Ralph Bernal Osborne of Newtown Anner House (né Ralph Bernal; 26 March 1808 – 4 January 1882), was a British Liberal politician.
Ralph Bernal Osborne | |
|---|---|
 Caricature by ATn published in Vanity Fair in 1870 | |
| First Secretary of the Admiralty | |
| In office 1853–1858 | |
| Preceded by | Augustus Stafford |
| Succeeded by | Henry Lowry-Corry |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Ralph Bernal 26 March 1808 |
| Died | 4 January 1882 (aged 73) |
| Spouse | |
| Relations | Osborne Beauclerk, 12th Duke of St Albans (grandson) |
| Children | Edith, Lady Blake Grace Beauclerk, Duchess of St Albans |
| Parent(s) | Ralph Bernal Ann Elizabeth White |
| Residence | Newtown Anner House |
Early life
editHe was born on 26 March 1808. He was the eldest son of London Sephardic Spanish and Portuguese Jewish Parliamentarian Ralph Bernal, himself an MP, who died in 1854, and his wife Ann Elizabeth (née White).
His paternal grandparents were Jacob Israel Bernal, a merchant, and Leah da Silva.[1]
Career
editBernal entered the military in 1831, as an Ensign of the 71st (Highland) Regiment of Foot. He later served with the 7th (Royal Fusiliers) Regiment of Foot, and finally left the army in 1844 with the rank of Captain.
He had already been elected to Parliament in 1841 as a member for Chipping Wycombe, in the Liberal interest, and later sat for Middlesex (1847–1857), Dover (1857–1859), Liskeard (1859–1865), Nottingham (1866–1868), and Waterford City (1870–1874).
In the Railway Times of 21 June 1845, he is the first person listed in the provisional committee for the Leicester, Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Burton-upon-Trent and Stafford Junction Railway: Ralph R. Bernal Osborne, MP for Wycombe, address: Albemarle Street. The railway was never built.
Beside being a Parliamentarian, he was also Secretary of the Admiralty.
When he died, his house at Newtown Anner, Clonmel, County Tipperary, Munster, Ireland, was surrounded by more than 13,000 acres (53 km2) of land.
Personal life
editOn 20 August 1844 he married Catherine Isabella Osborne (1819–1880), from an Anglo-Irish landed family, the daughter of Sir Thomas Osborne, 9th Baronet, and Catherine Rebecca Smith. On the same day of their wedding, he took her name and his name was legally changed by royal licence, becoming Ralph Bernal Osborne.[2] Together, they were the parents of two daughters:
- Edith Bernal Osborne (1846–1926), who married, as his second wife, Sir Henry Arthur Blake, the son of Peter Blake of Corbally Castle, in 1874.[3][4]
- Grace Bernal Osborne (1848–1926), who married, as his second wife, William Beauclerk, 10th Duke of St Albans, in 1874.[5]
His wife died on 21 June 1880 at Newtown Anner House in County Tipperary. Osborne died on 4 January 1882.
Descendants
editThrough his eldest daughter, he was a grandfather of three, Olive Blake (who married John Bernard Arbuthnot), Lt. Arthur Blake, and Maurice Bernal Blake.
Through his younger daughter, he was a grandfather of Osborne Beauclerk, 12th Duke of St Albans, Lady Moyra de Vere Beauclerk (wife of Lord Richard Cavendish, a grandson of the 7th Duke of Devonshire),[6] Lady Katherine de Vere Beauclerk (wife of Henry Somerset, a grandson of the 8th Duke of Beaufort, and secondly, Maj.-Gen. Sir William Lambton, a son of the 2nd Earl of Durham), Lady Alexandra de Vere Beauclerk, and Lord William Huddlestone de Vere Beauclerk, who both died unmarried.
Sources
edit- Charles Mosley, editor, Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes (Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003), vol. 2, p. 3031.
References
edit- ^ Members Constituencies Parliaments Surveys. "BERNAL, Ralph (1783-1854), of 11 Park Crescent, Mdx". History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
- ^ "The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/2234. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- ^ "Edith Blake: Journal of journey in China, Korea and Japan - Archives Hub".
- ^ Irish Women Artists: From the eighteenth century to the present day, Wanda Ryan, Jenni Rogers, National Gallery of Ireland, 1987, p. 150.
- ^ Derek Beales, 'Osborne, Ralph Bernal (1808?–1882)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, September 2004; online edn, May 2007, accessed 28 March 2009.
- ^ Walker, Dave. "Costume Ball 4: Ladies only". Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.
External links
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