James Stopford, 1st Earl of Courtown (1700 – 12 January 1770) was an Irish politician. Courtown was the son of James Stopford, of

Courtown Courtown () is a village in County Wexford, Ireland. It was developed after Earl of Courtown, Lord Courtown ordered the construction of a harbour during the Famine years, 1839–1846. The economic boost of the new harbour led to a small village ...

County Wexford County Wexford () 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. Named after the town of Wexford, it was ba ...

, who represented

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, ...

, and his wife Frances (née Jones). He succeeded his father as member of parliament for County Wexford in 1721, a seat he held until 1727, and then represented Fethard (County Wexford) from 1727 to 1758. In 1756, he was appointed High Sheriff of Wexford. In 1758, he was raised 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 Courtown, of Courtown in the County of Wexford. Four years later he was further honoured when he was made Viscount Stopford and Earl of Courtown, in the County of Wexford, also in the Peerage of Ireland.

Family

Lord Courtown married Elizabeth, daughter of the Right Reverend Edward Smyth,

Bishop of Down and Connor The Bishop of Down and Connor () is an episcopal title which takes its name from the town of Downpatrick (located in County Down) and the village of Connor (located in County Antrim) in Northern Ireland. The title is still used by the Catholic C ...

, and his first wife and cousin Elizabeth Smyth, in 1727. He died in January 1770 and was succeeded in the earldom by his eldest son,

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 ...

, who became a prominent

Tory A Tory () is an individual who supports a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalist conservatism which upholds the established social order as it has evolved through the history of Great Britain. The To ...

politician. His second son the Hon. Edward Stopford (1732–1794) was a Lieutenant-General in the Army. Another son, the Hon Thomas Stopford, became

Bishop of Cork and Ross The Bishop of Cork and Ross is an episcopal title which takes its name after the city of Cork and the County Cork town of Rosscarbery in the Republic of Ireland. The combined title was first used by the Church of Ireland from 1638 to 1660 and ...

. Lady Courtown survived her husband by 18 years and died in September 1788.

Notes

References

*Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990, * {{DEFAULTSORT:Courtown, James Stopford, 1st Earl of 1700 births 1770 deaths Peers of Ireland created by George II Irish MPs 1715–1727 Irish MPs 1727–1760 Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Wexford constituencies High sheriffs of Wexford

Earls of Courtown