Richard Robinson, 1st Baron Rokeby (1708 – 10 October 1794), was an

Anglo-Irish Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the establis ...

churchman.

Life

He was a younger son of William Robinson (died 1720) of Rokeby,

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

and later of Merton,

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant ur ...

and Anne Walters (died 1730), daughter and heiress of Robert Walters of Cundall.

Sir Thomas Robinson, 1st Baronet Sir Thomas Robinson, 1st Baronet (1703–1777), of Rokeby, Yorkshire, was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1727 to 1734 and a Governor of Barbados. He was an architect, collector and an extravagant character, whose life ...

(1703-1777) was his elder brother. He was educated at

Westminster School (God Gives the Increase) , established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560 , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , head_label = Hea ...

and

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniq ...

(BA 1730, MA 1733, BD & DD 1748). Robinson came to

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intelligence ...

Lionel Sackville, 1st Duke of Dorset Lionel Cranfield Sackville, 1st Duke of Dorset (18 January 168810 October 1765) was an English political leader and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. Life He was the son of the 6th Earl of Dorset and 1st Earl of Middlesex, and the former Lady Mar ...

in 1751 when Dorset was reappointed

Lord Lieutenant of Ireland Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (), or more formally Lieutenant General and General Governor of Ireland, was the title of the chief governor of Ireland from the Williamite Wars of 1690 until the Partition of Ireland in 1922. This spanned the King ...

, and was swiftly raised to the Irish episcopate as

Bishop of Killala and Achonry The Bishop of Killala and Achonry was the Ordinary of the Church of Ireland diocese of Killala and Achonry in the Ecclesiastical Province of Tuam. The diocese comprised part of Counties Mayo and Sligo in Ireland. The Episcopal see was a unio ...

. He was translated from the See of Kildare, which he had occupied since 1761, to the Archbishopric of Armagh in 1765. In 1777 he was created Baron Rokeby, of

Armagh Armagh ( ; ga, Ard Mhacha, , "Macha's height") is the county town of County Armagh and a city in Northern Ireland, as well as a civil parish. It is the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland – the seat of the Archbishops of Armagh, the ...

in the

County of Armagh County Armagh (, named after its county town, Armagh) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the southern shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and has ...

, 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 ...

, with special remainder to Matthew Robinson (1694–1778) of West Layton, in the North Riding of the county of Yorkshire, his second cousin, twice removed, who predeceased him. In 1774 he founded the County Infirmary. In 1780 he donated land for the erection of a new prison and in 1771 he founded the Armagh Public Library. In 1790 he founded the

Armagh Observatory Armagh Observatory is an astronomical research institute in Armagh, Northern Ireland. Around 25 astronomers are based at the observatory, studying stellar astrophysics, the Sun, Solar System astronomy and Earth's climate. In 2018, Armagh Obs ...

as part of his plan for a university in

. Archbishop Lord Rokeby died at

Clifton Clifton may refer to: People * Clifton (surname) * Clifton (given name) Places Australia *Clifton, Queensland, a town ** Shire of Clifton *Clifton, New South Wales, a suburb of Wollongong * Clifton, Western Australia Canada * Clifton, Nova Sc ...

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city, Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Glouces ...

on 10 October 1794, and was buried in Armagh Cathedral. He was succeeded by

Matthew Robinson, 2nd Baron Rokeby Matthew Robinson, 2nd Baron Rokeby (Baptised, York 12 April 1713 – 30 November 1800), FRS, was an English landowner, politician and nobleman. In later life, he was considered an eccentric. Early life Lord Rokeby was born Matthew Robinson i ...

, the son of his second cousin Matthew Robinson, who inherited his titles, and was a noted eccentric. There is a memorial to Robinson in the south aisle at St Patrick's Cathedral, Armagh.

Reputation

Robert Walpole Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford, (26 August 1676 – 18 March 1745; known between 1725 and 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole) was a British statesman and Whig politician who, as First Lord of the Treasury, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Lea ...

called Robinson 'a proud but superficial man'.

John Wesley John Wesley (; 2 March 1791) was an English cleric, theologian, and evangelist who was a leader of a revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism. The societies he founded became the dominant form of the independent Meth ...

accused him of being more interested in buildings than in the care of souls. Richard Cumberland described him as "splendid, liberal, lofty ... publicly ambitious of great deeds, and privately capable of good ones, ... he made no court to popularity by his manners but he benefited a whole nation by his public works".''Memoirs'', volume 2, pps. 353-54, quoted from

The Complete Peerage ''The Complete Peerage'' (full title: ''The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom Extant, Extinct, or Dormant''; first edition by George Edward Cokayne, Clarenceux King of Arms; 2nd edition rev ...

Architectural benefactor

The Canterbury Gate at

, completed in 1873, is one monument to Archbishop Lord Rokeby's munificence. The gate is inscribed: :MUNIFICENTIA ALUMNORUM PRAECIPUE RICARDI ROBINSON ARCHICEP. ARMAGH. :(By the munificence of alumni, especially of Richard Robinson, Archbishop of Armagh.) Image:Christ Church, peckwater quadrangle 04.JPG, The Canterbury Gate, Christ Church, Oxford. Image:Rokeby Hall, near Dunleer, County Louth, Ireland.jpg, Robinson's Rokeby Lodge (aka Hall), near Dunleer, County Louth, Ireland, by

Cooley Cooley may refer to: * Cooley (surname), a surname (and a list of people with the surname) * Cooley Distillery, an Irish whiskey distillery *Cooley LLP, a Silicon Valley-based law firm *Cooley Peninsula, Ireland *Cooley High School, Detroit, Michiga ...

and Johnston. Image:Rokeby Hall, and its conservatory, near Dunleer, County Louth, Ireland.jpg, Robinson's Rokeby Hall, and its conservatory.

References

External links

Portraits of Richard Robinson
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rokeby, Richard Robinson, Richard Robinson, Richard People educated at Westminster School, London Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Barons in the Peerage of Ireland Peers of Ireland created by George III Deans of Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin Robinson, Richard Ordained peers Robinson, Richard Robinson, Richard Members of the Privy Council of Ireland Bishops of Killala and Achonry Bishops of Ferns and Leighlin Anglican bishops of Kildare Members of the Irish House of Lords Anglican archbishops of Armagh British expatriate archbishops