Thomas Taylour, 1st Earl of Bective, KP, PC (Ire) (20 October 1724 – 14 February 1795) was an Irish peer and politician.

Early life

He was the oldest son of the former Sarah Graham and Sir Thomas Taylor, 2nd Baronet, a Member of the Parliament of England (MP) for Maidstone from 1689 to 1696. His sister, Henrietta Taylor, was the wife of Richard Moore. His paternal grandparents were the former Anne Cotton (a daughter of Sir Robert Cotton, 1st Baronet, of Combermere) and Sir Thomas Taylor, 1st Baronet (a son of Thomas Taylor, who settled in Ireland from

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

following the

Cromwellian conquest of Ireland The Cromwellian conquest of Ireland or Cromwellian war in Ireland (1649–1653) was the re-conquest of Ireland by the forces of the English Parliament, led by Oliver Cromwell, during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. Cromwell invaded Ireland wi ...

in 1652). His maternal grandfather was John Graham. In 1757, Bective succeeded his father as baronet. He was educated at

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 ...

Career

Bective entered the Irish House of Commons in 1747 and sat as Member of Parliament (MP) for Kells until 1760, when he was elevated to the Peerage of Ireland as Baron Headfort, of Headfort, in the County of Meath. He was further honoured in 1762, he was made Viscount Headfort, of Headfort, in the County of Meath in 1762, and on 24 October 1766, he was advanced to the dignity of Earl of Bective, of Bective Castle, in the County of Meath. In 1783, Bective became a founding member of the Most Illustrious Order of St Patrick and in 1785 he was sworn 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 ...

Personal life

On 4 July 1754, he married Hon. Jane Rowley, daughter of Rt. Hon. Hercules Langford Rowley and his wife Elizabeth Rowley, 1st Viscountess Langford. Her brother,

Hercules Rowley, 2nd Viscount Langford Hercules Rowley, 2nd Viscount Langford (29 October 1737 – 24 March 1796), styled The Honourable Hercules Rowley between 1766 and 1791, was an Irish politician. Rowley was the son of Hercules Rowley and Elizabeth Upton, 1st Viscountess Langfor ...

, represented County Antrim and Downpatrick in the Irish Parliament. Together, they had four daughters and six sons, including: * Thomas Taylour, 1st Marquess of Headfort (1757–1829), who married Mary Quin, a granddaughter of

Sir Henry Cavendish, 1st Baronet Sir Henry Cavendish, 1st Baronet (13 April 1707 – 31 May 1776) was a British politician who held several appointments in the Kingdom of Ireland. Biography Cavendish was the son of William Cavendish and Mary Tyrell. He was descended from Sir W ...

. * Major Hon. Hercules Taylour (1759–1790), who represented Kells like his father and died unmarried. * General Hon.

Robert Taylour Robert Taylour was an Anglican priest in Ireland in the first half of the eighteenth century. Taylour was educated at Trinity College, Dublin. He was Archdeacon of Kilmacduagh from 1714 to 1726; and Dean of Clonfert The Dean of Killaloe is ba ...

(1760–1839), who also represented Kells and died unmarried. * Clotworthy Rowley, 1st Baron Langford (1763–1825), who assumed the surname of Rowley, by Royal licence, in 1796, when he inherited the Rowley estates and was ennobled in his own right as Baron Langford of Summerhill in 1800. He married his first cousin, Frances Rowley, daughter of Hon. Major Clotworthy Rowley. * Rev. Hon. Henry Edward Taylour (1768–1852), who married Marianne St Leger, daughter of Col. Hon. Richard St Leger and granddaughter of the 1st Viscount Doneraile. * Lady Henrietta Taylour (d. 1838), who married

Chambré Brabazon Ponsonby-Barker Chambré Brabazon Ponsonby-Barker (12 June 1762 – 13 December 1834) was an Irish Member of Parliament. He was born Chambré Brabazon Ponsonby, son of Chambré Brabazon Ponsonby by his wife Mary, daughter of Sir William Barker, 3rd Baronet ...

, son of Chambré Brabazon Ponsonby, in 1791. * Lady Catherine Taylour, who died unmarried. Lord Bective died, aged 70, on 14 February 1795 and was succeeded in his titles by his oldest son Thomas. The widowed Countess of Bective died on 25 June 1818.

Descendants

Through his daughter Lady Henrietta, he was a grandfather of four, including Catherine Jane Ponsonby-Barker (who married Edward Michael Conolly MP). Through his son, the Rev. Henry, he was a grandfather of Thomas Edward Taylor, MP and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, and General Sir Richard Chambré Hayes Taylor (1819–1904), who enjoyed a long and distinguished career in the army.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Bective, Thomas Taylour, 1st Earl Of 1724 births 1795 deaths Thomas Earls of Bective Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Peers of Ireland created by George II Irish MPs 1727–1760 Knights of St Patrick Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Meath constituencies Members of the Privy Council of Ireland