Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge ...

Edward James Saunderson (1 October 183721 October 1906) was an Anglo-Irish landowner and prominent

Irish unionist Unionism is a political tradition on the island of Ireland that favours political union with Great Britain and professes loyalty to the British Crown and constitution. As the overwhelming sentiment of Ireland's Protestant minority, fol ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

. He led the

Irish Unionist Alliance The Irish Unionist Alliance (IUA), also known as the Irish Unionist Party, Irish Unionists or simply the Unionists, was a unionist political party founded in Ireland in 1891 from a merger of the Irish Conservative Party and the Irish Loyal and P ...

between 1891 and 1906.

Early life

Edward James Saunderson, Vanity Fair, 1887-02-26

Saunderson was born at the family seat of

Castle Saunderson Castle Saunderson ( ga, Caisleán Shandarsan) is a castle near Belturbet in County Cavan, Ireland. It was the former family seat of the Saunderson family, and is now in ruins. The Finn River flows along the north-eastern edge of the Castle Sau ...

, near

Belturbet Belturbet (; ) is a town in County Cavan, Ireland. It lies on the N3 road, around north of Cavan town and from Dublin. It is also located around south of the border with Northern Ireland, between the counties of Cavan and Fermanagh, and fr ...

County Cavan County Cavan ( ; gle, Contae an Chabháin) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Ulster and is part of the Border Region. It is named after the town of Cavan and is based on the historic Gaelic territory of East Breffny (''Bréifn ...

. He was the younger son of Colonel

Alexander Saunderson Colonel Alexander Saunderson (1783–1857) was a Whig MP for Cavan 1826–1831. He was a landed gentleman with 12,000 acres. Although from the Protestant planter tradition, he supported Catholic Emancipation. Alexander Saunderson was a ke ...

, who served as the

Tory A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. The ...

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house ...

(MP) for

Cavan Cavan ( ; ) is the county town of County Cavan in Ireland. The town lies in Ulster, near the border with County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland. The town is bypassed by the main N3 road that links Dublin (to the south) with Enniskillen, Ba ...

, and

The Hon. ''The Honourable'' ( British English) or ''The Honorable'' (American English; see spelling differences) (abbreviation: ''Hon.'', ''Hon'ble'', or variations) is an honorific style that is used as a prefix before the names or titles of certa ...

Sarah Juliana Maxwell. His maternal grandfather was

Henry Maxwell, 6th Baron Farnham The Reverend Henry Maxwell, 6th Baron Farnham (1774 – 19 October 1838) was an Irish peer and Church of Ireland clergyman who reputedly used his prerogatives as landlord to induce his distressed tenants to abandon their Catholic faith and take ...

. The Irish Saundersons were a 17th-century branch of an old family, originally from

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county * Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...

; a

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershir ...

branch, the Saundersons of Saxby, held the titles of Viscount Castleton (

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

: created 1628) and

Baron Saunderson The title Earl Castleton, of Sandbeck in the County of York, was created in the Peerage of Great Britain in 1720 for the 6th Viscount Castleton, who had previously been created Baron Saunderson, of Saxby in the County of Lincoln, in 1714, and ...

(

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English ...

: created 1714) up to 1723. Saunderson was educated abroad, mostly in

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...

by private tutors, and inherited his father's

estates following his death in 1857.

Career

Saunderson was first elected to the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the Parliamentary sovereignty in the United Kingdom, supreme Legislature, legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of We ...

as the Palmerstonian

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

member for Cavan in 1865. In 1869, he became a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

. Other than opposing the disestablishment of the Irish church in 1869, he otherwise gave little sign of political interest or activity at this stage. Saunderson lost his seat to the

Home Rule League The Home Rule League (1873–1882), sometimes called the Home Rule Party, was an Irish political party which campaigned for home rule for Ireland within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, until it was replaced by the Irish Par ...

candidates,

Joseph Biggar Joseph Gillis Biggar (c. 1828 – 19 February 1890), commonly known as Joe Biggar D.D. Sheehan, Ireland Since Parnell', London: Daniel O'Connor, 1921. or J. G. Biggar, was an Irish nationalist politician from Belfast. He served as an MP in the ...

and

Charles Joseph Fay Charles Joseph Fay, MP, JP (''ca.'' 1842 – 1895), was an Irish politician. Initially a Liberal, he was the Home Rule League MP for Cavan, elected for 1874 and 1880 holding his seat until the constituency was abolished in 1885. In January, 1 ...

, at the 1874 general election. In 1885, he stood again for Parliament and was elected as a Conservative for the North Armagh constituency. By this stage, he had become a prominent figure in the

Orange Order The Loyal Orange Institution, commonly known as the Orange Order, is an international Protestant fraternal order based in Northern Ireland and primarily associated with Ulster Protestants, particularly those of Ulster Scots people, Ulster Sco ...

and in the unionist political movement. He retained his North Armagh seat in the 1886 election. He was subsequently involved in organising the establishment of the

(IUA), a political party which sought to unite the unionist movement across Ireland. He became the IUA's first leader in 1891, a position which he held until his death. Saunderson became known for his uncompromising speeches in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

, and he was nicknamed "the Dancing Dervish" by friends and opponents. He was invested as a member of Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council in 1898 in recognition of his political service. Saunderson had entered the Cavan militia (4th battalion Royal Irish Fusiliers) in 1862, and was made a major in 1875. He became a colonel in 1886 and was in command of the battalion from 1891 to 1893. In March 1893, Saunderson was one of the signatories of the manifesto of the Ulster Defence Union, launched to organise resistance to the

Second Home Rule Bill The Government of Ireland Bill 1893 (known generally as the Second Home Rule Bill) was the second attempt made by Liberal Party leader William Ewart Gladstone, as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, to enact a system of home rule for Ireland. ...

of 1893. He was a Justice of the Peace and Deputy Lieutenant for Cavan, and was appointed

High Sheriff of Cavan The High Sheriff of Cavan was the British Crown's judicial representative in County Cavan, Ireland from the 16th century until 1922, when the office was abolished in the new Free State and replaced by the office of Cavan County Sheriff. The sherif ...

in 1859. He served as the grand master of the Orange Order lodge in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingd ...

from 1901 to 1903.

Personal life

On 22 June 1865 he married

Helena Emily de Moleyns, a daughter of

Thomas de Moleyns, 3rd Baron Ventry Thomas Townsend Aremberg de Moleyns, 3rd Baron Ventry (born Mullins) (January 1786 – 18 January 1868), was an Anglo-Irish soldier and nobleman. He was the son of Townsend Mullins, the second son of The 1st Baron Ventry, and his second wife ...

and the former Eliza Theodora Blake (a daughter of

Sir John Blake, 11th Baronet ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only a ...

).'Obituary: Mrs Saunderson', ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ...

'', 20 January 1926 Together the couple had four sons (two of whom were

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gur ...

officers) and a daughter, including: * Rosa Sarah Saunderson (1867–1952), who married Maj. Henry Nugent Head, a son of Henry Haswell Head, in 1892. * Somerset Francis Saunderson (1868–1927), who married Marie Satterfield, a daughter of John M. Satterfield, and former wife of Count Franz Joseph von Larisch. * Armar Dayrolles Saunderson (1872–1952), who married Anne Mills Archbold, a daughter of

John Dustin Archbold John Dustin Archbold (July 26, 1848 – December 6, 1916) was an American businessman and one of the United States' earliest oil refiners. His small oil company was bought out by John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil Company. Archbold rose rapidl ...

, in 1906. They divorced and he married Mrs. Rose Hogg (d. 1955) of Bagnor Manor, in 1922. * John Vernon Saunderson (1878–1960), who married Hon. Eva Norah Helen Mulholland, a daughter of

Henry Mulholland, 2nd Baron Dunleath Henry Lyle Mulholland, 2nd Baron Dunleath (30 January 1854 – 22 March 1931), was an Irish Conservative Member of Parliament. Early life Dunleath was the second son of John Mulholland, 1st Baron Dunleath and the former Frances Louisa Lyle (d. ...

, in 1910. In his private life, Saunderson was well known as a keen

yacht A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a , as opposed to a , such a pleasu ...

sman, and his character was deeply marked by stern religious feeling. He was a devout

Evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual exp ...

Anglican. He died of pneumonia in 1906. In 1910, a statue, erected by public subscription, was unveiled at

Portadown Portadown () is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The town sits on the River Bann in the north of the county, about southwest of Belfast. It is in the Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council area and had a population of a ...

Descendants

In 1947, his grandson, Alexander Saunderson (1917–2004), married Princess Louise (''

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth ...

'' Louise Astor Van Alen), great-granddaughter of

Titanic victim A total of 2,208 people sailed on the maiden voyage of the RMS ''Titanic'', the second of the White Star Line's ''Olympic''-class ocean liners, from Southampton, England, to New York City. Partway through the voyage, the ship struck an icebe ...

John Jacob Astor IV John Jacob Astor IV (July 13, 1864 – April 15, 1912) was an American business magnate, real estate developer, investor, writer, lieutenant colonel in the Spanish–American War, and a prominent member of the Astor family. He died in the sinki ...

, and the ex-wife of two different Georgian Mdivani princes. They remained married until her death in 1998. Through his daughter Rosa, he was a grandfather of Col. Henry William Nugent Head (1898–1964), who married Ruth M. Kresge, daughter of American chain store executive

Sebastian S. Kresge Sebastian Spering Kresge (July 31, 1867 – October 18, 1966) was an American businessman. He created and owned two chains of department stores, the S. S. Kresge Company, one of the 20th century's largest discount retail organizations, and the ...

. A prominent sportsman, in 1928 he hunted with

Theodore Theodore may refer to: Places * Theodore, Alabama, United States * Theodore, Australian Capital Territory * Theodore, Queensland, a town in the Shire of Banana, Australia * Theodore, Saskatchewan, Canada * Theodore Reservoir, a lake in Saskatche ...

and

Kermit Roosevelt Kermit Roosevelt MC (October 10, 1889 – June 4, 1943) was an American businessman, soldier, explorer, and writer. A son of Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th President of the United States, Kermit graduated from Harvard College, served in both Wor ...

, who was his best man at his wedding to Ruth in 1933.

Bibliography

Reginald Lucas Reginald Jaffray Lucas (1865 – 9 May 1914) was a British historian and Conservative Party politician. He was the son of Sir Thomas Lucas, 1st Baronet, decade at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge. He was private secretary to two Unionist ...

, ''Memoir'' (1908). * "Col. Saunderson Dead.", ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', 22 October 1906.

References

External links

*
Edward James Saunderson (1837-1906), Politician; Lord Lieutenant of Cavan
at the

National Portrait Gallery, London The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London housing a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. It was arguably the first national public gallery dedicated to portraits in the world when it ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saunderson, Edward James 1837 births 1906 deaths 19th-century Anglo-Irish people British Militia officers Irish Conservative Party MPs High Sheriffs of Cavan Irish Unionist Party MPs Irish Liberal Party MPs Irish justices of the peace Lord-Lieutenants of Cavan Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Politicians from County Cavan Royal Irish Fusiliers officers UK MPs 1865–1868 UK MPs 1868–1874 UK MPs 1885–1886 UK MPs 1886–1892 UK MPs 1892–1895 UK MPs 1895–1900 UK MPs 1900–1906 Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Cavan constituencies (1801–1922) Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Armagh constituencies (1801–1922) Leaders of political parties in the United Kingdom