Title 3rd Baron Fermoy Predecessor Edward Roche | Successor Edmund Roche Name James 3rd | |
Tenure September 1920 – October 1920 Children Maurice Roche, 4th Baron Fermoy, Cynthia Roche, Francis George Burke, Eileen Roche Parents Edmond Roche, 1st Baron Fermoy, Elizabeth Caroline Boothby Similar People Frances Ellen Work, Edmund Roche - 5th Baron Fer, Frances Shand Kydd, Ruth Roche - Baroness | ||
James Boothby Burke Roche, 3rd Baron Fermoy (28 July 1852 – 30 October 1920) was an Irish peer and a Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom House of Commons. He was the great-grandfather of Diana, Princess of Wales.
Contents
Early life
He was born at Twyford Abbey, Middlesex in 1852, the son of Edmond Burke Roche, and his wife Eliza Caroline née Boothby. He was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge.
Career
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. 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. He served one term and did not stand in the following general election in 1900.
Personal life
He visited the United States where he met the heiress Frances Ellen Work (1857–1947). Shortly thereafter on 22 September 1880, they married 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. Together, they had four children, twin sons and two daughters:
On 1 September 1920, he succeeded his brother as Baron Fermoy. Just two months later he died at Artillery Mansions, Westminster, London aged 68. He was buried at St. Marylebone Cemetery in East Finchley on 3 November 1920.
Descendants
Through his son Francis, Roche was the great-grandfather of Diana, Princess of Wales. Her daughter, Cynthia, is the matrilineal great-grandmother of American actor Oliver Platt.