Robert Rochfort, 1st Earl of Belvedere PC (26 March 1708 – 13 November 1774) 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. He became notorious for his abusive treatment of his second wife, Mary Molesworth.

Early life

He was the son of Rt. Hon. George Rochfort (son of Robert Rochfort,

Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer The Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer was the Baron (judge) who presided over the Court of Exchequer (Ireland). The Irish Court of Exchequer was a mirror of the equivalent court in England and was one of the four courts which sat in the buildin ...

), and Lady Elizabeth Moore, daughter of Henry Hamilton-Moore, 3rd

Earl of Drogheda Earl of Drogheda is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1661 for The 3rd Viscount Moore. History The Moore family descends from Sir Garrett Moore, a staunch friend of Hugh O'Neill, the Great Earl of Tyrone, whose submission ...

. 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

Westmeath "Noble above nobility" , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Westmeath.svg , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = , subdivis ...

between 1731 and 1738. On 16 March 1738, he was raised 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 Baron Belfield and 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 ...

, quickly becoming a favourite in the court of

George II of Great Britain , house = Hanover , religion = Protestant , father = George I of Great Britain , mother = Sophia Dorothea of Celle , birth_date = 30 October / 9 November 1683 , birth_place = Herrenhausen Palace,Cannon. or Leine ...

. In 1746, Belfield was challenged to a

duel A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two people, with matched weapons, in accordance with agreed-upon Code duello, rules. During the 17th and 18th centuries (and earlier), duels were mostly single combats fought with swords (the r ...

on account of a long-due debt of honour by Richard Herbert MP. The duel took place in the fields between

Tottenham Court Road Tottenham Court Road (occasionally abbreviated as TCR) is a major road in Central London, almost entirely within the London Borough of Camden. The road runs from Euston Road in the north to St Giles Circus in the south; Tottenham Court Road tub ...

and

Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also , ) is a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary. An Civil parish#Ancient parishes, ancient parish and latterly a ...

on Saturday 23 August 1746. Belfield was badly wounded, and Herbert received a ball in the eye which came out at the back of the skull, but nevertheless, he survived, although mentally he was never the same man again. On 12 December 1749, 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 5 October 1751, he was made Viscount Belfield, and he was further honoured when he was created Earl of Belvedere on 29 November 1756. Lord Belfield held the office of Muster Master-General of Ireland between 1754 and his death in 1774. He commissioned the construction of

Belvedere House and Gardens Belvedere House and Gardens () is a country house located approximately from Mullingar, County Westmeath in Ireland on the north-east shore of Lough Ennell. It was built in 1740 as a hunting lodge for Robert Rochfort, 1st Earl of Belvedere ...

in 1740.

Marriages and ordeals

He married, firstly, Elizabeth Tenison, daughter of Richard Tenison and Margaret Barton, on 16 December 1731, and she died a year later in 1732 from

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...

. He married, secondly, Hon. Mary Molesworth, daughter of Field Marshal

Richard Molesworth, 3rd Viscount Molesworth Field Marshal Richard Molesworth, 3rd Viscount Molesworth, PC (Ire) FRS (1680 – 12 October 1758), styled The Honourable Richard Molesworth from 1716 to 1726, was an Anglo-Irish military officer, politician and nobleman. He served with his r ...

and Jane Lucas, on 7 August 1736. Despite his fairly rapid rise at court and in politics, Rochfort is probably most well remembered for his treatment of his second wife Mary, whom he married in 1736 when he was 28 and she 16. Around 1743, he heard rumours that Mary had been unfaithful to him with his brother,

Arthur Arthur is a common male given name of Brittonic languages, Brythonic origin. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. The etymology is disputed. It may derive from the Celtic ''Artos'' meaning “Bear”. An ...

. As punishment, Robert had her locked up in the family house at Gaulstown, alone apart from her servants, for the rest of his life (thirty-one years). After twelve years of this captivity, she attempted to escape but was caught and subjected to even harsher treatment. When she was finally released by order of her son after his father's death, she apparently took to wandering the house and talking to portraits as if they were real people. Her voice had assumed a peculiar quality (like a shrill whisper) and she was obviously profoundly damaged by her experience. She did not survive long after her release. She was not the only one to suffer though, as Robert took his brother Arthur to court for

criminal conversation At common law, criminal conversation, often abbreviated as ''crim. con.'', is a tort arising from adultery. "Conversation" is an old euphemism for sexual intercourse that is obsolete except as part of this term. It is similar to breach of p ...

and was awarded the then huge sum of £2,000 in damages. Arthur, unable to pay, fled the country, but on his return to Ireland, he was thrown into Browne's Castle, (used as Dublin's debtors' prison at that time, and famous for being "the worst prison in the country",) where he died. Lord Belvedere was succeeded in his titles by his eldest son from his second marriage, George Rochfort. He had two other sons, Richard and Robert, and a daughter Jane who married firstly

Brinsley Butler, 2nd Earl of Lanesborough Brinsley Butler, 2nd Earl of Lanesborough, PC (Ire) (4 March 1728 – 24 January 1779), styled The Honourable until 1756 and Lord Newtown-Butler from 1756 to 1768, was an Irish politician and peer. He was the son of Humphrey Butler, 1st Ea ...

and secondly John King.

Death

Rochfort died on , aged 66. The cause of his death is not clear but some speculated that occupants of a boat came ashore to Belvedere House after crossing

Lough Ennell Lough Ennell () is a lake near the town of Mullingar, County Westmeath, Ireland. It is situated beside the N52 road, off the Mullingar/ Kilbeggan road. The lake is part of the Lough Ennell Special Protection Area. It is long by wide, with an ...

, and murdered Rochfort in the dead of the night while others state that while on a moonlit walk, he was attacked by wild dogs; or he could have fallen and struck his head on a rock, and possibly bled to death.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Belvedere, Robert Rochfort, 1st Earl of 1708 births 1774 deaths 18th-century Anglo-Irish people Earls in the Peerage of Ireland Peers of Ireland created by George II Irish MPs 1727–1760 Members of the Irish House of Lords Members of the Privy Council of Ireland Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Westmeath constituencies