John Cole, 2nd Earl of Enniskillen

Irish politician

The Right Honourable

The Earl of Enniskillen

Portrait by William Robinson, c. 1820–1839

Born|

The Hon. John Willoughby Cole

23 March 1768
Died| 13 April 1840 (1840-04-14) (aged 72)
Spouse| Lady Charlotte Paget
Parents|

* William Cole, 1st Earl of Enniskillen (father)
* Anne Lowry-Corry (mother)

Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
In office
1815–1840
Hereditary peerage
Succeeded by| William Cole
In office
1804–1840
Representative peer for Ireland

John Willoughby Cole, 2nd Earl of Enniskillen KP (23 March 1768 – 31 March 1840), styled Viscount Cole from 1789 to 1803, was an Irish peer and Member of Parliament.

## Biography

[edit]

Cole was the son of William Cole, 1st Earl of Enniskillen. He succeeded his father to the peerage and the Florence Court estate in 1803.

In 1790 and in 1798, he was elected for Sligo and County Fermanagh. Both times, he chose to sit for the latter and represented the constituency in the Irish House of Commons until the Act of Union in 1801. After the Union, Cole was subsequently returned to the British House of Commons for Fermanagh, a seat he held until he succeeded his father to the earldom in 1803. He then sat in the House of Lords as an Irish representative peer from 1804 to 1840.

He was also Governor of Fermanagh until 1831 and thereafter Lord Lieutenant of the county until his death. He was made a Knight of the Order of St Patrick in 1810 and in 1815 created Baron Grinstead, of Grinstead in the County of Wiltshire, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.

## Personal life

[edit]

Florence Court, County Fermanagh, the family seat

Lord Enniskillen married Lady Charlotte Paget, daughter of Henry Paget, 1st Earl of Uxbridge, in 1805. They had five children:

* William Willoughby Cole, 3rd Earl of Enniskillen (25 January 1807 – 12 November 1886)
* Colonel The Hon. Henry Arthur Cole (14 February 1809 – 2 July 1890)
* Lady Jane Anne Louisa Florence Cole (27 July 1811 – 23 March 1831)
* The Hon. John Lowry Cole (8 June 1813 – 28 November 1882)
* The Hon. Lowry Balfour Cole (6 June 1815 – 14 January 1818)

He died in March 1840, aged 72, and was succeeded in his titles by his eldest son William.

## References

[edit]

* Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990.
* Malcolmson, A. P. W. 'The Enniskillen Family, Estate and Archive'. Clogher Record 16 (2), 1998, pp. 81–122.

## External links

[edit]

* Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Earl of Enniskillen

Parliament of Ireland

Preceded by

Mervyn Archdall
Arthur Cole-Hamilton

|  Member of Parliament for County Fermanagh
1790–1801
With:  Mervyn Archdall | Succeeded by

Parliament of the United Kingdom

Preceded by

Robert Wynne
Thomas Dawson

|  Member of Parliament for Sligo Borough
1790
With:  Robert Wynne | Succeeded by

Robert Wynne
Owen Wynne

Preceded by

Robert Wynne
Owen Wynne

|  Member of Parliament for Sligo Borough
1798
With:  Robert Wynne | Succeeded by

Robert Wynne
Owen Wynne

Parliament of the United Kingdom
New constituency |  Member of Parliament for Fermanagh
1801–1803
With:  Mervyn Archdall 1801–1802
Mervyn Archdall 1802–1803  | Succeeded by

Mervyn Archdall
Galbraith Lowry Cole

Political offices
Preceded by

The Earl of Leitrim

|  Representative peer for Ireland
1804–1840  | Succeeded by

The Earl of Lucan

Honorary titles
New title |  Lord Lieutenant of Fermanagh
1831–1840  | Succeeded by

The Earl Erne

Peerage of Ireland
Preceded by

William Willoughby Cole

|  Earl of Enniskillen
1803–1840  | Succeeded by

William Willoughby Cole

Peerage of the United Kingdom
New creation |  Baron Grinstead
1815–1840  | Succeeded by

William Willoughby Cole

Authority control databases

International|

* VIAF
* WorldCat

National|

* United States

*[c.]: circa