Ulick De Burgh, 1st Marquess Of Clanricarde

Ulick John de Burgh, 1st Marquess of Clanricarde (20 December 1802 – 10 April 1874), was a British politician associated with the Whig party. He was born at Belmont, Hampshire, as the son of General The 13th Earl of Clanricarde and Elizabeth Burke, daughter of Sir Thomas Burke, 1st Baronet. His paternal uncle was Henry, 1st Marquess of Clanricarde.

He succeeded to the earldom of Clanricarde in July 1808 at the age of five following his father's death. His early education was at Eton College, and he was also an undergraduate at Christ Church, Oxford. During his studies, he was initiated into the Apollo University Lodge No. 711 (later No. 357) of the United Grand Lodge of England on 15 November 1820.

In 1825, at age 24, he was created Marquess of Clanricarde in the Peerage of Ireland, reviving a title that had become extinct in 1797. The following year, he was granted the title of Baron Somerhill, of Somerhill in Kent, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, which provided him with a seat in the House of Lords.

His brief stint in government began in January 1826 when he was appointed Joint Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, a position he held until August of that year. He was sworn into the Privy Council in December 1830. He served as the British Ambassador to Russia from 1838 to 1840.

In 1846, Clanricarde was appointed Postmaster General, a cabinet position he held until 1852. He also briefly served as Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal in February 1858 under Lord Palmerston.

Apart from his political roles, he served as Lord-Lieutenant of County Galway from 1831 until his death in 1874 and was Colonel of the Galway Militia starting in 1831. From 1841 to 1847, he held the position of Vice-Admiral of Connaught. He was made a Knight of the Order of St Patrick in 1831. He also served as president of the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland from 1844 to 1863.

Clanricarde was a significant landowner in County Galway, with ancestral seat at Portumna Castle. During the Irish Great Hunger, his stance was aligned with the interests of the Anglo-Irish landowning class. As the Crown's Lord Lieutenant of Galway during the famine years, he did not personally initiate mass evictions, but he did not condemn large-scale evictions carried out by other landowners in the region. He expressed concern about the plight of starving tenants and supported paternalistic state interventions such as public works and land drainage. He also contributed financially to relief efforts and assisted some tenants with emigration.

He married Harriet Canning, daughter of Prime Minister George Canning, on 4 April 1825 at Gloucester Lodge in Brompton. They had seven children, including Hubert de Burgh-Canning, who succeeded him as the 2nd Marquess of Clanricarde. His children included Lady Elizabeth Joanna de Burgh, Lady Emily Charlotte de Burgh, Lady Catherine de Burgh, Lady Margaret Anne de Burgh, and Lady Harriet Augusta de Burgh.

Ulick John de Burgh died in London at Stratton Street, Piccadilly, in April 1874, aged 71. His widow died in January 1876, also at age 71.