John Staunton (1666-1731) was an Irish politician, lawyer and Crown official. He was the father of Thomas Staunton, an English Parliamentarian of some fame. He was born in

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a City status in Ireland, city in the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lo ...

, the eldest son of Thomas Staunton,

Mayor of Galway The office of Mayor of Galway is an honorific title used by the of Galway City Council. The council has jurisdiction throughout its administrative area of the city of Galway which is the largest city in the province of Connacht, in Ireland. The ...

, and Deborah Morgan, daughter of Captain John Morgan of

Kilcolgan Kilcolgan (), is a village on the mouth of the Kilcolgan River at Dunkellin Bay in County Galway, Ireland. The settlement is at the junction of the N67 and R458 roads, which lies between Gort and Clarinbridge. The village is near the site of ...

Castle,

County Galway "Righteousness and Justice" , anthem = () , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Galway.svg , map_caption = Location in Ireland , area_footnotes = , area_total_km2 = ...

. He was

called to the Bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

and became

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of ...

. He was appointed Third

Serjeant-at-law (Ireland) This is a list of lawyers who held the rank of serjeant-at-law at the Irish Bar. Origins of the office of serjeant The first recorded serjeant was Roger Owen, who was appointed between 1261 and 1266, although the title itself was not commonly ...

in 1712 but was dismissed, on party political grounds, two years later. However, his political views did not prevent him from being appointed a

Master in Chancery The Court of Chancery was a court of equity in England and Wales that followed a set of loose rules to avoid a slow pace of change and possible harshness (or "inequity") of the common law. The Chancery had jurisdiction over all matters of equ ...

in 1725. He was elected to the

Irish House of Commons 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 fra ...

as MP for

in 1703 and held the seat, with short intervals, until his appointment as Master in Chancery. His younger brother Thomas was also an Irish MP. He married Bridget Donnellan, daughter of Edmund Donnellan of Ballydonnellan,Montgomery-Massingberd p.124 and had at least two children, Anna, who married Barnaby Gunning of Holywell,

County Roscommon "Steadfast Irish heart" , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Roscommon.svg , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Connacht , subdi ...

, by whom she had one daughter Bridget, and Thomas (c.1706-1784). Thomas followed his father to the Bar and to the Irish House of Commons, but moved to England, where he sat in the

British House of Commons The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 mem ...

for many years, and had some reputation there as an orator.

Sources

*Hart, A.R. ''History of the King's Serjeants at law in Ireland'' Dublin Four Courts Press 2000 *Montgomery-Massingberd, Hugh ''Burke's Irish Family Records'' London 1976

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Staunton, John Serjeants-at-law (Ireland) People from Galway (city) 1666 births 1731 deaths Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Galway constituencies