Robert Stewart, 1st Marquess of Londonderry Personal Computer , was an Irish politician and landowner, the father of politician Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh.
Background
Stewart was born in 1739, son of Alexander Stewart, alderman of Londonderry in 1760, and the nephew of Robert Cowan, the wealthy Governor of Bombay
He did so, and it is for this reason that his first son was born in Dublin.
Career
He was also an ancestor of Winston Churchill. As the second son he expected to take up the linen trading business in Dublin. His offices traded with many Baltic cities, including Saint St. Petersburg, Reval, and Memel.
He was elected to the Irish House of Commons in 1771 as member for Down.
In 1779, worried by the presence of American and French vessels in the Irish sea, he organised the Newtownards Company of 115 men to act as fencibles. When he lost his seat in 1783 he was appointed to the Irish Privy Council.
In the same year he inherited his father"s properties in Company Londonderry and Company Down and settled at Mount Stewart, in the grounds of which he built the Temple of the Winds.
In 1789 he was created Baron Londonderry in the Peerage of Ireland.
In 1795 he became Viscount Castlereagh. The following year he was elevated to Earl of Londonderry. As a result of the vote Londonderry obtained a seat in the House of Lords in London, which he never took up.
In 1816 he was created Marquess of Londonderry, again in the Peerage of Ireland.
From 1801 until his death he was also an Irish representative peer. He died at his home of Mount Stewart, County Down, and was buried at the nearby Priory of Newtownards, together with his father.