Richard Le Poer Trench, 2nd Earl of Clancarty, 1st Marquess of Heusden (19 May 1767 – 24 November 1837), styled The Honourable from 1797 to 1803 and then Viscount Dunlo to 1805, was an Anglo-Irish peer, a

nobleman Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally appointed by and ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. T ...

in the

Dutch nobility The Dutch nobility is a small elite social class consisting of individuals or families recognised as nobility, noble, and with or without a title of nobility in the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The existence of nobility was established in the Con ...

, and a diplomat. He was an Irish, and later

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

, Member of Parliament and a supporter of Pitt. Additionally he was appointed

Postmaster General A Postmaster General, in Anglosphere countries, is the chief executive officer of the postal service of that country, a ministerial office responsible for overseeing all other postmasters. History The practice of having a government official ...

of Ireland, and later, of the United Kingdom.

Background and education

Clancarty was the son of William Trench, 1st Earl of Clancarty and Anne, daughter of Charles Gardiner and his seat was Garbally Court in

Ballinasloe Ballinasloe ( ; ) is a town in the easternmost part of County Galway, Ireland. Located at an ancient crossing point on the River Suck, evidence of ancient settlement in the area includes a number of Bronze Age sites. Built around a 12th-centur ...

, East County Galway where he was associated with the Great October Fair. His brother was Power Le Poer Trench (1770–1839), archbishop of

Tuam Tuam (; , meaning 'mound' or 'burial-place') is a town in Ireland and the second-largest settlement in County Galway. It is west of the midland Region, Ireland, midlands of Ireland, about north of Galway city. The town is in a civil parishe ...

. He was educated at Kimbolton School and

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College, formally the College of St John the Evangelist in the University of Cambridge, is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch L ...

Political career

Trench represented Newtown Limavady 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 the end of 1800. The upper house was the Irish House of Lords, House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, ...

from 1796 to 1798. He sat further for

County Galway County Galway ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Northern and Western Region, taking up the south of the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht. The county population was 276,451 at the 20 ...

from 1798 to a short time before the Act of Union, when he was replaced by "Humanity Dick" Martin. He was credited with resolving various border disputes in Holland, Germany and Italy at the

Congress of Vienna The Congress of Vienna of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon, Napol ...

, 1814–1815, and in his role as Ambassador to the Netherlands. For his service as ambassador to The Hague, he was awarded the hereditary title of Marquess of Heusden in the peerage of The Netherlands on 8 July 1815 by

William I of the Netherlands William I (Willem Frederik; 24 August 1772 – 12 December 1843) was King of the Netherlands and List of monarchs of Luxembourg, Grand Duke of Luxembourg from 1815 until his abdication in 1840. Born as the son of William V, Prince of Orange, ...

, following the defeat of

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

in Brabant, in that same province's southern reaches. Trench was elected one of the 28 representative peers of Ireland on 16 December 1808. His seat in the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

became hereditary when he was created Baron Trench (4 August 1815) and Viscount Clancarty (created 8 December 1823), 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 in 1801, when it replaced the Peerage of Great B ...

, his older peerages being Irish peerages. He was a Commissioner for the Affairs of India and Custos Rotulorum of County Galway.

Postmaster General

Between 1807 and 1809 Trench was one of the joint Postmasters General of Ireland and he was appointed

Postmaster General of the United Kingdom Postmaster General of the United Kingdom was a Cabinet of the United Kingdom, Cabinet Minister of the Crown, ministerial position in Her Majesty's Government, HM Government. Aside from maintaining mail, the postal system, the Telegraph Act 1868 ...

being one of the last joint holders of that office from 1814 to 1816.

Family

On 6 February 1796 he married Henrietta Margaret Staples, daughter of John Staples and Harriet Conolly. They had the following children: #Lady Lucy Le Poer Trench (d. 1839), married Robert Maxwell #Lady Louisa Augusta Anne Le Poer Trench (b. 23 December 1796, d. 7 February 1881), married Reverend William Le Poer Trench # Lady Harriet Margaret Le Poer Trench (b. 13 October 1799, d. 1885), married Thomas Kavanagh "the MacMurrough", a descendant of Art mac Art MacMurrough-Kavanagh #Lady Emily Florinda Le Poer Trench (b. 7 November 1800), married Giovanni Cossiria #Lady Frances Power Le Poer Trench (b. 22 January 1802, d. 28 December 1804) # William Thomas Le Poer Trench, 3rd Earl of Clancarty (b 21 September 1803, d. 26 April 1872), married Lady Sarah Juliana Butler, daughter of Somerset Richard Butler, 3rd Earl of Carrick #Hon. Richard John Le Poer Trench (b. 1805) #Commander Hon. Frederick Robert Le Poer Trench (b. 23 July 1808, d. April 1867), married Catherine Maria Thompson

Ancestry

References

*Urban, Sylvanus. "The Earl of Clancarty." ''The Gentleman's Magazine.'' Obituary Vol. IX, January to June, London: William Pickering; John Bowyer Nickols and Son, 1838. (pp. 93–94
googlebooks
Retrieved 17 October 2008 *Lodge, Edmund. ''The Peerage of the British Empire As at Present Existing: Arranged and Printed from the Personal Communications of the Nobility, by Edmund Lodge, to Which Is Added a View of the Baronetage of the Three Kingdoms.'' London: Saunders and Otley, 1834. (p. 96
googlebooks
Accessed 9 March 2008

External links

* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Clancarty, Richard Le Poer Trench, 2nd Earl Of 1767 births 1837 deaths 18th-century Irish politicians 19th-century Irish politicians Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Diplomatic peers Dutch nobility Irish MPs 1790–1797 Irish MPs 1798–1800 Irish representative peers Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Marquess of Heusden Masters of the Mint Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Members of the Privy Council of Ireland Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Galway constituencies (1801–1922) Hereditary peers elected to the House of Commons People from Ballinasloe Politicians from County Galway UK MPs 1801–1802 UK MPs 1802–1806 UK MPs 1806–1807 UK MPs 1807–1812 UK MPs who inherited peerages UK MPs who were granted peerages Postmasters general of the United Kingdom

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

Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to the Netherlands Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Londonderry constituencies Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Galway constituencies Presidents of the Board of Trade Earls of Clancarty Peers of the United Kingdom created by George IV T