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 Eleanor Condon, daughter of Daniel Condon. Little is known of his early life. His family suffered greatly under

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English statesman, politician and soldier, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in British history. He came to prominence during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, initially ...

, and he is thought to have grown up in poverty.

Jonathan Swift Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 – 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish writer, essayist, satirist, and Anglican cleric. In 1713, he became the Dean (Christianity), dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, and was given the sobriquet "Dean Swi ...

, who detested him, called him the son of a cottager who narrowly escaped being hanged for stealing cows. However, his friends esteemed him as a man of honour and ability.

Career

On 15 July 1699 he was created a baronet, of Gort, in the County of Galway. He received his baronetage for informing King William III of the Jacobite plot to ambush the King's coach at Turnham Green. The plot had been conceived by Sir George Barclay, who landed at Romney in January 1696 intent upon assassinating the King. Prendergast was called upon on Thursday 13 February 1696 by Captain George Porter, one of the forty-odd conspirators, to stop the coach on Saturday 15 February. However, on the Friday he went to

Whitehall Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London, England. The road forms the first part of the A roads in Zone 3 of the Great Britain numbering scheme, A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea, London, Chelsea. It ...

and informed the Earl of Portland of the conspiracy. A man named Fisher had already reported the planned assassination but the plot was taken seriously only after Prendergast's account. It was made known on the Saturday morning that the King would not be driving to Richmond, and so the plotters postponed the assassination until the following Saturday 21 February. Another informer, De La Rue, revealed the plot but the King wanted confirmation from Prendergast, whom he felt he could trust and rely on. On the morning of the plot, the conspirators heard that guards had been dispatched but soon most of them had been rounded up and were eventually charged, thanks mainly to the testimonies of Prendergast. He was rewarded with a grant from the

Treasury A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry; in a business context, corporate treasury. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be ...

and the Gort Estate in County Galway, which was confiscated from the O'Shaughnessy family. This, and his marriage to Penelope Cadogan, enabled his family's fortunes to grow, although the O'Shaughnessy family did not give up easily, and litigation over the right to Gort went on for fifty years. He became a Member of Parliament for Monaghan Borough in 1703, and rose to the rank of Brigadier-General, seeing action at the Battle of Oudenarde and finally being killed at the Battle of Malplaquet on 11 September 1709 whilst leading his regiment against the French troops at Blaregnies. Fighting against him at both of the latter battles was William O'Shaughnessy of the O'Shaughnessy family whose ancestral lands of the Gort Estate in County Galway were forfeited and regranted to Thomas Prendergast, leading to decades of litigation.

Personal life

On 10 August 1697 he married Penelope Cadogan (d. 1746), sister of William Cadogan, 1st Earl Cadogan, and daughter of Henry Cadogan and Bridget Waller. Together, they were the parents of a son and three daughters: * Sir Thomas Prendergast, 2nd Baronet (1702–1760), who married Anne Williams, daughter of Sir Griffith Williams, 6th Baronet, in 1739. * Elizabeth Prendergast, who married Sir John Dickson Haman, 1st Baronet, and, secondly, Charles Smyth, parents of John Prendergast-Smyth, 1st Viscount Gort.Spurrell, J.C., ''In Search of Thomas Smyth, Mayor of Limerick'', Irish Family History, Vol. 25 (2009) * Anne Prendergast, who married Samuel Hobson, Esq. of Muckridge House,

Youghal Youghal ( ; ) is a seaside resort town in County Cork, Ireland. Located on the estuary of the Munster Blackwater, River Blackwater, the town is a former military and economic centre. Located on the edge of a steep riverbank, the town has a long ...

. * Juliana Prendergast (d. 1758), who married Chaworth Brabazon, 6th Earl of Meath. On his death at the Battle of Malplaquet, he was succeeded by his son Sir Thomas Prendergast, 2nd Baronet. His widow was greatly troubled in her later years by protracted lawsuits against the Butler family of Ballyline over the right to certain lands in

County Galway County Galway ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Northern and Western Region, taking up the south of the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht. The county population was 276,451 at the 20 ...

, and several other lawsuits, including one involving her own brother.

, a bitter personal enemy of the younger Thomas, extended his hatred to the elder: "him who shamed our isle, traitor, assassin and informer vile". This appears to be a garbled reference to the Assassination Plot.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prendergast, Thomas 1660s births 1709 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of Ireland British Army brigadiers British military personnel killed in the War of the Spanish Succession Irish MPs 1703–1713 Irish officers in the British Army Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Monaghan constituencies Military personnel from County Limerick British military personnel of the War of the Spanish Succession