Social Victorians/People/Athlumney

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Also Known As[edit | edit source]

  • Family name: Somerville
  • Lord Athlumney
  • James Somerville, Baron Meredyth, M.P.
  • Baronet Somerville, of Somerville, co. Meath [Peerage of Ireland, created 1748]
    • James Herbert Gustavus Meredyth Somerville, 6th Baronet Somerville (7 December 1873[1] – 8 January 1929)[2]
  • Baron Meredyth, of Dollardstown, co. Meath (UK peerage)[3]
    • William Meredyth Somerville, 1st Baron Meredyth (1802 – 7 December 1873)[4]
    • James Herbert Gustavus Meredyth Somerville, 2nd Baron Meredyth (7 December 1873 – 8 January 1929)
  • Baron Athlumney, of Somerville and Dollarstown, co. Meath [Peerage of Ireland, created 1863][5]
    • William Meredyth Somerville, 1st Baron Athlumney (1802 – 7 December 1873)[4]
    • James Herbert Gustavus Meredyth Somerville, 2nd Baron Athlumney (7 December 1873 – 8 January 1929)[5]

Acquaintances, Friends and Enemies[edit | edit source]

Organizations[edit | edit source]

James Somerville, 2nd Baron Athlumney[edit | edit source]

  • Harrow[2]
  • House of Lords, as Baron Meredyth
  • Lieutenant, 5th Battalion, Royal Canadians (1882)[2]
  • Lieutenant, Coldstream Guards (1886)[2]

Timeline[edit | edit source]

1896, Dongola Expedition[2]

1897 July 2, Friday, Lord Athlumney attended the Duchess of Devonshire's fancy-dress ball at Devonshire House.

1900, Boer War[2]

1919 July 30, James Somerville, Baron Athlumney and Margery Boan married.[6]

Black-and-white photograph of a man richly dressed in an historical military costume seated on a balustrade
James Somerville, 2nd Baron Athlumney in costume as Prince Metternich at the time of Maria Theresa. ©National Portrait Gallery, London.

Costume at the Duchess of Devonshire's 2 July 1897 Fancy-dress Ball[edit | edit source]

James Herbert Gustavus Meredyth Somerville, 2nd Baron Athlumney (at 367) attended the Duchess of Devonshire's fancy-dress ball. Lord Athlumney was dressed as Prince Metternich in the Austrian Court of Maria Theresa Quadrille.[7][8] [9]:p. 8, Col. 1b

  • "Lord Athlumney (Austrian officer's costume), white cloth pantaloons, trimmed gold braid and cord; white cloth tunic trimmed gold; sling sachet trimmed brown fur."[10]:p. 34, Col. 1c

Lafayette's portrait of "James Herbert Gustavus Meredyth Somerville, 2nd Baron Athlumney as Prince Metternich at the time of Maria Theresa" in costume is photogravure #183 in the album presented to the Duchess of Devonshire and now in the National Portrait Gallery.[11] The printing on the portrait says, "Lord Athlumney as Prince Metternich — temp. Maria Theresa."[12]

It is not perfectly clear which Prince Metternich is meant here, and Baron Athumney may not have been concerned with which particular individual would have been present in Marie-Thérèse's court at what time. Franz Georg Graf von Metternich-Winneburg (1746–1818) seems to have been in Vienna beginning in the late 1760s,[13] but he was a Graf, not a prince, which perhaps makes him more comparable to an earl in the U.K.[14] His father, Johann Hugo Franz vvon Metternich-Winneburg, died in 1750, so would have been in Marie-Thérèse's court only early in her reign and was also a Graf and not a prince.[15]

Demographics[edit | edit source]

  • Nationality: Irish,[3] born at Somerville House, in Navan, Co. Meath[2]

Family[edit | edit source]

  • William Meredyth Somerville, 1st Baron Meredyth (1802 – 7 December 1873)[1]
  • Lady Maria Harriet Conyngham ( – 3 December 1843)[16]
    1. Hon. Elizabeth Jane Somerville (21 June 1834 – 31 May 1882)
    2. William Henry Marcus Somerville (c. 1836 – 11 September 1837)
  • Maria Georgiana Elizabeth Jones (24 June 1831 – 6 January 1899)[17]
    1. James Herbert Gustavus Meredyth Somerville, 2nd Baron Meredyth (23 March 1865 – 8 January 1929)
    2. Hon. Marcus Edward Francis Meredyth Somerville (c. 1867 – 17 September 1871)
  • James Herbert Gustavus Meredyth Somerville, 2nd Baron Meredyth (23 March 1865 – 8 January 1929)[2]
  • Enid Boan — they were not married to each other
  1. David Peter (1 March 1919 – 8 August 2001)
  • Margery Boan ( – 10 July 1946)[6]

Memoirs and Biographies[edit | edit source]

  1. NLI has some photographs of Lord Athlumney from the 1920s and some photographs of Athlumney Castle.
  2. Searching Athlumney in the UK National Archives: Lord Athlumney, Service Medal in the National Archives, Kew — War Office, Armed Forces, Judge Advocate General, and related bodies, and a few things about his father.
  3. In the UK National Archives: (Somerville AND Athlumney OR Meredyth) NOT (Edith OR Violet OR Drishane OR Aston) = 1,669 results. The 1st Baron was Chief Secretary for Ireland. A James Somerville was a soldier, served in WWI, in the air force, has materials in the Air Ministry and Royal Air Force Records, Kew.; possibly another James Somerville has records in the National Archives, Kew — War Office, Armed Forces, Judge Advocate General, and related bodies.
  4. No evidence of personal papers anywhere in Ireland according to the Irish Archives Resource, but that’s not true. Found things in the NLI catalog, especially photographs of James Herbert Gustavus Meredyth Somerville and photos of Athlumny [sic] Castle.
  5. No evidence of a private collection somewhere.

Notes and Questions[edit | edit source]

  1. James Somerville, 2nd Baron Meredyth was born at Somerville House, Naval, Co. Meath, and baptized on 25 April 1865 in Kentstown, Co. Meath.[2] He had 2 titles, one in the UK peerage and the other in the Irish peerage: “2nd Baron Meredyth, of Dollardstown, co. Meath [U.K., 1866]” and “2nd Baron Athlumney, of Somerville and Dollarstown, co. Meath [I., 1863].”[2]
  2. David Peter was born to Enid Boan nearly 5 months before James, Baron Meredyth married Margery Boan, her sister.

Footnotes[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "William Meredyth Somerville, 1st Baron Meredyth." "Person Page". www.thepeerage.com. Retrieved 2021-05-10.
  2. ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 "James Herbert Gustavus Meredyth Somerville, 2nd Baron Meredyth." "Person Page". www.thepeerage.com. Retrieved 2021-05-10.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "James Somerville, 2nd Baron Athlumney". Wikipedia. 2020-04-16. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=James_Somerville,_2nd_Baron_Athlumney&oldid=951366867.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Somerville,_2nd_Baron_Athlumney.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "William Somerville, 1st Baron Athlumney". Wikipedia. 2021-10-04. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=William_Somerville,_1st_Baron_Athlumney&oldid=1048114932.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Somerville,_1st_Baron_Athlumney.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Baron Athlumney". Wikipedia. 2021-11-08. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Baron_Athlumney&oldid=1054102836.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baron_Athlumney.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Margery Boan." "Person Page". www.thepeerage.com. Retrieved 2021-05-10.
  7. ↑ "Fancy Dress Ball at Devonshire House." Morning Post Saturday 3 July 1897: 7 [of 12], Col. 4a–8 Col. 2b. British Newspaper Archive https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000174/18970703/054/0007.
  8. ↑ "Ball at Devonshire House." The Times Saturday 3 July 1897: 12, Cols. 1a–4c The Times Digital Archive. Web. 28 Nov. 2015.
  9. ↑ “Ball at Devonshire House.” Evening Mail 05 July 1897 Monday: 8 [of 8], Col. 1a–4c [of 6]. British Newspaper Archive https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003187/18970705/070/0008.
  10. ↑ “The Duchess of Devonshire’s Ball.” The Gentlewoman 10 July 1897 Saturday: 32–42 [of 76], Cols. 1a–3c [of 3]. British Newspaper Archive https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003340/18970710/155/0032.
  11. ↑ "Devonshire House Fancy Dress Ball (1897): photogravures by Walker & Boutall after various photographers." 1899. National Portrait Gallery https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait-list.php?set=515.
  12. ↑ "Lord Athlumney as Prince Metternich." Diamond Jubilee Fancy Dress Ball. National Portrait Gallery https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw158546/James-Herbert-Gustavus-Meredyth-Somerville-2nd-Baron-Athlumney-as-Prince-Metternich-at-the-time-of-Maria-Theresa.
  13. ↑ Biographie, Deutsche. "Metternich, Franz Georg Fürst von - Deutsche Biographie". www-deutsche--biographie-de.translate.goog (in German). Retrieved 2021-12-10.
  14. ↑ "Graf". Wikipedia. 2021-07-19. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Graf&oldid=1034393465.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graf.
  15. ↑ "Metternich-Winneburg, Johann Hugo Franz von 1710-1750." "67230620". viaf.org. Retrieved 2021-12-10. https://viaf.org/viaf/67230620/.
  16. ↑ "Lady Maria Harriet Conyngham." "Person Page". www.thepeerage.com. Retrieved 2024-04-30. https://www.thepeerage.com/p2904.htm#i29039.
  17. ↑ "Maria Georgiana Elizabeth Jones." "Person Page". www.thepeerage.com. Retrieved 2024-04-30. https://www.thepeerage.com/p4271.htm#i42701.
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