Jeremy Browne, 11th Marquess of Sligo

Jeremy Ulick Browne, 11th Marquess of Sligo (4 June 1939 – 13 July 2014),^[1] styled Earl of Altamont until 1991, was the 11th holder of the Marquessate of Sligo, a title created in 1800 in the Peerage of Ireland. Until the House of Lords Act 1999 he was entitled to sit in the House of Lords under the Barony of Mounteagle, created in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.

Biography

Jeremy Browne was the adopted son of Denis Browne, 10th Marquess of Sligo. He was educated at St. Columba's College, Dublin, and the Royal Agricultural College. Prior to inheriting his title, Browne, then the Earl of Altamont, and his father worked to stabilise the future of the family estate, Westport House, in the midst of a slump in agricultural prices which plagued Ireland during the 1960s. Westport was the first stately home in the country to open to the public and continues to be a major tourist attraction. During The Troubles, the estate was invaded by IRA supporters who waved black flags in support of the 1981 Irish hunger strike, a situation which Altamont was able to diplomatically and quickly defuse. In May 2014 his book, A Life at Westport House: 50 Years A-Going, was released.^[2]

He was married on 26 October 1961 to Jennifer June Lushington Cooper, daughter of Derek Cooper. Lady Sligo is the stepdaughter of the former Viscountess Ruthven of Canberra, and her father became in 1952 the stepfather of two young stepsons, now the present Earl of Gowrie and his brother the journalist and Islamic scholar Malise Ruthven. The Marquess and Marchioness had five daughters. After his death, his daughters inherited the family estate of Westport while his cousin Sebastian succeeded him as Marquess. Lord Sligo introduced a private members' Bill in Dáil Éireann in 1990 to allow the dissolution of a family trust which would have prevented his five daughters from inheriting Westport House.^[3]

Ancestry

References

1. ↑ ALTAMONT/Westport/Mayo Notice of death of Jeremy Browne, 11th Marquess of Sligo, rip.ie; accessed 15 July 2014.
2. ↑ Westport House bookshop website, westporthouse.ie; accessed 15 July 2014.
3. ↑ "Visionary heir who saved Westport House". The Irish Times. 26 July 2014. 

External links

• The Browne Family, westporthouse.ie; accessed 3 November 2015.
• Jeremy Ulick Browne, 11th Marquess of Sligo profile, thepeerage.com; accessed 3 November 2015.
• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Jeremy Browne, 11th Marquess of Sligo
• "Obituary: The 11th Marquess of Sligo". The Daily Telegraph. 22 July 2014. Retrieved 3 November 2015.