BLESINGTON— BLESSINGTON. 363 Earldom [I.] 1. "V illiam (Stewart), Viscount Mountjoy and Baron i i - i r, Stewart of Ram ALTOS [I.], as also a Baronet [I.], was, on 7 Dee. 1745. L cr, EARL OF BLESINGTON, co. Wicklow [1]. He was only surv. s. J„ q and h. of William, Viscount Matnmov [1.], by Anne, da. of Murrougli 1 / O J. (Boyle), 1st VlSCOUNT Blesinutox [I.], sister and eventually sole h. of the 2nd and last Viscount abovenamed. He was b. 7 April 1709, sue. his Father as Viscount Monutjoy, &C, 10 Jan. 1727, and, having inherited the estates of his maternal ancestors, was cr. an Earl [I.] in 1745 as above stated ; P.O. [I.] 174S. Gov. of co. Tyrono. He m. 10 .(an. 1733, Eleanor, da. and h. of Robert FitzGerald of Castle Dod, eo. Cork, Prime .Serjeant at Law. lied, in Charles street, Berkeley sq.,Midx. 14 Aug 1709, when all his Peerage dignities became extinct ; the Baronetcy [!.]. cr. 10 April 1623, devolving on a distant cousin and h. male, Sir Annesley Stewart, Bart. [I.]. His widow d. 1 Oct. 1771 in Berkeley so,., Midx., at an advanced age. Will pr. Oct. 1771. [William Stewaiit, 1st s. and h. ap., styled Viscount Mountjoy, b. 14 March 1734; rf. umn. v. j). 2 Feb. 1751 at Paris.] II. 1810, 1. Charles John (Gardiner.), Viscount Mountjoy and to Baron Mc>ustjoy[1.], was.on 22 Jan. 1816 «•. EARL OF BLESINGTON^) 18:29. [!•] Ho was 2nd but 1st surv. s. and h. of Luke, Viscount Mountjoy [I.], by his 1st wife Elizabeth, 1st da. of Sir William Montgomery, Barf. [S.], was b. 19 July 17S2, Site, his Father as Viscount Mountjoy, &c, 5 June 1798, was Gov. of "the co. of Tyrone ; Rei Peer. [1.], 1S09-29 ; and, was cr. an Earl [I.] in 1816 as above stated. He m. firstly, 11 July 1812, Mary Campbell, widow of Major William Browne. She, who was b. 17S0, d.{ h ) 19 Sep. 1814 at St. Germain's, France. He m. secondly, 10 Feb. 1S18, at St. Mary's, Bryanston sq., Marylebouo, Margaret, widow of Maurice St. Leger Farmer, Capt. 47th Regt. (to whom she was m. 7 March 1804 in her 15th year, and who d. 21 Oct. 1817 in the King's Bench prison), 2nd da. of Edmund Power of Carragheen and Clonea, co. Waterford, by Ellen, da. of Edmund SiiEHHv, eo. Tipperary. ( u ) He d. s.p.m. 25 May 1829 from apoplexy at the Hotel Marochal-Ncy, Paris, when all his l'ccrwjc dignities became extinct. <l ) Will pr. May 1S30. His widow, who was b. at Knockbrit, near Channel, eo. Tipperary, 1 Sep. 17S9, was well-known as an aitthoress,(' ! ) a wit, a beauty, and a leader of the fashion, both at her husband's house, No. 11, St. James's square, 1818-22; at her own house in Seamore Place (1S31-35), and at Gore House, Kensington (1836-1849). She s.p. 4 June 1S49 from apoplexy in the Rue du Cilcle, Champs Elysees, Paris, where she had retired the 14 April previous to avoid arrest fur debt. She was bur. at Chambourcy, near St. Germain-en-Laye. Adman. Aug. 181!) and Dec. IS'.O. (") His Lordship's Grandfather, the lit. Hon. Charles Gardiner, on the demise, in 1709, of William (Stewart), 3rd Viscount Mountjoy and 1st Earl of P.lesingtou [LI inherited the estates of the Stewart family in right of his mother, Anne, only child of the Hon. Alexander Stewart, 2nd s. of William, 1ft Viscount Mountjoy [I.] This, however, did not involve any descent from nay previous Peer of the name of Blesington, the only connection of the Stewart family therewith having been thro' the wife of William (Stewart) Sad Viscount Mountjoy [I.]. ( b ) Harriet Anne Frances, the only surv. child of this marriage, 6. 5 Aug. 1812, »t. firstly at Naples (at the age of 15) 1 Dee. 1S27, Alfred, Count D'Orsay, from whom, but a few months afterwards, she was separated. He, so well-known as an amateur artist and an ho»»,ic d'c.yirit, d. 1 Aug. 1S-32. She m. secondly, on the 1st of the following month the Hon. Charles Spencer Cooper, but d. 17 Dec. 1809, s.p.s. C) The Blessingtoiis were intimate acquaintances of Lord Byron at Genoa in "823 who wrote one of the last of his minor poems for the Countess. () The extinction was one of those used according to the Act of Union [I.] for the creation of the Barony of Talbot [1.] 28 May 1831. (°) Among her most successful works are " The Idler in Italy," 3 vols., 1S39-40 ; "The Idler in France," 1S41 ; "Confessions of an Elderly Gentleman," 1836, &c. She is said to have earned an income of between £2,000 and £3,000 a year for nearly twenty years, but this and her jointure of £2,000 a year, was not equal to her expenditure. The auction of her effects at Gore House, 10 May 1S49 less than a month before her death, realised some £12,000 towards their payment.
