name after Dublin, Ireland. Since the Reformation, there have been parallel apostolic successions to the title: one in the Catholic Church and the other in the Church of Irelan ...

. In 1767, four years after the earl's death, his wife claimed the title

Baron La Poer Baron La Poer, de la Poer, or Le Pour, is a title in the Peerage of Ireland held by the Marquess of Waterford. Its creation is the sole instance in the law of the Kingdom of Ireland recognising a peerage by writ. Origin of the title James Power ...

and was shortly thereafter confirmed. She died in 1769.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tyrone, Marcus Beresford, 1st Earl of 1694 births 1763 deaths People from County Tyrone Peers of Ireland created by George I Irish MPs 1715–1727 Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Londonderry constituencies Marcus Earls of Tyrone