Hervey Morres, 1st Viscount Mountmorres (1707 – 6 April 1766), was an Irish landowner and politician. Morres was the son of Francis Morris, of Castle Morres,

County Kilkenny County Kilkenny () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. It is named after the City status in Ir ...

, by Catherine Evans, daughter of Sir William Evans, 1st Baronet. His grandfather Hervey Morres, Member of parliament for Knocktoper, was a younger son of Sir Redmond Morres, 2nd Baronet, of Knockagh. Hervey's elder brother was Sir William Morres, 1st Baronet, Member of Parliament for

and

Newtownards Newtownards (; ) is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies at the most northern tip of Strangford Lough, 10 miles (16 km) east of Belfast, on the Ards Peninsula. It is in the Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish of Newtow ...

, while Lodge de Montmorency, 1st Viscount Frankfort de Montmorency, was his nephew. Morres 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 ...

. He was returned to 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, ...

for St Canice (also known as Irishtown) in 1734, a seat he held until 1756. He was also Mayor of

Kilkenny Kilkenny ( , meaning 'church of Cainnech of Aghaboe, Cainnech'). is a city in County Kilkenny, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region, Ireland, South-East Region and in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinst ...

between 1752 and 1753. In 1756 he was elevated to 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 ...

as Baron Mountmorres, of Castlemorres in the County of Kilkenny. He was further honoured in 1763 when he was made Viscount Mountmorres, of Castlemorres in the County of Kilkenny, also in the Irish peerage. In 1751 he commissioned the building of Castle Morres, one of the largest stately homes in Ireland. It was acquired in the 1920s by the Irish Land Commission, became a ruin without a roof in the 1930s and was demolished in 1978. A gatelodge is now all that remains of the structure.

Marriages and succession

Lord Mountmorres married Lady Letitia Ponsonby, daughter of Brabazon Ponsonby, 1st Earl of Bessborough, in 1742. After her death in February 1754, he married Mary Wall, daughter of William Wall, of Coolnmuckty Castle,

County Waterford County Waterford () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. It is named after the city of Waterford. ...

, and widow of John Baldwin, in 1755. There were children from both marriages. Mountmorres died in April 1766 and was succeeded in his titles by his son from his first marriage, Hervey. Through his daughter Letitia, Lord Mountmorres was the 4th great grandfather of the UK prime minister

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...

. The Viscountess Mountmorres died in September 1779.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Mountmorres, Hervey Morres, 1st Viscount 1707 births 1766 deaths Viscounts in the Peerage of Ireland Peers of Ireland created by George II Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Limerick constituencies Irish MPs 1727–1760 Politicians from County Kilkenny Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Mayors of places in Ireland