Thomas Pakenham, 2nd Earl of Longford

Pakenham Hall Castle, County Westmeath

Pakenham was the eldest son of Edward Pakenham, 2nd Baron Longford, by Catherine Rowley, daughter of Hercules Rowley. His sister, the Honourable Catherine Pakenham, was the wife of the Duke of Wellington. One of his younger brothers was the Honourable Sir Edward Pakenham, a British Army officer who served under Wellington in the Peninsular War.[1] A younger brother was Sir Hercules Robert Pakenham CB, KCB, a lieutenant-general of the British Army and was brevet colonel and aide-de-camp to the William IV of the United Kingdom.[2]

Pakenham succeeded his father in the barony in 1792, inheriting Pakenham Hall Castle (otherwise known as Tullynally Castle) and two years later also succeeded his grandmother, Elizabeth Pakenham, 1st Countess of Longford, as second Earl of Longford.[1]

Longford was one of the original 28 Irish representative peers elected to the 1st Union Parliament on 2 August 1800. He was a member of the House of Lords until his death. He was appointed a Knight of the Order of St Patrick on 17 December 1813.[3] In 1821 he was created Baron Silchester, of Silchester in the County of Southampton, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom,[4] which gave him and his descendants an automatic seat in the House of Lords. He used his influence to strongly, but unsuccessfully, oppose Catholic Emancipation. This led him to clash publicly with his brother-in-law Wellington, a convert to Emancipation who as Prime Minister steered the measure through Parliament.

Lord Longford remodelled the 17th-century Pakenham Hall Castle in the Gothic Revival style in the early 1800s, adding towers and a moat. It was by then larger than any other castellated house in Ireland.

He married Lady Georgiana Emma Charlotte Lygon, daughter of William Lygon, 1st Earl Beauchamp, in 1817. They had several children. Their third son the Honourable Thomas Alexander Pakenham was a rear-admiral in the Royal Navy and the father of Admiral Sir William Pakenham. Their seventh and youngest son the Honourable Sir Francis Pakenham was a diplomat and notably served as Ambassador to Sweden.

Longford died in May 1835, aged 61, and was succeeded in the earldom by his eldest son, Edward. Longford's second son William, who eventually succeeded his brother to the earldom, was a general in the British Army. The Countess of Longford survived her husband by over 40 years and died in February 1880.[1]

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Earl of Longford