Sir Stephen Edward De Vere, 4th Baronet (26 July 1812 – 10 November 1904) was an

Anglo-Irish Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the State rel ...

, Whig Party, Member of Parliament for

County Limerick County Limerick () is a western Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Reg ...

, who in the

Famine A famine is a widespread scarcity of food caused by several possible factors, including, but not limited to war, natural disasters, crop failure, widespread poverty, an Financial crisis, economic catastrophe or government policies. This phenom ...

year 1847 bore personal witness to the conditions aboard the "

coffin ship A coffin ship () is a popular idiom used to describe the ships that carried Irish migrants escaping the Great Irish Famine and Highlanders displaced by the Highland Clearances. Coffin ships carrying emigrants, crowded and disease-ridden, wit ...

s" that carried Irish emigrants to North America, and who converted to

Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

Biography

He was the second son of

Sir Aubrey de Vere, 2nd Baronet Sir Aubrey (Hunt) de Vere, 2nd Baronet (28 August 1788 – 5 July 1846) p. 2. was an Anglo-Irish poet and landowner. Biography De Vere was the son of Sir Vere Hunt, 1st Baronet and Eleanor Pery, daughter of William Pery, 1st Baron Glentworth ...

and Mary Spring Rice, and elder brother of the poet

Aubrey Thomas de Vere Aubrey Thomas de Vere (10 January 181420 January 1902) was an Irish poet and critic. Life Aubrey Thomas Hunt de Vere was born at Curraghchase House (now in ruins) at Curraghchase, Kilcornan, County Limerick, the third son of Sir Aubrey de Ve ...

. He had three sisters, although only one, Elinor, survived until adulthood. De Vere's other siblings were; Horatio, William and Vere Edmond. In 1847, he took passage in one of the infamous "

s" that transported Irish emigrants fleeing the Great Famine to

British North America British North America comprised the colonial territories of the British Empire in North America from 1783 onwards. English colonisation of North America began in the 16th century in Newfoundland, then further south at Roanoke and Jamestown, ...

and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, wanting to see for himself the horrendous conditions that were leading to the deaths of so many of these passengers. As a witness, his with his cousin

Vere Foster Vere Henry Louis Foster (or Lewis) (25 April 1819 – 21 December 1900) was an Anglo-Irish philanthropist, educationalist and freethought, free thinker. After following his Irish father into the His Majesty's Diplomatic Service, British diplomati ...

took a similar passage to New York in 1850. De Vere composed a withering report on his voyage now contained within ''The Elgin-Grey Papers''. When Colonial Secretary

Earl Grey Earl Grey is a title in the peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1806 for General Charles Grey, 1st Baron Grey. In 1801, he was given the title Baron Grey of Howick in the County of Northumberland, and in 1806 he was created Viscoun ...

read this report, he forwarded it to

Lord Elgin Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin and 11th Earl of Kincardine, ( ; 20 July 176614 November 1841), often known as Lord Elgin, was a Scottish nobleman, diplomat, and collector, known primarily for the controversial procurement of marble sculptures ...

Governor-General Governor-general (plural governors-general), or governor general (plural governors general), is the title of an official, most prominently associated with the British Empire. In the context of the governors-general and former British colonies, ...

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada () was a Province, part of The Canadas, British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the Province of Queb ...

and

Lower Canada The Province of Lower Canada () was a British colonization of the Americas, British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence established in 1791 and abolished in 1841. It covered the southern portion o ...

in the hope that these inhumane conditions could be improved. The Passenger Act 1847 ( 10 & 11 Vict. c. 103) made "coffin ships" illegal, though many still operated. De Vere became a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

in 1847, and defended the re-creation of the English Catholic hierarchy in 1851. He was a Whig Party MP for

from 1854 to 1859, and was appointed

High Sheriff of County Limerick The High Sheriff of Limerick was the British Crown's judicial representative in County Limerick, Ireland from the 13th century until 1922, when the office was abolished in the new Free State and replaced by the office of Limerick County Sheriff. ...

in 1870. Stephen Edward became 4th Baronet De Vere of Curragh in 1880 when his oldest brother, Vere Edmond, the 3rd Baronet, died with no male heir. With the title, Stephen inherited the

Curraghchase Forest Park Curraghchase is a forest park located in County Limerick. It is 20 km from the city of Limerick, between the towns of Adare and Askeaton. The land was the Hunt/de Vere family estate for 300 years (1657–1957), including the period of th ...

estate, in

. Before becoming the 4th Baronet, Stephen had built a smaller house in the 1850s on Foynes Island in the

River Shannon The River Shannon ( or archaic ') is the major river on the island of Ireland, and at in length, is the longest river in the British Isles. It drains the Shannon River Basin, which has an area of , – approximately one fifth of the area of I ...

, adjacent to the port town of

Foynes Foynes (; ) is a town and major port in County Limerick in the midwest of Ireland, located at the edge of hilly land on the southern bank of the Shannon Estuary. The population of the town was 512 as of the 2022 census. Foynes's role as sea ...

, less than from Curraghchase. There he wrote poems, political pamphlets and translated several editions of the works of

Horace Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 BC – 27 November 8 BC), Suetonius, Life of Horace commonly known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). Th ...

, considered by some as the best English translation of Horace's verses. He built a Gothic church in Foynes, and is buried beside it. On his death in 1904 the baronetcy became extinct. He never married and his estate, together with that of his unmarried brother Aubrey, went to their nephew Aubrey Vere O'Brien, while the Foynes Island farm went to their other nephew, Robert Vere O'Brien.

References

External links

* *
''Stephen de Vere in 'Writers - Non-Fiction' file at Limerick City Library, Ireland''
{{DEFAULTSORT:De vere, Stephen 1812 births 1904 deaths 19th-century Anglo-Irish people 4

Stephen Stephen or Steven is an English given name, first name. It is particularly significant to Christianity, Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; he is w ...

Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Limerick constituencies (1801–1922) Nobility from County Limerick UK MPs 1852–1857 UK MPs 1857–1859 Converts to Roman Catholicism High sheriffs of County Limerick Whig (British political party) MPs for Irish constituencies