Somerset Lowry-Corry, 4th Earl Belmore
Encyclopedia
Somerset Richard Lowry-Corry, 4th Earl Belmore GCMG
, PC (Ire)
(9 April 1835 – 6 April 1913), styled as Viscount Corry from 1841 to 1845, was an Irish nobleman and Conservative
politician.
, he was the eldest son of Armar Lowry-Corry, 3rd Earl Belmore
and his wife Emily Louise Shepherd, youngest daughter of William Shepherd. Belmore succeeded his father in the earldom in 1845, at the age of only 10. He was educated at Eton
and at Trinity College, Cambridge
, from where he graduated with a Master of Arts in 1856.
for Ireland and sat in the House of Lords
from January 1857 until his death. He served under the Earl of Derby
as Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department
from July 1866 to August 1867, and was then appointed Governor of New South Wales, on 22 August. He was sworn of the Privy Council of Ireland
on 17 September.
on 8 January 1868 at a time when the position was not yet just a figurehead for the colonial government and he was still an imperial officer responsible to the British government. On 12 March 1868 he was attending a picnic with the visiting Prince Alfred at the Sydney
beachside suburb of Clontarf
when Henry James O'Farrell
shot Alfred in the back and claimed to have intended to shoot Belmore as well. Although Belmore did not see the incident, he arranged for Alfred's transfer to hospital for treatment and passed on to the colonial government the Prince's request for clemency for O'Farrell, which was ignored. He worked effectively to calm the sectarian passions unleashed by the incident.
Belmore succeeded in having the Audit Act 1870 passed, which established the principle that government expenditure had to be authorised by appropriation through both houses of parliament, which had not been the practice until that time. He found the Sydney summers oppressive and therefore rented Throsby Park, near Moss Vale
, as his country house. He resigned to protect his wife's health and to resume his parliamentary career, and left Sydney on 21 February 1872.
in County Fermanagh
, County Tyrone
and Kent
. He served as a Lord Justice for Ireland on many occasions between 1885 and 1893 and was made Lord Lieutenant of County Tyrone in 1892, having been previously a Deputy Lieutenant
. He was also a captain in the Fermanagh Militia and a major in the London Irish Royal Volunteers.
, MP
, the son of Sir John Gladstone, 1st Baronet, and Elizabeth Honoria Bateson, the daughter of Sir Robert Bateson, 1st Bt. and sister of Sir Thomas Bateson, 1st Baron Deramore
, on 22 August 1861 in St George's, Hanover Square, London, and had issue:
Lord Belmore died on 6 April 1913 aged 77 at Castle Coole
, Enniskillen
and was buried on 9 April 1913 in Derryvullen, County Fermanagh.
(KCMG) on 22 March 1872, later being promoted to Knight Grand Cross (GCMG) in the New Year's Honours list 1 January 1890. Belmore Park, Central
, near Sydney's Central railway station
, Belmore Park, Goulburn
and the Sydney suburb of Belmore
are named after him.
Order of St Michael and St George
The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is an order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent, later George IV of the United Kingdom, while he was acting as Prince Regent for his father, George III....
, PC (Ire)
Privy Council of Ireland
The Privy Council of Ireland was an institution of the Kingdom of Ireland until 31 December 1800 and of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland 1801-1922...
(9 April 1835 – 6 April 1913), styled as Viscount Corry from 1841 to 1845, was an Irish nobleman and Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
politician.
Background and education
Born at Bruton Street in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, he was the eldest son of Armar Lowry-Corry, 3rd Earl Belmore
Armar Lowry-Corry, 3rd Earl Belmore
Armar Lowry-Corry, 3rd Earl Belmore , known as Viscount Corry from 1802 to 1841, was an Irish nobleman and politician.-Background and career:...
and his wife Emily Louise Shepherd, youngest daughter of William Shepherd. Belmore succeeded his father in the earldom in 1845, at the age of only 10. He was educated at Eton
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
and at Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...
, from where he graduated with a Master of Arts in 1856.
English government
Belmore was elected as a Representative PeerRepresentative peer
In the United Kingdom, representative peers were those peers elected by the members of the Peerage of Scotland and the Peerage of Ireland to sit in the British House of Lords...
for Ireland and sat in the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
from January 1857 until his death. He served under the Earl of Derby
Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby
Edward George Geoffrey Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby, KG, PC was an English statesman, three times Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and to date the longest serving leader of the Conservative Party. He was known before 1834 as Edward Stanley, and from 1834 to 1851 as Lord Stanley...
as Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department
Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department
-Non-permanent and parliamentary under-secretaries, 1782-present:*April 1782: Evan Nepean*April 1782: Thomas Orde*July 1782: Henry Strachey*April 1783: George North*February 1784: Hon. John Townshend*June 1789: Scrope Bernard*July 1794: The Hon...
from July 1866 to August 1867, and was then appointed Governor of New South Wales, on 22 August. He was sworn of the Privy Council of Ireland
Privy Council of Ireland
The Privy Council of Ireland was an institution of the Kingdom of Ireland until 31 December 1800 and of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland 1801-1922...
on 17 September.
Governor of New South Wales
Belmore became Governor and Commander-in-Chief of New South WalesNew South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
on 8 January 1868 at a time when the position was not yet just a figurehead for the colonial government and he was still an imperial officer responsible to the British government. On 12 March 1868 he was attending a picnic with the visiting Prince Alfred at the Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
beachside suburb of Clontarf
Clontarf, New South Wales
Clontarf is a suburb of northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Clontarf is located 13 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of Manly Council, in the Northern Beaches region.-History:...
when Henry James O'Farrell
Henry James O'Farrell
Henry James O'Farrell is infamously recorded as the first person to attempt a political assassination in Australia. In 1868, he shot and wounded HRH The Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh the second son and fourth child of Queen Victoria.-Biography:...
shot Alfred in the back and claimed to have intended to shoot Belmore as well. Although Belmore did not see the incident, he arranged for Alfred's transfer to hospital for treatment and passed on to the colonial government the Prince's request for clemency for O'Farrell, which was ignored. He worked effectively to calm the sectarian passions unleashed by the incident.
Belmore succeeded in having the Audit Act 1870 passed, which established the principle that government expenditure had to be authorised by appropriation through both houses of parliament, which had not been the practice until that time. He found the Sydney summers oppressive and therefore rented Throsby Park, near Moss Vale
Moss Vale, New South Wales
Moss Vale is a town in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia, in Wingecarribee Shire. It has a population of 7,339 and is sited on the Illawarra Highway, which connects to Wollongong and the Illawarra coast via Macquarie Pass...
, as his country house. He resigned to protect his wife's health and to resume his parliamentary career, and left Sydney on 21 February 1872.
Later life
Belmore was a Justice of the PeaceJustice of the Peace
A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...
in County Fermanagh
County Fermanagh
Fermanagh District Council is the only one of the 26 district councils in Northern Ireland that contains all of the county it is named after. The district council also contains a small section of County Tyrone in the Dromore and Kilskeery road areas....
, County Tyrone
County Tyrone
Historically Tyrone stretched as far north as Lough Foyle, and comprised part of modern day County Londonderry east of the River Foyle. The majority of County Londonderry was carved out of Tyrone between 1610-1620 when that land went to the Guilds of London to set up profit making schemes based on...
and Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
. He served as a Lord Justice for Ireland on many occasions between 1885 and 1893 and was made Lord Lieutenant of County Tyrone in 1892, having been previously a Deputy Lieutenant
Deputy Lieutenant
In the United Kingdom, a Deputy Lieutenant is one of several deputies to the Lord Lieutenant of a lieutenancy area; an English ceremonial county, Welsh preserved county, Scottish lieutenancy area, or Northern Irish county borough or county....
. He was also a captain in the Fermanagh Militia and a major in the London Irish Royal Volunteers.
Marriage and children
Lord Belmore married Anne Elizabeth Honoria Gladstone, daughter of Captain John Neilson GladstoneJohn Neilson Gladstone
Captain John Neilson Gladstone was a politician in the United Kingdom and an officer in the Royal Navy....
, MP
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
, the son of Sir John Gladstone, 1st Baronet, and Elizabeth Honoria Bateson, the daughter of Sir Robert Bateson, 1st Bt. and sister of Sir Thomas Bateson, 1st Baron Deramore
Thomas Bateson, 1st Baron Deramore
Thomas Bateson, 1st Baron Deramore , known as Sir Thomas Bateson, 2nd Bt from 1863 until 1885, was a British peer and Conservative Party politician.-Biography:...
, on 22 August 1861 in St George's, Hanover Square, London, and had issue:
- Armar Lowry-Corry, 5th Earl BelmoreArmar Lowry-Corry, 5th Earl BelmoreArmar Lowry-Corry, 5th Earl Belmore was an Irish nobleman and the eldest son of Somerset Lowry-Corry, 4th Earl Belmore.-Early years:...
- Cecil Lowry-Corry, 6th Earl BelmoreCecil Lowry-Corry, 6th Earl BelmoreCecil Lowry-Corry, 6th Earl Belmore was the son of Somerset Lowry-Corry, 4th Earl Belmore and the brother of Armar Lowry-Corry, 5th Earl Belmore....
- Lady Theresa Lowry-Corry (24 October 1862 – 18 March 1938), who was unmarried
- Lady Florence Lowry-Corry (31 March 1864 – 10 May 1943), who was married on 12 October 1893 to Lieutenant Colonel John Henry Eden (who d. 1931), formerly one of HM Inspectors of Schools and a former major in the Yorkshire RegimentYorkshire RegimentThe Yorkshire Regiment is one of the largest infantry regiments of the British Army. The regiment is currently the only line infantry or rifles unit to represent a single geographical county in the new infantry structure, serving as the county regiment of Yorkshire covering the historical areas...
, and had issue - Lady Madeline Lowry-Corry (6 November 1865 – 30 March 1898), who was unmarried
- Lady Mary Lowry-Corry (5 August 1867 – 5 October 1928), who was unmarried
- The Hon. Ernest Lowry-Corry (23 November 1874 – 11 March 1912), who was educated at Wellington CollegeWellington College, Berkshire-Former pupils:Notable former pupils include historian P. J. Marshall, architect Sir Nicholas Grimshaw, impressionist Rory Bremner, Adolphus Cambridge, 1st Marquess of Cambridge, author Sebastian Faulks, language school pioneer John Haycraft, political journalist Robin Oakley, actor Sir Christopher...
and was unmarried - Lady Winifred Lowry-Corry (18 August 1876 – 1959), who was unmarried
- Lady Edith Lowry-Corry (26 August 1878 – 25 October 1918), who was drowned in Lough Yoan at Castle Coole, and was unmarried.
- Lady Violet Lowry-Corry (15 June 1881 - 1969), who was unmarried
- Lady Margaret Lowry-Corry (15 July 1883 - 1975), who was unmarried
- Lady Dorothy Lowry-Corry (6 June 1885 - 1967), who was unmarried
- Lady Kathleen Lowry-Corry (28 July 1887 – 13 October 1972), who was married on 7 May 1919 as his second wife to Brigadier General Thomas Ward CMGCMGCMG may refer to:* Course Made Good,navigation* Case mix group, medical-care accounting mechanism* Collectible miniatures game* Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George, a British and Commonwealth honour...
, of Brynhir, Criccieth, co. Carmarthen (who d. 16 January 1949), and had issue
Lord Belmore died on 6 April 1913 aged 77 at Castle Coole
Castle Coole
Castle Coole is a townland and a late-18th-century neo-classical mansion situated in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland.Set in a 1200 acre wooded estate, it is one of three properties owned and managed by the National Trust in County Fermanagh, the others being Florence Court and the...
, Enniskillen
Enniskillen
Enniskillen is a town in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is located almost exactly in the centre of the county between the Upper and Lower sections of Lough Erne. It had a population of 13,599 in the 2001 Census...
and was buried on 9 April 1913 in Derryvullen, County Fermanagh.
Honours
Belmore was invested as a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St GeorgeOrder of St Michael and St George
The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is an order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent, later George IV of the United Kingdom, while he was acting as Prince Regent for his father, George III....
(KCMG) on 22 March 1872, later being promoted to Knight Grand Cross (GCMG) in the New Year's Honours list 1 January 1890. Belmore Park, Central
Central, New South Wales
Central is an urban locality around Central railway station in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is located in the Sydney central business district and is part of the local government area of the City of Sydney. The locality is in the inner-city suburbs of Surry Hills and Haymarket and is...
, near Sydney's Central railway station
Central railway station, Sydney
Central Railway Station, the largest railway station in Australia, is at the southern end of the Sydney CBD. It services almost all the lines on the CityRail network, and is the major terminus for interurban and interstate rail services...
, Belmore Park, Goulburn
Goulburn, New South Wales
Goulburn is a provincial city in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia in Goulburn Mulwaree Council Local Government Area. It is located south-west of Sydney on the Hume Highway and above sea-level. On Census night 2006, Goulburn had a population of 20,127 people...
and the Sydney suburb of Belmore
Belmore, New South Wales
Belmore is a suburb, of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Belmore is located 15 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Canterbury.-History:...
are named after him.