Sir Rowland Blennerhassett, 4th Baronet
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Sir Rowland Blennerhassett, 4th Baronet (5 September 1839 – 22 March 1909) was a Roman Catholic Anglo-Irish baronet and Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party politician from County Kerry.


Life

Blennerhassett was the son of Sir Arthur Blennerhassett, 3rd Baronet, whose ancestors had settled in Kerry under Elizabeth I of England, Queen Elizabeth, and his wife Sarah Mahony. He was educated at Downside School, Stonyhurst College and Christ Church, Oxford. He then spent time at the Université catholique de Louvain, before travelling in Germany. In 1849, he succeeded his father as baronet. When he returned to the United Kingdom, he started ''The Chronicle'', a political and literary organ of liberal Catholicism. The first issue appeared on 23 March 1867, but its outspoken support for the Irish Home Rule movement made it unpopular. The last issue was published on 13 February 1868. Blennerhasset sat as a Liberal Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament for Galway Borough (UK Parliament constituency), Galway Borough from 1865 to 1874 and for Kerry (UK Parliament constituency), County Kerry from 1880 to 1885. He was High Sheriff of Kerry in 1866. His early support for Home Rule turned into opposition during the 1870s and he spoke openly against the politics of Charles Stewart Parnell. After leaving Parliament, Blennerhassett continued to be active in Irish public affairs. He contributed regularly to ''The Times'' and ''The Daily Telegraph'' and was a Justice of the Peace. In 1905, he was sworn of the Privy Council of Ireland. In October 1901 he was awarded an honorary doctorate (LL.D.) by the Royal University of Ireland.


Family

He met Countess Charlotte Lady Blennerhassett, Charlotte Julia von Leyden and married her the same year on 9 June 1870. His wife was a noted biographer.D. C. Lathbury, 'Blennerhassett, Sir Rowland, fourth baronet (1839–1909)’, rev. Josef L. Altholz, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 200
accessed 6 Jan 2016
/ref> He was succeeded in his title by his eldest son, Arthur Charles Francis Bernard Blennerhassett. His only daughter, Marie Galway, Marie Carola Franciska Roselyne Blennerhassett, married Baron Raphael d'Erlanger and later Sir Henry Galway. Blennerhassett went bankrupt in 1895; the family wealth lost, subsequent generations had to earn a living- his son and heir, the 5th baronet, was in the Colonial Service, the 6th baronet was an engineer, and the 7th baronet trained as a geologist, was the "front man for a foreign-owned investment firm in the City", and sold computer systems from his Chiswick home.The Nouveau Pauvres: A Guide to Downward Mobility, Nicholas Monson, Debra Scott, Quartet, 1984, p. 31


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* * * * 1839 births 1909 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Deputy lieutenants of Kerry High sheriffs of Kerry Irish justices of the peace Irish Liberal Party MPs Members of the Privy Council of Ireland Politicians from County Kerry UK MPs 1865–1868 UK MPs 1868–1874 UK MPs 1880–1885 Blennerhassett family, Rowland Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford People educated at Stonyhurst College People educated at Downside School 19th-century Anglo-Irish people Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Galway constituencies (1801–1922) Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Kerry constituencies (1801–1922) {{UK-baronet-stub