Marquess of Headfort is a title in 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 ...

. It was created in 1800 for Thomas Taylour, 2nd Earl of Bective. The Marquess holds the subsidiary titles of Earl of Bective (1766), Viscount Headfort (1762), Baron Headfort, of Headfort in the

County of Meath County Meath (; gle, Contae na Mí or simply ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is bordered by County Dublin, Dublin to ...

, (1760), and Baron Kenlis, of Kenlis in the

(1831), all but the last in the

. He is also an Irish

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

. Before the passage of the

House of Lords Act 1999 The House of Lords Act 1999 (c. 34) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed the House of Lords, one of the chambers of Parliament. The Act was given Royal Assent on 11 November 1999. For centuries, the House of Lords ...

, the Marquess sat 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 ...

as Baron Kenlis 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 ...

. The family descends from Thomas Taylor, who came to Ireland during the 1650s from Sussex in England to oversee on behalf of Parliament the fiscal expenditure of

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three Ki ...

's campaign in Ireland and later undertook the duties of a cartographer assisting with Sir

William Petty Sir William Petty FRS (26 May 1623 – 16 December 1687) was an English economist, physician, scientist and philosopher. He first became prominent serving Oliver Cromwell and the Commonwealth in Ireland. He developed efficient methods to su ...

's project of mapping Ireland, known as the Down Survey. Taylor's son also Thomas Taylor represented Kells 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 in 1704, he was created a Baronet, of

Kells, County Meath Kells (; ) is a town in County Meath, Ireland. The town lies off the M3 motorway, from Navan and from Dublin. Along with other towns in County Meath, it is within the "commuter belt" for Dublin, and had a population of 6,135 as of the 2016 ...

, in the

Baronetage of Ireland Baronets are a rank in the British aristocracy. The current Baronetage of the United Kingdom has replaced the earlier but existing Baronetages of England, Nova Scotia, Ireland, and Great Britain. Baronetage of England (1611–1705) James I of E ...

. His grandson, the third Baronet, also sat for Kells in the Irish House of Commons. In 1760 he was raised to the Peerage of Ireland as Baron Headfort, of Headfort in the County of Meath. Two years later he was created Viscount Headfort, of Headfort, in the County of Meath and in 1766 he was even further honoured when he was made Earl of Bective, of Bective Castle, in the County of Meath. He was succeeded by his eldest son, the second Earl. He was one of the 28 original

Irish Representative Peers In the United Kingdom, representative peers were those peers elected by the members of the Peerage of Scotland and the Peerage of Ireland to sit in the British House of Lords. Until 1999, all members of the Peerage of England held the right to ...

in the House of Lords. In 1800 he was created Marquess of Headfort in the Peerage of Ireland. His son, the second Marquess, assumed the surname of Taylour in lieu of Taylor. In 1831 he was created Baron Kenlis, of Kenlis in the County of Meath, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. This gave the Marquesses an automatic seat in the House of Lords. Lord Headfort served as a Government

Whip A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally e ...

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 ...

and was also

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, ...

. His son, the third Marquess, represented

Westmorland Westmorland (, formerly also spelt ''Westmoreland'';R. Wilkinson The British Isles, Sheet The British IslesVision of Britain/ref> is a historic county in North West England spanning the southern Lake District and the northern Dales. It had an ...

in Parliament as a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

and also served as

Lord Lieutenant of County Meath This is a list of people who served as Lord Lieutenant of County Meath, Ireland. 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 Augus ...

. His son from his first marriage,

Thomas Taylour, Earl of Bective Thomas Taylour, Earl of Bective (11 February 1844 – 15 December 1893), styled Lord Kenlis until 1870, was an Anglo-Irish Conservative politician. Bective was the son of Thomas Taylour, 3rd Marquess of Headfort, by his first wife Amelia (née T ...

, also sat as a Conservative Member of Parliament. However, he predeceased his father and on Lord Headfort's death the titles passed to his son from his second marriage, the fourth Marquess. He was a

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

of the

Irish Free State The Irish Free State ( ga, Saorstát Éireann, , ; 6 December 192229 December 1937) was a state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-year Irish War of Independence between th ...

. , the titles are held by his great-grandson, the seventh Marquess, who succeeded his father in 2005. As of 31 August 2017 the present holder of the Marquessate has not successfully proven his succession to the baronetcy and is therefore not on the Official Roll of the Baronetage, with the baronetcy considered dormant since 2005. Another member of the Taylor family was

Clotworthy Rowley Clotworthy is a surname derived from Clotworthy near Wembworthy, Devon, England. The family inherited the manor of Rashleigh in Wembworthy in the 16th century. Sir Hugh Clotworthy (1569–1630) gained land in Ireland in the Plantation of Ulster ...

, fourth son of the first Earl of Bective and younger brother of the first Marquis. He assumed the surname of Rowley in lieu of Taylor and was created

Baron Langford Baron Langford, of Summerhill in the County of Meath, is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created on 1 July 1800 for Clotworthy Rowley, who had earlier represented Trim and County Meath in the Irish House of Commons. Born Clotworthy Ta ...

of Summerhill in the Peerage of Ireland in 1800. Also, the Honourable the Reverend Henry Edward Taylor, fifth son of the first Earl of Bective, was the father of the Conservative politician

Thomas Edward Taylor Thomas Edward Taylor (17 March 1811 – 3 February 1883), was a British Conservative Party politician. He served as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in 1868 and between 1874 and 1880 under Benjamin Disraeli. Background and education Taylor ...

, who served as

Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster The chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster is a ministerial office in the Government of the United Kingdom. The position is the second highest ranking minister in the Cabinet Office, immediately after the Prime Minister, and senior to the Minist ...

in 1868 and from 1874 to 1880. The family seat was

Headfort House Headfort House is a large country house on the southern outskirts of Kells in County Meath, Ireland. History The house was constructed in the 1760s for The 1st Earl of Bective to a design by the Irish architect George Semple. The interiors ...

, near Kells,

County Meath County Meath (; gle, Contae na Mí or simply ) is a county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. It is bordered by Dublin to the southeast, Louth to the northeast, Kildare to the south, Offaly to the sou ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

Taylor baronets, of Kells (1704)

Sir Thomas Taylor, 1st Baronet Sir Thomas Taylor, 1st Baronet (25 July 1662 – 8 August 1736) was an Anglo-Irish politician. Taylor was the son of Thomas Taylor, who had settled in Ireland from Sussex following the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland in 1652, and Anne Axtell. He ...

(1662–1736) *

Sir Thomas Taylor, 2nd Baronet Sir Thomas Taylor, 2nd Baronet (1657–1696), of Park House, Maidstone and Shadoxhurst, Kent, was an English politician. He was a Member of the Parliament of England (MP) for Maidstone Maidstone is the largest town in Kent, England, of ...

(1686–1757) * Sir Thomas Taylor, 3rd Baronet (1724–1795) (created Baron Headfort in 1760, Viscount Headfort in 1762 and Earl of Bective in 1766)

Earls of Bective (1766)

Thomas Taylour, 1st Earl of Bective Thomas Taylour, 1st Earl of Bective, KP, PC (Ire) (20 October 1724 – 14 February 1795) was an Irish peer and politician. Early life He was the oldest son of the former Sarah Graham and Sir Thomas Taylor, 2nd Baronet, a Member of the Parliam ...

, 1st Viscount Headfort, 1st Baron Headfort (1724–1795) * Thomas Taylour, 2nd Earl of Bective, 2nd Viscount Headfort, 2nd Baron Headfort (1757–1829) (created Marquess of Headfort in 1800)

Marquesses of Headfort (1800), Baron Kenlis (1831)

Thomas Taylour, 1st Marquess of Headfort Thomas Taylour, 1st Marquess of Headfort (18 November 1757 – 24 October 1829), styled Viscount Headford from 1766 to 1795, and known as The Earl of Bective from 1795 to 1800, was an Irish peer and politician. Early life Taylour was born on 1 ...

, 2nd Earl of Bective, 2nd Viscount Headfort, 2nd Baron Headfort (1757–1829) *

Thomas Taylour, 2nd Marquess of Headfort 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 Whig politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Me ...

, 3rd Earl of Bective, 3rd Viscount Headfort, 3rd Baron Headfort, 1st Baron Kenlis (1787–1870) *

Thomas Taylour, 3rd Marquess of Headfort Thomas Taylour, 3rd Marquess of Headfort KP PC (I) (1 November 1822 – 22 July 1894) was an Irish peer, styled Lord Kenlis until 1829 and Earl of Bective from 1829 to 1870. He was High Sheriff of Meath in 1844, of Cavan in 1846, and of Wes ...

, 4th Earl of Bective, 4th Viscount Headfort, 4th Baron Headfort, 2nd Baron Kenlis (1822–1894) * Geoffrey Thomas Taylour, 4th Marquess of Headfort, 5th Earl of Bective, 5th Viscount Headfort, 5th Baron Headfort, 3rd Baron Kenlis (1878–1943) *

Terence Geoffrey Thomas Taylour, 5th Marquess of Headfort Publius Terentius Afer (; – ), better known in English as Terence (), was a Roman African playwright during the Roman Republic. His comedies were performed for the first time around 166–160 BC. Terentius Lucanus, a Roman senator, brought ...

, 6th Earl of Bective, 6th Viscount Headfort, 6th Baron Headfort, 4th Baron Kenlis (1902–1960) * Thomas Geoffrey Charles Michael Taylour, 6th Marquess of Headfort, 7th Earl of Bective, 7th Viscount Headfort, 7th Baron Headfort, 5th Baron Kenlis (1932–2005) *Thomas Michael Ronald Christopher Taylour, 7th Marquess of Headfort, 8th Earl of Bective, 8th Viscount Headfort, 8th Baron Headfort, 6th Baron Kenlis (born 1959) The

heir apparent An heir apparent, often shortened to heir, is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person; a person who is first in the order of succession but can be displaced by the b ...

is the present holder's son Thomas Rupert Charles Christopher Taylour, Earl of Bective (born 1989).

Ancestry

References

Notes

Work cited

* *

External links

* *
Thomas Taylour, 7th Marquess of Headfort
{{DEFAULTSORT:Headfort Marquessates in the Peerage of Ireland 1704 establishments in Ireland

Marquess A marquess (; french: marquis ), es, marqués, pt, marquês. is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman wi ...

Noble titles created in 1800