Sir William Orpen: Portrait of Rosie, Fourth Marchioness of Headfort.
Geoffrey Thomas Taylour, 4th Marquess of HeadfortDL, JP, FZS (12 June 1878 – 29 January 1943),[1] styled Lord Geoffrey Taylour until 1893 and Earl of Bective between 1893 and 1894, was a British politician and Army officer.
Career
Styled Lord Geoffrey Taylour from birth, he was the son of Thomas Taylour, 3rd Marquess of Headfort, by his second wife Emily Constantia, daughter of the Reverend Lord John Thynne. He became known by the courtesy title Earl of Bective in 1893 on the death of his half-brother. The following year, aged 16, he succeeded his father in the marquessate.[2]
Headfort was an English Freemason, having been initiated in the Lodge of Assistance No 2773 (London, England) at Golden Square, London, in February 1901, aged 22 years.[6]
Headfort was president of the Royal Horticultural Society of Ireland for thirty years from 1915 to 1945, winning the Society's Gold Medal of Honour for distinguished services to horticulture in Ireland in 1939.[9]
Family
Rosie Boote, a young singer who appeared in The Messenger Boy in 1900 under her professional name of Miss Rosie Boote, so charmed the young Marquess that he married her on 11 April 1901.[10] Their marriage was unusual: Rose was a Catholic from a humble background, while her husband was a Protestant aristocrat.[11] He caused a sensation when he converted to Catholicism for their marriage.[12] They lived at Headfort House in Ireland and had three children together:
Lady Millicent Olivia Mary Taylour; married 28 April 1930 (div. 1936) to Henry Frederic Tiarks, a banker; Lady Millicent died 24 December 1975.[15][page needed]
