Viscount Ashbrook is a title in the

Peerage of Ireland The peerage of Ireland consists of those Peerage, titles of nobility created by the English monarchs in their capacity as Lordship of Ireland, Lord or Monarchy of Ireland, King of Ireland, or later by monarchs of the United Kingdom of Great B ...

. It was created in 1751 for Henry Flower, 2nd Baron Castle Durrow. The title of Baron Castle Durrow, in the County of Kilkenny, had been created in the Peerage of Ireland in 1733 for his father William Flower. He was a Colonel in the Army and also represented

County Kilkenny County Kilkenny () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. It is named after the City status in Ir ...

and Portarlington in the

Irish House of Commons The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from 1297 until the end of 1800. The upper house was the Irish House of Lords, House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, ...

. He was praised by

Jonathan Swift Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 – 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish writer, essayist, satirist, and Anglican cleric. In 1713, he became the Dean (Christianity), dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, and was given the sobriquet "Dean Swi ...

as "a gentleman of very great sense and wit". , the titles are held by the eleventh Viscount, who succeeded his father in 1995. The family seat is

Arley Hall Arley Hall is a English country house, country house in the village of Arley, Cheshire, Arley, Cheshire, England, about south of Lymm and north of Northwich. It is home to the owner, Viscount Ashbrook, and his family. The house is a Grade&n ...

, near Arley,

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

. Until 1922, the principal seat of the family was Castle Durrow, near Durrow,

; in England they also owned Beaumont Lodge, near

Old Windsor Old Windsor is a village and civil parish, in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, in Berkshire, England. It is bounded by the River Thames to the east and the Windsor Great Park to the west. Etymology The name originates from old Eng ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

, and the manor of Shellingford in Shellingford,

(presently

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...

Barons Castle Durrow (1733)

William Flower, 1st Baron Castle Durrow William Flower, 1st Baron Castle Durrow PC (Ire) (11 March 1685 – 29 April 1746) was an Anglo-Irish peer and politician. Political career He sat as Member of Parliament (MP) for County Kilkenny from 1715 to 1727. Subsequently, he represe ...

(1685–1746) * Henry Flower, 2nd Baron Castle Durrow (died 1752) (created Viscount Ashbrook in 1751)

Viscounts Ashbrook (1751)

* Henry Flower, 1st Viscount Ashbrook (died 1752) *

William Flower, 2nd Viscount Ashbrook William Flower, 2nd Viscount Ashbrook (25 June 1744 – 30 August 1780) was an Anglo-Irish peer. The only son of Henry Flower, the 1st Viscount Ashbrook and Elizabeth Tatton, daughter of Lieutenant-General William Tatton William Tatton ...

(1744–1780) * William Flower, 3rd Viscount Ashbrook (1767–1802) buried at Shellingford * Henry Jeffrey Flower, 4th Viscount Ashbrook (1776–1847) * Henry Jeffrey Flower, 5th Viscount Ashbrook (1806–1871) * Henry Jeffrey Flower, 6th Viscount Ashbrook (1829–1882) * William Spencer Flower, 7th Viscount Ashbrook (1830–1906) * Robert Thomas Flower, 8th Viscount Ashbrook (1836–1919) * Llowarch Robert Flower, 9th Viscount Ashbrook (1870–1936) * Desmond Llowarch Edward Flower, 10th Viscount Ashbrook (1905–1995) * Michael Llowarch Warburton Flower, 11th Viscount Ashbrook (b. 1935) The

heir apparent An heir apparent is a person who is first in the order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person. A person who is first in the current order of succession but could be displaced by the birth of a more e ...

is the present holder's son Hon. Rowland Francis Warburton Flower (b. 1975)
The heir apparent's heir apparent is his son Benjamin Warburton Flower (b. 2006).

Ancestry

Notes

References

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

Bibliography

Godson, Julie Ann, "The Water Gypsy. How a Thames fishergirl became a viscountess" (FeedARead.com, 2014). A biography of Betty Ridge (1745–1808) who married William Flower, 2nd Viscount Ashbrook (1744–1780), and history of the Ridge and Flower families

External links

Arley HallHistory of Castle Durrow
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashbrook Viscountcies in the Peerage of Ireland Noble titles created in 1751