Lionel Dawson-Damer, 4th Earl of Portarlington

{{Short description|British peer and Conservative politician}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2016}}

{{Use British English|date=August 2016}}

{{infobox officeholder

| honorific_prefix = The Right Honourable

| name = The Earl of Portarlington

| honorific_suffix = DL

| image = Lionel Seymour William Dawson-Damer, 4th Earl of Portarlington.jpg

| caption = Photograph of Dawson-Damer, 1860s

| office = Member of Parliament for Portarlington

| term_start = 1868

| term_end = 1880

| predecessor = James Anthony Lawson

| successor = Hon. Bernard FitzPatrick

| term_start1 = 1857

| term_end1 = 1865

| predecessor1 = Francis Plunkett Dunne

| successor1 = James Anthony Lawson

| birth_name = Lionel Seymour William Dawson-Damer

| birth_date = {{birthdate|1832|04|07|df=yes}}

| birth_place =

| death_date = {{dda|1892|12|17|1832|04|07|df=yes}}

| death_place =

| education =

| party = Conservative

| parents = Hon. George Dawson-Damer
Mary Georgiana Emma Seymour

| spouse = {{marriage|Hon. Harriett Lydia Montagu
|19 April 1855||reason=}}

| children = 3

| relations =

}}

Lionel Seymour William Dawson-Damer, 4th Earl of Portarlington DL (7 April 1832 – 17 December 1892), known as Lionel Dawson-Damer until 1889, was a British peer and Conservative politician.

Early life

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Portarlington was the only son of the Hon. George Dawson-Damer and the former Mary Georgiana Emma Seymour.{{cite book |title=Debrett's Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage, and Companionage: Comprising Information Concerning All Persons Bearing Hereditary Or Courtesy Titles, Knights, and Companions of All the Various Orders, and the Collateral Branches of All Peers and Baronets |date=1902 |publisher=Dean & Son, Limited |page=655 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Debrett_s_Peerage_Baronetage_Knightage_a/cLc7AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA655 |access-date=20 March 2024 |language=en}} Among his siblings were Lady Georgiana (wife of the 3rd Earl Fortescue) and Lady Constance (wife of Sir John Leslie, 1st Baronet).{{cite book |last1=Wilkins |first1=William Henry |title=Mrs. Fitzherbert and George IV |date=1905 |publisher=Longmans, Green and Company |page=176 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Mrs_Fitzherbert_and_George_IV/cvwpAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA176 |access-date=20 March 2024 |language=en}}

His father was a younger son of John Dawson, 1st Earl of Portarlington and Lady Caroline Stuart (a daughter of Prime Minister John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute).{{cite book |title=Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire |date=1830 |publisher=Burke's Peerage Limited. |page=611 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Genealogical_and_Heraldic_Dictionary_of/-1pIAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA611 |access-date=20 March 2024 |language=en}} His maternal grandparents were Lord Hugh Seymour (a younger son of the 1st Marquess of Hertford) and the former Lady Anne Horatia Waldegrave (a daughter of the 2nd Earl Waldegrave).

According to a private letter between Louisa and Eddy Eliot, dated 27 September 1841, their brother's friend "Seymour Damer is gone to school in Liverpool".

Career

Portarlington was returned to Parliament for the Portarlington constituency in 1857, a seat he held until 1865 and again between 1868 and 1880. In 1889 he succeeded his cousin Henry as fourth Earl of Portarlington. However, as this was an Irish peerage he was not allowed to take a seat in the House of Lords.

He was promoted from cornet to lieutenant in the Dorsetshire Yeomanry on 20 April 1858.{{London Gazette |issue=22130 |page=2004 |date=23 April 1858}}

Personal life

Lord Portarlington married the Hon. Harriett Lydia Montagu, eldest daughter and co-heiress of Henry Montagu, 6th Baron Rokeby, on 19 April 1855. Together, they were the parents of several children, including:

He died on 17 December 1892, aged 60, and was succeeded in the earldom by his eldest son, Lionel George. Lady Portarlington died in November 1894.Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes. Wilmington, Delaware: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003, volume 3, page 3180.

References

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