Richard Wingfield, 1st Viscount Powerscourt (first creation)

The Right Honourable Richard Wingfield PC
Viscount Powerscourt
Richard Wingfield, 1st Viscount Powerscourt, 1618 by Cornelis Janssens van Ceulen
Born	c. 1551
Died	9 September 1634(1634-09-09) (aged 82–83)
Residence	Powerscourt
Noble family	Wingfield
Spouse(s)	Frances Rugge ​ (died 1631)​
Father	Sir Richard Wingfield
Mother	Christian Fitzwilliam
Occupation	Army officer Military administrator

Richard Wingfield, 1st Viscount Powerscourt, PC (c. 1551 – 9 September 1634) was an English-born army officer and military administrator during the reigns of Elizabeth I and James I. He is notable for his defeat of Sir Cahir O'Doherty's forces at the 1608 Battle of Kilmacrennan during O'Doherty's Rebellion in Ireland.

Family

Sir Richard Wingfield was the eldest son of Sir Richard Wingfield, Governor of Portsmouth, who was descended from an old Suffolk family, and Christian, daughter of Sir William Fitzwilliam of Milton, Castor, Northamptonshire, and sister of Sir William Fitzwilliam, Lord Deputy of Ireland. He became the step-son of Sir George Delves, after his mother's remarriage.

Early career

He came to Ireland as a military adventurer in the latter part of the 16th century and afterwards fought in Flanders, France and Portugal, gaining the military rank of lieutenant colonel.

Returning to Ireland, Wingfield distinguished himself and was wounded in an expedition against Tyrone, and was knighted by the Lord Deputy, William Russell, in Christ Church Cathedral on 9 November 1595. He served as a colonel in the expedition against Calais, and in 1600 was advanced to the office of Marshal of Ireland, with a retinue of fifty horse and a company of foot. In 1601 during the 4th Spanish Armada, he led a force at the reduction of Kinsale, and was one of those who signed the articles of capitulation made between the Lord Deputy of Ireland and Don Juan del Águila, commander of the Spanish troops made prisoners on that occasion.

O'Doherty's Rebellion

Main article: Battle of Kilmacrennan

In May 1608 during O'Doherty's Rebellion he marched into Ulster against Sir Cahir O'Doherty, who had burnt Derry, killing him and dispersing his followers. For this success Sir Richard was on 29 June 1609 rewarded by a grant of the Powerscourt Estate in County Wicklow.

Later career

In the Parliament of Ireland of 1613–15, he sat in the Irish House of Commons as MP for Downpatrick.

On 19 February 1618, he was created Viscount Powerscourt, and he subsequently enjoyed several important offices under the Crown.

Marriage

He married Frances Rugge (d. 30 November 1631), daughter of William Rugge, of Felmingham, Norfolk, and Thomasine Townshend, and widow of Edward Cromwell, 3rd Baron Cromwell. Frances Cromwell, the elder of her two daughters, married Sir John Wingfield of Tickencote, Rutland in January 1619. Her younger daughter, Anne Cromwell, married her husband's cousin, Sir Edward Wingfield of Carnew, County Wicklow on 9 May 1619.

Death

He died on 9 September 1634, without issue from his wife, Frances and his title, therefore, became extinct. His estates passed to his cousin, Sir Edward Wingfield. The title was revived in 1665 in the person of Folliott Wingfield, 1st Viscount Powerscourt, who died without issue in 1717; and again in 1743 for Richard Wingfield.

Notes

Attribution

This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Webb, Alfred (1878). "Wingfield, Sir Richard, 1st Viscount Powerscourt". A Compendium of Irish Biography. Dublin: M. H. Gill & son. p. 571.

References

• Burke, John (1831). A General and Heraldic Dictionary of The Peerages of England, Ireland and Scotland, Extinct, Dormant, and in Abeyance. London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley. pp. 152–153.
• Burke, John (1833). A General and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire. Vol. 2. London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley. p. 316.
• Carthew, G. A. (1878). The Hundred of Launditch and Deanery of Brisley; in the County of Norfolk; Evidences and Topographical Notes from public records, Heralds' Visitations, Wills, Court Rolls, Old Charters, Parish Registers, Town books, and Other Private Sources; Digested and Arranged as Materials for Parochial, Manorial, and Family History. Vol. II. Collected by G.A. Carthew. Norwich: Printed by Miller and Leavins. p. 522.
• Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Wingfield, Sir Richard" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 28 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 730.
• Clavin, Terry (October 2009). "Wingfield, Sir Richard". Dictionary of Irish Biography. doi:10.3318/dib.009091.v1. Retrieved 15 July 2025.
• Cokayne, G. E. (1910). Gibbs, Vicary (ed.). The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant. Vol. I. London: St. Catherine Press. pp. 192–194.
• Cokayne, G. E. (1913). Gibbs, Vicary (ed.). The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom. Vol. III. London: St. Catherine Press. p. 558.
• Dunlop, Robert; Barry, Judith Hudson (2004). "Wingfield, Richard, Viscount Powerscourt". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/29740. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
• Grummitt, David (January 2008) [First published 2004]. "Cromwell, Edward, third Baron Cromwell". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/6763. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
• Lodge, John; Archdall, Mervyn (1789). The Peerage of Ireland: or, a Genealogical History of the Present Nobility of that Kingdom ... Vol. V. Revised, enlarged, and continued to the present time by Mervyn Archdall, A. M. Dublin: James Moore. pp. 268–272.
• Shaw, W. A.; Burtchaell, G. D. (1906). The Knights of England: A Complete Record from the Earliest Time to the Present Day of the Knights of All the Orders of Chivalry in England, Scotland, and Ireland, and of Knights Bachelors, Incorporating a Complete List of Knights Bachelors Dubbed in Ireland. Vol. II. London: Printed and published for the Central Chancery of the Orders of Knighthood, Sherratt and Hughes. p. 91.

External links

• Richard Wingfield, Viscount Powerscourt Family tree
• Wingfield, Tony Early Origin of the Wingfields