William Ormsby-Gore, 2nd Baron Harlech


William Richard Ormsby-Gore, 2nd Baron Harlech, was an Anglo-Irish peer and Member of Parliament.

Biography

Lord Harlech was the younger son of William Ormsby-Gore and Mary Jane Ormsby. He was educated at Eton College and later purchased an Ensigncy in the 53rd Foot. He purchased a Lieutenancy in 1839 and exchanged into the 13th Light Dragoons in 1841, purchasing a Captaincy in 1846 and a Majority in 1852.
In the 1841 general election Ormsby-Gore was elected unopposed as a Conservative Party MP for County Sligo. In 1852 general election there was a contest for the seat and he was defeated by a nationalist-inclined Liberal candidate. He returned to Parliament in a by-election on 17 May 1858 as MP for Leitrim, a seat he held until 1876.
Ormsby-Gore bought an estate at Derrycarne near Dromod in County Leitrim and went on to rise to high office in the county: he became High Sheriff there for 1857, and was appointed as Lord Lieutenant of County Leitrim in 1878, which he remained until his death.
On 14 January 1876, Ormsby-Gore's elder brother John was created Baron Harlech. As he had no sons, the peerage was created with a special remainder to his younger brother, meaning that he was made heir presumptive of the peerage should the first Baron die without legitimate male heirs. This was an unusual procedure and it was determined at the time that the last such case had been 45 years before. As it happened, the first Baron died on 15 June 1876 and Ormsby-Gore became the second Baron Harlech.
Harlech was appointed by the Lord Lieutenant of Shropshire to be a Deputy Lieutenant of the county on 22 February 1882.

Marriage and children

Lord Harlech married Lady Emily Charlotte Seymour, daughter of Admiral Sir George Francis Seymour and sister of Francis Hugh George Seymour, 5th Marquess of Hertford, in 1850. They had six children:
Lord Harlech died on 26 June 1904, aged 85, and was succeeded in the barony by his eldest surviving son George.