William Gibson, 2nd Baron Ashbourne

William Gibson, 2nd Baron Ashbourne (1929)

William Gibson, 2nd Baron Ashbourne(16 December 1868 – 21 January 1942), was anIrish languageactivist and author.

Life

Born inDublin,toEdward Gibson, 1st Baron Ashbourne,and Frances Maria Adelaide Colles (a granddaughter ofAbraham Collesand niece ofJohn Dawson Mayne), Gibson was educated atHarrow School,Trinity College, Dublin,andMerton College, OxfordUniversity. He succeeded to the title of 2nd Baron Ashbourne, ofAshbourne, County Meath,in 1913 and held the office of Justice of the Peace forCounty DublinandCounty Meath.He was a founder of theRoger BaconSociety and Vice-President of theIrish Literary Society.He was the author ofThe Abbe de Lammenais and the Liberal Catholic Movement in Franceand was a contributor toThe Dublinand other reviews. In 1896, he married Marianne de Monbrison (died 1953), daughter of Henri Roger Conquerré de Monbrison ofParis,a French Protestant from the Languedoc. Marianne's sister was married to Count Edmond de Poutales. Lord and Lady Ashbourne left no children.

Gibson was an enthusiasticcultural nationalistand converted to Catholicism. He adoptedIrish dressand was a member of theGaelic League.He spoke French rather than English to those who did not speak Irish. He occasionally spoke Irish in theHouse of Lords,though it was remarked "The House of Lords was in England, and what good was it for him to talk Irish to Englishmen while the Irish people of Galway spoke English to one another?"

His father had left £100,000 in his will, and though "Willie" was the eldest son and heir, because of his nationalist leanings, he was left with only a "paltry" £800, the bulk having been passed to his younger brother, Edward Gibson (1873–1928), father of the thirdBaron Ashbourne.

Mary Leslie, a member of the family of theLeslie family of Glaslough, Monaghan,said of Lord Ashbourne:

"I am so interested by the Ashbourne's son, a half hatched philosopher & saint who has an article in this 19th Century & is writing on" Danton "for the next. He has the eyes of a Melancthon but the mouth & wit of a Paddy. He was a positivist before he turned Catholic. He has the worst clothes of any philosopher I've met..."

In spite of his Irish Nationalist leanings, he lived nearDorking,Surrey,before he and his wife moved toFrance,where they lived at Compagnie, where he died. On the back of a letter that he wrote to his wife in 1937, he wrote the opening lines of a poem:

"I turned away, my soul was rich with sadness, And wondered thence in brooding reverie..."

Publications

TheAbbe de Lamennaisand the liberal Catholic movement in France,1896.

Arms

Coat of arms of William Gibson, 2nd Baron Ashbourne

Crest On a bank of reeds a pelican in her piety all Proper. Escutcheon Ermine three keys fesswise in pale Azure and in chief as many trefoils slipped Vert. Supporters Dexter a female figure representing Mercy her interior hand resting on a sword point downwards all Proper; sinister a female figure representing Justice holding in her left hand a sword point upwards and in her right hand a balance all Proper; each charged on the breast with a trefoil slipped Vert and each standing on a fasces also Proper. Motto Coelestes Pandite Portae

External links

• National Portrait Gallery
• Portrait of William Gibson, 2nd Baron Ashbourne