Earl of Ranfurly
Encyclopedia
Dungannon
Dungannon is a medium-sized town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is the third-largest town in the county and a population of 11,139 people was recorded in the 2001 Census. In August 2006, Dungannon won Ulster In Bloom's Best Kept Town Award for the fifth time...
in the County of Tyrone
County Tyrone
Historically Tyrone stretched as far north as Lough Foyle, and comprised part of modern day County Londonderry east of the River Foyle. The majority of County Londonderry was carved out of Tyrone between 1610-1620 when that land went to the Guilds of London to set up profit making schemes based on...
, is a title in the Peerage of Ireland
Peerage of Ireland
The Peerage of Ireland is the term used for those titles of nobility created by the English and later British monarchs of Ireland in their capacity as Lord or King of Ireland. The creation of such titles came to an end in the 19th century. The ranks of the Irish peerage are Duke, Marquess, Earl,...
. It was created in 1831 for Thomas Knox, 2nd Viscount Northland
Thomas Knox, 1st Earl of Ranfurly
Thomas Knox, 1st Earl of Ranfurly , styled The Honourable between 1781 and 1818 and known as The Viscount Northland between 1818 and 1831, was an Irish peer and politician.-Background:...
. He had earlier represented County Tyrone in the House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
, and had already been created Baron Ranfurly, of Ramphorlie in the County of Renfrew, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom
Peerage of the United Kingdom
The Peerage of the United Kingdom comprises most peerages created in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland after the Act of Union in 1801, when it replaced the Peerage of Great Britain...
in 1826. Knox was the eldest son of Thomas Knox
Thomas Knox, 1st Viscount Northland
Thomas Knox, 1st Viscount Northland , known as The Lord Welles between 1781 and 1791, was an Irish politician.-Background:...
, who represented Dungannon
Dungannon (Parliament of Ireland constituency)
Dungannon was a constituency represented in the Irish House of Commons until 1800.-History:In the Patriot Parliament of 1689 summoned by King James II, Dungannon was represented with two members.-1689–1801:...
in the Irish House of Commons
Irish House of Commons
The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland, that existed from 1297 until 1800. The upper house was the House of Lords...
. He was created Baron Welles, of Dungannon in the County of Tyrone, in 1781, and Viscount Northland, of Dungannon in the County of Tyrone, in 1791. Both titles were in the Peerage of Ireland. Lord Northland also sat in the British House of Lords as one of the 28 original Irish Representative Peers
Representative peer
In the United Kingdom, representative peers were those peers elected by the members of the Peerage of Scotland and the Peerage of Ireland to sit in the British House of Lords...
.
The first Earl was succeeded by his son, the second Earl. He sat as Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for County Tyrone and Dungannon
Dungannon (UK Parliament constituency)
Dungannon was a United Kingdom Parliament constituency, in Ireland, returning one MP. It was an original constituency represented in Parliament when the Union of Great Britain and Ireland took effect on 1 January 1801.-Boundaries:...
. His son, the third Earl, also represented Dungannon in Parliament. On his early death in 1858, having held the titles for only two months, the peerages passed to his eight-year-old son, the fourth Earl. He also died young and was succeeded by his younger brother, the fifth Earl. He served as a Lord-in-Waiting
Lord-in-Waiting
Most Lords in Waiting are Government whips in the House of Lords who are members of the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. As members of the Royal Household their duties are nominal, though they are occasionally required to meet visiting political and state leaders on visits...
(government whip in the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
) in the third Conservative administration
Conservative Government 1895-1905
A coalition of the Conservative and Liberal Unionist parties took power in the United Kingdom following the general election of 1895. The Conservative leader, Lord Salisbury, took office as prime minister, and his nephew, Arthur Balfour, was leader of the Commons, but various major posts went to...
of Lord Salisbury
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury
Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, KG, GCVO, PC , styled Lord Robert Cecil before 1865 and Viscount Cranborne from June 1865 until April 1868, was a British Conservative statesman and thrice Prime Minister, serving for a total of over 13 years...
and was Governor of New Zealand between 1897 and 1904.
His grandson, the sixth Earl, mainly known as Dan Ranfurly, was well known for his exploits in the Second World War and also served as Governor of the Bahamas from 1953 to 1956. His wife Hermione, Countess of Ranfurly
Hermione, Countess of Ranfurly
Hermione, Countess of Ranfurly, OBE, , was the British author of To War With Whitaker: The Wartime Diaries of the Countess of Ranfurly, 1939–1945...
, also became well known for her memoirs of her and her husband's lives during the Second World War and for establishing the organisation which is now known as Book Aid International
Book Aid International
Book Aid International is an NGO that exists to encourage literacy and access to books particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East by distributing books to libraries and other locations that increase community access. Book Aid International currently work in 12 countries in sub-Shahran...
. They had one daughter but no sons and Ranfurly was succeeded by his distant relative (his fourth cousin), the seventh and present holder of the titles. He is the great-great-grandson of the Hon. John Knox, third son of the first Earl.
The Hon. William Knox
William Knox (MP)
The Hon. William Stuart Knox DL, JP , was an Irish politician.-Background:Knox was a younger son of Thomas Knox, 2nd Earl of Ranfurly, and Mary Juliana, daughter of the Most Reverend William Stuart, Archbishop of Armagh....
, younger son of the second Earl, was Member of Parliament for Dungannon.
The earldom of Ranfurly, pronounced "Ran-fully", is the last earldom created in the Peerage of Ireland that is still extant. Despite its territorial designation
Territorial designation
A territorial designation follows modern peerage titles, linking them to a specific place or places. It is also an integral part of all baronetcies...
and the fact that it is in the Peerage of Ireland, the earldom (like the UK barony) refers to the village of Ranfurly
Ranfurly, Renfrewshire
Ranfurly is a small settlement on the southern edge of the village of Bridge of Weir, which lies within the Gryffe Valley in the council area and historic county of Renfrewshire in the West-Central Lowlands of Scotland....
in Renfrewshire
Renfrewshire
Renfrewshire is one of 32 council areas used for local government in Scotland. Located in the west central Lowlands, it is one of three council areas contained within the boundaries of the historic county of Renfrewshire, the others being Inverclyde to the west and East Renfrewshire to the east...
.
The family seat is Maltings Chase, near Nayland
Nayland
Nayland is a village in the Stour Valley on the Suffolk side of the border between Suffolk and Essex in England.-History:From an article by Rosemary Knox, Wissington...
, Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
.
Viscounts Northland (1791)
- Thomas Knox, 1st Viscount NorthlandThomas Knox, 1st Viscount NorthlandThomas Knox, 1st Viscount Northland , known as The Lord Welles between 1781 and 1791, was an Irish politician.-Background:...
(1729–1818) - Thomas Knox, 2nd Viscount NorthlandThomas Knox, 1st Earl of RanfurlyThomas Knox, 1st Earl of Ranfurly , styled The Honourable between 1781 and 1818 and known as The Viscount Northland between 1818 and 1831, was an Irish peer and politician.-Background:...
(1754–1840) (created Earl of Ranfurly in 1831)
Earls of Ranfurly (1831)
- Thomas Knox, 1st Earl of RanfurlyThomas Knox, 1st Earl of RanfurlyThomas Knox, 1st Earl of Ranfurly , styled The Honourable between 1781 and 1818 and known as The Viscount Northland between 1818 and 1831, was an Irish peer and politician.-Background:...
(1754–1840) - Thomas Knox, 2nd Earl of RanfurlyThomas Knox, 2nd Earl of RanfurlyThomas Knox, 2nd Earl of Ranfurly , styled Viscount Northland between 1831 and 1840, was an Anglo-Irish peer and politician.-Background:...
(1786–1858) - Thomas Knox, 3rd Earl of RanfurlyThomas Knox, 3rd Earl of RanfurlyThomas Knox, 3rd Earl of Ranfurly was an Irish peer and Member of Parliament. He was the son of Thomas Knox, 2nd Earl of Ranfurly and his wife Mary Stuart, and represented Dungannon as a Member of Parliament between 9 June 1838 and 3 February 1851, when he resigned through the position of Steward...
(1816–1858) - Thomas Granville Henry Stuart Knox, 4th Earl of Ranfurly (1849–1875)
- Uchter John Mark Knox, 5th Earl of RanfurlyUchter Knox, 5th Earl of RanfurlyUchter John Mark Knox, 5th Earl of Ranfurly GCMG, PC was a British politician and colonial governor. He was Governor-General of New Zealand from 1897 to 1904.-Early life:...
(1856–1933)- Thomas Uchter Caulfield Knox, Viscount Northland (1882–1915)
- Thomas Daniel Knox, 6th Earl of Ranfurly (1913–1988)
- Gerald Francoys Needham Knox, 7th Earl of RanfurlyGerald Knox, 7th Earl of RanfurlyGerald Francoys Needham Knox, 7th Earl of Ranfurly is a British noble. He served as a Lt. Commander in the Royal Navy.-References:...
(b. 1929)
The heir apparent
Heir apparent
An heir apparent or heiress apparent is a person who is first in line of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting, except by a change in the rules of succession....
is the present holder's son Edward John Knox, Viscount Northland (b. 1957)
The heir apparent's heir apparent is his son the Hon. Adam Henry Knox (b. 1994)