William O'Brien, 4th Earl of Inchiquin

William O'Brien, 4th Earl of Inchiquin KB ( 1700 - July 18, 1777 ), was an Irish - British nobleman and politician .

Life

He was the eldest son and heir of William O'Brien, 3rd Earl of Inchiquin (1662-1719), from his marriage to Mary Villiers († 1753).

When his father died on December 24, 1719 he inherited his Irish nobility titles as 4th Earl of Inchiquin , 9th Baron Inchiquin and 4th Baron O'Brien and was thereby a member of the Irish House of Lords for life . When the Order of the Bath was founded, he was made Knight Companion of this order in 1725 .

He belonged to the Whigs' party and was elected several times from 1722 as a member of Parliament for various English boroughs in the British House of Commons . He was MP for Windsor from 1722 to 1727, Tamworth from 1727 to 1734 , Camelford from 1741 to 1747, and Aylesbury from 1747 to 1754 .

From 1740 to 1741 he held the office of Grand Master of the English Masonic Lodge . From 1741 to 1777 he was governor of the Irish County Clare and from 1762 to 1777 he was also custos rotulorum of this county.

From 1744 to 1751 he also held the court office of Gentleman of the Bedchamber to Frederick Louis, Prince of Wales , and was appointed to the Privy Council for Ireland in 1753 .

He died on July 18, 1777 and was buried in Cloyne Cathedral.

Marriage and offspring

In his first marriage he married his cousin Lady Anne Douglas-Hamilton († 1756) on March 29, 1720 , daughter of George Hamilton, 1st Earl of Orkney , and Elizabeth Villiers, who inherited this in 1737 as 2nd Countess of Orkney . With her he had a daughter and four sons:

• Mary O'Brien, 3rd Countess of Orkney (around 1721–1791) ⚭ Murrough O'Brien, 1st Marquess of Thomond , 5th Earl of Inchiquin (1726–1808)
• William O'Brien, Lord O'Brien (1725-1727)
• George O'Brien, Lord O'Brien (1727-1728)
• Augustus O'Brien, Lord O'Brien († before 1741)
• Murrough O'Brien, Viscount Kirkwall (1731-1741)

His second marriage was on October 12, 1761, the Hon. Mary Moore, daughter of Stephen Moore, 1st Viscount Mountcashell . This marriage remained childless.

Since all his sons died young and before him, his titles of nobility fell to his nephew Murrough O'Brien on his death . This was also his son-in-law, since he had married his daughter Mary in 1753. His daughter Mary had also inherited the title of 3rd Countess of Orkney when her mother died in 1756.

Literature and web links

• Charles Mosley (Ed.): Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage . Volume 2, Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, Wilmington 2003, p. 2035.
• William O'Brien, 4th Earl of Inchiquin on thepeerage.com

predecessor	Office	successor
William O'Brien	Earl of Inchiquin 1719-1777	Murrough O'Brien