Sir William Parsons, 1st Baronet of Bellamont

William was born in England about 1570, the eldest son of James Parsons (1545–1570) and Catherine Fenton (1548–1570). His father was the second son of Thomas Parsons of Diseworth, Leicestershire. William's mother was a sister of Sir Geoffrey Fenton, the Principal Secretary of State in Ireland to Elizabeth I.[1] Both his parents' families were English.

He had two younger brothers:[2]

• Lawrence; and
• Fenton.

Parsons settled in Ireland about 1590, near the close of the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.[3] He became a commissioner of plantations and obtained very considerable territorial grants from the Crown. In 1602, Parsons became Surveyor General of Ireland;[4][5] In 1610 he obtained a pension of £30 (English) per annum for life. In 1611, he was joined with his younger brother Laurence in the supervisorship of the crown lands, with a fee of £60 per annum for life. His proposal that a Court of Wards be established in Ireland was accepted and he became its first master.

He sat in the Irish House of Commons of the Parliament of 1613–1615, the only Irish Parliament of James I, as one of the two members for Newcastle Borough, County Dublin.[6] This was one of the 39 new boroughs the king created for this parliament in an effort to ensure a Protestant majority.[7]

About 1615[lower-alpha 1] William Parsons married his cousin Elizabeth, eldest daughter of John Lany, an Alderman of Dublin,[9] and niece of his maternal uncle Sir Geoffrey Fenton.[10] This marriage made him a cousin of Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork, the dominant Anglo-Irish magnate of his time, to whom he was close.

William and Elizabeth had 12 children; five sons:

1. Richard (living 1639), MP for Wicklow Borough,[8] married Lettice Loftus, eldest daughter of Sir Adam Loftus of Rathfarnham, vice-treasurer of the Exchequer, and predeceased his father;[11][12]
2. John, married Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Walsingham Cooke, of Tomduffe, County Wexford;[13]
3. Francis (died 1668) of Garrydice, County Leitrim, married Sarah Faircloath, and left children;[14]
4. James, died unmarried;[15] and
5. William, died unmarried.[16]

—and seven daughters:

1. Catherine, married Sir James Barry, created 1st Baron Barry of Santry;[17]
2. Margaret, married Thomas Stockdale of Bilton Park, County York;[18]
3. Elizabeth, married Sir William Ussher, of Grange Castle, county Wicklow, grandson of Sir William Ussher, clerk of the Council;[19]
4. Jane, married Sir John Hoey, Knight of Dunganstown, County Wicklow;[20]
5. Mary, married Arthur Hill of Hillsborough, County Down;[21]
6. Anne, married Sir Paul Davys, Secretary of State (Ireland);[22] and
7. Judith, married Thomas Whyte of Redhills, County Cavan.[23]

In 1620, personally presenting to King James I surveys of escheated estates, in his capacity of surveyor-general, Parsons received the honour of knighthood, and was created 1st Baronet Parson on 10 November 1620.[24] In 1623 Sir William, as he was now, was sworn a member of the Privy Council of Ireland.

On 12 January 1632 Thomas Wentworth, 1st Viscount Wentworth (later Earl of Strafford) was appointed Lord Deputy of Ireland.[25] During the years 1633–40, when Strafford was all-powerful in Ireland, Parsons prudently offered him no open opposition, but he came increasingly to dislike and distrust "that strange man ... a mischief to so many".

Sir William was notorious as a "land-hunter", who acquired lands previously held by Irish clans by dubious legal means. He has been particularly censured by historians for the seizure of the former O'Byrne lands in County Wicklow, although it has also been argued that his behaviour was no worse than that of his partner in the transaction, Thomas Wentworth, who proceeded to swindle Parsons out of his share.

It is not clear which role Sir Williams played in the Parliament of 1634–1635, the first of Charles I. According to Bagwell (1909) he was one of the two members for Armagh County.[26] but the list compiled in 1878 states that Sir Faithful Fortescue, Knt, and Sir George Radcliffe, Knt, sat for Armagh County in that parliament.[27]

He sat in the Irish House of Commons of the Parliament of 1639–1649, the second parliament of Charles I, as one of the two members for Wicklow County,[28] while his son Richard sat for Wicklow Borough.[8]

In December 1640 Sir William was appointed Lord Justice with Robert Dillon, the future 2nd Earl of Roscommon.[29][lower-alpha 2] However Dillon was soon removed as he was considered to have been too close to Strafford.[31] On 10 February 1641 Sir William was resworn with Sir John Borlase, Master-General of the Ordnance.[32]

The King appointed Robert Sidney, 2nd Earl of Leicester Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in 1641 but Lord Leicester never went to Ireland and left the administration of the country to the Lord Justices. He resigned in 1643.[33]

Strafford was executed on 12 May 1641.[34] His downfall ruined those members of the Irish administration who had been close to him, but Parsons, who had quarrelled with Strafford over the O'Byrne land deal, was clearly identified as one of his enemies, and Strafford's fall strengthened his position in the short term.

When the Irish Rebellion of 1641 broke out, Sir William had to cope with it virtually single-handed, since his colleague Borlase was incompetent. His management of the crisis has been much criticised, in particular his habit of dealing with the English Parliament directly without informing King Charles I. His enemies accused him of inflaming, or even provoking the Rebellion, as a pretext for a second and more thorough conquest of Ireland. Certainly he argued that the Rebellion must be crushed ruthlessly, and rejected all attempts at compromise.

He continued in the government until April 1642, when Charles I replaced him with Sir Henry Tichborne. In 1643 Sir William was charged with treason, and committed to prison, together with Adam Loftus, 1st Viscount Loftus and others. He was quickly released, but complained bitterly of this "poor reward" for his "zealous and painful toil on behalf of the Crown". He continued to live in Dublin until 1648 when he retired to England.

Sir William died in January or February 1650 at Westminster, London, and was buried in St Margaret's, Westminster.[35][36] As his eldest son, Richard had predeceased him, he was succeeded by his grandson William as the 2nd Baronet Parsons.[37] The 2nd Baronet married first Catherine, eldest daughter of Arthur Jones, 2nd Viscount Ranelagh, and then Katherine Jones, Viscountess Ranelagh, née Boyle.

• Dublin Castle administration
• List of Irish Parliaments

• Asch, Ronald G. (2004), "Wentworth, Thomas, first earl of Strafford (1593–1641)", in Matthew, Colin; Harrison, Brian (eds.), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 56, New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 142–157, ISBN 0-19-861408-X
• Bagwell, Richard (1909), Ireland under the Stuarts and under the Interregnum, 1, London: Longmans, Green, and Co. – 1603 to 1642
• Burke, Bernard (1866), A Genealogical History of the Dormant, Abeyant, Forfeited and Extinct Peerages of the British Empire (New ed.), London: Harrison (for Earl of Rosse and for Wentworth)
• Burke, Bernard (1949), A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire (99th ed.), London: Burke's Peerage Ltd.
• Cokayne, George Edward (1895), The complete peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, extant, extinct, or dormant, 6 (1st ed.), London: George Bell and Sons – N to R
• Cokayne, George Edward (1900), Complete Baronetage, 1 (1st ed.), Exeter: William Pollard & Co – 1611 to 1625
• Cokayne, George Edward (1893), Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct, or Dormant, 5 (1st ed.), London: George Bell and Sons – L to M (for Earl of Leicester)
• Dunlop, Robert (1895), "Parsons, Sir William (1570? – 1650)", in Lee, Sidney (ed.), Dictionary of National Biography, 43, London: Smith Elder & Co, pp. dictionaryofnati43stepuoft/page/419/ 419–421 – Owens to Passelewe
• Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911), "Rosse, Earl of", Encyclopaedia Britannica, 20 (11th ed.), New York: The Encyclopaedia Britannica Company, pp. 744–745
• House of Commons (1878), Return. Members of Parliament – Part II. Parliaments of Great Britain, 1705–1796. Parliaments of the United Kingdom, 1801–1874. Parliaments and Conventions of the Estates of Scotland, 1357–1707. Parliaments of Ireland, 1599–1800., London: H. M. Stationery Office (for the subject and his son Richard as MPs)
• Smyth, Constantine (1839), Chronicle of the Law Officers of Ireland, London: Henry Butterworth (for Table of reigns)
• Warner, Ferdinand (1768), History of the Rebellion and Civil-War in Ireland, 1, Dublin: James William – From the Rebellion to the Cessation