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John Butler, Earl of Gowran (1643–1677) was an MP in the Irish Parliament 1661–1666 before being created Earl of Gowran in 1676. He married but died childless.

Birth and origins

John was born in 1643 in Dublin, the sixth child of James Butler and his wife Elizabeth Preston. At the time his father was the 1st Marquess of Ormond, but he would later become the 1st Duke. His father's family, the Butler dynasty, were Old English.

John's mother was his father's second cousin once removed. She was a rich heiress, the only child of Richard Preston, 1st Earl of Desmond. His parents had married on Christmas Day 1629. John was one of 10 siblings, but five died in childhood. See Thomas, Richard, and Elizabeth.

Early years

John was born in Dublin where his mother had rejoined his father in 1642 after the Confederates allowed her to leave Kilkenny Castle. In 1647 he was then taken by his parents to England when his father handed Dublin over to the Parliamentarians. In 1648 his mother took him and his siblings to Caen in Normandy, France, while his father stayed somewhat longer in England. His father then also fled to France and was employed by the king in Paris and on international missions. In 1652 the family in Caen ran out of money and his mother went with the children to London and obtained some help from Cromwell. In 1655 she moved to Ireland and lived with her children at Dunmore near Kilkenny. At the restoration, their father rejoined them in Ireland.

In parliament

On 20 August 1662, during the Irish Parliament (1661–1666), the only one held in the reign of Charles II (1660–1685), John replaced his brother Thomas as the member (MP) for Trinity College as Thomas had been summoned to the House of Lords by a writ of acceleration as Earl of Ossory and could therefore not sit any more in the House of Commons.

Dublin Castle on fire

In 1671 John, together with his cousin Anthony Hamilton, saved Dublin Castle from destruction by fire.

Marriage

In January 1674 John married Lady Anne Chichester, only daughter of Arthur Chichester, 1st Earl of Donegall. His marriage stayed childless.

Later life

On 13 April 1676, John was created Baron Aghrim, Viscount Clonmore, and Earl of Gowran, all in the peerage of Ireland.

Death

Gowran, as he now was, travelled to Paris for the recovery of his health but died there in August 1677, aged about 34. He left no issue and his titles disappeared with him.

Notes and references

Notes

1. This family tree is partly derived from the condensed Butler family tree pictured in Dunboyne. His marriage was childless.
2. John's father's article gives a list of the five surviving siblings.

Citations

1. Cokayne 1895, p. 149, line 27. "He was cr. 30 Aug. 1642 Marquess of Ormonde ;"
2. Cokayne 1889, p. 94. "1. Theobald Walter ... accompanied in 1185 John, Count of Mortaigue, Lord of Ireland ... into Ireland."
3. Debrett 1828, p. 640. "Theobald le Boteler on whom that office was conferred by King Henry II., 1177 ..."
4. Dunboyne 1968, pp. 16–17. "Butler Family Tree condensed"
5. Airy 1886, p. 53, line 2. "... the marriage took place on Christmas of the same year  ..."
6. Perceval-Maxwell 2004, p. 130, right column, line 3. "... between 1632 and 1646 Elizabeth ... gave birth to eight sons including Richard Butler, five of whom died as children, and two daughters."
7. Carte 1851, p. 384. "The marchioness of Ormond had landed in that country on June 23d , with her two sons and three daughters, and had taken up her residence at Caen."
8. House of Commons 1878, p. 615. "1662 / 20 Aug. / Lord John Butler vice Earl of Ossory, summoned by writ to the House of Peers. / ditto "
9. Goodwin 1908, p. x, line 23. "He was again in Ireland in 1671, apparently to assist his brother, who had obtained permission from the King to levy secretly a regiment of 1500 men in that country for the French service. A news-letter of the day (printed in the State Papers) records a gallant deed performed by him on the night of May 19, when a destructive fire broke out in the storehouse of Dublin Castle."
10. Ó Ciardha 2009, 2nd paragraph, 2nd sentence. "... he saved Dublin castle from total destruction during a fire by carrying out a barrel of gunpowder."
11. Cokayne 1892, p. 64, line 14. "He m. , Jan. 1674, Anne, da. and coheir of Arthur (Chichester) 1st Earl of Donegall ..."
12. Burke & Burke 1915, p. 1550, right column, line . "4. John, cr. Earl of Gowran 1676, m. Lady Anne Chichester, dau. of 1st Earl of Donegal, but d.s.p. 1677, when the dignity expired."
13. Cokayne 1892, p. 64, line 12. "... was, 13 April 1676, cr. Baron Aghim, co. Galway, Viscount Clonmore, co. Kilkenny, and Earl of Gowran ]"
14. Lodge 1789, p. 57, line 10. "... but his Lordship travelling to Paris for the recovery of his health, died there in August 1677, leaving no issue, whereby the titles ceased."
15. Cokayne 1892, p. 64, line 16. "He d. s.p. at Paris, Aug. 1677, when all his honours became extinct."

Sources

• Airy, Osmund (1886). "Butler, James, twelfth Earl and first Duke of Ormonde (1610–1688)". In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. VIII. New York: MacMillan and Co. pp. 52–60. OCLC 8544105.
• Burke, Bernard; Burke, Ashworth Peter (1915). A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Peerage and Baronetage, the Privy Council, Knightage and Companionage (77th ed.). London: Harrison. OCLC 1155471554.
• Carte, Thomas (1851) . The Life of James Duke of Ormond. Vol. III (New ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. OCLC 1086656347. – 1643 to 1660
• Cokayne, George Edward (1889). Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct, or Dormant. Vol. II (1st ed.). London: George Bell and Sons. – Bra to C (for Butler)
• Cokayne, George Edward (1892). Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct, or Dormant. Vol. IV (1st ed.). London: George Bell and Sons. OCLC 1180828941. – G to K (for Gowran)
• Cokayne, George Edward (1895). Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct, or Dormant. Vol. VI (1st ed.). London: George Bell and Sons. OCLC 1180818801. – N to R (for Ormond)
• Debrett, John (1828). Peerage of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Vol. I (17th ed.). London: F. C. and J. Rivington. OCLC 54499602. – England
• Dunboyne, Patrick Theobald Tower Butler, Baron (1968). Butler Family History (2nd ed.). Kilkenny: Rothe House.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Goodwin, Gordon (1908). "Introduction". In Goodwin, Gordon (ed.). Memoirs of Count Grammont. Vol. I. Edinburgh: John Grant. pp. vii–xxxii. OCLC 1048813157.
• House of Commons (1878). Return. Members of Parliament – Part II. Parliaments of Great Britain, 1705–1796. Parliaments of the United Kingdom, 1801–1874. Parliaments and Conventions of the Estates of Scotland, 1357–1707. Parliaments of Ireland, 1599–1800. London: His/Her Majesty's Stationery Office. OCLC 13112546.
• Lodge, John (1789). Archdall, Mervyn (ed.). The Peerage of Ireland or, A Genealogical History of the Present Nobility of that Kingdom. Vol. IV. Dublin: James Moore. OCLC 264906028. – Viscounts (for Mountgarrett)
• Ó Ciardha, Éamonn (October 2009). McGuire, James; Quinn, James (eds.). "Hamilton, Anthony (Antoine)". Dictionary of Irish Biography. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
• Perceval-Maxwell, Michael (2004). "Butler [née Preston] Elizabeth, duchess of Ormond and suo jure Lady Dingwall (1615–1684)". In Matthew, Henry Colin Gray.; Harrison, Brian (eds.). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 9. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 130–131. ISBN 0-19-861359-8. (for his mother)

• 1643 births
• 1677 deaths
• Butler dynasty
• Earls in the Peerage of Ireland
• Peers of Ireland created by Charles II
• Irish MPs 1661–1666
• Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for Dublin University
• Younger sons of dukes