William Monsell, 1st Baron Emly, PC (21 September 1812 – 20 April 1894) 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 ...

landowner and Liberal politician. He held a number of ministerial positions between 1852 and 1873, notably as President of the Board of Health in 1857 and as

Postmaster General A Postmaster General, in Anglosphere countries, is the chief executive officer of the postal service of that country, a ministerial office responsible for overseeing all other postmasters. History The practice of having a government official ...

between 1871 and 1873.

Background and education

Monsell was born to William Monsell (1778–1822), of Tervoe,

Clarina Clarina () is a village in County Limerick in the province of Munster, Ireland. It lies between Mungret and Kildimo on the N69 road west of the centre of Limerick city close to the River Maigue. The Maigue is a tributary of the River Shanno ...

County Limerick County Limerick () is a western Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Reg ...

, and Olivia, daughter of Sir John Johnson-Walsh, 1st Baronet, of Ballykilcavan. He was educated at

Winchester Winchester (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs N ...

(1826–1830) and

Oriel College Oriel College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford (a title formerly claimed by University College, ...

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

, but he left the university without proceeding to a degree in 1831. As his father had died in 1824, he succeeded to the family estates on

coming of age Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the change. It can be a simple legal convention or can b ...

and was a popular landlord, the more so as he was resident. In 1843 he helped found St Columba's College in Whitechurch, now part of

Dublin 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 ...

Political career

William Monsell Vanity Fair 11 February 1871

Monsell served as the Sheriff of

in 1835. In 1847, he was elected Member of Parliament for

as a Liberal, and represented the constituency until 1874. In 1850, he became a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

and thereafter took a prominent part in Catholic affairs, especially in Parliament. As a friend of Wiseman,

Newman Newman is a surname of Germanic Anglo-Saxon origins. Newman is the modern English form of the name used in Great Britain and among people of British ancestry around the world (as is 'Numan'), while Neumann (with variant spellings) is used in Ger ...

, Montalambert, W. G. Ward, and other eminent Catholics, he was intimately acquainted with the various interests of the Church, and his parliamentary position was often of great advantage to the Church. In 1852 Monsell was appointed

Clerk of the Ordnance {{Infobox official post , post = Office of the Clerk of the Ordnance , body = , nativename = , insignia = File:Badge of the Royal Army Ordnance Corps on a RML 10 inch 18 ton gun in Gibraltar.jpg , insigniasize ...

Lord Aberdeen George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen (28 January 178414 December 1860), styled Lord Haddo from 1791 to 1801, was a British statesman, diplomat and landowner, successively a Tory, Conservative and Peelite politician and specialist in fo ...

, a post he retained until 1857, the last two years under the premiership of

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 ...

. In 1855 he was sworn of the Privy Council. He was briefly President of the Board of Health under Palmerston in 1857 and later served under Lord Russell as

Paymaster General His Majesty's Paymaster General or HM Paymaster General is a ministerial position in the Cabinet Office of the United Kingdom. The position is currently held by Nick Thomas-Symonds of the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party. History The post was ...

and

Vice-President of the Board of Trade The office of Vice-president of the Board of Trade was a junior ministerial position in the government of the United Kingdom at the Board of Trade, within the Department for Business and Trade. The office of Vice-president was created in 1786 b ...

in 1866 and under

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 ...

Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies The Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies was a junior Ministerial post in the United Kingdom government, subordinate to the Secretary of State for the Colonies and, from 1948, also to a Minister of State. Under-Secretaries of State for the Col ...

between 1868 and 1871 and as

Postmaster-General A Postmaster General, in Anglosphere countries, is the chief executive officer of the postal service of that country, a ministerial office responsible for overseeing all other postmasters. History The practice of having a government officia ...

between January 1871 and November 1873. He was also Lord Lieutenant of County Limerick between 1871 and 1894 and Vice-Chancellor of the Royal University of Ireland between 1885 and 1894. On 12 January 1874 Monsell was raised to the peerage as Baron Emly, ''of Tervoe in the County of Limerick''. He lost much of his popularity in Ireland during his later years, because of his opposition to the

Irish National Land League The Irish National Land League ( Irish: ''Conradh na Talún''), also known as the Land League, was an Irish political organisation of the late 19th century which organised tenant farmers in their resistance to exactions of landowners. Its prima ...

and to the

home rule movement Home rule is the government of a colony, dependent country, or region by its own citizens. It is thus the power of a part (administrative division) of a state or an external dependent country to exercise such of the state's powers of governanc ...

in Ireland. His work being chiefly parliamentary, he wrote little, but published some articles in the ''Home and Foreign Review'' and a "Lecture on the Roman Question" (1860).

Family

Lord Emly was twice married. He married firstly Lady Anna Maria Charlotte Wyndham-Quin (1814–1855), only daughter of

Windham Quin, 2nd Earl of Dunraven and Mount-Earl Windham Henry Quin, 2nd Earl of Dunraven and Mount-Earl (4 September 1782 – 6 August 1850), styled Viscount Adare until 1822, was an Irish peer. Origin He was the eldest son of Valentine Richard Quin, 1st Earl of Dunraven and Lady Frances Mu ...

, in August 1836, with whom he had two sons, both of whom died in infancy. After her death on 7 January 1855, he married Bertha (1835–1890), youngest daughter the Comte de Montigny of the house of Montigny de Perreux, in 1857, by whom he had one son Gaston (1858–1932), later the second Lord Emly, and one daughter Mary Olivia (1860–1942). Lord Emly died in April 1894, aged 81.

Arms

References

Sources

* * Matthew Potter, ''William Monsell of Tervoe 1812–1894 Catholic Unionist, Anglo-Irishman, Foreword by Gearóid O Tuathaigh'' (Dublin: Irish Academic Press,2009). * Matthew Potter, 'A Catholic Unionist. The Life and Times of William Monsell, First Baron Emly of Tervoe 1812–1894', (unpublished Ph.D. thesis NUI Galway, 2001).

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Emly, William Monsell, 1st Baron 1812 births 1894 deaths 19th-century Anglo-Irish people People educated at Winchester College Monsell, William Monsell, William Lord-lieutenants of Limerick Monsell, William Monsell, William Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Monsell, William Monsell, William Monsell, William Monsell, William Monsell, William Monsell, William Monsell, William UK MPs who were granted peerages English Roman Catholics Converts to Roman Catholicism Catholic Unionists Barons in the Peerage of the United Kingdom High sheriffs of County Limerick Statistical and Social Inquiry Society of Ireland Peers of the United Kingdom created by Queen Victoria