William Brownlow (1726–1794)

{{Infobox officeholder

| honorific_prefix = The Right Honourable

| name = William Brownlow

| honorific_suffix = PC (I)

| image = Portrait_of_the_Right_Honorable_William_Brownlow_1726-1794.jpg

| caption = Portrait of Brownlow, by Gilbert Stuart, {{Circa|1790}}

| constituency_MP = County Armagh

| parliament = Parliament of Ireland{{!}}Ireland

| term_start = 1753

| term_end = 1794

| predecessor = William Richardson
Robert Cope

| alongside =

| successor = William Richardson
William Brownlow

| constituency_MP1 = Strabane

| parliament1 = Parliament of Ireland{{!}}Ireland

| term_start1 = 1768

| term_end1 = 1769

| predecessor1 = George Montgomery
John Stuart Hamilton

| successor1 = Claude Hamilton
John Stuart Hamilton

| birth_date = {{birthdate|1726|04|10|df=yes}}

| death_date = {{dda|1794|10|28|1726|04|10|df=yes}}

| spouse = {{hlist|Judith Meredyth|Catherine Hall}}

| parents = {{ubl|William Brownlow|Elizabeth Hamilton}}

}}

William Brownlow PC (I) (10 April 1726 – 28 October 1794){{cite web|url=https://www.dib.ie/biography/brownlow-william-a1063|title=Brownlow, William|author=Linde Lunney|accessdate=16 August 2021|website=Dictionary of Irish Biography}} of Lurgan, County Armagh was an Anglo-Irish politician.

Early life

He was the only son of William Brownlow MP and Lady Elizabeth Hamilton, daughter of James Hamilton, 6th Earl of Abercorn and Elizabeth Reading. Sir James Balfour Paul, The Scots Peerage: founded on Wood's edition of Sir Robert Douglas's The Peerage of Scotland (Edinburgh, Scotland: David Douglas, 1904), volume I, page 62.

Career

Brownlow served as High Sheriff of Armagh for 1750 and was first elected to the Irish House of Commons as the Member of Parliament for County Armagh in 1753, styled The Right Honourable and holding the seat until his death. He was also returned for the Strabane constituency in 1768, but was replaced in 1769.E. M. Johnston-Liik, [https://books.google.com/books?id=jitdluWSybIC&q=brownlow&pg=PA92 MPs in Dublin: Companion to History of the Irish Parliament, 1692-1800] (Ulster Historical Foundation, 2006), p.74 (Retrieved 26 February 2016). He was an officer of the Irish Volunteers and one of the founding subscribers of the Bank of Ireland in 1783. He was generally seen as a reformer, although there were allegations that he misused public funds to improve his demesne.

Personal life

He married firstly Judith Letitia Meredyth, daughter of the Reverend Charles Meredyth, Dean of Ardfert, and had at least two sons and a daughter, including:

William Brownlow (1755–1815), MP for County Armagh who married Charity Forde, daughter of Mathew Forde, in 1795.
Catherine Brownlow (1755–1815), who married Mathew Forde, son of Mathew Forde, in 1782.
Charles Brownlow (1757–1822), who married Caroline Ashe, daughter of Benjamin Ashe, in 1785.Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes. Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003, volume 1, page 1033.

He married secondly Catherine Hall, daughter of Roger Hall of Mount Hall, County Down, and the former and Catherine Savage. Together, they had at least six further children, including:{{efn|Sources vary as to the number of children Brownlow had. The Dictionary of Irish Biography suggests a total of nine: two sons by Judith, and two sons and five daughters by Catherine. Conversely, Linkin{{cite book|title=The Collected Letters of Mary Blachford Tighe|editor=Harriet Kramer Linkin|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|year=2020|page=438}} indicates that he had three sons and one daughter by Judith, and at least two sons and four daughters (and possibly four additional children) by Catherine.}}

Elizabeth Brownlow (d. 1831), who married John Bligh, 4th Earl of Darnley, in 1791.
Isabella Brownlow (d. 1848), who married Richard Wingfield, 4th Viscount Powerscourt, son of Richard Wingfield, 3rd Viscount Powerscourt and Lady Amelia Stratford, in 1796.
Frances Letitia Brownlow (d. 1840), who married John Vesey, 2nd Viscount de Vesci of Abbeyleix, son of Thomas Vesey, 1st Viscount de Vesci, in 1800.
Rev. Francis Brownlow (1779–1847), who married Lady Catherine Brabazon, daughter of Anthony Brabazon, 8th Earl of Meath, in 1799.

William, his eldest son and heir, also became an MP for County Armagh and founded the bank of William Brownlow Esq.,& Co. Charles became a Lieutenant-Colonel in the 57th Foot and succeeded his childless brother in 1815.{{cite web|url=https://www.dib.ie/biography/brownlow-william-a1062|title=Brownlow, William|author=James Quinn|accessdate=16 August 2021|website=Dictionary of Irish Biography}}{{cite book|title=The Story of the Duke of Cambridge's Own (Middlesex Regiment)|year=1916|author=Charles Lethbridge Kingsford|publisher=Country Life|page=24}} Charles's son, also named Charles, became 1st Baron Lurgan.