General The Rt Hon. John Thomas de Burgh, 13th and 1st Earl of Clanricarde PC (Ire) (22 September 1744 – 27 July 1808), styled The Honourable until 1797, was an Irish peer and soldier who was Governor of County Galway (1798–1808) and a member of the Privy Council of Ireland (1801).

Career

Military career

The Hon. John de Burgh, as he then was, raised the 88th Regiment of Foot, later renamed the Connaught Rangers, in 1793. Having commanded this regiment, he became Colonel of the 66th (Berkshire) Regiment of Foot (1794–1808) and later Governor of Hull (1801–1808). In 1796, he was in command in Corsica under Sir Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound as Viceroy of the Anglo-Corsican Kingdom and, with Commodore Horatio Nelson, planned an attack to re-take Leghorn (Livorno) in Tuscany. He subsequently removed the remaining military detachments from Corsica to Elba and evacuated the latter island in January 1797. He was promoted to full General of the Army in 1803.

Political career

After the death of his elder brother, Henry, 1st Marquess and 12th Earl of Clanricarde, in December 1797, John inherited only the Earldom (of the first creation of 1543), not the Marquessate. In 1800, he was made Earl of Clanricarde (by a second creation) in the Peerage of Ireland, with a remainder, failing male issue of his own, to his daughters Lady Hester Catherine de Burgh (wife of the 2nd Marquess of Sligo) and Lady Emily de Burgh, and the heirs male of their bodies according to priority of birth. Lord Clanricarde, as he was from December 1797, was elected as one of the 28 original Irish representative peers in 1800, and became a Privy Councillor in 1801. He was made Governor and Custos Rotulorum (1798–1808) of County Galway.

Cricket

De Burgh was also a keen cricketer. He played for Surrey in 1773 but was possibly a guest player as his name only occurs a handful of times in match reports. His contribution to the sport was as a Hambledon Club member. He joined prior to June 1772 when the club's minutes began; and was President of the club in 1784.

Family

Lord Clanricarde married Elizabeth (1764–1854), a daughter of Sir Thomas Burke, 1st Baronet, of Marble Hill, County Galway, on 17 March 1799. He was succeeded by his son, Ulick John. The couple also had two daughters, Lady Hester, Marchioness of Sligo, and Lady Emily, Countess of Howth. General Lord Clanricarde was a member of the Anglican Church, while his wife was a Catholic.

Honours and arms

Honours

Arms

Ancestry

Citations