Viscount Hawarden

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Viscount Hawarden is a title in the Peerage of Ireland created in 1793 for Sir Cornwallis Maude, 3rd Baronet, who had previously represented Roscommon in the Irish Parliament. The Maude family were long connected with Dundrum, County Tipperary, and later with lands at Combe Down, Somerset.

The 3rd Viscount sat in the House of Lords as an Irish representative peer from 1836 to 1850. The 4th Viscount served as an Irish representative peer and Conservative government whip, and in 1886 was created Earl de Montalt in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. That earldom became extinct on his death in 1905, while his other titles passed to his cousin, the 5th Viscount. The 6th Viscount was killed in World War I and was succeeded by his cousin, the 7th Viscount. As of 2010 the titles were held by the 9th Viscount, who inherited the peerage in 1991.

The Maude Baronetcy, of Dundrum in County Tipperary, was created in 1705 for the first Viscount’s father, Robert Maude. The second Baronet served as MP for County Tipperary, and in 1776 he was raised to the Peerage as Baron de Montalt, of Hawarden. That barony became extinct in 1777 and was revived in 1785 for the 3rd Baronet, who became the first Viscount Hawarden.

The family seat is Great Bossington Farm, near Adisham, Kent. Dundrum House, near Cashel, County Tipperary, was the former family home; it is an 18th-century Palladian mansion. An extra storey was added around 1890 by the 4th Viscount Hawarden; the house was sold in 1908, later becoming a convent and then a hotel in 1981.

The heir apparent is Hon. Varian Maude (born 1997). The family motto is Virtute Securus (Safety by bravery).