William Handcock, 1st Viscount Castlemaine, PC (Ire) (28 August 1761 – 7 January 1839) was an Irish MP and a supporter of the union of Ireland with

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Life

He was born in

Dublin, Ireland Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

to Reverend Richard Handcock and Sarah Toler. In 1783, Handcock stood for

Athlone Athlone (; ) is a town on the border of County Roscommon and County Westmeath, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located on the River Shannon near the southern shore of Lough Ree. It is the second most populous town in the Midland Region, Ir ...

in 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, ...

and represented the constituency until the Acts of Union in 1801. He was Constable and Governor of Athlone 1813–1839 and Governor of County Westmeath 1814–1831. Handcock was killed on the

Night of the Big Wind The Night of the Big Wind () was a powerful European windstorm that swept across what was then the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, beginning on the afternoon of 6 January 1839, causing severe damage to property and several hundred d ...

in 1839 when the wind blew his bedroom shutters open at Moydrum Castle and hurled him “so violently upon his back that he instantly expired”. The

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

n city of Castlemaine in the state of

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

was named in his honour by his nephew Captain W. Wright.

Family and title

On 20 March 1782 he married Lady Florinda Trench (3 August 1766 – 9 February 1851), born in Twyford, Westmeath to William Power Keating Trench, 1st Earl of Clancarty and

Anne Gardiner, Countess of Clancarty William Power Keating Trench, 1st Earl of Clancarty (23 June 1741 – 27 April 1805) was an Irish aristocrat and politician and later United Kingdom statesman at the time of the Act of Union. His family, through his son Richard, became prominen ...

. William and Florinda had no children, and when Handcock was created Baron Castlemaine, of Moydrum (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 ...

) on 21 December 1812 the title had a special ''remainder'' "failing heirs of his body to his brother". He was further created Viscount Castlemaine on 12 January 1822 but without a ''special remainder''. On his death the viscountcy became extinct. His barony passed to his brother, whose descendants still hold the title.

Arms

References

* Lodge, Edmund. ''The Peerage of the British Empire As at Present Existing: Arranged and Printed from the Personal Communications Of the Nobility, by Edmund Lodge, to Which Is Added a View of the Baronetage of the Three Kingdoms.'' (p. 85) London: Saunders and Otley, 1834
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Accessed 12 March 2008 , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Castlemaine, William Handcock, 1st Viscount 1761 births 1839 deaths Irish MPs 1783–1790 Irish MPs 1790–1797 Irish MPs 1798–1800 Handcock, William Members of the Privy Council of Ireland Handcock, William Handcock, William Handcock, William UK MPs who were granted peerages Viscounts in the Peerage of Ireland Peers of Ireland created by George III

William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...

Life

Family and title

Arms

References

Further reading