Nicholas Preston, 6th Viscount Gormanston (1606–1643) sat in the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

of the Irish Parliament of 1634–1635 and sided with the insurgents after the

Irish Rebellion of 1641 The Irish Rebellion of 1641 was an uprising in Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland, initiated on 23 October 1641 by Catholic gentry and military officers. Their demands included an end to anti-Catholic discrimination, greater Irish self-governance, and ...

Birth and origins

Nicholas was born about 1608, the eldest son of Jenico Preston and his wife Margaret St. Lawrence. His father was the 5th

Viscount Gormanston Viscount Gormanston is a noble title, created in 1478, held by the Anglo-Irish Preston family since the Middle Ages. The oldest vicomital title in the British Isles, Lord Gormanston is accorded the style of Premier Viscount of Ireland. Desc ...

. His father's family descended from Robert Preston, 1st Baron Gormanston whose ancestors had come from

Preston, Lancashire Preston () is a city on the north bank of the River Ribble in Lancashire, England. The city is the administrative centre of the county of Lancashire and the wider City of Preston, Lancashire, City of Preston local government district. Preston ...

, England, some generations before. His mother was a daughter of Nicholas St Lawrence, 9th Baron Howth.

Marriages and children

Preston married Mary Barnewall. She was a daughter of Nicholas Barnewall, 1st Viscount Barnewall and Lady Bridget FitzGerald. Her family was

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

. Nicholas and Mary had two sons: # Jenico (died 1691), his successor #Nicholas, married his cousin Elizabeth Preston, daughter of Anthony Preston, 2nd

Viscount Tara Viscount Tara (or Taragh) was a title in the Peerage of Ireland. The title was created by King Charles II in 1650 for the soldier Thomas Preston (1585–1655). He was the second son of Christopher Preston, 4th Viscount Gormanston. The 1st Viscou ...

—and two daughters, who do not seem to be known by name.

6th Viscount and House of Lords

Preston succeeded his father in 1630 as the 6th Viscount Gormanston. Gormanston, as he was now, sat in the

during the two Irish parliaments of King Charles I.

Parliament of 1634–1635

The Irish Parliament of 1634–1635 was opened on 14 July 1634 by the new

Lord Deputy of Ireland The Lord Deputy was the representative of the monarch and head of the Irish executive (government), executive under English rule, during the Lordship of Ireland and then the Kingdom of Ireland. He deputised prior to 1523 for the Viceroy of Ireland ...

, Thomas Wentworth (the future Lord Strafford), who had taken office in July 1633. Gormanston took his seat on the day of opening, the 14 July 1634. Wentworth asked to vote taxes: six subsidies of £50,000 (equivalent to about £ in ) were passed unanimously by both houses. The parliament also belatedly and incompletely ratified the Graces of 1628, in which the King conceded rights for money.

Parliament of 1640–1649

The Irish Parliament of 1640–1649. was opened on 16 March 1640 by

Christopher Wandesford Christopher Wandesford (24 September 1592 – 3 December 1640) was an English administrator and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1621 and 1629. He was Lord Deputy of Ireland in the last months of his life. Life Wandesford w ...

, whom Strafford, as Wentworth was now called, had appointed Lord Deputy. Strafford arrived two days later. Gormanston was there on the 18 March. In its first session the parliament unanimously voted four subsidies of £45,000 (about £ in ) to raise an Irish army of 9000 for use by the King against the Scots in the

Second Bishops' War The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of Un ...

. On 3 April 1640 Strafford left Ireland. The Lords sent a separate delegation for their grievances. Gormanston was part of it.

Death

Gormantown died on 29 July 1643, aged about 35. He was posthumously outlawed on 17 November 1643. He was succeeded by his elder son Jenico as the 7th Viscount Gormanston.

Notes and references

Notes

Citations

Sources

* * * – 1603 to 1642 * * * – 1613 to 1641 * – G to K (for Gormanston) * * – (for timeline) * * * * * – 1634 to 1699 * * 1606 births 1643 deaths 17th-century Irish people {{Improve categories, date=January 2022