Cecil Stafford-King-Harman

Sir Cecil William Francis Stafford-King-Harman, 2nd Baronet (6 December 1895[1]–1987) was an Anglo-Irish landowner and soldier. He was born Cecil Stafford, the second son of Sir Thomas Stafford, 1st Baronet and his wife Frances Agnes, daughter of Edward King-Harman.[2] In 1933 Cecil added his mother's surname to his father's.[2] His elder brother, Edward Charles Stafford King Harman, was killed in the First World War.[3]

Cecil graduated from Oxford, receiving an M.A. in agriculture in 1922.[1] He married Sarah Beatrice Acland, daughter of Alfred Dyke Acland.[4] Their son Thomas Edward Stafford-King-Harman (1921–1944) was killed in the Normandy Campaign.[5] Their daughters were MI6 agent Joan Stafford-King-Harman (1918–2018) and artist Ann Stafford King-Harman (1919–1969). On his father's death in 1935, Cecil succeeded to the baronetcy;[4] it became extinct on his death in 1987.

In 1937 he followed his father as a steward of the Irish Turf Club.[6] He was a member of the Church of Ireland and from 1939 a lay member of the diocesan synod for Kilmore, Elphin and Ardagh.[7] Previously a captain in the yeomanry, during the Second World War Stafford-King-Harman served in the King's Royal Rifle Corps from 7 May 1940[8] until 2 April 1943, when as temporary lieutenant-colonel he relinquished his command due to ill health and was granted honorary rank of major.[9]

After the death of Sir John Keane in 1956, Seán T. O'Kelly, the President of Ireland, appointed Stafford-King-Harman to the Council of State.[10] The family estate was the Rockingham Estate in the north of County Roscommon. The house was gutted by fire in September 1957 while Stafford-King-Harman was at Doncaster Racecourse.[11] Lacking the funds to rebuild the house, he sold the remaining estate of 2,400 acres (970 ha) at auction in 1959.[12] It was bought by the Land Commission and much of it is now Lough Key Forest Park.[12][13]

References

1. Montague-Smith, Patrick W. (1980). Debrett's peerage and baronetage. Debrett's. p. B-382. ISBN 9780905649207.
2. "Copy of grant of arms ... to Capt. Cecil William Francis Stafford of Rockingham, Co. Roscommon". Catalogue. National Library of Ireland. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
3. "Strokestown House, Co. Roscommon: Married Three Months". World War One At Home. BBC. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
4. Who's Who (121st ed.). London: Adam and Charles Black. 1969. p. 2648. ISBN 0713609435. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
5. "Lieutenant Thomas Edward Stafford-King-Harman". Fallen Heroes of Normandy.
6. "New Racing Steward Sir C. S. King-Harman". The Irish Times. 23 April 1937. p. 4.
7. "Elphin and Ardagh Diocesan Synod". The Irish Times. 14 July 1939. p. 4.; "Kilmore Diocesan Synod". The Irish Times. 12 July 1956. p. 7.
8. "Regular Army; Emergency Commissions, etc". The London Gazette (Supplement to 34880): 3849. 25 June 1940.
9. "Regular Army; Emergency Commissions, etc". The London Gazette (Supplement to 35962): 1513. 2 April 1943.
10. "Questions. Oral Answers. — Council of State". Dáil Éireann (16th Dáil) debates. Oireachtas. 4 December 1957. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
11. McDonagh, Marese (31 July 2014). "Grandfather's gateposts saved from Rockingham open doors to art". The Irish Times. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
12. "The Boyle'd Pot ; Marking the anniversary of Rockingham House fire". Boyle Today. 16 September 2016. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
13. Peavoy, Tadhg (15 September 2018). "Roscommon's great outdoors". The Irish Times. Retrieved 25 April 2019.; "Park and Historical Estate". Lough Key Forest Park. Retrieved 25 April 2019.

Further reading

• "Obituary: Sir Cecil Stafford King Harman, Bt". The Irish Times. 2 April 1987. p. 13.