Welbore Ellis Agar, 2nd Earl of Normanton (12 November 1778 — 26 August 1868) was an Irish peer and landowner, of Anglo-Irish origins, who spent most of his life in England, where he acquired the

Somerley Somerley is a large Georgian Grade II* listed English country house that is situated in the civil parish of Ellingham and Harbridge with Ibsley in the New Forest district in Hampshire, England. It is 2 miles (3 km) west of the New Fores ...

estate in 1825. His father was Charles Agar,

Bishop of Cloyne The Bishop of Cloyne is an episcopal title that takes its name after the small town of Cloyne in County Cork, Republic of Ireland. In the Roman Catholic Church, it is a separate title; but, in the Church of Ireland, it has been united with oth ...

, who was later created

Earl of Normanton Earl of Normanton is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1806 for Charles Agar, 1st Viscount Somerton, Archbishop of Dublin. He had already been created Baron Somerton, of Somerton in the County of Kilkenny, in 1795 and Visco ...

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 ...

and ended his career as Archbishop of Dublin. His father was the third son of

Henry Agar Henry Agar (1707-1746) was an Irish politician, and the father of the 1st Viscount Clifden and the 1st Earl of Normanton. Agar was the eldest son of James Agar of Gowran Castle and his second wife Mary Wemyss, daughter of Sir Henry Wemyss of Dan ...

Gowran Castle Gowran Castle is located in the centre of Gowran, County Kilkenny, Ireland. The castle is a manor house and was fully restored between 2013 and 2014. Early years The first Gowran Castle was built in 1385 by James Butler, 3rd Earl of Ormond, cl ...

, County Kilkenny and his wife Anne Ellis, a daughter of Welbore Ellis,

Bishop of Meath The Bishop of Meath is an episcopal title which takes its name after the ancient Kingdom of Meath. In the Roman Catholic Church it remains as a separate title, but in the Church of Ireland it has been united with another bishopric. History Unt ...

. His mother was Jane Benson, daughter of William Benson, of

Downpatrick Downpatrick () is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is on the Lecale peninsula, about south of Belfast. In the Middle Ages, it was the capital of the Dál Fiatach, the main ruling dynasty of Ulaid. Its cathedral is said to be the b ...

, County Down.''

Burke's Peerage Burke's Peerage Limited is a British genealogical publisher founded in 1826, when the Irish genealogist John Burke began releasing books devoted to the ancestry and heraldry of the peerage, baronetage, knightage and landed gentry of Great ...

'', volume 2 (2003), pp. 2923–2924 Agar may have been named for a prosperous uncle,

Welbore Ellis Agar Welbore Ellis Agar FRS (1735 – 30 October 1805) was an Anglo-Irish gentleman, senior officer of HM Revenue and Customs, and art collector, who lived most of his life in Mayfair, Westminster. Life Agar was the middle son of Henry Agar of Gowr ...

, who at the time of his birth had been married for some nine years but had no children. On 14 July 1809, Agar succeeded his father as Earl of Normanton, Viscount Somerton, and Baron Somerton in the peerage of Ireland. On 17 May 1816, Normanton married Lady Diana Herbert, a daughter of

George Herbert, 11th Earl of Pembroke General George Augustus Herbert, 11th Earl of Pembroke and 8th Earl of Montgomery (10 September 1759 – 26 October 1827) was an English peer, army officer, and politician. Early life He was born Lord Herbert at the family home, Wilton House ...

, and Elizabeth Beauclerk, whose father was

Topham Beauclerk Topham Beauclerk ( ; 22 December 1739 – 11 March 1780) was a celebrated wit and a friend of Dr Johnson and Horace Walpole. Life Topham Beauclerk was born on 22 December 1739, the only son of Lord Sidney Beauclerk and a great-grandson of King ...

, a grandson of

Charles Beauclerk, 1st Duke of St Albans Charles Beauclerk, 1st Duke of St Albans, KG (8 May 167010 May 1726) was an illegitimate son of King Charles II of England by his mistress Nell Gwyn. Biography On 21 December 1676, a warrant was passed for "a grant to Charles Beauclerc, the K ...

, one of the illegitimate sons of King Charles II. They had at least four children: *

James Charles Herbert Welbore Ellis Agar, 3rd Earl of Normanton James Charles Herbert Welbore Ellis Agar, 3rd Earl of Normanton Deputy Lieutenant, DL (17 September 1818 – 19 December 1896), styled Viscount Somerton from birth until 1868, was a Conservative Party (UK), Conservative and later Peelite member of ...

(1818–1896) *Lady Mary Jane Diana Agar (1822–1904), who on 28 July 1845 married

Horatio Nelson, 3rd Earl Nelson Horatio Nelson, 3rd Earl Nelson, (7 August 1823 – 25 February 1913), was a British politician. He was the son of Thomas Bolton (a nephew of Vice Admiral The 1st Viscount Nelson) by his wife Frances Elizabeth Eyre. On 28 February 1835 his ...

at St George's Church, Hanover Square *Herbert Welbore Ellis Agar (1823–1901) *Charles Welbore Herbert Agar (1824–1855), who in March 1844 was commissioned into the

44th Foot The 44th Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment in the British Army, raised in 1741. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 56th (West Essex) Regiment of Foot to form the Essex Regiment in 1881. History Early history The regime ...

Parmigianino - The Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine - 1527-31

In 1830, as well as

, his country house in Hampshire, Normanton had a

town house A townhouse, townhome, town house, or town home, is a type of terraced housing. A modern townhouse is often one with a small footprint on multiple floors. In a different British usage, the term originally referred to any type of city residence ...

at 3, Seamore Place, St George Hanover Square,

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...

. After the death of William Young Ottley in 1836, Normanton bought '' The Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine'' by

Parmigianino Girolamo Francesco Maria Mazzola (11 January 150324 August 1540), also known as Francesco Mazzola or, more commonly, as Parmigianino (, , ; "the little one from Parma"), was an Italian Mannerist painter and printmaker active in Florence, Rome, B ...

.Mary Vaccaro, ''Parmigianino: The Paintings'' (2002), p. 154

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Normanton, Welbore Ellis Agar, 2nd Earl of 1778 births 1868 deaths Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Earls of Normanton