Sir Cecil William Francis Stafford-King-Harman, 2nd Baronet (6 December 1895[1]–1987) was an Anglo-Irish landowner and soldier.

He was born Cecil Stafford, the second son of Sir Thomas Stafford, 1st Baronet and his wife, Frances Agnes, daughter of Edward King-Harman.[2] In 1933 Cecil added his mother's surname to his father's.[2] His elder brother, Edward Charles Stafford King Harman, was killed in the First World War.[3]

Cecil graduated from Oxford, receiving an M.A. in agriculture in 1922.[1] He married Sarah Beatrice Acland, daughter of Alfred Dyke Acland.[4] Their son Thomas Edward Stafford-King-Harman (1921–1944) was killed in the Normandy Campaign.[5] Their daughters were MI6 agent Joan Stafford-King-Harman (1918–2018) and artist Ann Stafford King-Harman (1919–1969). On his father's death in 1935, Cecil succeeded to the baronetcy;[4] it became extinct on his death in 1987.

In 1937 he followed his father as a steward of the Irish Turf Club.[6] He was a member of the Church of Ireland and from 1939 a lay member of the diocesan synod for Kilmore, Elphin and Ardagh.[7] Previously a captain in the yeomanry, during the Second World War Stafford-King-Harman served in the King's Royal Rifle Corps from 7 May 1940[8] until 2 April 1943, when as temporary lieutenant-colonel he relinquished his command due to ill health and was granted honorary rank of major.[9]

After the death of Sir John Keane in 1956, Seán T. O'Kelly, the President of Ireland, appointed Stafford-King-Harman to the Council of State.[10] The family estate was the Rockingham Estate in the north of County Roscommon. The house was gutted by fire in September 1957 while Stafford-King-Harman was at Doncaster Racecourse.[11] Lacking the funds to rebuild the house, he sold the remaining estate of 2,400 acres (970 ha) at auction in 1959.[12] It was bought by the Land Commission and much of it is now Lough Key Forest Park.[12][13]

References

  1. 1 2 Montague-Smith, Patrick W. (1980). Debrett's peerage and baronetage. Debrett's. p. B-382. ISBN 9780905649207.
  2. 1 2 "Copy of grant of arms ... to Capt. Cecil William Francis Stafford of Rockingham, Co. Roscommon". Catalogue. National Library of Ireland. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  3. ↑ "Strokestown House, Co. Roscommon: Married Three Months". World War One At Home. BBC. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  4. 1 2 Who's Who (121st ed.). London: Adam and Charles Black. 1969. p. 2648. ISBN 0713609435. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  5. ↑ "Lieutenant Thomas Edward Stafford-King-Harman". Fallen Heroes of Normandy.
  6. ↑ "New Racing Steward Sir C. S. King-Harman". The Irish Times. 23 April 1937. p. 4.
  7. ↑ "Elphin and Ardagh Diocesan Synod". The Irish Times. 14 July 1939. p. 4.; "Kilmore Diocesan Synod". The Irish Times. 12 July 1956. p. 7.
  8. ↑ "Regular Army; Emergency Commissions, etc". The London Gazette (Supplement to 34880): 3849. 25 June 1940.
  9. ↑ "Regular Army; Emergency Commissions, etc". The London Gazette (Supplement to 35962): 1513. 2 April 1943.
  10. ↑ "Questions. Oral Answers. — Council of State". Dáil Éireann (16th Dáil) debates. Oireachtas. 4 December 1957. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  11. ↑ McDonagh, Marese (31 July 2014). "Grandfather's gateposts saved from Rockingham open doors to art". The Irish Times. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  12. 1 2 "The Boyle'd Pot ; Marking the anniversary of Rockingham House fire". Boyle Today. 16 September 2016. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  13. ↑ Peavoy, Tadhg (15 September 2018). "Roscommon's great outdoors". The Irish Times. Retrieved 25 April 2019.; "Park and Historical Estate". Lough Key Forest Park. Retrieved 25 April 2019.

Further reading

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