James Stopford, 2nd Earl of Courtown KP, PC (Ire)

Privy Council of Ireland

The Privy Council of Ireland was an institution of the Kingdom of Ireland until 31 December 1800 and of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland 1801-1922...

 (28 May 1731 – 30 March 1810), known as Viscount Stopford from 1762 to 1770, was an Anglo-Irish

Anglo-Irish

Anglo-Irish was a term used primarily in the 19th and early 20th centuries to identify a privileged social class in Ireland, whose members were the descendants and successors of the Protestant Ascendancy, mostly belonging to the Church of Ireland, which was the established church of Ireland until...

 peer

Peerage

The Peerage is a legal system of largely hereditary titles in the United Kingdom, which constitute the ranks of British nobility and is part of the British honours system...

 and Tory

Tory

Toryism is a traditionalist and conservative political philosophy which grew out of the Cavalier faction in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. It is a prominent ideology in the politics of the United Kingdom, but also features in parts of The Commonwealth, particularly in Canada...

 politician.

Courtown was the eldest son of James Stopford, 1st Earl of Courtown

James Stopford, 1st Earl of Courtown

James Stopford, 1st Earl of Courtown was an Irish politician.Courtown was the son of James Stopford, of Courtown, County Wexford, who represented Wexford County in the Irish House of Commons, and his wife Frances...

, and his wife Elizabeth (née Smith), and was educated at Trinity College, Dublin

Trinity College, Dublin

Trinity College, Dublin , formally known as the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, was founded in 1592 by letters patent from Queen Elizabeth I as the "mother of a university", Extracts from Letters Patent of Elizabeth I, 1592: "...we...found and...

. He was elected to 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...

 for Taghmon

Taghmon (Parliament of Ireland constituency)

Taghmon was a constituency represented in the Irish House of Commons to 1800.-1692–1801:...

 in 1761, a seat he held until 1768, and later sat as a Member of the British 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...

 for Great Bedwyn

Great Bedwyn (UK Parliament constituency)

Great Bedwyn was a parliamentary borough in Wiltshire, which elected two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons from 1295 until 1832, when the borough was abolished by the Great Reform Act.-1295–1640:-1640–1832:Notes...

 in 1774 and for Marlborough

Marlborough (UK Parliament constituency)

Marlborough was a parliamentary borough in Wiltshire, which elected two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons from 1295 until 1868, and then one member from 1868 until 1885, when the borough was abolished.e-1295-1640:-1640-1868:...

 from 1780 to 1793. Between 1784 and 1793 he served as Treasurer of the Household

Treasurer of the Household

The position of Treasurer of the Household is theoretically held by a household official of the British monarch, under control of the Lord Steward's Department, but is, in fact, a political office held by one of the government's Deputy Chief Whips in the House of Commons...

 under William Pitt the Younger

William Pitt the Younger

William Pitt the Younger was a British politician of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He became the youngest Prime Minister in 1783 at the age of 24 . He left office in 1801, but was Prime Minister again from 1804 until his death in 1806...

. Courtown was made a Knight of the Order of St Patrick in 1783 and admitted to the Irish Privy Council in 1784. In 1796 he was further honoured when he was created Baron Saltersford, of Saltersford in the County of Chester, in the Peerage of Great Britain

Peerage of Great Britain

The Peerage of Great Britain comprises all extant peerages created in the Kingdom of Great Britain after the Act of Union 1707 but before the Act of Union 1800...

.

Lord Courtown married Mary, daughter of Richard Powys, in 1762. They had four sons who all gained distinction. Their second son the Hon. Sir Edward Stopford (1766-1837) was a Lieutenant-General in the Army. Their third son the Hon. Sir Robert Stopford (1768-1874) was an Admiral of the Red. Their fourth son Reverend the Hon. Richard Bruce Stopford (1774-1844) was Canon of Windsor and Chaplain

Chaplain

Traditionally, a chaplain is a minister in a specialized setting such as a priest, pastor, rabbi, or imam or lay representative of a religion attached to a secular institution such as a hospital, prison, military unit, police department, university, or private chapel...

 to Her Majesty Queen Victoria. Lady Courtown died in January 1810. Lord Courtown only survived her by three months and died in March 1810, aged 78. He was succeeded in the earldom by his eldest son James

James Stopford, 3rd Earl of Courtown

James George Stopford, 3rd Earl of Courtown KP, PC , known as Viscount Stopford from 1770 to 1810, was an Anglo-Irish peer and Tory politician....

, who also became a prominent Tory politician.