Henry Bellingham (died 1676) was an

Anglo-Irish Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the establis ...

soldier, landowner and politician. Bellingham was the younger son of Robert Bellingham, attorney in the Court of Exchequer, and Margaret Whyte. He was the younger brother of Sir Daniel Bellingham, 1st Baronet. He served as an army officer in Ireland in the 1640s, and signed a predominantly military petition addressed to

Charles I of England Charles I (19 November 1600 – 30 January 1649) was King of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until Execution of Charles I, his execution in 1649. He was born into the House of Stuart as the second son of King James VI of ...

by Protestants in Ireland in late 1643. By 1648 his allegiance was with the

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...

and he is recorded as a lieutenant in the army of Michael Jones. He participated in the

Cromwellian conquest of Ireland The Cromwellian conquest of Ireland or Cromwellian war in Ireland (1649–1653) was the re-conquest of Ireland by the forces of the English Parliament, led by Oliver Cromwell, during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. Cromwell invaded Ireland wi ...

as a cornet in John Hewson's cavalry regiment. In 1653 he left military service and was granted land in

County Louth County Louth ( ; ga, An Lú) is a coastal county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. Louth is bordered by the counties of Meath to the south, Monaghan to the west, Armagh to the north and Down to the ...

under the

Act for the Settlement of Ireland 1652 The Act for the Setling of Ireland imposed penalties including death and land confiscation against Irish civilians and combatants after the Irish Rebellion of 1641 and subsequent unrest. British historian John Morrill wrote that the Act and ...

, in lieu of pay, at what would later become Castlebellingham. In 1654 Bellingham was

High Sheriff of Kildare The High Sheriff of Kildare was the British Crown's judicial representative in County Kildare, Ireland from the 16th century until 1922, when the office was abolished in the new Free State and replaced by the office of Kildare County Sheriff. Th ...

. During the 1650s he became a figure of significant influence in Louth. He served as a revenue commissioner in 1654 and 1657, a member of a commission investigating the organisation of parishes in 1658, a commissioner for the civil survey in the county, and a captain of a militia company from 1659 to 1662. He represented Louth in the

Irish Convention The Irish Convention was an assembly which sat in Dublin, Ireland from July 1917 until March 1918 to address the ''Irish question'' and other constitutional problems relating to an early enactment of self-government for Ireland, to debate its wid ...

of 1660 and was elected as a

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 of ...

for

Louth Louth may refer to: Australia *Hundred of Louth, a cadastral unit in South Australia * Louth, New South Wales, a town *Louth Bay, a bay in South Australia **Louth Bay, South Australia, a town and locality Canada * Louth, Ontario Ireland * County ...

in 1661. Bellingham was a poll tax commissioner in 1660 and 1661, a commissioner for setting of lands in 1662, and an assessor of hearth money in 1664. His ownership of lands in Louth was confirmed in the Act of Settlement 1662. In 1671 he was High Sheriff of Louth. Bellingham married Lucy Sibthorpe; they had one son, the politician

Thomas Bellingham Thomas Bellingham (1646 – 15 September 1721) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and politician. Bellingham was the son of Henry Bellingham and Lucy Sibthorpe. He was educated at the cathedral school of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin before entering Trini ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bellingham, Henry Year of birth unknown 1676 deaths 17th-century Anglo-Irish people Irish soldiers High Sheriffs of County Louth High Sheriffs of Kildare Irish MPs 1661–1666 Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Louth constituencies People of the Irish Confederate Wars