"An Irish Property". Caricature by Spy published in Vanity Fair in 1877.

Thomas Taylour, 3rd Marquess of Headfort KP PC (I) (1 November 1822 – 22 July 1894) was an Irish peer, styled Lord Kenlis until 1829 and Earl of Bective from 1829 to 1870.

He was High Sheriff of Meath in 1844, of Cavan in 1846, and of Westmorland in 1853. From 1852 to 1853, he was State Steward to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. In 1854, Bective succeeded his father-in-law as Member of Parliament for Westmorland, sitting as a Conservative.

He succeeded his father as Marquess of Headfort in 1870. He also inherited his father's title of Baron Kenlis, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, and so gained a seat in the House of Lords; his son Thomas replaced him in the House of Commons for Westmorland.

He was an Irish Freemason, having been initiated in Lodge No 244 (Kells, Ireland), and served as the Provincial Grand Master of Meath from 1888 until his death and burial at Virginia, County Cavan in 1894.[1] He was also an English Freemason and belonged to a number of Masonic Orders. In particular, he served as Grand Sovereign (the Head of the Order) of the Masonic and Military Order of the Red Cross of Constantine from 1866 until 1874.[2]

He held significant landholdings, covering nearly 43,000 acres in Ireland and Great Britain.[3]

Family

On 20 July 1842, he married Amelia Thompson, daughter of William Thompson. They had seven children:

His wife Amelia died on 4 December 1864. On 29 November 1875, he married again, to Emily Constantia Thynne, daughter of Rev. Lord John Thynne and granddaughter of Thomas Thynne, 2nd Marquess of Bath. They had two children:

His eldest son Thomas died in 1894, a few months before his father, and so the marquessate passed to Geoffrey, Headfort's only son by his second marriage.

The Dowager Marchioness visited British India to attend the 1903 Delhi Durbar held in January 1903 to celebrated the succession of King Edward VII as Emperor of India.[4] She died in 1926.

References

  1. ^ See 'A brief history of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Meath', at the official website of that organisation.
  2. ^ Report of Proceedings of the Grand Imperial Council, 2013. Published by Lewis Masonic (Ian Allan Publishing Ltd), 2013. ISBN 978 0 85318 435 5. Page 180.
  3. ^ "The great landowners of Great Britain and Ireland; a list of all owners of three thousand acres and upwards ... Also, one thousand three hundred owners of two thousand acres and upwards in England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales, their acreage and income from land culled from the modern Domesday book". 15 December 1883.
  4. ^ "Court Circular". The Times. No. 36945. London. 8 December 1902. p. 9.

External links

Parliament of the United Kingdom Preceded byHenry LowtherWilliam Thompson Member of Parliament for Westmorland 1854–1870 With: Henry Lowther 1854–1868William Lowther 1868–1871 Succeeded byWilliam LowtherEarl of Bective Honorary titles Preceded byThe Marquess Conyngham Lord Lieutenant of Meath 1876–1894 Succeeded bySimon Mangan Peerage of Ireland Preceded byThomas Taylour Marquess of Headfort 1870–1894 Succeeded byGeoffrey Taylour Peerage of the United Kingdom Preceded byThomas Taylour Baron Kenlis 1870–1894 Succeeded byGeoffrey Taylour
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