![O'Grady](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0f/O%27Grady.png)
Colonel Standish Darby O'Grady, 2nd Viscount Guillamore (26 December 1792 – 22 July 1848) from Cahir Guillamore,
County Limerick
"Remember Limerick"
, image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Limerick.svg
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Ireland
, subdivision_type1 = Province
, subdivision_name1 = Munster
, subdivision ...
, 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
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
officer.
Biography
O'Grady was born on 26December 1792, the eldest son of
Standish O'Grady, 1st Viscount Guillamore
The Rt. Hon. Standish O'Grady, 1st Viscount Guillamore, PC (1766 – 21 April 1840), from Cahir Guillamore, County Limerick, served as Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer for Ireland for a number of years. He was created Viscount Guillamore by a p ...
, and Katherine, daughter of John Thomas Waller of Castletown. He was educated at
Westminster School
(God Gives the Increase)
, established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560
, type = Public school Independent day and boarding school
, religion = Church of England
, head_label = Hea ...
by 1809; and
Trinity College, Dublin
, name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin
, motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin)
, motto_lang = la
, motto_English = It will last i ...
(1809).
Military career
O'Grady was commissioned into the British army as an
ensign
An ensign is the national flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality. The ensign is the largest flag, generally flown at the stern (rear) of the ship while in port. The naval ensign (also known as war ensign), used on warships, may be diffe ...
in the
7th Hussars in 1811. Promoted to lieutenant in 1812, he fought in the
Waterloo Campaign
The Waterloo campaign (15 June – 8 July 1815) was fought between the French Army of the North (France), Army of the North and two Seventh Coalition armies, an Anglo-allied army and a Prussian army. Initially the French army was commanded by ...
in the 7th Hussars. On 17June 1815, he had command of the troop of the 7th Hussars on the high road from Genappe to
Quatre Bras
Quatre Bras (, French for crossroads; literally "four arms") is a hamlet in the municipality of Genappe, Wallonia, Belgium. It lies on the crossroad of the Charleroi-Brussels road (currently named N5) and the Nivelles-Namur road south of Genappe ...
and was involved in the
action at Genappe. The regiment was covering the British march from Quatre Bras to Waterloo. Sir William Dörnberg left O'Grady outside the town on the Quatre Bras road to hold in check the advancing French cavalry while the main body of the regiment proceeded in file across the narrow bridge of Genappe and up the steep street of the town. O'Grady advanced at the head of his troops as soon as the French appeared, and presented so bold a front that, after a time, they retired. When they were out of sight, he crossed the bridge at the entrance of Genappe. He took his troop at a gallop through the town, rejoining Sir William Dörnberg, who had drawn up the main body of the regiment on the sloping road at the Waterloo end of Genappe. A severe cavalry combat ensued when the French lancers reached the top of the town, in which O'Grady's regiment made a gallant charge, with considerable loss.
The next day at the
Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (at that time in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium). A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armie ...
he was stationed on the ground above
Hougoumont
Château d'Hougoumont (originally Goumont) is a walled manorial compound, situated at the bottom of an escarpment near the Nivelles road in the Braine-l'Alleud municipality, near Waterloo, Belgium. The site served as one of the advanced defensi ...
on the British right. He wrote in a letter to his father just after the battle:
Two letters of his to Captain
William Siborne
William Siborne, Sibourne or Siborn (15 October 1797 – 9 January 1849) was a British officer and military historian whose most notable work was a history of the Waterloo Campaign.
Early life
William Siborne was the son of Benjamin Siborne, a ...
, describing the movements of his regiments on 17 and 18 June 1815, are printed in ''Waterloo Letters'', edited by Major-General H. T. Siborne (London, 1891, pp. 130–6).
His military career continued in fits and starts. After Waterloo, he was promoted to captain, but was put into the reserves ("on
half-pay Half-pay (h.p.) was a term used in the British Army and Royal Navy of the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries to refer to the pay or allowance an officer received when in retirement or not in actual service.
Past usage United Kingdom
In the Eng ...
") the next year, probably because his father wanted him to enter politics. However, he failed to get into parliament and went back on active service as a captain in the
18th Dragoons in 1819. After his election to parliament, he was again placed in the reserves in 1821. In 1825, still in the reserves, he was promoted to major. He was placed on active service with the
24th Foot from 1828 until 1829 when he was again placed in the reserves. In 1842 he was promoted to Colonel and became
aide-de-camp to
Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...
the same year—a post he held until he died.
Political career
He was defeated on his first attempt in 1818 but was elected in 1820 as
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
County Limerick
"Remember Limerick"
, image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Limerick.svg
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Ireland
, subdivision_type1 = Province
, subdivision_name1 = Munster
, subdivision ...
, and held the seat until 1826. His early period in Parliament was dominated by controversy over a parliamentary inquiry into his father's conduct as a judge. James Grattan emerged as an opponent of O'Grady in this issue and it is known they fought a duel in July 1822. O'Grady was a vigorous defender of the rights of his constituents and in 1823 on behalf of Limerick Corporation, he opposed a plan by
Spring Rice the MP for
Limerick City
Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 c ...
to reform the borough. In 1825 he voted to suppress the
Catholic Association
The Catholic Association was an Irish Roman Catholic political organisation set up by Daniel O'Connell in the early nineteenth century to campaign for Catholic emancipation within Great Britain. It was one of the first mass-membership politica ...
and later the same year he refused to attend a meeting in Limerick that supported
Catholic Emancipation
Catholic emancipation or Catholic relief was a process in the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland, and later the combined United Kingdom in the late 18th century and early 19th century, that involved reducing and removing many of the restricti ...
, both these made him unpopular amongst his Catholic constituents. He was defeated in the
1826 election. Though there was a movement to have him appointed as
High Sheriff of County Limerick
The High Sheriff of Limerick was the British Crown's judicial representative in County Limerick, Ireland from the 13th century until 1922, when the office was abolished in the new Free State and replaced by the office of Limerick County Sheriff. ...
it was ignored because after his defeat O'Grady rejoined the army in the
24th Foot which were stationed in Limerick at that time.
After the death of Thomas Lloyd in 1829, O'Grady was again returned for County Limerick on 2February 1830, this time with the support of
Daniel O'Connell
Daniel O'Connell (I) ( ga, Dónall Ó Conaill; 6 August 1775 – 15 May 1847), hailed in his time as The Liberator, was the acknowledged political leader of Ireland's Roman Catholic majority in the first half of the 19th century. His mobilizat ...
. His support was firm with his Catholic constituents by this stage but on 3 May his name was struck from the electoral return and replaced with that of
James Dawson, previously the MP for
Clonmel
Clonmel () is the county town and largest settlement of County Tipperary, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The town is noted in Irish history for its resistance to the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland, Cromwellian army which sacked the towns of Dro ...
. O'Grady was returned unopposed later that year in the
general election
A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...
. Despite a strong challenge by a
Repeal candidate in the
1832 general election he was again returned. In the
1835 election he retired and was replaced by
William Smith O'Brien
William Smith O'Brien ( ga, Liam Mac Gabhann Ó Briain; 17 October 1803 – 18 June 1864) was an Irish nationalist Member of Parliament (MP) and a leader of the Young Ireland movement. He also encouraged the use of the Irish language. He ...
.
Later life
He succeeded to the peerage as Viscount Guillamore on 21April 1840 on the death of
his father, the 1st Viscount.
O'Grady died suddenly in Dublin on 22July 1848.
Family
On 16October 1828, he married Gertrude-Jane (died 1871), daughter of
Berkeley Paget
The Honourable Berkeley Thomas Paget (2 January 1780 – 26 October 1842) was a British politician.
Background
Paget was the sixth son of Henry Paget, 1st Earl of Uxbridge, and Jane, daughter of the Very Reverend Arthur Champagné. He was the y ...
and Sophia Bucknall. Among their children were:
[Whitaker′s Peerage, 1907]
*Honourable Sophia O'Grady (b.1829), who married in 1862 Edward Wilmot Williams, JP, DL (b1826), an officer in the Begal Cavalry
*Honourable Gertrude O'Grady (b.1831), who married in 1855 Colonel Thomas C. Norbury, CB (d.1899), and left issue
*
Standish (1832–1860), third Viscount Guillamore,
who left a daughter:
**Honourable Cecilia O'Grady (b.1855), who married in 1877
Edward Roche, 2nd Baron Fermoy (1850–1920)
*Honourable Kathleen Elanor Henrietta O'Grady (b.1834), who married in 1855 James H. August Steuart (d.1895)
*
Paget Standish (1835–1877) fourth Viscount Guillamore
*Honourable Reginald Grimston Standish O'Grady (d.1874), who married in 1867 Frances Arabella Beresford, daughter of Rt Hon.
William Beresford
*
Hardress Standish (1841–1918) fifth Viscount Guillamore, unmarried
*Honourable Annabel O'Grady (b.1843), who married in 1873 Hugh Melvil Freeling (d.1906), of the
Freeling baronets
The Freeling Baronetcy, of the General Post Office in the City of London and of Ford and Hutchings in the County of Sussex, was a title in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 11 March 1828 for Francis Freeling
Sir Francis Free ...
(a grandson of the 1st Baronet)
*
Frederick Standish (1847–1927) sixth Viscount Guillamore, who married in 1881 Mary Theresa Burdett Coventry, daughter of Hon. William James Coventry, who was son of
George Coventry, 7th Earl of Coventry
Notes
References
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Attribution:
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Further reading
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Guillamore, Standish Ogrady, 2nd Viscount
1782 births
1848 deaths
Politicians from County Limerick
Guillamore, Standish O'Grady, 1st Viscount
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Limerick constituencies (1801–1922)
UK MPs 1820–1826
UK MPs 1830–1831
UK MPs 1831–1832
UK MPs 1832–1835
UK MPs who inherited peerages
O'Grady family
7th Queen's Own Hussars officers
British Army personnel of the Napoleonic Wars