John Maxwell, 1st Baron Farnham (1687 – 6 August 1759) was an Irish peer and

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

. He was the son of the Reverend Robert Maxwell and Anne Stewart, daughter of Colonel George Stewart. His paternal grandfather was

Robert Maxwell Ian Robert Maxwell (born Ján Ludvík Hyman Binyamin Hoch; 10 June 1923 – 5 November 1991) was a Czechoslovakia, Czechoslovak-born British media proprietor, politician and fraudster. After escaping the German occupation of Czechoslovakia, ...

Bishop of Kilmore The Bishop of Kilmore is an episcopal title which takes its name after the parish of Kilmore, County Cavan in Ireland. In the Roman Catholic Church it remains a separate title, but in the Church of Ireland it has been united with other bisho ...

. He was appointed

Prothonotary A prothonotary is the "principal clerk of a court," from Late Latin, L.L. ''prothonotarius'' (Wiktionary:circa, c. 400), from Greek ''protonotarios'' "first scribe," originally the chief of the college of recorders of the court of the Byzantine E ...

of the

Court of Common Pleas (Ireland) The Court of Common Pleas was one of the principal courts of common law in Ireland. It was a mirror image of the equivalent court in England. Common Pleas was one of the four courts of justice which gave the Four Courts in Dublin, which is sti ...

and held the office from 1725 until his death. He was a member of parliament (MP) of the

Irish House of Commons The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from 1297 until the end of 1800. The upper house was the Irish House of Lords, House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, ...

for

County Cavan County Cavan ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is part of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Cavan and is based on the hi ...

from 1727 to 1756. He inherited Farnham estate from his cousin in 1737 and was appointed

High Sheriff of Cavan The High Sheriff of Cavan was the British Crown's judicial representative in County Cavan, Ireland from the 16th century until 1922, when the office was abolished in the new Free State and replaced by the office of Cavan County Sheriff. The sherif ...

for 1739. The latter year he was raised to the

Peerage of Ireland The peerage of Ireland consists of those Peerage, titles of nobility created by the English monarchs in their capacity as Lordship of Ireland, Lord or Monarchy of Ireland, King of Ireland, or later by monarchs of the United Kingdom of Great B ...

Baron Farnham Baron Farnham, of Farnham in the County of Cavan, is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1756 for John Maxwell, who had previously represented Cavan Borough in the Irish House of Commons. John Maxwell's son, the second Baron, w ...

, of Farnham in the County of Cavan. He had married in 1719 Judith Barry, daughter of James Barry of Newton Barry and Anne Meredyth, and had the following children: #

Robert Maxwell, 1st Earl of Farnham Robert Maxwell, 1st Earl of Farnham Privy Council of Ireland, PC (c. 1720 – 16 November 1779), styled The Honourable Robert Maxwell from 1756 to 1759, was an Irish peer and a Member of both the Parliament of Great Britain and the Parliament of Ir ...

, 2nd Baron Farnham (born – died 16 November 1779 without male issue). (Earldom extinct, 1779) #

Barry Maxwell, 1st Earl of Farnham Barry Maxwell, 1st Earl of Farnham PC (Ire) (1723 – 7 October 1800), styled The Honourable Barry Maxwell from 1756 to 1779, was an Irish peer and politician. He succeeded as the 3rd Baron Farnham in 1779, and was later created the 1st Visco ...

, 3rd Baron Farnham (died 7 October 1800). (Earldom restored, 1785) # Rt. Rev. Henry Maxwell (died 7 October 1798) was

Bishop of Dromore The Bishop of Dromore is an episcopal title which takes its name after the original monastery of Dromore in County Down, Northern Ireland. In the Roman Catholic Church the title still continues as a separate bishopric, but in the Church of Irela ...

(1765–1766) and

Bishop of Meath The Bishop of Meath is an episcopal title which takes its name after the ancient Kingdom of Meath. In the Catholic Church it remains as a separate title, but in the Church of Ireland it has been united with another bishopric. History Until the ...

(1766–1798). He married in 1759 Margaret Foster, daughter of the Rt. Hon.

Anthony Foster Anthony Foster of Dunleer (1705 – April 1779), of Collon, County Louth, was an Anglo-Irish politician and judge. Early life He was the eldest son of John Foster, MP for Dunleer, and his wife Elizabeth Fortescue, youngest daughter of William ...

, and sister of

John Foster, 1st Baron Oriel John Foster, 1st Baron Oriel PC (Ire) (1740 – 23 August 1828) was an Anglo-Irish politician and peer who thrice served as Chancellor of the Exchequer of Ireland and also served as the last speaker of the Irish House of Commons. Early lif ...

. Their two sons, John and Henry, eventually succeeded as the

5th Fifth is the ordinal form of the number five. Fifth or The Fifth may refer to: * Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as in the expression "pleading the Fifth" * Fifth Avenue * Fifth column, a political term * Fifth disease, a cont ...

and 6th Baron Farnham. He died in August 1759 and was succeeded in the barony by his son

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 ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, prais ...

. In 1760 Robert was created Viscount Farnham and three years later created Earl of Farnham.

References

*Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990. () *
Maxwell family genealogy, part 03
showing the Maxwell of Calderwood, Maxwell of Farnham (co. Cavan), and Maxwell of Finnebrogue families.

External links

Cavan County Museum – The Farnham Gallery

1687 births 1759 deaths Irish MPs 1727–1760 Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Cavan constituencies High sheriffs of Cavan 1 Peers of Ireland created by George II {{Ireland-pre1801-MP-stub