Viscount Gort
Encyclopedia
Viscount Gort is the title of two peerages in British
and Irish
history. Gort
is a small town in County Galway
in the West of Ireland
. The original title was in the Peerage of Ireland
and is still extant.
A viscountcy with the same title as the Irish peerage was then conferred in the Peerage of the United Kingdom
to a later Lord Gort. This gave the distinguished descendant a subtle personal change of status, whilst preserving the heritage of the older title. The United Kingdom title, however, became extinct on death of the original recipient, who remains perhaps the most illustrious bearer of the title to date. An unqualified reference to "Lord Gort" will almost always be to the sixth viscount.
had already been created Baron Kiltarton of Gort
, in the County of Galway
, also in the Peerage of Ireland
, in 1810. John Prendergast-Smyth, Viscount Gort and Lord Kiltarton, was the nephew of Sir Thomas Prendergast, 2nd Baronet, and had succeeded to the Prendergast estates on the death of this uncle in 1760 (see Prendergast Baronets, of Gort
). He was ineligible to inherit the title of his uncle, but the bequest enabled him to develop the status to merit a title of his own, of a higher degree, and subsequently to advance himself higher in the peerage system.
Lord Gort had no sons to inherit his two titles but, unusually, he had been able to secure a special remainder both in 1816 and in 1810, the remainder being in favour of his nephew Charles Vereker, the son of his sister Juliana by her marriage with Thomas Vereker.
On the death of John Prendergast-Smyth in the following year, the Gort viscountcy, plus the barony, passed to the Vereker family according to the special remainder. Charles Vereker, the second Viscount, represented Limerick
in the House of Commons
and sat in the House of Lords
as an Irish Representative Peer
from 1824 until his death, in 1842.
John Vereker succeeded his father, both as the third Viscount and as Member of Parliament
for Limerick. He was also an Irish Representative Peer, in the year in which he died, in 1865.
in Ireland
, in which Anglo-Irish
Ascendancy families were no longer welcome, the family eventually settled in County Durham
. This Lord Gort was a distinguished soldier whose personal courage in the First World War was recognised with the highest decoration of the British Empire, the Victoria Cross
, plus three further gallantry decorations, before achieving the most senior post in the British Army, Chief of the Imperial General Staff. It was Lord Gort who commanded the BEF
in 1939 and his leadership during the disastrous withdrawal from France preserved his reputation at an unhappy time for the nation. He then had another tough appointment, as Governor
of Malta
in its darkest days, before becoming High Commissioner
of British Mandate for Palestine and the Transjordan
, itself hardly a rest-cure at this time. Promotion to Field Marshal
and the creation of the new Viscountcy at the end of the war was an indicator of his standing as soldier and imperial administrator.
The 1946 title was Viscount Gort, of Hamsterley Hall
in the County of Durham, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom
. He kept his style modest, avoiding, for example, the self-conscious possibility of Lord Gort and Gort.
Field Marshal Lord Gort had no living sons and, unlike his own ancestor, did not have a special remainder, so on his death just one month after the creation of the new title, the new viscountcy became extinct, whilst the Irish titles passed to his brother.
. The vote in favour of joining the United Kingdom
resulted in a remarkable number of new peerages in Ireland. Like their counterparts in Scotland
, the Irish peers did not acquire an automatic seat at Westminster
, but elected a small number of representative peers from among their number to sit as peers in the House of Lords
at Westminster, for life. Upon the demise of a representative peer, a new incumbent would be elected to fill the vacancy. This remained the practice until the partition of Ireland and the grant of Home Rule
in both South and North.
All Irish peers at Westminster served as a result of an election process: those not elected to the House of Lords were entitled to stand for election to the House of Commons, leading to the apparent incongruity of Lord Gort, MP. This was the case with the second Lord Gort and the third Lord Gort, but ceased to be an option for the sixth Lord Gort.
In practice, most distinguished Scottish and Irish peers acquired UK titles which gave themselves and their descendants a seat in the upper chamber of the Legislature of the Empire. For this reason, the grant of special remainders for UK titles was far more strict than it had been for Irish titles and the Field Marshal Lord Gort was not sufficiently unique to merit this extra favour.
The original Gort peerage was an Irish peerage granted after the creation of the United Kingdom. This means that there had been the option of creating the original Gort peerage as a UK title. As stated, a large number of Irishmen, which meant in practice mostly the Anglo-Irish, had been rewarded with peerages before and after the Act of Union
; some might be converted to UK titles, but there were too many for all to expect a UK title.
An Irish peerage was a useful constitutional device to give them, or perhaps rather their wives, the social standing they sought and to tie them in as members of the Establishment
, particularly in Ireland, without granting the seat in the Legislature that came with a UK title. As a result, it was found useful not to be abolish the Irish roll, when the Peerage of Great Britain
was closed in favour of the Peerage of the United Kingdom
. Later, an Irish peerage might even be given to a distinguished man without any obvious Irish connection, to lend gravitas to imperial appointments, whilst giving him the option of sitting in the House of Commons afterwards should he aspire to ministerial office.
Standish Vereker was the brother of Field Marshal The Lord Gort, who had been the sixth Viscount of the Irish peerage and the first and last Viscount of the United Kingdom peerage; Standish inherited the Irish viscountcy and barony in 1946. The seventh Viscount had achieved some distinction of his own, serving as High Sheriff of Durham in 1934, before he gained the peerage.
On his death in 1975, the titles passed to his first cousin once removed, the eighth Viscount. Colin Vereker
was the grandson of The Hon. Foley Charles Prendergast Vereker, second son of the fourth Viscount. The eighth Lord Gort lived on the Isle of Man
, where he preserved the family tradition of public service as a member of the House of Keys
, the lower house of the Parliament of the Isle of Man
. In 1995, the titles passed to his son Foley Vereker, the ninth Viscount, who also lives on the Isle of Man
.
The heir apparent
is the present holder's son Hon. Robert Foley Prendergast Vereker (b. 1993)
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and Irish
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
history. Gort
Gort
Gort is a town in south County Galway in the west of Ireland. An Gort is the official Irish name for the town, as defined by the Placenames Commission. In spoken Irish, however, the town is known by its traditional name Gort Inse Guaire. It lies just north of the border with County Clare on the...
is a small town in County Galway
County Galway
County Galway is a county in Ireland. It is located in the West Region and is also part of the province of Connacht. It is named after the city of Galway. Galway County Council is the local authority for the county. There are several strongly Irish-speaking areas in the west of the county...
in the West of Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. The original title was in the Peerage of Ireland
Peerage of Ireland
The Peerage of Ireland is the term used for those titles of nobility created by the English and later British monarchs of Ireland in their capacity as Lord or King of Ireland. The creation of such titles came to an end in the 19th century. The ranks of the Irish peerage are Duke, Marquess, Earl,...
and is still extant.
A viscountcy with the same title as the Irish peerage was then conferred in the Peerage of the United Kingdom
Peerage of the United Kingdom
The Peerage of the United Kingdom comprises most peerages created in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland after the Act of Union in 1801, when it replaced the Peerage of Great Britain...
to a later Lord Gort. This gave the distinguished descendant a subtle personal change of status, whilst preserving the heritage of the older title. The United Kingdom title, however, became extinct on death of the original recipient, who remains perhaps the most illustrious bearer of the title to date. An unqualified reference to "Lord Gort" will almost always be to the sixth viscount.
Viscount Gort, Peerage of Ireland
The title was created in 1816 as an advancement or 'step' for an existing peer. John Prendergast SmythJohn Prendergast Smyth, 1st Viscount Gort
John Prendergast-Smyth, 1st Viscount Gort was an Irish politician.Born John Smyth, Gort was the son of Charles Smyth, Member of the Irish Parliament for Limerick City, and Elizabeth Prendergast. His paternal grandparents were the Rt. Rev. Thomas Smyth, Bishop of Limerick, and Dorothea Burgh,...
had already been created Baron Kiltarton of Gort
Gort
Gort is a town in south County Galway in the west of Ireland. An Gort is the official Irish name for the town, as defined by the Placenames Commission. In spoken Irish, however, the town is known by its traditional name Gort Inse Guaire. It lies just north of the border with County Clare on the...
, in the County of Galway
Galway
Galway or City of Galway is a city in County Galway, Republic of Ireland. It is the sixth largest and the fastest-growing city in Ireland. It is also the third largest city within the Republic and the only city in the Province of Connacht. Located on the west coast of Ireland, it sits on the...
, also in the Peerage of Ireland
Peerage of Ireland
The Peerage of Ireland is the term used for those titles of nobility created by the English and later British monarchs of Ireland in their capacity as Lord or King of Ireland. The creation of such titles came to an end in the 19th century. The ranks of the Irish peerage are Duke, Marquess, Earl,...
, in 1810. John Prendergast-Smyth, Viscount Gort and Lord Kiltarton, was the nephew of Sir Thomas Prendergast, 2nd Baronet, and had succeeded to the Prendergast estates on the death of this uncle in 1760 (see Prendergast Baronets, of Gort
Prendergast Baronets
The Prendergast Baronetcy, of Gort in the County of Galway, was a title in the Baronetage of Ireland. It was created on 15 July 1699 for the Irish soldier and politician Thomas Prendergast. He was killed at the Battle of Malplaquet in 1709 and was succeeded by his son, the second Baronet. He was a...
). He was ineligible to inherit the title of his uncle, but the bequest enabled him to develop the status to merit a title of his own, of a higher degree, and subsequently to advance himself higher in the peerage system.
Lord Gort had no sons to inherit his two titles but, unusually, he had been able to secure a special remainder both in 1816 and in 1810, the remainder being in favour of his nephew Charles Vereker, the son of his sister Juliana by her marriage with Thomas Vereker.
On the death of John Prendergast-Smyth in the following year, the Gort viscountcy, plus the barony, passed to the Vereker family according to the special remainder. Charles Vereker, the second Viscount, represented Limerick
Limerick City (UK Parliament constituency)
Limerick City was a United Kingdom Parliament constituency, in Ireland. It returned one MP 1801–1832, two MPs 1832–1885 and one thereafter. It was an original constituency represented in Parliament when the Union of Great Britain and Ireland took effect on 1 January 1801...
in the House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
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....
as an Irish Representative Peer
Representative 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...
from 1824 until his death, in 1842.
John Vereker succeeded his father, both as the third Viscount and as Member of Parliament
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,...
for Limerick. He was also an Irish Representative Peer, in the year in which he died, in 1865.
Viscount Gort, Peerage of the United Kingdom
John Vereker, the sixth Viscount, was the great-grandson of his namesake. Following Home RuleHome rule
Home rule is the power of a constituent part of a state to exercise such of the state's powers of governance within its own administrative area that have been devolved to it by the central government....
in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, in which Anglo-Irish
Anglo-Irish
Anglo-Irish was a term used primarily in the 19th and early 20th centuries to identify a privileged social class in Ireland, whose members were the descendants and successors of the Protestant Ascendancy, mostly belonging to the Church of Ireland, which was the established church of Ireland until...
Ascendancy families were no longer welcome, the family eventually settled in County Durham
County Durham
County Durham is a ceremonial county and unitary district in north east England. The county town is Durham. The largest settlement in the ceremonial county is the town of Darlington...
. This Lord Gort was a distinguished soldier whose personal courage in the First World War was recognised with the highest decoration of the British Empire, the Victoria Cross
Victoria Cross
The Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories....
, plus three further gallantry decorations, before achieving the most senior post in the British Army, Chief of the Imperial General Staff. It was Lord Gort who commanded the BEF
British Expeditionary Force (World War II)
The British Expeditionary Force was the British force in Europe from 1939–1940 during the Second World War. Commanded by General Lord Gort, the BEF constituted one-tenth of the defending Allied force....
in 1939 and his leadership during the disastrous withdrawal from France preserved his reputation at an unhappy time for the nation. He then had another tough appointment, as Governor
Governor
A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
of Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
in its darkest days, before becoming High Commissioner
High Commissioner
High Commissioner is the title of various high-ranking, special executive positions held by a commission of appointment.The English term is also used to render various equivalent titles in other languages.-Bilateral diplomacy:...
of British Mandate for Palestine and the Transjordan
Transjordan
The Emirate of Transjordan was a former Ottoman territory in the Southern Levant that was part of the British Mandate of Palestine...
, itself hardly a rest-cure at this time. Promotion to Field Marshal
Field Marshal
Field Marshal is a military rank. Traditionally, it is the highest military rank in an army.-Etymology:The origin of the rank of field marshal dates to the early Middle Ages, originally meaning the keeper of the king's horses , from the time of the early Frankish kings.-Usage and hierarchical...
and the creation of the new Viscountcy at the end of the war was an indicator of his standing as soldier and imperial administrator.
The 1946 title was Viscount Gort, of Hamsterley Hall
Hamsterley Hall
Hamsterley Hall is an 18th century country house at Hamsterley, Rowlands Gill, County Durham, England. It is a Grade II* listed building.The estate at Hamsterley was given, in 1762, by Sir John Swinburne Bt to his younger brother Henry Swinburne...
in the County of Durham, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom
Peerage of the United Kingdom
The Peerage of the United Kingdom comprises most peerages created in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland after the Act of Union in 1801, when it replaced the Peerage of Great Britain...
. He kept his style modest, avoiding, for example, the self-conscious possibility of Lord Gort and Gort.
Field Marshal Lord Gort had no living sons and, unlike his own ancestor, did not have a special remainder, so on his death just one month after the creation of the new title, the new viscountcy became extinct, whilst the Irish titles passed to his brother.
The Irish Peerage
Before 1801, the few Irish peers that existed had their own House of Lords in IrelandIreland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. The vote in favour of joining the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
resulted in a remarkable number of new peerages in Ireland. Like their counterparts in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, the Irish peers did not acquire an automatic seat at Westminster
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
, but elected a small number of representative peers from among their number to sit as peers 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....
at Westminster, for life. Upon the demise of a representative peer, a new incumbent would be elected to fill the vacancy. This remained the practice until the partition of Ireland and the grant of Home Rule
Home rule
Home rule is the power of a constituent part of a state to exercise such of the state's powers of governance within its own administrative area that have been devolved to it by the central government....
in both South and North.
All Irish peers at Westminster served as a result of an election process: those not elected to the House of Lords were entitled to stand for election to the House of Commons, leading to the apparent incongruity of Lord Gort, MP. This was the case with the second Lord Gort and the third Lord Gort, but ceased to be an option for the sixth Lord Gort.
In practice, most distinguished Scottish and Irish peers acquired UK titles which gave themselves and their descendants a seat in the upper chamber of the Legislature of the Empire. For this reason, the grant of special remainders for UK titles was far more strict than it had been for Irish titles and the Field Marshal Lord Gort was not sufficiently unique to merit this extra favour.
The original Gort peerage was an Irish peerage granted after the creation of the United Kingdom. This means that there had been the option of creating the original Gort peerage as a UK title. As stated, a large number of Irishmen, which meant in practice mostly the Anglo-Irish, had been rewarded with peerages before and after the Act of Union
Act of Union 1800
The Acts of Union 1800 describe two complementary Acts, namely:* the Union with Ireland Act 1800 , an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain, and...
; some might be converted to UK titles, but there were too many for all to expect a UK title.
An Irish peerage was a useful constitutional device to give them, or perhaps rather their wives, the social standing they sought and to tie them in as members of the Establishment
The Establishment
The Establishment is a term used to refer to a visible dominant group or elite that holds power or authority in a nation. The term suggests a closed social group which selects its own members...
, particularly in Ireland, without granting the seat in the Legislature that came with a UK title. As a result, it was found useful not to be abolish the Irish roll, when the Peerage of Great Britain
Peerage of Great Britain
The Peerage of Great Britain comprises all extant peerages created in the Kingdom of Great Britain after the Act of Union 1707 but before the Act of Union 1800...
was closed in favour of the Peerage of the United Kingdom
Peerage of the United Kingdom
The Peerage of the United Kingdom comprises most peerages created in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland after the Act of Union in 1801, when it replaced the Peerage of Great Britain...
. Later, an Irish peerage might even be given to a distinguished man without any obvious Irish connection, to lend gravitas to imperial appointments, whilst giving him the option of sitting in the House of Commons afterwards should he aspire to ministerial office.
The Gort Viscountcy in the modern era
The Hon.The Honourable
The prefix The Honourable or The Honorable is a style used before the names of certain classes of persons. It is considered an honorific styling.-International diplomacy:...
Standish Vereker was the brother of Field Marshal The Lord Gort, who had been the sixth Viscount of the Irish peerage and the first and last Viscount of the United Kingdom peerage; Standish inherited the Irish viscountcy and barony in 1946. The seventh Viscount had achieved some distinction of his own, serving as High Sheriff of Durham in 1934, before he gained the peerage.
On his death in 1975, the titles passed to his first cousin once removed, the eighth Viscount. Colin Vereker
Colin Vereker, 8th Viscount Gort
Colin Leopold Prendergast "Kim" Vereker, 8th Viscount Gort MHK, JP was an Irish peer.Gort was the son of Leopold George Prendergast Vereker and Helen Marjorie Campbell, and the grandson of the Hon. Foley Charles Prendergast Vereker, the second son of the fourth Viscount. He was educated at...
was the grandson of The Hon. Foley Charles Prendergast Vereker, second son of the fourth Viscount. The eighth Lord Gort lived on the Isle of Man
Isle of Man
The Isle of Man , otherwise known simply as Mann , is a self-governing British Crown Dependency, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, within the British Isles. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Lord of Mann is...
, where he preserved the family tradition of public service as a member of the House of Keys
House of Keys
The House of Keys is the directly elected lower branch of Tynwald, the parliament of the Isle of Man, the other branch being the Legislative Council....
, the lower house of the Parliament of the Isle of Man
Tynwald
The Tynwald , or more formally, the High Court of Tynwald is the legislature of the Isle of Man. It is claimed to be the oldest continuous parliamentary body in the world, consisting of the directly elected House of Keys and the indirectly chosen Legislative Council.The Houses sit jointly, for...
. In 1995, the titles passed to his son Foley Vereker, the ninth Viscount, who also lives on the Isle of Man
Isle of Man
The Isle of Man , otherwise known simply as Mann , is a self-governing British Crown Dependency, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, within the British Isles. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Lord of Mann is...
.
Viscounts Gort (1816)
- John Prendergast-Smyth, 1st Viscount Gort (1742–1817)
- Charles Vereker, 2nd Viscount GortCharles Vereker, 2nd Viscount GortCharles Vereker, 2nd Viscount Gort PC , known as Charles Vereker until 1817, was a British soldier and politician.-Background:...
(1768–1842) - John Prendergast Vereker, 3rd Viscount GortJohn Vereker, 3rd Viscount GortJohn Prendergast Vereker, 3rd Viscount Gort , was a British peer and politician.-Background and education:Gort was the son of Charles Vereker, 2nd Viscount Gort, and his first wife Jane, daughter of Ralph Westropp...
(1790–1865) - Standish Prendergast Vereker, 4th Viscount Gort (1819–1900)
- John Gage Prendergast Vereker, 5th Viscount Gort (1849–1902)
- John Standish Surtees Prendergast Vereker, 6th Viscount GortJohn Vereker, 6th Viscount GortField Marshal John Standish Surtees Prendergast Vereker, 6th Viscount Gort, VC, GCB, CBE, DSO & Two Bars, MVO, MC , was a British and Anglo-Irish soldier. As a young officer in World War I he won the Victoria Cross at the Battle of the Canal du Nord. During the 1930s he served as Chief of the...
(1886–1946) - Standish Robert Gage Prendergast Vereker, 7th Viscount Gort (1888–1975)
- Colin Leopold Prendergast Vereker, 8th Viscount GortColin Vereker, 8th Viscount GortColin Leopold Prendergast "Kim" Vereker, 8th Viscount Gort MHK, JP was an Irish peer.Gort was the son of Leopold George Prendergast Vereker and Helen Marjorie Campbell, and the grandson of the Hon. Foley Charles Prendergast Vereker, the second son of the fourth Viscount. He was educated at...
(1916–1995) - Foley Robert Standish Prendergast Vereker, 9th Viscount Gort (b. 1951)
The heir apparent
Heir apparent
An heir apparent or heiress apparent is a person who is first in line of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting, except by a change in the rules of succession....
is the present holder's son Hon. Robert Foley Prendergast Vereker (b. 1993)
Viscount Gort (1946)
- John Standish Surtees Prendergast Vereker, 1st and last Viscount GortJohn Vereker, 6th Viscount GortField Marshal John Standish Surtees Prendergast Vereker, 6th Viscount Gort, VC, GCB, CBE, DSO & Two Bars, MVO, MC , was a British and Anglo-Irish soldier. As a young officer in World War I he won the Victoria Cross at the Battle of the Canal du Nord. During the 1930s he served as Chief of the...
(1886–1946)
See also
- Prendergast Baronets, of GortPrendergast BaronetsThe Prendergast Baronetcy, of Gort in the County of Galway, was a title in the Baronetage of Ireland. It was created on 15 July 1699 for the Irish soldier and politician Thomas Prendergast. He was killed at the Battle of Malplaquet in 1709 and was succeeded by his son, the second Baronet. He was a...
- General Sir Ian Standish Monteith HamiltonIan Standish Monteith HamiltonGeneral Sir Ian Standish Monteith Hamilton GCB GCMG DSO TD was a general in the British Army and is most notably for commanding the ill-fated Mediterranean Expeditionary Force during the Battle of Gallipoli....
, grandson of the 3rd Viscount Gort