| Honorific-Prefix: | The Most Honourable |
| The Marquess of Headfort | |
| Honorific-Suffix: | KP |
| Office: | Member of Parliament for County Meath |
| Term Start: | 1794 |
| Term End: | 1795 |
| Alongside: | Hamilton Gorges |
| Predecessor: | Hercules Langford Rowley Hamilton Gorges |
| Successor: | Hon. Clotworthy Taylor Hamilton Gorges |
| Office1: | Member of Parliament for Longford Borough |
| Term Start1: | 1790 |
| Term End1: | 1794 |
| Alongside1: | Hon. Hercules Rowley, Henry Stewart |
| Predecessor1: | Hon. Thomas Pakenham Henry Stewart |
| Successor1: | Thomas Pepper Henry Stewart |
| Office2: | Member of Parliament for Kells |
| Term Start2: | 1776 |
| Term End2: | 1790 |
| Alongside2: | Thomas Moore, Hon. Hercules Taylour |
| Predecessor2: | Thomas Pepper Thomas Moore |
| Successor2: | Hon. Hercules Taylour Hon. Thomas Pakenham |
| Birth Name: | Thomas Taylour |
| Birth Date: | 18 November 1757 |
| Parents: | Thomas Taylour, 1st Earl of Bective Hon. Jane Rowley |
| Children: | 4 |
| Relatives: | Clotworthy Rowley, 1st Baron Langford (brother) Hercules Rowley, 2nd Viscount Langford (uncle) Elizabeth Rowley, 1st Viscountess Langford (grandmother) Sir Thomas Taylor, 2nd Baronet (grandfather) |
Thomas Taylour, 1st Marquess of Headfort (18 November 1757 – 24 October 1829), styled Viscount Headford from 1766 to 1795, and known as The Earl of Bective from 1795 to 1800, was an Irish peer and politician.
Taylour was born on 18 November 1757. He was the eldest son of four daughters and six sons born to the former Hon. Jane Rowley and Thomas Taylour, 1st Earl of Bective, a Member of Parliament for Kells. His younger brothers Hercules and Robert both represented both the same constituency as their father.[1] His younger brother, Clotworthy Taylour, inherited their maternal uncle's estates and was raised to the Irish peerage.[2]
His paternal grandparents were Sir Thomas Taylor, 2nd Baronet and the former Sarah Graham. His maternal grandparents were the Rt. Hon. Hercules Langford Rowley and Elizabeth Ormsby Upton, suo jure Viscountess Langford. His maternal uncle, Hercules Rowley, 2nd Viscount Langford represented County Antrim and Downpatrick in the Irish Parliament. After his death in 1796, the Rowley estates were inherited by his younger brother, Clotworthy (who assumed the surname of Rowley, by Royal licence, in 1796 and in 1800 the Langford title was revived when he was raised to the Peerage of Ireland as Baron Langford).[3]
Like his father and several of his brothers, Taylour represented Kells in the Irish House of Commons from 1776 to 1790. Subsequently, he sat as Member of Parliament for Longford Borough until 1794 and then for County Meath until 1795, when he succeeded his father as earl. He became Marquess of Headfort in 1800 and was appointed a Knight of the Order of St Patrick on 15 May 1806.[4]
Taylour served as Sheriff of County Meath in 1786 and as a Governor of County Meath. He was commissioned as the first Colonel of the Royal Meath Militia on 25 April 1793[5] and remained in command until he handed over to his son in 1823.[6] He succeeded to his father's earldom on 14 Feb 1795 and was himself created the Marquess of Headfort in the Peerage of Ireland on 29 December 1800. From 1800 to 1829, he was an Irish representative peer. He was made a Knight of St Patrick in 1806 and served as a Lord of the Bedchamber from 1812 to 1829.
On 5 December 1778, Taylour married Mary Quin, the daughter of George Quin and Caroline Cavendish (a daughter of Sir Henry Cavendish, Bt and sister of Sir Henry Cavendish, Bt). Her maternal grandparents were Mary (née Widenham) Quin and Valentine Quin (the grandfather of the 1st Earl of Dunraven and Mount-Earl, who was also 1st Viscount Mount-Earl).[7] Together, they were the parents of two sons and two daughters, including:[8]
Headfort eloped in 1803 with the wife of Reverend Charles D. Massy (son of Sir Hugh Dillon Massy), resulting in a lawsuit, 10,000 pounds damages and, for the plaintiff, one of John Philpot Curran's most famous speeches.[10] Headfort died on 24 October 1829. His widow died on 12 August 1842.[11]