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The Right Honourable
The Earl of Ranfurly
The Right Honourable The Earl of Ranfurly
Member of Parliament for Tyrone
	In office; 1806–1812 Serving with James Stewart
Preceded by	James Stewart; Sir John Stewart, Bt
Succeeded by	Sir John Stewart, Bt; Hon. Thomas Knox
Member of Parliament for County Tyrone
	In office; 1790–1797 Serving with James Stewart
Preceded by	James Stewart; Nathaniel Montgomery
Succeeded by	James Stewart; Viscount Corry
Member of Parliament for Dungannon
	In office; 1783–1790 Serving with Edmund Sexton Pery, Lorenzo Moore
Preceded by	Charles O'Hara; William Eden
Succeeded by	Hon. John Knox; Hon. George Knox
Member of Parliament for Carlingford
	In office; 1776–1783 Serving with Theophilus Blakeney
Preceded by	Blayney Townley-Balfour; Robert Ross
Succeeded by	Sir John Blaquiere; Thomas Coghlan
Personal details
Born	Thomas Knox; 5 August 1754
Died	26 April 1840 (aged 85)
Spouse	Diana Jane Pery (m. 1785; died 1839)
Relations	William Knox (brother); Edmund Knox (brother); George Knox (brother); John Vesey, 1st Baron Knapton (grandfather)
Parent(s)	Thomas Knox, 1st Viscount Northland; Hon. Anne Vesey

Thomas Knox, 1st Earl of Ranfurly (5 August 1754 – 26 April 1840), styled The Honourable Thomas Knox between 1781 and 1818 and known as The Viscount Northland between 1818 and 1831, was an Irish peer and politician.

Early life

Ranfurly was the eldest son of Thomas Knox, 1st Viscount Northland, and the Hon. Anne Vesey, daughter of John Vesey, 1st Baron Knapton. His brothers included bishops William Knox and Edmund Knox, George Knox MP, and Archdeacon Charles Knox.^[1] His father had been elevated to the Peerage of Ireland as Baron Welles, of Dungannon in the County of Tyrone, in 1781 and further ennobled as Viscount Northland, of Dungannon in the County of Tyrone, in 1791.^[2]

His paternal grandparents were Hester (née Echlin) Knox and Thomas Knox, MP for Dungannon who was Deputy-Governor of County Tyrone.^[1] His maternal grandparents were John Vesey, 1st Baron Knapton and the former Elizabeth Brownlow (daughter of William Brownlow).^[1]

Career

Ranfurly was elected a member of the Irish House of Commons for Carlingford in 1776, a seat he held until 1783, and then represented Dungannon between 1783 and 1790 and County Tyrone between 1790 and 1798.^[3] He was also a member of the British House of Commons for County Tyrone from 1806 to 1812.^[4]

On 18 May 1793 he was commissioned as Lieutenant-Colonel and second-in-command of the newly raised Royal Tyrone Militia. He commanded the regiment on garrison duty for a year, resigning in 1794.^[5]

In 1818 he succeeded his father in the viscountcy of Northland, but, as this was an Irish peerage it did not entitle him to a seat in the House of Lords. However, in 1826 he was created Baron Ranfurly, of Ramphorlie in the County of Renfrew, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, which entitled him and his successors to a seat in the upper chamber of parliament.^[6] In 1831 he was further honoured when he was made Earl of Ranfurly in the Peerage of Ireland.^[7]

Personal life

Lord Ranfurly married his cousin the Hon. Diana Jane Pery, daughter of Edmund Pery, 1st Viscount Pery and Hon. Elizabeth Vesey, in 1785. Together, they were the parents of:^[1]

Thomas Knox, 2nd Earl of Ranfurly (1786–1858), who married Mary Juliana Stuart, a daughter of William Stuart, Archbishop of Armagh, and the former Sophia Margaret Penn (the daughter of Thomas Penn, a son of William Penn, founder of Pennsylvania), in 1815.^[8]
Hon. Edmund Knox (1787–1867), an Admiral in the Royal Navy who married Jane Sophia Hope-Vere, a daughter of William Hope-Vere (a grandson of the 1st Earl of Hopetoun) and sister to James Joseph Hope-Vere, in 1813.^[1]
Hon. John Henry Knox (1788–1872), who married Lady Mabella Josephine Needham, daughter of Gen. Francis Needham, 1st Earl of Kilmorey, in 1822.^[1]
Hon. John James Knox (1790–1856), who married Mary Louisa Taylor, a daughter of Edward Taylor, in 1824.^[1]

Lady Ranfurly died in November 1839. Lord Ranfurly only survived her by a few months and died in April 1840, aged 85. He was succeeded in his titles by his eldest son, Thomas.^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Mosley, Charles, ed. (2003). Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage. Vol. 3 (107 ed.). Wilmington, Delaware: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books). p. 3270-3274. ISBN 0-9711966-2-1.
^ "No. 13322". The London Gazette. 2 July 1791. p. 387.
^ "Irish House of Commons 1692–1800". leighrayment.com. 21 May 2009. Archived from the original on 7 June 2008. Retrieved 17 June 2009.
^ "The House of Commons: Constituencies beginning with "T"". leighrayment.com. 12 May 2008. Archived from the original on 26 September 2008. Retrieved 17 June 2009.
^ QM John Core, Historical Record of the 2nd (now 80th), or Royal Tyrone Fusilier Regiment of Militia, from the Embodiment in 1793 to the Present Time, Omagh: Alexander Scarlett, 1872/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2015, ISBN 978-1-84342-484-0: 'List of officers', facing p. 1; pp. 1–6.
^ "No. 18259". The London Gazette. 17 June 1826. p. 1478.
^ "No. 18846". The London Gazette. 9 September 1831. p. 1834.
^ Mrs.), Frances Pery Calvert (Hon (1911). An Irish Beauty of the Regency. John Lane. p. 20. Retrieved 13 December 2023.

External links

Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Earl of Ranfurly

Parliament of Ireland
Preceded by Blayney Townley-Balfour Robert Ross	Member of Parliament for Carlingford 1776–1783 With: Theophilus Blakeney	Succeeded by Sir John Blaquiere Thomas Coghlan
Preceded by Charles O'Hara William Eden	Member of Parliament for Dungannon 1783–1790 With: Edmund Sexton Pery 1783 Lorenzo Moore 1783–1790	Succeeded by Hon. John Knox Hon. George Knox
Preceded by James Stewart Nathaniel Montgomery	Member of Parliament for County Tyrone 1790–1797 With: James Stewart	Succeeded by James Stewart Viscount Corry
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by James Stewart Sir John Stewart, Bt	Member of Parliament for Tyrone 1806–1812 With: James Stewart	Succeeded by Sir John Stewart, Bt Hon. Thomas Knox
Peerage of Ireland
New creation	Earl of Ranfurly 1831–1840	Succeeded by Thomas Knox
Preceded by Thomas Knox	Viscount Northland 1818–1840	Succeeded by Thomas Knox
Peerage of the United Kingdom
New creation	Baron Ranfurly 1826–1840	Succeeded by Thomas Knox