Nisha Rathode (Editor)

Barry Maxwell, 1st Earl of Farnham

Updated on
Edit
Like
Comment
Share on FacebookTweet on TwitterShare on LinkedInShare on Reddit
Name
  
Barry 1st


Died
  
October 7, 1800

Children
  
John Maxwell, 2nd 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.

Contents

Background

He was the son of John Maxwell, 1st Baron Farnham and Judith Barry.

Political career

He was Prothonotary of the Court of Common Pleas between 1741 and 1800, was called to the Irish Bar in 1748 and appointed a Bencher in 1757. On his brother's death on 16 November 1779, he succeeded as 3rd Baron Farnham, inheriting the Farnham estate. He commissioned James Wyatt, one of the most fashionable architects of the time, to design a new house. These plans are now housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

He was created Viscount Farnham on 10 January 1781, Earl of Farnham on 22 June 1785, and became a Privy Councillor in Ireland on 6 June 1796. From 1756 to 1761 and again from 1768 to 1779, he sat in the Irish House of Commons for Cavan Borough. Between 1761 and 1768, he represented Armagh Borough.

Family

He married twice, firstly on the 15 January 1757 to Margaret King, daughter of Robert King of Drewstown. They had the following children:

  • John James Maxwell, 2nd Earl of Farnham (5 February 1760 – 23 July 1823).
  • Anne Maxwell; she married in 1787 to Richard Fox of Fox Hall.
  • Judith Maxwell, died unmarried in 1818.
  • He then married secondly in 1771 to Grace Burdett (died 8 March 1816), daughter of Arthur Burdett of Ballymaney. They had the following issue:

  • Grace Maxwell (died 19 June 1866); she married to Sir Ralph St George, 7th Baronet (1758–1842)
  • Elizabeth Maxwell, died unmarried in January 1782.
  • On his death, he was succeeded by his son John James.

    References

    Barry Maxwell, 1st Earl of Farnham Wikipedia