Brendan Parsons, 7th Earl of Rosse

William Clere Leonard Brendan Parsons, 7th Earl of Rosse (known as Brendan;^[1] born 21 October 1936), is an Irish peer. He was the eldest son of Laurence Michael Harvey Parsons, 6th Earl of Rosse, and Anne (née Messel, mother of Lord Snowdon, by an earlier marriage). Lord Rosse was educated at Eton College, Aiglon College, Grenoble University and Christ Church, Oxford. He was an officer in the Irish Guards from 1955–57 and worked for the United Nations from 1963-80. He succeeded his father in 1979. He lives at Birr Castle, County Offaly. From his birth until he succeeded to the peerage in 1979, he was known as Baron Oxmantown.

From 1979 to 2007, Lord and Lady Rosse facilitated many decades of research by A.P.W. Malcomson, former director of the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, and latterly sponsored by the Irish Manuscripts Commission, to enable the production, for the first time, of a comprehensive Calendar of the Rosse Papers in 2008. The archive is held in the Muniment Room of Birr Castle. The Calendar is of inestimable value for researchers delving into the history of the Parsons family, including English settlement of the Irish midlands in the 17th century, the Williamite wars, early Irish nationalism, the British navy in the eighteenth century, and nineteenth century science and astronomy, and the fate of the landed gentry in the early twentieth century.

Marriage and children

He married Alison Margaret Cooke-Hurle, daughter of Major John Davey Cooke-Hurle and Margaret Louisa Watson, on 15 October 1966.^[2] They have three children:

• Lawrence Patrick Parsons, Lord Oxmantown (b. 31 March 1969)
• Lady Alicia Parsons (b. 1971), a god-daughter of Princess Margaret; married Nathaniel Clements in 2007
• The Hon. Michael Parsons (b. 9 November 1981)

Ancestry

Ancestors of Brendan Parsons, 7th Earl of Rosse

16. William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse               8. Lawrence Parsons, 4th Earl of Rosse                       17. Mary Field               4. William Parsons, 5th Earl of Rosse                             18. Edward Harvey-Hawke, 4th Baron Hawke               9. Frances Cassandra Hawke                       19. Frances Fetherstonhaugh               2. Lawrence Parsons, 6th Earl of Rosse                                   20. Lister Lister-Kaye               10. Cecil Lister-Kaye, 4th Baronet                       21. Caroline Pepys               5. Frances Lois Lister-Kaye                             22. Henry Pelham-Clinton, 6th Duke of Newcastle               11. Beatrice Adeline Pelham-Clinton                       23. Henrietta Hope               1. Brendan Parsons, 7th Earl of Rosse                                         24. Simon Messel               12. Ludwig Ernst Messel                       25. Emilie Lindheim               6. Leonard Messel                             26. Thomas Cussans               13. Anne Cussans                       27. Matilda Ann Goodman Southwood               3. Anne Messel                                   28. Edward Mott Sambourne               14. Edward Linley Sambourne                       29. Frances Linley               7. Maud Sambourne                             30. Spencer Herapath               15. Marion Herapath                       31. Anne Walk–er

References

1. Profile, debretts.com; accessed 21 December 2015.
2. Profile, thepeerage.com; accessed 21 December 2015.

Sources

• Malcomson, A.P.W. (editor), Calendar of the Rosse Papers (2008). Dublin: Irish Manuscripts Commission; ISBN 978-1-874280-69-9
• Lawrence Patrick Parsons, Lord Oxmantown profile, The Peerage.com; accessed 21 December 2015.