Robert Rochfort, 1st Earl of Belvedere

Robert Rochfort, 1st Earl of Belvedere PC (I) (26 March 1708 – 13 November 1774) was an Anglo-Irish politician and peer. He became notorious for his abusive treatment of his second wife, Mary.

He was the son of Rt. Hon. George Rochfort, son of Robert Rochfort, and Lady Elizabeth Moore, daughter of Henry Hamilton-Moore, 3rd Earl of Drogheda.

He sat in the Irish House of Commons as the Member of Parliament for Westmeath between 1731 and 1738.^[1] On 16 March 1738 he was raised to the Peerage of Ireland as Baron Belfield and assumed his seat in the Irish House of Lords, quickly becoming a favourite in the court of George II of Great Britain. On 12 December 1749 he was made a member of the Privy Council of Ireland. On 5 October 1751 he was made Viscount Belfield, and he was further honoured when he was created Earl of Belvedere on 29 November 1756.^[2] Lord Belfield held the office of Muster Master-General of Ireland between 1754 and his death in 1774.

He commissioned the construction of Belvedere House and Gardens in 1740.

Marriages

He married, firstly, Elizabeth Tenison, daughter of Richard Tenison and Margaret Barton, on 16 December 1731. He married, secondly, Hon. Mary Molesworth, daughter of Field Marshal Richard Molesworth, 3rd Viscount Molesworth and Jane Lucas, on 7 August 1736.

Despite his fairly rapid rise at court and in politics, Rochfort is probably most well remembered for his treatment of his second wife Mary, who he married in 1736 when he was 28 and she 16. Around 1743, he heard rumours that Mary had been unfaithful to him with his brother, Arthur. As punishment, Robert had her locked up in the family house at Gaulstown, alone apart from her servants, for the rest of his life (thirty-one years). After twelve years of this captivity she had attempted to escape, but was caught and subjected to even harsher treatment. When she was finally released by order of her son after his father's death, she apparently took to wandering the house and talking to portraits as if they were real people. Her voice had assumed a peculiar quality (like a shrill whisper) and she was obviously profoundly damaged by her experience. She did not survive long after her release.

She was not the only one to suffer though, as Robert took his brother Arthur to court and was awarded the then huge sum of £2,000 in damages. Arthur, unable to pay, fled the country, but on his return to Ireland he was thrown into Marshalsea debtors prison, where he died.

Lord Belvedere was succeeded in his titles by his eldest from his second marriage, George Rochfort.

References