James Roche, 3rd Baron Fermoy

James Boothby Burke Roche, 3rd Baron Fermoy (28 July 1852 – 30 October 1920) was an Irish peer and MP in the British House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. He was the great-grandfather of Diana, Princess of Wales.

He was born at Twyford Abbey, Middlesex in 1852, the son of Edmond Burke Roche, and his wife Eliza Caroline "née" Boothby. [Williamson, D "The Ancestry of Lady Diana Spencer" In: "Genealogist’s Magazine", 1981; vol. 20 (no. 6) p. 192-199 and vol. 20 (no. 8) p. 281-282] He was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge.Mosley, Charles (ed.), "Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 107th edition" (Burke's Peerage and Gentry LLC, 2003) vol. I p. 1414]

He visited the United States where he met and married the heiress Frances Work on 22 September 1880 at Christ Church, New York City. The marriage was not a success and they separated in December 1886. She was granted a divorce on the grounds of desertion on 3 March 1891 at Wilmington, Delaware."The Times (London)" Friday, 27 March 1896, p. 7 col. F]

They had four children, twin sons and two daughters:
*Eileen Burke (b. and d. 1882).
*Cynthia Burke (10 April 1884 − 8 December 1966), who married firstly Arthur Scott Burden (d. June 1921) in 1906 and secondly Guy Fairfax Cary (d. 1950) in 1922. She is the matrilineal great-grandmother of American actor Oliver Platt.
*Edmund Maurice Burke (15 May 1885 – 8 July 1955), who was the grandfather of Diana, Princess of Wales.
*Francis George Burke (15 May 1885 – 30 October 1958), who died unmarried.

In 1896 he stood as an Anti-Parnellite Nationalist candidate in the Kerry East by-election for a seat in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Nationalists had split into two factions after the party leader, Charles Stewart Parnell was named as co-respondent in a divorce. Roche was supported initially by both the Parnellites and the Anti-Parnellites, until it was revealed that he was himself divorced. During the campaign, Roche denied publicly that he knew of the divorce or that he had deserted his wife and children. ["The Times (London)" Saturday, 28 March 1896, p. 13 col. E] Although he went on to win the seat, the opposing Unionist candidate gained the highest vote ever recorded for a Unionist candidate in Kerry East. ["The Times (London)", Monday, 30 March 1896; p. 7 col. F] He served one term and did not stand in the following general election in 1900.

On 1 September 1920 he succeeded his brother as Baron Fermoy. Just two months later he died at Artillery Mansions, Westminster, London. He was buried at St Marylebone cemetery, Finchley on 3 November 1920. [Cokayne, G. E., Gibbs, Vicary and Doubleday, H. A. "The Complete Peerage: Volume V" (St. Catherine Press, London, 1926) p. 303]

tyles

*1852–1856: James Boothby Burke Roche
*1856–1896: The Hon James Boothby Burke Roche
*1896–1900: The Hon James Boothby Burke Roche, MP
*1900–1920: The Hon James Boothby Burke Roche
*1920: The Rt Hon James Boothby Burke Roche, 3rd Baron Fermoy

References