New chapter about the Brownes of Westport House celebrated in new book

Author Anne Chambers spent eight years and used over 15,000 manuscripts for important biography


Áine Ryan

THE rich legacy of the Browne family, the former owners of historic Westport House, is further unfurled in a fascinating new book by author and Castlebar native Anne Chambers. She has already written the definitive story of 16th century pirate queen, ‘Granuaile’, who built the original castle on the site of Westport’s most famous house.  
‘The Great Leviathan – The Life of Howe Peter Browne 2nd Marquess of Sligo 1788-1845’ tells the story of the only child and heir of John Denis, 1st Marquess of Sligo and his wife Louisa Catherine, daughter and co-heiress of Admiral Howe, British naval hero and advisor to King George III.
Privileged yet compassionate, charismatic but flawed, friend and fellow traveller of Lord Byron, treasure seeker and spy, sailor and jailbird, Irish landlord  Howe Peter Browne was an intrepid traveller – along with his wife and 15 children on occasions – whose most significant contribution to historical change has to be his emancipation of slaves in Jamaica. Indeed, the naming of the Caribbean town of Sligoville celebrates the success of his unflinching humanitarian and radically reforming policies.
Also known as ‘The Poor Man’s Friend’, his death during the Great Famine of the 1840s meant his compassionate and caring wife became a local heroine for the people of Westport and its environs. Indeed, some of the correspondence of  Lady Hester Catherine de Burgh, the daughter of the 13th Earl of Clanricarde, is on show in Westport House since a dedicated exhibition was launched by the former Irish Ambassador to Ireland, Kevin O’Malley, in April 2015.
Speaking to The Mayo News last week, Anne Chambers explains: “As well as its general appeal the book presents new original material relating to the political, social, religious, legal and commercial events in Westport and surrounding area from the founding of Louisburgh, the 1798 Rebellion, Act of Union, Catholic Emancipation, local elections of the period, reform and repeal to the Great Famine. It will fill many gaps in local history.”
When aged just 21, Howe Peter inherited five peerage titles, a 200,000 acre estate in the west of Ireland and valuable sugar plantations in Jamaica. Educated at Cambridge, he led a profligate youth of gambling and attending bawd houses in London and Paris.

Marriage
HIS life became somewhat more ordered after his marriage to 16-year-old Lady Hester Catherine de Burgh in 1816, with whom he had 14 of his 15 children. He quickly began to settle down to the many responsibilities he held as a landlord.  With his progressive and open outlook, Howe Peter was a passionate advocate of Catholic Emancipation, multi-denominational education and legal reform. Howe Peter also focussed on alleviating the desperate circumstances of his tenants, aggravated by a medieval farming system and dependence on the potato for sustenance.
He established a cotton factory in Westport ‘to benefit this Country by introducing such manufactures into it as will give employment to the People…unless I do it to show the way nobody will follow.’  He also fostered the development of kelp harvesting and fishing, reintroduced mining and in 1825 was influential in the establishment of the first bank in Westport.

More
‘The Great Leviathan: The Life of Howe Peter Browne, 2nd Marquess of Sligo 1788-1845’ by Anne Chambers, will be launched tomorrow, Wednesday, November 1, in the Royal Irish Academy, Dublin. Officiating will be Jamaica’s Honorary Consul to Ireland, Barry O’Brien. Published by New Island, the book will also be launched in Westport soon.