William James Conolly (died 2 January 1754) was an Irish landowner and Whig politician who sat in the Irish House of Commons from 1727 to 1754 and in the British House of Commons from 1734 to 1754.
William James Conolly (died 2 January 1754) was an Irish landowner and Whig politician who sat in the Irish House of Commons from 1727 to 1754 and in the British House of Commons from 1734 to 1754.
Conolly was a nephew of William Conolly, Speaker of the Irish House of Commons from 1715 to 1729, and was the son of Patrick Conolly, originally of County Donegal, younger brother of William. William and Patrick had fled to England from Ireland in 1688, but while William had returned, Patrick remained and married Frances Hewett, one of the children of Neale Hewett and Mary Halford of Dunton Bassett, Leicestershire. [1] There were two children, William and his sister, and they grew up at Dunton Bassett until 1713 when their father died, having recently buried their mother. [2] [3]
William became cursitor in the Court of Chancery (Ireland) in 1721. [4] He was elected to the Irish House of Commons for Ballyshannon at a by-election in 1727, after his uncle who had been elected in the 1727 Irish general election earlier in the year decided to continue sitting for County Londonderry instead. [5] In 1729, he succeeded to Castletown, the estate of his uncle, who was said to be the richest man in Ireland. He was appointed to the Irish Privy Council on 3 February 1730. [6]
At the 1734 British general election Conolly was returned as Member of Parliament for Aldeburgh in the interest of his father-in-law Lord Strafford. Although Strafford was a Tory, Conolly considered himself "an incorrigible Whig". He voted consistently with the Government and was returned for Aldeburgh in 1741. He was classed as Old Whig in 1746. At the 1747 British general election he changed seats and was returned as MP for Petersfield instead. [4]
On 28 April 1733, he married Lady Anne Wentworth, daughter of Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford and his wife Anne Johnson; [4] [7] and in that year he purchased Stretton Hall, Staffordshire as his seat in England, his uncle's great mansion of Castletown in Kildare still being in the hands of his widowed aunt. [8] The couple had a London home in Grosvenor Square. [9]
He had a son and seven daughters. [4]
Conolly died on 2 January 1754 leaving an estate of £15,000 per annum. The widowed Lady Conolly moved to Boyle Street, Mayfair, London. [10]
Earl of Strafford is a title that has been created three times in English and British history.
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Castletown House, Celbridge, County Kildare, Ireland, is a Palladian country house built in 1722 for William Conolly, the Speaker of the Irish House of Commons. It formed the centrepiece of an 800-acre (320 ha) estate. Sold to developers in 1965, the estate is now divided between State and private ownership.
Lieutenant-General Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford, KG, also known as in Jacobite Peerage as the 1st Duke of Strafford and 3rd Baron Raby from 1695 to 1711, was an English peer, diplomat and statesman who served as First Lord of the Admiralty.
William Conolly, also known as Speaker Conolly, was an Irish Whig politician, Commissioner of Revenue, lawyer and landowner. He was an influential figure in Irish politics, serving as Speaker of the Irish House of Commons between 1715 and his death.
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George Byng of Wrotham Park in Middlesex, was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1768 to 1784.
Thomas Conolly was an Irish landowner and Member of Parliament.
Hon. Thomas Watson, later known as Thomas Watson-Wentworth, of Wentworth Woodhouse in Yorkshire, was an English landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1701 and 1723.
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5, St James's Square is a Grade II* listed historic townhouse in London, England, built 1748–51 by William Wentworth, 2nd Earl of Strafford (1722–1791) to the design of Matthew Brettingham the Elder. It remained the London residence of the descendants of his sister until after 1968, and in 1984 was the site of the "Libyan Peoples' Bureau" from which shots were fired which caused the murder of Yvonne Fletcher.
Katherine Conolly was an Irish political hostess, landowner, and philanthropist.
Walter Plumer, of Cavendish Square and Chediston Hall, Suffolk, was a British Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1719 and 1741.
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