Richard Robinson, 1st Baron Rokeby
Encyclopedia
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
ecclesiastic.
Robinson came to Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
as 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 the Duke of Dorset
Duke of Dorset
Duke of Dorset was a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1720 for the politician Lionel Sackville, 7th Earl of Dorset. The Sackville family descended from Sir Richard Sackville. His only surviving son, Thomas Sackville, was a statesman, poet and dramatist and notably served as...
in 1751. He was translated from the See of Kildare to the Archbishopric of Armagh in 1765.
In 1777 he was created Baron Rokeby
Baron Rokeby
Baron Rokeby, of Armagh in the County of Armagh, was a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1777 for the Most Reverend Richard Robinson, Archbishop of Armagh, with remainder to his brothers and his father's second cousin Matthew Robinson and the heirs male of their bodies...
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,...
.
In 1774 he founded the County Infirmary. In 1780 he gifted land for the erection of a new prison and in 1778 he founded the Public Library. In 1790 he founded the Armagh Observatory
Armagh Observatory
Armagh Observatory is a modern astronomical research institute with a rich heritage, based in Armagh, Northern Ireland. Around 25 astronomers are actively studying stellar astrophysics, the Sun, Solar System astronomy, and the Earth's climate....
as part of his plan for a university in Armagh. He died on 10 October 1794. His cousin Matthew Robinson
Matthew Robinson, 2nd Baron Rokeby
Matthew Robinson, 2nd Baron Rokeby was an English eccentric nobleman who preferred a watery environment to a dry one....
, a noted eccentric, inherited his title.
Robert Walpole
Robert Walpole
Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford, KG, KB, PC , known before 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole, was a British statesman who is generally regarded as having been the first Prime Minister of Great Britain....
called Robinson 'a proud but superficial man'. John Wesley
John Wesley
John Wesley was a Church of England cleric and Christian theologian. Wesley is largely credited, along with his brother Charles Wesley, as founding the Methodist movement which began when he took to open-air preaching in a similar manner to George Whitefield...
accused him of being more interested in buildings than in the care of souls.