Arthur Cole, 1st Baron Ranelagh

Who was Arthur Cole, 1st Baron Ranelagh?

Arthur Cole, 1st Baron Ranelagh, known as Sir Arthur Cole, Bt, between circa 1691 and 1715, was an Irish politician.

Cole was the son of Sir John Cole, 1st Baronet, by Elizabeth Chichester, daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel John Chichester and the Honourable Mary Jones, daughter of Roger Jones, 1st Viscount Ranelagh, and aunt of Richard Jones, 1st Earl of Ranelagh. He succeeded his father in the baronetcy in circa 1691 and was returned to the Irish House of Commons for Enniskillen in 1692, a seat he held until 1695. From 1695 to 1703 he represented Roscommon Borough in the Irish Parliament. In 1715 he was raised to the Peerage of Ireland as Baron Ranelagh, of Ranelagh in the County of Wicklow, a revival of the Ranelagh title which had become extinct on the death of his first cousin once removed the Earl of Ranelagh in 1715.

Lord Ranelagh was twice married. He married firstly the Honourable Catherine Byron, daughter of William Byron, 3rd Baron Byron, in 1692. After her death in 1746 he married secondly Selina Bathurst, daughter of Peter Bathurst, in 1748. Both marriages were childless. He died in October 1754 when the baronetcy and barony became extinct.