Charles Moore , 1st Marquess of Drogheda Field Marshal Charles Moore , 1st Marquess of Drogheda KP , PC ( Ire ) ( 29 June 1730 – 22 December 1822 ) was a British peer and military officer , styled Viscount Moore from 1752 until 28 October 1758 , when he succeeded as 6th Earl of Drogheda following the death of his father Edward Moore at sea while travelling from England to Dublin . His mother Sarah was a daughter of Brabazon Ponsonby , 1st Earl of Bessborough . Military career . Moore joined the Army in 1744 as a cornet in the 12th Dragoons , and bore the colours at the Battle of Culloden in 1746 . In 1750 he was promoted captain , and reached the rank of major in 1752 . He was promoted brevet lieutenant - colonel on 18 January 1755 and on 7 December 1759 became lieutenant - colonel commandant of the 19th ( later 18th ) Light Dragoons . He was promoted to Colonel of Dragoons by brevet on 19 February 1762 , and colonel of his regiment on 3 August that year . Drogheda commanded the 18th Light Dragoons in operations against the Whiteboys in Ireland from 1762 to 1764 , and remained colonel of the regiment until it was disbanded in September 1821 . Lord Drogheda was Governor of Kinsale and Charles Fort from 1765 until 1770 . He was promoted to major - general on 30 April 1770 and served as Master - General of the Irish Ordnance and colonel - in - chief of the Royal Irish Artillery from 1770 to 1797 , being promoted to lieutenant - general on 29 August 1777 and full general on 12 October 1793 . He served as Muster - Master - General in Ireland from May to November 1807 and was promoted to Field Marshal on 19 July 1821 , despite never having seen active service . Political career . In 1756 he became Member of Parliament for St Canice . He succeeded his father as Earl of Drogheda in 1758 , when his father and younger brother were drowned in the Irish Sea . Moore became Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland from 1763 . In 1776 he became Member of Parliament for UK Parliament constituency . He was a Lord Justice of Ireland from 1766 to 1767 . In 1791 he was created Marquess of Drogheda . In 1797 he was appointed one of the joint Postmaster General of Ireland , a post he held until 1806 . In 1801 , he was made Baron Moore , of Moore Place in the County of Kent , in the Peerage of the United Kingdom . Civilian life and family . Lord Drogheda was elected Grandmaster of the Grand Lodge of Ireland in 1758 , a post he held for the next two years . He was a Governor of County Meath from 1759 , Governor of King ' s County from 1764 , Constable of Maryborough Castle from 1765 , Custos Rotulorum of King ' s County from 1766 , Custos Rotulorum of Queen ' s County from 1769 and Governor of Queen ' s County from 1774 , holding all these offices until his death . In 1783 he became one of the Founder Knights of the Order of St Patrick . Moore was an important patron of the artist William Ashford . Drogheda married Lady Anne Seymour - Conway , the daughter of Francis Seymour , 1st Marquess of Hertford , on 15 February 1766 . They had eight children , including Charles Moore , 2nd Marquess of Drogheda , Henry , father of the 3rd and last Marquess , and Elizabeth , Countess of Westmeath . His wife ' s family had a tradition of mental illness , which may have a bearing on the fact that their elder son went insane .