William Fortescue, 1st Earl of Clermont

He was the eldest son of Thomas Fortescue (1683–1769), a Member of Parliament for Dundalk. His younger brother was James Fortescue, MP and Privy Counsellor.

He served as High Sheriff of Louth in 1746. He represented County Louth in the Irish House of Commons from 1745 to 1760 and subsequently the borough of Monaghan from 1761 to 1770. In 1768 he sat briefly as Member of Parliament for Dundalk before opting to sit for Monaghan Borough, for which he had also been elected. He was appointed Governor and Custos Rotulorum of County Monaghan for life in 1775, standing down just before his death in 1806. He was created Earl of Clermont in 1777 and a Knight Founder of the Order of St Patrick on 30 March 1795.{{cite web|url=http://www.leighrayment.com/orders/patrick.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080607022551/http://www.leighrayment.com/orders/patrick.htm|archive-date=7 June 2008|title=Knights of the Order of St Patrick|last=Rayment|first=Leigh|url-status=usurped|accessdate=2008-12-13}} He was a francophile and it is believed on that account he selected Clermont as the name of his earldom.44 Berkeley Square, A Commentary by Lord Kinross Illustrated by Adrian Daintrey, London, 1962 [http://fortescue.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/44-Berkeley-Square.pdf]

He had horseracing interests and his racing silks were all crimson.{{cite journal|last=Weatherby|first=Edward and James|journal=Racing Calendar|title=COLOURS WORN BY THE RIDERS OF THE FOLLOWING NOBLEMEN, GENTLEMEN, &c.|year=1801|

volume=28|page=52|url=https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=jeMNAAAAQAAJ&printsec=frontcover&output=reader&hl=en_GB&pg=GBS.PP1}} He was known in racing circles as the Father of the Turf and won the Derby with his horse Aimwell.Kinross, Lord He had a country estate in Norfolk.

His London townhouse was 44 Berkeley Square in Mayfair, which he purchased from George Finch-Hatton in 1774, after the death of its builder, Lady Isabella Finch (1700–1771), the 7th daughter of Daniel Finch, 7th Earl of Winchilsea.{{Cite book |last=Learmouth |first=Juliet |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9XI6yQEACAAJ |title=The London Town House of Lady Isabella Finch |date=2016 |publisher=University of London (Courtauld Institute of Art) |language=en}} In the early 1960s it became the home of the Clermont Club, an exclusive gambling club, and its basement and garden were occupied until 2018 by the then exclusive nightclub Annabel's.File:Clermont Club, 44 Berkeley Square.JPG of Lord Clermont. In the 1960s it became the first home of the Clermont Club, an exclusive gambling club. Until 2018, the basement was the location of the exclusive nightclub Annabel's, operated originally as part of the Clermont Club]]

File:44berkeleysquare-Lady_Isabella_Finch_by_William_kent.jpg.webp

File:Portrait of Mrs William Fortescue P11630.jpg

He married Frances Cairnes Murray, a daughter and co-heiress of Colonel John Murray, MP for County Monaghan, by whom he had an only daughter:

• Louisa Fortescue.

He died aged 85 at BrightonClermont, Lord (Thomas Fortescue), History of the Family of Fortescue in all its Branches, (first published 1869) 2nd edition London, 1880, p. 213 [https://archive.org/stream/historyoffamilyo00cler/historyoffamilyo00cler_djvu.txt] on 29 September 1806, without male progeny, and was buried at Little Cressingham Church in Norfolk, in which parish was situated Clermont Lodge (now Clermont Hall), his shooting lodge.

As he died without male progeny his earldom of Clermont and 1770 barony of Clermont became extinct, whilst his viscountcy and 1776 barony of Clermont were inherited by his nephew William Charles Fortescue, who had been MP for County Louth and then County Louth since 1796.

File:St Andrew's Church - wall monument - geograph.org.uk - 696980.jpg

A mural monument survives in St Andrew's Church, Little Cressingham, inscribed as follows:Lord Clermont, 1880, p. 214.

:Near this place lyeth the body of William Henry Fortescue Viscount Clermont, and Earl of Clermont in Ireland, who departed this life on the 29th day of September, 1806, in the 85th year of his age. This monument is erected in obedience to his will by his executor William Charles Fortescue, now Viscount Clermont, who was in Ireland at the time of his decease.

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{{s-start}}

{{s-par|ie}}

{{s-bef| before = Henry Bellingham}}

{{s-ttl| title = Member of Parliament for County Louth

| with = Henry Bellingham 1745–1755

| with2 = Thomas Tipping 1755–1761

| years = 1745–1760 }}

{{s-aft| after = Anthony Foster
James Fortescue }}

{{s-bef| before = William Blair
Oliver Anketell }}

{{s-ttl| title = Member of Parliament for Monaghan Borough

| with = Richard Dawson 1761–1767

| with2 = Richard Power 1767–1768

| with3 = Robert Cuninghame 1768–1771

| years = 1761–1770 }}

{{s-aft| after = Henry Westenra
Robert Cuninghame }}

{{s-reg|ie}}

{{s-new|rows=4|creation}}

{{s-ttl|title=Earl of Clermont| years=1777–1806}}

{{s-non|reason=Extinct}}

|-

{{s-ttl|title=Viscount Clermont| years=1776–1806}}

{{s-aft|rows=2|after=William Fortescue}}|-

|-

{{s-ttl|title=Baron Clermont| years=1776–1806 |creation=2nd creation}}

|-

{{s-ttl|title=Baron Clermont| years=1770–1806 |creation=1st creation}}

{{s-non|reason=Extinct}}

{{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clermont, William Fortescue, 1st Earl Of}}

Category:1722 births

Category:1806 deaths

Category:Earls in the Peerage of Ireland

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Fortescue, William

Fortescue, William

Fortescue, William

Category:Knights of St Patrick

Category:Owners of Epsom Derby winners

Category:High sheriffs of County Louth

Category:Members of the Privy Council of Ireland

Fortescue, William

Fortescue, William

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Category:Peers of Ireland created by George III