James Butler, 1st Marquess of Ormonde

Earl of Ormonde The death of his older brother Walter Butler, 1st Marquess of Ormonde in 1820 resulted in his succession as 19th Earl of Ormonde. As a peer he was a Moderate Tory, and voted in support of the Reform Bill during the early 1830s.

Despite the disposal of the family's extensive estates in England, upon his elder brother's death James become one of the largest landowners in Ireland, and enjoyed an annual income of over £20,000 from his Irish estates.

Having joined the fashionable society in London, he became a companion of the Prince Regent. Subsequently, at the Prince's coronation as George IV, he was created a Peer of the United Kingdom, as Baron Ormonde, of Llanthony, in the county of Monmouth.

Marquess of Ormonde In 1825 the Marquessate of Ormonde was recreated for James; the previous creation of the title had become extinct upon the death of his elder brother. As the Marquessate was created in the Peerage of Ireland, he continued to sit in the United Kingdom House of Lords as Baron Ormonde.

He served as Lord Lieutenant of County Kilkenny from 1831 until 1838, and was a Militia Aide-de-camp to King William IV from 1830 to 1837, and Queen Victoria from 1837 until his death.

Attempts to restore Dukedom Lord Ormonde's grandson, James Butler, 3rd Marquess of Ormonde, is recorded as having written to the-then Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Benjamin Disraeli, regarding the restoration of the Dukedom of Ormonde in October 1868. In the letter, the Third Marquess claimed that in 1825 his grandfather James Butler, 19th Earl of Ormonde had been advised by Prime Minister Lord Liverpool to apply for the restoration of the Dukedom of Ormonde, with the caveat that he would first need to apply to be elevated from the rank of Earl to Marquess. An application was duly made, and James, 19th Earl of Ormond was granted the title Marquess of Ormonde in 1825. The 3rd Marquess believed that Lord Liverpool's loss of the Office of Prime Minister in 1827 frustrated this plan, and the 1st Marquess took no further action towards applying for the restoration of the Dukedom.

Marriage and children He married Grace Louisa Staples, daughter of Rt. Hon. John Staples and Hon. Henrietta Molesworth (daughter of Richard Molesworth, 3rd Viscount Molesworth) on 12 October 1807. They had five sons and five daughters:

John Butler, 2nd Marquess of Ormonde (1808–1854), who married Frances Jane (died 26 August 1903), daughter of Gen. Hon. Sir Edward Paget Lord Walter Wandesford Butler (1814–1861), Army officer who was a Captain in the Kilkenny Militia. Captain Lord James Wandesford Butler (1815–1893), who married Lady Rachel Evelyn Russell, daughter of the 6th Duke of Bedford James Francis Butler (1857 - 1933) Grace Louisa Butler Georgia Maud Sita Butler (1862 - 1863) Julian George Butler (1864 - 1939) Louisa Grace Butler (1816–1896), married Thomas Fortescue, 1st Baron Clermont Lord Richard Molesworth Butler (1818–1838) Lieut Lord Charles Wandesford Butler (1820–1857) Several of their children suffered from Epilepsy, which was attributed to the sudden deaths of their second son Lord Walter Butler, who died suddenly at his home, No. 16 South Frederick Street, Dublin, in 1861, The Marchioness of Ormonde, their eldest son Lord Ossory and Lord Walter Butler were at his bedside when he died. In August 1857 she vacated the house and took a new residence Marlay House near Dublin which remainded as her primary residence until her death in 1860.