View source for Sir Rowland Blennerhassett, 4th Baronet

{{other people|Rowland Blennerhassett}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2021}}
'''Sir Rowland Blennerhassett, 4th Baronet''' {{postnominals|country=GBR|PCi|JP}} (5 September 1839 – 22 March 1909) was a [[Roman Catholic]] [[Anglo-Irish]] baronet and [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal Party]] politician from [[County Kerry]].
==Life==
Blennerhassett was the son of Sir Arthur Blennerhassett, 3rd Baronet, whose ancestors had settled in Kerry under [[Elizabeth I of England|Queen Elizabeth]], and his wife Sarah Mahony.<ref name = "Dod">{{cite book | last = Dod | first = Robert P. | title = The Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage of Great Britain and Ireland | year = 1860 | publisher = Whitaker and Co. | location = London | pages = 121–122 }}</ref> He was educated at [[Downside School]], [[Stonyhurst College]] and [[Christ Church, Oxford]]. He then spent time at the [[Université catholique de Louvain]], before travelling in [[Germany]]. In 1849, he succeeded his father as baronet.<ref name = "Dod"/>
When he returned to the [[United Kingdom]], he started ''The Chronicle'', a political and literary organ of liberal Catholicism. The first issue appeared on 23 March 1867, but its outspoken support for the [[Irish Home Rule movement]] made it unpopular.
The last issue was published on 13 February 1868. {{sfn|Lathbury|1912}}
Blennerhasset sat as a Liberal [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[Galway Borough (UK Parliament constituency)|Galway Borough]] from 1865 to 1874 and for [[Kerry (UK Parliament constituency)|County Kerry]] from 1880 to 1885. He was [[High Sheriff of Kerry]] in 1866. His early support for Home Rule turned into opposition during the 1870s and he spoke openly against the politics of [[Charles Stewart Parnell]]. After leaving Parliament, Blennerhassett continued to be active in Irish public affairs. He contributed regularly to ''[[The Times]]'' and ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'' and was a [[Justice of the Peace]]. In 1905, he was sworn of the [[Privy Council of Ireland]].{{sfn|Lathbury|1912}}
In October 1901 he was awarded an [[honorary doctorate]] ([[LL.D.]]) by the [[Royal University of Ireland]].<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=University intelligence |date=26 October 1901 |page=7 |issue=36596| }}</ref>
==Family==
He met Countess [[Charlotte Lady Blennerhassett|Charlotte Julia von Leyden]] and married her the same year on 9 June 1870. His wife was a noted biographer.<ref name=lathbury>D. C. Lathbury, 'Blennerhassett, Sir Rowland, fourth baronet (1839–1909)’, rev. Josef L. Altholz, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/31926, accessed 6 Jan 2016]</ref>
He was succeeded in his title by his eldest son, [[Arthur Charles Francis Bernard Blennerhassett]]. {{sfn|Lathbury|1912}} His only daughter, [[Marie Galway|Marie Carola Franciska Roselyne Blennerhassett]], married Baron [[Raphael d'Erlanger]]<ref name=lathbury/> and later Sir [[Henry Galway]].
Blennerhassett went bankrupt in 1895; the family wealth lost, subsequent generations had to earn a living- his son and heir, the 5th baronet, was in the Colonial Service, the 6th baronet was an engineer, and the 7th baronet trained as a geologist, was the "front man for a foreign-owned investment firm in the City", and sold computer systems from his Chiswick home.<ref>The Nouveau Pauvres: A Guide to Downward Mobility, Nicholas Monson, Debra Scott, Quartet, 1984, p. 31</ref>
== Notes ==
{{reflist}}
== References ==
*{{cite DNB12|wstitle=Blennerhassett, Rowland|first=Daniel Conner|last=Lathbury|authorlink=Daniel Conner Lathbury}}
*{{cite web |editor-last=Lundy |editor-first=Daryl |url=http://www.thepeerage.com/e371.htm | title=Copy of the Obituary The Times |page=e371 |website=thePeerage.com | accessdate=1 June 2007 }}
== External links ==
*{{Hansard-contribs | sir-rowland-blennerhassett | Sir Rowland Blennerhassett  }}
*{{Rayment-bt|external links=y|date=March 2012}}
*{{Rayment-hc|external links=y|date=March 2012}}
*{{cite web | url= http://www.thepeerage.com/p16875.htm#i168748 | title=p. 16875 | accessdate= 2007-06-18}}<!--{{Unreliable source?|failed=y |date=February 2013}} Lundy is not a reliable source so cite Lundy's reliable source See [[WP:SAYWHEREYOUREADIT]]-->
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{{s-par|uk}}
{{s-bef| before = [[John Orrell Lever]] <br /> [[Ulick Canning de Burgh, Baron Dunkellin|Ulick Canning de Burgh]] }}
{{s-ttl| title  = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[Galway Borough (UK Parliament constituency)|Galway Borough]]
| with   = [[Michael Morris, 1st Baron Killanin|Michael Morris]] <br /> [[George Morris (MP)|George Morris]] <br /> [[William St Lawrence, 4th Earl of Howth|William St Lawrence]]
| years  = [[1865 United Kingdom general election|1865]] – [[1874 United Kingdom general election|1874]] }}
{{s-aft| after  = [[Frank Hugh O'Donnell]] <br /> [[George Morris (MP)|George Morris]] }}
{{s-bef| before = [[Henry Arthur Herbert (born 1840)|Henry Arthur Herbert]] <br /> [[Rowland Ponsonby Blennerhassett|Rowland Blennerhassett]] }}
{{s-ttl| title  = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[Kerry (UK Parliament constituency)|Kerry]]
| with   = [[Rowland Ponsonby Blennerhassett|Rowland Blennerhassett]]
| years  = [[1880 United Kingdom general election|1880]] – [[1885 United Kingdom general election|1885]] }}
{{s-non| reason = Constituency abolished }}
{{s-reg|uk-bt}}
{{succession box
| title = [[Blennerhassett baronets|Baronet]] <br />'''(of Blennerville)'''
| years = 1849 – 1909
| before = [[Sir Arthur Blennerhassett, 3rd Baronet|Arthur Blennerhassett]]
| after  = [[Sir Arthur Blennerhassett, 5th Baronet|Arthur Blennerhassett]]
}}
{{s-end}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Blennerhassett, Rowland, 4th Baronet}}
[[Category:1839 births]]
[[Category:1909 deaths]]
[[Category:Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Deputy lieutenants of Kerry]]
[[Category:High sheriffs of Kerry]]
[[Category:Irish justices of the peace]]
[[Category:Irish Liberal Party MPs]]
[[Category:Members of the Privy Council of Ireland]]
[[Category:Politicians from County Kerry]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1865–1868]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1868–1874]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1880–1885]]
[[Category:Blennerhassett family|Rowland]]
[[Category:Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford]]
[[Category:People educated at Stonyhurst College]]
[[Category:People educated at Downside School]]
[[Category:19th-century Anglo-Irish people]]
[[Category:Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Galway constituencies (1801–1922)]]
[[Category:Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Kerry constituencies (1801–1922)]]
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