Sir William Talbot, 1st Baronet (died 16 March 1634), was an Irish lawyer and politician.

Birth and origins

William was the son of Robert Talbot of

Carton A carton is a box or container usually made of liquid packaging board, paperboard and sometimes of corrugated fiberboard. Many types of cartons are used in packaging. Sometimes a carton is also called a box. Types of cartons Folding carton ...

County Kildare County Kildare ( ga, Contae Chill Dara) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the local authority for the county, ...

, who was the third son of Sir Thomas Talbot of

Malahide Malahide ( ; ) is an affluent coastal settlement in Fingal, County Dublin, Ireland, situated north of Dublin city. It has a village centre surrounded by suburban housing estates, with a population of over 17,000. Malahide Castle dates from th ...

County Dublin "Action to match our speech" , image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Dublin.svg , map_alt = map showing County Dublin as a small area of darker green on the east coast within the lighter green background of ...

; his mother was Jenet FitzGerald, daughter of Thomas Fitzgerald.

Early life

Talbot was educated in the law, and attained a leading position as a

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

in Dublin. About 1603 he was appointed

Recorder of Dublin Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * '' Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a new ...

, but, being a staunch

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

, which was a bar to public office, he was soon afterwards removed from office for

recusancy Recusancy (from la, recusare, translation=to refuse) was the state of those who remained loyal to the Catholic Church and refused to attend Church of England services after the English Reformation. The 1558 Recusancy Acts passed in the reign ...

Marriage and children

William Talbot married Alison, daughter of John Netterville of Castleton,

County Meath County Meath (; gle, Contae na Mí or simply ) is a county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. It is bordered by Dublin to the southeast, Louth to the northeast, Kildare to the south, Offaly to the sou ...

. William and Alison had 16 children, eight sons: #

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

(c. 1610 – c. 1670), his successor #

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

(2nd), became Catholic Archbishop of Dublin #

Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Frankish language, Old Frankish and is a Compound (linguistics), compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language, Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' an ...

(8th), became

Earl of Tyrconnell Earl of Tyrconnell is a title that has been created four times in the Peerage of Ireland. It was first created in 1603, for Rory O'Donnell, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell, formerly king of Tyrconnell, along with the subsidiary title Baron Donegal. The 1s ...

and

Lord Lieutenant A lord-lieutenant ( ) is the British monarch's personal representative in each lieutenancy area of the United Kingdom. Historically, each lieutenant was responsible for organising the county's militia. In 1871, the lieutenant's responsibility ...

during the reign of James II, overhauling the

Royal Irish Army Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a ci ...

which then fought in the

Williamite War The Williamite War in Ireland (1688–1691; ga, Cogadh an Dá Rí, "war of the two kings"), was a conflict between Jacobite supporters of deposed monarch James II and Williamite supporters of his successor, William III. It is also called th ...

—and eight daughters: # Margaret (died 1662), married the landowner Sir Henry Talbot of Templeogue # Frances, married James Cusack, son of Edward Cusack and grandson of Sir Thomas Cusack,

Lord Chancellor of Ireland The Lord High Chancellor of Ireland (commonly known as Lord Chancellor of Ireland) was the highest judicial office in Ireland until the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922. From 1721 to 1801, it was also the highest political office of ...

# Eleanor, married Sir Henry O'Neill, 1st Baronet, of Killelagh, and was the mother of

Sir Neil O'Neill Sir Neil O'Neill ( ga, Niall Mac Anrí Ua Néill; January 1658 – 8 July 1690), 2nd Baronet of Killylagh, County Antrim, was an Irish Jacobite soldier.

and of Rose O'Neill, a foster daughter and heir-at-law of

Rose MacDonnell, Marchioness of Antrim Rose MacDonnell, Marchioness of Antrim (1631–95) was an Irish aristocrat of the seventeenth century. Born Rose O'Neill, her father was Sir Henry O'Neill of Clandeboye, her grandfather was Shane mac Brian O'Neill and her great-grandfather was Bri ...

# Mary, married

Sir John Dongan, 2nd Baronet Sir John Dongan, 2nd Baronet (1603–1650) was a member of the Irish Parliament. Early life Dongan was born into an old Gaelic Norman (Irish Catholic) family in Castletown Kildrought (now Celbridge), County Kildare, in the Kingdom of Ireland. H ...

, and had at least ten children, including Sir Walter Dongan, 3rd Baronet,

William Dongan, 1st Earl of Limerick William Dongan, 1st Earl of Limerick (1630 – 1698) was an Irish Jacobite soldier and peer. Dongan was the second son of Sir John Dongan, 2nd Baronet and Mary Talbot, daughter of Sir William Talbot, 1st Baronet. His older brother, Sir Walter ...

, and

Thomas Dongan, 2nd Earl of Limerick Thomas Dongan, (pronounced "Dungan") 2nd Earl of Limerick (1634 – 14 December 1715), was a member of the Irish Parliament, Royalist military officer during the English Civil War, and Governor of the Province of New York. He is noted for hav ...

Later life

Parliament of 1613–1614

On 13 April 1613 Talbot was returned to the Irish Parliament as MP for

, and became the unofficial legal adviser to the Roman Catholic party in 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 ...

(they were a minority in the House, but a large one). Thomas Ryves, a close ally of the new Speaker, complained to the Westminster government that Talbot had abetted the return to Parliament of two schismatics. During the stormy scenes which marked the election of a speaker in the

, culminating with one of the rival speakers (a fat man) sitting on the other, Talbot urged that the House should first purge itself of members elected by illegal means. On 30 May he was appointed by the House one of the deputies to represent to

James I James I may refer to: People *James I of Aragon (1208–1276) *James I of Sicily or James II of Aragon (1267–1327) *James I, Count of La Marche (1319–1362), Count of Ponthieu *James I, Count of Urgell (1321–1347) *James I of Cyprus (1334–13 ...

the corrupt practices employed in the elections to secure a

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

majority, and the arbitrary treatment of the

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 ...

Catholics. He crossed to England in July, and was examined by the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

on his conduct in the Irish House of Commons. During the discussion of this question, Archbishop George Abbot demanded Talbot's opinion on a book (probably the ''Defensio fidei Catholicae adversus Anglicanae sectae errores'') in which (he said) Francisco Suárez openly maintained the right of Catholics to kill a heretical king. Talbot hesitated, but acknowledged James as the lawful King. The Council was not satisfied with his answers, and on 17 July Talbot was committed to the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is separa ...

. On 13 November 1613 the

Star Chamber The Star Chamber (Latin: ''Camera stellata'') was an English court that sat at the royal Palace of Westminster, from the late to the mid-17th century (c. 1641), and was composed of Privy Counsellors and common-law judges, to supplement the judic ...

sentenced him to a fine of £10,000. Early in the following year, however, Talbot was allowed to return to Ireland, and the fine was probably remitted. The King, on releasing him, disclaimed any intention of forcing the Irish Catholics to change their religion. From this time Talbot became a supporter of the government, but took little part in politics.

Baronet

On 4 February 1623 Talbot was created a baronet and thus became Sir William. Subsequently he received various grants of land.

The Graces

In 1628 Sir William, as he was now was, travelled to England to see the King as one of the 11 agents sent by the Irish to negotiate the Graces.

Death

Sir William Talbot died on 16 March 1634 and is buried in Laraghbryan Cemetery outside

Maynooth Maynooth (; ga, Maigh Nuad) is a university town in north County Kildare, Ireland. It is home to Maynooth University (part of the National University of Ireland and also known as the National University of Ireland, Maynooth) and St Patrick's ...

. He was succeeded by his eldest son Robert as the 2nd baronet.

Citations and sources

Citations

Sources

* – L to Z * – S to T * – 1611 to 1625 * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Talbot, William 1633 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of Ireland 17th-century Irish lawyers Irish MPs 1613–1615 Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Kildare constituencies Recorders of Dublin

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 ...

Year of birth missing