Richard Dawson, 1st Earl of Dartrey KP (7 September 1817 – 12 May 1897), styled the Hon. Richard Dawson until 1827 and the Lord Cremorne from 1827 to 1866, was 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 ...

Liberal, and later

Liberal Unionist The Liberal Unionist Party was a British political party that was formed in 1886 by a faction that broke away from the Liberal Party. Led by Lord Hartington (later the Duke of Devonshire) and Joseph Chamberlain, the party established a political ...

, politician.

Life

Dartrey was the second and only surviving son of Richard Dawson, 2nd Baron Cremorne, and his wife Anne Elizabeth Emily (née Whaley), and succeeded his father in the barony in 1827 at the age of nine. As this was an

Irish peerage 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 ...

it did not entitle him to a seat in the

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 ...

. In the late 1830s, Archbishop

William Crolly William Crolly (8 June 1780 – 8 April 1849) was the Bishop of Down and Connor from 1825 to 1835, and the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Armagh from 1835 to 1849. Early life and education A native of Ballykilbeg near Downpatrick, Crolly was b ...

, Catholic Archbishop of Armagh, was seeking a site for a new Catholic cathedral. The main difficulty in constructing a Catholic cathedral at Armagh was that the land of Armagh City and suburbs consisted almost entirely of "see-land", the mensal estate or demesne of the Protestant

Primate Primates is an order (biology), order of mammals, which is further divided into the Strepsirrhini, strepsirrhines, which include lemurs, galagos, and Lorisidae, lorisids; and the Haplorhini, haplorhines, which include Tarsiiformes, tarsiers a ...

and thus would not be available for the Catholic episcopacy to purchase. A site at the apex of a hill on the outskirts of the town had however been sold to Lord Cremorne. Terms were negotiated and around 1840 construction began on St Patrick's Cathedral. In 1847 he was created Baron Dartrey, of Dartrey in co. Monaghan, 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 ...

, which allowed him to take a seat in the House of Lords. Dartrey served as a

Lord-in-waiting Lords-in-waiting (male) or baronesses-in-waiting (female) are peers who hold office in the Royal Household of the sovereign of the United Kingdom. In the official Court Circular they are styled "Lord in Waiting" or "Baroness in Waiting" (without ...

(government whip in the House of Lords) under

Lord Palmerston Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston (20 October 1784 – 18 October 1865), known as Lord Palmerston, was a British statesman and politician who served as prime minister of the United Kingdom from 1855 to 1858 and from 1859 to 1865. A m ...

from 1857 to 1858 and under Palmerston and later Lord Russell from 1859 to 1866. He was made a

Knight 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, the 3rd Earl Temple (later cre ...

in 1855 and in 1866 he was further honoured when he was made Earl of Dartrey, of Dartrey in the County of Monaghan."Dartrey, Earl of (UK, 1847 – 1933)", Cracroft's Peerage
/ref> In 1886 Dartrey broke with

William Ewart Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British politican, starting as Conservative MP for Newark and later becoming the leader of the Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party. In a career lasting over 60 years, he ...

over

Irish Home Rule The Home Rule movement was a movement that campaigned for self-government (or "home rule") for Ireland within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It was the dominant political movement of Irish nationalism from 1870 to the end of ...

and moved to the

benches in the House of Lords. He also served as

Lord-Lieutenant of County Monaghan This is a list of people who have served as Lord Lieutenant of County Monaghan. There were lieutenants of counties in Ireland until the reign of James II, when they were renamed governors. The office of Lord Lieutenant was recreated on 23 August ...

from 1871 to 1897. He owned 30,000 acres.The great landowners of Great Britain and Ireland
/ref>

Marriage and issue

Lord Dartrey married Augusta, daughter of Edward Stanley, in 1841. Their daughter Lady Mary Eleanor Anne married

Henry Fox-Strangways, 5th Earl of Ilchester Henry Edward Fox-Strangways, 5th Earl of Ilchester PC (13 February 1847 – 6 December 1905), known as Henry Fox-Strangways until 1865, was a British peer and Liberal politician. He served as Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arm ...

. Their second son the Hon. Edward Stanley Dawson became a

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

. The Countess of Dartrey died in August 1887, aged 64. Lord Dartrey survived her by ten years and died in May 1897, aged 79. He was succeeded in his titles by his eldest son, Vesey.

References

*
History of the Dawson family at proni.gov.uk
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Dartrey, Richard Dawson, 1st Earl of 1817 births 1897 deaths

Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language">Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'st ...

Earls in the Peerage of the United Kingdom Younger sons of barons Knights of St Patrick Lord-lieutenants of Monaghan Liberal Party (UK) hereditary peers Liberal Unionist Party peers Peers of the United Kingdom created by Queen Victoria