William Burton Conyngham

William Burton Conyngham
William Burton Conyngham
	portrait by Anton Raphael Mengs (1754/1755)
Member of the Parliament of Ireland
	In office; 1761–1796
Personal details
Born	1733
Died	31 May 1796
Parent	Francis Burton (father);

William Burton Conyngham (1733 – 31 May 1796) was an Anglo-Irish politician.

Life

He was born William Burton, the second son of Francis Burton and Mary Conyngham, sister of Henry Conyngham, 1st Earl Conyngham.^[1] In 1781, his name was changed by Royal Licence to inherit the estates of his uncle.

He was a student at Queens' College, Cambridge from 1750 and in turn at Lincoln's Inn from 1753, he then proceeded to follow a military career, being commissioned as a Captain in 1759, and by 1769 he had advanced to Lieutenant-Colonel in the 12th Dragoons. He resigned his Regular Army commission in 1774,^[2] but in April 1793 he was appointed Colonel to raise and command the new Prince of Wales's Own Donegal Militia.^[3]

Conyngham was a longtime Member of Parliament. From 1761 to 1777 he represented Newtown Limavady,^[1] from 1776 to 1777 as well as from 1783 to 1790 Killybegs. Between 1776 and 1783 and again between 1790 and 1796, he sat in the Irish House of Commons for Ennis.^[2]

Conyngham planned a settlement on the previously unpopulated island of Rutland, Ireland, having installed, from 1784, a street of residences and business premises, post office, school house and a fish landing and processing facility. The island remained inhabited into the 1960s. The village which developed around the mainland pier which served Rutland, Burtonport, still bears his name.^[4]

In 1785 Conyngham commenced the building of Slane Castle, assisted by his nephew the 1st Marquess Conyngham, on a site overlooking the River Boyne just a few kilometres upstream from the site of the Battle of the Boyne.

From 1793 Conyngham was one of the Commissioners of the Treasury for Ireland.

Conyngham is most famous today for having presented the Trinity College Harp to Trinity College Dublin; from 1922 the harp was used as the model for the insignia of the Irish Free State and the Republic of Ireland. An image was also registered as a Guinness trade mark in 1876.^[5]

References

^ ^a ^b Kelly, James. "Conyngham, William Burton". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/67005. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
^ ^a ^b Lunney, Linde; Geoghegan, Patrick M. (1 October 2009). "Conyngham, William Burton". Dictionary of Irish Biography. doi:10.3318/dib.001997.v1. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
^ Arthur Sleigh, The Royal Militia and Yeomanry Cavalry Army List, April 1850, London: British Army Despatch Press, 1850/Uckfield: Naval and Military Press, 1991, ISBN 978-1-84342-410-9, p. 140.
^ "Burtonport".
^ Dennison, S.R. (Stanley Raymond); Oliver McDonagh (1998). Guinness 1886-1939: From Incorporation to the Second World War. Cork University Press. p. 9. ISBN 9781859181751.

Parliament of Ireland
Preceded by Alexander Nesbitt Edmond Leslie-Corry	Member of Parliament for Newtown Limavady 1761–1777 With: Edmond Leslie-Corry 1761–1765 John Staples 1765–1768 Richard Jones 1768–1776 Alexander Murray 1776–1777	Succeeded by William Colvill Alexander Murray
Preceded by Thomas Allan Sir Henry Hamilton, 1st Bt	Member of Parliament for Killybegs 1776–1777 With: Sir Henry Hamilton, 1st Bt	Succeeded by John Knox Sir Henry Hamilton, 1st Bt
Preceded by Charles McDonnell Crofton Vandeleur	Member of Parliament for Ennis 1776–1783 With: Sir Lucius O'Brien, 3rd Bt 1776–1778 Francis Bernard 1778–1783	Succeeded by Stewart Weldon John Thomas Foster
Preceded by Hon. John Knox Sir Henry Hamilton, 1st Bt	Member of Parliament for Killybegs 1783–1790 With: James FitzGerald 1783 William Colvill 1783–1790	Succeeded by John Wolfe Francis Nathaniel Burton
Preceded by Stewart Weldon John Thomas Foster	Member of Parliament for Ennis 1790–1796 With: Sir Lucius O'Brien, 3rd Bt 1790–1795 Sir Edward O'Brien, 4th Bt 1795–1796	Succeeded by Sir Edward O'Brien, 4th Bt Lodge Evans Morres

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[ODNB-1] Kelly, James. "Conyngham, William Burton". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/67005. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)

[DIB-2] Lunney, Linde; Geoghegan, Patrick M. (1 October 2009). "Conyngham, William Burton". Dictionary of Irish Biography. doi:10.3318/dib.001997.v1. Retrieved 15 August 2024.

[3] Arthur Sleigh, The Royal Militia and Yeomanry Cavalry Army List, April 1850, London: British Army Despatch Press, 1850/Uckfield: Naval and Military Press, 1991, ISBN 978-1-84342-410-9, p. 140.

[4] "Burtonport".

[5] Dennison, S.R. (Stanley Raymond); Oliver McDonagh (1998). Guinness 1886-1939: From Incorporation to the Second World War. Cork University Press. p. 9. ISBN 9781859181751.

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