John Stratford, 1st Earl of Aldborough (1697/169829 May 1777) was an Irish peer and politician and member of the

Noble A noble is a member of the nobility. Noble may also refer to: Places Antarctica * Noble Glacier, King George Island * Noble Nunatak, Marie Byrd Land * Noble Peak, Wiencke Island * Noble Rocks, Graham Land Australia * Noble Island, Gr ...

House of Stratford The House of Stratford () is a British aristocratic family, originating in Stratford-on-Avon between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries. The family has produced multiple titles, including Earl of Aldborough, Viscount Amiens, Baron Baltin ...

Background

John was born either on 10 August 1697,Stratford, Gerald "A History of the Stratford Family" Chapter 11. The Extinct Earldom

/ref> or in 1698 at Ormond (ancient Irish kingdom), Ormond. He was the third son of Edward Stratford a wealthy landowner, and his first wife Elizabeth Baisley, daughter of Euseby Baisley of Ricketstown, Rathvilly,

County Carlow County Carlow ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county located in the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region of Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. Carlow is the List of Irish counties by area, second smallest and t ...

. His father quarrelled with his two elder sons and disinherited them, so that the estate passed to John. He was a descendant of the English

. He matriculated 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 Univ ...

on 8 May 1716.

Career

In 1721, he entered 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 Baltinglass. He was said to have been a notably inactive MP, whose great ambition was to acquire a peerage. He was appointed High Sheriff of Wexford in 1727,

High Sheriff of Wicklow The High Sheriff of Wicklow was the British Crown's judicial representative in County Wicklow, Ireland from Wicklow's formation in 1606 until 1922, when the office was abolished in the new Free State and replaced by the office of Wicklow County Sh ...

in 1736 and High Sheriff of Wexford in 1739. Stratford sat for Baltinglass until 21 May 1763, when 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 Baltinglass, of Baltinglass, in the County of Wicklow. On 22 July 1776, he was advanced to the dignity of Viscount Aldborough, of Belan,

County Kildare County Kildare () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the Local gove ...

or the Palatinate of Upper Ormond, part of a series of promotions carried out by Earl Harcourt, 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 K ...

, to secure support for the British ministry in the

Parliament of Ireland The Parliament of Ireland () was the legislature of the Lordship of Ireland, and later the Kingdom of Ireland, from 1297 until the end of 1800. It was modelled on the Parliament of England and from 1537 comprised two chambers: the Irish Hou ...

. and on 9 February 1777, Stratford was further honoured when he became Viscount Amiens and Earl of Aldborough, of the Palatinate of Upper Ormond. The title of "Viscount Amiens" was apparently adapted on the strength of a fictitious pedigree detailing Stratford's descent from a companion of

William the Conqueror William the Conqueror (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), sometimes called William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England (as William I), reigning from 1066 until his death. A descendant of Rollo, he was D ...

originating in

Amiens Amiens (English: or ; ; , or ) is a city and Communes of France, commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme (department), Somme Departments of France, department in the region ...

Family

He married Martha O'Neale, daughter of Venerable Benjamin O'Neale, Archdeacon of Leighlin. They had six sons and nine daughters. In his old age, gouty and irritable, he quarrelled with most of his children. Stratford was succeeded in his titles successively by his oldest son

Edward Edward is an English male name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortunate; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-S ...

, his second son

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

and then his fourth son

Benjamin Benjamin ( ''Bīnyāmīn''; "Son of (the) right") blue letter bible: https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h3225/kjv/wlc/0-1/ H3225 - yāmîn - Strong's Hebrew Lexicon (kjv) was the younger of the two sons of Jacob and Rachel, and Jacob's twe ...

. His daughter Martha married Morley Saunders, of the well-known family of Saunders Grove,

County Wicklow County Wicklow ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The last of the traditional 32 counties, having been formed as late as 1606 in Ireland, 1606, it is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the Provinces ...

, and had issue.

Notes

References

* * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Aldborough, John Stratford, 1st Earl of

1690s births 1777 deaths Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Peers of Ireland created by George III Irish MPs 1715–1727 Irish MPs 1727–1760 Irish MPs 1761–1768 Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Wicklow constituencies High sheriffs of Kildare High sheriffs of Wicklow High sheriffs of Wexford Earls of Aldborough