Sir Thomas Prendergast, 2nd Baronet (1702-died 23 September 1760) was an Irish politician. His career was helped by influential family connections, but apparently hampered by his own lack of ability. To

Jonathan Swift Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 – 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish satirist, author, essayist, political pamphleteer (first for the Whigs, then for the Tories), poet, and Anglican cleric who became Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dubl ...

, who detested him, he was "Noisy Tom", while the King called him "that Irish blockhead".

Early life

He was the eldest son of

Sir Thomas Prendergast, 1st Baronet Brigadier-General Sir Thomas Prendergast, 1st Baronet ( 1660 – 11 September 1709) was an Irish politician and soldier. Early life He was the son of Thomas Prendergast (d. 1725) of Croane, County Limerick, a small Catholic landowner, and Elean ...

, and his wife Penelope Cadogan, sister of

William Cadogan, 1st Earl Cadogan William Cadogan (-1726), 1st Earl Cadogan, an Irish-born British Army officer, began his active military service during the Williamite War in Ireland in 1689 and ended it with the suppression of the 1715 Jacobite Rebellion. A close associate an ...

. He was a first cousin of

Sarah Lennox, Duchess of Richmond Sarah Lennox, Duchess of Richmond (née Cadogan; 18 September 1705 – 25 August 1751), was Lady of the Bedchamber to Caroline of Ansbach, Queen Caroline from 1724 to 1737. She was the mother of the famous Lennox sisters. Early life She was bor ...

, and was assiduous in using the powerful Lennox connection to further his career. He succeeded his father in the baronetcy in 1709. His mother spent her later years in a state of almost continuous litigation, including a lawsuit against her own brother over young Thomas's inheritance, an almost interminable lawsuit with Sir Toby Butler and his heirs over the ownership of lands in County Galway, and a lawsuit brought by the

O'Shaughnessy Ó Seachnasaigh, O'Shaughnessy, collectively Uí Sheachnasaigh, clan name Cinél nAedha na hEchtghe, is a family surname of Irish origin. The name is found primarily in County Galway and County Limerick. Their name derives from Seachnasach ma ...

family over their forfeited estate at

Gort Gort ( or ) is a town of around 3,000 inhabitants in County Galway in the west of Ireland. Located near the border with County Clare, the town lies between the Burren and the Slieve Aughty and is served by the R458 and R460 regional roads, wh ...

, which had been acquired by Thomas's father. He was educated at Clare College, Cambridge and the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and ...

Career

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 fran ...

for Clonmel (1727–1760) and, with the help of the Richmonds, to the British House of Commons as Member of Parliament for

Chichester Chichester () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publi ...

from 1733 to 1734. Having been returned as a Government candidate, he promptly infuriated the administration by voting against a Government bill. He lost his seat in the English Commons the following year, and despite his best efforts was never able to obtain another. His father was born a

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 let ...

but both father and son for the sake of their careers were obliged to conform 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 secon ...

. Despite his nominal Protestantism young Thomas was noted for his anti-clerical views, and this earned him the enmity of Swift, who mocked him as "Noisy Tom". Swift also vilified the elder Sir Thomas, describing him as a

traitor Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

, informer and

assassin Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have a ...

. These charges have no foundation, and seem to be a garbled reference to the elder Sir Thomas's role in uncovering the Assassination Plot of 1696, which was admittedly very advantageous to the Prendergast family. King

George II of Great Britain , house = Hanover , religion = Protestant , father = George I of Great Britain , mother = Sophia Dorothea of Celle , birth_date = 30 October / 9 November 1683 , birth_place = Herrenhausen Palace,Cannon. or Leine ...

called the younger Thomas "that Irish blockhead", an opinion which seems to have been widely shared. In 1754, the younger Sir Thomas was made

Custos Rotulorum ''Custos rotulorum'' (; plural: ''custodes rotulorum''; Latin for "keeper of the rolls", ) is a civic post that is recognised in the United Kingdom (except Scotland) and in Jamaica. England, Wales and Northern Ireland The ''custos rotulorum'' is t ...

and Governor of County Galway. He was Postmaster General for Ireland, a post he seems to have performed capably enough, and a member of the Privy Council of Ireland. He was a leading Freemason.

Personal life

In 1739 he married Anne Williams, daughter of Sir Griffith Williams, 6th Baronet of the Williams-Bulkeley baronets of Penrhyn and his wife Catherine Anwyl, but they had no children. After Sir Thomas's death, his widow married his cousin, Terence Prendergast, causing a minor scandal. The baronetcy expired but Prendergast's estates were inherited by his nephew,

John Prendergast-Smyth, 1st Viscount Gort John Prendergast-Smyth, 1st Viscount Gort (1742 – 23 May 1817) was an Ireland, Irish politician. Born John Smyth, Gort was the son of Charles Smyth (politician), Charles Smyth, Member of the Irish Parliament for Limerick City, and Elizabeth Pre ...

, the son of his sister Elizabeth and her husband Charles Smyth.Spurrell, J.C., ''In Search of Thomas Smyth, Mayor of Limerick'', Irish Family History, Vol. 25 (2009) At the time of his death he was apparently expecting to be raised to the peerage as Viscount Clonmel.

Early life

Career

Personal life

References

External links