Arthur French

Who was Arthur French?

Arthur French was an Irish Whig politician.

In 1783, he was elected a Member of Parliament for Roscommon County in the Irish House of Commons. After the Act of Union in 1801 he represented Roscommon in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. He was alleged to have been offered an Earldom if he would support the Union of Ireland with Great Britain but refused the honour. Later he also refused a Barony with no strings attached. A critic of the policy of collective fines as a deterrent to the illicit distillation of poteen, he incurred the wrath of Chief Secretary of Ireland Robert Peel who called him "an Abominable fellow". He also criticized the continuation of martial law in Ireland. One report at the time states that he had died "from excessive fox hunting".