The Rt Hon. Somerset Henry Maxwell, 10th Baron Farnham (7 March 1849 – 22 November 1900), was an

Irish representative peer This is a list of representative peers elected from the Peerage of Ireland to sit in the British House of Lords after the Kingdom of Ireland was brought into union with the Kingdom of Great Britain. No new members were added to the House after ...

and a Nova Scotia baronet.

Biography

He was the son of Richard Thomas Maxwell, and grandson of The 6th Baron Farnham. He married

Lady ''Lady'' is a term for a woman who behaves in a polite way. Once used to describe only women of a high social class or status, the female counterpart of lord, now it may refer to any adult woman, as gentleman can be used for men. "Lady" is al ...

Florence Jane Taylour, daughter of The 3rd Marquess of Headfort and Amelia Thompson, on 5 August 1875. He was Captain and Honorary Major of the 4th Battalion of the Princess Victoria's Royal Irish Fusiliers and sometime Lieutenant of the 98th Regiment. In November 1880, he led a relief force of Orangemen from

County Cavan County Cavan ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is part of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Cavan and is based on the hi ...

to save the harvest of Captain Boycott of Lough Mask House,

County Mayo County Mayo (; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, it is named after the village of Mayo, County Mayo, Mayo, now ge ...

, who was being ostracised by the local Catholic community. This brought about the creation of the Property Defence Association to protect the livelihoods of landowners. On his uncle James' death, he succeeded on 26 October 1896 as The 10th

Baron Farnham Baron Farnham, of Farnham in the County of Cavan, is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1756 for John Maxwell, who had previously represented Cavan Borough in the Irish House of Commons. John Maxwell's son, the second Baron, w ...

and 13th Baronet of Calderwood. He 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 ...

for 1877 and

Lord Lieutenant of Cavan This is a list of people who have served as Lord-Lieutenant of Cavan. There were lieutenants of counties in Ireland until the reign of James II, when they were renamed governors. The office of Lord Lieutenant was recreated on 23 August 1831, an ...

in 1900, but died soon afterwards on 22 November 1900. In his will, Lord Farnham bequeathed the articles in the museum at Farnham in trust to the

Royal Dublin Society The Royal Dublin Society (RDS) () is an Irish philanthropic organisation and members club which was founded as the 'Dublin Society' on 25 June 1731 with the aim to see Ireland thrive culturally and economically. It was long active as a learned ...

, and his astronomical telescope in trust for uses in the interest of astronomical science. Lord Farnham was succeeded by his son Arthur Maxwell, after his eldest son Barry Maxwell had been killed in a cycling accident.

Notes

References

*Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990. (), * * *

External links

Cavan County Museum – The Farnham Gallery

1849 births 1900 deaths Irish representative peers Lord-lieutenants of Cavan High sheriffs of Cavan 10 {{Ireland-baron-stub