| Viscountcy Ashbrook | |
|---|---|
  Arms: Quarterly 1st and 4th, Argent two Chevronels between three Ravens each having an Ermine Spot in its beak Sable and between the chevronels three Pellets; 2nd and 3rd, Gules three Towers Argent. | |
| Creation date | 30 September 1751 |
| Created by | King George II |
| Peerage | Peerage of Ireland |
| First holder | Henry Flower, 2nd Baron Castle Durrow |
| Present holder | Michael Flower, 11th Viscount Ashbrook |
| Heir apparent | Hon. Rowland Flower |
| Remainder to | Heirs male of the first viscount's body, lawfully begotten |
| Subsidiary titles | Baron Castle Durrow |
| Seat | Arley Hall |
| Former seats | Castle Durrow Beaumont Lodge Shellingford Manor |
| Motto | Nens Conscia Recti ("A mind conscious of rectitude") |
Viscount Ashbrook is a title in thePeerage of Ireland. It was created in 1751 forHenry Flower, 2nd Baron Castle Durrow. The title ofBaron Castle Durrow, in the County of Kilkenny, had been created in the Peerage of Ireland in 1733 for his fatherWilliam Flower. He was a Colonel in the Army and also representedCounty Kilkenny andPortarlington in theIrish House of Commons. He was praised byJonathan Swift as "a gentleman of very great sense and wit". As of 2022[update], the titles are held by the eleventh Viscount, who succeeded his father in 1995.
The family seat isArley Hall, nearArley,Cheshire.[1] Until 1922, the principal seat of the family wasCastle Durrow, nearDurrow,County Kilkenny; in England they also ownedBeaumont Lodge, nearOld Windsor,Berkshire,[2] and the manor of Shellingford inShellingford,Berkshire (presentlyOxfordshire).[3][4]
Theheir apparent is the present Viscount's sonthe Hon. Rowland Francis Warburton Flower (b. 1975)
The heir-in-line is his son Benjamin Warburton Flower (b. 2006).[5]
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Godson, Julie Ann, "The Water Gypsy. How a Thames fishergirl became a viscountess" (FeedARead.com, 2014). A biography of Betty Ridge (1745–1808) who married William Flower, 2nd Viscount Ashbrook (1744–1780), and history of the Ridge and Flower families
