Baron Fermoy is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created by Queen Victoria in 1856 for Edmond Roche, who represented County Cork and Marylebone in the House of Commons and also served as Lord Lieutenant of County Cork. His younger son, the third Baron, sat as Member of Parliament for Kerry East. He was succeeded by his son, the fourth Baron. He notably represented King's Lynn in Parliament. As of 2013[update] the title is held by his grandson, the sixth Baron, who succeeded his father in 1984. The first baron was named after his relative Edmund Burke and are descended from the House of Burke
Diana, Princess of Wales, was a great-great-granddaughter of the first Baron Fermoy through her mother, Frances Shand Kydd. Shand Kydd was the younger daughter of the 4th Baron Fermoy, a friend of King George VI and the elder of the twin sons of the American heiress Frances Work and her first husband, the Hon. James Boothby Burke Roche, who, after their divorce, became the third Baron Fermoy. Diana's maternal grandmother, Ruth Roche, Baroness Fermoy, was a confidante and lady-in-waiting to the Queen Mother, and the founder of the annual King's Lynn Festival (of classical music) in Norfolk, England.
The current holder of the title is Maurice Roche, 6th Baron Fermoy.
Barons Fermoy
- Edmond Burke Roche, 1st Baron Fermoy (1815–1874)
- Edmund FitzEdmund Burke Roche, 2nd Baron Fermoy (1850–1920)
- James Boothby Burke Roche, 3rd Baron Fermoy (1852–1920)
- (Edmund) Maurice Burke Roche, 4th Baron Fermoy (1885–1955)
- Edmund James Burke Roche, 5th Baron Fermoy (1939–1984)
- (Patrick) Maurice Burke Roche, 6th Baron Fermoy (born 1967)
The heir presumptive is the present holder's brother Hon. Edmund Hugh Burke Roche (born 1972).
The heir presumptive's heir apparent is his son Archie Edmund Roche (born 2005).
References
- Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990.
- Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages [self-published source] [better source needed]