Background
Born at Dunany House, Castlebellingham in County Louth, he was the eldest son of Sir Alan Bellingham (1800-1889), 3rd Bt., and his wife Elizabeth, only daughter of Henry Clarke, of West Skirbeck House, Lincolnshire.
Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom
Born at Dunany House, Castlebellingham in County Louth, he was the eldest son of Sir Alan Bellingham (1800-1889), 3rd Bt., and his wife Elizabeth, only daughter of Henry Clarke, of West Skirbeck House, Lincolnshire.
He was educated at Harrow School and Exeter College, Oxford, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1869 and a Master of Arts three years later.He succeeded his father as baronet in 1889.
He was Justice of the Peace, High Sheriff of Louth and Lord Lieutenant of Louth. He was Senator of the Royal University of Ireland and Private Chamberlain to Popes Pius IX, Leo XIII and Pius X. He was the father of the diplomat Sir Edward Bellingham, 5th Bt. In 1909, he received a Honorary Doctorate of Law from the Royal University of Ireland and became one of its senators.
In 1875, he was called to the bar by Lincoln's Inn. Bellingham served in the British Army and captain in the 6th Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles. He was High Sheriff of Louth in 1897, Justice of the Peace for this county and, having been previously a Deputy Lieutenant was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Louth in 1911, an office he held until his death in 1921.
Bellingham was Commissioner of National Education for Ireland and was successively Private Chamberlain to the three popes, Pius IX, Leo XIII and Pius X. He was also High Sheriff of Louth for 1897. He was the grandfather of Sir Evelyn Wrench, editor of The Spectator.
It dominated municipal politics in West Belfast for a decade: iteasily defeated the Nationalist slate of candidates in the two wards in 1897 and 1904, and between these dates its candidates were not even challenged. Its viewpoint dominated the Irish News, the local Catholic newspaper, to such an extent that the Irish Nationalist leader in the city, Joseph Devlin, had to begin a rival, the Northern Star, in 1897.
[22nd United Kingdom Parliament]
He entered the British House of Commons in 1880, representing County Louth as Member of Parliament (MP) until 1885.