Richard Wingfield, 1st Viscount Powerscourt PC (I) (19 August 1697 – 21 October 1751) 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 ...

politician and peer. Powerscourt was the son of the politician Edward Wingfield and his wife, Eleanor Gore, a daughter of

Sir Arthur Gore, 1st Baronet Sir Arthur Gore, 1st Baronet (c. 1640 – 20 December 1697) was an Irish soldier and politician. Gore was the second son of Sir Paul Gore, 1st Baronet and his wife Isabella Wycliffe, daughter of Francis Wycliffe. In 1656, he was High Sheriff ...

. He was a descendant of the uncle of

Folliott Wingfield, 1st Viscount Powerscourt Folliott Wingfield, 1st Viscount Powerscourt (2 November 1642 – c. 5 February 1717), was an Anglo-Irish politician and peer. He was the son of Richard Wingfield and Elizabeth Folliott, a daughter of Henry Folliott, 1st Baron Folliott and Anne ...

. He sat 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 ...

as the

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 ...

for

Boyle Boyle is an English, Irish and Scottish surname of Gaelic, Anglo-Saxon or Norman origin. In the northwest of Ireland it is one of the most common family names. Notable people with the surname include: Disambiguation *Adam Boyle (disambiguation), ...

between 1727 and 1743. On 4 February 1743 he was elevated 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 Viscount Powerscourt, of Powerscourt in

County Wicklow County Wicklow ( ; ga, Contae Chill Mhantáin ) is a county in Ireland. The last of the traditional 32 counties, having been formed as late as 1606, it is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is bordered by t ...

, and Baron Wingfield, of Wingfield in

County Wexford County Wexford ( ga, Contae Loch Garman) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Southern Region. Named after the town of Wexford, it was based on the historic Gaelic territory of Hy Kinsella (''Uí Ceinns ...

, and he assumed his seat in 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 1746 he was made a member of the

Privy Council of Ireland His or Her Majesty's Privy Council in Ireland, commonly called the Privy Council of Ireland, Irish Privy Council, or in earlier centuries the Irish Council, was the institution within the Dublin Castle administration which exercised formal executi ...

. On 13 April 1727 he married Dorothy Beresford Rowley, and together they had four children. He was succeeded in his titles by his eldest son,

Edward Edward is an English given name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortune; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-Sa ...

. Edward was in turn succeeded by the first Viscount's second son,

Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Frankish language, Old Frankish and is a Compound (linguistics), compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language, Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' an ...

. Powerscourt was responsible for commissioning the German architect,

Richard Cassels Richard Cassels (1690 – 1751), also known as Richard Castle, was an architect who ranks with Edward Lovett Pearce as one of the greatest architects working in Ireland in the 18th century. Cassels was born in 1690 in Kassel, Germany. Althou ...

, to carry out extensive remodelling work on Powerscourt House between 1731 and 1741.History – Powerscourt Estate
(Retrieved 5 October 2016).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Powerscourt, Richard Wingfield, 1st Viscount 1697 births 1751 deaths 18th-century Anglo-Irish people Irish MPs 1727–1760 Members of the Irish House of Lords Members of the Privy Council of Ireland Viscounts in the Peerage of Ireland Peers of Ireland created by George II Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Roscommon constituencies