Edmond Roche, 1st Baron Fermoy

The Right Honourable The Lord Fermoy
1st Baron Fermoy
Tenure	1856–1874
Successor	Edward Roche, 2nd Baron Fermoy
Born	Edmond Burke Roche (1815-08-09)9 August 1815 County Cork, Ireland
Died	17 September 1874(1874-09-17) (aged 59) Trabolgan, County Cork, Ireland
Nationality	Irish
Offices	Lord Lieutenant of County Cork
Spouse(s)	Elizabeth Caroline Boothby ​ ​ (m. 1848)​
Parents	Edward Roche Margaret Honoria Curtain

Edmond Burke Roche, 1st Baron Fermoy (9 August 1815 – 17 September 1874), was an Irish politician in the Parliament of the United Kingdom who was granted a title in the Peerage of Ireland. His direct ancestor was Maurice FitzEdmund Roche, Mayor of Cork, who died in 1593.[1]

Early life and career

Edmond Roche was born on 9 August 1815 in County Cork, Ireland, the son of Edward Roche (1771–1855) and his wife, Margaret Honoria Curtain (1786–1862).[1][2] He was named in honour of his distant relative, Edmund Burke (1729–1797).

He was elected to the British House of Commons for County Cork in 1837, a seat he held until 1855 (Repeal, later Whig), and then represented Marylebone between 1859 and 1865 (Liberal). In 1855, he became Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds for the Liberal Party. From 1856 to 1874, he also served as Lord Lieutenant of County Cork.[3]

Peerage

In 1855, he was raised to the Peerage of Ireland as Baron Fermoy by Queen Victoria. After the letters patent were ruled invalid in 1856, the title was granted to him again by new letters patent.[4] After his death in 1874, he was succeeded in the barony by his elder son, Edward Roche, 2nd Baron Fermoy (1850–1920).[1] James Roche, 3rd Baron Fermoy (1852–1920), who briefly succeeded his sonless brother in September 1920, was his younger son.

Personal life

On 22 August 1848, the then Edmond Roche married Elizabeth Caroline Boothby (1821–1897), daughter of James Brownell Boothby (1791–1850), of Twyford Abbey, and his wife Charlotte Cunningham (1799–1893). They had seven children:[5]

• Edward Roche, 2nd Baron Fermoy (1850–1920), who married The Hon. Cecilia O'Grady, daughter of Standish O'Grady, 3rd Viscount Guillamore.[1][3]
• James Roche, 3rd Baron Fermoy (1852–1920), who married Frances Ellen Work (1857–1947) in 1880. They divorced in 1891.[5]
• The Hon. Alexis Charles Burke Roche (1853–1914), who married The Hon. Lucy Maud Goschen, daughter of the 1st Viscount Goschen[3]
• The Hon. Eleanor Charlotte Burke Roche (1854–1938), who married William Nicholas Leader[3]
• The Hon. Ulick de Rupe Burke Roche (1856–1919)[3]
• The Hon. Elizabeth Caroline Burke Roche (1857–1940), who married German aristocrat Count Friedrich Maximilian von Hochberg (1868–1921), brother of Count Hans Heinrich XV of Hochberg, Prince of Pless (1861–1938), in 1905.[5]
• The Hon. Edmund Burke Roche (1859–1948)[3][6]

He died on 17 September 1874 at his residence Trabolgan House, County Cork, aged 59, and was buried in a mausoleum in Corkbeg graveyard, Whitegate, County Cork.[5] His grandson Edmund, 4th Baron Fermoy (1885–1955), was the maternal grandfather of Diana, Princess of Wales.[7][8]

Ancestry

Ancestors of Edmond Roche, 1st Baron Fermoy
8. Edmund Roche 4. Edmund Roche 9. Barbara Henessey 2. Edward Roche (1771–1855) 10. George Coughlan 5. Frances Coughlan 1. Edmond Roche, 1st Baron Fermoy 12. Daniel Curtain 6. William Curtain 13. Margaret Nagle 3. Margaret Honoria Curtain (1786–1862) 14. Timothy Deasy 7. Margaret Deasey 15. Honoria O'Donovan

References

1. Dod, Robert P. (1862). The Peerage, Baronetage, and Knightage, of Great Britain and Ireland for 1862 (22nd ed.). London: Whittaker and Co. p. 258. Retrieved 21 August 2017.
2. Curtin, D. P. (2021). History of the Curtins. p. 7. ISBN 9781668506851.
3. Mair, Robert H., ed. (1884). Debrett's Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage, and Companionage (171st ed.). London: Dean & Son, Publishers. pp. 275–76.
4. Macdonell, John; Wallis, John Edward Power (1888). "The Fermoy Peerage Claim". Reports of state trials. London: Eyre and Spottiswoode for HMSO. pp. 723–786.
5. Burke, Bernard; Burke, Ashworth P. (1914). Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire (76th ed.). London: Harrison & Sons. p. 772.
6. Nesbitt, James K. (19 July 1981). "Lady Diana Spencer's Victoria Connection". Times Colonist. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
7. Fox-Davies, Arthur Charles (1929). Armorial Families: A Directory of Gentlemen of Coat-armour. London: Hurst & Blackett. ISBN 9780715347669.
8. Bradford, Sarah (3 July 2007). Diana. New York: Penguin Books. ISBN 9780143112464.

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Garrett Standish Barry Richard Longfield	Member of Parliament for County Cork 1837–1855 With: Garrett Standish Barry 1837–1841 Daniel O'Connell 1841–1847 Maurice Power 1847–1852 Vincent Scully 1852–1855	Succeeded by Vincent Scully Rickard Deasy
Preceded by Sir Benjamin Hall Edwin James	Member of Parliament for Marylebone 1859–1861 With: Edwin James 1859–1861 Harvey Lewis 1861–1865	Succeeded by Harvey Lewis Sir Thomas Chambers
Honorary titles
Preceded by The Earl of Bandon	Lord Lieutenant of Cork 1856–1874	Succeeded by The Earl of Bandon
Peerage of Ireland
New creation	Baron Fermoy 1856–1874	Succeeded by Edward Roche