William Willoughby Cole, 1st Earl of Enniskillen (1 March 1736 – 22 May 1803), styled The Honourable from 1760 to 1767, then known as the Lord Mountflorence to 1776 and as the Viscount Enniskillen to 1789, was an Irish peer and politician. Enniskillen was the eldest son of John Cole, 1st Baron Mountflorence of

Florence Court Florence Court is a large 18th-century house and estate located 8 miles south-west of Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is set in the foothills of Cuilcagh Mountain. The nearby village is distinguished by the one-word name Flo ...

, County Fermanagh. Cole represented

Enniskillen Enniskillen ( , from , ' Ceithlenn's island') is the largest town in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is in the middle of the county, between the Upper and Lower sections of Lough Erne. It had a population of 14,086 at the 2011 censu ...

in the

Irish House of Commons The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from 1297 until the end of 1800. The upper house was the Irish House of Lords, House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, ...

from 1761 to 1767, when he succeeded his father as 2nd Baron Mountflorence and took his seat in the

Irish House of Lords The Irish House of Lords was the upper house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from medieval times until the end of 1800. It was also the final court of appeal of the Kingdom of Ireland. It was modelled on the House of Lords of Englan ...

. In 1776, he was created Viscount Enniskillen and in 1789 he was even further honoured when he was made Earl of Enniskillen. Both these titles are in the

Peerage of Ireland The peerage of Ireland consists of those Peerage, titles of nobility created by the English monarchs in their capacity as Lordship of Ireland, Lord or Monarchy of Ireland, King of Ireland, or later by monarchs of the United Kingdom of Great B ...

Private life

In November 1763 Enniskillen married Anne, daughter of Galbraith Lowry-Corry, Member of the Irish Parliament for

County 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. Its county town is Omagh. Adjoined to the south-west shore of Lough Neagh, the cou ...

and sister of

Armar Lowry-Corry, 1st Earl Belmore Armar Lowry-Corry, 1st Earl Belmore (7 April 1740 – 2 February 1802) was an Irish nobleman and politician. Background He was born Armar Lowry, the first son of Galbraith Lowry (later Lowry-Corry) MP, of Ahenis, County Tyrone by his wife Sara ...

. They had four sons and four daughters: * John Willoughby Cole, 2nd Earl of Enniskillen (23 March 1768 – 31 March 1840) * General The Hon. Sir Galbraith Lowry Cole (1 May 1772 – 4 October 1842) * The Hon. Rev. William Montgomery Cole (d. October 1804), Dean of Waterford * The Hon. Arthur Henry Cole (28 June 1780 – 16 June 1844) *Lady Sarah Cole (d. 14 March 1833), married Owen Wynne in 1790 *Lady Elizabeth Anne Cole (d. 1807), married Lieutenant-Colonel Richard Magenis in 1788 *Lady Florence Cole (d. 1 March 1862), married Blayney Townley-Balfour in 1797 * Lady Henrietta Frances Cole (22 June 1784 – 2 July 1848), married

Thomas de Grey, 2nd Earl de Grey Thomas Philip de Grey, 2nd Earl de Grey, 3rd Baron Grantham, 6th Baron Lucas (born Robinson, later Weddell; 8 December 178114 November 1859), styled as The Hon. Thomas Robinson until 1786 and as Lord Grantham from 1786 to 1833, of Wrest Park in ...

on 20 July 1805 Lord Enniskillen died in May 1803, aged 67, and was succeeded in his titles by his eldest son.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Enniskillen, William Cole, 1st Earl of 1736 births 1803 deaths People educated at Kilkenny College Irish MPs 1761–1768 Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Fermanagh constituencies Earls of Enniskillen Cole family (Anglo-Irish aristocracy)