General Robert Edward King, 1st Viscount Lorton (12 August 1773 – 20 November 1854), styled The Honourable from 1797 to 1800, 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 ...

peer and politician. He was notable for his strong support for anti-Catholic policies and his close association with the

Orange Order The Loyal Orange Institution, commonly known as the Orange Order, is an international Protestant fraternal order based in Northern Ireland and primarily associated with Ulster Protestants, particularly those of Ulster Scots heritage. It also ...

Family

Born in London at his parents' town house, he was the third child and second son of

Robert King, 2nd Earl of Kingston Robert King, 2nd Earl of Kingston (1754 – 17 April 1799) was an Anglo-Irish peer. He was styled Viscount Kingsborough between 1768 and 1797. Biography He was the eldest surviving son of Edward King, 1st Earl of Kingston and Jane Caulfeild. From ...

by his wife, the heiress Caroline Fitzgerald. His mother's fortune (via her own mother) had made the Kings perhaps the richest family in Ireland for some time. His sister was

Margaret King Margaret King (1773–1835), also known as Margaret King Moore, Lady Mount Cashell and Mrs Mason, was an Anglo-Irish hostess, and a writer of female-emancipatory fiction and health advice. Despite her wealthy aristocratic background, she had re ...

and one of the family governesses was

Mary Wollstonecraft Mary Wollstonecraft (, ; 27 April 1759 – 10 September 1797) was a British writer, philosopher, and advocate of women's rights. Until the late 20th century, Wollstonecraft's life, which encompassed several unconventional personal relationsh ...

. On 9 December 1799, he married his first cousin Lady Frances Parsons, daughter of

Laurence Harman Parsons, 1st Earl of Rosse Lawrence Harman Parsons, 1st Earl of Rosse (26 July 1749 – 20 April 1807), known as The Lord Oxmantown between 1792 and 1795 and as The Viscount Oxmantown between 1795 and 1806, was an Anglo-Irish people, Anglo-Irish peer and politician. Bac ...

and Lady Jane King (herself a daughter of the first

Earl of Kingston Earl of Kingston is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1768 for Edward King, 1st Viscount Kingston. The Earl holds the subsidiary titles Baron Kingston, of Rockingham in the County of Roscommon (created in 1764), Viscount ...

). They had several children together, including two sons and five daughters. The elder son succeeded to the earldom, after three cousins died childless or unmarried. The younger son founded the line of King-Harman, producing a family historian of the King family and their estates.

Scandal 1798

After a period of service in the army beginning 1792, Robert King achieved some notoriety when he was tried in April 1798 at the Cork Assizes for the murder of his illegitimate cousin (or maternal half-uncle) Colonel Henry Gerald FitzGerald, for seducing his sister. He was acquitted as no witnesses came forward. (His father was likewise acquitted by 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 ...

). There was considerable sympathy for the King family, because Fitzgerald was raised by the Kings; his actions were thus severally discreditable, being viewed as gross ingratitude, a breach of family trust, incest, as well as simply dishonourable behaviour. For details of the story, Claire Tomalin's account in her biography of Mary Wollstonecraft is as good as any.Claire Tomalin. ''The Life and Death of Mary Wollstonecraft.'' (Penguin, 1992). See pp. 294–295 for Mary King's tragic history. Other accounts can be found onlin

http://www.gla.ac.uk:443/publications/newsletter/details.cfm?category=catwork&id=1592&issue=250] Tomalin believes Henry FitzGerald to have been an illegitimate son of Richard Fitzgerald (died 1776), Richard Fitzgerald MP (father of Caroline, and grandfather of Viscount Lorton); other accounts claim that he was in fact the illegitimate son of Caroline's half-brother Gerald Fitzgerald

Career

This scandal did not affect Robert King's career; he represented Jamestown (Parliament of Ireland constituency), Jamestown 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 ...

from 1796 to 1798, and was subsequently a Member of Parliament 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), ...

until the Act of Union in 1801. His family's political influence probably bought him not only his seat but also his Irish peerage. In military life, he had distinguished himself in battle, and he was promoted to Major-General in 1808, Lieutenant-General in 1813, and finally General in 1830. Although successful in his chosen career, he appears to have made little mark in military history, compared to other Anglo-Irish noblemen such as

Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of 19th-century Britain, serving twice as prime minister o ...

Eyre Coote Eyre Coote may refer to: *Eyre Coote (East India Company officer) (1726–1783), Irish soldier and Commander-in-chief of India *Eyre Coote (British Army officer) (1762–1823), Irish-born general in the British Army * Eyre Coote (MP) (1806–1834), ...

, or the earlier

Lord Cornwallis Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis, (31 December 1738 – 5 October 1805), styled Viscount Brome between 1753 and 1762 and known as the Earl Cornwallis between 1762 and 1792, was a British Army general and official. In the United S ...

. In Parliament he became known as a virulent anti-Catholic and was the leading Orangeman in Ireland during his lifetime.

Honours and successors

Robert King had already been created Baron Erris of Boyle, in the County of Roscommon on 29 December 1800 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 ...

, and was raised to become Viscount Lorton, of Boyle, in the County of Roscommon on 28 May 1806. He was elected a

representative peer 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 1823 and was made

Lord Lieutenant of Roscommon This is a list of people who served as Lord Lieutenant of County Roscommon. There were lieutenants of counties in Ireland until the reign of James II of England, James II, when they were renamed governors. The office of Lord Lieutenant was recrea ...

between 1831 and 1854, a purely ceremonial honour but an important one. He died on 20 November 1854 at Rockingham Castle. His elder son, Robert King, 2nd Viscount Lorton, succeeded to the Earldom of Kingston on the death of his cousin in 1869. The titles have remained united ever since. His younger son, Lawrence (later King-Harman), inherited the Rockingham and Newcastle estates. The Rockingham estate was inherited by

Edward Robert King-Harman Edward Robert King-Harman (3 April 1838 – 10 June 1888) was an Irish landlord and politician. He sat in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom between 1877 and 1888 as an Irish nationalist, and later Unionist, Member of Parliament. Early ...

, an MP and, earlier in his life, adventurer. His daughter, Frances, married Rt Hon Sir Thomas Stafford, 1st Baronet, a physician and member of the Irish Privy Council. Their granddaughter, Joan, Lady Dunn is the representative of the Rockingham branch of the family. The Newcastle estates were inherited by Lawrence's younger son, the ancestor of Tony King-Harman, the historian of the King family referred to above.

References

External links