Marquess of Sligo

Marquessate of Sligo
Arms of the Marquess of Sligo
Arms: Sable, three Lions passant in bend Argent, between four Bendlets Argent. Crest: An Eagle displayed Vert. Supporters: Dexter: A Talbot gorged with a Baron’s Coronet proper; Sinister: A Horse Argent.
Creation date29 December 1800
Created byGeorge III
PeeragePeerage of Ireland
First holderJohn Browne, 3rd Earl of Altamont
Present holderSebastian Browne, 12th Marquess of Sligo
Heir apparentChristopher Browne, Earl of Altamont and Clanricarde
Remainder toHeirs male of the first Marquess's body lawfully begotten
Subsidiary titlesEarl of Altamont
Earl of Clanricarde
Viscount Westport
Baron Mount Eagle
Baron Monteagle
StatusExtant
Former seat(s)Westport House
MottoSUIVEZ RAISON
("Follow the right")

Marquess of Sligo is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1800 for John Browne, 3rd Earl of Altamont. The Marquess holds the subsidiary titles of Baron Mount Eagle, of Westport in the County of Mayo (created 10 September 1760), Viscount Westport, of Westport in the County of Mayo (created 24 August 1768), Earl of Altamont, in the County of Mayo (created 4 December 1771), Earl of Clanricarde (created 1800) and Baron Monteagle, of Westport in the County of Mayo (created 20 February 1806). All these titles are in the Peerage of Ireland, except the Barony of Monteagle, which is in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The latter peerage entitled the Marquesses to a seat in the House of Lords prior to the House of Lords Act 1999. The Earldom of Clanricarde was inherited by the sixth Marquess in 1916 according to a special remainder in the letters patent.

History

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The Browne family descends from Colonel John Browne, younger son of Sir John Browne, 1st Baronet, of The Neale, County Mayo, whose eldest son, the second Baronet, was the ancestor of the Barons Kilmaine. The baronetcy was created in 1636. Colonel John Browne's grandson John Browne represented Castlebar in the Irish House of Commons. He was created Baron Mount Eagle in 1760,[1] Viscount Westport in 1768 and Earl of Altamont in 1771,[2] the titles of Mount Eagle and Altamont deriving from Croagh Patrick near Westport. Both his son, the second Earl, and grandson, the third Earl, represented County Mayo in the Irish Parliament. In 1800 the latter was elected as one of the 28 original Irish representative peer and later that year he was created Marquess of Sligo.[3]

In 1806, he was made Baron Monteagle in the Peerage of the United Kingdom,[4] which gave the Marquesses an automatic seat in the House of Lords. He was succeeded by his son, the second Marquess. He was Lord Lieutenant of County Mayo from 1842 to 1845. Lord Sligo married Lady Hester Catherine de Burgh, eldest daughter of John Thomas de Burgh, 13th Earl of Clanricarde.

In 1800, Lord Clanricarde was given a new Earldom of Clanricarde, with remainder, failing heirs male of his own, to the heirs male of his two daughters.[3] Lord Sligo's younger son, the fourth Marquess, represented County Mayo in Parliament from 1857 to 1868. His nephew, the sixth Marquess, succeeded to the Earldom of Clanricarde (1800 creation) in 1916 on the death of his cousin Hubert George de Burgh-Canning, 2nd Marquess of Clanricarde. As of 2014, the titles are held by his great-nephew, the twelfth Marquess, who succeeded his first cousin in 2014. He is a property consultant living in the central highlands of regional Victoria, Australia.

The family seat was Westport House, near Westport, County Mayo in Ireland. After the death of the 11th Marquess, it passed to his five daughters, in accordance with a private legislation passed by the Irish Senate in 1993.[5] Westport House was sold by Lord Sligo's daughters in October 2017, breaking the formal link between Westport House and the family which had been ongoing for 380 years. The house was sold to the Hughes family, a local family of entrepreneurs with Portwest clothing manufacturing operations and a hotel in Westport.[6]

Earls of Altamont (1771)

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Other titles: Baron Mount Eagle, of Westport, in the County of Mayo (Ireland, 1760); and Viscount Westport, of Westport, in the County of Mayo (Ireland, 1768)

Marquesses of Sligo (1800)

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Other titles: Baron Monteagle, of Westport in the County of Mayo (UK, 1806)
Other titles (6th Marquess onwards): Earl of Clanricarde (Ireland, 1800)

Present peer

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Sebastian Ulick Browne, 12th Marquess of Sligo (born 27 May 1964), is the son of Lord Ulick Browne and his wife, Fiona Glenn, and a first cousin of the 11th Marquess. He was educated at Rugby School.[7]

On 13 July 2014, Browne succeeded as Marquess of Sligo (I., 1800), Earl of Altamont (I., 1771), Earl of Clanricarde (I., 1800), Viscount Westport, of Westport (I., 1768), Baron Mount Eagle of Westport (I., 1760), and Baron Monteagle of Westport (U.K., 1806).[7]

Lord Sligo did not inherit Westport House and the Altamont estate in Ireland, as his predecessor, the 11th Marquess, had successfully petitioned to have an Act of the Oireachtas (an Irish Act of Parliament) passed which enabled him to break the family trust and leave the estate to his five daughters. They were forced to sell the property in 2017.[8]

In 1984, the current Lord Sligo married firstly Christina Maria Suaznabar, daughter of Luis Suaznabar; they were divorced in 1992, after having two children:[7][9]

  • Lady Camilla Browne (born 1986)
  • Christopher Ulick Browne, Earl of Altamont and Clanricarde (born 1988), heir apparent

On 22 January 2016, at Wollongong, New South Wales, he married secondly Claire Suzanne van Middelkoop.[9]

Line of succession

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Line of succession
  • Howe Browne, 2nd Marquess of Sligo (1788–1845)
    • Henry Browne, 5th Marquess of Sligo (1831–1913)
      • Lord Alfred Eden Browne (1878–1918)
        • Lord Ulick Browne (1915–1979)
          • Sebastian Browne, 12th Marquess of Sligo (born 1964)
            • (1). Christopher Ulick Browne, Earl of Altamont and Clanricarde (b. 1988)
    • Lord Richard Howe Brown (1834–1912)
      • Percy Howe Browne (1868–1940)
        • Anthony Howe Browne (1905–1940)
          • (2). Patrick Ulick Anthony Howe Browne (b. 1935)
            • (3). Patrick Alexander Howe Browne (b. 1965)
            • (4). Anthony Howe Browne (b. 1967)
              • (5). Oliver James Browne
          • (6). Michael John le Roy Browne (b. 1936)
            • (7). Richard Howe Browne (b. 1962)
            • (8). Jeremy Ulick Browne (b. 1963)

There are further male heirs in line to the earldom of Altamont and its subsidiary titles, who are descended from the younger son of the 2nd earl.[9]

See also

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References

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Citations

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  1. ^ "No. 10029". The London Gazette. 26 August 1760. p. 1.
  2. ^ "No. 11196". The London Gazette. 16 November 1771. p. 3.
  3. ^ a b "No. 15326". The London Gazette. 10 January 1801. p. 40.
  4. ^ "No. 15889". The London Gazette. 15 February 1806. p. 192.
  5. ^ "Marquess of Sligo, Jeremy Browne Altamont, dies at 75 - BBC News". Bbc.com. 14 July 2014. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
  6. ^ Irish Times: culture/heritage/ Westport House sold to County Mayo hotelier
  7. ^ a b c Burke's Peerage, volume 3, 2003, p. 3652
  8. ^ History, westporthouse.ie, accessed 26 February 2023
  9. ^ a b c Morris, Susan; Bosberry-Scott, Wendy; Belfield, Gervase, eds. (2019). "Sligo, Marquess of". Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage. Vol. 1 (150th ed.). London: Debrett's Ltd. pp. 4393–4398. ISBN 978-1-999767-0-5-1.
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