Member of Parliament ( MP ) for Cavan
Which position did Edward James Saunderson hold from Jul 1865 to 1874?
Edward James Saunderson Colonel Edward James Saunderson ( 1 October 183721 October 1906 ) was an Anglo-Irish landowner and prominent Irish unionist politician . He led the Irish Unionist Alliance between 1891 and 1906 . Early life . Saunderson was born at the family seat of Castle Saunderson , near Belturbet in County Cavan . He was the younger son of Colonel Alexander Saunderson , who served as the Tory Member of Parliament ( MP ) for Cavan , and The Hon . Sarah Juliana Maxwell . His maternal grandfather was Henry Maxwell , 6th Baron Farnham . The Irish Saundersons were a 17th-century branch of an old family , originally from Durham ; a Lincolnshire branch , the Saundersons of Saxby , held the titles of Viscount Castleton ( Irish : created 1628 ) and Baron Saunderson ( British : created 1714 ) up to 1723 . Saunderson was educated abroad , mostly in Nice by private tutors , and inherited his fathers County Cavan estates following his death in 1857 . Career . Saunderson was first elected to the Parliament of the United Kingdom as the Palmerstonian Liberal member for Cavan in 1865 . In 1869 , he became a Conservative . Other than opposing the disestablishment of the Irish church in 1869 , he otherwise gave little sign of political interest or activity at this stage . Saunderson lost his seat to the Home Rule League candidates , Joseph Biggar and Charles Joseph Fay , at the 1874 general election . In 1885 , he stood again for parliament and was elected as a Conservative for the North Armagh constituency . By this stage , he had become a prominent figure in the Orange Order and in the unionist political movement . He retained his North Armagh seat in the 1886 election . He was subsequently involved in organising the establishment of the Irish Unionist Alliance ( IUA ) , a political party which sought to unite the unionist movement across Ireland . He became the IUAs first leader in 1891 , a position which he held until his death . Saunderson became known for his uncompromising speeches in the House of Commons , and he was nicknamed the Dancing Dervish by friends and opponents . He was invested as a member of Her Majestys Most Honourable Privy Council in 1898 in recognition of his political service . Saunderson had entered the Cavan militia ( 4th battalion Royal Irish Fusiliers ) in 1862 , and was made a major in 1875 . He became a colonel in 1886 and was in command of the battalion from 1891 to 1893 . In March 1893 , Saunderson was one of the signatories of the manifesto of the Ulster Defence Union , launched to organise resistance to the Second Home Rule Bill of 1893 . He was a Justice of the Peace and Deputy Lieutenant for Cavan , and was appointed High Sheriff of Cavan in 1859 . He served as the grand master of the Orange Order lodge in Belfast from 1901 to 1903 . Personal life . On 22 June 1865 he married The Hon . Helena Emily de Moleyns , a daughter of Thomas de Moleyns , 3rd Baron Ventry and the former Eliza Theodora Blake ( a daughter of Sir John Blake , 11th Baronet ) . Together the couple had four sons ( two of whom were British Army officers ) and a daughter , including : - Rosa Sarah Saunderson ( 1867–1952 ) , who married Maj . Henry Nugent Head , a son of Henry Haswell Head , in 1892 . - Somerset Francis Saunderson ( 1868–1927 ) , who married Marie Satterfield , a daughter of John M . Satterfield , and former wife of Count Franz Joseph von Larisch . - Armar Dayrolles Saunderson ( 1872–1952 ) , who married Anne Mills Archbold , a daughter of John Dustin Archbold , in 1906 . They divorced and he married Mrs . Rose Hogg ( d . 1955 ) of Bagnor Manor , in 1922 . - John Vernon Saunderson ( 1878–1960 ) , who married Hon . Eva Norah Helen Mulholland , a daughter of Henry Mulholland , 2nd Baron Dunleath , in 1910 . In his private life , Saunderson was well known as a keen yachtsman , and his character was deeply marked by stern religious feeling . He was a devout Evangelical Anglican . He died of pneumonia in 1906 . In 1910 , a statue , erected by public subscription , was unveiled at Portadown . Descendants . In 1947 , his grandson , Alexander Saunderson ( 1917–2004 ) , married Princess Louise ( née Louise Astor Van Alen ) , great-granddaughter of Titanic victim , John Jacob Astor IV , and the ex-wife of two different Georgian Mdivani princes . They remained married until her death in 1998 . Through his daughter Rosa , he was a grandfather of Col . Henry William Nugent Head ( 1898–1964 ) , who married Ruth M . Kresge , daughter of American chain store executive Sebastian S . Kresge . A prominent sportsman , in 1928 he hunted with Theodore and Kermit Roosevelt , who was his best man at his wedding to Ruth in 1933 . Bibliography . - Reginald Lucas , Memoir ( 1908 ) . - Col . Saunderson Dead. , The New York Times , 22 October 1906 . External links . - Edward James Saunderson ( 1837-1906 ) , Politician ; Lord Lieutenant of Cavan at the National Portrait Gallery , London