Thomas FitzWilliam, 1st Viscount Fitzwilliam (1581–1650) was an Irish nobleman of the Stuart age. He was born to wealth and privilege, and acquired a
peerage
A peerage is a legal system historically comprising various hereditary titles (and sometimes non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted noble ranks.
Peerages include:
Australia
* Australian peers
Belgium
* Belgi ...
, but due to his loyalty to the English Crown, he suffered considerable hardship during the
English Civil War
The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...
, and died in poverty.
Background
He was born in
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
, probably at
Merrion Castle
Merrion Castle was a castle situated about 300m south of the present-day Merrion Gates, to the south of Dublin city centre. Built in the early fourteenth century, it was from the sixteenth century to the early eighteenth century the principal se ...
, eldest of the five sons of Sir Richard FitzWilliam, Constable of
Wicklow
Wicklow ( ; ga, Cill Mhantáin , meaning 'church of the toothless one'; non, Víkingaló) is the county town of County Wicklow in Ireland. It is located south of Dublin on the east coast of the island. According to the 2016 census, it has ...
, and Jane Preston, who was probably a close relative (but not the daughter) of Christopher Preston, 4th
Viscount Gormanston
Viscount Gormanston is a Peerage, title in the Peerage of Ireland created in 1478 and held by the head of the Preston family, which hailed from Lancashire. It is the oldest Viscount, vicomital title in the British Isles; the holder is Premier Vi ...
. The FitzWilliam family are recorded in Dublin from about 1210, and by the time of Thomas's birth they were among the wealthiest and most influential families in
the Pale
The Pale (Irish: ''An Pháil'') or the English Pale (' or ') was the part of Ireland directly under the control of the English government in the Late Middle Ages. It had been reduced by the late 15th century to an area along the east coast st ...
.
Early career
Thomas was only fourteen when his father died. As a young man he spent some time in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
studying law at
Gray's Inn
The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wale ...
. He was
knighted
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...
in 1605, the year of his marriage.
In 1608 he narrowly avoided being caught up in the rebellion of Sir
Cahir O'Doherty
Sir Cahir O'Doherty ( ga, Cathaoir Ó Dochartaigh or ga, label=none, Caṫaoir Ó Doċartaiġ; 1587–5 July 1608) was the last Gaelic Chief of the Name of Clan O'Doherty and Lord of Inishowen, in what is now County Donegal. O'Doherty was a n ...
, having stood
surety
In finance, a surety , surety bond or guaranty involves a promise by one party to assume responsibility for the debt obligation of a borrower if that borrower defaults. Usually, a surety bond or surety is a promise by a surety or guarantor to pay ...
for the good behaviour of O'Doherty, who had married Thomas's cousin Mary Preston. A messenger arrived at Merrion Castle ordering FitzWilliam to produce the person of O'Doherty; fortunately, FitzWilliam was not at home.
He was
knighted
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...
the same year, and served as
Sheriff of County Dublin
The Sheriff of County Dublin (or (High) Sheriff of the County of Dublin) was the Sovereign's judicial representative in County Dublin. Initially, an office for a lifetime, assigned by the Sovereign, the Sheriff became an annual appointment follo ...
in 1609. In 1610 he received a substantial grant of land in
County Armagh
County Armagh (, named after its county town, Armagh) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the southern shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and ha ...
from the English Crown. No doubts about his loyalty to the Crown seem to have been entertained, except perhaps during the latter part of the English Civil War. In 1629 King
Charles I Charles I may refer to:
Kings and emperors
* Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings
* Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily
* Charles I of ...
created him
Viscount FitzWilliam
Viscount FitzWilliam, of Merrion in the County of Dublin, was a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1629 for Thomas FitzWilliam, along with the subsidiary title Baron FitzWilliam, of Thorncastle in the County of Dublin, also in th ...
in recognition of his family's long record of service to the Crown. It appears that a good deal was expected in return for the title, and Thomas had to make substantial gifts of money to the King. This put a particular burden on his estates since he was involved in protracted litigation with his numerous brothers and sisters, due to his father's breaking of an
entail
In English common law, fee tail or entail is a form of trust established by deed or settlement which restricts the sale or inheritance of an estate in real property and prevents the property from being sold, devised by will, or otherwise alien ...
on the estates, which benefitted Thomas at the expense of his siblings. Admittedly Thomas himself had been the beneficiary of a generous Crown grant of land in Armagh. Like nearly all of his family, he inclined to the
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 ...
faith, while adhering in public to the
Church of Ireland
The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the second ...
. Later generations of Fitzwilliams, including his son William, were quite open in their support for the Catholic religion.
Civil war and last years
When the
Irish Rebellion of 1641
The Irish Rebellion of 1641 ( ga, Éirí Amach 1641) was an uprising by Irish Catholics in the Kingdom of Ireland, who wanted an end to anti-Catholic discrimination, greater Irish self-governance, and to partially or fully reverse the plantatio ...
broke out, FitzWilliam, unlike many of the nobility of the Pale, remained loyal to the Crown, despite strong pressure from his mother's family, the Prestons of Gormanston, and particularly the military commander
Thomas Preston, 1st Viscount Tara
Thomas Preston, 1st Viscount Tara (1585October, 1655) was an Irish soldier of the 17th century. After lengthy service as a mercenary in the Spanish Army, Preston returned to Ireland following the outbreak of the Rebellion of 1641. He was appoint ...
, to join the
Irish Confederacy
Confederate Ireland, also referred to as the Irish Catholic Confederation, was a period of Irish Catholic self-government between 1642 and 1649, during the Eleven Years' War. Formed by Catholic aristocrats, landed gentry, clergy and military ...
. He was one of only three nobles to offer their assistance in the
Royalist
A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of governme ...
defence of Dublin, and a garrison was placed in Merrion Castle. It was betrayed in June 1642 and thereafter FitzWilliam only lived there for short periods. He offered his services to the
Lords Justices, but despite his long record of loyalty to the Crown he was rebuffed, apparently on account of his known leanings towards the Roman Catholic religion, and he took no further part in the fighting. He spent some time in England, where the King received him courteously. He was promised an English
Earldom
Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form ''jarl'', and meant "chieftain", particular ...
, but the promise was not kept. He returned to Ireland, only to discover that he had been
outlawed
An outlaw, in its original and legal meaning, is a person declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, all legal protection was withdrawn from the criminal, so that anyone was legally empowered to persecute or kill them ...
. In his last years he led an unsettled existence, sometimes living at Merrion Castle, sometimes with his eldest son at
Howth
Howth ( ; ; non, Hǫfuð) is an affluent peninsular village and outer suburb of Dublin, Ireland. The district as a whole occupies the greater part of the peninsula of Howth Head, which forms the northern boundary of Dublin Bay, and includes ...
, and sometimes in
Louth Louth may refer to:
Australia
*Hundred of Louth, a cadastral unit in South Australia
* Louth, New South Wales, a town
* Louth Bay, a bay in South Australia
**Louth Bay, South Australia, a town and locality
Canada
* Louth, Ontario
Ireland
* Cou ...
. At times he seems to have been almost destitute, and he wrote to
James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde
Lieutenant-General James FitzThomas Butler, 1st Duke of Ormond, KG, PC (19 October 1610 – 21 July 1688), was a statesman and soldier, known as Earl of Ormond from 1634 to 1642 and Marquess of Ormond from 1642 to 1661. Following the failur ...
in 1647 asking for repayment of a
debt
Debt is an obligation that requires one party, the debtor, to pay money or other agreed-upon value to another party, the creditor. Debt is a deferred payment, or series of payments, which differentiates it from an immediate purchase. The ...
. In 1648 he was promised a
pension
A pension (, from Latin ''pensiō'', "payment") is a fund into which a sum of money is added during an employee's employment years and from which payments are drawn to support the person's retirement from work in the form of periodic payments ...
of £100 a year, but it is unclear if he ever received it.
Due perhaps to the confused conditions of the
English Civil War
The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...
, little seems to be known about the date and place of his death. Even the year of his death has been disputed, but is generally stated to be 1650. He was certainly dead before 1655 when his eldest surviving son Oliver was allowed to inherit some of the estates, though most were not restored until 1663.
Family
In 1605 he married Margaret Plunkett, daughter of Oliver Plunkett, 4th
Baron Louth
Baron Louth is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It has been created twice.
History
The title was created firstly c. 1458 for Sir Thomas Bathe, later Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer. Although he had at least one son, John Bathe of Ardee, the ...
and his wife Frances, who was the daughter of
Nicholas Bagenal
Sir Nicholas Bagenal or Bagenall or Bagnall (; 1509 – February 1591) was an English-born soldier and politician who became Marshal of the Army in Ireland during the Tudor era.
Early life
He was born the second son of John Bagenal (died 1 ...
and Eleanor Griffith, and sister of
Henry Bagenal
Sir Henry Bagenal PC (c. 1556 – 14 August 1598) was marshal of the Royal Irish Army during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.
Life
He was the eldest son of Nicholas Bagenal and Eleanor Griffith, daughter of Sir Edward Griffith of Penrhyn. His br ...
and of
Mabel Bagenal
Mabel Bagenal ( – December 1595) was an Anglo-Irish noblewoman and Countess of Tyrone, often referred to simplistically as the " Helen of the Elizabethan Wars".
Life
Mabel Bagenal was born around 1571 in Newry. She was the youngest child o ...
, Countess of Tyrone. They had four sons:
*Richard, who predeceased his father: he married Elizabeth Stanihust but had no children;
*
Oliver FitzWilliam, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell, he was married three times but had no children;
*Christopher, who lived mainly in England: he married Jane Brereton of
Malpas (whose sister Dorothy was his brother Oliver's first wife) and had one surviving daughter but no son;
*
William FitzWilliam, 3rd Viscount FitzWilliam
William FitzWilliam, 3rd Viscount FitzWilliam (c.1610–1674) was an Irish nobleman of the Stuart era. He fought on the Royalist side during the English Civil War, but later made his peace with the Cromwellian regime. In his later years, he openly ...
, ancestor of all succeeding Viscounts Fitzwilliam. He married Mary Luttrell and had six children.
Character
His friend
James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde
Lieutenant-General James FitzThomas Butler, 1st Duke of Ormond, KG, PC (19 October 1610 – 21 July 1688), was a statesman and soldier, known as Earl of Ormond from 1634 to 1642 and Marquess of Ormond from 1642 to 1661. Following the failur ...
described him as a man who was "in every way faithful to his allegiance". This is especially interesting since Ormonde in later years was no friend to Fitzwilliam's son Oliver, who played a careful double game during the
Cromwellian
Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three Ki ...
era and was accused of divided loyalties.
[Ball, p.13]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fitzwilliam, Thomas Fitzwilliam, 1st Viscount
Viscounts in the Peerage of Ireland
Peers of Ireland created by Charles I
1581 births
1650 deaths
16th-century Irish people
17th-century Irish people
People from Mount Merrion
People of Elizabethan Ireland