Lieutenant-Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colo ...

Thomas Heron Jones, 7th Viscount Ranelagh, (9 January 1812 – 13 November 1885) was known for his involvement in the

volunteer movement The Volunteer Force was a citizen army of part-time rifle, artillery and engineer corps, created as a popular movement throughout the British Empire in 1859. Originally highly autonomous, the units of volunteers became increasingly integrated ...

to recruit amateur soldiers for the defence of Britain, and for his links to glamorous women, notably the

Pre-Raphaelite The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (later known as the Pre-Raphaelites) was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, James ...

model

Annie Miller Annie Miller (1835–1925) was an English artists' model who, among others, sat for the members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, William Holman Hunt, Dante Gabriel Rossetti and John Everett Millais. Her on-off relationship with Holman Hunt ...

and the actress

Lillie Langtry Emilie Charlotte, Lady de Bathe (née Le Breton, formerly Langtry; 13 October 1853 – 12 February 1929), known as Lillie (or Lily) Langtry and nicknamed "The Jersey Lily", was a British socialite, stage actress and producer. Born on the isla ...

. Heron Jones succeeded to an Irish peerage, becoming

Viscount Ranelagh Viscount Ranelagh was a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created on 25 August 1628 for Sir Roger Jones, son of Thomas Jones, Archbishop of Dublin and Lord Chancellor of Ireland. He was made Baron Jones of Navan, in the County of Meath, ...

and Baron Jones of Navan in 1820 on the death of his father.

Volunteer movement

Ranelagh was an enthusiastic supporter of the movement to create a volunteer army, which had arisen from fears of a French invasion. He created and commanded the 2nd South Middlesex Rifle Volunteers in 1859, the nucleus of which was formed from members of the Ranelagh Yacht Club. Ranelagh became a ''de facto'' leader of the Volunteer movement and was introduced as such to the French emperor

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...

. In 1863 Ranelagh helped to organise a show of force in Brighton at which he gave a speech defending the movement from attempts by the government to take control of it. He insisted that an independent volunteer militia was both cheaper and more effective for the country than a centrally organised force. He asserted that the English character prefers independence and distrusts "organisation", claiming that "we trust to our own pluck, that indomitable pluck that all Englishmen possess". At this period Ranelagh was calling for a volunteer "people's army", an aspiration supported by a section of the press at the time. He continued to command the Volunteers until his death in 1885.

Relationships

Viscount Ranelagh Vanity Fair 25 June 1870

Ranelagh started a relationship with Annie Miller when her fiancé

William Holman Hunt William Holman Hunt (2 April 1827 – 7 September 1910) was an English painter and one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. His paintings were notable for their great attention to detail, vivid colour, and elaborate symbolis ...

was away in the Middle East. He was described in the letters of Hunt and his friends as a "notorious rake" because of his womanising. When Hunt learned of the relationship he broke off the engagement, leading to a meeting between Annie and Ranelagh in which he suggested that she should sue Hunt for

breach of promise Breach of promise is a common law tort, abolished in many jurisdictions. It was also called breach of contract to marry,N.Y. Civil Rights Act article 8, §§ 80-A to 84. and the remedy awarded was known as heart balm. From at least the Middle ...

. In the end, she married Ranelagh's cousin.Anne Clark Armor, ''William Holman Hunt'', Constable, p.178. Ranelagh was also responsible for introducing

to London high society. According to Langtry herself, "he completely changed the current of my life".Lillie Langtry, ''The Days I Knew'', p.35. She became the centre of attention at a party to which he invited her, and was asked by both

John Everett Millais Sir John Everett Millais, 1st Baronet, ( , ; 8 June 1829 – 13 August 1896) was an English painter and illustrator who was one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. He was a child prodigy who, aged eleven, became the youngest ...

and

Frank Miles George Francis Miles (22 April 1852 – 15 July 1891) was a London-based British artist who specialised in pastel portraits of society ladies, also an architect and a keen plantsman. He was artist in chief to the magazine ''Life'', and between 1 ...

to sit for a portrait. With his partner, Ranelagh had two daughters and a son Arthur Jones who inherited his estate but being illegitimate could not inherit his father's titles. The titles of Viscount Ranelagh and Baron Jones of Navan became extinct upon his death in 1885.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ranelagh, Thomas Heron Jones, 7th Viscount 1812 births 1885 deaths Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Volunteer Force officers in Middlesex units People associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood Viscounts in the Peerage of Ireland Place of birth missing

Volunteer movement

Relationships

See also

Notes