Earl of Clanwilliam

Earl of Clanwilliam is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1776 for John Meade, 1st Viscount Clanwilliam. The Meade family descends from John Meade, who represented Dublin University and County Tipperary in the Irish House of Commons and served as Attorney-General to James, Duke of York. In 1703, he was created a Baronet, of Ballintubber in the County of Cork, in the Baronetage of Ireland. His eldest son, Pierce, the second Baronet, died unmarried at an early age and was succeeded by his younger brother Richard, the third Baronet. Richard represented Kinsale in the Irish Parliament.

He was succeeded by his son John, the fourth Baronet. He briefly represented Banagher in the Irish House of Commons. He married Theodosia, daughter and wealthy heiress of Robert Hawkins-Magill. Through this marriage the Gill Hall estate in Gilford in County Down came into the Meade family. In 1766 Meade was raised to the Peerage of Ireland as Baron Gillford, of the Manor of Gillford in the County of Down, and Viscount Clanwilliam, of the County of Tipperary. In 1776, he was further honoured when he was made Earl of Clanwilliam, also in the Peerage of Ireland. His grandson, the third Earl (who succeeded his father in 1805), was a prominent diplomat. Lord Clanwilliam was private secretary to and a close associate of Foreign Secretary Lord Castlereagh and also served as Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and as Ambassador to Prussia. In 1828 he was created Baron Clanwilliam, of Clanwilliam in the County of Tipperary, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.

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