Earl of Listowel

A carte-de-visite portrait of the Earl of Listowel (1833-1924).

Born William Hare on 29 May 1833, his parents were William Hare, 2nd Earl of Listowel, and Maria Augusta née Windham. Between 1837 and 1856 he was known as Viscount Ennismore. He succeeded his father in the earldom in 1856 but since this was an Irish peerage, it did not entitle him to a seat in the House of Lords. However, in 1869 he was create Baron Hare of Connamore in the County of Cork, in the peerage of the United Kingdom, which gave him an automatic seat in the House of Lords. Lord Listowel later served as a Lord-in-Waiting (government whip in the House of Lords) from May to September 1880 in the second Liberal administration of William Gladstone. In 1873 he was made a Knight of the Order of St Patrick.

Lord Listowel married Lady Ernestine Mary, daughter of Ernest Brudenell-Bruce, 3rd Marquess of Ailesbury, in 1865. He died on 5 June 1924, aged 91, and was succeeded in his titles by his eldest son Richard. Two of his grandsons, William Hare, 5th Earl of Listowel, and John Hare, 1st Viscount Blakenham, both became government ministers.

Photographed by Camille Silvy of London in 1860.