Hervey Redmond Morres, 2nd Viscount of Mountmorres ( – 1797) was an Anglo-Irish politician and writer.
Birth and origins
Hervey Redmond was born about 1743, the only son of Hervey Morres and his first wife, Letitia Ponsonby. His father was a commoner at the time but would be created Baron Mountmorres in 1756 and Viscount Mountmorres in 1763. His mother was the youngest daughter of Brabazon Ponsonby, 1st Earl of Bessborough. His parents had married in 1742. His family was part of the Protestant Ascendancy.
Early life Hervey Redmond's mother died in 1754. He and his two sisters, Letitia and Sarah, were his father's children from his first marriage. His father remarried in 1755. In May 1756, his father was created Baron Mountmorres. Hervey Redmond's half-brother Francis Hervey was born in September. Hervey Redmond immatriculated at Christ Church, Oxford in April 1763. In June, his father was advanced to viscount.
Viscount In April 1766 while still studying at Oxford, Hervey Redmond succeeded his father as second viscount. Mountmorres, as he now was, obtained his M.A. in July. He took his seat in the Irish House of Lords on 20 October 1767 in the first Irish parliament of George III, which had been convened in 1761. Parliament had met since the early 1730s in its new Parliament House, on College Green, Dublin.
His uncle John Ponsonby was speaker in the house of commons during this parliament. A new Lord Lieutenant, Viscount Townshend was appointed in August 1767 and arrived in Dublin in October The Octennial Act 1767 was passed in February 1768. It limited the duration of parliaments to eight years, leading to more frequent general elections. Irish regiments had been reduced to cadre staff during peace time whereas British regiments had retained their full strength. This made it difficult to run a rotation system. The British government asked Townshend to pass a bill to increase the Irish regiments to the same strength as the British ones.
That "augmentation bill" was costly and therefore unpopular. The Irish asked at least for a guarantee that at least 12,000 of these troops would be always present in Ireland. This guarantee was refused and the bill was rejected by the Irish Commons in April. Parliament was dissolved in May. The second Irish parliament of George III opened in October 1769. The augmentation bill was tabled again but with a security clause and passed in December. Mountmorres graduated as a Doctor of Civil Law in 1773. Parliament was dissolved in April 1776.
Mountmorres joined the patriots and was a supporter of Lord Charlemont. In 1774, Mountmorres stood for election as MP for Westminster in the British house of commons but was defeated. Moving to France in the years that followed, Mountmorres returned in 1784 to take his seat in the Lords.
Family Baronetcy In 1795, by the death of Nicholas Morres, a distant cousin, Mountmorres became the 10th baronet Morres of Knockagh, County Tipperary, an honour that had been created in 1631 for John Morres, one of his ancestors. This became a subsidiary title running with the viscountcy.
Death and timeline Mountmorres died on 17 or 18 August 1797 in his London home at 6 York Street, Westminster. This street, now known as Duke of York Street, runs from St James's Square to Jermyn Street. Mountmorres committed suicide by shooting himself through the head. As he had never married, he was succeeded by his half-brother Francis Hervey. However, his two full sisters inherited his lands as stipulated in his will.
TimelineAs his birth date is uncertain, so are all his ages. Italics for historical background.AgeDateEvent0About 1743Born9 Feb 1754Mother diedJuly 1755Father remarried to Mary Wall, widow of John Baldwin4 May 1756Father created Baron Mountmorres25 Oct 1760Accession of George III, succeeding George II29 June 1763Father created Viscount Mountmorres6 Apr 1766Succeeded as 2nd Viscount3 Jul 1766Obtained an MA at Christ Church, Oxford19 Aug 1767George Townshend, 1st Marquess Townshend appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland8 Jul 1773Obtained a DCL at Christ Church, Oxford1774Contested an election for Westminster but lost4 Jul 1776United States Declaration of IndependenceSep 1779Stepmother died.1785Attended the house of Lords in the uniform of the Irish Volunteers14 Jul 1789French Revolution: the storming of the Bastille1792Published The History of the Principal Transactions ...1795Inherited a family baronetcy from a distant cousin17 or 18 Aug 1797Died by suicide
See also List of acts of the Parliament of Ireland List of parliaments of Ireland
Notes and references Notes
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– (for timeline) – L to M (for Mountmorres) – 1625 to 1649