James Louis Rice
James Louis Rice | |
---|---|
Born | James Louis Rice 1730 |
Died | 1793 (aged 63) |
Nationality | Irish |
Education | St Anthony's College, Leuven |
James Louis Rice (1730–1793) was an Irish Count of the Holy Roman Empire, duelist and a close friend of Emperor Joseph II. Rice was involved in a plot to save Marie Antoinette during her imprisonment in France and take her to his home in Dingle, Ireland.
Biography
James Louis Rice was born in 1730 in Dingle, County Kerry to Thomas Rice and Alicia Meade.[1] Many members of his family supported the Stuart and Catholic cause, leading to much of their property being confiscated and their emigration to mainland Europe, mainly France, in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.[2]
Rice left Ireland in his youth and was educated at
During the imprisonment of Marie Antoinette during the French Revolution, Rice formed a plan for her rescue—he arranged relays of post-horses all the way from Paris to the coast, where he had a boat waiting to take her to his house at Dingle, County Kerry. The plan failed because of her unwillingness to leave King Louis XVI and join the plan.[2][1]
Rice was created a count Of the Holy Roman Empire by the Emperor Joseph II.
Rice later returned to Mount Trenchard House, County Kerry,[1] where he died around 1793.