Joseph Leeson, 1st Earl of Milltown

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Joseph Leeson, 1st Earl of Milltown (11 March 1701 – 2 October 1783) was an Irish peer. He was created Baron Russborough, in the County of Wicklow, in 1753, Viscount Russborough, of Russellstown in the County of Wicklow, in 1760, and Earl of Milltown, in the County of Dublin, in 1763.

He was the son of Joseph Leeson, who was a brewer in Dublin, and Mary Brice, daughter of Alderman Andrew Brice, Sheriff of Dublin. His father came to Ireland about 1680, made a fortune as a brewer and acquired much property in the area around what is now Dawson Street. The name Leeson is found in Ireland before 1680; four Leesons occurred in the lists of army personnel in the Ormond Manuscripts, the earliest in 1644. The name seems to originate in Cornwall where it is quite common.

He had one known sibling — his sister, Joyce Leeson, who married Robert Blackwood (later Sir Robert Blackwood, 1st Baronet), the ancestor of the Barons Dufferin and Claneboye).

On 20 January 1729 he married Cecilia Leigh, daughter of Francis Leigh. They had three children:

The Hon. Joseph Leeson, later styled Viscount Russborough, later 2nd Earl of Milltown (1730–1801)
The Lady Mary Leeson (1734–1794) (married the 2nd Earl of Mayo)
The Hon. Brice Leeson, later 3rd Earl of Milltown (1735–1807)

Cecilia had died by 1738, when Leeson married Anne Preston, daughter of Nathaniel Preston, on 20 October 1738. They had one daughter:

The Lady Anne Leeson (married Hugh Henry)

Anne died on 17 January 1766, and Leeson married thirdly Elizabeth French, daughter of the Very Revd William French, Dean of Ardagh, on 10 February 1768. They had three children:

The Hon. William Leeson (1770–1819)
The Hon. Robert Leeson (1773–1850)
The Lady Cecilia Leeson (married David La Touche)
The Lady Florence Arabella Leeson (d. 1840) (married Marcus Beresford, a grandson of the 1st Earl of Tyrone)

Lord Milltown died on 2 October 1783 at the age of 82. His third wife died on 23 January 1842 having lived 55 years past his death.

In 1728 Suesey Street in Dublin was renamed Leeson Street, presumably in his honour.

He commissioned Russborough House, a particularly fine example of Palladian architecture, designed by Richard Cassels and built between 1741 and 1755. The interior of the house contrasts with the austere exterior by way of some ornate plasterwork on the ceilings by the Lafranchini brothers. It is the longest house in Ireland, with a frontage measuring 210 m/700 ft, and is considered by some the most beautiful.

Genealogic Information obtained from The Complete Baronetage, 5 volumes (no date (c. 1900); reprint, Gloucester, UK: Alan Sutton Publishing, 1983), volume V, page 370 editor George Edward Cokayne via www.thepeerage.com