Charles Vereker, 2nd Viscount Gort PC (Ire) (1768 – 11 November 1842), known as Charles Vereker until 1817, was an Irish soldier and politician.

Background

Gort was the son of Thomas Vereker by Juliana, daughter of Charles Smyth and sister of

John Prendergast-Smyth, 1st Viscount Gort John Prendergast-Smyth, 1st Viscount Gort (1742 – 23 May 1817) was an Irish politician. Born John Smyth, Gort was the son of Charles Smyth, Member of the Irish Parliament for Limerick City, and Elizabeth Prendergast. His paternal grandparent ...

thepeerage.com
/ref> and was born in Ireland in 1768. He served a short time in the navy, and was afterwards appointed lieutenant-colonel of the Limerick militia.

Political career

Gort represented

Limerick City Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...

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 1790 until the Act of Union in 1801. On 5 September 1798 at Collooney he checked the advance of a French force, led by General Humbert, that had landed at

Killala Bay Killala Bay () is a bay on the west coast of Ireland, between County Mayo and County Sligo, with Kilcummin Head to the west and Lenadoon Point to the east, which is the estuary for the River Moy. The village of Killala is at the southwest corne ...

County Sligo County Sligo ( , ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Northern and Western Region and is part of the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht. Sligo is the administrative capital and largest town in ...

whereupon they were defeated at Ballinamuck, where he was wounded. In 1802 he was elected to the

British House of Commons The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 memb ...

for

Limerick Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...

, a seat he held until 1817, and served as a

Lord of the Treasury In the United Kingdom there are at least six Lords (or Ladies) Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury, serving as a commission for the ancient office of Treasurer of the Exchequer. The board consists of the First Lord of the Treasury, the Second L ...

between 1807 and 1812. He was sworn of the

Irish Privy Council His or Her Majesty's Privy Council in Ireland, commonly called the Privy Council of Ireland, Irish Privy Council, or in earlier centuries the Irish Council, was the institution within the Dublin Castle administration which exercised formal execut ...

in 1809 and, having succeeded his uncle as second Viscount Gort in 1817, was elected an

Irish representative peer This is a list of representative peers elected from the Peerage of Ireland to sit in the British House of Lords after the Kingdom of Ireland was brought into union with the Kingdom of Great Britain. No new members were added to the House after ...

in 1824. He also held the honorary posts of Constable of Limerick Castle from 1809 to 1842 and Governor of County Galway from 1814 to 1831. He was amongst the most active opponents of the Union—"his name was found in every division and his voice in every debate;" and in answer to Lord Castlereagh's overtures he declared: "I have defended my country with my blood, and there is nothing in the gift of the Crown that would tempt me to betray her by my vote." After the Union, he represented Limerick until 1817, when by the death of his uncle he became Viscount Gort. He was a firm adherent of the Conservative party.

Family

Lord Gort was twice married. He married firstly Jane, daughter of Ralph Westropp and Mary Johnson, in 1789.Irish Marriages in Walker´s Hibernian Magazine, 1771-1812, Vol. II (K-Z), page 447.
Accessed via ancestry.com paid subscription site on 8 March 2022. One of his relatives, a "Miss Vereker", married Ralph Westrop Jr. in 1792. After Jane's death in February 1798 he married secondly Elizabeth, daughter of John Palliser and Grace Barton, in 1810. There were children from both marriages. Lord Gort died on 11 November 1842, aged 74, and was succeeded by his son from his first marriage,

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

. Lady Gort died 2 April 1858 at Gort House,

Petersham, London Petersham is a village in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames on the east of the bend in the River Thames south of Richmond, London, Richmond, which it shares with neighbouring Ham, London, Ham. It provides the foreground of the sce ...

, and was buried at

St Andrew's Church, Ham St Andrew's Church, Ham, is a Grade II listed Church of England church on Church Road, Ham Common in Ham in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Architecture The church was built in grey brick in 1830–31; the architect was Edward Lap ...

. Following the 1798

Battle of Collooney The Battle of Collooney, also called the Battle of Carricknagat, refers to a battle which occurred on 5 September during the Irish Rebellion of 1798 when a combined force of French troops and Irish rebels defeated a force of British troops outsi ...

, the thanks of Parliament were voted to him. By royal proclamation, he was permitted to

augment Augment or augmentation may refer to: Language *Augment (Indo-European), a syllable added to the beginning of the word in certain Indo-European languages *Augment (Bantu languages), a morpheme that is prefixed to the noun class prefix of nouns i ...

his arms with the motto, "Collooney", so the rampant lion dexter supporter on his coat of arms displays a pennoncell with the motto "Collooney" raised on a lance. "Vincit Veritas" remained the

motto A motto (derived from the Latin language, Latin , 'mutter', by way of Italian language, Italian , 'word' or 'sentence') is a Sentence (linguistics), sentence or phrase expressing a belief or purpose, or the general motivation or intention of a ...

of the family, located below the shield in a banderole.Debrett's Complete Peerage of the United Kingdom of Great Britain & Ireland ...
by John Debrett. Publ. J. G. & F. Rivington, 1838. Page 649. Accessed 8 March 2022. His descendants include the Member of Parliament for

Walthamstow Walthamstow ( or ) is a town within the London Borough of Waltham Forest in east London. The town borders Chingford to the north, Snaresbrook and South Woodford to the east, Leyton and Leytonstone to the south, and Tottenham to the west. At ...

Stella Creasy Stella Judith Creasy (born 5 April 1977) is a British Labour and Co-operative politician who has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Walthamstow since 2010. She served in the frontbench teams of Ed Miliband and Harriet Harman from 2011 to 2015. ...

, and the former

Governor of Bermuda The governor of Bermuda (officially Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Somers Isles (alias the Islands of Bermuda)) is the representative of the British monarch in the British overseas territory of Bermuda. For the purposes of this arti ...

, John Vereker.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gort, Charles Vereker, 2nd Viscount 1768 births 1842 deaths Irish MPs 1790–1797 Irish MPs 1798–1800 Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Limerick constituencies Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Limerick constituencies (1801–1922) UK MPs 1802–1806 UK MPs 1806–1807 UK MPs 1807–1812 UK MPs 1812–1818 UK MPs who inherited peerages Viscounts Gort Politicians from County Galway Members of the Privy Council of Ireland People of the Irish Rebellion of 1798 Irish representative peers Commissioners of the Treasury for Ireland People from Gort