Robert Jocelyn, 3rd Earl of Roden

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The Earl of Roden
Treasurer of the Household
In office
March 1812  29 July 1812
MonarchGeorge III
Prime MinisterSpencer Perceval
The Earl of Liverpool
Preceded byThe Earl of Courtown
Succeeded byLord Charles Bentinck
Vice-Chamberlain of the Household
In office
28 July 1812  9 April 1827
MonarchsGeorge III
George IV
Prime MinisterThe Earl of Liverpool
Preceded byEarl of Yarmouth
Succeeded byMarquess of Graham
Personal details
Born(1788-10-27)27 October 1788
Died20 March 1870(1870-03-20) (aged 81)
Edinburgh, Scotland
PartyTory
Spouses
Hon. Maria Stapleton
(m. 1813; died 1861)
Clementina Reilly
(m. 1862)
Children

Robert Jocelyn, 3rd Earl of Roden, KP PC PC (Ire) (27 October 1788 – 20 March 1870), styled Viscount Jocelyn between 1797 and 1820, was an Irish Tory politician and supporter of Protestant causes.

The 3rd Earl of Roden, painted by Frederick Richard Say, c. 1830.

Jocelyn was the son of Robert Jocelyn, 2nd Earl of Roden, and his first wife Frances Theodosia, daughter of the Very Reverend Robert Bligh, Dean of Elphin.[1][2]

Political career

An ardent conservative, Jocelyn was Member of Parliament for County Louth from 1806 to 1807 and again from 1810 to 1820, when he succeeded his father in the earldom. In March 1812 he was sworn of the Privy Council[3] and appointed Treasurer of the Household under Spencer Perceval,[3] an office he retained when Lord Liverpool became Prime Minister in June 1812 after Perceval's assassination. In July 1812 he was made Vice-Chamberlain of the Household,[4] a post he held until the Liverpool administration fell in 1827.

In 1821 he was created Baron Clanbrassil, of Hyde Hall in the County of Hertford and Dundalk in the County of Louth,[5] in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, which entitled him to an automatic seat in the House of Lords. The same year, on 20 August 1821, he was also appointed a Knight of the Order of St Patrick.[6] In 1858 he was sworn of the Irish Privy Council.[7]

Supporter of Protestant causes

Despite Lord Roden's political career, he is best remembered for his strong support for Protestant causes in the north of Ireland and elsewhere. He supported religious societies such as the Hibernian Bible Society, the Sunday School Society, the Evangelical Alliance and the Protestant Orphan Society, and also conducted service in the private chapel at Tullymore Park, Castlewellan, County Down, his chief residence in Ireland. He was an important leader in the Orange Order, eventually rising to the rank of Grand Master, and was described as a "diehard Unionist".[1]

However, in 1849 a clash took part between Orangeman and Roman Catholics at Dolly's Brae, near Castlewellan, in which several people were killed after he had invited the Orangemen onto his estate and addressed them, urging them to "do their duty as loyal, Protestant men". A commission was set up to examine the event, and severely criticised Roden for his conduct. As a result of this, he was removed from his position as a member of the Commission of the Peace.[1]

Family

References

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