James Stopford, 4th Earl of Courtown

Who was James Stopford, 4th Earl of Courtown?

James Thomas Stopford, 4th Earl of Courtown, known as Viscount Stopford from 1810 to 1835, was an Anglo-Irish peer and Tory Member of Parliament.

Courtown was the third but eldest surviving son of James Stopford, 3rd Earl of Courtown, and his wife Lady Mary, and was educated at Christ Church, Oxford. He was elected to the House of Commons for County Wexford in 1820, a seat he held until 1830. In 1835 he succeeded his father in the earldom and entered the House of Lords. He also served as High Sheriff of County Wexford in 1833 and as Custos Rotulorum of County Wexford from 1845 to 1858.

Lord Courtown married firstly his first cousin Lady Charlotte Albina, daughter of Charles Montagu-Scott, 4th Duke of Buccleuch, in 1822. They had one son. After her death in February 1828, aged 28, he married secondly Dora, daughter of Edward Pennefather, Lord Chief Justice of Ireland. They had three sons of whom the two youngest gained distinction. The Hon. Sir Frederick Stopford was a Lieutenant-General in the Army and the Hon. Walter George Stopford was a Rear-Admiral in the Royal Navy.