Robert King, 1st Viscount Lorton
| The Viscount Lorton | |
|---|---|
| Member of Parliament for Boyle | |
|
In office 1798 – 1 January 1801 Serving with Henry King |
|
| Preceded by | Henry King |
| Member of Parliament for Jamestown | |
|
In office 1796–1798 Serving with Arthur Wolfe |
|
| Preceded by |
Arthur Wolfe Henry Wood |
| Succeeded by |
Gilbert King John King |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 12 August 1773 London, Kingdom of Great Britain |
| Died | 20 November 1854 (aged 81) Rockingham Castle, Northamptonshire, United Kingdom of Great Britain & Ireland |
| Resting place | Boyle, County Roscommon |
| Spouse(s) | Lady Frances Parsons |
| Relations | Margaret King (sister) |
| Parents |
Robert King, 2nd Earl of Kingston Caroline Fitzgerald |
| Alma mater |
Exeter College, Oxford Eton College |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |
 Kingdom of Great Britain
|
| Service/branch |
British Army
|
| Years of service | 1792-96 |
| Rank | General |
| Battles/wars |
|
General Robert Edward King, 1st Viscount Lorton (12 August 1773 – 20 November 1854), styled The Honourable from 1797 to 1800, was an Anglo-Irish peer and politician. He was notable for his strong support for anti-Catholic policies and his close association with the Orange Order.
Born in London at his parents' town house, he was the third child and second son of Robert King, 2nd Earl of Kingston by his wife, the heiress Caroline Fitzgerald. His mother's fortune (via her own mother) had made the Kings perhaps the richest family in Ireland for some time. His sister was Margaret King and one of the family governesses was Mary Wollstonecraft.
On 9 December 1799, he married his first cousin Lady Frances Parsons, daughter of Laurence Harman Parsons, 1st Earl of Rosse and Lady Jane King (herself a daughter of the first Earl of Kingston). They had several children together, including two sons and five daughters. The elder son succeeded to the earldom, after three cousins died childless or unmarried. The younger son founded the line of King-Harman, producing a family historian of the King family and their estates.
After a period of service in the army beginning 1792, Robert King achieved some notoriety when he was tried in April 1798 at the Cork Assizes for the murder of his illegitimate cousin (or maternal half-uncle) Colonel Henry Gerald FitzGerald, for seducing his sister. He was acquitted as no witnesses came forward. (His father was likewise acquitted by the Irish House of Lords). There was considerable sympathy for the King family, because Fitzgerald was raised by the Kings; his actions were thus severally discreditable, being viewed as gross ingratitude, a breach of family trust, incest, as well as simply dishonourable behaviour. For details of the story, Claire Tomalin's account in her biography of Mary Wollstonecraft is as good as any. Other accounts can be found online.[2][3] Tomalin believes Henry FitzGerald to have been an illegitimate son of Richard Fitzgerald MP (father of Caroline, and grandfather of Viscount Lorton); other accounts claim that he was in fact the illegitimate son of Caroline's half-brother Gerald Fitzgerald).[4]
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