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Peter Browne, 2nd Earl of Altamont

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Peter Browne, 2nd Earl of Altamont
Portrait by Joseph Hone
Member of the Parliament of Ireland
In office
1761–1768

Peter Browne, 2nd Earl of Altamont (c. 1731 – 28 December 1780) was an Anglo-Irish landowner, absentee slaveholder and MP.

He was the son of John Browne, 1st Earl of Altamont, and Anne Gore. He was involved in organising the construction of the town of Westport, County Mayo with the architect William Leeson.

Marriage and Estates

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He married Elizabeth Kelly (1732-1765) on 16 April 1752. She was the daughter of Denis Kelly, former Chief Justice of Jamaica and his wife Priscilla Halstead. Elizabeth was the only legitimate child and heiress of Denis Kelly.[1] The Jamaican slave plantations as well as the Lisduff and Spring Garden estates, both in the civil parish of Tynagh, Barony of Leitrim (County Galway) thus passed into the ownership of the Browne family. The couple took up residence at Mount Browne, a few miles from Westport.

Elizabeth Kelly, 2nd Countess of Altamont

He adopted the additional surname of Kelly. Elizabeth Browne Kelly died at Mount Browne on 2 August 1765, aged thirty-three.

The townland of Lisduff exceeds 264 acres while the townland of Spring Garden exceeds 275 acres.[2]

The Lisduff estate was acquired from Denis Kelly's brother, Edmond Kelly. The estate was enlarged by land purchases in the townland of Drumatober (also in the Barony of Leitrim, Abbeygormacan civil parish) and Garrancarf in 1749, and of the lands of Cormickoge from John Burke in 1750.[3]

Elizabeth Kelly's half-sister, Priscilla Kelly, married Robert Cooper Lee, Crown Solicitor-General of Jamaica. Their daughter, Favell Bourke Lee, married David Bevan, a British banker of Barclay, Bevan, Bennin, Tritton (forerunners of Barclays Bank DCO). This united several aristocratic families of Britain.[citation needed]

Peter Browne was elected Member of Parliament for Mayo in the Parliament of Ireland for 1761 to 1768.[4]

Issue

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Illegitimate issue

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References

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  1. ^ Lodge, John, "The peerage of Ireland: or, A genealogical history of the present nobility of that Kingdom", Volume 3, p 275, Dublin, 1789.
  2. ^ "Ordnance Survey Ireland, historical mpas, Lisduff townland". Archived from the original on 29 August 2012. Retrieved 28 April 2011.
  3. ^ Lisduff Estate, landedestates.ie. Accessed 6 January 2023.
  4. ^ "Biographies of Members of the Irish Parliament 1692-1800". Ulster Historical Foundation. Retrieved 22 June 2014.
  5. ^ "Ireland" The Times (London, England), Monday, 25 July 1842; pg. 3; Issue 18044
  6. ^ ‘Death of the Dean of Ferns’ The Standard (London, England), Monday, 25 July 1842; Issue 5629.
  7. ^ Westport Estate Papers, National Library of Ireland
  8. ^ The Brownes of Westport House: Aristocracy, Politics and the Exercise of Power in County Mayo: 1780-1830, Gordon Kennedy (Ph.D. thesis, Dublin City University, 2009), p. 17
Parliament of Ireland
Preceded by Member of Parliament for County Mayo
1761 – 1768
With: Sir Charles Bingham, 7th Bt
Succeeded by
Peerage of Ireland
Preceded by Earl of Altamont
1776 – 1780
Succeeded by