Nicholas Power Richard Le Poer Trench, 9th Earl of Clancarty, 8th Marquess of Heusden (born 1 May 1952), is 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 ...

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 ...

, as well as a

nobleman Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally appointed by and ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. T ...

in the

Dutch nobility The Dutch nobility is a small elite social class consisting of individuals or families recognised as nobility, noble, and with or without a title of nobility in the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The existence of nobility was established in the Con ...

. Lord Clancarty serves as an elected

Crossbench A crossbencher is a minor party or independent politician, independent member of some legislatures, such as the Parliament of Australia. In the British House of Lords the term refers to members of the parliamentary group of non-political peers. ...

in the British

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 ...

. His earldom is 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 ...

Early life and education

Lord Clancarty was born in

Uxbridge Uxbridge () is a suburban town in west London, England, and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Hillingdon, northwest of Charing Cross. Uxbridge formed part of the parish of Hillingdon in the county of Middlesex. As part ...

on 1 May 1952, the only son of

the Hon. ''The Honourable'' (Commonwealth English) or ''The Honorable'' (American English; see spelling differences) (abbreviation: ''Hon.'', ''Hon'ble'', or variations) is an honorific style that is used as a prefix before the names or titles of cert ...

Power Edward Ford Le Poer Trench, second son of William Trench, 5th Earl of Clancarty, from his second marriage. 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 ...

. He also studied at Ashford Grammar School, Plymouth Polytechnic (now

University of Plymouth The University of Plymouth is a public research university based predominantly in Plymouth, England, where the main campus is located, but the university has campuses and affiliated colleges across South West England. With students, it is the ...

), the

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in Denver and the

University of Sheffield The University of Sheffield (informally Sheffield University or TUOS) is a public university, public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Its history traces back to the foundation of Sheffield Medical School in 1828, Fir ...

Membership of House of Lords

In 1995 Clancarty succeeded to the earldom and other titles on the death of his childless uncle, Brinsley Trench, 8th Earl of Clancarty. He took his seat in the House of Lords at this time as Viscount Clancarty, a title 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 ...

, because titles in the

did not entitle their holders to sit even before the

House of Lords Act 1999 The House of Lords Act 1999 (c. 34) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed the House of Lords, one of the chambers of Parliament. The Act was given royal assent on 11 November 1999. For centuries, the House of Lords ...

removed the majority of

s. Under the terms of that Act, Clancarty lost his automatic right to a seat. He was unsuccessful in the election by the Crossbench hereditary peers of 28 of their number to continue to sit after the Act came into force, finishing 37th in a field of 79 candidates. He was an unsuccessful candidate in four

by-elections A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

caused by the deaths of sitting hereditary peers, being runner-up on two occasions. In 2010 he returned to the House after winning the by-election to replace the 4th Viscount Colville of Culross. Besides being a British and an Irish peer, he also belongs to the

Marquess of Heusden Marquess of Heusden (Dutch language, Dutch: ''Markies van Heusden'') is a high-ranking List of Dutch noble families, Dutch title of nobility retained by the Earl of Clancarty. Richard Trench, 2nd Earl of Clancarty, The 2nd Earl of Clancarty, an ...

. Other than King

Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands Willem-Alexander (; Willem-Alexander Claus George Ferdinand; born 27 April 1967) is King of the Netherlands since 30 April 2013. Willem-Alexander was born in Utrecht during the reign of his maternal grandmother, Queen Juliana, as the eldest ch ...

, who is also Marquis of Veere and Flushing, Lord Clancarty holds the only extant Dutch marquessate.

Career

Clancarty is a self-employed artist, freelance writer, and translator.

Marriage and children

Lord Clancarty is married to the journalist Victoria Lambert. They have one daughter: * Lady Rowena Elizabeth Joy Le Poer Trench (born 2005) There is no heir to the earldom or to any of the other titles.

Notes

References

External links

*
Official biography at House of LordsNick Trench blogProfile at TheyWorkForYou.comTwitter page
1952 births Living people People educated at Westminster School, London

Nicholas Nicholas is a male name, the Anglophone version of an ancient Greek name in use since antiquity, and cognate with the modern Greek , . It originally derived from a combination of two Ancient Greek, Greek words meaning 'victory' and 'people'. In ...

Marquess of Heusden Crossbench hereditary peers Earls of Clancarty Clancarty Clancarty {{Ireland-earl-stub