Henry Robert Westenra, 3rd Baron Rossmore (24 August 1792 – 1 December 1860), 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 State rel ...

Member of Parliament and

hereditary peer The hereditary peers form part of the peerage in the United Kingdom. As of April 2025, there are 800 hereditary peers: 30 dukes (including six royal dukes), 34 marquesses, 189 earls, 108 viscounts, and 439 barons (not counting subsidiary ...

, from 1843 to 1852 Lord Lieutenant of Monaghan.

Life

The eldest son of Warner Westenra, 2nd Baron Rossmore (1765–1842), by his first marriage to Mary Ann Walsh, Henry Robert Westenra was born on 24 August 1792 at his mother's family seat, Walsh Park in

County Tipperary County Tipperary () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary (tow ...

. He was educated at

Westminster School Westminster School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Westminster, London, England, in the precincts of Westminster Abbey. It descends from a charity school founded by Westminster Benedictines before the Norman Conquest, as do ...

and

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 Univ ...

, where he matriculated on 4 July 1810.Charles Mosley, ed., ''Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage'', 107th edition in 3 volumes, vol. 3 (Burke's Peerage Ltd, 2003), p. 3408.G. E. Cokayne ''et al.'', eds., ''The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant'', vol. XI, p. 182. His

portrait A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face is always predominant. In arts, a portrait may be represented as half body and even full body. If the subject in full body better r ...

was painted the same year by John Ferneley (1782–1860), showing him with his dogs and carrying a

shotgun A shotgun (also known as a scattergun, peppergun, or historically as a fowling piece) is a long gun, long-barreled firearm designed to shoot a straight-walled cartridge (firearms), cartridge known as a shotshell, which discharges numerous small ...

. Westenra was Member of Parliament for

County Monaghan County Monaghan ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is part of Border Region, Border strategic planning area of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town ...

from 1818 to 1830, again from 1831 to 1832 and from May to July 1834, and finally from 1835 to 1842. On 10 August 1842, on the death of his father, he succeeded as The 3rd Baron Rossmore, of

Monaghan Monaghan ( ; ) is the county town of County Monaghan, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It also provides the name of its Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish and Monaghan (barony), Monaghan barony. The population of the town as of the 2022 cen ...

in the County of Monaghan, 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 ...

, and as The 2nd Baron Rossmore, of the County of Monaghan, 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 ...

, the second title giving him a seat 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 ...

. From 1843 to 1852 he was Lord Lieutenant of County Monaghan. A member of a family of individualists, Rossmore was a prolific letter-writer, and his surviving letters have been described as "voluminous, frequently vitriolic, and very instructive".Public Record Office of Northern Ireland
Rossmore Papers
online at proni.gov.uk. Retrieved 28 February 2011. He was also an accomplished player of the Irish pipes, and was considered to be the equal of a good professional piper.James O'Brien Moran,
Lord Rossmore, a gentleman piper
' online at seanreidsociety.org. Retrieved 28 February 2011. In ''Twenty Years Recollections of an Irish Police Magistrate'' (1880), Frank Thorpe Porter recalled an evening when Rossmore On 25 January 1820 he married in Edinburgh Anne Douglas-Hamilton (born c. 1796 – died 1844). She was the daughter of Douglas Hamilton, 8th Duke of Hamilton (1756–1799), and Harriet Pye Bennett. In right of this wife Rossmore inherited an estate on the Scottish

Isle of Arran The Isle of Arran (; ) or simply Arran is an island off the west coast of Scotland. It is the largest island in the Firth of Clyde and the seventh-largest Scottish island, at . Counties of Scotland, Historically part of Buteshire, it is in the ...

. On 19 May 1846, after the death of his first wife, Rossmore married secondly at Camla Vale, County Monaghan, his cousin Josephine Julia Helen (née Lloyd), with whom he had six children: * Frances Kathleen (d. 7 August 1925) married Major Henry Augustus Candy on 3 August 1870. Had a son and daughter. * Norah Josephine Harcourt (d. 13 September 1934) married Maj. Gilbert Stirling on 3 December 1873. No known issue. * Henry Cairns Westenra, 4th Baron Rossmore (1851–1874) * Derrick Warner William Westenra, 5th Baron Rossmore (1853–1921) * Lt. Richard Hamilton (1854–1880) * Peter Craven (1855–1932). married Innys Maud Eaglesfield Daubeny, daughter of Lansdowne Daubeny, on 30 April 1895. They had two daughters. According to Rossmore's second son, the fifth baron, "My father's favourite amusements were

yachting Yachting is recreational boating activities using medium/large-sized boats or small ships collectively called yachts. Yachting is distinguished from other forms of boating mainly by the priority focus on comfort and luxury, the dependence on ma ...

shooting Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or blowpipe). Even the acts of launching flame, artillery, darts, harpoons, grenades, rockets, and guided missile ...

and

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...

, and, oddly enough, playing the

bagpipes Bagpipes are a woodwind instrument using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. The Great Highland bagpipes are well known, but people have played bagpipes for centuries throughout large parts of Europe, N ...

, at which he excelled." He also reported that Rossmore had suffered from a very bad stammer.

Death

Lord Rossmore died on 1 December 1860 at his country house in County Monaghan, Rossmore Park, and was buried there on 7 December 1860. The house was abandoned in the 1940s, fell into ruin, and was demolished in 1975. His granddaughter Kathleen (1872–1955), married The 7th Duke of Newcastle in 1899 and was a dog breeder who influenced the Borzoi and

Wire Fox Terrier The Wire Fox Terrier (also known as Wire Hair Fox Terrier, Wirehaired Terrier or simply Fox Terrier) is a dog breed, breed of dog, one of many terrier breeds. It is a fox terrier, and although it bears a resemblance to the Smooth Fox Terrier, th ...

breeds.''Treasures of the Kennel Club'' (London: The Kennel Club, 2000), pp. 69–70.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rossmore, Henry Robert Westenra, 3rd Baron 1792 births 1860 deaths Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Barons in the Peerage of Ireland Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom Lord-lieutenants of Monaghan Westenra, Henry People educated at Westminster School, London Politicians from County Tipperary Westenra, Henry Westenra, Henry Westenra, Henry Westenra, Henry Westenra, Henry Westenra, Henry Westenra, Henry Westenra, Henry Rossmore, B3 Politicians from County Monaghan