The Earl Belmore | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Governor of New South Wales | |
| In office 8 January 1868 – 21 February 1872 | |
| Monarch | Victoria |
| Preceded by | Sir John Young, Bt |
| Succeeded by | Hercules Robinson |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 9 April 1835 (1835-04-09) London |
| Died | 6 April 1913(1913-04-06) (aged 77) |
| Nationality | British |
| Spouse | |
| Parents |
|
| Relatives | John Neilson Gladstone (father-in-law) John Gladstone (brother-in-law) |
| Education | Eton College |
| Alma mater | Trinity College, Cambridge |
Somerset Richard Lowry-Corry, 4th Earl Belmore,GCMG, PC (Ire) (9 April 1835 – 6 April 1913), styled asViscount Corry from 1841 to 1845, was an Irishnobleman andConservative politician who served asGovernor of New South Wales from 1868 to 1872.
Born onBruton Street in London, he was the eldest son ofArmar Lowry-Corry, 3rd Earl Belmore and his wife Emily Louise Shepherd, youngest daughter of William Shepherd.[1] Belmore succeeded his father in the earldom on 24 December 1845,[2] at the age of only 10. He was educated atEton and atTrinity College, Cambridge, from where he graduated with aMaster of Arts in 1856.[3]
Belmore was elected as anIrish representative peer and sat in theHouse of Lords from January 1857 until his death.[1] He served under theEarl of Derby asUnder-Secretary of State for the Home Department from July 1866 to August 1867, and was then appointedGovernor of New South Wales, on 22 August. He was sworn of thePrivy Council of Ireland on 17 September.
Belmore became Governor and Commander-in-Chief ofNew South Wales on 8 January 1868 at a time when the position was not yet just a figurehead, but was still an imperial officer responsible to the British government. On 12 March 1868 he was attending a picnic with the visitingPrince Alfred at theSydney beachside suburb ofClontarf whenHenry James O'Farrell shot Alfred in the back and claimed to have intended to shoot Belmore as well. Although Belmore did not see the incident, he arranged for Alfred's transfer to hospital for treatment and passed on to the colonial government the Prince's request for clemency for O'Farrell, which was ignored. He worked effectively to calm the sectarian passions unleashed by the incident.
Belmore succeeded in having the Audit Act 1870 passed, which established the principle that government expenditure had to be authorised by appropriation through both houses of parliament, which had not been the practice until that time. He found the Sydney summers oppressive and therefore rented Throsby Park, nearMoss Vale, as his country house. He resigned to protect his wife's health and to resume his parliamentary career, and left Sydney on 21 February 1872.[4]
Belmore was aJustice of the Peace inCounty Fermanagh,County Tyrone andKent. He served as one of theLords Justices of Ireland on several occasions in the 1890s and was madeLord Lieutenant of County Tyrone in 1892, having been previously aDeputy Lieutenant. He was also a captain in the FermanaghMilitia and a major in the London Irish Royal Volunteers.
Lord Belmore married Anne Elizabeth Honoria Gladstone, daughter of CaptainJohn Neilson Gladstone,MP, the son ofSir John Gladstone, 1st Baronet, and Elizabeth Honoria Bateson, the daughter of Sir Robert Bateson, 1st Bt. and sister of SirThomas Bateson, 1st Baron Deramore, on 22 August 1861 inSt George's, Hanover Square, London. All told, the couple had 13 children: 3 sons and 10 daughters. While all 13 children survived into adulthood, unusually, only two of the 13 (Florence and Kathleen) ever married or had children.
The children were, in order of birth:
Lord Belmore died on 6 April 1913 aged 77 atCastle Coole,Enniskillen and was buried on 9 April 1913 in Derryvullen, County Fermanagh.[7]
He owned 19,000 acres in Tyrone and Fermanagh.[8]
Belmore was invested as a Knight Commander of theOrder of St Michael and St George (KCMG) on 22 March 1872, later being promoted to Knight Grand Cross (GCMG) in the New Year's Honours list 1 January 1890.[9]Belmore Park near Sydney'sCentral railway station, Belmore Park,Goulburn,Belmore Falls in the NSWMorton National Park, and the Sydney suburb ofBelmore are named after him. A bridge inMaitland, New South Wales is named after him, and there is a road over it, and a hotel nearby, with the same name. There are streets and places named after Earl Belmore around Sydney and NSW ; the name spreads through NSW even after 1872,these would probably be due to copying of the name from one place/construction called Belmore to another.[citation needed]
{{cite book}}:|work= ignored (help)| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department 1866–1867 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Representative peer for Ireland 1857–1913 | Succeeded by |
| Government offices | ||
| Preceded by | Governor of New South Wales 1868–1872 | Succeeded by |
| Honorary titles | ||
| Preceded by | Lord Lieutenant of Tyrone 1892–1913 | Succeeded by |
| Peerage of Ireland | ||
| Preceded by | Earl Belmore 1845–1913 | Succeeded by |
| BeforeFederation |  | |
|---|---|---|
| AfterFederation | ||
