Viscount Ashbrook is a title in the

Peerage of Ireland The Peerage of Ireland consists of those titles of nobility created by the English monarchs in their capacity as Lord or King of Ireland, or later by monarchs of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It is one of the five divi ...

. It was created in 1751 for Captain 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 William Flower may refer to: *William Flower (officer of arms) (c. 1498–1588), herald, Norroy King of Arms in the reign of Elizabeth I of England *William Flower (martyr), burnt 1555 during the Marian Persecutions *William Flower, 1st Baron Castl ...

. He was a

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 ...

in the Army and also represented

County Kilkenny County Kilkenny ( gle, Contae Chill Chainnigh) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the South-East Region. It is named after the city of Kilkenny. Kilkenny County Council is the local authority for the ...

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 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 ...

. He was praised by

Jonathan Swift Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 – 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish satirist, author, essayist, political pamphleteer (first for the Whigs, then for the Tories), poet, and Anglican cleric who became Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, ...

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

Arley Arley may refer to: Places England * Arley, Cheshire, a village ** Arley Hall, Cheshire * Arley, Warwickshire, a village * Upper Arley, a village in Worcestershire ** Arley railway station, on the Severn Valley Railway United States * Arley, Alab ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's coun ...

. The family also previously owned

Castle Durrow Castle Durrow is an 18th-century country house in Durrow, County Laois, Ireland. The house was built in the pre-Palladian design and formal gardens that were popular in the 18th century. History The house was built between 1712-1716 by Colonel ...

, near Durrow, County Laois,

Beaumont Lodge Beaumont College was between 1861 and 1967 a public school in Old Windsor in Berkshire. Founded and run by the Society of Jesus, it offered a Roman Catholic public school education in rural surroundings, while lying, like the neighbouring Eton ...

, near

Old Windsor Old Windsor is a large 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 ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Be ...

, and an estate at Abercynrig,

Brecon Brecon (; cy, Aberhonddu; ), archaically known as Brecknock, is a market town in Powys, mid Wales. In 1841, it had a population of 5,701. The population in 2001 was 7,901, increasing to 8,250 at the 2011 census. Historically it was the coun ...

Powys Powys (; ) is a Local government in Wales#Principal areas, county and Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county in Wales. It is named after the Kingdom of Powys which was a Welsh succession of states, successor state, petty kingdom and princi ...

, which passed to them by inheritance from the Jeffreys family of

Barons Castle Durrow (1733)

* William Flower, 1st Baron Castle Durrow (1685–1746) *

Henry Flower, 2nd Baron Castle Durrow Henry may refer to: People * Henry (given name) * Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portugal ...

(died 1752) (created Viscount Ashbrook in 1751)

Viscounts Ashbrook (1751)

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

William Flower, 2nd Viscount Ashbrook William is a masculine given name of Norman French origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conqu ...

(1744–1780) *

William Flower, 3rd Viscount Ashbrook William is a masculine given name of Norman French origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conqu ...

(1767–1802) buried at Shellingford *

Henry Jeffrey Flower, 4th Viscount Ashbrook Henry may refer to: People *Henry (given name) *Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portugal ...

(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 Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name "Michael" * Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian and ...

(b. 1935) The

heir apparent An heir apparent, often shortened to heir, is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person; a person who is first in the order of succession but can be displaced by the b ...

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