Colonel James Alfred Caulfeild, 7th Viscount Charlemont DL JP CB (20 March 1830 – 4 July 1913) was an Irish Peer and soldier.

Early life

James Alfred Caulfeild was born on 20 March 1830 at Loy House in

Cookstown Cookstown (, ) is a town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is the fourth-largest town in the county and had a population of 12,546 in the 2021 census. It, along with Magherafelt and Dungannon, is one of the main towns in the Mid-Ulster ...

, County Tyrone.Hammond, Peter W., editor, ''The Complete Peerage or a History of the House of Lords and All its Members From the Earliest Times, Volume XIV: Addenda & Corrigenda'' (Stroud,

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

: Sutton Publishing, 1998), page 165. He was the son of Edward Houston Caulfeild and Charlotte Geale (a daughter of Piers Geale, a solicitor of

Mountjoy Square Mountjoy Square () is a garden square in Dublin, Ireland, on the Northside of the city just under a kilometre from the River Liffey. One of five Georgian squares in Dublin, it was planned and developed in the late 18th century by Luke Gardine ...

). His younger brother, Marcus Piers Francis Caulfeild, was a Major in the

Mid-Ulster Artillery Militia The Mid-Ulster Artillery Militia was a part-time reserve unit of Britain's Royal Artillery based in Northern Ireland. Formed from three smaller units in 1875, it served until 1909. Background The long-standing national Militia of the United King ...

. His paternal grandparents were Hon. Harriet Crofton (a daughter of

Sir Edward Crofton, 2nd Baronet Sir Edward Crofton, 2nd Baronet (11 October 1748 – 30 September 1797) was an Irish politician. Crofton was the son of Sir Marcus Lowther-Crofton, 1st Baronet and his wife, Catherine (née Crofton) and succeeded to the baronetcy on the death ...

and Anne Crofton, 1st Baroness Crofton) and James Caulfeild (the grandson of Rev. Hon. Charles Caulfeild, the second son of Maj.-Gen. William Caulfeild, 2nd Viscount Charlemont). His maternal aunt, Elizabeth Geale, married

Hugh Fortescue, 2nd Earl Fortescue Hugh Fortescue, 2nd Earl Fortescue (13 February 1783 – 14 September 1861), styled Viscount Ebrington from 1789 to 1841, was a British Whig (British political faction), Whig politician. He was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland from 1839 to 1841. Ear ...

. He was educated in Germany.

Career

At age 18, he entered the

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

and fought with the

Coldstream Guards The Coldstream Guards is the oldest continuously serving regular regiment in the British Army. As part of the Household Division, one of its principal roles is the protection of the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, monarchy; due to this, it often ...

in the

Crimean War The Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the Second French Empire, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont fro ...

, becoming a captain. He later was made Honorary Colonel in the 3rd Battalion of the

Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers was an Ireland, Irish line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1968. The regiment was formed in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 27th (Inniskilling) Regiment of Foot and the 108th (Ma ...

. In 1868, he was Vice-Lord-Lieutenant of

County Tyrone County Tyrone (; ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the thirty-two traditional counties of Ireland. Its county town is Omagh. Adjoined to the south-west shore of Lough Neagh, the cou ...

and

High Sheriff of County Tyrone The High Sheriff of Tyrone is the Sovereign's judicial representative in County Tyrone. Initially an office for lifetime, assigned by the Sovereign, the High Sheriff became annually appointed from the Provisions of Oxford in 1258. Besides his ju ...

.Mosley, Charles, editor. ''Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes.''

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington is the List of municipalities in Delaware, most populous city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish colonization of the Americas, Swedish settlement in North America. It lie ...

Burke's Peerage Burke's Peerage Limited is a British genealogical publisher, considered an authority on the order of precedence of noble families and information on the lesser nobility of the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1826, when the Anglo-Irish genea ...

(Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003, volume 1, page 751. He also served as Deputy Lieutenant and Justice of the Peace for County Tyrone. He served as Comptroller of the Viceregal Household in Ireland between 1868 and 1895 and was considered an "ardent Unionist". He was Comptroller of the Household of the

Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (), or more formally Lieutenant General and General Governor of Ireland, was the title of the chief governor of Ireland from the Williamite Wars of 1690 until the Partition of Ireland in 1922. This spanned the Ki ...

between 1868 and 1895. He held the office of Usher of the

Black Rod The usher of the Black Rod is an official in the parliaments of several countries of the Commonwealth of Nations. The title is often shortened to Black Rod, and in some countries, formally known as Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod or Lady Usher ...

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, George Nugent-Temple-Grenville, ...

between February 1879 and 1913. On 12 January 1892, upon the death of his third cousin once removed,

James Caulfeild, 3rd Earl of Charlemont James Molyneux Caulfeild, 3rd Earl of Charlemont Order of St Patrick, KP (6 October 1820 – 12 January 1892) was an Ireland, Irish politician and peer. He was the son of Hon. Henry Caulfeild, younger son of James Caulfeild, 1st Earl of Charlemo ...

, he succeeded as the 7th

Viscount Charlemont Viscount Charlemont is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1665 for William Caulfeild, 5th Baron Charlemont. The Caulfeild family descends from Sir Toby Caulfeild, originally of Oxfordshire, England. He was a noted soldier an ...

County Armagh County Armagh ( ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It is located in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and adjoins the southern shore of Lough Neagh. It borders t ...

as well as the subsidiary title, 11th Baron Caulfield of Charlemont, County Armagh. The earldom, which had been created in 1763 for

James Caulfeild, 1st Earl of Charlemont James Caulfeild, 1st Earl of Charlemont Order of St Patrick, KP Privy Council of Ireland, PC (Ire) (18 August 1728 – 4 August 1799), was an Irish politician, statesman. Life Early life The son of James Caulfeild, 3rd Viscount Charlemont ...

(and 4th Viscount Charlemont), became extinct. He was made a Companion 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 ...

on 25 May 1892.G.E. Cokayne; with Vicary Gibbs, H.A. Doubleday, Geoffrey H. White, Duncan Warrand and Lord Howard de Walden, editors, ''The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, new ed.'', 13 volumes in 14 (1910-1959; reprint in 6 volumes,

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...

Alan Sutton Publishing The History Press is a British publishing company specialising in the publication of titles devoted to local and specialist history. It claims to be the United Kingdom's largest independent publisher in this field, publishing approximately 300 ...

, 2000), volume III, page 139.

Personal life

On 2 February 1858, Caulfield married Hon. Annetta Handcock (1828–1888) at Athlone Church,

Athlone Athlone (; ) is a town on the border of County Roscommon and County Westmeath, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located on the River Shannon near the southern shore of Lough Ree. It is the second most populous town in the Midland Region, Ir ...

. She was a daughter of

Richard Handcock, 3rd Baron Castlemaine Richard Handcock, 3rd Baron Castlemaine (17 November 1791 – 4 July 1869) was an Irish peer and Tory politician. Background and education Castlemaine was the eldest son of Richard Handcock, 2nd Baron Castlemaine, and Anne, daughter of Arthur F ...

and Margaret Harris. Together, they were the parents of one daughter: * Hon. Constance Elizabeth Caulfeild (1858–1932), who married

Uchter Knox, 5th Earl of Ranfurly Uchter John Mark Knox, 5th Earl of Ranfurly (14 August 1856 – 1 October 1933), was a British politician and colonial governor. He was Governor of New Zealand from 1897 to 1904. Early life Lord Ranfurly was born into an Ulster-Scots people, Ul ...

, a son of the 3rd Earl of Ranfurly and Harriet Rimmington (daughter of John Rimmington, of

Broomhead Hall Broomhead Hall was a large English country house that stood in the Ewden valley, to the west of Sheffield, England. The hall stood near the hamlet of Wigtwizzle, to the west of Broomhead Reservoir. History The original hall was built by Chri ...

), in 1880. In the 1890s, Charlemont reportedly bought

Coney Island, Lough Neagh Coney Island is an island in Lough Neagh, Northern Ireland. It is about 1 km offshore from Maghery in County Armagh, is thickly wooded and of nearly in area. It lies between the mouths of the River Blackwater and the River Bann in the sou ...

, an island in

Lough Neagh Lough Neagh ( ; ) is a freshwater lake in Northern Ireland and is the largest lake on the island of Ireland and in the British Isles. It has a surface area of and is about long and wide. According to Northern Ireland Water, it supplies 4 ...

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 ...

that is about 1 km offshore from

Maghery Maghery ()Placenames NI
is a small village and townland in County Armagh, Northern Ire ...

, for £150. The island lies between the mouths of the River Blackwater and the

River Bann The River Bann (from , meaning "the goddess"; Ulster Scots dialects, Ulster-Scots: ''Bann Wattèr'') is the longest rivers, river in Northern Ireland, its length, Upper and Lower Bann combined, being 129 km (80 mi). The total length ...

in the south-west corner of Lough Neagh. He built a summer house there in 1895. Lord Charlemont died on 4 July 1913 at Drumcairne, just outside Stewartstown in County Tyrone. As he had no sons, the titles passed to his nephew, James Caulfeild.

Descendants

Through his daughter Constance, he was a grandfather of four, including Thomas Uchter Knox, Viscount Northland (father of

Daniel Knox, 6th Earl of Ranfurly Thomas Daniel Knox, 6th Earl of Ranfurly, (29 May 1914 – 6 November 1988), known as Dan Ranfurly, was a British Army officer and farmer, who served as Governor of the Bahamas. His exploits in the Second World War, along with those of his wife ...

), and Lady Constance Gaskell, a

Woman of the Bedchamber In the Royal Household of the United Kingdom the term Woman of the Bedchamber is used to describe a woman (usually a daughter of a peer) attending either a queen regnant or queen consort, in the role of lady-in-waiting. Historically the term 'Gen ...

to Queen Mary from 1937 to 1953 and

Lady-in-Waiting A lady-in-waiting (alternatively written lady in waiting) or court lady is a female personal assistant at a Royal court, court, attending on a royal woman or a high-ranking nobility, noblewoman. Historically, in Europe, a lady-in-waiting was o ...

Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent (born Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark, ; 27 August 1968) was a Greek and Danish princess by birth and a British princess by marriage. She was a daughter of Prince Nicholas of Greece and Denmark and Gran ...

from 1953 to 1960.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Charlemont, James Caulfeild, 7th Viscount 1830 births 1913 deaths

James James may refer to: People * James (given name) * James (surname) * James (musician), aka Faruq Mahfuz Anam James, (born 1964), Bollywood musician * James, brother of Jesus * King James (disambiguation), various kings named James * Prince Ja ...