Henry Parnell, 1st Baron Congleton

Henry Parnell, 1st Baron Congleton

Henry Brooke Parnell, 1st Baron Congleton PC ( July 3, 1776 , † June 8, 1842 ( suicide )) was an Irish - British Whigs politician who was a member of the House of Commons and Paymaster General for 37 years .

Life

Family background and member of the House of Commons

Parnell was the son of Sir John Parnell, 2nd Baronet Parnell , who was also a long-time member of the House of Commons and temporarily Lord of the Treasury . After his education at Eton College he studied at Trinity College of the University of Cambridge and later in the management of family estates worked. In 1789, by a special parliamentary law, he was appointed heir to the family property, as his older brother and actual heir, John Augustus Parnell, was unable to manage the property due to a severe handicap . However, when his father died on December 5, 1801, John Augustus Parnell inherited the title of third baronet.

In 1797 Parnell was first elected as a member of the House of Commons in the Irish constituency of Maryborough and was a member of this until 1800. After he had represented the constituency of Queen's County as a member of the House of Commons as a member of the Whigs between April and June 1802 , he became a member of the House of Commons in July 1802 and now represented the constituency of Portarlington for the Whigs .

On February 17, 1806 Parnell was re-elected as a member of the House of Commons in the constituency of Queen's County and was a member of this for 26 years until December 10, 1832.

Government offices, baronet and member of the House of Lords

During the tenure of Prime Minister William Wyndham Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville , Parnell assumed the office of Lord of the Treasury on February 11, 1806, and held that position until the end of Grenville's tenure on March 31, 1807.

At the death of his older brother John Augustus Parnell on July 30, 1812 he inherited his title as 4th Baronet , of Rathleague in the Queen's County .

During the tenure of Prime Minister Charles Gray, 2nd Earl Gray , Parnell was 1831 Secretary in the Ministry of War and served as such until 1832 one of the closest associates of wartime and colonial secretary ( Secretary of State for War and the Colonies ) Frederick John Robinson, 1st Viscount Goderich . When he took over this office in 1831, he also became Privy Counselor .

On April 17, 1833 Parnell was re-elected to the House of Commons and this time represented the constituency of Dundee until July 3, 1841 .

After the inauguration of Prime Minister William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne , on April 18, 1835 Parnell was appointed by this first Paymaster General (Paymaster General) . He held this office until the end of Melbourne's tenure on August 30, 1841. At the same time he was the last Treasurer of the Royal Nacy (Treasurer of the Navy) between 1835 and 1836 , before this position was taken up by the office of Paymaster General.

After leaving the House of Commons, Parnell was raised to the hereditary nobility by a letters patent dated August 18, 1841 as Baron Congleton , of Congleton in the County of Chester, and as such belonged to the hereditary nobility until his suicide by hanging the following year also the House of Lords as a member.

His marriage on February 17, 1801, to Caroline Elizabeth Dawson-Damer, daughter of John Dawson, 1st Earl of Portarlington , had six children, including John Vesey Parnell , who became his title heir, and Henry William Parnell , who was his older brother followed who had no male offspring.

Web links

• Henry Parnell at Hansard (English)
• Entry in Cracroft's Peerage
• Entry in Leighrayment
• Henry Brooke Parnell, 1st Baron Congleton, on thepeerage.com , accessed August 17, 2015.

predecessor	Office	successor
John Parnell	Baronet, of Rathleague 1812-1842	John Parnell
New title created	Baron Congleton 1841-1842	John Parnell