Viscount Lifford is a title in 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 ...

. It was created in 1781 for James Hewitt, 1st Baron Lifford, the Lord Chancellor of Ireland. He had already been created Baron Lifford, of

Lifford Lifford (, historically anglicised as ''Liffer'') is the county town of County Donegal, Ireland, the administrative centre of the county and the seat of Donegal County Council, although the town of Letterkenny is often mistaken as holding th ...

in the County of Donegal, in 1768, also in the Peerage of Ireland. He was succeeded by his son, the second Viscount, who was Dean of Armagh from 1796 to 1830. His grandson, the fourth Viscount, sat in the

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 Westminste ...

as an

Irish Representative Peer This is a list of representative peers elected from the Peerage of Ireland to sit in the British House of Lords after the Kingdom of Ireland was brought into union with the Kingdom of Great Britain. No new members were added to the House after ...

from 1856 to 1887. His younger son, the sixth Viscount (who succeeded his elder brother), was a captain in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

. His son, the seventh Viscount, fought in both the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the South ...

and the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. He was succeeded by his cousin, the eighth Viscount. He was the son of the Hon. George Wyldbore Hewitt, seventh son of the fourth Viscount. the titles are held by his son, the ninth Viscount, who succeeded in 1987. The family seat is Field House, near

Hursley Hursley is a village and civil parish in Hampshire, England with a population of around 900 in 2011. It is located roughly midway between Romsey and Winchester on the A3090. Besides the village the parish includes the hamlets of Standon and ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

. The former was Meenglass House, near

Stranorlar Stranorlar () is a town, townland and civil parish in the Finn Valley of County Donegal, in Ireland. Stranorlar and Ballybofey (located on the other side of the River Finn) form ''the Twin Towns''. Transport The town is located at the junctio ...

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ga, Contae Dhún na nGall) is a county of Ireland in the province of Ulster and in the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Donegal in the south of the county. It has also been known as County Tyrconn ...

Viscounts Lifford (1781)

James Hewitt, 1st Viscount Lifford James Hewitt, 1st Viscount Lifford (28 April 1712 – 28 April 1789) was an Anglo-Irish politician, lawyer and judge. He served as Lord Chancellor of Ireland from 1767 to 1789. Background Hewitt was the son of a Coventry draper, William Hewitt ( ...

(1709–1789) *

James Hewitt, 2nd Viscount Lifford James Hewitt, 2nd Viscount Lifford (27 October 1750 – 15 April 1830), was an Anglo-Irish peer and Church of Ireland clergyman. Hewitt was the eldest son of James Hewitt, 1st Viscount Lifford, and his first wife Mary Rhys Williams. The Hewitt ...

(1751–1830) * James Hewitt, 3rd Viscount Lifford (1783–1855) *

James Hewitt, 4th Viscount Lifford James Hewitt, 4th Viscount Lifford, DL (31 March 1811 – 20 November 1887), of Meenglass Castle, County Donegal, was Deputy Lieutenant for the County of Donegal. Early life and family He was born on 31 March 1811 at Merrion Square, Dublin, as ...

(1811–1887) * James Wilfred Hewitt, 5th Viscount Lifford (1837–1913) * Archibald Robert Hewitt, 6th Viscount Lifford (1844–1925) * Evelyn James Hewitt, 7th Viscount Lifford (1880–1954) * Alan William Wingfield Hewitt, 8th Viscount Lifford (1900–1987) * Edward James Wingfield Hewitt, 9th Viscount Lifford (born 1949) The

heir apparent An heir apparent, often shortened to heir, is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person; a person who is first in the order of succession but can be displaced by the b ...

is the present holder's son Hon. James Thomas Wingfield Hewitt (born 1979).
The heir apparent's heir apparent is his son Harry Alexander Wyldbore Hewitt (born 2010).Harry Alexander Wyldbore Hewitt
By Michael Rhodes 18/02/2010, Peerage News – Google Groups

References

Notes

* *Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990, * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lifford

Viscount A viscount ( , for male) or viscountess (, for female) is a title used in certain European countries for a noble of varying status. In many countries a viscount, and its historical equivalents, was a non-hereditary, administrative or judicia ...

Viscountcies in the Peerage of Ireland Noble titles created in 1781