James Verner (1 March 1746 - 1822) was an MP in the

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 ...

from

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, ) is one of six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and has a population o ...

, Kingdom of Ireland. He was father to

Sir William Verner, 1st Baronet Sir William Verner, 1st Baronet, KCH (25 October 1782 – 20 January 1871), was a British soldier who served in the Napoleonic wars, was wounded at the Battle of Waterloo and resigned as a colonel. He served as a politician, including 36 years ...

. He and his sons played an instrumental role in the

Battle of the Diamond The Battle of the Diamond was a planned confrontation between the Catholic Defenders and the Protestant Peep o' Day Boys that took place on 21 September 1795 near Loughgall, County Armagh, Ireland. The Peep o' Day Boys were the victors, killin ...

near their home.

Early life

James was the son of Henry Verner, Esquire and Anne Kerr. His siblings included David, Thomas, Mary and Anne. The Verner's descended from the Scotch Verners of

Auchendinny Auchendinny (Scottish Gaelic: Achadh an t-Sionnaich, meaning field of the fox) is a small village in Glencorse near Penicuik, Midlothian, Scotland. The village had a paper mill at Dalmore, until its closure in 2005. This was Midlothian's last r ...

(also spelled Auchentennie). In Scotland, they had property until 1650 near

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

at Auchendinny starting in the 15th century and they spelled their name "Vernour". Prior to that, they are believed to have been Norman; Their surname was spelled "le Venour" and first appeared in England in the 13th century. Henry and Anne had three sons and three daughters. James' siblings were Thomas, David, Mary and Anne. It is through childless Thomas that James' son

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

inherited the Churchill estate.

Battle of the Diamond

In 1795, James Verner made himself known for his actions:

Public service

Verner was a sheriff for the Armagh,

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

, Meath,

Monaghan Monaghan ( ; ) is the county town of County Monaghan, Ireland. It also provides the name of its civil parish and barony. The population of the town as of the 2016 census was 7,678. The town is on the N2 road from Dublin to Derry and Lette ...

and Tyrone counties. For many years he was a member of the Irish parliament, beginning in 1794 when he represented the borough of Dungannon in

County Tyrone County Tyrone (; ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the thirty-two traditional counties of Ireland. It is no longer used as an administrative division for local government but retai ...

. He accepted the position in John Knox's place when Knox took the position of

escheator Escheat is a common law doctrine that transfers the real property of a person who has died without heirs to the crown or state. It serves to ensure that property is not left in "limbo" without recognized ownership. It originally applied to a ...

of Munster (i.e. resigned). In Dublin, he had a home at Dawson Street until 1801 and the Act of Union in 1801 (creation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland).

Personal life

He married Jane Clarke, daughter of Rev. Henry Clarke of Anasammery, Armagh and his wife, the daughter of John Atkinson, of Money. Their children included Thomas, James, David, John,

, and Elizabeth. In 1788, 5-year-old son William received the estate at Churchill (also Church Hill), Verner's Bridge in the County Armagh from his uncle Thomas Verner who had no children. James and Jane moved into the home with their family and were guardians of the residence until 1807. Set the foundation stone on 28 August 1816 for the Tartaraghan St. Paul's Church. James died in 1822 and Jane in 1827. Both are buried at Loughgall.

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