Robert Jocelyn, 1st Earl of Roden (baptised 31 July 1731 – 21 June 1797) was an Irish peer and politician. He was the only son of Robert Jocelyn, 1st Viscount Jocelyn and his first wife Charlotte Anderson. Jocelyn was MP for Old Leighlin from 1743 to 1756 and Auditor-General of the Exchequer from 1750 until his death. He succeeded to the peerage on the death of his father on 3 December 1756, and on 1 December 1771, he was created Earl of Roden, of High Roding in County Tipperary. On the death of his cousin, Sir Conyers Jocelyn, 4th Bt, of Hyde Hall, Hertford, he also succeeded to the baronetcy.

Family

On 11 December 1752, he married Lady Anne Hamilton (1730-1803), daughter of

James Hamilton, 1st Earl of Clanbrassil James Hamilton, 1st Earl of Clanbrassil PC(I) (14 August 1694 – 17 March 1758) was a British politician and peer. Hamilton was the son of James Hamilton and Hon. Anne Mordaunt, the daughter of The 1st Viscount Mordaunt. He first stood for el ...

l and his wife Henrietta Bentinck, daughter of William Bentinck, 1st Earl of Portland. The marriage was a happy one, and gave great pleasure to his father, who had been deeply saddened by his own wife's death. He died in York Street, Dublin. He was succeeded by his eldest son, Robert Jocelyn, 2nd Earl of Roden, best remembered for the crucial, if somewhat ruthless, role he played in putting down the Irish Rebellion of 1798. The Dowager Countess, who spent much of her later life at her old home at Tollymore,

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 531,665. It borders County Antrim to the ...

, describes the events of 1798 vividly in her diary. The Jocelyns had eleven children in all. Their son George was MP for Dundalk, jointly with his elder brother. Their third son

Percy Jocelyn The Rt Rev. and Hon. Percy Jocelyn (29 November 1764 – 3 September 1843) was Anglican Bishop of Clogher in the Church of Ireland from 1820 to 1822. He was forced from his position due to being caught in homosexual practices, which had been ...

became Bishop of Clogher, but his career was ruined by a notorious sex scandal in 1822, and he lived out his life under an assumed name. His disgrace is known to have profoundly affected the mental state of Lord Castlereagh, who apparently developed a paranoid delusion that he was to be charged in connection with the Jocelyn case: this is thought to have been a major factor in Castlereagh's

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...

H. Montgomery Hyde Harford Montgomery Hyde (14 August 190710 August 1989), born in Belfast, Ireland, was a barrister, politician (Ulster Unionist MP for Belfast North), prolific author and biographer. He was deselected by his party in 1959, losing his seat in th ...

''The Strange Death of Lord Castlereagh'' William Heinemann Ltd London 1959 pp.54-6

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Roden, Robert Jocelyn, 1st Earl of 1731 births 1791 deaths Irish MPs 1727–1760 Jocelyn, Robert Jocelyn, Viscount Members of the Privy Council of Ireland Earls of Roden