Earl of Listowel
(1833-1924)

Volume 1, page 159, sitting number 839.

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, at Kingston House, Prince's Gate, London. He was succeeded in his titles by his eldest son Richard.

An obituary appeared in the Western Morning News (9 June 1924). The deceased Earl was 'one of the few remaining survivors of the Crimean war of 70 years ago. As Viscount Ennismore he served as lieutenant in the Scots Fusilier Guards, and in his 19th year was severely wounded in the battle of Alma. [...] In 1856 he succeeded his father in the title and extensive estates in Cork and Kerry, and married, in 1865, Lady Ernestine Mary, younger daughter of the Marquis of Ailesbury. A peerage of the United Kingdom, the Barony of Hare of Convamore, co. Cork, was conferred on him during Mr Gladstone's first Administration in 1869, and he was Lord-in-Waiting in Mr Gladstone's government of 1880.'

According to the Gloucestershire Echo (7 June 1924): 'He owned a great estate in Ireland. In 1921 he was awarded £85,000 for the destruction of Convamore, Ballyhooly, his beautiful house which stood amid charming grounds overlooking the Blackwater in County Cork. There he lived for 60 years among the people, farming extensively and on the best of terms with them. He also owned much house property in Knightsbridge, including Ennismore Gardens, named after the title of his son, Viscount Ennismore, who succeeds to the earldom.'