Hamilton John Agmondesham Cuffe, 5th Earl of Desart, (30 August 1848 – 4 November 1934) was an Irish peer and barrister.

Early life

Cuffe was the second son of

John Cuffe, 3rd Earl of Desart John Otway O'Conner Cuffe, 3rd Earl of Desart (12 October 1818 – 1 April 1865), styled Viscount Castlecuffe until 1820, was an Irish Conservative politician. He served as Under-Secretary of State for War and the Colonies between March an ...

and, his wife, Lady Elizabeth Campbell. He had an older sister, Lady Alice Mary Cuffe, and brother, William Cuffe, and a younger brother, Captain Otway Cuffe. His older sister married

John Henniker-Major, 5th Baron Henniker John Major Henniker-Major, 5th Baron Henniker Volunteer Officers' Decoration, VD Deputy lieutenant, DL (7 November 1842 – 27 June 1902), was a British Peerage, peer and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician. Background and educatio ...

, and was the mother of twelve children. His paternal grandparents were John Cuffe, 2nd Earl of Desart, and Catherine, daughter of Maurice O'Connor. His mother was the third daughter of John Campbell, 1st Earl Cawdor (a son of

John Campbell, 1st Baron Cawdor John Campbell, 1st Baron Cawdor, FRS, FSA ( – 1 June 1821) was a British politician and military officer who sat in the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1777 to 1796. Biography John Campbell was born in Wales , the son of Pryse Camp ...

) and Lady Elizabeth Thynne, daughter of

Thomas Thynne, 2nd Marquess of Bath Thomas Thynne, 2nd Marquess of Bath (25 January 1765 – 27 March 1837), styled Viscount Weymouth from 1789 until 1796, was a British peer. Life Early life Thynne was the eldest son of Thomas Thynne, 1st Marquess of Bath, and Elizabeth Thy ...

Career

In his early life, he was a

midshipman A midshipman is an officer of the lowest Military rank#Subordinate/student officer, rank in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Royal Cana ...

in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

, before becoming a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

in 1872. In 1877, he was appointed as a secretary to the Judicature Committee and as a solicitor to The Treasury a year later. In 1894, he was appointed a

Companion of the Order of the Bath Companion may refer to: Relationships Currently * Any of several interpersonal relationships such as friend or acquaintance * A domestic partner, akin to a spouse * Sober companion, an addiction treatment coach * Companion (caregiving), a caregi ...

and as

Treasury Solicitor The Government Legal Department (previously called the Treasury Solicitor's Department) is the largest in-house legal organisation in the United Kingdom's Government Legal Profession. The department is headed by the Treasury Solicitor (formall ...

that year, as well as

Queen's Proctor Proctor (a variant of '' procurator'') is a person who takes charge of, or acts for, another. The title is used in England and some other English-speaking countries in three principal contexts: # In law, a proctor is a historical class of lawye ...

and Director of Public Prosecutions.The history of the Crown Prosecution Service
at www.cps.gov.uk From 1917 to 1918, he participated as an Unionist delegate to the

Irish Convention The Irish Convention was an assembly which sat in Dublin, Ireland from July 1917 until March 1918 to address the '' Irish question'' and other constitutional problems relating to an early enactment of self-government for Ireland, to debate it ...

. In 1920, he was also appointed

Lord Lieutenant of Kilkenny This is a list of people who have served as the Lord Lieutenant of Kilkenny. There were lieutenants of counties in Ireland until the reign of James II, when they were renamed governors. The office of Lord Lieutenant was recreated on 23 August 18 ...

, a post he held until the

Irish Free State The Irish Free State (6 December 192229 December 1937), also known by its Irish-language, Irish name ( , ), was a State (polity), state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-ye ...

was formed in 1922, when all lord lieutenancies of

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

(bar those of

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

) were abolished.

Peerage

In 1898, he inherited the earldom of Desart from his elder brother,

William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...

(who died without

heirs male A male heir (sometimes heirs male)—usually describing the first-born son (primogeniture) or oldest surviving son of a family—has traditionally been the recipient of the residue of the estate, titles, wealth and responsibilities of his father in ...

) and was promoted as a Knight Commander of the

Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior British Armed Forces, military officers or senior Civil Service ...

. In 1909, Desart was created Baron Desart in the

Peerage of the United Kingdom The Peerage of the United Kingdom is one of the five peerages in the United Kingdom. It comprises most peerages created in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland after the Acts of Union in 1801, when it replaced the Peerage of Great B ...

, which enabled him to sit in the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

(his other titles being 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 ...

, which did not entitle him to a seat). In 1913, he was sworn of the Privy Council and appointed a

Knight of the Order of St Patrick The Most Illustrious Order of Saint Patrick is a dormant British order of chivalry associated with Ireland. The Order was created in 1783 by King George III at the request of the then Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, the 3rd Earl Temple (later cre ...

in 1919.

Personal life

On 19 July 1876, Lord Desart had married his second

cousin A cousin is a relative who is the child of a parent's sibling; this is more specifically referred to as a first cousin. A parent of a first cousin is an aunt or uncle. More generally, in the kinship system used in the English-speaking world, ...

, Lady Margaret Joan Lascelles (1853–1927), the second daughter of

Henry Lascelles, 4th Earl of Harewood Henry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Henry (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters * Henry (surname) * Henry, a stage name of François-Louis Henry (1786–1855), French baritone Arts and entertainmen ...

by his first wife, Lady Elizabeth Joanna de Burgh, daughter of

Ulick de Burgh, 1st Marquess of Clanricarde Ulick is a masculine given name in the English language. It is an Anglicised form of the Irish ''Uilleac'' and ''Uilleag''. These Irish names are of an uncertain origin, although they are thought most probably to be derived from the Old Norse '' ...

. They had two daughters: * Lady Joan Elizabeth Mary Cuffe (1877–1951), who married Sir Harry Lloyd-Verney. They had issue; three sons and one daughter, Joan Verena Verney (who died aged 30), mother of the 10th Viscount Boyne (1931–1995). * Lady Sybil Marjorie Cuffe (1879–1943), who married (1) 30 April 1901 William Bayard Cutting Jr. (1878-1910), son of

William Bayard Cutting William Bayard Cutting (January 12, 1850 – March 1, 1912), a member of New York's merchant aristocracy, was an attorney, financier, real estate developer, sugar beet refiner and philanthropist. Cutting and his brother Fulton started the sugar ...

and then secretary to the US embassy to the Court of St. James's, by whom she had one daughter

Iris Origo Dame Iris Margaret Origo, Marchesa Origo, Order of the British Empire, DBE (née Cutting; 15 August 1902 – 28 June 1988) was an English-born biographer and writer. She lived in Italy and devoted much of her life to improving the Tuscan estate ...

(1902–1988); (2) 23 April 1918 (div 1926) Geoffrey Scott (1884–1929),

Bernard Berenson Bernard Berenson (June 26, 1865 – October 6, 1959) was an American art historian specializing in the Renaissance. His book ''The Drawings of the Florentine Painters'' was an international success. His wife Mary is thought to have had a large ...

's secretary and an architectural historian, by whom she had no issue; (3) 8 December 1926

Percy Lubbock Percy Lubbock, Order of the British Empire, CBE (4 June 1879 – 1 August 1965) was an English man of letters, known as an essayist, critic and biographer. His controversial book ''The Craft of Fiction'' gained influence in the 1920s. Life Perc ...

(1879–1965), nephew of

John Lubbock, 1st Baron Avebury John Lubbock, 1st Baron Avebury (30 April 1834 – 28 May 1913), known as Sir John Lubbock, 4th Baronet, from 1865 until 1900, was an English banker, Liberal Party (UK), Liberal politician, philanthropist, scientist and polymath. Lubbock worked ...

. Lady Sybil Lubbock died 31 December 1943, and was survived by her third husband, her daughter

and two surviving granddaughters. As Desart was the last male descendant of the 1st Earl and died without male heirs in 1934, his titles became extinct.

References

External links

Hamilton John Agmondesham Cuffe, 5th Earl of Desart
at the

National Portrait Gallery, London The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London that houses a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. When it opened in 1856, it was arguably the first national public gallery in the world th ...

. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Desart, Hamilton Cuffe, 5th Earl Of 1848 births 1934 deaths Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Knights of St Patrick Lawyers awarded knighthoods Lord-lieutenants of Kilkenny Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Members of the Senate of Southern Ireland Directors of Public Prosecutions (England and Wales) Royal Navy officers Irish barristers Earls of Desart Peers created by Edward VII