Nicholas Preston, 6th Viscount Gormanston

Nicholas Preston, 6th Viscount Gormanston (1606–1643) sat in the House of Lords of the Irish Parliament of 1634–1635 and sided with the insurgents after the Irish Rebellion of 1641.

Nicholas Preston
Viscount Gormanston
Tenure	1630–1643
Predecessor	Jenico, 5th Viscount Gormanston
Successor	Jenico, 7th Viscount Gormanston
Born	c. 1608
Died	29 July 1643
Spouse(s)	Mary Barnewall
Issue Detail	Jenico & others
Father	Jenico, 5th Viscount Gormanston
Mother	Margaret St. Lawrence

Birth and origins

Nicholas was born about 1608,^[1] the eldest son of Jenico Preston and his wife Margaret St. Lawrence. His father was the 5th Viscount Gormanston.^[2] His father's family descended from Robert Preston, 1st Baron Gormanston whose ancestors had come from Preston, Lancashire, England, some generations before. His mother was a daughter of Nicholas St Lawrence, 9th Baron Howth.^[3]

Family tree

Nicholas Preston with wife, parents, and other selected relatives.^[a] Chrstopher 4th Viscount Gormanston d. 1600 Catherine FitzWilliam Jenico 5th Viscount Gormanston 1585–1630 Margaret St. Lawrence d. 1637 Nicholas 1st Viscount Barnewall 1592–1663 Thomas 1st Viscount Tara 1585–1655 General Nicholas 6th Viscount c. 1608 – 1643 Mary Barnewall Mabel Barnewall Christopher 2nd Earl Fingall d. 1649 Anthony 2nd Viscount d. 1649 Jenico 7th Viscount d. 1691 Margaret Caryll Nicholas Preston Elizabeth Preston Mary Preston d. 1750 Jenico 8th Viscount d. 1697 Anthony 9th Viscount d. 1716 Legend XXX Subject of the article XXX Viscounts Gormanston XXX Earls of Fingall XXX Viscounts Barnewall XXX Viscounts Tara

Marriages and children

Preston married Mary Barnewall. She was a daughter of Nicholas Barnewall, 1st Viscount Barnewall and Lady Bridget FitzGerald.^[5] Her family was Old English.^[6]

Nicholas and Mary had two sons:

1. Jenico (died 1691), his successor^[7]
2. Nicholas, married his cousin Elizabeth Preston, daughter of Anthony Preston, 2nd Viscount Tara^[8]

—and two daughters, who do not seem to be known by name.^[9]

6th Viscount and House of Lords

Preston succeeded his father in 1630 as the 6th Viscount Gormanston.^[10] Gormanston, as he was now, sat in the House of Lords during the two Irish parliaments of King Charles I.

Parliament of 1634–1635

The Irish Parliament of 1634–1635 was opened on 14 July 1634^[11][12] by the new Lord Deputy of Ireland, Thomas Wentworth^[13] (the future Lord Strafford), who had taken office in July 1633.^[14] Gormanston took his seat on the day of opening, the 14 July 1634.^[b] Wentworth asked to vote taxes: six subsidies of £50,000^[17] (equivalent to about £8,900,000 in 2021^[18]) were passed unanimously by both houses.^[19][20] The parliament also belatedly and incompletely ratified the Graces^[21] of 1628,^[22] in which the King conceded rights for money.^[23]

Parliament of 1640–1649

The Irish Parliament of 1640–1649.^[c] was opened on 16 March 1640 by Christopher Wandesford, whom Strafford, as Wentworth was now called, had appointed Lord Deputy.^[27][28] Strafford arrived two days later.^[27] Gormanston was there on the 18 March.^[29]

In its first session the parliament unanimously voted four subsidies of £45,000^[30] (about £8,500,000 in 2021^[18]) to raise an Irish army of 9000^[31] for use by the King against the Scots in the Second Bishops' War. On 3 April 1640 Strafford left Ireland.^[32]

The Lords sent a separate delegation for their grievances. Gormanston was part of it.^[33][34]

Death

Gormantown died on 29 July 1643, aged about 35. He was posthumously outlawed on 17 November 1643. He was succeeded by his elder son Jenico as the 7th Viscount Gormanston.

Notes and references

Notes

1. This family tree is based on genealogies of the Viscounts Gormanston.^[4] Also see the list of children in the text.
2. Gormanston took his seat on the 14 July 1634. Cokayne's date is wrong.^[15][16]
3. Also called the "Parliament of 1639–1648"^[24] as its start date and end date are both affected by the shift in the start of the year from 25 March to 1 January in the calendar reform of 1750. The opening date, the 16 March 1640, was still in 1639 according to the Old Style (O.S.) calendar, in force in Great Britain and Ireland at the time. Similarly, the end date, the 30th of January 1649 (the execution of Charles I),^[25] was still in 1648 according to O.S.^[26]

Citations

1. Bergin 2009, [1st paragraph, 1st sentence]. "Preston, Nicholas (c.1608–43), 6th Viscount Gormanston"
2. Cokayne 1892, p. 58, line 1"Nicholas (Preston), Viscount Gormanston, &c. [I. [Ireland] ], s. [son] and h. [heir], aged 22 at his father's death in 1630 when he suc. [succeeded] to the peerage [I. [Ireland] ] and had spec. livery of his estate."
3. Cokayne 1892, p. 57"He m. (when a minor) Margaret, da. of Nicholas (St. Lawrence), Lord Howth [I.], by his second wife, Mary, da. of Sir Nicholas Whyte."
4. Burke & Burke 1915, pp. 893–894. Genealogies of the Viscounts of Gormanston
5. Cokayne 1892, p. 58, line 8"... he m. [married] Mary, da [daughter] of Nicholas (Barnewall), 1st Viscount Barnewall of Kingsland [I. [Ireland] ], by Bridget, Dow. Countess of Tyrconnell [I. [Ireland] ], da [daughter] of Henry (Fitz Gerald), Earl of Kildare [I. [Ireland] ]."
6. Burke 1866, p. 23. "This great Anglo-Norman family which with the FitzGeralds, Butlers, and Plunketts was one of the most powerful of the old English pale, has been settled in Ireland from the period of the conquest of that country by Stnogbow, in the reign of Henry II."
7. Burke & Burke 1915, p. 894, left column, line 21. "1. Jenico, 7th Viscount"
8. Burke & Burke 1915, p. 894, left column, line 22. "2. Nicholas, who m. [married] Elizabeth, dau. [daughter] of Anthony, 2nd Viscount Tara, and had issue."
9. Bergin 2009, [3rd paragraph, last sentence]. "Two daughters of the 6th viscount were granted £20 p.a. each out of their father's estate in 1654."
10. Cokayne 1892, p. 58. "... aged '22 at his father's death in 1630 when he suc. [succeeded] to the peerage [I. [Ireland] ] and had spec. livery of his estate."
11. Gardiner 1899, p. 274, left column. "Parliament met on 14 July 1634."
12. Kearney 1959, p. 53. "Parliament met on 14 July [1634] and the first session lasted until 2 August."
13. Wedgwood 1961, p. 150. "Parliament met on July 14th, 1634. Wentworth rode down in state ..."
14. Wedgwood 1961, p. 126, line 31. "... he embarked at Chester and reached Dublin bay early in the morning of July 23rd [1633]."
15. Cokayne 1892, p. 58, line 6"... on 11 July 1634, took his sent in Parl."
16. House of Lords 1779, p. 2, left column. "Die Lunae 14° Julii, Anno Regn. Dni Caroli 10°, Annoq; Dni 1634° ... The Viscount Gormanstown, with the like Writ, brought in by the Earl of Westmeath and the Baron of Trimbleston."
17. Cusack 1871, p. 307, penultimate line. "... six subsidies of 50,000ℓ each were voted ..."
18. UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Clark, Gregory (2017). "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
19. Wedgwood 1961, p. 152. "... voted six subsidies unanimously ..."
20. Kearney 1959, p. 54. "The fact that the subsidies were voted unanimously on 19 July [1634] ..."
21. Wedgwood 1961, p. 156, line 1. "... Wentworth agreed that ten only [of the Graces] should become statute law, and that all the rest, with the exception of two, should be continued at the discretion of the government. The two exceptions, articles 24 and 25, affecting land tenure ..."
22. Gillespie 2006, p. 76. "The deputation had its first formal audience with the king on 28 March 1628 ..."
23. Gillespie 2006, p. 77, line 3. "Their [the graces'] price was fixed at £40,000 sterling each year for three years "
24. House of Commons 1878, p. 604, 6th table row. "1639 / 16 March / 1648 / 30 January"
25. Fryde et al. 1986, p. 44, line 17. "Charles I. ... exec. 30 Jan. 1649 ..."
26. Gerard 1913, p. 739, right column. "[The year began]... from 1155 till the reform of the calendar in 1752 on 25 March, so that 24 March was the last day ..."
27. Wedgwood 1961, p. 276. "Two days before he came, Wandesford, now Lord Deputy since Strafford had become Lord Lieutenant, had opened Parliament."
28. Asch 2004, p. 152, right column, line 18. "... the Irish Parliament which had met on 16 March."
29. House of Lords 1779, p. 100, left column. "Die Mercurii, 18° Martii, 1639° ... Present ... Nicholas Viscount of Gormanstown"
30. Wedgwood 1961, p. 276, line 4. "... they voted four subsidies of £45,000 each without a single negative ..."
31. Wedgwood 1961, p. 277, line 8. "The Irish Parliament had agreed on the provision of a force of eight thousand foot and a thousand horse."
32. Wedgwood 1961, p. 278. "On the evening of Good Friday, April 3rd, he [Wentworth] took leave of his wife and his friend, Wandesford, not knowing ..."
33. Carte 1851, p. 244. "... thought fit to delegate the lords Gormanston, Kilmallock, and Muskery to present their grievances to his majesty."
34. Bagwell 1909, p. 303. "... deputed Gormanston, Dillon, and Kilmallock to carry their grievances to London. When Parliament reassembled [i.e. 26 Jan 1641] this action was confirmed and Lord Muskerry was added to the number."

Sources

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