Hercules Rowley, 2nd Viscount Langford (29 October 1737 – 24 March 1796), styled The Honourable Hercules Rowley between 1766 and 1791, was an Irish politician. Rowley was the son of

Hercules Rowley Hercules Rowley (1679 – 19 September 1742) was an Anglo-Irish politician. Early life He was the only son of Sir John Rowley who was knighted for his services at the time of the Restoration and the former Mary Langford eldest daughter and heir ...

and Elizabeth Upton, 1st Viscountess Langford.thepeerage.com Hercules Rowley Rowley
/ref> At the

1783 Irish general election General elections were held in the Kingdom of Ireland in 1783, the first after the passing of the series of constitutional legal changes known as the Constitution of 1782, which lifted the substantial legal restrictions on the Irish parliament. ...

, he was returned to the

Irish House of Commons The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from 1297 until 1800. The upper house was the House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, but on a highly restrictive fr ...

for both

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, ) is one of six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and has a population o ...

and

Downpatrick Downpatrick () is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is on the Lecale peninsula, about south of Belfast. In the Middle Ages, it was the capital of the Dál Fiatach, the main ruling dynasty of Ulaid. Its cathedral is said to be th ...

. He chose to sit for County Antrim, a seat he held until 1791 when he succeeded his mother in the viscountcy and entered the

Irish House of Lords The Irish House of Lords was the upper house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from medieval times until 1800. It was also the final court of appeal of the Kingdom of Ireland. It was modelled on the House of Lords of England, with mem ...

. He was also elected for

Longford Longford () is the county town of County Longford in Ireland. It has a population of 10,008 according to the 2016 census. It is the biggest town in the county and about one third of the county's population lives there. Longford lies at the meet ...

in 1783 and 1790, but again chose to sit for County Antrim. Lord Langford died unmarried in March 1796, aged 58. The viscountcy died with him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Langford, Hercules Rowley, 1st Viscount 1737 births 1796 deaths Viscounts in the Peerage of Ireland Irish MPs 1783–1790 Irish MPs 1790–1797 Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Antrim constituencies Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Longford constituencies Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Down constituencies