Richard Boyle, 4th Earl of Shannon (12 May 1809 – 1 August 1868), styled Viscount Boyle until 1842, was a British politician of the Whig party. He served as Member of Parliament for

Cork County County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns ar ...

from 1830 to 1832.Listing of the Earls of Shannon and their descendants in Wombat's Family Forest

Background

Boyle was the son of

Henry Boyle, 3rd Earl of Shannon Henry Boyle, 3rd Earl of Shannon KP, PC (Ire) (8 August 1771 – 22 April 1842), styled Viscount Boyle from 1764 until 1807, was among the last surviving Members of the Parliament of Ireland. He represented Cork County in the new Parliament of ...

and his wife, Sarah, daughter of John Hyde of Castle Hyde and his wife, Sarah Burton. Hyde was a descendant of the Hyde family of Denchworth in Berkshire (now Oxfordshire).

Political career

Boyle was elected 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 o ...

in the

1830 United Kingdom general election The 1830 United Kingdom general election was triggered by the death of King George IV and produced the first parliament of the reign of his successor, William IV of the United Kingdom, William IV. Fought in the aftermath of the Swing Riots, it s ...

and re-elected in the

1831 United Kingdom general election The 1831 United Kingdom general election saw a landslide win by supporters of electoral reform, which was the major election issue. As a result, it was the last unreformed election, as the Parliament which resulted ensured the passage of the Ref ...

. The Reform Act 1832 increased the number of individuals entitled to

vote Voting is a method by which a group, such as a meeting or an Constituency, electorate, can engage for the purpose of making a collective decision making, decision or expressing an opinion usually following discussions, debates or election camp ...

, increasing the size of electorate by 50–80%, and allowing a total of 653,000 adult males (around one in five) to vote, in a population of some 14 million. In the 1832 United Kingdom general election which followed, Cork County was allowed to elect two Members of Parliament instead of one. Richard failed to be re-elected, his seat taken by

Feargus O'Connor Feargus Edward O'Connor (18 July 1796 – 30 August 1855) was an Irish Chartist leader and advocate of the Land Plan, which sought to provide smallholdings for the labouring classes. A highly charismatic figure, O'Connor was admired for his ...

, a leader of the

Chartist movement Chartism was a working-class movement for political reform in the United Kingdom that erupted from 1838 to 1857 and was strongest in 1839, 1842 and 1848. It took its name from the People's Charter of 1838 and was a national protest movement, w ...

, and

Garrett Standish Barry Garrett Standish Barry (1788 – 26 December 1864) was a Liberal Member of Parliament for Cork County in the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1832 to 1841. An extremely popular figure, Standish Barry retired to give his seat to "The Emanci ...

. Barry was a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

, the first one elected to Parliament following the

Catholic Relief Act 1829 The Catholic Relief Act 1829, also known as the Catholic Emancipation Act 1829, was passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom in 1829. It was the culmination of the process of Catholic emancipation throughout the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

. On 22 April 1842, his father died and Boyle succeeded him. He held no other political office until his death.

Family

On 28 May 1832, Lord Shannon married Emily Henrietta Seymour in London. She was a daughter of Lord George Seymour-Conway and Isabella Hamilton. His father-in-law was a son of

Francis Seymour-Conway, 1st Marquess of Hertford Francis Seymour-Conway, 1st Marquess of Hertford, KG, PC, PC (Ire) (5 July 1718 – 14 June 1794) of Ragley Hall, Arrow, in Warwickshire, was a British courtier and politician who, briefly, was Viceroy of Ireland where he had substantial ...

and his wife Lady Isabella Fitzroy. His mother-in-law was a daughter of the Reverend George Hamilton, Canon of Windsor (1718–1787) and his wife Elizabeth Onslow. They had two sons: * Henry Bentinck Boyle, 5th Earl of Shannon (22 November 1833 – 8 February 1890). *Frederick James Boyle (16 September 1835 – 10 October 1861).

References

Burke's Peerage Burke's Peerage Limited is a British genealogical publisher founded in 1826, when the Irish genealogist John Burke began releasing books devoted to the ancestry and heraldry of the peerage, baronetage, knightage and landed gentry of Great ...

, 107th edition (2004)

External links

*
Page of "Gentleman's Magazine" listing the children of the 3rd Earl of ShannonPage of "Families of County Cork" giving a profile of the Hyde familyPage of "Burke's Landed Gentry" listing his maternal ancestors
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shannon, Richard Boyle, 4th Earl of 1809 births 1868 deaths Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Cork constituencies (1801–1922) UK MPs 1830–1831 UK MPs 1831–1832 UK MPs who inherited peerages

Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'stro ...

Earls of Shannon Younger sons of earls