Francis Bruen (died 15 December 1867) was an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

politician. He was

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP) for Carlow Borough from 1835 to 1837, and briefly in 1839, taking his seat in the

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of what was then the

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was a sovereign state in the British Isles that existed between 1801 and 1922, when it included all of Ireland. It was established by the Acts of Union 1800, which merged the Kingdom of Grea ...

. Bruen first stood for

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

at the 1832 general election, in Carlow Borough, but did not win the seat. He was successful on his second attempt in

1835 Events January–March * January 7 – anchors off the Chonos Archipelago on her second voyage, with Charles Darwin on board as naturalist. * January 8 – The United States public debt contracts to zero, for the only time in history. ...

, when he defeated

Nicholas Vigors Nicholas Aylward Vigors (1785 – 26 October 1840) was an Irish zoologist and politician. He popularized the classification of birds on the basis of the quinarian system. Early life Vigors was born at Old Leighlin, County Carlow on 1785 as fi ...

, Carlow's Liberal Repealer MP. At the 1837 general election, he was defeated by another Liberal,

William Henry Maule Sir William Henry Maule PC (25 April 1799 – 1858) was an English lawyer, Member of Parliament and judge. Life Maule was born in Edmonton, Middlesex. His father, Henry, was a physician and his mother, Hannah ''née'' Rawson, a Quaker. He w ...

. In 1839, Maule was appointed as a Baron of the Court of the Exchequer (a type of judge), and on 27 February 1839, Bruen won the resulting

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

by 167 votes to 164. However, the result was overturned after an electoral petition, and the result was amended to 159 votes for Bruen and 160 for his Liberal opponent,

Thomas Gisborne Thomas Gisborne (31 October 1758 – 24 March 1846) was an English Anglican priest and poet. He was a member of the Clapham Sect, who fought for the abolition of the slave trade in England. Life Gisborne was born at Bridge Gate, Derby, the ...

. He did not stand again.

Family

Francis was the sixth and youngest child of Colonel Henry Bruen (1741–1795) and his wife Dorothea Henrietta Knox. (His date of birth is listed in one source as 1800, but it seem seems improbable that he was born five years after the death of his father, which is listed by Rayment as 14 December 1795.) In 1823, Francis married Catherine Anne Nugent, daughter of George Nugent, the 7th

Earl of Westmeath Earl of Westmeath is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1621 for Richard Nugent, Baron Delvin. During the Tudor era the loyalty of the Nugent family was often in question, and Richard's father, the sixth Baron, died in prison ...

and Lady Elizabeth Emily Moore. They had no children. Bruen's family were prominent in County Carlow. His father had been a member of the pre- Act of Union

Parliament of Ireland The Parliament of Ireland ( ga, Parlaimint na hÉireann) was the legislature of the Lordship of Ireland, and later the Kingdom of Ireland, from 1297 until 1800. It was modelled on the Parliament of England and from 1537 comprised two cham ...

, for Jamestown and for Carlow Borough. His elder brother

Henry Henry may refer to: People *Henry (given name) * Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...

(1789–1852), was an MP for County Carlow for most of the period from 1812 to 1852, and Henry's son Henry Bruen (1828–1912), was MP for County Carlow from 1857 to 1880. The family had lived since 1775 in Oak Park estate, near Carlow town; Francis lived in Coolbawn, County Wexford. He was at some point a Deputy Lieutenant of County Wexford, and was also a Justice of the Peace for County Wexford.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bruen, Francis 1790s births 1867 deaths Irish Conservative Party MPs UK MPs 1835–1837 UK MPs 1837–1841 Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Carlow constituencies (1801–1922) Politicians from County Carlow Politicians from County Wexford Deputy Lieutenants of Wexford