Francis Mathew, 2nd Earl Landaff

Francis James Mathew, 2nd Earl Landaff KP (20 January 1768 – 12 March 1833), styled The Honourable Francis Mathew from 1783 to 1797 and Viscount Mathew from 1797 to 1806, was an Irish peer and politician.

2nd Earl Landaff
Francis James Mathew
KP
Viscount Mathew and his brothers by Gillray, 1803: The Three Mr Wiggins's. The title is a reference to that year's play Mrs Wiggins by John Till Allingham.
Born20 January 1768
Died12 March 1833
Dublin
StyleThe Honourable (1783–1797), Viscount (1797–1806)
Title2nd Earl Landaff
PredecessorFrancis Mathew
SuccessorTitle became extinct
SpouseGertrude Cecilia La Touche
ChildrenNone
ParentFrancis Mathew
RelativesMontague James Mathew (brother)
Mural memorial tablet erected 1987 in Llandaff Cathedral: "In memory of Thomas James Mathew son and heir of Francis James Mathew second Earl of Landaff born in London 1798 died in Cape Town 1862". The arms are blazoned: Or, a lion rampant sable. Crest: A heathcock proper. Supporters: Two unicorns rampant silver maned tufted hooved collared and chained or. Motto: A Fynno Duw a Fydd ("What God wills will be")

Mathew sat for County Tipperary in the Irish House of Commons from 1790 to 1792, when his election was declared invalid. He represented Callan between May and November 1796 and subsequently again Tipperary in the Irish House of Commons until the Act of Union in 1800 and then the United Kingdom House of Commons from 1801 until he succeeded his father in the earldom in 1806. His younger brother Montague James Mathew (1773–1819) succeeded him as one of the two members of the UK parliament for County Tipperary. He was an opponent of the Union and a supporter of Catholic Emancipation, and was also "a personal enemy of George IV" and gave evidence in favour of Queen Caroline regarding her conduct at the Court of Naples during her famous trial.[citation needed]

He was appointed a Knight of the Order of St Patrick on 24 November 1831.[1]

Lord Landaff married Gertrude Cecilia, a daughter of John La Touche, of Kildare. The marriage was childless. He died of syncope in Dublin on 12 March 1833, aged 65, when the titles became extinct. Dying intestate, his estates went to his sister, Lady Elizabeth Mathew, who died in 1842 leaving the fortune to a cousin, the Vicomte de Chabot, the son of her mother's sister Elizabeth Smyth.[2]

References

edit
  1. ^ Rayment, Leigh. "Knights of the Order of St Patrick". Archived from the original on 7 June 2008. Retrieved 13 December 2008.
  2. ^ Sir Bernard Burke, A genealogical history of the dormant, abeyant, forfeited, and extinct peerages of the British empire (1866), p. 361
Parliament of Ireland
Preceded by Member of Parliament for County Tipperary
1790–1792
With: Daniel Toler
Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Callan
1796
Served alongside: William Meeke
Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of Parliament for County Tipperary
1796 – 1801
With: John Bagwell
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Parliament of Ireland Member of Parliament for County Tipperary
18011806
Served alongside: John Bagwell
Succeeded by
Peerage of Ireland
Preceded by Earl Landaff
1806–1833
Extinct