William Flower, 1st Baron Castle Durrow

Who was William Flower, 1st Baron Castle Durrow?

William Flower, 1st Baron Castle Durrow PC was an Anglo-Irish peer and politician.

He was the only son of Thomas Flower and his wife Mary Temple, daughter of Sir John Temple, Speaker of the Irish House of Commons. Flower was educated at Christ Church College, Oxford and sat as Member of Parliament for Kilkenny County from 1715 to 1727. Subsequently he represented Portarlington until 1733, when he was raised to the peerage as Baron Castle Durrow, of Castle Durrow, in the County of Kilkenny. Flower was High Sheriff of County Kilkenny in 1731 and was invested to the Privy Council of Ireland in 1735.

In 1717, Flower married Edith Caulfeild, daughter of Hon. Toby Caulfeild, a son of the 1st Viscount Charlemont. They had two daughters and two sons. Flower died aged 61 and was buried at Finglas in County Dublin. His only surviving son Henry succeeded to the barony.