Thomas St Lawrence, 13th Baron Howth (1659–1727) was an Irish nobleman of the later Stuart and early

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

era.

Early life

He was born in 1659, eldest son of

William St Lawrence, 12th Baron Howth William St Lawrence, 12th Baron Howth (1628–1671) was an Irish nobleman of the Restoration period. He was an intelligent and popular man who would undoubtedly have played an influential role in Irish politics had it not been for his premature de ...

, and Elizabeth Fitzwilliam. He was only twelve when his father died, and during his minority he was under the guardianship of

Thomas Butler, 6th Earl of Ossory Vice-Admiral Thomas Butler, 6th Earl of Ossory, KG, PC, PC (Ire) (1634–1680) was an Irish soldier and politician. He was the eldest son of James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormond but predeceased his father and therefore never succeeded as duke. ...

, who had been his father's close friend.

Career

After the Revolution of 1688, Lord Howth seems to have been determined at all costs to back the winning side. At first, he supported James II, and sat in the

Patriot Parliament Patriot Parliament is the name commonly used for the Irish Parliament session called by King James II during the Williamite War in Ireland which lasted from 1688 to 1691. The first since 1666, it held only one session, which lasted from 7 May 16 ...

of 1689, but after the failure of the Jacobite cause he quickly transferred his loyalty to

William III William III or William the Third may refer to: Kings * William III of Sicily (c. 1186–c. 1198) * William III of England and Ireland or William III of Orange or William II of Scotland (1650–1702) * William III of the Netherlands and Luxembourg ...

, sitting in the Irish Parliament of 1692, and signing the Declaration of Loyalty to the person and government of the King in 1697. A family tradition that he entertained William in

Howth Castle Howth Castle ( ) and estate lie just outside the village of Howth, County Dublin in Ireland, in the administration of Fingal County Council. The castle was the ancestral home of the line of the St Lawrence family (see: Earl of Howth) that had h ...

is probably unfounded. Despite his political opportunism, he seems to have been highly esteemed by those who knew him. His closest friends, the Grattan family, were also close friends of

Jonathan Swift Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 – 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish Satire, satirist, author, essayist, political pamphleteer (first for the Whig (British political party), Whigs, then for the Tories (British political party), Tories), poe ...

(who later became friendly with Howth's eldest son and his wife). He built a

quay A wharf, quay (, also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more berths (mooring location ...

to carry

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dea ...

to Howth lighthouse, at considerable cost to himself. He was also noted for charity, and left a large sum in his will for the relief of the poor of the parish of Howth. Elrington Ball quotes an elegy on his death in 1727 which pays tribute to his virtues: "Behold this stone whose vault contains More precious dust than India's veins, For honour's sake then shed a tear, Since honour's self lies buried here."

Family

He married Mary Barnewall, daughter of Henry, 2nd

Viscount Barnewall Viscount Barnewall, of Kingsland in the Parish of Donabate in the County of Dublin, was a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created on 29 June 1646 for Nicholas Barnewall, who had earlier represented County Dublin in the Irish House of Commo ...

of Kingsland and his second wife Lady Mary Nugent.Lodge and Archdall ''Peerage of Ireland'' They had nine children, of whom six reached adult life: * William St Lawrence, 14th Baron Howth; *Henry, who was killed in 1736 in a notorious

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 ...

with Hamilton Gorges, a brother of the 14th Baron's wife Lucy; *Oliver; *Mark; *Nicholas; *Elizabeth, who married firstly Edward Rice and secondly Dominick Quin, and by her first marriage had one daughter- ** Mary, who married firstly Lieutenant-Colonel William Degge (died1741), and secondly the High Court judge Arthur Blennerhassett.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Howth, Thomas St Lawrence, 13th Baron Members of the Irish House of Lords Nobility from Dublin (city) 1659 births 1727 deaths 17th-century Irish people 18th-century Irish people Barons Howth