Thomas Knox, 1st Viscount Northland (20 April 1729 – 5 November 1818), known as The Lord Welles between 1781 and 1791, was an Irish politician.

Background

Thomas Knox was the son of Thomas Knox and Hester Echlin. He died on 5 November 1818 aged 89.

Political career

Knox was

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 ...

in the Irish House of Commons for

Dungannon Dungannon () is a town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is the second-largest town in the county (after Omagh) and had a population of 14,340 at the 2011 Census. The Dungannon and South Tyrone Borough Council had its headquarters in the ...

from 1755 until 1781. In 1781, he was elevated 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 Welles, of

in the

County of Tyrone County Tyrone (; ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the thirty-two traditional counties of Ireland. It is no longer used as an administrative division for local government but retains ...

. In 1791 Knox was ennobled as Viscount Northland, of Dungannon in the County of Tyrone. With the Act of Union and the abolition of the Irish Parliament in 1800, he became one of the 28 original

Irish Representative Peers 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 the

British House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in ...

from then until his death. About that time he was also appointed

Custos Rotulorum of Tyrone The Custos Rotulorum of Tyrone was the highest civil officer in County Tyrone, Ireland. The position was later combined with that of Lord Lieutenant of Tyrone. Incumbents *1661–1671 William Caulfeild, 1st Viscount Charlemont (also Custos Rotul ...

Family

Knox married Anne Vesey, daughter of

John Vesey, 1st Baron Knapton John Denny Vesey, 1st Baron Knapton (died 1761), was an Anglo-Irish politician and peer. Vesey was the son of Sir Thomas Vesey, 1st Baronet, and his wife and cousin Mary Muschamp, only surviving daughter and heiress of Denny Muschamp of Horsley, ...

and Elizabeth Brownlow in 1753. They had seven children: *

Thomas Knox, 1st Earl of Ranfurly Thomas Knox, 1st Earl of Ranfurly (5 August 1754 – 26 April 1840), styled The Honourable Thomas Knox between 1781 and 1818 and known as The Viscount Northland between 1818 and 1831, was an Irish peer and politician. Background Ranfurly was the ...

(1754–1840) * Maj.-Gen. John Knox (1758–1800) * Vesey Knox (1760–1830) * William Knox (1762–1831), Bishop of Derry *

George Knox The Honourable George Knox PC, FRS (14 January 1765 – 13 June 1827), was an Irish Tory politician. Knox was the fifth son of Thomas Knox, 1st Viscount Northland. In 1790, Knox entered the Irish House of Commons for Dungannon. Subsequently, ...

(1765–1827), MP for Dublin University * Charles Knox (1770–1825), Archdeacon of Armagh * Edmund Knox (1772–1849), Bishop of Limerick

References

External links

Public Records Office
of Northern Ireland , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Northland, Thomas Knox, 1st Viscount 1729 births 1818 deaths Irish MPs 1727–1760 Irish MPs 1761–1768 Irish MPs 1769–1776 Irish MPs 1776–1783 Irish representative peers Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Tyrone constituencies Viscounts in the Peerage of Ireland Members of the Irish House of Lords Peers of Ireland created by George III