Wentworth Dillon, 4th Earl of Roscommon

Wentworth Dillon, 4th Earl of Roscommon (c. 1633 – 18 January 1685), was an English poet.

Dillon was born in Ireland about 1633, the only son of James Dillon, 3rd Earl of Roscommon and Elizabeth Wentworth. He was a nephew of Thomas Wentworth, Earl of Strafford, and was educated partly under a tutor at Wentworth Woodhouse, his uncle's family seat in Yorkshire, partly at Caen in Normandy and partly at Rome. His father was killed accidentally in 1649: according to family tradition Wentworth exclaimed "My father is dead!" at the moment it happened, two weeks before the news could have reached him.

After the Restoration he returned to England, and was well received at court. In 1649 he had succeeded to the Earldom of Roscommon, which had been created in 1622 for his great-grandfather, James Dillon; and he was now put in possession by an act of the Irish Parliament of all the lands possessed by his family before the Civil War. As Captain of the Gentlemen Pensioners he found abundant opportunity to indulge the love of gambling, which appears to have been his only vice. He fought a number of duels, but unlike his uncle Carey, later the 5th Earl, he is not known to have killed any of his opponents. Disputes with the Lord Robartes, the Lord Privy Seal about his Irish estates necessitated his presence in Ireland, where he gave proof of some eloquence in debate, and of some business capacity. On his return to London he was made Master of the Horse to the Duchess of York. He was twice married, in 1662 to Lady Frances Boyle, daughter of Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Burlington, and widow of Colonel Francis Courtenay, and in 1674 to Isabella Boynton, who outlived him and died in 1721. He had no issue by either marriage.

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