William Cole, 1st Earl of Enniskillen

Irish peer and politician

The Right Honourable
The Earl of Enniskillen
Member of the Irish Parliament
for Enniskillen
In office
1761–1767
Personal details
Born
William Willoughby Cole

March 1, 1736
DiedMay 22, 1803(1803-05-22) (aged 67)
SpouseAnne Lowry-Corry
Children
ParentJohn Cole, 1st Baron Mountflorence (father)
Arms of Cole, Earl of Enniskillen: Argent, a bull passant sable armed or a bordure of the second bezantée on a canton sinister per pale gules and azure a harp of the third stringed argent.[1] These are the arms of Cole of Nethway in the parish of Brixham, Devon,[2] differenced by a canton

William Willoughby Cole, 1st Earl of Enniskillen (1 March 1736 – 22 May 1803), styled The Honourable from 1760 to 1767, then known as the Lord Mountflorence to 1776 and as the Viscount Enniskillen to 1789, was an Irish peer and politician.

Enniskillen was the eldest son of John Cole, 1st Baron Mountflorence of Florence Court, County Fermanagh.

Cole represented Enniskillen in the Irish House of Commons from 1761 to 1767, when he succeeded his father as 2nd Baron Mountflorence and took his seat in the Irish House of Lords. In 1776, he was created Viscount Enniskillen and in 1789 he was even further honoured when he was made Earl of Enniskillen. Both these titles are in the Peerage of Ireland.[3]

Private life

Florence Court, County Fermanagh

In November 1763 Enniskillen married Anne,[4] daughter of Galbraith Lowry-Corry, Member of the Irish Parliament for County Tyrone and sister of Armar Lowry-Corry, 1st Earl Belmore. They had four sons and four daughters:[3]

  • John Willoughby Cole, 2nd Earl of Enniskillen (23 March 1768 – 31 March 1840)
  • General The Hon. Sir Galbraith Lowry Cole (1 May 1772 – 4 October 1842)
  • The Hon. Rev. William Montgomery Cole (d. October 1804), Dean of Waterford
  • The Hon. Arthur Henry Cole (28 June 1780 – 16 June 1844)[5]
  • Lady Sarah Cole (d. 14 March 1833), married Owen Wynne in 1790
  • Lady Elizabeth Anne Cole (d. 1807), married Lieutenant-Colonel Richard Magenis in 1788
  • Lady Florence Cole (d. 1 March 1862), married Blayney Townley-Balfour in 1797
  • Lady Henrietta Frances Cole (22 June 1784 – 2 July 1848), married Thomas de Grey, 2nd Earl de Grey on 20 July 1805

Lord Enniskillen died in May 1803, aged 67, and was succeeded in his titles by his eldest son.[3]

References

  1. ^ Kidd, Charles, Debrett's peerage & Baronetage 2015 Edition, London, 2015, p.P425
  2. ^ Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (Ed.) The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, p. 213
  3. ^ a b c Mosley, Charles, ed. (2003). Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knighthood (107 ed.). Burke's Peerage & Gentry. p. 1329. ISBN 0-9711966-2-1.
  4. ^ Linkin, Harriet, ed. (2020). The Collected Letters of Mary Blachford Tighe. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 350.
  5. ^ "COLE, Hon. Arthur Henry (1780–1844), of 15 Jermyn Street, Mdx". History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
Parliament of Ireland
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Enniskillen
1761–1767
With: Richard Gorges 		Succeeded by
Richard Gorges
Richard Gorges
Peerage of Ireland
New creation Earl of Enniskillen
1789–1803 		Succeeded by
Viscount Enniskillen
1776–1803
Preceded by Baron Mountflorence
1767–1803