George Dawson-Damer, 5th Earl of Portarlington

Lionel George Henry Seymour Dawson-Damer, 5th Earl of Portarlington JP DL (19 August 1858 – 31 August 1900) was a British peer and landowner.

The Earl of Portarlington
Caricature of Lord Portarlington by Leslie Ward in Vanity Fair, 18 August 1894
Born
Lionel George Henry Seymour Dawson-Damer

(1858-08-19)19 August 1858
Died31 August 1900(1900-08-31) (aged 42)
EducationEton College
Spouse
(m. 1881; died 1900)
Children5
Parent(s)Lionel Dawson-Damer, 4th Earl of Portarlington
Hon. Harriet Lydia Montagu

Early life edit

Portarlington was born on 19 August 1858. He was the eldest son of Lionel Dawson-Damer, 4th Earl of Portarlington and Hon. Harriet Lydia Montagu. His younger sister was Hon. Mary Frances Seymour Dawson-Damer (wife of Hon. Algernon Henry Mills, son of the 1st Baron Hillingdon) and his younger brother was Hon. Montagu Francis Beauchamp Seymour Dawson-Damer (who married Margaret Stirling Macleod).[1]

His father was the only son of the Hon. George Dawson-Damer (a younger son of the 1st Earl of Portarlington) and the former Mary Georgiana Emma Seymour (a daughter of Lord Hugh Seymour, fifth son of the 1st Marquess of Hertford).[1] His grandfather served as the Comptroller of the Household and was MP for Portarlington and Dorchester. His maternal grandparents were the former Magdalen Hurley (a daughter of Lt.-Col. Thomas Hurley) and Henry Robinson-Montagu, 6th Baron Rokeby, Major-General commanding the Brigade of Guards.[2]

He was educated at Eton College.[1]

Career edit

 
Emo Court (c. 1900–1920)

He was a Lieutenant in the 2nd Battalion, Scots Guards between 1878 and 1886. He later was Captain, and Honorary Major, in the Dorset Yeomanry Cavalry and honorary colonel of the 4th Battalion of the Leinster Regiment.[3] He served as a Justice of the Peace for Dorset and Queen's County, as well as Deputy Lieutenant for Dorset.[1]

Upon the death of his father on 17 December 1892, he succeeded as the 5th Earl of Portarlington, the 6th Baron Dawson of Dawson's Court, and the 6th Viscount Carlow. He served as a Conservative Irish representative peer in 1896, serving until his death in 1900.[1] Upon inheriting the earldom, Portarlington also inherited Emo Court, a large neo-classical mansion near the village of Emo in County Laois, Ireland designed by the architect James Gandon in 1790 for John Dawson, 1st Earl of Portarlington. While construction began in the 1790s, work was not completed until the 1860s by the 3rd Earl of Portarlington.[4]

Masonic fraternity edit

Lord Portarlington was a member of the Masonic fraternity and was appointed a Grand Officer in 1897 by the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII), as Senior Grand Warden, which was the highest office in Grand Lodge next to the Deputy Grand Master.[3] In Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons, he was Past Scribe N and Past Grand Warden in the Mark Degree, held concurrently.[3]

Personal life edit

 
Photograph of his son, Lionel, at the Coronation of King George V, 1911.[5]

On 25 October 1881, Viscount Carlow, as he was then known, married Emma Andalusia Frere Kennedy (1861–1929), the only daughter of Catherine Anne May and Lord Nigel Kennedy (a younger son of Archibald Kennedy, Earl of Cassillis, heir apparent to Marquess of Ailsa until his death). Together, they were the parents of:[1]

Lord Portarlington died of "congestion of the kidneys" at the Royal Palace Hotel at Ostend, on 31 August 1900 at age 42.[10][3] He was succeeded in his titles by his eldest son, Lionel.[1] After his death, his widow married Henry Portman, 3rd Viscount Portman, in 1901.[11]

Descendants edit

Through his daughter Lady Aline, he was a grandfather of Celia Marjorie Vivian, who married Sir John Molesworth-St Aubyn, 14th Baronet, eldest son of Sir Hugh Molesworth-St Aubyn, 13th Baronet.[1]

Through his daughter Lady Christian, he was a grandfather of Rosemary Lusia Bowes-Lyon (1915–1989), a first cousin of Queen Elizabeth II who married Edward Wilfred George Joicey-Cecil, youngest son of Col. Lord John Joicey-Cecil, MP for Stamford (a son of the 3rd Marquess of Exeter), in 1945.[1]

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes. Wilmington, Delaware: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003, volume 3, page 3180.
  2. ^ L. G. Pine, The New Extinct Peerage 1884-1971: Containing Extinct, Abeyant, Dormant and Suspended Peerages With Genealogies and Arms (London: Heraldry Today, 1972), page 237.
  3. ^ a b c d "OBITUARY. | THE EARL OF PORTARLINGTON". Daily News. 3 Sep 1900. p. 6. Retrieved 1 March 2024.
  4. ^ "Emo Court - A Resource Book" (PDF). emocourt.net. Office of Public Works. 2009. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
  5. ^ "Lionel Arthur Henry Seymour Dawson-Damer, 6th Earl of Portarlington (1883-1959)". lafayette.org.uk. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
  6. ^ "THIS MORNING'S GOSSIP". Daily Mirror. 2 Feb 1907. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
  7. ^ "PEGGY CAMBIE BRIDE OF VISCOUNT CARLOW; Daughter of Late Banker Wed in London Church to the Son of Earl of Portarlington". The New York Times. 8 January 1937. Retrieved 1 March 2024.
  8. ^ "Casualty Details: Bowes-Lyon, The Hon Fergus". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 16 August 2012.
  9. ^ "Final resting place of Queen's uncle discovered nearly a century after his death". Daily Record. 19 August 2012. Retrieved 20 August 2012.
  10. ^ "DEATH OF THE EARL OF PORTARLINGTON". Liverpool Mercury. 1 Sep 1900. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
  11. ^ "Peeress's Bequest of Jewels". Liverpool Daily Post. 8 Jul 1929. Retrieved 14 February 2024.

External links edit

Peerage of Ireland
Preceded by Earl of Portarlington
1892–1900
Succeeded by