James Agar, 1st Viscount Clifden (25 March 1734 – 1 January 1789), was an Irish peer and politician[1] and held the office of one of the joint Postmasters General of Ireland.

Family

He was the second son of Henry Agar, a former MP for Gowran, and Anne Ellis, daughter of Welbore Ellis, Bishop of Meath, and was probably born at Gowran Castle on 25 March 1734. On 20 March 1760, James married Lucia Martin, daughter of John Martin and widow of Henry Boyle-Walsingham. Together they had three children; Henry-Welbore, John Ellis, b. 31 December 1763, and Charles-Bagnell, b. 13 August 1765. Agar was made a Baron Clifden on 27 July 1776 and Viscount Clifden on 12 January 1781 and on 13 August 1794 became Baron Mendip. He died on 1 January 1789 when his eldest son became the second viscount and Baron Mendip. His widow died in 1802.[2] Agar's younger brothers were Charles Agar, first Earl of Normanton (1736–1809), who became the Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin,[3] and Welbore Ellis Agar, a notable art collector.[4]

Politics

In addition to being a Member of Parliament (MP) for Gowran, for which he sat three times, from 1753 to 1761, again from 1768 to 1769 and finally from 1776 to 1777, he controlled three other borough seats through the strength of his family holdings. Between 1761 and 1776, he represented County Kilkenny[5] and between 1768 and 1769 Thomastown. He held the post of joint Postmaster General of Ireland between 1784 and 1789[5] with William Ponsonby, 1st Baron Ponsonby.

References

  1. ^ "Person Page 1793". thepeerage.com. Retrieved 21 February 2010.
  2. ^ Debrett, John (1809). The Peerage of the United Kingdom of Great Britain & Ireland. Vol. II. London: John Debrett. pp. 850–851.
  3. ^ "Charles Agar, Earl of Normanton". Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  4. ^ Rebecca Lyons, "Selling the collection of Welbore Ellis Agar" in Susanna Avery-Quash, Christian Huemer, eds., London and the Emergence of a European Art Market, 1780-1820 (Getty Publications, 6 August 2019), p 176
  5. ^ a b Smith Ellis, William (1856). Notices of the Ellises of England, Scotland and Ireland from the Conquest to the Present Time its lords and families, ancient and modern. p. 123.

External links

Parliament of Ireland Preceded byJames Agar David Chaigneau Member of Parliament for Gowran 1753–1761 With: James Agar Succeeded byGeorge Dunbar William Henry Burton Preceded byHenry Flood Patrick Wemys Member of Parliament for County Kilkenny 1761–1776 With: Hon. John Ponsonby Succeeded byHon. John Ponsonby Hon. Edmund Butler Preceded byGeorge Dunbar William Henry Burton Member of Parliament for Gowran 1768–1769 With: Hon. John Ponsonby Succeeded byArthur Browne Henry Prittie Preceded byLord Frederick Campbell Thomas Eyre Member of Parliament for Thomastown 1768–1769 With: Thomas Maunsell Succeeded byGeorge Dunbar Thomas Maunsell Preceded byArthur Browne Henry Prittie Member of Parliament for Gowran 1776–1777 With: John Butler Succeeded bySir Boyle Roche, 1st Bt John Butler Peerage of Ireland New creation Viscount Clifden 1781–1788 Succeeded byHenry Ellis Baron Clifden 1776–1788
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