Henry Conyngham, 1st Marquess Conyngham

The Most Honourable
The Marquess Conyngham
KP GCH PC FSA
The Most Honourable The Marquess Conyngham KP GCH PC FSA
Lord Steward
	In office; December 1821 – 24 November 1830
Monarch	George IV
Prime Minister	The Earl of Liverpool ; George Canning ; The Viscount Goderich ; The Duke of Wellington
Preceded by	The Marquess of Cholmondeley
Succeeded by	The Duke of Buckingham and Chandos
Personal details
Born	26 December 1766; London, England
Died	28 December 1832 (aged 66); Hamilton Place, London, England
Spouse	Elizabeth Denison (m. 1770⁠–⁠1832)

Henry Burton Conyngham, 1st Marquess Conyngham, KP, GCH, PC, FSA (26 December 1766 – 28 December 1832), known as The Lord Conyngham between 1787 and 1789, as The Viscount Conyngham between 1789 and 1797 and as The Earl Conyngham between 1797 and 1815, was an Ulster Scots people courtier and politician of the Regency period. He served as Lord Steward between 1821 and 1830.

Background

Conyngham was born in London, England, the elder twin son of Francis Conyngham, 2nd Baron Conyngham, by his wife, Elizabeth Clements, daughter of Nathaniel Clements. He was the elder twin brother of Sir Francis Conyngham and the nephew of William Conyngham.^[1]

Political career

Conyngham succeeded his father in the barony in May 1787, aged twenty. In May 1789, he was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries. In December of the same year, he was created Viscount Conyngham, of Slane in the County of Meath, in the Peerage of Ireland.^[2] He was further honoured when he was made Viscount Mount Charles, of Mount Charles in the County of Donegal, and Earl Conyngham, of Mount Charles in the County of Donegal, in the Irish peerage in 1797.^[3]

When the French Revolutionary War broke out in 1793, the Irish Parliament passed a Militia Act and Conyngham was tasked with raising the Clare Militia by compulsory parish ballots across County Clare. However, there were anti-ballot riots in the county: two attempts to carry out the ballot at Tulla were met with opposition. Conyngham gathered a force of volunteers and the opposition died away. He was then able to raise the regiment at Clarecastle. In 1797 he gave up the command and his twin brother Francis became Colonel of the regiment.^[4]^[5]

In August 1800, he was elected as one of the twenty-eight original Irish representative peer to sit in the British House of Lords.^[6]

He was made a Knight of St Patrick the following year (1801).^[7] In 1803, he was appointed Governor of County Donegal, a post he held until 1831, and Custos Rotulorum of County Clare in 1808, which he remained until his death.^[1]

In January 1816, he was created Viscount Slane, in the County of Meath, Earl of Mount Charles and Marquess Conyngham, of the County of Donegal, in the Irish peerage.^[8] In July 1821, he was created Baron Minster, of Minster Abbey in the County of Kent, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.^[9]

In December 1821, he was sworn of the Privy Council and appointed Lord Steward, a post he retained until 1830.^[10]

From 1829 until his death in 1832, he served as Constable and Governor of Windsor Castle.^[1]

Family

In 1794, Lord Conyngham married Elizabeth Denison, daughter of the wealthy banker Joseph Denison and heiress to her brother, William Joseph Denison. They had three sons and two daughters who survived to adulthood.^[1]^[11]^[12]

Henry Francis Conyngham, Earl of Mount Charles (1795–1824)
Lady Elizabeth (born and died 30 August 1796), died as an infant
Lord Francis (1797–1876), succeded his father
Lady Elizabeth Henrietta (16 February 1799 – 24 August 1839), married 10th Marquess of Huntly
Hon. William Burton Conyngham (12 February 1804), died young
Lord Albert (1805–1860)
Unnamed son (4 February 1807), stillborn
Lady Harriet Maria (2 July – 3 December 1843) married William Somerville, 1st Baron Athlumney
Lady Charlotte (born and died 1812), died as an infant

Their third son, Lord Albert Conyngham, succeeded to the vast Denison estates on the death of his maternal uncle, assumed the surname Denison and was created Baron Londesborough in 1850. The Marchioness Conyngham was a mistress of George IV. Lord Conyngham died at Hamilton Place, London, in December 1832, aged 66, and was succeeded by his second but eldest surviving son. The Marchioness Conyngham died in Canterbury, Kent, in October 1861.

References

Citations

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Mosley, Charles, ed. (2003). Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knighthood (107 ed.). Burke's Peerage & Gentry. p. 879. ISBN 0-9711966-2-1.
^ "No. 13156". The London Gazette. 8 December 1789. p. 773.
^ "No. 14064". The London Gazette. 11 November 1797. p. 1081.
^ Sir Henry McAnally, The Irish Militia 1793–1816: A Social and Military Study, Dublin: Clonmore & Reynolds/London: Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1949, pp. 34, 322.
^ War Office, A List of the Officers of the Militia, the Gentlemen & Yeomanry Cavalry, and Volunteer Infantry of the United Kingdom, 11th Edn, London: War Office, 14 October 1805/Uckfield: Naval and Military Press, 2005, ISBN 978-1-84574-207-2.
^ Cook & Stevenson (1980), p. 52.
^ Cook & Stevenson (1980), p. 46.
^ "No. 17104". The London Gazette. 30 January 1816. p. 173.
^ "No. 17724". The London Gazette. 14 July 1821. p. 1461.
^ "No. 17772". The London Gazette. 11 December 1821. p. 2405.
^ Westminster, London, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1558–1812
^ Burke, Bernard; Burke, Ashworth Peter (1910). A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Peerage and Baronetage, the Privy Council, Knightage and Companionage. Harrison & Sons. p. 456.

Bibliography

Cook, C. & Stevenson, J. (1980). British Historical Facts 1760–1830. London and Basingstoke: The Macmillan Press Ltd.

External links

Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Henry Conyngham, 1st Marquess Conyngham

Political offices
Preceded by The Marquess of Cholmondeley	Lord Steward 1821–1830	Succeeded by The Duke of Buckingham and Chandos
New office	Representative peer for Ireland 1800–1832	Succeeded by The Lord Downes
Honorary titles
Preceded by The Earl of Harrington	Constable and Governor of Windsor Castle 1829–1832	Succeeded by The Earl of Munster
Peerage of Ireland
New creation	Marquess Conyngham 1816–1832	Succeeded by Francis Conyngham
	Earl Conyngham 1797–1832
	Viscount Conyngham 1789–1832
Preceded by Francis Conyngham	Baron Conyngham 1787–1832
Peerage of the United Kingdom
New creation	Baron Minster 1821–1832	Succeeded by Francis Conyngham

[burke-1] Mosley, Charles, ed. (2003). Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knighthood (107 ed.). Burke's Peerage & Gentry. p. 879. ISBN 0-9711966-2-1.

[2] "No. 13156". The London Gazette. 8 December 1789. p. 773.

[3] "No. 14064". The London Gazette. 11 November 1797. p. 1081.

[4] Sir Henry McAnally, The Irish Militia 1793–1816: A Social and Military Study, Dublin: Clonmore & Reynolds/London: Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1949, pp. 34, 322.

[5] War Office, A List of the Officers of the Militia, the Gentlemen & Yeomanry Cavalry, and Volunteer Infantry of the United Kingdom, 11th Edn, London: War Office, 14 October 1805/Uckfield: Naval and Military Press, 2005, ISBN 978-1-84574-207-2.

[6] Cook & Stevenson (1980), p. 52.

[7] Cook & Stevenson (1980), p. 46.

[8] "No. 17104". The London Gazette. 30 January 1816. p. 173.

[9] "No. 17724". The London Gazette. 14 July 1821. p. 1461.

[10] "No. 17772". The London Gazette. 11 December 1821. p. 2405.

[baptism-11] Westminster, London, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1558–1812

[12] Burke, Bernard; Burke, Ashworth Peter (1910). A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Peerage and Baronetage, the Privy Council, Knightage and Companionage. Harrison & Sons. p. 456.

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