Sir (James) Edward May, 2nd Baronet (1751? – 23 July 1814) of Mayfield,

County Waterford County Waterford ( ga, Contae Phort Láirge) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is part of the South-East Region, Ireland, South-East Region. It is named ...

, was an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

politician who was twice Sovereign of Belfast, 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 ...

in successive Irish and United Kingdom parliaments, and

High Sheriff of County Waterford The High Sheriff of County Waterford was the Sovereign's judicial representative in County Waterford. Initially, an office for a lifetime, assigned by the Sovereign, the High Sheriff became an annual appointment following the Provisions of Oxfor ...

. He was born the eldest son of Sir James May, 1st Baronet of Mayfield, and privately educated before entering

Trinity College, Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

(TCD), and studying law at the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn an ...

in London, where 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 ...

in 1789. He succeeded his father to the baronetcy in 1811. He was appointed

High Sheriff of Waterford The High Sheriff of County Waterford was the Sovereign's judicial representative in County Waterford. Initially, an office for a lifetime, assigned by the Sovereign, the High Sheriff became an annual appointment following the Provisions of Oxfor ...

for 1781–82. He 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 chamb ...

in 1800, the last parliament before the Union of

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

and

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. He continued afterwards as the member for

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

in the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

from 1801 to 1814. He also served as Sovereign of Belfast (an earlier title for the mayor) from 1803 to 1806 and 1809 to 1810. He married twice and had 2 illegitimate sons and 2 daughters. He was accordingly succeeded in the baronetcy by his younger brother Humphrey. An illegitimate daughter, Anna, married The 2nd Marquess of Donegall.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:May, James Edward 1750s births 1814 deaths People from County Waterford Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Members of the Middle Temple Baronets in the Baronetage of Ireland High Sheriffs of County Waterford Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Belfast constituencies (1801–1922) UK MPs 1801–1802 UK MPs 1802–1806 UK MPs 1806–1807 UK MPs 1807–1812 UK MPs 1812–1818 Mayors of Belfast Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for Belfast Irish MPs 1798–1800