Robert Rochfort, 1st Earl of Belvedere facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Robert Rochfort, 1st Earl of Belvedere
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Robert Hunter, Portrait of Robert Rochfort, 1st Earl of Belvedere (1708-1774), in van Dyck costume
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| Born | 26 March 1708 |
| Died | 13 November 1774 (aged 66) |
| Cause of death | (no definite cause of death) |
| Nationality | Anglo-Irish |
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Robert Rochfort, 1st Earl of Belvedere PC (26 March 1708 – 13 November 1774) was an Anglo-Irish politician and peer.
Early life
He was the son of Rt. Hon. George Rochfort (son of Robert Rochfort, Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer), and Lady Elizabeth Moore, daughter of Henry Hamilton-Moore, 3rd Earl of Drogheda. He sat in the Irish House of Commons as the Member of Parliament for County Westmeath between 1731 and 1738. On 16 March 1738, he was raised to the Peerage of Ireland as Baron Belfield and assumed his seat in the Irish House of Lords, quickly becoming a favourite in the court of George II of Great Britain.
In 1746, Belfield was challenged to a duel on account of a long-due debt of honour by Richard Herbert MP. The duel took place in the fields between Tottenham Court Road and Marylebone on Saturday 23 August 1746. Belfield was badly wounded, and Herbert received a ball in the eye which came out at the back of the skull, but nevertheless, he survived, although mentally he was never the same man again.
On 12 December 1749, he was made a member of the Privy Council of Ireland. On 5 October 1751, he was made Viscount Belfield, and he was further honoured when he was created Earl of Belvedere on 29 November 1756. Lord Belfield held the office of Muster Master-General of Ireland between 1754 and his death in 1774. He commissioned the construction of Belvedere House and Gardens in 1740.
Marriages and ordeals
He married, firstly, Elizabeth Tenison, daughter of Richard Tenison and Margaret Barton, on 16 December 1731, and she died a year later in 1732 from smallpox. He married, secondly, Hon. Mary Molesworth, daughter of Field Marshal Richard Molesworth, 3rd Viscount Molesworth and Jane Lucas, on 7 August 1736. Lord Belvedere was succeeded in his titles by his eldest son from his second marriage, George Rochfort. He had two other sons, Richard and Robert, and a daughter Jane who married firstly Brinsley Butler, 2nd Earl of Lanesborough and secondly John King.
Death
Rochfort died on 13 November 1774 , aged 66.
