Brinsley Butler, 2nd Earl of Lanesborough,
PC (Ire) (4 March 1728 – 24 January 1779), styled The Honourable until 1756 and Lord Newtown-Butler from 1756 to 1768, was an
Irish politician and peer.
He was the son of
Humphrey Butler, 1st Earl of Lanesborough and Mary Berry, daughter of Richard Berry. He succeeded his father as 2nd Earl of Lanesborough in 1768.
From 1751 until 1768, he was a
Member of Parliament (MP), or
Knight of the Shire
Knight of the shire () was the formal title for a member of parliament (MP) representing a county constituency in the British House of Commons, from its origins in the medieval Parliament of England until the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 ...
, for
County Cavan
County Cavan ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is part of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Cavan and is based on the hi ...
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, ...
, and was
High Sheriff of Westmeath in 1763. He was educated at
Trinity College Dublin
Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...
.
As a Freemason, he was Deputy Grand Master of the
Grand Lodge of Ireland from 1753 to 1756, and was elected Grand Master in 1757, a post he held until the next year.
Family
He married Lady Jane Rochfort, daughter of
Robert Rochfort, 1st Earl of Belvedere and his second wife Mary Molesworth. Their children were :
*Robert Butler, 3rd Earl of Lanesborough
*Hon. Augustus, father of George Butler-Danvers, 5th Earl of Lanesborough
*Lady Mary, who married
George Ponsonby
George Ponsonby (5 March 17558 July 1817), was a British lawyer and Whig politician. He was Lord Chancellor of Ireland from 1806 to 1807 in the Ministry of All the Talents.
Background and education
Ponsonby was the second surviving son of ...
,
Lord Chancellor of Ireland
The Lord High Chancellor of Ireland, commonly known as the Lord Chancellor of Ireland, was the highest ranking judicial office in Ireland until the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922. From 1721 until the end of 1800, it was also the hi ...
*Lady Catherine, who married George Marlay, an army officer, only son of
George Marlay,
Bishop of Dromore
*Lady Charlotte, who married Hugh Debbing
*Lady Caroline
*Lady Sophia, who married Luigi,
Marquis Marescotti of
Milan
Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...
.
His widow moved to Italy with her unmarried daughters, and there she gained an unenviable reputation for immorality and extravagance: in 1786 she fled from Naples to avoid being arrested for debt. When her daughter Sophia married a Milanese nobleman, the Marquis Marescotti,
Emma, Lady Hamilton asked unkindly if the mother had sold the daughter off to pay her debts. She remarried John King, who had reputedly been her lover for some time, and died in 1828.
[Fraser]
Arms
References
1728 births
1779 deaths
Newtown-Butler, Brinsley Butler, Lord
Newtown-Butler, Brinsley Butler, Lord
Politicians from County Cavan
Newtown-Butler, Brinsley Butler, Lord
Members of the Privy Council of Ireland
2
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