William was born in England about 1570, the eldest son of James Parsons and Catherine Fenton. His father was the second son of Thomas Parsons of Diseworth, Leicestershire. William's mother was a daughter of Henry Fenton and Cicely Beaumont, and a sister of Sir Geoffrey Fenton, the Principal Secretary of State in Ireland to Elizabeth I.[2] Both his parents' families were English and Protestant.
Lawrence (died 1628), became a judge and father of William Parsons, 1st Baronet of Birr Castle
Fenton, was knighted
Early life
Parsons settled in Ireland about 1590, in the last years of the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.[4] He became a commissioner of plantations and obtained considerable territorial grants from the Crown. In 1602, Parsons became Surveyor General of Ireland;[5][6] 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.
MP 1613–1615
He sat in the Irish House of Commons of the Parliament of 1613–1615,[7] the only Irish Parliament of James I, as one of the two members for Newcastle Borough, County Dublin.[8] This was one of the 39 new boroughs the King created for this parliament in an effort to ensure a Protestant majority.[9][10]
Marriage and children
About 1615[b] William Parsons married his cousin Elizabeth, eldest daughter of John Lany, an Alderman of Dublin,[12] and niece of his maternal uncle Sir Geoffrey Fenton.[13] 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 five sons:
Richard (living 1639), MP for the borough of Wicklow,[14] married Lettice Loftus, eldest daughter of Sir Adam Loftus of Rathfarnham, vice-treasurer of the Exchequer, and predeceased his father[15][16]
John, married Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Walsingham Cooke, of Tomduffe, County Wexford[17]
Francis (died 1668) of Garrydice, County Leitrim, married Sarah Faircloath, and left children[18]
He was created 1st Baronet Parsons on 10 November.[30] Parsons built or perhps rebuilt Bellamount Castle in 1622. The ruin of a tower remains and stands in Ballymount Park, SW-Dublin, alongside the M50 Motorway. This baronetcy must not be confused with the later baronetcy Parsons of Birr Castle created in 1677.[31]
Parsons 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, Lord Lieutenant Wentworth, who proceeded to swindle Parsons out of his share.
His first wife died in April 1640. He probably remarried soon after this. His second wife was Catherine Jones, a daughter of Arthur Jones, 2nd Viscount Ranelagh.[37]
The King appointed Robert Sidney, 2nd Earl of Leicester Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in 1641 but Leicester never went to Ireland and left the administration of the country to the Lords Justices. Leicester would resign in 1643 to make place for Ormond.[42]
Strafford was executed on 12 May 1641.[43] 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 Parsons's position in the short term.
When the Irish Rebellion of 1641 broke out, Sir William had to cope with it virtually single-handedly, 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.
Parsons continued in the government until April 1642, when Charles I replaced him with Sir Henry Tichborne.[44] In 1643 Parsons 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.
^ abDunlop 1895, p. 419, left column. "Parsons, Sir William (1570?–1650), lord justice of Ireland, the eldest son of James Parsons, second son of Thomas Parsons of Disworth Grange, Leicestershire, and Catherine Fenton, sister of Sir Geoffrey Fenton was born apparently about 1570."
^ abBurke & Burke 1915, p. 1557, left column, line 12. "Lineage—Sir William Parsons, 1st bart, ancestor of the extinct Earls of Rosse, settled in Ireland ca. 1590, with his brother, Sir Laurence Parsons, ancestor of the later Earls."
^ abDunlop 1895, p. 419, right column, line 11. "... found employment as assistant to his uncle Sir Geoffrey Fenton, surveyor general, and eventually, on 26 Dec. 1602, succeeded to his office."
^ abDunlop 1895, p. 420, right column. "Sir William Parsons married Elizabeth, eldest daughter of John Lany, elderman of Dublin, by whom he had several children."
^Burke 1866, p. 419, left column, line 39. "Sir William m. [married] Elizabeth, eldest dau. [daughter] of Mr Alderman John Lany of Dublin, and niece of Sir Geoffrey Fenton ..."
^Burke 1866, p. 419, left column, line 44. "Richard, M.P., 1639 for the town of Wicklow, m. [married] Lettice, eldest dau. [daughter] of Sir Adam Loftus of Rathfarnham ..."
^Cokayne 1895, p. 425, line 41. "... Richard Parsons (living 1639 but d. v.p. [predeceased his father]), who was s. [son] and h. ap. [heir apparent] of Sir William Parsons, 1st Bart. ..."
^Burke 1866, p. 419, left column, line 53. "John, m. [married] Elizabeth, dau. [daughter] of Sir Walsingham Cooke, of Tomduffe, co. Wexford ..."
^Burke 1866, p. 419, right column, line 9. "Elizabeth, m. [married] Sir William Ussher, of the castle of Grange, co. Wicklow, grandson of Sir William Ussher, clerk of the Council."
^Lodge 1789, p. 303. "Arthur, the second Viscount ... having issue Richard, his heir, and three daughters, viz. Catharine, married first to Sir William Parfons, of Bellamont, county of Dublin, Bart ..."
^ abDunlop 1895, p. 420, left column, line 42. "... on the death of the vice-deputy, Sir Christopher Wandesford, on 3 Dec. 1640, he and Robert, lord Dillon of Kilkenny West, were appointed lords justices of the kingdom."
^Warner 1768, p. 4. "... [Charles I] appointed Lord Dillon and Sir W. Parsons Lord Justices of that kingdom, but finding the former not agreeable to the committee and the English Parliament because of his intimacy and alliance with the Earl of Strafford, his Majesty imprudently cancelled the commission and put SR John Borlase, master of the ordnance in the room of Lord Dillon."
^Dunlop 1895, p. 420, left column. "... a fresh commission issued to Parsons and Sir John Borlase, who were accordingly sworn lord justices on 10 February 1641."
^Cokayne 1893, p. 49. "Chief Governor of Ireland as Lord Lieut, and General of the army there 1641–43."
^ abArmstrong 2004, p. 754, right column, line 50. "On 31 March 1643 Charles I named him [Tichborne] one of the two lord justices and he took up office, alongside Sir John Borlase, on 1 May, resigning power to Ormond as lord lieutenant on 21 January 1644."
^Cokayne 1900, p. 226, line 19. "He d. [died] at Westm. and was bur. [buried] at St. Margaret's there 2 March 1649/50."
^Cokayne 1895, p. 425, line 37. "... which William was s. [son] and h. [heir] of Richard Parsons (living 1639 but d. v.p. [predecesased his father]), who was s. and h. ap. [heir apparent] of Sir William Parsons, 1st Bart. ..."
^Cokayne 1900, p. 226, line 18. "She d. [died] on Easter Sunday, 5 and was hur. 10 April 1640, at St. Patrick's, Dublin."
^Warner 1768, p. 6. "... the twenty-third October [1641] ... seized all the towns, castles, and houses belonging to the Protestants which they had force enough to possess;"
