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Ulick de Burgh, 1st Marquess of Clanricarde

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The Most Honourable
The Marquess of Clanricarde
KP PC
The Marquess of Clanricarde
Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal
In office
3 February 1858 (1858-02-03) – 21 February 1858 (1858-02-21)
MonarchVictoria
Prime MinisterThe Viscount Palmerston
Preceded byThe Earl of Harrowby
Succeeded byThe Earl of Hardwicke
Postmaster General
In office
7 July 1846 (1846-07-07) – 21 February 1852 (1852-02-21)
Prime MinisterLord John Russell
Preceded byThe Earl of St Germans
Succeeded byThe Earl of Hardwicke
British Ambassador to Russia
In office
1838–1840
Prime MinisterThe Viscount Melbourne
Preceded byThe Earl of Durham
Succeeded byThe Lord Stuart de Rothesay
Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard
In office
1 December 1830 (1830-12-01) – 16 July 1834 (1834-07-16)
MonarchWilliam IV
Prime MinisterThe Earl Grey
Preceded byThe Earl of Macclesfield
Succeeded byThe Earl of Gosford
Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
In office
2 January 1826 (1826-01-02) – 17 August 1826 (1826-08-17)
MonarchGeorge IV
Prime MinisterThe Earl of Liverpool
Preceded by
Succeeded byThe Lord Howard de Walden
Honorary Appointments
Lord Lieutenant of Galway
In office
1831–1874
Preceded byOffice created
Succeeded byThe Lord Clonbrock
Vice-Admiral of Connaught
In office
1841–1847
Parliamentary Offices
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
Hereditary Peerage (Baron Somerhill)
13 December 1826 – 10 April 1874
Preceded byNew Creation
Succeeded byHubert de Burgh-Canning
Personal details
Born
Ulick John de Burgh

(1802-12-20)20 December 1802
Belmont, Hampshire
Died10 April 1874(1874-04-10) (aged 71)
Stratton Street, Piccadilly, London
NationalityBritish
Political party
Spouse
Hon. Harriet Canning
​
​
(m. 1825)​
Children7
Parents
EducationEton College
Alma materChrist Church, Oxford
Military career
AllegianceUnited Kingdom United Kingdom
Service / branch British Army
Years of service1831–1874
RankColonel
CommandsGalway Militia

Ulick John de Burgh, 1st Marquess of Clanricarde KP PC (English: /ˈjuːlɪk dəˈbɜːr ... klænˈrɪkɑːrd/ YOO-lik də-BUR ... klan-RIK-ard; 20 December 1802 – 10 April 1874), styled Lord Dunkellin (/dʌnˈkɛlɪn/ dun-KEL-in) until 1808 and the Earl of Clanricarde from 1808 until 1825, was a British Whig politician who served as British Ambassador to Russia (1838–40), Postmaster General (1846–52) and Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal (1858).

Background and education

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Born at Belmont, Hampshire, Clanricarde was the son of General John de Burgh, 13th Earl of Clanricarde, and Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Thomas Burke, 1st Baronet. Henry de Burgh, 1st Marquess of Clanricarde, was his uncle. He succeeded in the earldom in July 1808 at the age of five, on the death of his father. He was educated at Eton College. Burgh was a member of the Anglican Church, like his father, although his mother was a Catholic.[1]

Burgh was an active Freemason as a young man. While studying as an undergraduate at Christ Church, Oxford he was initiated into the Apollo University Lodge No. 711 (later No. 357) of the United Grand Lodge of England on 15 November 1820.[2]

Political and diplomatic career

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Portrait of Ulick de Burgh, 1st Marquess of Clanricarde (1847)

In 1825, at the age of 24, Clanricarde was created Marquess of Clanricarde in the Peerage of Ireland,[3] a revival of the title which had become extinct on his uncle's death in 1797. The following year he was made Baron Somerhill, of Somerhill in the County of Kent, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom,[4] which entitled him to a seat in the House of Lords. In January 1826 the Earl of Liverpool appointed him as Joint Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (alongside Lord Howard de Walden), a post he held until August of the same year. He was sworn of the Privy Council in December 1830.[5]

Between 1838 and 1840, Lord Clanricarde served as British Ambassador to Russia. In 1846, he was appointed Postmaster General, with a seat in the cabinet, by Lord John Russell, an office he retained until the government fell in 1852. He held his last ministerial post when he was briefly Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal under Lord Palmerston for a few weeks in February 1858. Apart from his political career, he was also Lord-Lieutenant of County Galway between 1831 and 1874, Colonel of the Galway Militia from 1831 and Vice-Admiral of Connaught from 1841 until 1847.[6] In 1831, he was made a Knight of the Order of St Patrick.[7]

Great Hunger

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Burgh was a substantial landowner in County Galway, with his Norman-descended family holding their seat at Portumna.[1] During the years of the Great Hunger in Ireland, his record was mixed. A supporter of the British Whigs and a sitting member of the Russell Ministry, his principal aim was upholding the interests of the Anglo-Irish landowning class.[1]

Although he did not initiate mass clearances of destitute tenants from the estates, as Palmerston and Lansdowne were notoriously known for, there were more small-scale displacements over a longer period of time.[1] de Burgh was the Crown's Lord Lieutenant of Galway during the Famine and did not condemn the large-scale evictions by his fellow Galway landowners, John Gerrard (and his wife Marcella Netterville) at Ballinlass, Christopher St George at Connemara and Patrick Blake at Tully.[1]

On the other hand, de Burgh highlighted in his correspondence with Russell and the Whig administration in Ireland the plight of starving tenants.[1] He advocated a paternalistic state intervention, rather than a purely laissez-faire approach. He suggested state-sponsored public works and land drainage and sought to have corn depots set up in Loughrea and Portumna to distribute food.[1] He donated some monies to local relief committees. de Burgh also financially assisted the emigration of poor tenants; this issue is controversial due to the fact that it still meant the displacement of the native population from the land, but supporters argue that it would have at least saved more lives (Charles Trevelyan opposed such programmes). de Burgh did not initiate any private work schemes on the estates under his control for tenants, like some neighbouring landlords, nor did he improve agriculture on the estates.[1][8]

Family

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Lord Clanricarde married Harriet Canning (13 April 1804 – 8 January 1876), daughter of Prime Minister George Canning, on 4 April 1825 at Gloucester Lodge in Brompton. The couple had seven children:

Lord Clanricarde died at Stratton Street, Piccadilly, London, in April 1874, aged 71, and was succeeded in the marquessate by his second but only surviving son, Hubert. The Marchioness of Clanricarde died in January 1876, aged 71.

Honours and Arms

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Honours

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Country Date Appointment Ribbon Post-nominals
 United Kingdom 1830–1874 Privy Council (United Kingdom) PC
 United Kingdom 1831–1874 Knight of the Most Illustrious Order of St Patrick KP

Arms

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Coat of arms of Ulick de Burgh, 1st Marquess of Clanricarde
Crest
A Cat-a-Mountain sejant guardant proper, collared and chained Or.
Escutcheon
Or, a cross gules in the first quarter a lion rampant sable.
Supporters
Two Cats-a-Mountain sejant guardant proper, collared and chained Or.[9][10]
Motto
UNG ROY, UNG FOY, UNG LOY (One king, one faith, one law)
Orders
Order of St Patrick

Ancestry

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See also

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References

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Citations

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h "Landlord during the Workhouse Years". IrishWorkhouseCentre.ie. 19 November 2017.
  2. ^ "Alphabetical List of Fellows of the Royal Society who were Freemasons" (PDF). The Library and Museum of Freemasonry. 19 November 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 May 2018. Retrieved 26 May 2018.
  3. ^ "No. 18182". The London Gazette. 8 October 1825. p. 1813.
  4. ^ "No. 18259". The London Gazette. 17 June 1826. p. 1478.
  5. ^ "No. 18753". The London Gazette. 3 December 1830. p. 2537.
  6. ^ Cokayne, G. E. (1889). The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom Extant, Extinct, or Dormant. Vol. 2 (1st ed.). London: George Bell & Sons. pp. 261.
  7. ^ "No. 18863". The London Gazette. 21 October 1831. p. 2167.
  8. ^ McDowell, R. B. (2004). "Burgh, Ulick John de, first marquess of Clanricarde (1802–1874), politician". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/37245. ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8. Retrieved 21 December 2021. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  9. ^ Burke, John; Burke, Bernard (1844). Encyclopædia of Heraldry: Or General Armory of England, Scotland, and Ireland, Comprising a Registry of All Armorial Bearings from the Earliest to the Present Time, Including the Late Grants by the College of Arms. H. G. Bohn.
  10. ^ Burke, Bernard (1884). The General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales; comprising a registry of armorial bearings from the earliest to the present time. University of California Libraries. London: Harrison & Sons.

Bibliography

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Political offices
Preceded by Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
2 January 1826 – 17 August 1826
With: The Lord Howard de Walden 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard
1830–1834 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Postmaster-General
1846–1852 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal
1858
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by British Ambassador to Russia
1838–1840 		Succeeded by
Honorary titles
New office Lord Lieutenant of Galway
1831–1874 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
 Vice-Admiral of Connaught
1841–1847 		Succeeded by
Peerage of Ireland
New creation Marquess of Clanricarde
1825–1874 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Earl of Clanricarde
1808–1874
Peerage of the United Kingdom
New creation Baron Somerhill
1826–1874 		Succeeded by
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