Richard Warburton - memoir of the Warburton Family of Garryhinch, King's County

Dublin, 1848; 2nd edition, 1881.

PREFACE

The following Memoir has been written in consequence of a pedigree of the Warburton family, published in the last edition of Burke's Genealogical Dictionary of the Landed Gentry, in which the writer, having traced it to very high antiquity, professed to deduce the descant to the late Major Warburton, a Stipendiary Magistrate in Ireland, whom he describes as the head and male representative of this ancient house. This statement has not been confined to Mr. Burke's work, but (probably from that source) has obtained very general circulation as well in the metropolitan as the provincial Press of Great Britain and Ireland.

Mr. Warburton, of Garryhinch, who has been living abroad for many years, only heard of the publication very lately, and communicated to the writer of this Memoir his feelings of surprise that a representation so much at variance, not only with the opinions of all the members of his family, but the general reputation prevailing on the subject in his own county, which was, that Major Warburton, belonged to a junior branch of the family,- should be published without any communication with him; and requested the writer to investigate the respective claims; and, though he did not place any undue value on his family pretensions, that in case his own claim of priority over that of Major Warburton should prove well founded, to assert it in such manner as the writer should deem expedient. He also referred him to deeds and family documents in his possession at Garryhinch, which would probably illustrate the subject.

The Author having perused those documents, with some others of a more public nature, found the evidence so conclusive of the priority of the Garryhinch branch of the Warburton family in Ireland, that he communicated the result to Mr. Burke, the author of the Dictionary, from whom he received a polite and becoming answer, signifying his disposition to do justice to Mr Warburton's claim. But as this reparation cannot be made in that work until a new edition is published, and the errors in Mr. Warburton's own pedigree are so numerous, the Memoir being also too long to insert in a compendious Dictionary, Mr. Warburton has thought it expedient to have some copies printed for the information of his relations and friends, who will naturally take an interest in what concerns their common ancestors.

Though a reference to a few admitted facts would be sufficient to refute the unfounded claim of priority made on behalf of Major Warburton's branch of the family, yet the other deeds and documents are so important, and so connected with the history of the family, and tend to show so distinctly the slight grounds on which any other member of it could claim priority over himself, that Mr. Warburton has had inserted in this Memoir many more proofs than are necessary to sustain his case of their father is not stated in the annexed Pedigree. There is a difference between genealogists on the subject. In Mr. Burke's pedigree he is called John, from what authority does not appear. Sir William Betham Ulster King at Arms alleges that it was William, of Hefferston, in Cheshire. All agree, and such is the uniform reputation of the family, that they are descended from the Warburtons of Arley, in the country of Chester. The late Colonel Warburton, of Garryhinch, father to the present proprietor, was in habits of great intimacy with the late Sir Peter Warburton of Arley, the undoubted head of this ancient house, and was acknowledged by him as his relation, and, in the event of his dying without male issue, the representative of it; and some of the living members of Colonel Warburton's family have often heard him state it, and he was a gentleman of high honour and strict truth.

The writer of this Memoir can attest the same declaration. The annexed Pedigree being only conversant with the Irish branch, and as no name is mentioned in it without proof from deeds and family documents, in which the name of the father is not to be found, it has been omitted therein.

Richard is the name of the elder of the three brothers, and is the founder of the family of Garryhinch, of which estate he became the proprietor, and was resident there in the year 1673; and to his industry and good fortune the success of the family, not merely of his own branch, but that of his two younger brothers, George and John, each of whom founded their separate branches, may be reasonably ascribed. The assertion that the ancestor of this family (as stated in Mr. Burke's History of the Landed Gentry) was driven by his loyalty to Charles the First into exile in Ireland, is altogether, as this writer believes, without foundation. He has never been able, in any history, public or private, to discover any proof of it, and it is at variance with the existing reputation in the family, corroborated as it is by many collateral circumstances. The writer has heard the late Colonel Warburton affirm that his ancestor, Richard, the first of the name, came over to Ireland under the patronage of Ireton, son in-law to Cromwell; and a document now in the possession of Sir William Betham, goes a great way to strengthen the reputation. It is an authentic state of the establishment in Ireland in 1654, during the Protectorate, and when Henry Cromwell was Lord Deputy, in which Richard Warburton is named as one of the under clerks of the Council; and in the same list, Charles Ireton, probably a relative of the Lord Deputy Ireton, Cromwell's son-in-law, is the chief clerk. The connexions which Richard formed in Ireland at that early period, either by marriage or by friendship, with the L ' Estranges, Warrens, Pigotts, Le Huntes, and Cootes, all favourers, if not partisans, of Cromwell, tend strongly to disprove the assertion that this family had been sufferers for their loyalty to Charles.

The appointment of this Richard to be Clerk Assistant to the House of Commons at the Restoration, is another proof that he was not an ultraroyalist. Such was not the dominant feeling of the members of the House of Commons, consisting, as they did, chiefly of those who were said to be of the new interest, as it was termed, to which he naturally belonged. The influence which led to the election of Sir Audley Mervyn, an adventurer, as Speaker of the House of Commons, might naturally lead to the appointment of a friend of Ireton's to be clerk of the same body.

In the subsequent period of his life he was connected with the Whig party in politics, and joined zealously in the Revolution of 1688, which placed William the Third on the throne of this realm. It appears from the Diary of Lord Clarendon that he was one of the Irish gentlemen who came on a deputation to London to that nobleman, a brother-in-law of James the Second, who had been Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in his reign, to represent the deplorable and oppressed state of the Protestants of that kingdom, under the government of the Earl, afterwards Duke of Tyrconnell, Lord Cloarendon being, as is well known, strongly attached to the Protestant party.

Richard, the elder of the three brothers, from whom the present proprietor is descended in the fourth degree, succeeded in his adventure in Ireland, where he acquired large possessions, which are enjoyed at this day by his heir. He was not, as is stated in Burke's Genealogical History, the father, but the brother, of George Warburton, called " of Aughrim," and described erroneously in the same work as the head and representative of the ancient family of Warburton of Arley, on the death of Sir Peter Warburton, late of Arley, without issue male. He was also, as has been stated, one of the clerks of the Council of State during the Protectorate, and became Clerk-Assistant to the House of Commons in 1661, which office he held until 1666, while that Parliament subsisted.

Richard acquired property in Ireland before the restoration of Charles the Second. The earliest possession of which there is distinct evidence that he had, is a large tract of land in the county of Galway, held under a lease from Erasmus Smith, Esq., to Sir Charles Coote, Bart., President of Connaught in Cromwell's government, afterwards Earl of Montrath, and Richard Kingdon, of Westminster, Esq., dated 9th of December 1657, for forty-one years, from the1st of May preceding, of the lands of Bohermore, and other lands in the liberties of the town of Galway, containing 1090 acres, 4390 acres of land in the island of Arran, 663 acres of land in the county of Roscommon, with some other small tenements, at the yearly rent of £300. This lease was vested by legal assignment in Captain Richard Coote, son of Sir Charles Coote, and Richard Warburton, Esq., who became possessed of those lands before the Restoration. On the expiration of the term in this lease, it was renewed by the trustees of Erasmus Smith, with the concurrence of his joint -lessee, Colonel Richard Coote, to Richard Warburton solely, in 1699; subsequently, in1714, to Richard Warburton, Jun.; in 1718 to Richard Warburton and Lancelot Sandes, executors of Richard Jun.; again, in1725, to Richard Warburton, son of Richard, Jun. This property, which was very valuable, though latterly subject to the then high rent of £400 per annum, was sold in 1735 by the last-named Richard, to Edward Eyre, of Galway, Esq. Erasmus Smith, the lessor in the original lease, afterwards granted the lands comprised therein, with large estates in other parts of Ireland, in Limerick and Tipperary, to certain trustees named, for the purpose of establishing and maintaining Protestant schools and Exhibitions in the University of Trinity College, and other pious uses, before the Restoration. Charles the Second shortly after granted a charter to those trustees, and incorporated them under the name of the Governors of the Schools founded by Erasmus Smith. The above transactions, the original lease and renewals thereof, and sale, are recorded in the Registry of that corporation, and can be readily referred to.

Richard also acquired, about the same period, very considerable freehold estates in the King's and Queen's Counties, the counties of Leitrim and Limerick, many of which are comprised in the articles executed on the marriage of Richard, Jun., in 1695, and the settlements executed in pursuance thereof in 1698, and hereinafter mentioned. The exact time when these lands were acquired does not distinctly appear, in consequence of the loss of many of his title deeds, occasioned by a litigation between some of his descendants in1772, which shall hereafter be adverted to.

The greater part of those lands are still in the possession of his descendants.

By a deed dated in 1673, being a contract entered into between John Hale and the said Richard, by which the former covenants to make certain allowances out of the purchase-money of the lands of Ballycollenbeg and other lands sold by the said John Hale to said Richard, in case one Margaret M'Donnel, the widow of the former proprietor, who had forfeited, should establish any right of dower out of the lands sold. The deed of purchase itself is not forthcoming, but it must be of an earlier date than this deed. He is styled of Garryhinch in this document; what interest he then had therein does not appear. But in two years after he obtained a lease from Sir Patrick Trant, the former proprietor, for thirty-one years, from May, 1675, of the lands of Garryhinch, otherwise Timberstown, and several other denominations, containing no less than 1700 acres of land, Ìrish measure. He also obtained, probably at a later period, an assignment of another lease from Sir Patrick Trant, to Edward Lee, Esq., in 1676, for thirty-one years, of the lands of Katherine's town, and thirteen other townlands in the Queen's County, consisting of 2300 acres, Irish measure. He had obtained a contract from the lessor, for a lease of lives renewable for ever of these lands. He had also acquired some other smaller interest in lands of the same proprietor.

Sir Patrick Trant having been attainted of treason, his whole estate was forfeited, and was directed to be sold, with others, under an Act of Parliament passed in the reign of William the Third; and commissioners were appointed for that purpose, who were empowered to hear and decide claims of persons interested therein. The claims of the said Richard, as above stated, with others of a minor nature, appear in the list of those heard and determined by the Commissioners, and all in favour of said Richard.¹ The reversion in fee of said lands, with others, the estate of Sir Patrick Trant, were sold by auction by the said Commissioners, pursuant to the Act of Parliament, and were purchased by the Hollow Sword-Blade Company; and the lands above specified, in the King's and Queen's Counties, were afterwards purchased by Richard Warburton, Jun., son of the said Richard, in the year 1709, from that corporation, as hereinafter mentioned.

By articles previous to the marriage of Richard Warburton, Jun., only son of Richard, Sen., bearing date 1695, with Elizabeth Pigott, made between George Warburton and John Warburton, Esqrs., both of the City of Dublin, in behalf of Richard Warburton, of Garryhinch, in the King's County, Esq., their elder brother, of the one part; and John Pigott, of Kilfenning, in the county of Limerick, Esq., of the other part; large estate of the said Richard, Sen., in the King's and Queen's Counties, and county of Limerick, were covenanted to be settled in the usual manner, to provide a maintenance for Richard, Jun., and a jointure for his intended wife, and the usual limitations to the issue of said marriage.

Richard Warburton, Sen., was no party to these articles, but they prove that he had two younger brothers, George and John.

By deeds of lease and release of the 17th and 18th of June, 1698, between Richard Warburton, Sen., of Garryhinch, in the King's County, of the first part; the Hon. Robert Rochfort, Sir Francis Blundell, and John Usher, Esq., of the second part; Sir Thomas Southwell, Richard Warburton, son of George Warburton, and Henry Warren, of Grangebeg, Esq., of the third part; Richard Warburton, Esq., eldest and only son of said Richard Warburton, Sen., and Elizabeth Warburton, alias Pigott, eldest daughter of John Pigott of Kilfenning in the county of Limerick, of the fourth part; reciting the said marriage as had, and the portion of said Elizabeth of £1400 as having been paid: the said Richard Warburton, Sen., in pursuance of the said articles, grants and conveys to the said Robert Rochfort and other trustees, and their heirs, all the lands comprised in the said articles, upon the trusts in said deed contained.

Richard, Sen., thus confirmed by this deed the articles, and it proves, with other evidence, that Richard Warburton, named as a trustee of the third part, was the son of George, the second brother of Richard, Sen.

By deed of lease and release of the 9th and 10th of May, 1709, and a common recovery suffered in the same year, the said Richard, Sen., and Richard, Jun., in pursuance of an agreement entered into between them and Francis Edwards, agent for the Hollow Sword-Blade Company (the agreement supposed to be dated in 1695), sold and conveyed the lands in the barony of Ossory, in the Queen's County, to the said Edwards, his heirs and assigns.

Those lands conveyed to Edwards were part of the lands included in the articles of 1695 and settlement of 1698.
24th of June, 1709. By indenture of lease made between the Hollow Sword-Blade Company, of the one part, and the said Richard Warburton, Sen., and the said Richard Warbuton, Jun., therein styled each of Garryhinch, in the King's County, of the other part, reciting the agreement in 1695, and the aforesaid conveyance of the Ossory lands, in consideration of the conveyance of same, and also of the sum of £187, paid by the said Richard, Sen., and Richard, Jun., to the said Company, they, the said Hollow Sword-Blake Company, demised the said lands of Garryhinch, alias Timberstown, and other lands therein mentioned, to the said Richard, Sen. And Jun., said lands being in their possession, their heirs and assigns, to hold to them, their heirs and assigns, for three lives renewable for ever, subject to the rent of £380, payable as therein mentioned, and a fine of half a year's rent for each renewal.

18th and 19th Sept., 1709. By deeds of lease and release of this date, between the Hollow Sword-Blade Company of the one part, and the said Richard Warburton, Jun., of the other part, the said Company, in consideration of the sum of £2371 13s. 4d., the proper money of the said Richard, Jun., therein acknowledged to be paid to them by the said Richard, Jun., granted, sold, released, &c., to the said Richard, Jun., the lands of Garryhinch and other denominations comprised in the foregoing lease, and an additional townland called Inaghan, in the King's County, then in the possession of the said Richard, Jun., to hold to the said Richard, Jun., his heirs and assigns, for ever, at the yearly rent of £399 sterling, payable as therein is mentioned; redeemable on payment of a sum of £5700 at the time, and with interest therein mentioned.

The lands of Garryhinch, and other lands mentioned in the last-mentioned deed, are not comprised in the articles of 1695 or the settlement of 1698, as an estate of inheritance therein had been only acquired subsequent to the execution thereof. The said Richard had only a term of years in Garryhinch itself, though it was his residence, and that of his son Richard, Jun. This charge of £5700, payable under the deed of 1709, was paid off by the trustees and executors of Richard, Jun., partly out of the savings of the estate, and partly by the sale of Fisherstown and other lands, part of the same estate, to Ephraim Dawson, Esq., in 1722; and the whole was finally discharged at that time, as appears by a release from Francis Edwards, on behalf of the Hollow Sword-Blake Company, bearing date the 9th of June, 1722.

Richard, the elder, thus proved to be Richard of Garryhinch, from these and many other deeds and documents, was the same Richard who was Clerk-Assistant to the House of Commons in 1661.

A reference to the authentic evidence of the Journals of the House of Commons of Ireland will clearly establish the fact. He was living in 1695, as appears from his petition to the House of Commons in the same year, for remuneration for his services in that office.²

In the same year there were three of the name of Warburton members of the Irish House of Commons, viz., Richard Warburton, Jun., Geoge Warburton, Esq., Armigeri, mentioned in those terms in the same volume of the Commons' Journal, as the members for the town of Portarlington, and Richard Warburton, Esq., without any other designation, member for Ballyshannon.

As the latter was not member for Portarlington, there is little doubt that he was member for Ballyshannon; but if further evidence is wanting, the fact is established by a letter, the original of which is in the writer's possession, the handwriting to which can be proved to be his, by a comparison with the known signature of Richard Warburton to deeds and other documents in existence. The original is franked by him as a Member of Parliament, dated from Garryhinch, the 19th July, 1710. It mentions that his son was then attending the assizes of Philiostown. -(See said letter.)

That the George Warburton returned for Portarlington was the younger brother of the last-named Richard, and one of the executing parties to the articles of 1695, will also very plainly appear from facts connected with the history of the borough of Portarlington, with some other evidences bearing on it.

Portarlington was only incorporated, and acquired the right to return members to the House of Commons, by a charter granted in the second year of his reign, by William the Third in 1690. The first return was made to the Parliament summoned in the year 1692. Portarlington being situated within two miles of Garryhinch, the residence of Richard, Jun., who had also large estates in the immediate vicinity, extending into the town itself; the father and son having a strong political connexion with the prevailing Whig Government, they acquired so much influence in the borough that Richard, Jun., was not only returned as member for it in 1692, but he procured the return of his uncle, George Warburton, in the year1695, and subsequently of Richard Warburton, his cousin, and son of the said George, in 1715. The return is thus stated in the commons' Journals in the year 1696:"Richard Warburton, Esq.; George Warburton, Esq."³

In 1715, on the accession of George the First, members returned for Portarlington, Richard Warburton, of Portnahinch, Esq.; Richard Warburton, of Rathrunshane, Esq. Portnahinch is a barony in the Queen's County, in which Garryhinch is partly situated, both the property of Richard, Jun. It appears also, from the Commons' Journals, that in the same year, 1715, a new writ was moved for the borough on his death, which it was well known took place in that year. The other member was Richard Warburton, his cousin, son of his uncle, George Warburton, member for the same borough in 1695, and who was one of the contracting parties in the articles of 1695; Richard, then returned as member, having been one of the trustees in the settlement of 1698, executed in pursuance of the articles. He was also named trustee and executor of the will of Richard, Jun., and continued to represent the borough during the reign of George the First. His co-executor and co-trustee, Lancelot Sandes, was returned for the borough of Portarlington, in 1723, on a vacancy occasioned by the death of John Short, the member returned on the death of Richard Warburton, Jun. From the entries in the Commons' Journal it appears that from the creation of the borough of Portarlington, and its first return in 1692, Richard, Jun., or some other member of his family representing his interest, sat for it until the year 1727.⁴

On the accession of George the Second, Richard Warburton, third of the name, of Garryhinch, is reputed to have transferred the interest which he and his family possessed in the borough of Portarlington to Ephraim Dawson, of Emo, Esq., ancestor to the Earl of Portarlington, who returned his nominees to Parliament in the year 1727, when Mr. Dawson and Richard Warburton, of Garryhinch, jointly contested the Queen's County on the same interest, in opposition to Dudley Cosby, of Stradbally Hall, in the same county, Esq.; and though Mr. Dawson and Mr.Cosby were returned on that occasion by a small majority, the latter having died in 1729, Mr Warburton was returned without opposition on the vacancy occasioned by his death.

The Dawson family, from that period until the passing of the Reform Act in 1832, exercised the same power of nomination of the members for Portarlington that the Warburton family had previously enjoyed.

Richard Warburton, Jun., by his will, dated 1714, appointed his father-in-law, John Pigott, Esq., and his cousin, Richard Warburton, of Dublin, and Lancelot Sandes, of Kilcavan, in the Queen's County, his executors and trustees; and took on himself to exercise powers over the settled estate, which were afterwards matters of controversy among his descendants, not necessary for the object of this Memoir to detail; but he limits the estate in strict settlement to his several sons successively by name, and their respective male issue; and on failure thereof, he limits the estates to his cousin Richard, son of his uncle George, and his issue male; and on failure thereof, to the other sons of George and their issue male, in the usual manner and course of succession, and in strict limitation.

Richard Warburton, Jun., died in February, 1715 his father having survived him about two years, leaving Richard, his eldest son, born in 1696; John, the second son; George, the third son, ancestor of the present proprietor, Peter, the fourth son; William the fifth son, and three daughters: Gertrude, afterwards married to William Carden, of Lismore, Esq.; Judith to --- Trench, Esq.; and Jane to ---Trench, Dean of Raphoe, surviving him.

His executors, Richard Warburton and Lancelot Sandes (John Pigott, the other executor, having declined to act), entered into possession of the lands mentioned in the articles and settlement, and other the estate, real and chattel, which belonged to said Richard, Jun., for the purpose of carrying into effect the trusts of his will.

It is material here to point out, more distinctly than has yet been done, the evidence on which the relation in which Richard Warburton, named as executor to the will of Richard stood to his testator; for if the inference which the writer draws be just it puts an end at once to the claim of Major George Warburton, to priority, as it is, in fact, through the aforesaid Richard that it can have any foundation.

It is to be observed that, by the articles of 1695, on the marriage of Richard Warburton, Jun., the two contracting parties are described as younger brothers of Richard, Sen., and both of the city of Dublin; and by the settlement of 1698, Richard Warburton, named as a trustee therein, is described as the son of George. In the will of Richard, Jun., he is called the testator's cousin, and described as of Dublin, and the son of George; and in the limitation of his estate, on the failure of his own issue male, under the same will, he is named as the first to succeed.

In the return of Richard Warburton, Jun., as member for Portarlington in 1715, Richard Warburton, of Rathrunshane, is joined with him. This is a denomination of a small property which Richard, of Dublin, had in the Queen's County, and is mentioned in his will, dated 1744. He was an active member of the House of Commons, was Chairman of Committees, is styled in the Journals of the House of Commons LL. D., probably an advocate in the Civil Law Courts, but never filled office. In most of the deeds he is described as of the city of Dublin, and by his will he styles himself of Donnycarney, a village within two miles of Dublin. By his will he devises the reversion of certain estates in the counties of Galway, Kildare, and elsewhere, to his nephew, George, son of his younger brother, John (in preference to the children of his second brother, George); on failure of issue of John, he devises the same estates to the several other children of his brother, George: and on failure of issue male of his brothers, John and George, he devises his estates to the several sons of Richard Warburton, Jun., of Garryhinch, whom he describes as his cousin, in a strict course of family settlement.

This Richard, of the city of Dublin, died without issue in the year 1746; and his will is of record in the Court of Prerogative (Ireland), and can be easily referred to. The landed property he possessed passed, by virtue of this devise, to George, the son of his brother, John, and ultimately vested in a female descendant of the said George, who married William Burgh, Esq., of Bert, in the county of Kildare. Whether these estates were acquired by Richard the testator, or his father, George, and whether they were considerable or not, the writer has no means of knowing; but as the same Richard was an active man of business, he probably added to any inheritance which may have descended to him from his father, George. But it will not be denied that whatever family property has been possessed by the late Major George Warburton is derived remotely from Richard of Donnycarney, though very lately it has been devised to him by Mrs. Burgh, as her heir-at-law, which, from the above statement, he appears to have been; and if Richard of Donnycarney was junior to the Warburtons of Garryhinch, so must those who now represent him.

Richard, the third of the name, and grandson of Richard Warburton, sons of Garryhinch, on his attaining his age of twenty-three years, entered, according to the will of his father, into receipt and possession of the rents and profits, as well of the lands, the subject of the articles, as of all the acquired property of his father and grandfather, and for many years acquiesced in the provisions of his father's will, though he latterly, by deeds and other acts, set up another title.
It is not material to record the several deeds conflicting with each other, which were executed by Richard Warburton, third of the name, of Garryhinch.

The said Richard, as of Trinity Term, in the year 1742, levied fines, and suffered common recoveries of the lands comprised in the articles of 1695 and settlement of 1698, with the exception of such as had been sold by Richard, Sen., and Richard, Jun.

He claimed also the lands of Garryhinch and other large estates in the King's and Queen's Counties, purchased by Richard, Jun., from the Hollow Sword-Blade Company, in 1709, notwithstanding the strict limitation in the will of his father, Richard, Jun.

By his will, dated the 7th of November, 1768, the said Richard took on himself to dispose of all the family estates, as well those in the articles of 1695 and settlement of 1698, as those subsequently acquired by Richard, Jun., and devised to his nephew and heir-at- law, by the description of Captain John Warburton, son of his brother, George, all those lands in the parish of Lea and Queen's County (part of the estate purchased from the Hollow Sword-Blade Company), to hold to him and his heirs, but chargeable with a sum of £500, payable to Elizabeth, the sister of said John; also with an arrear of jointure of £2300, charged on part of the said estate, on the marriage of his said mother, by said Richard; and devised all the rest and residue of his estate, under a general description of all other his lands in the parishes of Coolbanagher and Queen's County, and Ballykane, in the King's County, with their appurtenances to his brother, the Rev. Peter Warburton, and his heirs, for ever; and appointed said Peter sole executor and residuary legatee.

The said Richard died unmarried, and without issue, in November 1771. He was called to the English bar, but never practised at it. He was a man of good abilities, and of extensive acquirements, and resided chiefly in London, for the advantage the society of learned men gave him there. In an affidavit made by the Rev. Peter Warburton in one of the suits, occasioned by his will, disinheriting his heir-at-law, which was disputed, he swore to his capacity at the time it was made, and that he was generally called the Walking Library, from his knowledge and learning, and that he continued his literary pursuits to the latest period of his life. Even when in Parliament he rarely visited this country; and latterly he gave up Garryhinch to his favourite brother, Peter, only charging him a nominal rent.

He ceased to be in Parliament on the demise of George the Second. From his conduct in reference to the family estates, and the embarrassments caused in the family by his assertion of a doubtful title in disposing of them to his brother, Peter, in preference of his heir-at-law, his memory has not been much esteemed by the existing branch.

On his death, John Warburton, eldest son of George, the brother of the last Richard, became the representative of the Garryhinch branch of the family, and was also advised that he was entitled to succeed to the estates of the family, under the will of his grandfather, Richard, Jun.

He had served in the army from his youth, and with some distinction: he was at the capture of Quebec under General Wolfe, as Captain and Adjutant of His Majesty's---- Regiment of Infantry. When he returned to Ireland in 1772, shortly after the death of his uncle, instead of succeeding peaceably to an inheritance of the seat and estates of the family, as he expected, he found his uncle, the Rev. Peter, in possession of Garryhinch, who not only claimed that residence, but the greater part of the estates which Richard had possessed in the King's and Queen's Counties, under his brother's will. He had also possessed himself of all the title deeds, leases, and muniments of those estates, which he had obtained from his brother in his lifetime.

Many important deeds and papers were presumed to have been destroyed either by the late Richard or his brother, Peter; amongst others, the deed of settlement of 1698, and the will of Richard, Jun., of 1714, neither of which were ever afterwards produced.⁵

Copies of both were established as true, in the suits that followed between John, the heir, and the said Peter.
In those various suits Peter disputed the execution of the will of his father, Richard, Jun. John made an entry, and obtained possession of the house and lands of Garryhinch, and some tenants attorned to him.

Ejectments were then brought by each of the litigant parties. Actions, both of ejectment and trespass, by the heir. Distraints were made by the devisee on tenants who paid their rent to John, or withheld it altogether; and numerous actions of law were the consequence. Bills in the Court of Chancery, possessory, bills, and bills for injunctions, were filed by both parties; so that the litigation assumed every possible form, and threatened to overwhelm John by its extent and expense; when, at length, on a motion made on the part of said Peter, in the cause in the Court of Chancery in which he was plaintiff, and John was defendant, the Lord Chancellor pronounced an order, bearing date in February, 1775, directing that two issues should be tried between the parties, at the bar of the Court of Common Pleas, by a special jury, in the ensuing Term.

First, whether Richard Warbuton, father of said Peter, devised the estates mentioned, according to the tenor of the paper-writing⁶ bearing date the 20th of April,1714.

The second issue was, whether the paper-writing referred to, the original will, was the last will of Richard Warburton, lately deceased ?

The several trials came on in due course, and both issues were found in the affirmative . This was, as it were, the first step in this great litigation.

After these verdicts the parties were proceeding with that zeal which is characteristic of family suits, when some discreet friends, foreseeing the ruin that would probably fall on both parties, more especially on the heir, whom his uncle, Richard, sought to disinherit by his will, interposed their offices to produce a reconciliation between the Rev. Peter Warburton and his nephew.

John had married pending the suit, and had a son born. He had, moreover, entered into a settlement, in the year 1774, to charge and encumber the lands of Garryhinch and other estates devised by the will of his uncle, Richard, to Peter in fee, with a jointure for his wife, and provision for his younger children.

These efforts of the mutual friends of the parties at length succeeded, and each agreed to relinquish a portion of their claims; and especially it was agreed, that Garryhinch, with the whole of the estates of the family, should be settled, and that Peter should be limited to an estate for life in those devised to him, with remainder to his male issue, on failure of which they should be limited to his nephew, John, and his male issue.

This arrangement was carried into effect by deeds of lease and release, bearing date in November, 1775, between the Rev. Peter Warburton of Garryhinch, in the King's County, Clerk, of the first part; John Warburton, of the city of Dublin, Esq., and Martha Warburton, otherwise Benson, his wife, of the second part; the right Hon. Marcus Paterson, Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas, Ireland, and Sir Henry Cavendish,of the city of Dublin, Bart., of the third part; James Fitzgerald, of the city of Dublin, Esq., and Thomas Pigott, of Knapton, Esq., of the fourth part. This deed, after reciting the several claims made by the said Peter John respectively, under the will of the said Richard, lately deceased; also the claim of the said John, under the will of Richard, Jun., his grandfather; as also the deed of settlement executed on the marriage of the said John with his said wife, Martha Benson, dated in 1774, whereby the said John covenanted with the said James Fitzgerald and Thomas Pigott, the trustees in the said settlement, that he would convey and assure to them the lands of Garryhinch and other lands in the King's and Queen's Counties, whereof the said late Richard had been in possession in his lifetime, to such and the same uses as were in and by the same deed of settlement granted and declared respecting the lands in the parishes of Lea and Coolbanagher, subject to a jointure for his said wife, Martha, and also a provison for his children, and powers relating thereto; by the said deed of compromise, the chief object of which was to put an end to all controversies, and to restore peace and harmony to the family, it was stipulated, in the first instance, that mutual releases should be executed in respect to all previous transactions. It was also provided that the said Peter should enjoy the lands of Garryhinch and other lands in the King's and Queen's Counties, devised to him by the late Richard, but to be limited to the term of his life, with remainder to his male issue in strict settlement, on failure of which, to the use of said John for life, with a limitation to his male issue in the like manner; with certain contingent provisions for an increased jointure for the said Martha, and provision for the younger children, in the event of the said Peter dying without issue male.

By this deed the whole of the family estate was revest in the heir, John, in the event of the death of the said Peter without issue male. The said Peter having died unmarried, and without issue, on the 27th of September, in the year 1784 the possession of Garryhinch and rest of the family estates was restored to John, the heir of the common ancestor, and the head of the family.

John was returned three times as Member of Parliament for the Queen's County, but on no occasion without a contest. The first took place in the lifetime of his uncle, the Rev. Peter Warburton, who took a warm part in it, on a vacancy in the representation occasioned by the death of Lord Dawaon in 1779, when John Dawson, the late member, his son, succeeded to the Peerage. On this occasion Mr. Warburton was successful, having defeated his opponent, General Walsh, of Ballykilcavan, in the same county, a gentleman of high character and large fortune, after a severe struggle.

At the general election in 1783 he became a candidate a second time for the representation of the county, with the concurrence of his uncle, and had to undergo a still severer contest. His opponent was Charles H. Coote, Esq., a relation of the Earl of Montrath; and, notwithstanding the opposition he experienced, he was triumphantly returned. In the year 1790 he had, for the third time, to encounter an opposition in his election with Lord Moore, the eldest son of the Marquis of Drogheda, who had the support of the Government, which was exercised unscrupulously in his favour, and against Mr Warburton, who entertained patriotic opinions, not at all in accordance with those professed by the governing powers of that day. The latter was also opposed by the interest of the Coote family, and others in the county who had espoused Mr Coote's cause at the preceding election. The struggle was a long and severe one, and Lord Moore was returned by a very small majority. Mr Warburton, deeming that the success of his adversary was obtained by corrupt means, preferred his petition, complaining of the return of Lord Moore, on the grounds of bribery, undue influence, personation of voters, and also on the ground that his Lordship was a minor when returned.

The petition lasted two months, and was finally decided by the Committee, on the single ground of the minority of the sitting member. Lord Moore was declared not duly elected, and Mr. Warburton was substituted for him.⁷

On the raising of the Irish Militia in the year 1793, at the commencement of the late French war, the Queen's County Regiment was conferred by the Government on John Earl of Portarlington, who immediately offered the lieutenant-coloneley to the late Mr. John Warburton, who, holding, as he did, one of the first positions, by his fortune and birth, as well as character, being also the member of the county, and a soldier of reputation, was deemed the most fit person to be selected. He accepted his Lordship's offer, and obtained the commission.

The regiment having been, immediately after being raised, called into actual service, the Lieutenant-Colonel joined, and accompanied it on its duty in its several quarters, which he never quitted, except his parliamentary duties called him to attend the House of Commons.

The regiment, generally under the command of the Lieutenant Colonel, served with credit for its brave and loyal conduct during the trying period of the year 1798. It was the first to enter the town of Killala, in the possession of the insurgents, after the landing of the French General Humbert, in the autumn of that year, and to rescue the bishop of the diocese, then a prisoner in the hands of the enemy.

In the preceding year Colonel Warburton had ceased to be a member of the House of Commons. At the general election which took place in 1797, having been threatened with an opposition from the same party who had contested his return in the year 1790, with the assistance of the Irish Government, he thought it prudent to retire from a contest which would involve him in considerable expense, in addition to that which he had incurred in the preceding contested elections. From this cause alone the county was deprived of his services; and his old antagonist, Mr. Charles Coote, afterwards Lord Castle-Coote, was returned without opposition in his stead, jointly with Sir John Parnell, at that time Chancellor of the Irish Exchequer, and a member of the Government. The return of his former opponent led to an appointment which produced more mortification to Colonel Warburton than the loss of his seat. The Marquis of Cornwallis, who arrived in Ireland as Lord Lieutenant in 1798, after the rebellion had broken out, before the close of the year had commenced his operations to effect the great object of his commission, which was, to carry through the Irish Parliament the " Legislative Union." He left no means untried to secure the votes of members of the House of Commons in its favour. By the death of the Earl of Portarlington in October of the same year, the Queen's County Regiment of Militia, of which his Lordship was Colonel, became vacant. The public voice naturally proclaimed Colonel Warburton, who had been Lieutenant-Colonel of it from the time the regiment was raised, as the fittest person to succeed to it; but as he was no longer member for the county, he could not serve the purposes of His Excellency, and he tendered the commission to the member, Mr. Charles Coote, who had never served in that or any other regiment, and whose pursuits were quite of a different nature. He was then a Commissioner of the Revenue, and from these and other objections of a personal nature, was generally thought disqualified for a military command, especially in time of war, in which England was then engaged. The preference of him to the claims of Mr. Warburton was generally condemned, but political reasons prevailed, and the vacant regiment was offered by Lord Cornwallis to Mr. Coote who promptly accepted it. This appointment naturally mortified the feelings of Mr Warburton, who immediately resigned his commission of Lieutenant-Colonel.

This selection of Colonel Coote justified the sagacity of the statesman who made it, as he supported the measure of "Union" in every stage of its progress in the House of Commons, by his votes (for he was no speaker) ; and his services were so highly appreciated by His Excellency, Lord Cornwallis, that, in addition to his military promotion, he recommended him as a fit person to be raised to the Peerage. A new barony (Castlecoote ) was conferred on the Earl of Montrath, then advanced in life, and without children, with a limitation in remainder to Mr.Coote, though not his heir, on failure of issue male of the Earl, which took effect on his death, in less than two years after.

After the resignation of his commission in the Queen's County Militia, Mr. Warburton retired altogether from public life, and resided at his family seat at Garryhinch. The marriage of his eldest son to the daughter of an old and attached friend, which took place in the following year, and the marriage of his only daughter to a highly respected relative, which happened somewhat later, were the principal events which engrossed his interest, and afforded him great satisfaction in the last period of his life. By deeds of lease and release, and settlement, bearing date the 10th of May, 1800, between John Warburton, of Garryhinch, Esq., and Richard, his eldest son and heir apparent, of the first part; Thomas Kemmis, of the city of Dublin, Esq., and Anne Kemmis, his eldest daughter, of the second part; Edward Lee, of ----, in the county of Waterford, Esq., Robert French of the city of Dublin Esq., of the third part; Sir John Tydd, of Lamberton, in the Queen's County, Bart., and William Saurin, Esq., one of His Majesty's Counsel at Law, of the fourth part: the said John Warburton and Richard Warburton did, in consideration of the said marriage, and the marriage portion of the said Anne Kemmis, of £10,000, grant, release, and confirm to the said Edward Lee and Robert French, and their heirs, the several towns, lands, hereditaments, and premises, in the King's and Queen's Counties, in the said deed of release specified (being the whole of the lands comprised in the deeds of settlement of 1774 and 1775, hereinbefore mentioned, and so much of the lands in the articles of 1695, and settlement of 1698, and the lands compressed in the deed of 1709, purchased by Richard, Jun., from the Hollow Sword-Blade Company, as had not been sold by Richard, Jun., or Richard Warburton, his son), to hold to the said Edward Lee and Robert French, their heirs and assigns, on the trusts in the said deed of release mentioned; and, among others, to secure and annuity, by way of maintenance, of £1200 per annum, for the said Richard Warburton, for and during the joint lives of himself and his father; and further, to secure a jointure of £1000 per annum to the said Anne Kemmis, in case she should survive her intended husband; and, subject thereto, to the use of the said John Warburton for and during his life, with remainder to the said Richard for life, with remainder to his first and every other son in tail male, according to the usual course in strict settlement.

The marriage took effect accordingly, and the numerous issue of it may be seen in the annexed Pedigree.
Colonel Warburton had not the good fortune to witness his daughter's marriage until his health had seriously declined. William Augustus Le Hunte, Esq., was married to Miss Warburton in the month of November, in the year 1805, and Colonel Warburton died in the month of June, 1806, very generally regretted.

He left two sons and one daughter surviving him, viz.: Richard, his eldest son; Peter, his second; and Patty, married to Mr. Le Hunte.

Richard Warburton, the present proprietor of Garryhinch, thus proved to be the lineal descendant and heir of Richard, formerly of Garryhinch, and Clerk-Assistant of the House of Commons in 1662, and the eldest of three brothers, Richard, George, and John, now claims to be head of the Irish branch of the Warburton family; and until his line and that of his late brother, Peter, be extinct, no descendant of the late Major Warburton con have any just claim to be called the head and male representative of the Warburton family, either in Ireland of in England.

1. An original book of these claims, and the decisions thereon by the Commissioners, and the sales made by them, may be seen in the Library of the Royal Dublin Society.
2. See Commons ' Journal, vol. ii. pp. 585, 599.
3. Commons' Journals, vol. ii.
4. Commons' Journal, vols. iv. v. p. 573.
5. These copies were extorted from the said Peter, who repeatedly denied he had either the original or copy of his father's will, though he afterwards produced the latter; and it was afterwards admitted by him in an answer to a discovery bill filed against him by his nephew, though in the same answer he declined to admit it to be true. This copy was lodged, by order of the Court, with " the Register of the Court of Chancery."
6. Copy lodged in the Court.
7. During the whole of Mr. Warbuton's Parliamentary career his conduct was marked by a high sense of independence and patriotism, and at a period when offices and honours were lavishly distributed by the Irish Government, to county members who renounced their independent opinions, and joined its standard.

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