WESTENRA, Hon. Henry Robert (1792-1860), of Rossmore, co. Monaghan.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1790-1820, ed. R. Thorne, 1986
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

1818 - 1830
1831 - 1832
17 May 1834 - 30 July 1834
1835 - 10 Aug. 1842

Family and Education

b. 24 Aug. 1792, 1st s. of Warner William Westenra* by 1st w. Mary Anne, da. of Charles Walsh of Walsh Park, co. Tipperary. educ. Westminster until 1806; Trinity, Dublin 1810. m. (1) 25 Jan. 1820, Anne Douglas Hamilton (d. 20 Aug. 1844), illegit. da. of Douglas, 8th Duke of Hamilton [S], s.p.; (2) 19 May 1846, his cos. Josephine Julia Helen, da. of Henry Lloyd of Farrinrory, co. Tipperary, 4s. 4da. suc. fa. as 3rd Baron Rossmore [I] and 2nd Baron Rossmore [UK] 10 Aug. 1842.

Offices Held

Ld. Lt. co. Monaghan 1843-52.

Biography

Westenra was returned on his father’s interest for the county, displacing one of the sitting Members unopposed. He supported government silently in his first Parliament, voting in their majorities on the case of Wyndham Quin*, 29 Mar., and against Tierney’s censure motion, 18 May 1819. Votes against the Irish window tax, 5 May 1819, and against the foreign enlistment bill, 10 and 21 June 1819, were his only known minorities. He had voted against Catholic relief on 3 May. On the eve of the election of 1820, government ignored a threat by his father to desert them with his son, who by marriage had acquired an interest in Scottish elections, if they did not make him a representative peer. He died 1 Dec. 1860.

Ref Volumes: 1790-1820

Author: P. J. Jupp

Notes