George Bourchier (Elizabethan soldier)
Sir George Bourchier (c.1535–1605) English soldier who fought and settled in Ireland. Member of the Privy Council of Ireland, Member of the Irish Parliament.
George Bourchier was the third son of the 2nd Earl of Bath by his wife Eleanor. He went to western Ireland as a captain in 1570 and remained there throughout the Desmond Rebellions; in 1573 he was seized by James FitzMaurice FitzGerald, he was surrendered after Essex met the Earl of Desmond near Waterford that July; he was knighted by Sir William Drury, Lord Justice of Ireland, in September 1579. He continued to command forces, and was elected Member for King's County 1585–86; was Master of the Ordnance (Ireland) 1592; a Privy Councillor (Ireland); and was sometime High Commissioner for Ecclesiastical Causes. He died on 24 September 1605.
In 1589 he was granted 12,800 acres (52 km2) of county Limerick.
He was one of the seven signatories of a letter from the Irish Executive to the Privy Council in England (dated 4 November 1591) which inclosed the petition of the Mayor and Corporation of Dublin offering the 28-acre (110,000 m2) All Hallows site for the foundation of a university (S.P.O., Ireland, Elizabeth vol. 1611–8). Trinity College Dublin was subsequently founded on 3 March 1592. He is listed, 11 March 1591/2, as an original Founder and Benefactor having donated £30, twice.
George Bourchier married Martha Howard (c. 1555–1598), daughter of William, 1st Lord Howard of Effingham by Margaret Gamage. Her brother was the Lord High Admiral Charles Lord Howard of Effingham.
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