John Verney, 1st Viscount Fermanagh (5 November 1640 – 23 June 1717), known as Sir John Verney, 2nd Baronet, between 1696 and 1703, was an English peer, merchant and Tory politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

from 1710 to 1717.

Early life

Verney was the second and only surviving son of Sir Ralph Verney, 1st Baronet, and his wife Mary Blacknall, daughter of John Blacknall. He accompanied his father into his French exile, aged eight, and was educated at

Blois Blois ( ; ) is a commune and the capital city of Loir-et-Cher department, in Centre-Val de Loire, France, on the banks of the lower Loire river between Orléans and Tours. With 45,898 inhabitants by 2019, Blois is the most populated city of the ...

for the following five years. After the family's return to England, he joined James Fleetwood's school at

Barn Elms Barn Elms is an open space in Barnes in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, located on the northerly loop of the River Thames between Barnes and Fulham. The WWT London Wetland Centre (105 acres of what were once reservoirs) li ...

and in 1655 went to another school in Kensington. Thereafter Verney worked for a

Levant The Levant () is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Western Asia. In its narrowest sense, which is in use today in archaeology and other cultural contexts, it is ...

merchant, making expeditions to

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the ...

and Cyprus. On 27 May 1680, he married Elizabeth Palmer, daughter of Ralph Palmer, at Westminster Abbey After her death in 1686, Verney married a second time to Mary Lawley, daughter of Sir Francis Lawley, 2nd Baronet, on 10 July 1692, also at Westminster Abbey. She died in childbed only two years later and their newborn son shortly thereafter. Verney married as his third wife Elizabeth Baker, daughter of his neighbour Daniel Baker, on 8 April 1696 at Kensington. In 1696, he succeeded his father as

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14t ...

Career

Verney was several years assistant to the Royal African Company and served as governor of Bethlem Royal Hospital. He contested the county of Buckinghamshire in the elections of 1696 and 1698 and the town of Buckingham in 1701; each time unsuccessfully. On 16 June 1703, Verney was created Viscount of the County of Fermanagh along with the subsidiary title Baron Verney of

Belturbet Belturbet (; ) is a town in County Cavan, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It lies on the N3 road (Ireland), N3 road, around north of Cavan town and from Dublin. It is also located around south of the border with Northern Ireland, between the c ...

, in the

County of Cavan County Cavan ( ; gle, Contae an Chabháin) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Ulster and is part of the Border Region. It is named after the town of Cavan and is based on the historic Gaelic territory of East Breffny (''Bréifne' ...

. Both titles were in the

Peerage of Ireland The Peerage of Ireland consists of those titles of nobility created by the English monarchs in their capacity as Lord or King of Ireland, or later by monarchs of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It is one of the five divisi ...

and hence didn't prevent him being returned as

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 o ...

for Buckinghamshire at the

1710 general election Year 171 ( CLXXI) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Severus and Herennianus (or, less frequently, year 924 ''Ab urbe con ...

. He was returned again for Buckinghamshire in

1713 Events January–March * January 17 – Tuscarora War: Colonel James Moore leads the Carolina militia out of Albemarle County, North Carolina, in a second offensive against the Tuscarora. Heavy snows force the troops to take ref ...

. At the 1715 general election he was returned unopposed instead as MP for Amersham on the Drake interest and represented it until his death in 1717.

Death and legacy

The Viscount Fermanagh died aged 76 and was buried in

Middle Claydon Middle Claydon is a village and civil parish in the Aylesbury Vale district of Buckinghamshire, England. The village is about south of Buckingham and about west of Winslow. The toponym "Claydon" is derived from the Old English for "clay hill" ...

in Buckinghamshire a week later. He had by his first wife, a son and three daughters. He was succeeded in his titles by his only surviving son

Ralph Ralph (pronounced ; or ,) is a male given name of English, Scottish and Irish origin, derived from the Old English ''Rædwulf'' and Radulf, cognate with the Old Norse ''Raðulfr'' (''rað'' "counsel" and ''ulfr'' "wolf"). The most common forms ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fermanagh, John Verney, 1st Viscount 1640 births 1717 deaths British MPs 1710–1713 British MPs 1713–1715 British MPs 1715–1722 Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies Viscounts in the Peerage of Ireland Peers of Ireland created by Queen Anne

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...