General The Rt Hon. Ralph Gore, 1st Earl of Ross (23 November 1725 – September 1802),[1] known as Sir Ralph Gore, 6th Baronet, from 1746 until 1764, subsequently as The Baron Gore until 1768, and then as The Viscount Belleisle until 1772, was an Anglo-Irish soldier, politician and peer.

Background

Born at Belle Isle Castle in County Fermanagh in Ulster, he was the second son of Sir Ralph Gore, 4th Baronet, and his second wife Elizabeth, only daughter of St George Ashe, at that time Church of Ireland Bishop of Clogher.[2] Gore was educated at Trinity College Dublin and, in 1744, he purchased a lieutenancy in the 33rd Regiment of Foot.[2] In 1746, he succeeded his older brother St George as baronet.[3]

Military career

In the middle of the War of the Austrian Succession, Gore joined the regiment in Flanders in 1745 and took over a company.[4] At the Battle of Fontenoy on 11 May, he was hit on his right arm by a shot, however quickly recovered.[4] During the Battle of Lauffeld on 2 July 1747 all his superior officers were killed or severely wounded, so command of the battalion fell to Gore, who performed so well, that on the following day he received the thanks of the British commander, The Duke of Cumberland.[4]

In 1760, he raised the 92nd Regiment of Foot (Donegal Light Infantry) and became its lieutenant-colonel until the regiment's dissolution three years later.[4] Viscount Belleisle, as he was by this time, was promoted to colonel in 1772 and to major-general in 1777.[2] Two years thereafter he was admitted to the Irish general staff[2] and in 1781 obtained colonelship of the 32nd (Cornwall) Regiment of Foot.[5] In the following year, he was made a lieutenant-general[6] and in 1788, during the absence of Sir William Augustus Pitt, was acting Commander-in-Chief, Ireland.[2] Lord Ross, as he was now, was promoted to a full general in 1796.[7]

Political career

In 1747, Gore entered the Irish House of Commons, sitting for County Donegal, the same constituency his father and brother had represented before, until 1764,[8] when on 30 June, he was ennobled in the Peerage of Ireland with the title Baron Gore, of Manor Gore, in the County of Donegal.[9] He took his seat in the Irish House of Lords in 1767 and was created Viscount Belleisle, of Belleisle, in the County of Fermanagh on 25 August 1768.[10] Gore was finally advanced as Earl of Ross, in the County of Fermanagh, on 4 January 1772.[11] He served as High Sheriff of Donegal in 1755 and as High Sheriff of Fermanagh in 1760.[2]

Family

On 23 February 1754, Sir Ralph Gore married, firstly, Katherine, eldest daughter of William Conolly and Lady Anne Wentworth. After her death in 1771, Lord Belleisle, as he was by this time, remarried Alicia Clements, youngest daughter of Nathaniel Clements and Hannah Gore, on 22 August 1773. His only son by his second marriage predeceased him in 1789.[3] Alicia died in 1795 and was buried, like her son, at Clifton Church in Bristol.[2] Lord Ross, as he was now, survived her until 1802 and was succeeded in the baronetcy by his nephew Ralph; his other titles became extinct.[12]

Belle Isle

Belle Isle (previously known, in Gaelic times, as Ballymacmanus Island or Senadh-Mic-Maghnusa or, simply, Senad[13][14][15]), near Lisbellaw, had been in the Gore family for generations, but it was Lord Ross's father who built the castle. His son, who was born there, spent many years improving and expanding Belle Isle Castle and creating a magnificent garden.

References

  1. ^ "Leigh Rayment – Peerage". Archived from the original on 8 June 2008. Retrieved 15 November 2009.((cite web)): CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Cokayne, George Edward (1949). Geoffrey H. White (ed.). Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom. Vol. XI. London: The St Catherine Press. pp. 164–165.
  3. ^ a b Burke, John (1832). A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire. Vol. I (4th ed.). London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley. p. 527.
  4. ^ a b c d Lodge, John (1789). Mervyn Archdall (ed.). The Peerage of Ireland or A Genealogical History of the Present Nobility of that Kingdom. Vol. III. Dublin: James Moore. pp. 285–287.
  5. ^ "No. 12188". The London Gazette. 15 May 1781. p. 3.
  6. ^ "No. 12391". The London Gazette. 23 September 1782. p. 459.
  7. ^ "No. 13892". The London Gazette. 14 May 1796. p. 459.
  8. ^ "Leigh Rayment – Irish House of Commons 1692–1800". Archived from the original on 7 June 2008. Retrieved 15 November 2009.((cite web)): CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  9. ^ "No. 10426". The London Gazette. 12 June 1764. p. 3.
  10. ^ "No. 10855". The London Gazette. 30 July 1768. p. 1.
  11. ^ "No. 11206". The London Gazette. 17 December 1771. p. 1.
  12. ^ Lodge, Edmund (1859). The Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire (28th ed.). London: Hurst and Blackett. p. 711.
  13. ^ Robert Bell, The Book of Ulster Surnames, p. 175. The Blackstaff Press, Belfast, 1988 (2003 reprint).
  14. ^ Brian G. Scott (General Editor), Claire Foley and Ronan McHugh, An Archaeological Survey of County Fermanagh: Volume I, Part 2 - The Early Christian and Medieval Periods, p. 698. Northern Ireland Environment Agency (N.I.E.A.), Belfast, and Colourpoint Books, Newtownards, 2014.
  15. ^ Brian G. Scott (General Editor), Claire Foley and Ronan McHugh, An Archaeological Survey of County Fermanagh: Volume I, Part 2 - The Early Christian and Medieval Periods, p. 349. Northern Ireland Environment Agency (N.I.E.A.), Belfast, and Colourpoint Books, Newtownards, 2014.
Parliament of Ireland Preceded bySir St George Gore-St George, 5th Bt Andrew Knox Member of Parliament for County Donegal 1747–1764 With: Andrew Knox Succeeded byRobert Clements Andrew Knox Military offices New regiment Lieutenant-Colonel of the 92nd Regiment of Foot (Donegal Light Infantry) 1760–1763 Regiment disbanded Preceded byWilliam Amherst Colonel of the 32nd (Cornwall) Regiment of Foot 1781–1802 Succeeded byJames Ogilvie Peerage of Ireland New creation Earl of Ross 1772–1802 Extinct Viscount Belleisle 1768–1802 Baron Gore 1764–1802 Baronetage of Ireland Preceded bySt George Gore-St George Baronet (of Magherabegg) 1746–1802 Succeeded byRalph Gore
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