Alexander Saunderson

Colonel Alexander Saunderson (1783–1857) was a Whig MP for Cavan 1826–1831. He was a landed gentleman with 12,000 acres. Although from the Protestant planter tradition, he supported Catholic Emancipation. Alexander Saunderson was a keen racing yachtsman on Lough Erne and a founder member c. 1818 of the group that became Lough Erne Yacht Club. He designed and built fast sailing boats at Castle Saunderson – as did his son and successor Edward. One of his most successful boats he called Bluestocking. His mother and aunt were Bluestockings. He may also have been a member of the Royal Dublin Society. Family Alexander was born to Francis Saunderson and Anne Bassett White. The Irish Saundersons were a 17th-century branch of an old family, originally of Durham; a Lincolnshire branch, the Saundersons of Saxby, held the titles of Viscount Castleton (Irish: c. 1628) and Baron Saunderson (British: c. 1714) up to 1723.