Earl of Derby
Earl of Derby is a title in the Peerage of England. The title was first adopted by Robert de Ferrers, 1st Earl of Derby, under a creation of 1139, it continued with the Ferrers family until the 6th Earl forfeited his property toward the end of the reign of Henry III and died in 1279. Most of the Ferrers property and, by a creation in 1337, the Derby title, were held by the family of Henry III; the title merged in the Crown upon Henry IV's accession to the throne. It was created again for the Stanley family in 1485. Lord Derby's subsidiary titles are Baron Stanley of Bickerstaffe in the County Palatine of Lancaster, Baron Stanley of Preston, in the County Palatine of Lancaster; the 1st to 5th Earls held an earlier Barony of Stanley, created for the 1st Earl's father in 1456 and abeyant. The courtesy title of the heir apparent is Lord Stanley. Several successive generations of the Stanley Earls, along with other members of the family, have been prominent members of the Conservative Party, at least one historian has suggested that this family rivals the Cecils as the single most important family in the party's history.
They were at times one of the richest landowning families in England. The Stanley Cup, the championship trophy of the National Hockey League, was presented to the Dominion of Canada in 1892 by Frederick Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby during his tenure as Governor General of Canada; the family seat is Knowsley Hall, near Merseyside. Ferrières in Normandy, the hometown of the de Ferrers family, was an important centre for iron and takes its name from the iron ore mines used during the Gallo-Roman period. Lord of Longueville, a Domesday Commissioner; the Ferrers, lords of the barony of Ferrières in Normandy, were accompanied to England by three other families who were their underlords in France: the Curzons, the Baskervilles and the Levetts. Robert de Ferrers, 2nd Earl of Ferrières was created Earl of Derby by King Stephen in 1138 for his valiant conduct at the Battle of Northallerton, he was married to Hawise de Vitre and died in 1139. His son Robert de Ferrers, 2nd Earl of Derby became the next earl and was married to Margaret Peverel.
He founded Merevale Abbey. His son William de Ferrers, 3rd Earl of Derby was married to Sybil de Braose, he was imprisoned at Caen, Normandy. He died in the Crusades at the Siege of Acre, he was succeeded by his son William de Ferrers, 4th Earl of Derby who married Agnes de Kevelioc, daughter of Hugh de Kevelioc, 3rd Earl of Chester. He was succeeded by his son William de Ferrers, 5th Earl of Derby who married Sibyl Marshall and Margaret de Quincy with whom he had his son and heir Robert de Ferrers, 6th Earl of Derby, who became the next Earl, he rebelled against King Henry III and was arrested and imprisoned first in the Tower of London in Windsor Castle and Wallingford Castle, in 1266 his lands and earldom were forfeited, including Tutbury Castle which still belongs to the Duchy of Lancaster. Through one line the descent of the Earls of Derby gave rise to the Earls Ferrers. Laurence Shirley, 4th Earl Ferrers, was the only peer of the realm to be hanged for murder. Another familial line takes in the Baron Ferrers of Chartley descent.
The large estates which were taken from Robert in 1266 were given by Henry III to his son, Edmund Crouchback. In 1337 Edmund's grandson, Henry of Grosmont, afterwards Duke of Lancaster, was created Earl of Derby, this title was taken by Edward III's son, John of Gaunt, who had married Henry's daughter, Blanche. John of Gaunt's son and successor was Henry Bolingbroke, who acceded to the throne as Henry IV in 1399; the title Earl of Derby merged into the Crown. The Stanley family was descended from Ligulf of Aldithley, the ancestor of the Audleys. One of his descendants married an heiress whose marriage portion included Stoneley, Staffordshire – hence the name Stanley. Sir Thomas Stanley served as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and represented Lancashire in the House of Commons. In 1456 he was summoned to the House of Lords as Lord Stanley, his eldest son Thomas Stanley, 2nd Baron Stanley, married Lady Margaret Beaufort, the mother of King Henry VII, Eleanor Nevill. The title of Earl of Derby was conferred on him in 1485 by his stepson Henry VII after the Battle of Bosworth Field where Thomas decided not to support King Richard III.
The title derives from the family's extensive lands in the hundred of West Derby and not the county or city of Derby. His eldest son and heir apparent George Stanley, Lord Stanley, married Joan Strange, 9th Baroness Strange and 5th Baroness Mohun, was summoned to the House of Lords as Lord Strange in right of his wife. Lord Derby was succeeded by the eldest son of Lord Strange, he had succeeded his mother as tenth Baron Strange and sixth Baron Mohun. He married daughter of Lord Hungerford and Hastings; the second Earl's son Edward became the 3rd Earl. He notably served as Lord High Steward at the coronation of Queen Mary of England in 1553 and was Lor
Heir apparent
An heir apparent or heiress apparent is a person, first in a line of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person. An heir presumptive, by contrast, is someone, first in line to inherit a title but who can be displaced by the birth of a more eligible heir. Today these terms most describe heirs to hereditary titles or offices when only inheritable by a single person. Most monarchies refer to the heir apparent of their thrones with the descriptive term of crown prince but these heirs may be accorded with a more specific substantive title, such as Prince of Orange in the Netherlands, Duke of Brabant in Belgium, Prince of Asturias in Spain, or Prince of Wales in the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms. In France the title was le Dauphin, in Imperial Russia; the term is used metaphorically to indicate an "anointed" successor to any position of power, e.g. a political or corporate leader. This article describes the term heir apparent in a hereditary system regulated by laws of primogeniture—as opposed to cases where a monarch has a say in naming the heir.
In a hereditary system governed by some form of primogeniture, an heir apparent is identifiable as the person whose position as first in the line of succession to a title or office is secure, regardless of future births. An heir presumptive, by contrast, can always be "bumped down" in the succession by the birth of somebody more related in a legal sense to the current title-holder; the clearest example occurs in the case of a holder of a hereditary title, one that can only be inherited by a single person, with no children. If at any time he were to produce children, they rank ahead of whatever more "distant" relative had been heir presumptive. Many legal systems assume childbirth is always possible regardless of health. In such circumstances a person may be, in a practical sense, the heir apparent but still speaking, heir presumptive. Indeed, when Queen Victoria succeeded her uncle King William IV, the wording of the proclamation gave as a caveat:...saving the rights of any issue of his late Majesty King William IV, which may be born of his late Majesty's consort.
This provided for the possibility that William's wife, Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen, was pregnant at the moment of his death, since such a posthumous child, regardless of its sex, would have displaced Victoria from the throne. Adelaide was 44 at the time, so pregnancy was possible if unlikely. Daughters may inherit titles that descend according to male-preference primogeniture, but only in default of sons; that is, both female and male offspring have the right to a place somewhere in the order of succession, but when it comes to what that place is, a female will rank behind her brothers regardless of their ages or her age. Thus even an only daughter will not be heir apparent, since at any time a brother might be born who, though younger, would assume that position. Hence, she is an heir presumptive. For example, Queen Elizabeth II was heir presumptive during the reign of her father, King George VI, because at any stage up to his death, George could have fathered a legitimate son. In a system of absolute primogeniture that disregards gender, female heirs apparent occur.
As succession to titles, positions, or offices in the past most favoured males than females, females considered to be an heir apparent were rare. Absolute primogeniture was not practised by any modern monarchy for succession to their thrones until the late twentieth century with Sweden being the first to adopt absolute primogeniture in 1980 and other Western European monarchies following suit. Since the adoption of absolute primogeniture by contemporary Western European monarchies, examples of female heirs apparent include: Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, Princess Catharina-Amalia of the Netherlands, Princess Elisabeth of Belgium. Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway is heir apparent to her father, Victoria herself has a female heir apparent in her oldest child, Princess Estelle. Victoria was not heir apparent from birth, but gained the status in 1980 following a change in the Swedish Act of Succession, her younger brother Carl Philip was thus heir apparent for a few months. In 2015, pursuant to the 2011 Perth Agreement, the Commonwealth realms changed the rules of succession to the 16 thrones of Elizabeth II to absolute primogeniture, except for male heirs born before the Perth Agreement.
The effects are not to be felt for many years. But in legal systems that apply male-preference primogeniture, female heirs apparent are by no means impossible: if a male heir apparent dies leaving no sons but at least one daughter the eldest daughter would replace her father as heir apparent to whatever throne or title is concerned, but only when it has become clear that the widow of the deceased is not pregnant; as the representative of her father's line she would assume a place ahead of any more distant relatives. Such a situation has not to date occurred with the British throne.
Irish House of Commons
The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from 1297 until 1800. The upper house was the House of Lords; the membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, but on a restrictive franchise, similar to the Unreformed House of Commons in contemporary England and Great Britain. In counties, forty-shilling freeholders were enfranchised whilst in most boroughs it was either only the members of self-electing corporations or a highly-restricted body of freemen that were able to vote for the borough's representatives. Most notably, Catholics were disqualified from sitting in the Irish parliament from 1691 though they comprised the vast majority of the Irish population. From 1728 until 1793 they were disfranchised. Most of the population of all religions had no vote; the vast majority of parliamentary boroughs were pocket boroughs, the private property of an aristocratic patron. When these boroughs were disfranchised under the Act of Union, the patron was awarded £15,000 compensation for each.
The British-appointed Irish executive, under the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, was not answerable to the House of Commons but to the British government. However, the Chief Secretary for Ireland was a member of the Irish parliament. In the Commons, business was presided over by the Speaker; the House of Commons was abolished when the Irish parliament merged with its British counterpart in 1801 under the Act of Union, forming the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The House sat for the last time in Parliament House, Dublin on 2 August 1800; the Speaker of the Irish House of Commons was the presiding officer of the House and its most senior official. The position was one of considerable power and prestige, in the absence of a government chosen from and answerable to the Commons, he was the dominant political figure in the Parliament; the last Speaker was John Foster. The House was elected in the same way as the British House of Commons. By the time of the Union, the shape of the House had been fixed with two members elected for each of the 32 Counties of Ireland, two members for each of 117 Boroughs, two members for Dublin University, a total of 300 members.
The number of Boroughs invited to return members had been small but was doubled by the Stuart monarchs. Notes Parliament of 1374 William de Karlell, Kilkenny John de Karlell, Kilkenny Sir Richard Plunkett, MeathParliament of 1375 Sir Richard Plunkett, Meath Henry Mitchell John Tirel Parliament of 1380 Sir Richard Plunkett John Tirel Parliament of 1429 Sir Richard FitzEustace, KildareParliament of 1450 John Chevir, Speaker Members Patrick Barnewall Sir William Brabazon First session held at Dublin 13 June to 20 or 23 July 1541, 7 November 1541, 22 December 1541 Second session held at Limerick 15 February to 7 or 10 March 1542 Third session held at Trim June 1542 Dissolved 19 November 1543Speaker: Sir Thomas Cusack Members: Sir Edmond Butler Sir Thomas Cusack, Athenry Sir Christopher Barnewall, Dublin County James Stanyhurst, Speaker Sir Lucas Dillon, Meath Sir John Alan, Kinsale Francis Agard, Kinsale John Parker, Trim Sir Henry Radclyffe, Carlingford John Walsh, Youghal John Portyngall, Youghal Richmond Archbold, Cross Tipperary Edmund Prendergast, Cross Tipperary Nicholas White, County Kilkenny Henry Draycott, Naas John Meade, Cork City Humphrey Warren, Carrickfergus Barnaby Fitzpatrick 2nd Baron Upper OssoryMembers: List of Irish MPs 1585–86 Members: Roger Atkinson, Enniskillen Andrew Barrett Cork County Richard Barry, Dublin City Sir John Bere, Carlow Sir Francis Berkeley, Limerick County Ralph Birchenshaw, Augher Sir Valentine Blake, 1st Baronet, Galway County Sir John Blennerhassett, Baron of the Court of Exchequer, Belfast Robert Blennerhassett Tralee Richard Bolton, Dublin City Sir Edward Brabazon, Wicklow County Edmund Butler, Cross Tipperary Boetius Clancy, Clare Edmund Coppinger, Youghal Sir Thomas Crooke, 1st Baronet, Baltimore Sir John Davies and Attorney-General, Fermanagh Gilbert Domville, Kildare Charles Doyne, Trinity College Sir John Everard, Catholic d.
1624,'the acknowledged leader of the opposition' Tipperary Humphrey Farnham, Enniskillen William Ferrar, Clogher James Roche Fitz-Philip, Kinsale Dominick Roche Fitz-Richard, Kinsale Sir Henry Folliott, Fermanagh John Forrest, Youghal Sir Paul Gore, 1st Baronet, Ballyshannon Henry Gosnold, Second Justice of Munster, Clonakilty Sir James Gough, Waterford Sir Edward Harris, Chief Justice of Munster, Clonakilty Sir Robert Jacobe, Solicitor-General, Carlow Sir John King, Muster-master, Roscommon County Thomas Laffan, Cross Tipperary Gerard Lowther, Justice of the Common Pleas, Tallow Thomas Luttrell, Dublin County Dermot McCarthy Cork County Thomas Browne Mills, Limerick County Daniel Molyneaux, Ulster King of Arms, Strabane Samuel Molyneaux, Mallow Sir Garrett Moore Viscount Moore of Drogheda, Dungannon Sir Edward Moore, Charlemont Sir Richard Moryson, Vice-president of Munster, Bandonbridge Barnabas O'Brien Earl of Thomond, Coleraine Sir Daniel O'Brien 1st Viscount Clare, Clare Lawrence Parsons, Tallow William Parsons, Surveyor General, Newcastle Henry Piers, Secretary to the Lord Deputy, Baltimore Sir Christopher Plunket, Dublin County Sir Hugh Pollerde, Dungannon Sir Thomas Ridgeway Earl of Londonderry, vice-treasurer and treasurer-at-war,'in practice recognized by both parties as leader of the house' Tyrone Sir Robert Ridgeway, Ballynakill Sir Francis Roe, Tyrone Christopher Sibthorpe, Justice of the Court of King's Bench, Newtown Limavady Edward Skorye, Augher Sir Oliver St John, Master of the Ordnance and Vice-President of Connaught, Roscommon County Sir William Talbot, 1st Baronet, Kildare William Temple, Provost of Trinity College, Trinity College Sir
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by the English kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years War against the Kingdom of France; the modern Royal Navy traces its origins to the early 16th century. From the middle decades of the 17th century, through the 18th century, the Royal Navy vied with the Dutch Navy and with the French Navy for maritime supremacy. From the mid 18th century, it was the world's most powerful navy until surpassed by the United States Navy during the Second World War; the Royal Navy played a key part in establishing the British Empire as the unmatched world power during the 19th and first part of the 20th centuries. Due to this historical prominence, it is common among non-Britons, to refer to it as "the Royal Navy" without qualification. Following World War I, the Royal Navy was reduced in size, although at the onset of World War II it was still the world's largest.
By the end of the war, the United States Navy had emerged as the world's largest. During the Cold War, the Royal Navy transformed into a anti-submarine force, hunting for Soviet submarines and active in the GIUK gap. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, its focus has returned to expeditionary operations around the world and remains one of the world's foremost blue-water navies. However, 21st century reductions in naval spending have led to a personnel shortage and a reduction in the number of warships; the Royal Navy maintains a fleet of technologically sophisticated ships and submarines including two aircraft carriers, two amphibious transport docks, four ballistic missile submarines, six nuclear fleet submarines, six guided missile destroyers, 13 frigates, 13 mine-countermeasure vessels and 22 patrol vessels. As of November 2018, there are 74 commissioned ships in the Royal Navy, plus 12 ships of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary; the RFA replenishes Royal Navy warships at sea, augments the Royal Navy's amphibious warfare capabilities through its three Bay-class landing ship vessels.
It works as a force multiplier for the Royal Navy doing patrols that frigates used to do. The total displacement of the Royal Navy is 408,750 tonnes; the Royal Navy is part of Her Majesty's Naval Service, which includes the Royal Marines. The professional head of the Naval Service is the First Sea Lord, an admiral and member of the Defence Council of the United Kingdom; the Defence Council delegates management of the Naval Service to the Admiralty Board, chaired by the Secretary of State for Defence. The Royal Navy operates three bases in the United Kingdom; as the seaborne branch of HM Armed Forces, the RN has various roles. As it stands today, the RN has stated its 6 major roles as detailed below in umbrella terms. Preventing Conflict – On a global and regional level Providing Security At Sea – To ensure the stability of international trade at sea International Partnerships – To help cement the relationship with the United Kingdom's allies Maintaining a Readiness To Fight – To protect the United Kingdom's interests across the globe Protecting the Economy – To safe guard vital trade routes to guarantee the United Kingdom's and its allies' economic prosperity at sea Providing Humanitarian Aid – To deliver a fast and effective response to global catastrophes The strength of the fleet of the Kingdom of England was an important element in the kingdom's power in the 10th century.
At one point Aethelred II had an large fleet built by a national levy of one ship for every 310 hides of land, but it is uncertain whether this was a standard or exceptional model for raising fleets. During the period of Danish rule in the 11th century, the authorities maintained a standing fleet by taxation, this continued for a time under the restored English regime of Edward the Confessor, who commanded fleets in person. English naval power declined as a result of the Norman conquest. Following the Battle of Hastings, the Norman navy that brought over William the Conqueror disappeared from records due to William receiving all of those ships from feudal obligations or because of some sort of leasing agreement which lasted only for the duration of the enterprise. More troubling, is the fact that there is no evidence that William adopted or kept the Anglo-Saxon ship mustering system, known as the scipfryd. Hardly noted after 1066, it appears that the Normans let the scipfryd languish so that by 1086, when the Doomsday Book was completed, it had ceased to exist.
According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, in 1068, Harold Godwinson's sons Godwine and Edmund conducted a ‘raiding-ship army’ which came from Ireland, raiding across the region and to the townships of Bristol and Somerset. In the following year of 1069, they returned with a bigger fleet which they sailed up the River Taw before being beaten back by a local earl near Devon. However, this made explicitly clear that the newly conquered England under Norman rule, in effect, ceded the Irish Sea to the Irish, the Vikings of Dublin, other Norwegians. Besides ceding away the Irish Sea, the Normans ceded the North Sea, a major area where Nordic peoples traveled. In 1069, this lack of naval presence in the North Sea allowed for the invasion an
Admiral
Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies, in many navies is the highest rank. It is abbreviated to "Adm" or "ADM"; the rank is thought to have originated in Sicily from a conflation of Arabic: أمير البحر, amīr al-baḥr, "commander of the sea", with Latin admirabilis or admiratus, although alternative etymologies derive the word directly from Latin, or from the Turkish military and naval rank miralay. The French version – amiral without the additional d – tends to add evidence for the Arab origin. In the Commonwealth and the U. S. a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army, is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet. In NATO, admirals have a rank code of OF-9 as a four-star rank; the word admiral in Middle English comes from Anglo-French amiral, "commander", from Medieval Latin admiralis, admirallus. These themselves come from Arabic amīr, or amīr al-, "commander of", as in amīr al-baḥr, "commander of the sea"; the term was in use for the Greco-Arab naval leaders of Norman Sicily, ruled by Arabs, at least by the early 11th century.
The Norman Roger II of Sicily, employed a Greek Christian known as George of Antioch, who had served as a naval commander for several North African Muslim rulers. Roger styled George in Abbasid fashion as Amir of Amirs, i.e. "Commander of Commanders", with the title becoming Latinized in the 13th century as ammiratus ammiratorum. The Sicilians and Genoese took the first two parts of the term and used them as one word, from their Aragon opponents; the French and Spanish gave their sea commanders similar titles while in Portuguese the word changed to almirante. As the word was used by people speaking Latin or Latin-based languages it gained the "d" and endured a series of different endings and spellings leading to the English spelling admyrall in the 14th century and to admiral by the 16th century; the word "admiral" has today come to be exclusively associated with the highest naval rank in most of the world's navies, equivalent to the army rank of general. However, this wasn't always the case.
The rank of admiral has been subdivided into various grades, several of which are extinct while others remain in use in most present day navies. The Royal Navy used colours to indicate seniority of its admirals until 1864; the generic term for these naval equivalents of army generals is flag officer. Some navies have used army-type titles for them, such as the Cromwellian "general at sea"; the rank insignia for an admiral involves four stars or similar devices and/or 3 stripes over a broad stripe, but as one can see below, there are many cases where the insignia do not involve four stars or similar devices. Admiral is a German Navy OF-9 four-star flag officer rank, equivalent to the German Army and German Air Force rank of General. Post-WWII rank is Bakurocho taru kaishō or Admiral serve as Chief of Staff, Joint Staff（幕僚長たる海将） with limited function as an advisory staff to Minister of Defense, compared to Gensui during 1872–1873 and 1898–1945. Admiral of Castile was a post with a important history in Spain.
Comparative military ranks Laksamana, native title for naval leaders in Indonesia and Malaysia Ranks and insignia of officers of NATO Navies Admiralty Nebraska admiral "Admiral". Encyclopædia Britannica. 1911. "Admiral". New International Encyclopedia. 1905
Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh
Robert Stewart, 2nd Marquess of Londonderry known as Lord Castlereagh, derived from the courtesy title Viscount Castlereagh by which he was styled from 1796 to 1821, was an Irish/British statesman. As British Foreign Secretary, from 1812 he was central to the management of the coalition that defeated Napoleon and was the principal British diplomat at the Congress of Vienna. Castlereagh was leader of the British House of Commons in the Liverpool government from 1812 until his suicide. Early in his career, as Chief Secretary for Ireland, he was involved in putting down the Irish Rebellion of 1798 and was instrumental in securing the passage of the Irish Act of Union of 1800. Castlereagh's challenge at the foreign office was to organise and finance an alliance to destroy Napoleon, he brought Napoleon's enemies together at the Treaty of Chaumont in 1814. Thereafter he worked with Europe's leaders at the Congress of Vienna to provide a peace consistent with the conservative mood of the day. At Vienna he was successful in his primary goal of creating a peace settlement that would endure for years.
He saw that a harsh treaty based on vengeance and retaliation against France would fail, anyway the conservative Bourbons were back in power. He employed his diplomatic skills to block harsh terms, he held the Chaumont allies together, most notably in their determination to end Napoleon's 100 Days in 1815. He had a vision of long-term peace in Europe. At the same time he was watchful of Britain's imperial interests, he purchased Ceylon from the Netherlands. France's colonies were returned, but France had to give up all its gains in Europe after 1791, he worked to abolish the international slave trade. He was unsuccessful in avoiding the War of 1812 with the United States. After 1815 Castlereagh was the leader in imposing repressive measures at home, he was hated for his harsh attacks on reform. However, in 1919 diplomatic historians recommended his wise policies of 1814–1815 to the British delegation to the peace conferences that ended the First World War. Historian Charles Webster underscores the paradox: There never was a statesman whose ideas were so right and whose attitude to public opinion was so wrong.
Such disparity between the grasp of ends and the understanding of means amounts to a failure in statesmanship. Robert Stewart acquired the courtesy title Viscount Castlereagh in 1796 when his father was created Earl of Londonderry in the Irish peerage. Upon his father's death in 1821, he succeeded as 2nd Marquess of Londonderry, a title to which his father had been raised in 1816, his younger half-brother, the soldier and diplomat Charles Stewart succeeded him as 3rd Marquess of Londonderry in 1822. He is called Lord Castlereagh rather than Lord Londonderry because he held the former title so long and the latter title so briefly. Robert Stewart was born in Henry Street, Ireland, in 1769 the son of Robert Stewart of Newtownards and Comber in County Down, with properties in Counties Donegal and Londonderry; the family seat was County Down. His father, the elder Robert Stewart, was an Irish politician and prominent Ulster landowner He was created Baron Londonderry in 1789, Viscount Castlereagh in 1795, Earl of Londonderry in 1796 by King George III.
In 1771 he was elected in the Whig interest to the Irish House of Commons, where he was a supporter of Lord Charlemont and his allies who called for greater independence from Britain. From the Act of Union of 1800, however, he sat in the British House of Lords as an Irish representative peer. In 1816 he was created Marquess of Londonderry by the Prince Regent. Stewart's mother, who died in childbirth when he was a year old, was Lady Sarah Frances Seymour-Conway, daughter of Francis Seymour-Conway, 1st Marquess of Hertford and Isabella Fitzroy, daughter of Charles FitzRoy, 2nd Duke of Grafton, his father remarried five years to Lady Frances Pratt, daughter of Charles Pratt, 1st Earl Camden, a leading English jurist and prominent political supporter of both the William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, his son, William Pitt the Younger. The elder Stewart's marriages linked his family with the upper ranks of English nobility and political elites; the Camden connection was to be important for the political careers of both the elder Stewart and his elder son, subject of this article.
By Frances Pratt, Stewart's father had ten children who survived to adulthood, including Stewart's half-brother, Charles William Stewart, Baron Stewart of Stewart's Court and Ballylawn in County Donegal and 3rd Marquess of Londonderry. In 1794, Stewart married Amelia Hobart a daughter of John Hobart, 2nd Earl of Buckinghamshire, a former British Ambassador to Russia and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, her mother, Caroline Conolly, was the granddaughter of William Conolly, Speaker of the Irish House of Commons in the early 18th century and one of the wealthiest landowners in Ireland. Caroline's brother, Thomas Conolly, was married to Louisa Lennox, sister of Emily FitzGerald, Duchess of Leinster, whose son and Emily's cousin-by-marriage, the aristocratic rebel Lord Edward FitzGerald, was a leader of the United Irishmen and one of their martyrs in the early stages of the Irish Rebellion of 1798. Emily Stewart was well known as a hostess for her husband in both Ireland and London and durin
Richard Meade, 4th Earl of Clanwilliam
Admiral of the Fleet Richard James Meade, 4th Earl of Clanwilliam, styled Lord Gillford until 1879, was a Royal Navy officer. As a junior officer, he served at the Battle of Escape Creek and at the Battle of Fatshan Creek during the campaign against Chinese pirates, he took part in the Battle of Canton, where he was wounded, during the Second Opium War. As a senior officer Meade went on to be commander of the Steamship reserve at Portsmouth, commander of the Flying Squadron and Commander-in-Chief, North America and West Indies Station, his last appointment was as Portsmouth. Born the eldest son of Richard Meade, 3rd Earl of Clanwilliam and Elizabeth Meade, Meade was educated at Eton College and joined the Royal Navy in November 1845. Promoted to lieutenant on 15 September 1852, Meade was appointed to the frigate HMS Impérieuse in which he served in the Baltic Sea during the Crimean War, he transferred to the frigate HMS Raleigh in September 1856 bound for China and, although the ship was wrecked near Hong Kong, all the crew survived.
He served under Commodore Charles Elliot at the Battle of Escape Creek in May 1857 and under Commodore Henry Keppel at the Battle of Fatshan Creek in June 1857 during the campaign against Chinese pirates. Meade transferred to the second-rate HMS Calcutta, flagship of the Commander-in-Chief, East Indies Station, in August 1857 and, having landed with the naval brigade, took part in the Battle of Canton in December 1857 during the Second Opium War: he was wounded in the left arm by a bullet fired from a gingal, he was mentioned in dispatches, promoted to commander on 26 February 1858 and transferred to the sloop HMS Hornet that month. Promoted to captain on 22 July 1859, Meade became commanding officer of the corvette HMS Tribune on the Pacific Station in 1862 and commanding officer of the battleship HMS Hercules in the Channel Fleet in 1868, he was appointed an aide-de-camp to the Queen and became commanding officer of the steamship reserve at Portsmouth in 1872. Meade became Junior Naval Lord in the Second Disraeli ministry in May 1874 and, having been promoted to rear admiral on 31 December 1876, was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath on 2 June 1877.
He succeeded to his father's titles in October 1879 and was elevated to Second Naval Lord in the same ministry in December 1879 where he sat until the Government fell in May 1880. He became commander of the Flying Squadron, with his flag in the frigate HMS Inconstant in August 1880, was promoted to vice-admiral on 26 July 1881. Meade was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George on 3 March 1882 and became Commander-in-Chief, North America and West Indies Station, with his flag in the central battery ship HMS Bellerophon, in August 1885. Promoted to full admiral on 22 June 1886, he was advanced to Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath on 21 June 1887. Meade was appointed a commissioner of the Royal Patriotic Fund Corporation in 1888 and became Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth in June 1891. Promoted to Admiral of the Fleet on 20 February 1895, he was advanced to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath on 25 May 1895, he retired in October 1902 and died at his home, Badgemore House, near Henley-on-Thames from pneumonia on 4 August 1907.
He was buried at the family vault at Wilton and his titles passed to his eldest surviving son, Arthur. A memorial to Meade stands in the entrance lobby of the chapel at the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich, south-east London. On 17 June 1867 Meade married Elizabeth Kennedy. A younger son was Admiral Herbert Meade. Heathcote, Tony; the British Admirals of the Fleet 1734 – 1995. Pen & Sword Ltd. ISBN 0-85052-835-6. Laughton, Leonard George Carr. "Meade, Richard James". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by The Earl of Clanwilliam The Dreadnought Project: Richard Meade, 4th Earl of Clanwilliam William Loney Career History
