Colonel Alexander Saunderson (1783–1857) [1] was a Whig MP for Cavan 1826–1831. He was a landed gentleman with 12,000 acres. Although from the Protestant planter tradition, he supported Catholic Emancipation.[2]
Alexander Saunderson was a keen racing yachtsman on Lough Erne and a founder member c. 1818 of the group that became Lough Erne Yacht Club. He designed and built fast sailing boats at Castle Saunderson – as did his son and successor Edward. One of his most successful boats he called Bluestocking. His mother and aunt were Bluestockings. He may also have been a member of the Royal Dublin Society.[3]
Family edit
Alexander was born to Francis Saunderson and Anne Bassett White.
The Irish Saundersons were a 17th-century branch of an old family, originally of Durham; a Lincolnshire branch, the Saundersons of Saxby, held the titles of Viscount Castleton (Irish: c. 1628) and Baron Saunderson (British: c. 1714) up to 1723.
On 18 March 1828, Saunderson married Sarah Juliana, sister of fellow Cavan MP, Henry Maxwell and daughter of the Henry Maxwell, 6th Baron Farnham.[4] They had three sons and two daughters. Their son Edward James Saunderson was also MP for Cavan 1865–1874 and later became MP for North Armagh 1885–1906.
In 1947, Saunderson's great-grandson, also named Alexander, married Louise Astor Van Alen, granddaughter of James John Van Alen and grandniece of RMS Titanic victim John Jacob Astor IV, and the ex-wife of two different Georgian Mdivani princes.[5]
References edit
- ^ Alvin Jackson, ‘Saunderson, Edward James (1837–1906)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004
- ^ The Observer, THE CATHOLIC QUESTION, 15 March 1829
- ^ Michael Clarke, Historian Lough Erne Yacht Club. www.leyc.net.
- ^ "Married". Belfast News-Letter. 25 March 1828. p. 2 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Moore, Steven. Archives: Ulsterman to marry Georgian Princess The Belfast News Letter, 25 August 1999
External links edit
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