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The Active Irish Peers in the Early Eighteenth Century*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 January 2014

F. G. James
F. G. James*
Affiliation:
Tulane University
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Extract

At the close of the seventeenth century the English House of Lords played an important role in government. It was the highest court in the kingdom as well as the upper house of the legislature; and, as A. S. Turberville observed, the Lords still considered themselves the “hereditary counsellors” of the crown. The prestige of the peerage was such that well into George I's reign most leading ministers were, or sought to become, peers. Although over twice as large as a century earlier, the English House of Lords retained its exclusive character with a total membership of only 165-169 lay peers plus twenty-six bishops. Furthermore, thanks to William III's bipartisan creations, the upper house remained more or less evenly balanced between Whig and Tory sympathizers so that it acted as a counterweight to party fluctuations in the Commons. In addition, a number of peers exerted extensive control over elections to the Commons.

The Irish House of Lords between 1692 and 1727 did not constitute so influential a part of the Irish government, yet in most respects it resembled its English counterpart. It too served as a high court, with all members (as in England) joining the law lords in considering and rendering judicial decisions. As counsellors to the lord lieutenant (viceroy) Irish peers and bishops were, in fact, more active since they provided about half the membership of the Irish privy council. Unlike the English privy council, that in Ireland was a relatively small functioning body, meeting regularly with the lord lieutenant to review all proposed legislation.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of British Studies , Volume 18 , Issue 2 , Spring 1979 , pp. 52 - 69
Copyright
Copyright © North American Conference of British Studies 1979

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Footnotes

*

The research for this article was supported in part by a grant from the Penrose Fund of the American Philosophical Society.

References

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2. Ibid., pp. 4-5.

3. Compiled from the period to 1800 from Index to the Irish Privy Councils 1711-1910 (and partially from 1660), printed pamphlet in the National Library of Ireland, Dublin.

4. The population of Ireland in the early 18th century was about half that of England, or a little less. Mitchell, B. R. and Deane, Phyllis, Abstract of British Historical Statistics (Cambridge, 1962), p. 5Google Scholar. For average attendance in the Irish Lords, see below, note 46.

5. The years counted were 1695, 1697, 1703, 1710, 1715.

6. Richard Cassel (also Cassels or Castles), who died in 1751, settled in Ireland during the second decade of the 18th century. He designed both Carton House and Powerscourt. D. N. B., III, 1183-84. Francis Bindon died in 1765; he designed two houses in Kilkenny, one for the Ponsonbys and one for Sir William Fownes. Ibid., II, 508. On country houses, see also Maxwell, Constantia, Country and Town in Ireland in the Eighteenth Century (rev. ed.; Dundalk, , 1949), pp. 68–88Google Scholar; Neale, J. P., Views of Seats of Noblemen and Gentlemen in England, Scotland and Ireland, 6 vols. (London, 1818–1823)Google Scholar.

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11. Published in Dublin in 1749. The eight listed were: Thomas Nugent, Earl of Westmeath; George Talbot, Earl of Waterford (also of Shrewsbury) who had actually died in 1744; James Butler, Viscount Mountgarrett; Michael Taaffe, Viscount Taaffe; Richard Molyneux, Viscount Maryborough (he had died in 1738 and his successor was William); Nicholas Fairfax, Viscount Emley (also dead, his successor was Charles Gregory); Henry Barnewall, Viscount Kingsland; Theodore Butler, Baron Cabie.

12. Irish Lords Journal, II, 536Google Scholar.

13. Stone, Lawrence, The Crisis of the Aristocracy (Oxford, 1965), p. 104Google Scholar. Between 1603 and 1641 the crown conferred 116 Irish peerages upon 82 individuals, of whom only 24 were Irish or Anglo-Irish. Mayes, Charles R., “The Early Stuarts and the Irish Peerage,” English Hist. Review, LXXIII (1958), 247Google Scholar. See also Kearney, Hugh F., Strafford in Ireland: A Study in Absolutism (Manchester, 1959), pp. 50–52Google Scholar.

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15. D. N. B., XXXVII, 17. William also made the son of another general, Frederick Herman Schomberg, the Duke of Leinster in 1691. The general himself had been killed at the Battle of the Boyne; the title became extinct in 1713. V. Gibbs, , Complete Peerage, VIII, Appendix A, 739Google Scholar.

16. Ormonde was the only other duke at this time. He attended the House of Lords four days in 1697 and left proxies for five other days that session.

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22. Gibbs, V., Complete Peerage, I, 462Google Scholar; Richardson, H. C. and Sayles, G. O., The Irish Parliament in the Middle Ages (Philadelphia, 1952), pp. 134–35CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

23. The Elizabethan ancestors of the following families gained recognition chiefly as a result of military service: Blayney, Caulfield, Hill, King, Lambart, Lane Moore (two branches), Ridgeway, Villiers (St. John), Wingfield. The Chichester and Fitzwilliam progenitors owed their advancement to both military and civil offices. The Boyles (three branches stemming from Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork) and the Parsons seem to owe their position primarily to office holding; the Loftus founder was Archbishop of Armagh.

24. Two of the three branches of the Hamilton family (Viscounts Boyne, Limerick, and Strabane), Boyne and Strabane, were descended from one noble Scottish family (Lords of Paisley). The Montgomerys likewise were Scottish nobles before arriving in Ireland (Viscounts of the Ards), and another Scottish family from James I's time, the Stewarts, was established in Ireland by a Scottish baronet, Captain William Stewart. All are discussed in Perceval-Maxwell, M., The Scottish Migration to Ulster in the Reign of James I (London, 1973)Google Scholar.

25. Past and Present, No. 61 (Nov., 1973), 31–69Google Scholar.

26. Irish Historical Studies, XVIII (March, 1972), 1–21Google Scholar.

27. For example Randal MacDonnell, Marquis of Antrim; Donough MacCarty, Earl of Clancarty; and Richard Talbot, Marquis of Tyrconnell. Bagwell, Richard, Ireland under the Stuarts, 3 vols. (London, 1916), III, 39-43, 102, 220–21Google Scholar. A list of “Loyal Catholics” from 1663 contains eleven peers. Gibbs, V., Complete Peerage, III, 28–29Google Scholar. The holders of all but two of these eleven peerages were in exile in 1691.

28. Beckett, J. C., The Anglo-Irish Tradition (London, 1976), pp. 39–40Google Scholar.

29. The five were: Thomas Fitzmaurice, 20th Baron Kerry, created Earl of Kerry in 1723; Gustavus Hamilton, made Baron Stackallen in 1715 and Viscount Boyne in 1717; James Hamilton, 7th Baron Strabane, made Viscount Strabane in 1701; Richard Parsons, 2nd Viscount Rosse, made Earl of Rosse in 1718. The two peers from the post-1642 period were Alan Broderick, made Baron Midleton in 1715 and Viscount Midleton in 1717; and William Ponsonby, created Baron Bessborough in 1721 and Viscount Duncannon in 1723. His son became Earl of Bessborough in 1739.

30. Thomas Coningsby, an English M. P., was a strong supporter of William III. He was wounded at the Battle of the Boyne and served as Lord Justice in Ireland (1690-92). Although his father was English and he grew up in England, his mother was the daughter of Sir Arthur Loftus of Rathfarnham and his uncle was an Irish peer, Viscount Lisburne. Gibbs, V., Complete Peerage, III, 395Google Scholar; D. N. B., XII, 11-12.

31. As explained in note 21, Sir William Petty's daughter was given the title of Baroness Shelburne by James II. Her mother, Elizabeth Waller, was Irish born. The other three — Alan Brodrick, Robert Molesworth, and William Ponsonby — were all born before 1660 and were over fifty before receiving their titles. Broderick and Ponsonby both served for years in the Irish Commons before becoming peers. So too did Molesworth, but he owed his reputation more to having been envoy to Denmark. Brodrick and Molesworth are both in D. N. B., VI, 383; XXXVIII, 121. For Ponsonby, see Gibbs, V., Complete Peerage, II, 169Google Scholar; Archdall, , Peerage of Ireland, II, 269–70Google Scholar.

32. Stone, Lawrence, The Crisis of the Aristocracy, pp. 164–74Google Scholar.

33. Gibbs, V., Complete Peerage, X, 291 and note fGoogle Scholar.

34. James Hamilton, Viscount Strabane in 1701 and his cousin Gustavus Hamilton, Viscount Boyne in 1717. The James Hamilton who became Viscount Limerick in 1719 was descended from the Rev. Hans Hamilton who migrated from Ayrshire to northern Ireland in Elizabeth's reign. Ibid., II, 266; III, 211-21, 222-23; X, 292; XII (part I), 318. Burke, J. B., Landed Gentry, I, 825Google Scholar.

35. Francis Aungier, 1st Earl of Longford; Arthur Forbes, 1st Earl of Granard; Charles Lambart, 3rd Earl of Cavan (it may possibly have been his father, but since the 2nd Earl had been declared insane in 1670, the Earl of Cavan present at the Patriot Parliament was probably the 3rd Earl).

36. Laurence Barry, 3rd Earl of Barrymore; James Power, 3rd Earl of Tyrone.

37. Alexander MacDonnell, 5th Earl of Antrim.

38. For example, Thomas Nugent, 6th Earl of Westmeath. Although the son of an Italian countess and educated in France, he returned to Ireland and in 1755 took the required oaths and entered the Irish Lords.

39. In 1695, when the Irish Commons was pushing for both an Irish habeas corpus act and a militia act, the Lords were preparing an Irish bill of rights and heads of a bill to provide judges with tenure during good behavior. None of these measures succeeded, but they illustrate the aspirations of both houses of the Irish parliament. Sir Charles Porter to Lord Coningsby, 15 and 22 Sept. 1695, Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, MS 638/18/49-50; Irish Lords Journal, I, 501-02, 514, 517Google Scholar.

40. Ormonde, in addressing his first parliament in 1703, pledged to do all he could for the “advantage and prosperity of my native country;” in reply the Commons thanked him for his “unshaken loyalty to the crown and tender care of his native country.” Journals of the House of Commons of the Kingdom of Ireland, 24 and 25 Sept. 1703 (since there are three editions of the Commons Journal, 1753, 1763-86 and 1796-1800, the dates rather than pages are given).

41. Irish Lords Journal, II, 750Google Scholar.

42. Bailyn, Bernard, “A Comment,” (on Jack Greene's article “Political Mimesis”), American Hist. Review, LXXV (Dec., 1969), 363Google Scholar.

43. Bishop William Nicolson to Archbishop William Wake, 6 Aug. 1719, Wake MSS, XVIII (no folio numbers), Christ Church Library, Oxford; Irish Lords Journal, II, 626–27Google Scholar. When the Lords drew up a petition justifying their appellate jurisdiction, Henry Petty, 3rd Baron Shelburne joined the five bishops and Brodrick and St. Leger in signing a protest. Ibid., II, 660.

44. Ferguson, O. W., Jonathan Swift and Ireland (Urbana, Ill., 1962), pp. 52–53Google Scholar.

45. A list of peers for 24 Oct. 1698 (Irish Lords Journal, I, 693Google Scholar) reports twenty present, twenty outlawed, thirty-two excused (twelve of whom sent proxies), and thirty-five absent without excuse.

46. While the average attending increased, the number attending two thirds or more of the daily meetings was slightly higher in the early period. During William's four parliaments and Anne's first session a dozen to fifteen peers accounted for most of those present and undoubtedly exerted great influence.

47. George I: Viscounts Limerick (Hamilton) and Midleton (Brodrick); Barons Ferrard (Tichborne), Newton Butler (Butler), and Tullamore (Moore).

48. Pre-Reformation families: Barry, Bermingham, Dillon, Fitzgerald, O'Hara; Henry VIII: St. Leger; Elizabeth I: Blayney, Caulfield, Fitzwilliam, Hamilton (Viscount Limerick), Kingston, Lambart, Moore; James I: Annesley, Butler (Baron Newton-Butler), Hamilton (Viscount Strabane), Montgomery, Stewart, Tichborne; Charles I: Smythe; Interregnum-Cromwell: Brodrick, Petty.

49. The relative unimportance of mere attendance in 1911 is discussed in Phillips, Gregory D., “The ‘Diehards’ and the Myth of the ‘Backwoodsmen’,” J.B.S., XVI (Spring, 1977), 111Google Scholar.

50. The Lords' standing committees, appointed at the opening of each session, normally included every member present. Obviously a minority of working members carried on the actual business but it is impossible to identify them; the ad hoc committees, on the other hand, were relatively small and membership is evidence of participation.

51. The nine most frequently serving in order were: Earl Mount-Alexander (Montgomery), Viscount Strabane (Hamilton), Earl of Meath (Brabazon), Viscount Charlemont (Caulfield), Earl of Longford (Aungier), Viscount Massereene (Clotworthy-Skeffington), Viscount Powerscourt (Wingfield), Viscount Dungannon (Trevor), and Viscount Ely (Loftus).

52. Henry VIII: Brabazon and Clotworthy; Elizabeth I; Caulfield, Loftus and Wingfield; James I; Aungier, Hamilton (Strabane), Montgomery, Trevor. Most of these families had intermarried with members of the pre-Reformation aristocracy such as the Butlers and Fitzgeralds.

53. Griffin, William D., “John Fitzgibbon, Earl of Clare,” History Today, XVI, No. 7 (July, 1966), 484–93Google Scholar.

54. That is after 1689. William O'Brien, 2nd Earl of Inchiquin (1674-92), fought on the Protestant side during the civil wars but after the Restoration became a Catholic. However he did not attend James II's Patriot Parliament which attainted him. His son and grandson (the 3rd and 4th Earls) voted consistently with the Protestant party. Gibbs, V., Complete Peerage, VII, 50–51Google Scholar.

55. Irish Lords Journal, I, 655–56Google Scholar.

56. Ibid., 664-65; Froude, James A., The English in Ireland, 3 vols. (London, 1872), I, 260–62Google Scholar.

57. Lecky, W. E. H., History of England in the Eighteenth Century, 8 vols. (New York, 1891), II, 335–37Google Scholar.

58. Irish Lords Journal, II, 487, 701–02Google Scholar. The eighteen protesters were seven bishops and eleven lay peers. Of the eleven, six belonged to families with Catholic connections: James Barry, 4th Earl of Barrymore; Francis Bermingham, 14th Baron Athenry; Theobald Bourke, 6th Viscount Mayo; Thomas Fitzmaurice, 20th Baron Kerry; James Hamilton, 1st Viscount Strabane; and John King, 3rd Baron Kingston.