Robert Maxwell, 1st Earl of Farnham

Robert Maxwell, 1st Earl of Farnham PC (c. 1720 – 16 November 1779), styled The Honourable Robert Maxwell from 1756 to 1759, was an Irish peer and a Member of both the Parliament of Great Britain and the Parliament of Ireland.

Farnham was the eldest son of John Maxwell, 1st Baron Farnham and Judith Barry, daughter of James Barry, and was educated at Trinity College Dublin. He inherited the Farnham estate in County Cavan on the death of his father in 1759. He was appointed High Sheriff of Cavan in 1757.

Political career

Farnham was elected to the Irish House of Commons for Lisburn in 1743, a seat he held until 1759. Crossing to England he also became Member of Parliament for Taunton at a ruinously expensive by-election in 1754, his father putting up £3,000[1] which had to be more than matched from the government's "secret service" funds to secure his election. He afterwards described the campaign, in a letter to Lord George Sackville, as "a great deal of smoaking, some drinking, and kissing some hundreds of women; but it was to good purpose... I may venture to say that I have now near 150 majority".[2]

He succeeded as 2nd Baron Farnham on 6 August 1759. He was created Viscount Farnham on 10 September 1760, and Earl of Farnham on 13 May 1763. He also became a Privy Councillor in Ireland on 19 September 1760. He remained in the British House of Commons until 1768, being re-elected in 1761 and supporting the governments of Lord Bute and George Grenville, though there is no record of his ever having spoken in the House.

Family

Lord Farnham married twice, firstly in 1759 to Henrietta Cantillon, widow of William Matthias Stafford-Howard, 3rd Earl of Stafford (died 1761), and daughter of Richard Cantillon and Mary Mahoney. They had two children, John (died 1777) and Henrietta (died 1852), who married the Irish politician Denis Daly and had issue. He married secondly in 1771 to Sarah, daughter of Pole Cosby of Stradbally and Mary Dodwell and sister of Dudley Cosby, 1st Baron Sydney, but had no further issue. On his death the earldom and the viscountcy titles became extinct, whilst the barony passed to his brother, Barry Maxwell.

References
  • Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990. (ISBN 033338847X)
  • Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages
  • Maxwell family genealogy, part 03. showing the Maxwell of Calderwood, Maxwell of Farnham (co. Cavan), and Maxwell of Finnebrogue families.

References
  1. Lewis Namier & John Brooke, The History of Parliament: The House of Commons 1754-1790 (London: HMSO, 1964)
  2. Note 2, Page 138, Lewis Namier, The Structure of Politics at the Accession of George III (2nd edition – London: St Martin's Press, 1957)
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