James Stopford, 1st Earl of Courtown

Irish politician
The basics

Quick Facts

IntroIrish politician
PlacesIreland
wasPolitician
Work fieldPolitics
Gender
Male
Birth1 January 1700
Death12 January 1770 (aged 70 years)
Family
Spouse:Edward Smyth Elizabeth Smyth
Children:James Stopford 2nd Earl of Courtown Thomas Stopford
The details

Biography

James Stopford, 1st Earl of Courtown (1700 – 12 January 1770) 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 (née Jones). He succeeded his father as Member of Parliament for Wexford County in 1721, a seat he held until 1727, and then represented Fethard (County Wexford) from 1727 to 1758. In 1756 he was appointed High Sheriff of Wexford. In 1758 he was raised to the Peerage of Ireland as Baron Courtown, of Courtown in the County of Wexford. Four years later he was further honoured when he was made Viscount Stopford and Earl of Courtown, in the County of Wexford, also in the Peerage of Ireland.

Family

Lord Courtown married Elizabeth, daughter of the Right Reverend Edward Smyth, Bishop of Down and Connor, in 1727. He died in January 1770 and was succeeded in the earldom by his eldest son James, who became a prominent Tory politician. His second son the Hon. Edward Stopford (1732–1794) was a Lieutenant-General in the Army. Another son. the Hon Thomas Stopford, became Bishop of Cork and Ross.

Lady Courtown survived her husband by 18 years and died in September 1788.

The contents of this page are sourced from Wikipedia article. The contents are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license.