Thomas Bellingham (1646 – 15 September 1721) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and politician. Bellingham was the son of Henry Bellingham and Lucy Sibthorpe. He was educated at the cathedral school of

St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin Saint Patrick's Cathedral ( ir, Ard-Eaglais Naomh Pádraig) in Dublin, Ireland, founded in 1191 as a Roman Catholic cathedral, is currently the national cathedral of the Church of Ireland. Christ Church Cathedral, also a Church of Ireland cat ...

before entering

Trinity College Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

on 16 February 1660. He was appointed High Sheriff of Louth in 1684. Following the Glorious Revolution in 1688, Bellingham fled Ireland to live with cousins in

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 ...

. His house at

Castlebellingham Castlebellingham () is a village and townland in County Louth, Ireland. The village has become quieter since the construction of the new M1 motorway, which bypasses it. The population of Castlebellingham-Kilsaran (named for the two townlands whi ...

was burnt down by Jacobites in 1690. He returned to Ireland in May 1690 as a colonel in the army of

William III of England William III (William Henry; ; 4 November 16508 March 1702), also widely known as William of Orange, was the sovereign Prince of Orange from birth, Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel in the Dutch Republic from ...

. He was an aide to King William prior to the

Battle of the Boyne The Battle of the Boyne ( ga, Cath na Bóinne ) was a battle in 1690 between the forces of the deposed King James II of England and Ireland, VII of Scotland, and those of King William III who, with his wife Queen Mary II (his cousin and J ...

, when his knowledge of the Louth countryside aided Williamite preparations for the battle. He was appointed High Sheriff of Louth for a second term in 1690.Johnston-Liik, E. M
''MPs in Dublin: Companion to History of the Irish Parliament, 1692-1800''
(Ulster Historical Foundation, 2006), p.69. Retrieved 20 February 2023. Following the conclusion of the

Williamite War in Ireland The Williamite War in Ireland (1688–1691; ga, Cogadh an Dá Rí, "war of the two kings"), was a conflict between Jacobite supporters of deposed monarch James II and Williamite supporters of his successor, William III. It is also called the ...

, Bellingham was elected as a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house ...

for Louth 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 1800. The upper house was the House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, but on a highly restrictive fr ...

, sitting between 1692 and 1713. He rebuilt the family home of Bellingham Castle in the Dutch style in the 1690s. He kept a campaign diary for the period 28 August 1689 to 12 September 1690, which was edited and published by Anthony Hewitson as the ''Diary of Thomas Bellingham, an officer under William III'' (1908).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bellingham, Thomas 1646 births 1721 deaths 17th-century Anglo-Irish people 18th-century Anglo-Irish people Alumni of Trinity College Dublin High Sheriffs of County Louth Irish MPs 1692–1693 Irish MPs 1695–1699 Irish MPs 1703–1713 Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Louth constituencies Williamite military personnel of the Williamite War in Ireland