Robert Thomas Flower, 8th Viscount Ashbrook (1 April 1836 – 9 March 1919) was an Anglo-Irish peer,

Militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...

officer, and inventor.

Biography

Early life

Robert Thomas Flower was born on 1 April 1836 at Castle Durrow,

Durrow, County Laois Durrow (, formerly ''Darmhagh Ua nDuach'') is a village located in south-east County Laois, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Bypassed by the M8 motorway (Ireland), M8 motorway on 28 May 2010, the village is located on the R639 road at its junction ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

.''Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage,'' 100th Edn, London, 1953: 'Ashbrook'.The Peerage: Lt.-Col. Robert Thomas Flower, 8th Viscount Ashbrook
/ref>Christopher Winn, ''I Never Knew That About the Irish'', Random House, 201

/ref> His father was Henry Jeffrey Flower, 5th Viscount Ashbrook (1806–1871) and his mother was Frances (1803-1886), daughter of Sir John Robinson, Baronet. He had three sisters and two brothers, Henry Jeffrey Flower, 6th Viscount Ashbrook (1829–1882) and William Spencer Flower, 7th Viscount Ashbrook (1830–1906).Abandoned Ireland: Knocknatrina House
/ref>

Career

He was commissioned into the part-time Royal Queen's County Rifle Militia (later 4th Battalion, Prince of Wales's Leinster Regiment (Royal Canadians)) as a

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

on 6 June 1859 and resigned on 15 December 1888 as a

Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

with the honorary rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. He invented an easy-to-use handloom for the unskilled and disabled, and a latch-hook needle that speeds up the weaving process. The techniques were used by Yvo Richard Vesey, 5th Viscount de Vesci (1881–1958), who opened a carpet factory and hired women to do the weaving. The carpets were sold at

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in London and at

Marshall Field's Marshall Field & Company (colloquially Marshall Field's) was an American department store chain founded in 1852 by Potter Palmer. It was based in Chicago, Illinois and founded in the 19th century, it grew to become a large chain before Macy's, ...

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. They furnished the

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, the

grandstand A grandstand is a normally permanent structure for seating spectators, typically at sports stadiums and including both auto racing and horse racing. The grandstand is in essence like a single section of a stadium, but differs from a stadium i ...

Ascot Ascot, Ascott or Askot may refer to: Places Australia * Ascot, Queensland, suburb of Brisbane * Ascot, Queensland (Toowoomba Region), a locality * Ascot Park, South Australia, suburb of Adelaide * Ascot (Ballarat), town near Ballarat in Victoria ...

and . He became the 8th Viscount Ashbrook and the 9th Baron Castle-Durrow on the death of his brother on 26 November 1906.

Personal life

He married Gertrude Sophia Hamilton, daughter of Reverend Sewell Hamilton, on 18 July 1866. They had five children: *Hon. Frances Mary Flower (married Henry Ernest White). *Hon. Eva Constance Gertrude Flower (unknown-1928). *Hon. Gertrude Flower (unknown-1956). * Llowarch Robert Flower, 9th Viscount Ashbrook (1870-1936). *Hon. Reginald Henry Flower (1871-1938). He resided at 22 Adelaide Crescent in

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in the 1860s.Judy Middleton, ''The Encyclopaedia of Hove & Portslade'', Brighton & Hove Libraries, 2002, Vol. 1, p. 15 From 1869 onwards, he resided at Knocknatrina House in County Laois, Ireland. He died on 9 March 1919, his wife having predeceased him on 8 November 1911.

References

1836 births 1919 deaths 19th-century Irish military personnel People from Durrow, County Laois Irish expatriates in England Irish inventors People from Hove Viscounts in the Peerage of Ireland Queen's County Militia officers Prince of Wales's Leinster Regiment officers Military personnel from County Laois {{Ireland-engineer-stub