Hervey Redmond's mother died in 1754. He and his two sisters, Letitia and Sarah, were his father's children from his first marriage. His father remarried in 1755. In May 1756, his father was created Baron Mountmorres. Hervey Redmond's half-brother Francis Hervey was born in September. Hervey Redmond immatriculated at Christ Church, Oxford in April 1763. In June, his father was advanced to viscount.[3]
Viscount
In April 1766 while still studying at Oxford, Hervey Redmond succeeded his father as second viscount. Mountmorres, as he now was, obtained his M.A. in July. He took his seat in the Irish House of Lords on 20 October 1767[4] in the first Irish parliament of George III, which had been convened in 1761. Parliament had met since the early 1730s in its new Parliament House, on College Green, Dublin.[5]
His uncle John Ponsonby was speaker in the house of commons during this parliament. A new Lord Lieutenant, Viscount Townshend was appointed in August 1767 and arrived in Dublin in October[6][7] The Octennial Act 1767 was passed in February 1768. It limited the duration of parliaments to eight years, leading to more frequent general elections. Irish regiments had been reduced to cadre staff during peace time whereas British regiments had retained their full strength. This made it difficult to run a rotation system. The British government asked Townshend to pass a bill to increase the Irish regiments to the same strength as the British ones.[8]
That "augmentation bill" was costly and therefore unpopular. The Irish asked at least for a guarantee that at least 12,000 of these troops would be always present in Ireland. This guarantee was refused and the bill was rejected by the Irish Commons in April. Parliament was dissolved in May. The second Irish parliament of George III opened in October 1769. The augmentation bill was tabled again but with a security clause and passed in December.[8] Mountmorres graduated as a Doctor of Civil Law in 1773. Parliament was dissolved in April 1776.
Mountmorres joined the patriots and was a supporter of Lord Charlemont.[9] In 1774, Mountmorres stood for election as MP for Westminster in the British house of commons but was defeated. Moving to France in the years that followed, Mountmorres returned in 1784 to take his seat in the Lords.[10]
Family Baronetcy
In 1795, by the death of Nicholas Morres, a distant cousin, Mountmorres became the 10th baronet Morres of Knockagh, County Tipperary, an honour that had been created in 1631 for John Morres,[11] one of his ancestors. This became a subsidiary title running with the viscountcy.
Death and timeline
Mountmorres died on 17 or 18 August 1797 in his London home at 6 York Street, Westminster. This street, now known as Duke of York Street, runs from St James's Square to Jermyn Street. Mountmorres committed suicide by shooting himself through the head. As he had never married, he was succeeded by his half-brother Francis Hervey. However, his two full sisters inherited his lands as stipulated in his will.[citation needed]
Timeline
As his birth date is uncertain, so are all his ages. Italics for historical background.
^ abcdG. E. C. 1893, p. 404, line 7. "... cr. [created] 4 May 1756 Baron Mountmorres of Castlemorres, co. Kilkenny [I. [Ireland]], taking his seat on the 7th inst. He was cr. in the subsequent reign, 29 June 1763, Viscount Mountmorres of Castlemorres, co. Kilkenny [I. [Ireland]], taking his seat, 11 Oct. following."
^Geoghegan 2009, [1st paragraph, 1st sentence]. "... took his seat in the house of lords on 20 October 1667."
^McDowell 1979, p. 126. line 130. "From the early thirties it [the Irish parliament] sat in an impressive building ..."
^London Gazette 1767, Issue 10754, page 1, right column, bottom. "At the Court at St James's, the 12th Day of August, 1676 ... His Majesty in Council was this Day pleased to declare the Right Honourable George Viscount Townshend Lieutenant-General and General Governor of His Majesty's Kingdom of Ireland."
^ abBartlett 1981, p. 541. "George III and his military advisers came up with the idea of equalizing regimental strength everywhere. Irish regiments would be increased to some 480 officers and men while British regiments would be cut back to that number. For Ireland, this meant an augmentation in the number of troops (12,000 to 15,325) on the Irish establishment."
^McDowell 1979, p. 126, line 13. "... during the American war ... and he was stoutly supported by Mountmorres, a generous erudite eccentric ..."
^G. E. C. 1902, p. 264, line 4. "I. 1631 'John Morres, Esq. of Knockagh, co Tipperary', s. and h. of Redmond Morres of the same ... was cr. a baronet [I. [Ireland]] as above, by patent dat. at Dublin, 28 March 1631 ...
Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I., eds. (1986). Handbook of British Chronology. Royal Historical Society Guides and Handbooks, No. 2 (3rd ed.). London: Offices of the Royal Historical Society. ISBN0-86193-106-8. – (for timeline)