James Macartney (1692 – 24 March 1770) was an Irish politician. He was the only son of

James Macartney (died 1727) James Macartney (1651/3–16 December 1727) was an Irish lawyer, judge and politician, notable mainly for presiding at the Islandmagee witch trial of 1711, which was apparently the last such trial in Ireland. Biography He was the eldest son of ...

, judge of the

Court of Common Pleas (Ireland) The Court of Common Pleas was one of the principal courts of common law in Ireland. It was a mirror image of the equivalent court in England. Common Pleas was one of the four courts of justice which gave the Four Courts in Dublin, which is stil ...

, and his second wife Alice Cuffe, daughter of Sir James Cuffe (died 1678). Through his maternal grandmother Alice Aungier he was coheir to the

Earl of Longford Earl of Longford is a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of Ireland. History The title was first bestowed upon Francis Aungier, 3rd Baron Aungier of Longford, in 1677, with remainder to his younger brother Ambrose. He had previ ...

Family

He married Catherine, the third daughter of the eminent judge Thomas Coote and his third wife Anne Lovett, and niece of

Richard Coote, 1st Earl of Bellomont Richard Coote, 1st Earl of Bellomont (sometimes spelled Bellamont, 1636 – 5 March 1700/01In the Julian calendar, then in use in England, the year began on 25 March. To avoid confusion with dates in the Gregorian calendar, then in us ...

. They had six children, two sons and four daughters, including : * Francis Macartney MP, who died in 1759, before his father, without issue *Coote, who died in 1748, without issue *Martha, who married

William Henry Lyttelton, 1st Baron Lyttelton William Henry Lyttelton, 1st Baron Lyttelton MP (24 December 1724 – 14 September 1808) was a British peer, politician, and colonial administrator from the Lyttelton family. He was the youngest son of Sir Thomas Lyttelton, 4th Baronet. Bi ...

and had issue, including George Lyttelton, 2nd Baron Lyttelton * Frances Greville ( c.1724-1789), the

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wr ...

and author of the "Prayer for Indifference"; she married the politician Fulke Greville and was the mother of four children, including the celebrated political hostess,

Frances Anne Crewe Frances Anne Crewe, Lady Crewe (''née'' Greville; November 1748 – 23 December 1818), was the daughter of Fulke Greville, envoy extraordinary to the elector of Bavaria, and his Irish wife, Frances Macartney, who was a poet, best known for "A ...

and the theatre-manager Henry Francis Greville. Catherine died in 1731. Since both their sons had died before their father without issue, on James's death in 1770 his estates passed to his daughters and their children.

Political career

He sat in the

House of Commons of Ireland The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from 1297 until 1800. The upper house was the House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, but on a highly restrictive fr ...

from 1713 to 1760, as a Member of Parliament for Longford Borough from 1713 to 1727, and then for

Granard Granard () is a town in the north of County Longford, Ireland, and has a traceable history going back to AD 236. It is situated just south of the boundary between the watersheds of the Shannon and the Erne, at the point where the N55 nationa ...

from 1727 to 1760.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Macartney, James 1692 births 1770 deaths Irish MPs 1713–1714 Irish MPs 1715–1727 Irish MPs 1727–1760 Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Longford constituencies