James Burke Roche, 3rd Baron Fermoy
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James Boothby Burke Roche, 3rd Baron Fermoy (28 July 1852 – 30 October 1920) was an Irish peer and Member of the British Parliament.
He was born at Twyford Abbey, Middlesex in 1852, the son of Edmund Burke Roche, and his wife Eliza Caroline née Boothby.[1] He was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge.[2]
He visited the United States where he met and married the heiress Frances Work on 22 September 1880 at Christ Church, New York City. The marriage was not a success and they separated in December 1886. She was granted a divorce on the grounds of desertion on 3 March 1891 at Wilmington, Delaware.[3]
They had four children, twin sons and two daughters:
- Eileen (b. and d. 1882).
- Cynthia (10 April 1884 − 8 December 1966), who married firstly Arthur Scott Burden (d. June 1921) in 1906 and secondly Guy Fairfax Cary (d. 1950) in 1922. She is the matrilineal great-grandmother of American actor Oliver Platt.
- Edmund Maurice (15 May 1885 - 8 July 1955), who was the grandfather of Diana, Princess of Wales.
- Francis George (15 May 1885 - 30 October 1958), who died unmarried.[2]
In 1896 he stood as a Nationalist candidate in a by-election for the seat of Kerry East in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Nationalists had split into two factions after the party leader, Charles Stewart Parnell was named as co-respondent in a divorce. Roche was supported initially by both the Parnellites and the Anti-Parnellites, until it was revealed that he was himself divorced. During the campaign, Roche denied publicly that he knew of the divorce or that he had deserted his wife and children.[4] Although he went on to win the seat, the opposing Unionist candidate gained the highest vote ever recorded for a Unionist candidate in Kerry East.[5] He served one term and did not stand in the following general election.
On 1 September 1920 he succeeded his brother as Baron Fermoy. Just two months later he died at Artillery Mansions, Westminster, London. He was buried at St Marylebone cemetery, Finchley on 3 November 1920.[6]
[edit] Styles
- 1852–1856: James Boothby Burke Roche
- 1856–1896: The Hon James Boothby Burke Roche
- 1896–1900: The Hon James Boothby Burke Roche, MP
- 1900–1920: The Hon James Boothby Burke Roche
- 1920: The Rt Hon James Boothby Burke Roche, 3rd Baron Fermoy
[edit] References
- ^ Williamson, D The Ancestry of Lady Diana Spencer In: Genealogist’s Magazine, 1981; vol. 20 (no. 6) p. 192-199 and vol. 20 (no. 8) p. 281-282
- ^ a b Mosley, Charles (ed.), Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 107th edition (Burke's Peerage and Gentry LLC, 2003) vol. I p. 1414
- ^ The Times (London) Friday, 27 March 1896, p. 7 col. F
- ^ The Times (London) Saturday, 28 March 1896, p. 13 col. E
- ^ The Times (London), Monday, 30 March 1896; p. 7 col. F
- ^ Cokayne, G. E., Gibbs, Vicary and Doubleday, H. A. The Complete Peerage: Volume V (St. Catherine Press, London, 1926) p. 303
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Michael Davitt |
Member of Parliament for Kerry East 1896–1900 |
Succeeded by John Murphy |
| Peerage of Ireland | ||
| Preceded by Edward Burke Roche |
Baron Fermoy September–October 1920 |
Succeeded by Edmund Burke Roche |
