Sir John Cole, 1st Baronet (died 1691) was an

Anglo-Irish Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the State rel ...

politician.

Biography

Sir John Cole was the second son of Sir William Cole (died 1653), a key figure in the

Plantation of Ulster The Plantation of Ulster (; Ulster Scots dialects, Ulster Scots: ) was the organised Settler colonialism, colonisation (''Plantation (settlement or colony), plantation'') of Ulstera Provinces of Ireland, province of Irelandby people from Great ...

, and his second wife Catherine Parsons, daughter of Sir Lawrence Parsons of

Birr Castle Birr Castle ( Irish: ) is a large castle in the town of Birr in County Offaly, Ireland. It is the home of the 7th Earl of Rosse and his family, and as the castle is generally not open to the public, though the grounds and gardens of the deme ...

, Baron of the

Court of Exchequer (Ireland) The Court of Exchequer (Ireland), or the Irish Exchequer of Pleas, was one of the senior courts of common law in Ireland. It was the mirror image of the equivalent court in England. The Court of Exchequer was one of the four royal courts of jus ...

and Anne Malham. William was a Londoner, the only son of Emmanuel Cole, from a family which originated in

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

. Sir

Arthur Ingram Sir Arthur Ingram ( – 1642) was an English investor, landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1610 and 1642. The subject of an influential biography, he has been celebrated for his "financial skill an ...

, the investor, landowner and politician was a cousin through William's mother, Margaret Ingram. John's elder brother Michael was the ancestor of the

Earl of Enniskillen Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. In modern Britain, an earl is a member of the peerage, ranking below a marquess and above a viscount. A feminine form of ''earl'' never developed; instead, ''countess'' is used. The tit ...

. Sir John Cole was a

Royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of gove ...

who, as Governor of

Enniskillen Enniskillen ( , from , ' Ceithlenn's island') is the largest town in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is in the middle of the county, between the Upper and Lower sections of Lough Erne. It had a population of 14,086 at the 2011 censu ...

, had been a prominent promoter of the interests of

Charles II of England Charles II (29 May 1630 – 6 February 1685) was King of Scotland from 1649 until 1651 and King of England, Scotland, and King of Ireland, Ireland from the 1660 Restoration of the monarchy until his death in 1685. Charles II was the eldest su ...

. On 23 January 1661, he was made a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

of Newland in the

Baronetage of Ireland Baronets are hereditary titles awarded by the Crown. The current baronetage of the United Kingdom has replaced the earlier, existing baronetages of England, Nova Scotia, Ireland and Great Britain. To be recognised as a baronet, it is necessary ...

in recognition of his loyalty to the Crown.John Burke, ''A General and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerages of England, Ireland, and Scotland, extinct, dormant, and in abeyance'' (Henry Colburn, 1846), p.652. Sir John Cole sat in 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, ...

as the Member of Parliament for

County Fermanagh County Fermanagh ( ; ) is one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of six counties of Northern Ireland. The county covers an area of and had a population of 63,585 as of 2021. Enniskillen is the ...

between 1661 and 1666, and from 1661 to his death he was Custos Rotulorum of Fermanagh. Sir John Cole was one of the commissioners appointed to implement the

Act of Settlement 1662 The Act of Settlement 1662 ( 14 & 15 Chas. 2. Sess. 4. c. 2 (I)) was an act of the Irish Parliament in Dublin. It was a partial reversal of the Cromwellian Act for the Settlement of Ireland 1652, which punished Irish Catholics and Royalists ...

in Ireland. In 1675 he was made a member of the

Privy Council of Ireland His or Her Majesty's Privy Council in Ireland, commonly called the Privy Council of Ireland, Irish Privy Council, or in earlier centuries the Irish Council, was the institution within the Dublin Castle administration which exercised formal executi ...

Marriage

Sir John Cole married Elizabeth Chichester, daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel John Chichester and of the Honourable Mary Jones, daughter of

Roger Jones, 1st Viscount Ranelagh Sir Roger Jones, 1st Viscount Ranelagh PC (Ire) (before 1589 – 1643) was joint Lord President of Connaught with Charles Wilmot, 1st Viscount Wilmot. He commanded the government forces in Connaught during the Irish Rebellion of 1641 and the b ...

, and aunt of

Richard Jones, 1st Earl of Ranelagh Richard Jones, 1st Earl of Ranelagh (8 February 1641 – 5 January 1712), known as The Viscount Ranelagh between 1669 and 1677, was an Irish peer, politician both in the Parliaments of England and Ireland. Background He was born in Ireland th ...

Children

Sir John Cole and his wife Elizabeth had eleven children, amongst whom were - Arthur Cole, the eldest son, who succeeded to his father's title, and also was made Baron Ranelagh in 1715. Arthur had no issue and both his and his father's titles died with him. Sir John Cole also had daughters - Elizabeth married her cousin Sir Michael Cole. Mary married Henry Hamilton-Moore, 3rd Earl of Drogheda. Frances married

Sir Thomas Domvile, 1st Baronet Sir Thomas Domvile, 1st Baronet (c.1655 – 15 April 1721) was an Anglo-Irish politician. He was the son of Sir William Domville (1609–1689) and Brigid Lake, the daughter of Sir Thomas Lake. On 21 December 1686, Domvile was created a baronet, of ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cole, John, 1st Baronet Year of birth unknown 1691 deaths 17th-century Anglo-Irish people Cavaliers Cole family (Anglo-Irish aristocracy) Irish MPs 1661–1666 Baronets in the Baronetage of Ireland Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Fermanagh constituencies Members of the Privy Council of Ireland