William Willoughby Cole, 3rd Earl of Enniskillen

The Earl of Enniskillen
Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal
In office 1840 – 1886 Hereditary Peerage
Preceded by	John Cole
Succeeded by	Lowry Cole
Personal details
Born	25 January 1807
Died	21 November 1886
Occupation	Politician

}} The Rt. Hon. William Willoughby Cole, 3rd Earl of Enniskillen, FRS (25 January 1807 – 21 November 1886), known by his courtesy title of Viscount Cole from 1807 to 1840, was an Irish palaeontologist and Conservative Member of Parliament. He also served as the first Imperial Grand Master of the Orange Order from 1866 until his death. He was Grand Master of the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland from 1846 until his death.

Cole was born into the Ulster branch of 'the Ascendancy', the Anglo-Irish . He was the son of John Willoughby Cole, 2nd Earl of Enniskillen and his wife, Lady Charlotte Paget. The young Lord Cole was educated at Harrow and Christ Church, Oxford. In his youth he began to devote his leisure to the study and collection of fossil fishes, with his friend Sir Philip Grey Egerton, and he amassed a fine collection at Florence Court, his home just south-west of Enniskillen. This included many specimens that were described and figured by Agassiz and Egerton. This collection was subsequently acquired by the British Museum.

Lord Enniskillen was also involved in politics and represented (as Lord Cole) Fermanagh in the House of Commons between 1831 and 1840, when he succeeded his father, to become the third Earl, and entered the House of Lords as Baron Grinstead. In Dublin, he was a member of the Kildare Street Club.

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