Thomas Barton (26 January 1757 – 1820) of Grove House and

Clonmel Clonmel () is the county town and largest settlement of County Tipperary, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The town is noted in Irish history for its resistance to the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland, Cromwellian army which sacked the towns of Dro ...

County Tipperary County Tipperary () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary (tow ...

, and

St Stephen's Green St Stephen's Green () is a garden square and public park located in the city centre of Dublin, Ireland. The current landscape of the park was designed by William Sheppard. It was officially re-opened to the public on Tuesday, 27 July 1880 by ...

, Dublin, was an Irish landowner and politician.

Biography

He was born in 1757, the eldest son of William Barton of

Fethard, County Tipperary Fethard (; ) (archival records) is a small town in County Tipperary, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Dating to the Norman invasion of Ireland, the Defensive wall, town's walls were first laid-out in the 13th century, with some sections of these ...

, and his wife, Grace, daughter of

Charles Massy Charles Massy (1695–1766) was Dean of Limerick from 1740 until his death. He was educated at Trinity College, Dublin. He was Chancellor of Emly from 1727 to 1739; and then Precentor. His nephew George Massy was Archdeacon of Ardfert from 177 ...

, Dean of Limerick, and was educated at

Trinity College, Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Univ ...

and THe Middle Temple. His younger brothers included two Generals, Charles Barton and Sir Robert Barton. The Bartons were proprietors of the town of Fethard, and Thomas was elected a Freeman and Burgess of Fethard in 1780 and served as Sovereign (i.e. mayor) from 1787 to 1788, 1791 to 1792, 1801 to 1802 and 1811 to 1814. He also served as Recorder from 1801 to 1809, and represented the borough 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, ...

from 1783 to 1797. In 1785, he was sheriff of the county. When Fethard was disenfranchised at the

Act of Union 1800 The Acts of Union 1800 were parallel acts of the Parliament of Great Britain and the Parliament of Ireland which united the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland (previously in personal union) to create the United Kingdom of G ...

, the compensation for loss of a

pocket borough A rotten or pocket borough, also known as a nomination borough or proprietorial borough, was a parliamentary borough or constituency in England, Great Britain, or the United Kingdom before the Reform Act of 1832, which had a very small electo ...

was divided between Barton and the family of

Cornelius O'Callaghan, 1st Baron Lismore Cornelius O'Callaghan, 1st Baron Lismore (7 January 1741 – 12 July 1797), was an Irish politician and peer. O'Callaghan was the son of Thomas O'Callaghan and Sarah Davis. He served in the Irish House of Commons as the Member of Parliament fo ...

. In 1786, Barton married Mary, daughter of

Chambré Brabazon Ponsonby Chambré Brabazon Ponsonby (1720 – 20 February 1762) was an Irish Member of Parliament. He was the son of Major-General Henry Ponsonby by his wife Lady Frances, daughter of Chambré Brabazon, 5th Earl of Meath. His paternal grandfather was Will ...

; they had four sons and two daughters. He died in 1820.

References

* Edith Mary Johnston-Liik, ''History of the Irish Parliament 1692–1800'', volume III (Ulster Historical Foundation, 2002) p. 144–145. 1757 births 1820 deaths Members of the Middle Temple High sheriffs of Tipperary Irish MPs 1783–1790 Irish MPs 1790–1797 Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Tipperary constituencies People from Fethard, County Tipperary Politicians from County Tipperary {{Ireland-pre1801-MP-stub