Page:The Complete Peerage Ed 2 Vol 1.djvu/347

 ATHENRY COMPLETE PEERAGE 297 XVI ? 1799. 16. ? John Birmingham, of Dalgan, co. Galway, assumed the title of Lord Athenry [I.], as h. male of the grantee, being ist surv. s. and h. of John B., of Dalgan (who d. Nov. 1 77 1, aged 85), by Maud, da. of John Birmingham, of Ross Hill or Killbeg, which John B. of Dalgan was s. and h. of Francis B. (who d. 1728), s. and h. of Myles B. (who d. 1707), s. and h. of Redmond B. (who d. 1695),$. and h. of Meiler B. (called Meiler Buy), all of Dalgan afsd., this Meiler being said to be 2nd s. of Edmond, loth Lord Athenry. He was J. P. for co. Galway. On the death of the Earl of have fallen into abeyance between (i) Elizabeth, his ist da., who w., istly, Thomas Baily Heath Sewell ; 2ndly, 19 June 1779, Francis Duffield (who was living May 1793); 3rdly, Joseph Russell ; and who d. 1838. (2) The four daughters and coheirs of Mary, j/yAv^ Viscountess St. Lawrence, his 2nd da. (who d. v.p. 24 July 1793), viz. — Harriet (the petitioner of 1827), Isabella, Mary, and Matilda ; (3) Louisa Catherine Mary, his 3rd and yst. da., b. 20 July 1764, m., istly, Joseph Henry (Blake), ist Lord Wallscourt [I.], 2ndly, 21 Apr. 1804, James Daly, and d. 28 May 1827. The petition of "Thomas Bermingham Daly Henry Sewell, Esq., " b. 13 Feb. 1774, only s. of Lady Elizabeth Duffield, by her tormer husband " Thomas Baily Heath Sewell, Esq., " deceased, " to put an end to the abeyance of the said Barony of Athenry in behalf of his said mother, ist of the three daughters and coheirs of Thomas, late Earl of Louth and Baron of Athenry [I.], deceased, " was reported upon, 3 Nov. 1800,* by the Law officers [I.] of the Crown, viz., John Toler (Attorney Gen.), John Stewart (Solicitor Gen.), and St. George Daly (Prime Serjeant), who pronounced as their opinion " that the Barony of Athenry, appearing to be the most ancient on the list of Barons and being of so great antiquity and consequently [sic] a Barony in fee, is now, as stated in the petition, in abeyance between (i) the said Lady Elizabeth, the mother of the Petitioner, (2) the said daughters of Lady St. Lawrence and (3) the said Lady Wallscourt. " These learned gentlemen also state " that it belongs now to His Majesty alone to determine whether the said Barony shall vest in any of the said coheiresses, or whether he " shall vouchsafe to bestow his consideration and favour " _to the exclusion of all of them, and in favour of one who was not a coheir] " on the Petitioner, as the son of the eldest daughter, l3'c. " Many years afterwards, another petition, alleging (as a fact) the Barony of Athenry to be a Barony in fee and consequently in abeyance between the heirs gen. of the late Earl of Louth [I.], was presented, in 1827, by Lady Harriet St. George, da. or William (St. Lawrence), Earl of Howth [I.], by his ist wife, Mary [styled Viscountess St. Lawrence), who was and da. and, in her issue, coh. of the abovenamed Earl of Louth. A report was made thereon by the Attorney Gen. (Scarlett), but in this petition, also, there was the same fatal defect as in the one of 1800, viz. that " no attempt was made on the part of the Petitioner to prove herself to be an heir gen. of the frst Baron." The case was referred to the House together with that of Edward Birmingham, who claimed as h. male. Lady Harriet d. 2 Feb. 1830. Barony in fee, " and now in abeyance between (i) " John Nugent, Lieut. Gov. of Tortola " and (2) the coheirs of Lady Mary Nugent, i.e. the three (abovenamed) daughters of the late Earl of Louth [I.] (who was s. and h. of the said Lady Mary, by Francis, Lord Athenry abovenamed), or their representatives. 39
 * On the same date they reported the Barony of Delvin [I.] " to be an antient