(146) Annesley of Bletchingdon Park and Camolin Park, Viscounts Valentia, Earls of Anglesey and Earls of Mountnorris - part 2

An introduction to this family, and a description of their seats, is given in part 1 of this post. This second part of the Annesley story gives genealogical details for the family.

Annesley family, Viscounts Valentia, Earls of Anglesey and Earls of Mountnorris

Francis Annesley,
1st Viscount of Valentia

Annesley, Sir Francis (1585-1660), kt. and 1st bt., 1st Baron Mountnorris and 1st Viscount of Valentia. Son of Capt. Robert Annesley, one of the Undertakers for the Plantation of Munster, and his wife Beatrix, daughter of John Cornwall of Moor Park (Herts), baptised at Newport Pagnell (Bucks), 2 January 1586. He was in the service of Sir Arthur Chichester, 1st Baron Chichester of Belfast, who took him to Ireland on becoming Lord Deputy in 1605, rising from butler to Acting Principal Secretary by 1618; Comptroller of Works in Ireland for life, 1606; joint Clerk of the Council of Munster, 1607-11; Clerk of Tallies & Pells in Ireland 1612-25; Constable of Mountnorris fort (Armagh), 1612-26; MP for Lismore in Irish Parliament, 1613-14 and for Co. Armagh, 1614-15; created a Privy Councillor for Ireland, c.1616-35; a Commissioner for the reformation of Ireland, 1621/2 and for the Plantation of Ulster, 1622; Vice-Treasurer and Receiver-General of Revenue for Ireland, 1625-35; MP in the English Parliament for Carmarthen, 1625 and for Newton-in-Makerfield, 1628-29; Treasurer at War for Ireland, 1632.  He was knighted at Theobalds, 18 July 1616 and created a baronet, 7 August 1620. On 11 March 1621/2 he was granted the reversion of the Viscountcy of Valentia in Co. Kerry in the event of the death without male issue of his kinsman, Sir Robert Power, the Viscount of that name then living, and to which he succeeded, 26 May 1642; he was further created, 8 February 1628/9, Baron Mountnorris of Mountnorris (Co. Armagh) and took his seat in the Irish House of Lords, 14 July 1634. The following year he was tried by a military court for insubordination to Lord Wentworth as Lord Deputy, for which he was sentenced to death, although this was commuted to house arrest; he was released in 1637 and allowed to go to England.  While imprisoned he was accused of corruption (for which there seems to have been some justification) and stripped of all his offices; he spent several years trying to recover them, but was ultimately unsuccessful, perhaps because the Parliamentary proceedings he instigated were overtaken by the Civil War. He seems to have taken no active part in the Civil War and lived quietly at Newport Pagnell and Thorganby (Yorks), where he was appointed a Militia Commissioner. In 1648 Parliament restored him to the office of Clerk of the Signet in Ireland and made him a grant of £500 in compensation for loss of office. He and his son, Arthur, secured passes to return to Ireland, 7 December 1652, and in 1656 he proposed to the Government that he should resign his offices in favour of Arthur. He married 1st, c.1608, Dorothy (1588-1624), daughter of Sir John Philipps, 1st bt. of Picton Castle (Pembs), and 2nd, c.1628, Jane (1592-1684), daughter of Sir John Stanhope of Elvaston (Derbys) and widow of Sir Peter Courten (c.1598-1624), 1st bt. of Aldington (Worcs) and had issue:
(1.1) Hon. Jane Annesley (c.1609-30); died 5 February 1630;
(1.2) Letitia Annesley (b. c.1611); died without issue;
(1.3) Hester Annesley (1613-47), born 3 April 1613; married, before 1637, Sir Roger Lort (1608-63) and had issue; died aged 33 in 1647;
(1.4) Arthur Annesley (1614-86), 2nd Viscount Valentia and 1st Earl of Anglesey (q.v.);
(1.5) Hon. Robert Annesley (1615-c.1636?), born 2 August 1615; died unmarried at Rome, probably during the Grand Tour he undertook with his brother c.1636;
(1.6) Hon. John Annesley (1616-95) of Ballysonan Castle (Kildare), born 11 September 1616; married Charity, daughter of Henry Warren of Grangebeg and had issue five sons and three daughters; died 1695;
(1.7) Humphrey Annesley (b. c.1618); died young;
(1.8) James Annesley (c.1619-21); died 1621;
(1.9) Hon. Beatrice Annesley (1619-68), born in Dublin, 27 March 1619; married 1st, James Zouche (d. 1643), 2nd, Sir John Lloyd (d. 1664), 1st bt. and 3rd, Sir Thomas Smith (c.1602-68), 1st bt. of Hill Hall (Essex), and had issue one son and one daughter by her second husband; died 26 March 1668, aged 48;
(1.10) Anne Annesley (b. c.1620); married, perhaps 1st, George Cook and 2nd, [forename unknown] Baker; living in 1686 when she was mentioned in her eldest brother's will;
(1.11) Christian Annesley (b. 1622), born 15 December 1622; died young;
(1.12) Dorothy Annesley (1623-30); died young, 6 September 1630;
(1.13) Margaret Annesley (b. 1623/4), born 5 January 1623/4; died young;
(2.1) Hon. Francis Annesley (b. 1629) (q.v.);
(2.2) Hon. Peter Annesley (1631-c.1632), born 3 October 1631; died in infancy;
(2.3) Hon. George Annesley (b. 1632), born 28 October 1632;
(2.4) Hon. Catherine Annesley (1634-1701), born in Dublin, 5 January 1633/4; married, 1662/3 (licence 20 February), Sir Randal Beresford (c.1636-82), 2nd bt. of Coleraine (Co. Londonderry) and had issue three sons and two daughters; died 3 April 1701 and was buried at St Michan's church, Dublin
(2.5) Hon. William Annesley (b. 1636), born 15/25 April 1636; died young;
(2.6) Hon. Peter Annesley (b. 1638), born 11 February 1638/9; died without issue;
(2.7) Hon. Dorothy Annesley (b. 1641), born in Dublin, 28 April 1641; died young;
(2.8) Hon. Robert Annesley (b. 1643), born 23 November 1643; died young;
(2.8) Hon. Samuel Annesley (1645-1720), born 1 October 1645; died without issue, 25 July 1720;
(2.9) Hon. Thomas Annesley (b. c.1647).
His friendship with Lord Chichester enabled him to acquire large estates in Ireland as part of the plantation of Ulster and the sale of the confiscated estates of Irish landowners further south, including Clanaghry in the barony of Dungannon (Co. Tyrone); the Mountnorris estate (Co. Armagh), the Tankardstown estate (Co. Leix) and the Killallon estate (Co. Meath). In England he acquired the manors of Newport Pagnell (Bucks) in 1627 and Thorganby (Yorks) in 1642. At his death, the Thorganby estate passed to the eldest son of his second marriage and the remaining estates to the eldest son of his first marriage.
He was buried 23 November 1660 at Thorganby (Yorks). His first wife died 3 May 1624. His widow died 12 March 1683/4 and was buried 15 March at St Mary's, Nottingham.

Arthur Annesley,
1st Earl of Anglesey

Annesley, Arthur (1614-86), 2nd Viscount of Valentia and 1st Earl of Anglesey. Eldest son of Francis Annesley (1585-1660), 1st Viscount of Valentia, and his first wife, Dorothy, daughter of Sir John Philipps, 1st bt. of Picton Castle (Pembs) and widow of Sir Peter Courten, 1st bt. of Aldington (Worcs), born in Dublin, 10 July and baptised 20 July 1614. Educated at Magdalen College, Oxford (matriculated 1630; BA 1634) and Lincoln's Inn (admitted 1634; called to the bar 1640); went on a Grand Tour of Europe with his brother Robert, visiting France, Switzerland and Italy, and he was in Padua in 1636. He played no part in the early years of the Civil War, but his Calvinist views (apparent from the preamble to his will) no doubt inclined him to the Parliamentarian side. In 1645 and 1647 he was one of the Commissioners to manage the affairs of Ireland under the Parliament, and he was elected MP for Radnorshire in 1647, but he was not a republican and was purged from Parliament in December 1648.  After the execution of King Charles I he sided with the Royalists and moved to Ireland, where he seems to have avoided political activity throughout until Oliver Cromwell's death.  In 1658 he was empowered to treat at Brussels with the King's rebellious subjects. He was MP for Dublin in Richard Cromwell's Parliament, 1659-60 and for Carmarthen, 1660, and became President of the Council of State from February to May 1660.  On the understanding that his Irish estates would be protected he played a leading part in arranging for the king's return, and on 1 June 1660 he was sworn a privy councillor. He inherited his father's barony and viscountcy in November 1660, and for his services in bringing about the restoration of the monarchy was further created Baron Annesley and Earl of Anglesey, 20 April 1661. He was active mainly in Ireland, where he served as Vice-Treasurer, 1660-67. He opposed the impeachment of Lord Clarendon, and sensing that his opposition would lead to an examination of his accounts, he arranged to exchange offices with Sir George Carteret, Treasurer of the Navy. This maneouvre did not prevent an investigation and he was suspended from office in 1668, but returned to favour as Lord Privy Seal, 1673-82; he received a pension of £600 a year in 1665. He was finally dismissed from office in 1682 for writing a tract attacking the Duke of York's Catholicism, although this was not published until after his death. He was a man of mixed reputation, variously described as a knave and 'a man of grave deportment' whom Pepys was pleased to see appointed to the Navy Office. He was also apparently a man of culture and learning, a patron of the poet Andrew Marvell, and possessor of one of the largest private libraries in England, with some 30,000 volumes (sold after his death). He is said to have embarked on a history of Ireland which was never published and is now lost. He married, 24 April 1638 at Acton (Middx), Elizabeth (1620-98), daughter and co-heir of Sir James Altham of Oxhey (Herts) and had issue:
(1) Lady Dorothy Annesley (b. c.1639); married, 1654, Richard Power (1630-90), 1st Earl of Tyrone and had issue three sons and two daughters; buried in Waterford Cathedral;
(2) Lady Elizabeth Annesley (c.1640-72); married, 1665, the Roman Catholic, Alexander MacDonnell (1615-99), later 3rd Earl of Antrim, but had no issue (a disastrous marriage: according to one account Elizabeth ‘was most arrogantly rude with her husband, and he, of a pleasant humour, would onely and usually return in his Irish language, “how can it be otherwise with a man that has maryed the daughter of the devil"'); died, 4 September 1672 (or according to some sources, 1669); buried at St John's church, Dublin;
(3) James Annesley (c.1645-90), 2nd Earl of Anglesey (q.v.);
(4) Lady Frances Annesley (1647-1705), born 6 December 1647; married 1st, December 1664, John Wyndham (1622-65) of Felbrigg Hall (Norfolk) and 2nd, 14 July 1688, Sir John Thompson (1648-1710), 1st bt. and 1st Baron Haversham (who married 2nd, 10 May 1709, Martha Graham), and had issue two sons and nine daughters; died 3 March 1704/5;
(5) Altham Annesley (c.1650-99), 1st Baron Altham (q.v.);
(6) Lady Philipps (sometimes Philippa) Annesley (d. 1715); married 1st, c.1673-74, Charles Mohun (c.1645-77), 3rd Baron Mohun of Okehampton, and 2nd, c.1690, William Coward (1634-1705) of Wells (Somerset) and had issue by both husbands; died 19 February 1714/5;

(7) Lady Anne Annesley (1653?-1718), said to have been born in Dublin in 1653; married, 29 December 1678 at St Martin-in-the-Fields, London, Sir Francis Wingate (1648?-91), kt., of Harlington (Beds) and had issue three sons and six daughters; will proved 1 December 1718;

(8) Very Rev. Richard Annesley (c.1654/5-1701), 3rd Baron Altham (q.v.);
(9) Arthur Annesley; died in infancy;
(10) Arthur Annesley; died in infancy;

(11) Hon. Arthur Annesley (d. 1704); died unmarried, January 1703/4;

(12) Hon. Charles Annesley (d. 1702); married Margaret Eyre (d. 1746) (who married 2nd, Col. Ambrose Edgeworth (d. 1710); 3rd, Andrew Wilson (d. 1725) of Piersfield (Westmeath); and 4th, 14 May 1726, John Meares of Meares Court (Westmeath)) and had issue a son (Capt. Charles Annesley (d. 1747), who inherited some of the entailed estates of the 5th Earl of Anglesey in 1737); 
(13) Lady Bridget Annesley (d. 1663); buried at Farnborough, 19 February 1662/3.
He inherited most of the English and Irish estates of his father in 1660. He bought the Farnborough (Hants) estate and in 1666 the Bletchingdon (Oxfordshire) estate, and he built a new house at Farnborough about 1675. He also bought the Camolin Park estate in Co. Wexford in 1662. His wife inherited a half-share in Oxhey Place in 1638 but sold it the following year. Towards the end of his life he bought a house and estate at Totteridge (Middx) from Sir Robert Atkyns which was left to his widow with remainder to his son, Lord Altham.
He died of a quinsy at his house in Drury Lane, London, 6 April 1686, and was buried at Farnborough (Hants); his will was proved 18 June 1686. His widow was buried 20 January 1697/8 at St Anne Soho, London; her will was proved 22 March 1697/8.

Annesley, James (c.1645-90), 2nd Earl of Anglesey. Eldest son of Arthur Annesley (1614-86), 1st Earl of Anglesey, and his wife Elizabeth, daughter and co-heir of Sir James Altham of Oxhey (Herts), born about 1645. Educated at Christ Church, Oxford (matriculated 1661). Whig MP for Co. Waterford, 1666 and Winchester, 1679-81. He married, about 17 September 1669, Lady Elizabeth Manners (d. 1698/1700), fourth daughter of John Manners, 8th Earl of Rutland, and had issue:
(1) Lady Elizabeth Annesley (d. 1725); married, 9 November 1694 at St Andrew Undershaft, London, Robert Gayer (d. c.1742) of Stoke Poges (Bucks) and later of Hurley (Berks) and had issue one son and three daughters; died December 1725;
(1) James Annesley (1674-1702), 3rd Earl of Anglesey (q.v.);
(2) John Annesley (1676-1710), 4th Earl of Anglesey (q.v.);
(3) Arthur Annesley (c.1678-1737), 5th Earl of Anglesey (q.v.).
He inherited the Newport Pagnell, Bletchingdon and Farnborough estates in England and the Camolin Park and  Mountnorris estates in Ireland from his father in 1686. At his death, Bletchingdon passed to his widow, and after her death to his daughter and her husband.
He died intestate, 1 April 1690. His widow died of breast cancer, 7 December 1700 and her will was proved, 20 January 1700/01.

Annesley, James (1674-1702), 3rd Earl of Anglesey. Eldest son of James Annesley (c.1645-90), 2nd Earl of Anglesey, and his wife Lady Elizabeth Manners (d. 1700), daughter of John Manners, 8th Earl of Rutland, baptised 13 July 1674. Educated at Christ Church, Oxford (matriculated 1690). He married, 28 October 1699 at Westminster Abbey, Lady Catherine Darnley (c.1682-1743), illegitimate daughter of King James II by Catherine Sedley (1680-1743), Countess of Dorchester, but they were separated by Act of Parliament, 12 June 1701 on the grounds of his cruelty (she claimed he had tried to murder her). They had issue:
(1) Lady Catherine Annesley (1701-36), born 7 January 1701; married 1st, 25 September 1718, William Phipps (1698-1730), son of Sir Constantine Phipps, and had issue a son (Constantine Phipps (1722-75), later 1st Baron Mulgrave); married 2nd, John Sheldon of Croydon (Surrey); died 18 January 1735/6.
He inherited the Newport Pagnell and Farnborough estates in England and the Camolin Park and  Mountnorris estates in Ireland from his father in 1690 and came of age in 1695.
He died 21 January 1701/2 and was buried at Farnborough (Hants). His widow married, 16 March 1705/6, John Sheffield (d. 1721), 1st Duke of Buckingham, and died 14 March 1743 aged 61; she was buried in Westminster Abbey, 8 April 1743.

Annesley, John (1676-1710), 4th Earl of Anglesey. Second son of James Annesley (c.1645-90), 2nd Earl of Anglesey, and his wife Lady Elizabeth Manners (d. 1700), daughter of John Manners, 8th Earl of Rutland, baptised 18 January 1676. Appointed to the Privy Council, and as Vice-Treasurer and Receiver-General of Ireland and Paymaster of the Forces in Ireland, 1710. He married, 21 May 1706, Henrietta, eldest daughter and eventual heir of William Richard George Stanley, 9th Earl of Derby, and later Baroness Strange in her own right, and had issue:
(1) Lady Elizabeth Annesley (1710-18), born 9 and baptised 19 May 1710; died young, 23 April 1718.
He inherited the Newport Pagnell and Farnborough estates in England and the Camolin Park and Mountnorris estates in Ireland from his elder brother in 1702.
He died 10/18 September 1710 and was buried at Farnborough; his will was proved September 1710 and 30 November 1711. His widow married 2nd, 24 July 1714 at the Chapel Royal, John Ashburnham (d. 1737), 1st Earl of Ashburnham, and died 26 June 1718, aged 30; she was buried at Ashburnham (Sussex).

Annesley, Arthur (1677-1737), 5th Earl of Anglesey. Third and youngest son of James Annesley (c.1645-90), 2nd Earl of Anglesey, and his wife Lady Elizabeth Manners (d. 1700), daughter of John Manners, 8th Earl of Rutland, born in Dublin, 22 January 1677. Educated at Eton and Magdalene College, Cambridge (admitted 1696/7; MA 1699; Fellow 1700-02); appointed a Gentleman of the Privy Chamber, 1691; Tory MP for Cambridge University, 1702-10 and MP in the Irish Parliament for New Ross, 1703-10; member of the Privy Councils of Britain and Ireland, 1710; Joint Vice-Treasurer of Ireland and Treasurer at War in Ireland, 1710-16; Governor of Co. Wexford, 1727; High Steward of Cambridge University, 1722-37. He married, 6 January 1701/2, his cousin Mary (d. 1719), third daughter of Sir John Thompson, 1st bt. and 1st Baron Haversham, but had no issue.
He inherited the Newport Pagnell and Farnborough estates in England and the Camolin Park and Mountnorris estates in Ireland from his elder brother in 1710.  At his death his titles and property passed, after much legal wrangling and negotiation, to his distant cousin, Richard Annesley, 6th Earl of Anglesey, who was, however, not the rightful heir. 
He died 1 April 1737 and was buried at Farnborough; will proved May 1737. He bequeathed his considerable personalty to his cousin Francis Annesley (1663-1750), but the entailed estates, worth between £7000 and £10,000 p.a. (and, according to some observers, potentially far more), and his peerages descended to two other cousins, Charles Annesley (d. 1747) of Cork, who was to receive the property, and Richard Annesley (1693-1761), de facto 5th Baron Altham, who succeeded to the titles. Annesley had despised both, ‘a brute’ and ‘a rogue’ respectively, but he had done nothing to impair Charles Annesley's inheritance, saying 'estates ought fully to go where the law intends them’. In the event, Lord Altham seems to have secured possession of most of the entailed estates as well as the titles, through an agreement with Charles Annesley. The 5th Earl's wife died 22 January 1718/9.

Annesley, Altham (c.1650-99), 1st Baron Altham. Second son of Arthur Annesley (1614-86), 1st Earl of Anglesey and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Sir James Altham of Oxhey (Herts), born about 1650. Educated at Magdalen College, Oxford (matriculated 1669, aged 17; MA 1670/71) and Lincolns Inn (admitted 1669/70; called to bar, 1677). In consideration of his father's services and those of his mother's family, he was created 1st Baron Altham of Altham (Co. Cork) in the Irish peerage, 14 February 1680/81, with remainder, in default of his own male issue, to his younger brothers and their male issue. He was attainted in his absence by King James II's Irish Parliament, 1689 and his estate of £1400 a year sequestered, and he was not introduced into the Irish House of Lords until 1695. He married 1st, 3 September 1678 at Leighton Buzzard (Beds), Alicia (d. 1684), daughter of the Hon. Charles Leigh of Stoneleigh (Warks), and 2nd, July 1697, Ursula (1678-1725), daughter of Sir Robert Markham, 2nd bt., of Sedgebrooke (Lincs), and had issue:
(2.1) James George Annesley (d. 1699/1700), 2nd Baron Altham; survived his father but died in infancy; administration of goods granted to his mother, 1702.
He inherited lands in Ireland from his father and an estate at Totteridge (Middx) on the death of his mother in 1698.
He died of apoplexy, 26 April and was buried at Farnborough, 28 April 1699. His first wife died without issue, 4 June 1684 and was buried at Stoneleigh, but is commemorated by a monument at Leighton Buzzard. His widow married 2nd, 1701, Samuel Ogle MP (d. 1718) and 3rd, 29 December 1720, William Vesey MP, and was buried 16 May 1725 at St Peter, Dublin.

Annesley, Very Rev. Richard (c.1654/5-1701), 3rd Baron Altham. Third son of Arthur Annesley (1614-86), 1st Earl of Anglesey and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Sir James Altham of Oxhey (Herts), born about 1654/5. Educated at Magdalen College, Oxford (matriculated 1669 aged 14; MA 1671; BD 1677; DD 1689) and Lincolns Inn (admitted 1669/70). Ordained deacon, 1676 and priest, 1678; prebendary of Westminster Abbey, 1679 and of Exeter Cathedral, 1680/1; Dean of Exeter, 1681-1701; vicar of Colyton Raleigh (Devon), 1689-1701. He never took his seat in the House of Lords, dying only about a year after inheriting the title. He married, before 1686, Dorothy (1663-c.1717), daughter of John Davey of Ruxford (Devon) and had issue:
(1) Arthur Annesley (1686-1727), 4th Baron Altham (q.v.);
(2) John Annesley (b. 1688), baptised 29 April 1688; died young;
(3) Richard Annesley (1689-90), baptised 31 October 1689; died in infancy and was buried in Westminster Abbey, 18 November 1690;
(4) Hon. Dorothy Annesley (b. c.1690); married, 11 July 1709, John Green of Nonsuch Park (Surrey) and had issue;
(5) Hon. Richard Annesley (1693-1761), de facto 5th Baron Altham and 6th Earl of Anglesey (q.v.);
(6) John Annesley (1695-96), baptised 6 January 1695/6; died 31 August 1696;
(7) Elizabeth Annesley (b. 1698), baptised 8 December 1698; died in infancy;
(8) Hon. Elizabeth Annesley (1700-72), baptised 17 January 1699/1700; married 1st, after 1715, William Green; 2nd, 16 August 1737, her cousin, Maurice Thompson (1675-1745), 2nd Baron Haversham; 3rd, 15 February 1746/7 at Lincolns Inn Chapel, Fitzwilliam White of Louth (Lincs); and 4th, 12 March 1750/1 at St Paul's Cathedral, London, Samuel Ashurst of Gray's Inn; died 5 November 1772 and was buried at Weston Colville (Cambs); her will was proved 4 May 1773.
He inherited lands in Ireland from his father and in Devon and Cornwall from his wife's father.
He died in London, 19 November and was buried in Westminster Abbey, 25 November 1701; his will was proved 6 July 1713. His widow died about 1717; her will was proved 18 February 1717/8.

Annesley, Arthur (1686-1727), 4th Baron Altham. Eldest son of Very Rev. Richard Annesley (c.1655-1701), 3rd Baron Altham and his wife Dorothy, daughter of John Davey of Ruxford (Devon), baptised 10 September 1686. Educated at Christ Church, Oxford (matriculated 1703). He lived an extravagant lifestyle beyond his means, and rapidly fell into debt.  About 1710 he moved to Ireland to benefit from the reduced cost of living there and temporarily abandoned his wife; they were reconciled in 1713 but finally separated in 1717, after which he lived a peripatetic and increasingly distressed lifestyle in Ireland. In about 1722 he established a mistress, Sally Gregory, in his household in Dublin, and she seems to have such a hold on him as to have obliged him to turn his son out of the house and onto the streets. He married 1st, 8 April 1703 at St Margaret's Westminster, Phillipa (d. 1704), daughter of Sir John Thompson, 1st Baron Haversham, and 2nd, 22 July 1707 (sep. 1717) at St Margaret's Westminster, Mary (d. 1729), illegitimate daughter of John Sheffield, Duke of Buckingham. He had issue:
(2.1) James Annesley (1715-60), de jure Baron Altham and Earl of Anglesey (q.v.).
He inherited property in Ireland and in Devon and Cornwall from his father in 1701 and came of age in 1707, but rapidly dissipated his inheritance.
He died suddenly (and was perhaps poisoned) at Inchicore near Dublin, 16 November and was buried at Christ Church, Dublin, 18 November 1727 at public expense. His widow died 26 October 1729 'being reduced by disease and poverty to a state of extreme imbecility both of body and mind' and was buried at St Andrew Holborn; administration of her goods was granted in 1743 to "her son, James Annesley Esq.".

James Annesley

Annesley, James (1715-60), de jure Baron Altham and Earl of Anglesey. Only son of Arthur Annesley (c.1689-1727), 4th Baron Altham and his second wife, Mary, natural daughter of John Sheffield, Duke of Buckingham, born at Dunmain (Wexford), April 1715. In the mid 1720s, he was excluded from his father's household and took to the streets of Dublin, finding refuge with a butcher and later employment with a solicitor. On his father's death in 1727, his uncle, Richard Annesley (1694-1761), who assumed the title as 5th Baron Altham, kidnapped his young nephew, and sold him as an indentured servant to an American planter in Delaware, stating that his young nephew had died of smallpox. In America, James twice attempted to escape and was recaptured, and had his period of service extended by the courts as punishment.  Only on his third attempt in 1740 did he manage to escape on a merchant ship bound for Jamaica. Once there, he enlisted as an able seaman in HMS Falmouth before revealing his true identity. Fortuitously the fleet based at Port Royal included a number of men who had known him as a boy in Dublin and vouched for his identity. Press reports of his re-emergence began to appear in England, and in September 1740, James himself reached England aboard the Falmouth; he was discharged from the Navy in October 1741. With the assistance of a philanthropic self-made merchant, Daniel Mackercher, he then prosecuted his uncle for ejectment from the family estates, a charge which his uncle defended, claiming that he was the illegitimate son of the 4th Baron and Joan Landy, who had been his wet-nurse. James secured a favourable verdict in 1743, but his uncle lodged an appeal and applied legal delaying tactics so successfully that James never actually obtained possession of his estates; a Chancery hearing which might finally have achieved this was scheduled for just days after he died. Nor did he ever assume the family honours (his father's Barony of Altham and the Viscountcy of Valentia and Earldom of Anglesey, which should have passed to him in 1737 on the death of the 5th Earl), largely because his uncle had deeper pockets and bribed the officials who should have referred the case to the House of Lords. In 1744, he successfully prosecuted his uncle for assault after an incident at The Curragh in September 1743 when the two men met unexpectedly. His remarkable and romantic life story gave inspiration to a number of 18th and 19th century writers, including Tobias Smollett in Peregrine Pickle and Sir Walter Scott in Guy Mannering.  He married 1st, c.1742, Mary Lane (d. 1749) of Staines (Middx) and 2nd, 14 September 1751 at Bidborough (Kent), Margaret, daughter of Sir Thomas I'Anson of New Bounds, Tunbridge Wells (Kent), and had issue:
(1.1) Mary Annesley (1743-64), baptised 6 May 1743; married, 9 June 1764, Charles Granville Wheler but died without issue; buried at Otterden (Kent), 1 August 1764;
(2.1) Margaret Bankes Annesley (1753-65), baptised 7 April 1753; died young;
(2.2) Sophia Bankes Annesley (b. 1756), baptised 9 May 1756; died in infancy;
(2.3) Bankes Annesley (1757-63), de jure Earl of Anglesey, born October 1757; died aged 6, November 1763.
He died at Blackheath, probably of an asthma attack, 5 January and was buried at Lee (Kent), 14 January 1760. His first wife died 22 December 1749 and was buried at St Andrew Holborn. His widow is said to have died in an asylum but her date of death is unknown.

Annesley, Richard (1693-1761), de facto 5th Baron Altham and 6th Earl of Anglesey. Second son of Very Rev. Richard Annesley (c.1655-1701), 3rd Baron Altham and his wife Dorothy, daughter of John Davey of Ruxford (Devon), baptised 26 November 1693 in Exeter Cathedral. Governor of Co. Wexford by 1745. He emerges from the pages of history unusually clearly as a thorough villain: contemporaries acknowledged that "his character is so bad that nobody will have [anything] to do with him" and Lord Mount Alexander called him "the greatest rogue in Europe". On the death of his elder brother in 1727 (whom he may have murdered), he assumed the title of Baron Altham and concealed the survival of the true heir, his nephew, whom he kidnapped and sent to America as an indentured servant, giving out that he had died of smallpox. In 1737 he also inherited the title and estates of the 5th Earl of Anglesey, his nephew being still presumed dead. When his nephew escaped and reappeared in England in 1740 he was prosecuted successfully for assault and ejectment, but through adept use of the law's delays he was able to stave off loss of the family estates until the claimant ran out of money and then died. He took his seat in the Irish House of Lords as Baron, 28 November 1727 and as Viscount Valentia, 4 October 1737, and in the English House of Lords as 6th Earl of Anglesey, 10 May 1737, and he continued to sit in both houses despite the legal decisions against him in 1743 and 1744, neither of the courts in question being competent to pronounce on the descent of titles of honour. Perhaps through his bribery of the relevant officers of state, his nephew was never permitted to instigate proceedings for recovery of the honours in the Irish and English Houses of Lords.  He married 1st, 25 January 1715 (sep. 1719) Ann (d. 1741), daughter of Capt. John Prust of Monkleigh (Devon); and 2nd, privately, 15 September 1741 (and again publicly, 8 Oct 1752), Juliana (1721-76), daughter of John Donovan, merchant (or by some accounts, alehouse keeper), of Co. Wexford, and had issue:
(2.1) Arthur Annesley (1744-1816), 8th Viscount of Valentia (q.v.);
(2.2) Lady Richarda Annesley; married, 1761, Robert Phaire of Temple Shannon, Co. Wexford;
(2.3) Lady Juliana Annesley (d. 1768); married, 31 May 1765, Sir Frederick Flood (1741-1824), 1st bt., but died without issue, April 1768;
(2.4) Lady Catherine Annesley (d. 1803); married John O'Toole (d. 1823) of Ballyfad (Wexford), Count O'Toole, a Lt-Col. of the Irish Brigade in France, and had issue; died May 1803.
He also had a number of illegitimate children, recorded in his will:
By Ann (1697-1765), daughter of John Simpson (d. 1730), a rich Dublin clothier, with whom he apparently went through a form of marriage (bigamously) in 1715 and who lived with him as 'Countess of Anglesey' for many years, but whom he turned out of his house with her children in 1740 after beginning a relationship with Juliana Donovan. She obtained a judgement against him for alimony, which he declined to pay, and for which the church courts excommunicated him. She subsequently subsisted on a pension of £200 a year granted by King George II. Their children were:
(X1.1) Dorothea Annesley (1728-74), born in Dublin, 1728; poet, novelist and dramatist; married, 1752, M. Du Bois, a French musician who converted to protestantism, and had six children; died in poverty of an apoplectic fit in Grafton Street, Dublin, early in 1774;
(X1.2) Caroline Annesley (c. 1730-74); married William White (b. 1725) and had issue one son; died 7 October 1774;
(X1.3) Elizabeth Annesley (b. 1732; fl. 1761).
By Mrs Ann Salkeld of London, with whom he is said to have gone through a bigamous form of marriage in 1742:
(X2.1) Richard Salkeld (fl. 1761); known as 'Yellow Dick'; lived at Camolin Park in infancy; educated at New Ross.
And by Mary Glover of Newport Pagnell (Bucks):
(X3.1) Ann Annesley alias Glover.
He acquired most of the English and Irish estates of his kinsman, Arthur Annesley, 5th Earl of Anglesey, in 1737, despite the provisions of an entail which should have secured their descent to a cousin, Charles Annesley of Cork, with whom he came to an agreement for their partition, to which Francis Annesley (1663-1750) was also a party.  He retained possession of them despite legal judgements against him until his death.
He died 14 February 1761. His first wife died without issue and was buried 13 August 1741. His widow married 2nd, Matthew Talbot of Castle Talbot (Wexford) and died 20 November 1776.

Annesley, Arthur (1744-1816), 8th Viscount of Valentia and 1st Earl of Mountnorris. Elder son and heir of Richard Annesley (1693-1761), de facto 6th Earl of Anglesey and his third wife, Juliana, daughter of John Donovan of Co. Wexford, born 7 August 1744. Educated at Christ Church, Oxford (matriculated 1761; MA 1763). Admitted to the Privy Council of Ireland, 1776; Governor of Co. Wexford, 1776-78. He was deemed by the Irish House of Lords in 1765 and 1771 to have legitimately succeeded his father but by the British House of Lords to be illegitimate and therefore not entitled to succeed to his father's English honours of Baron Altham and Earl of Anglesey. He was therefore known by the senior Irish title of Viscount of Valentia until he was created Earl of Mountnorris in the Irish peerage, 3 December 1793. He was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in 1799 and of the Royal Society in 1800. In the tradition of the family he was a noted libertine, and in 1774 he had an affair with Grace (alias 'Dally the Tall') (c.1754-1823), daughter of Hew Dalrymple and then wife of Dr. John Eliot (later 1st bt.), who divorced her and secured £12,000 damages from Lord Valentia; it was said Dr Elliott "selected Lord Valentia from several other lords and gentlemen who have been equally kind to the fair one"; she subsequently became the mistress of the Duc d'Orleans.  He married 1st, 10 May 1767 at St James Westminster, Lucy Fortescue (1743-83), only daughter and eventual heiress of George Lyttelton, 1st Baron Lyttelton of Frankley, and 2nd, 20 December 1783 in Dublin, Sarah (1763-1849), third daughter of Sir Henry Cavendish, 2nd bt., and had issue:
(1.1) Hon. Arthur Annesley (1769-71), born 2 November 1769 and baptised 19 June 1770; died in infancy and was buried at Over Arley (Worcs), 26 March 1771;
(1.2) George Annesley (1770-1844), 2nd Earl of Mountnorris (q.v.);
(1.3) Lady Juliana Lucy Annesley (1772-1833), baptised 28 October 1772; married, 4 July 1789, John Maxwell-Barry (1767-1838), 5th Baron Farnham but had no issue; died 10 October 1833;
(1.4) Hon. Thomas Lyttelton Annesley (1773-77), baptised 23 October 1773; died young and was buried 5 April 1777;
(1.5) Hon. Charles Henry Annesley (1775-78), baptised 9 April 1775; died young and was buried 24 April 1778;
(1.6) Hon. Mathew Samuel Annesley (1777-78), baptised 3 November 1777; died in infancy and was buried 18 July 1778;
(1.7) Lady Hester Annabella Annesley (1781-1844), baptised 17 April 1781; married, 14 December 1801, Maj-Gen. Norman Macleod (d. 1830) and had issue one son (Arthur Lyttelton Macleod (later Annesley) (1802-82) (q.v.)); died 14 August 1844;
(1.8) Lady Sarah Annesley (1783-95), baptised 12 November 1784; died young, 13 April 1795;
(2.1) Lady Catherine Annesley (1790-1865), born 18 July 1790; married, 4 December 1814, Lord John Somerset (1787-1846), son of Henry Somerset, 5th Duke of Beaufort, and had issue; died 25 June 1865;
(2.2) Hon. Henry Arthur Annesley (1792-1818), born 24 March 1792; married, 14 August 1818, Sarah (c.1796-1861), eldest daughter of Richard Ainsworth of Moss Bank House and Smithills Hall (Lancs), but died without issue six days after the marriage, 20 August 1818;
(2.3) Lady Frances Caroline Annesley (1793-1837), born 23 May 1793; married, 10 October 1810, Sir James Webster-Wedderburn and had issue four sons and one daughter; died 22 January 1837;
(2.4) Hon. Richard Bradshaw Annesley (1802-07), born 12 September and baptised 6 October 1802; died young, 13 February 1807;
(2.5) Lady Juliana Annesley (1797-1868); married, 26 October 1837 at St Mary Bryanston Square, London, Robert Bayly of Ballyduff and had issue; died at Longchamps, Nice (France), 14 February 1868; will proved 16 June 1868 (estate under £4,000).
He inherited the Newport Pagnell and Farnborough estates in England and the Camolin Park and Mountnorris estates in Ireland from his father in 1761. He sold Farnborough in 1768. On the death of his first wife's brother in 1779, she inherited the Arley Hall estate in Worcestershire, where they were already living when in England; at her death in 1783 it passed to his eldest son.
He died of apoplexy at his house in the Rue de la Madeleine, Paris, 4 July 1816; his will was proved 25 September 1816. His first wife died at Bristol, 20 May and was buried at Over Arley, 27 May 1783. His widow died at Chesham Place, 2 January 1849; her will was proved in May 1849.

Annesley, George (1770-1844), 2nd Earl of Mountnorris. Eldest surviving son of Arthur Annesley (1744-1816), 1st Earl of Mountnorris, and his first wife, Lucy Fortescue, daughter of George Lyttelton, 1st Baron Lyttelton of Frankley, born 4 December 1770 at Arley Hall and baptised 22 January 1771. Educated at Rugby and Brasenose College, Oxford (matriculated 1787). Styled Viscount Valentia, 1793-1816. MP for Yarmouth (Isle of Wight), 1808-10; Governor of Co. Wexford. Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, 1796; also a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and the Linnean Society. He travelled in the East Indies, 1802-06 and was the author of Voyages and Travels to India, Ceylon, the Red Sea, Abyssinia and Egypt, 1809. He was recognised by the UK House of Lords 6 March 1817 as Earl of Mountnorris, Baron Altham and Baron Mountnorris, thus contradicting the earlier ruling of 1771 on his father's legitimacy; he accordingly also claimed the Earldom of Anglesey and this was referred to the Committee of Privileges in 1819, but no decision was ever reached, perhaps because the creation of the Marquisate of Anglesey in 1815 would have made the revival of the title inconvenient. He married, 3 September 1790 (sep. 1796) at Powderham Castle (Devon), Anne (1774-1835), eighth daughter of William Courtenay, 2nd Viscount Courtenay of Powderham and de jure Earl of Devon, and had issue:
(1) George Arthur Annesley (1793-1841), Viscount Valentia, born 20 October 1793; educated at Harrow and Christ Church, Oxford (matriculated 1812); Tory MP for Co. Wexford, 1830-31; married, 21 October 1837 at Brighton (Sussex), Frances Cockburn (d. 1856), daughter of Charles James Sims of Jamaica, but died without issue at Brighton, 16 March 1841 and was buried at Over Arley, where he and his wife are commemorated by a monument;
(2) Hon. & Rev. William Annesley (1796-1830), born 19 February 1796; educated at Peterhouse, Cambridge (admitted 1814; MA 1817); ordained deacon, 1819; curate of Quarley (Hants), 1819; vicar of Studley (Warks), 1823-25 and North Bovey (Devon), 1825-30; died unmarried, 1 November 1830 at Rambridge Cottage near Andover (Hants).
His wife had an affair with John Bellenden Gawler (later Ker), from whom Lord Valentia obtained £2000 damages in 1796; as a result of this affair he also fought a duel near Hamburg on 28 June 1796 with Gawler's younger brother Henry, who shot him in the breastbone. There appear to have been two illegitimate children from the affair:
(X.1) Rev. Francis John Courtenay (1801-59), rector of North Bovey (Devon);
(X.2) Frederick Eardley Bellenden Courtenay (b. 1804), cadet in the Bengal Army, 1823.
He inherited the Arley Hall estate from his mother in 1783, and received a grant of the Newport Pagnell estate (which he sold in 1810) at birth. He inherited the Camolin Park and Mountnorris estates in Ireland from his father in 1816. He lived principally at Arley Hall, which he greatly extended in the last year of his life. At his death, the Arley and Camolin Park estates passed to his nephew, Arthur Lyttelton Macleod (later Annesley).
He died 23 July 1844 and was buried at Over Arley, where he is commemorated by a monument; will proved 1844 (estate under £10,000). His wife died 6 January 1835.

Macleod (later Annesley), Capt. Arthur Lyttelton (1802-82) of Arley Castle. Only child of Maj-Gen. Norman Macleod (d. 1830) and his wife Lady Hester Annabella, daughter of Arthur Annesley, 1st Earl of Mountnorris, born 30 November 1802. A Captain in the 42nd Highlanders. He changed his surname to Annesley on inheriting the Arley estate in 1844. He married, 18 March 1835, Mary (1811-86), daughter of John Bradley of Colborne Hall (Staffs) and had issue:
(1) Georgina Lyttelton Annesley (1836-1910); married, 28 June 1859, Richard Tanfield Vachell (d. 1868) of Coptford Hall (Essex) and had issue; died at Villa Camerata, Florence (Italy), 13 May 1910; will proved 11 November 1910 (estate £1,912);
(2) Lt-Gen. Sir Arthur Lyttelton Annesley (later Lyttelton-Annesley) KCB KCVO (1837-1926), born 2 September and baptised 16 October 1837; educated at Harrow; a career soldier who served in the Crimea, 1855 (entered the army 1854; officer in 11th Prince Albert's Own Hussars, 1854-78; Asst Adjutant-General of Horse Guards, 1878-81; commander of British Forces in Scotland, 1881-86; Colonel of 11th Hussars, 1902-20); appointed KCB and KCVO and Knight Commander of the Order of Christ in Portugal; FSA, FRGS, FZS; died unmarried, 16 February 1926; will proved 12 June 1926 (estate £42,753);
(3) Capt. John George Annesley (1839-92), born 8 August 1839; Captain in 11th Hussars; married, 7 March 1837, Emily Margaret (d. 1901), daughter of Sir Thomas Bernard Dancer, 6th bt. and had issue three daughters; died 2 October 1892; administration of goods granted 27 June 1893 (estate £341);
(4) Annabella Lucy Annesley (1840-1929), baptised 13 April 1841; married, 7 July 1868, Capt. William Montagu Gent Tharp (d. 1899) of Chippenham Park (Cambs) but died without issue, 7 December 1929; will proved 26 February 1930 (estate £13,550);
(5) Augusta Mary Frances Annesley (1842-1936); married, 14 September 1865, Horace Neville Tharp (c.1835-1902) and had issue two sons and two daughters; died 24 November 1936; will proved 21 January 1937 (estate £46,143).
He inherited the Arley Castle and Camolin Park estates from his uncle, the 2nd Earl of Mountnorris, in 1844, but sold both estates in 1852, and lived latterly at St. Leonards-on-Sea and Bournemouth.
He died 24 October 1882; will proved 30 November 1882 (estate £9,410). His widow died 22 February 1886; her will was proved 27 May 1886 (estate £3,426).

Annesley, Hon. Francis (b. 1629). Eldest son of Sir Francis Annesley (1584-1660), 1st Viscount Valentia, and his second wife Jane, daughter of Sir John Stanhope of Elvaston (Derbys), born 23 January 1628/9. Educated at Queens' College, Cambridge (admitted 1644). He raised troops in Co. Down to oppose King James II in 1689, and was one of those attainted by the Irish Parliament that year. He married, 29 December 1662, Deborah (d. 1672), daughter of Rt. Rev. Henry Jones, Bishop of Meath and widow of John Bowdler, and had issue:
(1) Francis Annesley (1663-1750) (q.v.);
(2) Jane Annesley (c.1664-1748); married James Baillie (1653-1710) of Innishargie (Co. Down) and had issue five sons and eight daughters; died 25 January 1748 at Innishargie;
(3) Arthur Annesley; died without issue;
(4) Henry Annesley; died without issue;
(5) Deborah Annesley; married Rev. Charles Ward (1662-1724), son of Nicholas Ward MP, and had issue one son and five daughters;
(6) Mary Annesley; died in infancy;
(7) Anne Annesley; married Henry Wood, only son of Sir Edward Wood;
(8) Catherine Annesley; died in infancy.
He acquired the Castlewellan (Down) estates, initially on a lease from the Magennis family, and inherited Thorganby (Yorks) from his father in 1660.
He died after 1689.  His wife died 4 September and was buried 7 September 1672 at St John's, Dublin.

Annesley, Francis (1663-1750) of Thorganby. Only surviving son of Hon. Francis Annesley and his wife Deborah, daughter of Rt. Rev. Henry Jones, bishop of Meath and widow of John Bowdler, baptised 24 October 1663. Educated at Trinity College, Dublin (admitted 1679; BA 1682; LLB and LLD 1725) and Inner Temple (admitted 1684, called to bar 1690; bencher, 1713); barrister-at-law. He was MP for Preston, 1705-08 and Westbury, 1708-15, 1722-34 in the British Parliament, and for Downpatrick, 1692-99, 1703, 1713-14 in the Irish Parliament. He served as a Commissioner for the Inquiry into Forfeited Estates in Ireland, 1699-1700 and as a Trustee for their sale, 1700-03; he was a Commissioner for the Building of 50 New Churches, 1711-15 and 1727, and a Commissioner for the Public Accounts, 1711-14. He was a Director of the New East India Company from 1700 and a Trustee of the Cottonian Library by 1738. He gradually shifted his personal and political interests from Ireland to England during the course of his long life, and by 1710 was predominantly English-based. He married 1st, 2 February or 5 July 1695 at St Stephen, Coleman St, London, Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Joseph Martin, kt.; 2nd, 20 July 1732 at St. Pancras (Middx), Elizabeth (c.1679-1736), daughter of John Cropley of Rochester and widow of William Gomeldon (1672-1709) of Sommerfield Hall (Kent); and 3rd, 3 September 1737 at St Pancras (Middx), Sarah (c.1690-1763), daughter of William Sloane of Portsmouth and widow of Sir Richard Fowler of Harnage Grange (Salop), and had issue:
(1.1) Elizabeth Annesley (b. 1698; fl. 1740), baptised 8 November 1698; married William Maguire (1699-1763) of Dublin, and had issue fourteen children;
(1.2) Rev. Francis Annesley (1699-1740) (q.v.);
(1.3) Capt. Henry Annesley (1700-28), baptised 29 September 1700; served in Royal Navy (Lieutenant, 1720; Captain of HMS Diamond, 1727); died on board his ship in the West Indies, 19 June 1728; will proved 6 November 1728;
(1.4) Rev. Martin Annesley (1701-49), born in Dublin 5 October and baptised 12 October 1701; educated at Eton and St John's College, Cambridge (matriculated 1719; BA 1722; MA 1726; DD 1744); ordained deacon and priest, 1726; vicar of Bucklebury (Berks), 1726-49 and rector of Frilsham (Berks), 1730-49; chaplain to the Earl of Abingdon; prebendary of Salisbury Cathedral, 1744-49; married, 12 December 1732, Mary, daughter and co-heir of William Hanbury of Little Marcle (Herefs) and had issue, from whom the present Viscount Valentia descends*; died June 1749; will proved 17 August 1749;
(1.5) Deborah Annesley (b. 1703); baptised 18 April 1703; died unmarried.
(1.6) John Annesley; died unmarried before 1740;
(1.7) James Annesley; died unmarried before 1740;
(1.8) William Annesley (c.1710-70), 1st Baron Annesley and 1st Viscount Glerawley, born about 1710; barrister at law in Dublin; MP for Midleton (Cork), 1741-58; succeeded his father in the Castlewellan estate, 1750; High Sheriff of Co. Down, 1750; married, 16 August 1738 at St Mary, Dublin, Anne (d. 1770), eldest daughter of Marcus Beresford, 1st Earl of Tyrone and had issue, from whom descend the Earls Annesley, who will be the subject of a separate post;
(1.9) Arthur Annesley (1712?-86); died unmarried, January 1786;
He inherited the Castlewellan (Down) and Thorganby (Yorks) estates from his father after 1689, and largely rebuilt the church at Thorganby in 1710 and 1719: at his death the former estate passed to his fourth son, William. In 1737 he inherited the personal and unentailed property of the 5th Earl of Anglesey. He purchased Bletchingdon Park from the 6th Earl of Anglesey about 1742; at his death Thorganby and Bletchingdon passed to his grandson, Arthur Annesley (1732-73).
He died 7 April 1750 at his house 45 Lincolns Inn Fields, London; his will was proved in the PCC, 20 April 1750. His second wife died without issue, 20 May 1736. His widow died in 1763; her will was proved 1 December 1763.
* Francis William Dighton Annesley (b. 1959), 16th Viscount Valentia is the son of Richard John Dighton Annesley (1929-2005), 15th Viscount Valentia; son of Brig. Francis Dighton Annesley (1888-1983), 14th Viscount Valentia, who proved his right to the title in 1959. He was the cousin of Rev. William Monckton Annesley (1875-1951), 13th Viscount Valentia, who inherited the title on the death of the 12th Viscount in 1949. The 13th Viscount descended through Rev. Henry Arthur Annesley (1841-1924), Arthur Annesley (1803-83), Rev. Arthur Annesley (1769-1845) and Rev. Dr. Arthur Henry Annesley (1735-92) from Rev. Martin Annesley (1701-49).

Annesley, Rev. Francis (1699-1740). Eldest son of Francis Annesley (1663-1750) and his first wife, Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Joseph Martin, baptised 4 September 1699. Educated at Christ Church, Oxford (matriculated 1718), St John's College, Cambridge (admitted 1719; MA 1719) and Trinity College, Dublin (LLD 1725). Rector of Winwick (Lancs), 1725-40; licensed as a preacher throughout the diocese of York, 1725. Described as "a gentleman of great honour, candour, good breeding, charity and generosity". He married 1st, 26 September 1721 at St James, Dukes Place, London, Elizabeth Sutton (b. 1702) (div. 1725 on grounds of her "unlawful familiarity and adulterous conversation with Don Rodrigo a person of foreign birth" by whom she had illegitimate children) and 2nd, 16 February 1729 at Aldershot (Hants), Anne (1698-1759?), daughter and co-heir of Robert Gayer and his wife Elizabeth, daughter and eventual heiress of 2nd Earl of Anglesey (q.v.), and had issue:
(2.1) Arthur Annesley (1732-73) (q.v.);
(2.2) Rev. Francis Annesley (c.1734-1811); educated at Christ Church, Oxford (matriculated 1751; BCL 1758); ordained deacon, 1757 and priest, 1760; rector of Chedzoy (Somerset); purchased Eydon Hall estate in 1788 and rebuilt the house, 1788-91; married, 6 November 1760 at Bucknell (Oxon), Mary Walker, but died without issue, 1811; at his death his estate passed to his nephew, Rev. Francis Annesley (c.1763-1831);
(2.3) James Annesley (d. 1777); died 9 December 1777.
He died at Newport (Salop), 1 May 1740, in the lifetime of his father, and was buried at Winwick, 8 May 1740. His widow married 2nd, 18 February 1741 at Atcham (Salop), Charles Baldwyn (1684-1751) of Aqualate Hall and Stokesay Castle; she may be the Ann Baldwyn buried at Finchley, 30 August 1759.

Annesley, Arthur (1732-73) of Bletchingdon Park. Only son of Rev. Francis Annesley (1699-1740) and his wife Anne, daughter and co-heir of Robert Gayer, born 12 May and baptised 7 June 1732. Educated at Lincoln College, Oxford (matriculated 1750/1). He married, 27 February 1755 at Forton (Staffs), Elizabeth (1728-83), daughter of Charles Baldwyn of Aqualate (Staffs), and had issue:
(1) Anne Annesley (1756-1816), born 9 April and baptised at Shifnal (Shrops.), 10 April 1756; married, 16 March 1783 at Bletchingdon, Charles Warde (1754-1820) of Squerryes Court (Kent); died 19 September and was buried at Westerham (Kent), 26 September 1816;
(2) Elizabeth Annesley (1757-58), born 8 November and baptised at Shifnal, 12 November 1757; died in infancy and was buried at Bletchingdon, 27 March 1758;
(3) Arthur Annesley (1760-1841) (q.v.);
(4) Elizabeth Annesley (b. 1762), baptised at Bletchingdon, 14 February 1762;
(5) Rev. Francis Annesley (1763-1831), baptised 9 September 1763; educated at Christ Church, Oxford (matriculated 1780; BA 1784); Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford (MA 1788; BD 1800); ordained deacon and priest, 1792; rector of Sawtry St. Andrew (Hunts), 1794-1812 and vicar of New Romney (Kent), 1798-1811; inherited the Eydon Hall (Northants) estate from his uncle in 1811; died unmarried, 13 December 1831; at his death his estate passed to his elder brother.
He inherited Thorganby and Bletchingdon Park from his grandfather in 1750.
He died 8 February 1773. His widow is said to have been buried at Bletchingdon, 18 May 1783, but I have not been able to confirm this.

Annesley, Arthur (1760-1841) of Bletchingdon Park. Son and heir of Arthur Annesley (1733-73) and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Charles Baldwin of Aqualate Hall (Staffs), baptised 16 August 1760. Educated at Christ Church, Oxford (matriculated 1779). High Sheriff of Oxfordshire, 1784; MP for Oxford, 1790-96. He married, 12 February 1785 at St Marylebone (Middx), Catharine (c.1763-1848), daughter and heiress of Adm. Sir Charles Hardy and had issue:
(1) Arthur Annesley (1785-1863), 10th Viscount Valentia (q.v.);
(2) Rev. Charles Annesley Francis Annesley (1787-1863), born 26 December 1787; educated at Christ Church, Oxford (matriculated 1806; BA 1809) and All Souls College, Oxford (MA 1813); ordained deacon and priest, 1812; rector of Sawtry St. Andrew (Hunts), 1812-31; inherited Eydon Hall from his great-uncle, 1811; died unmarried and without issue, 26 September 1863;
(3) Francis Annesley (c.1789-1811), born 1 March 1789; died unmarried at Bangalore (India), 1811;
(4) Catherine Elizabeth Annesley (1791-1859); married, 4 May 1814, Rev. & Hon. John Evelyn Boscawen and had issue two sons and five daughters; died, 30 July 1859;
(5) Charlotte Anne Annesley (1793-1806), baptised 16 May 1793; died unmarried, 3 February 1806;
(6) James Annesley (1794-1822), born 3 November 1794; Lieutenant in Royal Navy; died unmarried, 4 November and was buried at Bletchingdon, 12 November 1822;
(7) Barbara Caroline Annesley (1797-1883), baptised 20 August 1797; married, 15 October 1814, Thomas Tyrwhitt-Drake (d. 1852) of Shardeloes (Bucks) and had issue three sons and eight daughters; died, 5 November 1883;
(8) George Martin Annesley (1798-1824), baptised 21 October 1798; served with the East India Company; died unmarried in India, 14 January 1824;
(9) Mary Annesley (1800-27), baptised 26 January 1800; married, 7 August 1826 at Bletchingdon, Rev. John Tyrwhitt-Drake (d. 1860), rector of Amersham (Bucks); died 19/20 November 1827;
(10) Lucy Susan Martha Annesley (1801-68), baptised 26 January 1802; died unmarried 24 March 1868; will proved 8 April 1868 (estate under £35,000);
(11) Henry William Annesley (b. & d. 1805), baptised 6 June and died 10 June 1805.
He inherited Thorganby and Bletchingdon from his father in 1773 and remodelled Bletchingdon Park in 1782-85 to the designs of James Lewis, who also altered his town house at 45 Lincolns Inn Fields at the same time. In 1801 he obtained a Private Act of Parliament for the sale of the Thorganby estate and the application of the proceeds to paying off debts on the estates and the purchase of further lands in Oxfordshire. In 1831 he inherited his younger brother's estate at Eydon, which he bequeathed to his second son.
He died 20 January 1841; his will was proved 3 March 1841.  His widow died at Eydon Hall in 1848; her will was proved 26 February 1849.

Annesley, Arthur (1785-1863), 10th Viscount Valentia.  Eldest son and heir of Arthur Annesley (1760-1841) of Bletchingdon Park and his wife Catharine, daughter and heiress of Adm. Sir Charles Hardy, born 30 November 1785. Educated at Harrow. He assumed the title of Viscount Valentia on the death of his kinsman, George Annesley, 2nd Earl of Mountnorris, in 1844, but made no effort to prove his right to the title*. He married, 12 August 1808, Eleanor (c.1790-1843), youngest daughter of Henry O'Brien of Blatherwycke Park (Northants) and Stone Hall (Co. Clare), and had issue:
(1) Hon. Arthur Annesley (1809-44) (q.v.);
(2) Hon. Eleanor Arthur Catherine Annesley (c.1811-84); died unmarried, 22 March 1884;
(3) Temple Arthur Francis Annesley (1813-38), born 18 April 1813; Lieutenant in the Royal Marines; died unmarried on HMS Russell in Malta harbour, 2 January 1838; will proved in the PCC, 9 January 1845;
(4) Hon. Frances Arthur Charlotte Annesley (1815-1904), baptised 13 February 1815; married, 17 October 1853, Capt. William Linskill (c.1808-1900) of Tynemouth Lodge (Northbld) and had issue one son; died 13 May 1904;
(5) Hon. Matilda Arthur Marianne Annesley (1816-94), baptised 16 December 1816; married, 18 July 1845, John Kent Egerton Holmes (d. 1848) and had issue; died, 23 May 1894;
(6) Hon. Eva Arthur Henry Medora Annesley (1818-94), baptised 1 October 1818; married, 12 January 1853, Sir Henry Robinson KCB (1823-93), Vice-President of the Irish Local Government Board, and had issue; died in Dublin, Jul-Sept. 1894;
(7) Hon. Charles Arthur James George Annesley (1820-61), born 27 April 1820; officer in 69th Foot; died unmarried, 20 May 1861;
(8) Hon. Nea Arthur Ada Rose d'Amour Annesley (c.1824-1904); described as 'a majestic looking woman, fond of gaiety and society'; married, 23/24 April 1846, Sir Hercules George Robert Robinson (1824-97), 1st Baron Rosmead GCMG PC, colonial administrator, and had issue one son and three daughters; died 13 January 1904 and was buried in Brompton Cemetery, London;
(9) Hon. Augusta Arthur Constantia Annesley (1826-92) of London; died unmarried, 16 August 1892; will proved 25 August 1892 (estate £12,519);
(10) Hon. Altisidora Arthur Victoria Annesley (c.1828-1922), born in Scotland; died unmarried, 20 May 1922 and was buried at Bletchingdon; will proved 21 July 1922 (estate £24,444);
(11) Hon. Algernon Arthur Sydney Annesley (1829-1908), born 25 May 1829; Lt. in 16th Lancers; Hon. Col. of 4th Battn, Oxfordshire Light Infantry; Secretary to his brother-in-law, Sir Hercules Robinson as Governor of Hong Kong, 1860; married, 11 October 1864, Helen Sydney (d. 1925), younger daughter of Griffith Richards QC and had issue one son and two daughters; died 6 September 1908; will proved 8 October 1908 (estate £650).
He inherited Bletchingdon Park from his father in 1841.
He died at Bletchingdon Park, 30 December 1863. His wife died 10 June 1843.
* Some peerage publications listed the title as dormant from 1844 until the 14th Viscount proved his title in 1959.

Annesley, Arthur (1809-44). Eldest son of Arthur Annesley (1785-1863), 10th Viscount Valentia, of Bletchingdon Park, and his wife Eleanor, daughter of Henry O'Brien (later Stafford-O'Brien) of Blatherwycke Park (Northants) and Stone Hall (Co. Clare), born 14 September 1809 at Ufford Hall (Northants). Educated at Eton, c.1823-28 and Christ Church, Oxford (matriculated 1827). He married, 18 January 1836, Flora Mary (1819-84), daughter of Lt-Col. James Macdonald of Clanronald and had issue:
(1) Mary Annesley (1836-79), born 4 October 1836; married, 24 February 1855, Lt-Col. Walter Chideoke Nangle RA (d. 1902), son of George Nangle of Kildalkey (Co. Meath) and had issue two sons and two daughters; died 27 September 1879;
(2) Flora Annesley (1841-1924) of Beaconsfield (Bucks) ; married, 23 June 1863, Col. Francis Lyon RA (1840-85) and had issue six children; died 4 August 1924; will proved 15 November 1924 (estate £1,369);
(3) Arthur Annesley (1843-1927), 11th Viscount Valentia (q.v.).
He died in the lifetime of his father, 27 October 1844. His widow married 2nd, 3 March 1847, Maj-Gen. Hon. George Talbot Devereux (1816-98), youngest son of 14th Viscount Hereford, and died 5 November 1884 at Heathfield House, Bletchingdon; her will was proved 12 January 1885 (estate £596).

11th Viscount Valentia:
caricature by 'Spy', 1899

Annesley, Sir Arthur (1843-1927), 11th Viscount Valentia and 1st Baron Annesley of Bletchingdon. Only son of Arthur Annesley (1809-44) and his wife Flora Mary, daughter of Lt-Col. James Macdonald, born 23 August 1843 at Inveresk near Edinburgh. Educated at Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. Served in 10th Hussars, 1864-72 (Lieutenant, 1868) and in Imperial Yeomanry Cavalry in Boer War, 1900-01 (Colonel, 1901; mentioned in despatches); Hon. Col. of Queen's Own Oxfordshire Hussars. He succeeded his grandfather as 11th Viscount Valentia, 30 December 1863. JP for Oxfordshire; High Sheriff of Oxfordshire, 1874; Chairman of Oxfordshire County Council, 1890-1911; Conservative MP for Oxford, 1895-1917; Comptroller of the Royal Household, 1898-1905; a Lord in Waiting, 1915-24. He was appointed CB 1900, MVO 1901, KCVO 1923, TD) and created Baron Annesley of Bletchington, 7 May 1917. Master of Bicester Foxhounds, 1872-74; Provincial Grand Master of Oxfordshire Freemasons, 1914-27; High Steward of the City of Oxford, 1924; Chairman of Hurlingham Polo Committee. His portrait by Philip de Laszlo, 1911, is in the Oxfordshire Museum. He married, 30 January 1878, Laura Sarah (1850-1933), youngest daughter of Daniel Hale Webb of Wykeham Park (Oxon) and widow of Sir Algernon William Peyton (1833-72), 4th bt., and had issue:
(1) Vere Annesley (1879-1975), born 8 March 1879; married, 23 July 1901 at Holy Trinity, Chelsea (Middx), Rev. Guy Ronald Campbell (1874-1950), rector of Wilton (Wilts) and had issue one son and two daughters; died 18 May 1975, aged 96;
(2) Hon. Arthur Annesley (1880-1914), born 24 August 1880; educated at Eton, 1894-97; officer in 10th Hussars (Lt, 1901; Capt. 1907; adjutant, 1907-09); served in Boer War, 1900-02 and WW1, 1914; killed in action at Zillebeke (Belgium), 16 November 1914; will proved 5 January 1915 (estate £523);
(3) Violet Kathleen Annesley (1882-1963), born 18 March 1882; married, 15 April 1920 at St George's Hanover Square, London, Charles Henry Gore (1881-1941), son of Sir Charles Francis Gore, kt., and had issue one son and two daughters; died 4 September 1963; will proved 11 December 1963 (estate £29,099);
(4) Caryl Arthur James Annesley (1883-1949), 12th Viscount Valentia (q.v.);
(5) Helen Annesley (1884-1965), born 30 July 1884; married, 3 October 1905, Col. John Pemberton Heywood-Lonsdale (1869-1944) of Poundon Manor (Oxon) and Drumgoon (Co. Fermanagh) and had issue one son; died 21 July 1965 and was buried at Stratton Audley (Oxon); will proved 11 January 1966 (estate £7,370);
(6) Lettice Annesley (1885-1988), born 24 September 1885; married, 18 October 1911, Capt. Geoffrey Vaux Salvin Bowlby (1883-1915), fourth son of Edward Salvin Bowlby of Gilston Park (Herts) and had issue one son and one daughter; Commandant of Auxiliary Hospital, 1916-19 (mentioned in despatches twice); Lady in Waiting to Duchess of York, 1932-36 and Woman of the Bedchamber to Princess Elizabeth, 1937-44; appointed CVO 1937; died 13 February 1988, aged 102;
(7) Hilda Cecil Annesley (1889-1972), born 19 April 1889; died unmarried, 20 September 1972;
(8) Dorothy Annesley (1892-1985), born 11 May 1892; married, 27 July 1921, Joseph Francis Vaughan Gibbs (1887-1961), son of Rev. George Henry Gibbs of Painswick (Glos), and had issue one son and one daughter; died Oct-Dec. 1985, aged 93.
He inherited Bletchingdon Park from his grandfather in 1863 and purchased Heathfield House, Bletchingdon in 1868. He inherited Eydon Hall from his great-great-uncle, Rev. Charles Annesley, in 1863 but leased it until he sold it c.1914-23.
He died 20 and was buried at Bletchingdon, 24 January 1927; his will was proved 24 April 1927 (estate £83,390). His widow died 16 and was buried 18 November 1933 at Bletchingdon; her will was proved 22 January 1934 (estate £2,504).

Annesley, Caryl Arthur James (1883-1949), 12th Viscount Valentia.  Second, but only surviving, son of Sir Arthur Annesley (1843-1927), 11th Viscount Valentia and his wife Laura Sarah, daughter of Daniel Hale Webb of Wykeham Park (Oxon) and widow of Sir Algernon William Peyton, 4th bt., born 3 July 1883. Educated at Eton, 1897-1900 and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst; served 1903-23 with Oxfordshire Light Infantry (Lieutenant, 1905) and 1st Royal Dragoons (Captain, 1913; Major, 1923), including service in France 1914-18; ADC to Governor of Madras, 1909 and Governor of Bengal, 1912-13; ADC, 1920-21 and Private Secretary and Comptroller of the Household to HRH Prince Arthur of Connaught, 1922-28; appointed CVO 1924; JP and DL for Oxfordshire; High Steward of Banbury, 1932-47.  He succeeded his father as 12th Viscount Valentia and 2nd Baron Annesley in 1927. He was unmarried and without issue.
He inherited Bletchingdon Park and Heathfield House from his father in 1927, but sold Heathfield in about 1930 and Bletchingdon Park in 1948.
He died 6 October 1949 at Windsor House, Hampstead (Middx) and was buried 10 October at Bletchingdon, when the UK Barony of Annesley conferred on his father became extinct. His will was proved 12 January 1950 (estate £53,142).

Sources
Burke's Peerage & Baronetage, 2003, vol. 3, pp. 3975-79; G.E.C., The Complete Peerage, i, 133-38; xii.2, pp. 201-13; Oxford Dictionary of National Biography articles on Francis Annesley, 2nd [recte 1st] Viscount Valentia; Arthur Annesley, 1st Earl of Anglesey; Arthur Annesley, 5th Earl of Anglesey; James Annesley; Richard Annesley, 6th Earl of Anglesey and Grace Eliot; Sir N. Pevsner & J. Sherwood, The buildings of England: Oxfordshire, 1974, p. 476; J. Heward & R. Taylor, The country houses of Northamptonshire, 1996, pp. 208-11; R.K. Hayes-Steuch, Emerging from the Shadows: the life and career of Arthur Annesley, 1st Earl of Anglesey (1614-86), PhD thesis, Florida State University, 2005; A.R. Ekirch, Birthright: the true story that inspired 'Kidnapped', 2010; M. Bullen, J. Crook, R. Hubbock & Sir N. Pevsner, The buildings of England: Hampshire - Winchester and the North, 2010, p. 280; B. Bailey, Sir N. Pevsner & B. Cherry, The buildings of England: Northamptonshire, 2013, pp. 266-67.

Location of archives

Annesley family, Viscounts Valentia etc.: deeds, legal and estate papers relating to estates in Oxfordshire, Northamptonshire, Yorkshire, Armagh, Kildare, Wexford and Down, 16th-20th cents. [Oxfordshire Archives, OA/E6; OA/SL/11, 13, 18]; Arley (Worcs) estate deeds, legal and estate papers, 18th-19th cents. [Worcestershire Archives & Archaeology Service, 705:71, 550]; deeds and estate papers relating chiefly to Co. Kildare estate, 1609-1902 [Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, D1854/11]; deeds and papers of Camolin Park estate, Co. Wexford, 1673-1850 [National Library of Ireland, Annesley Papers].
Annesley, Arthur (1614-86), 1st Earl of Anglesey: diary and notes, 1671-85 [British Library, Add. MSS. 4763, 4816, 18730, 40860]; heraldic collections, 17th cent. [College of Arms]; accounts and papers as Treasurer at War in Ireland, 1641-69 [Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, D1503, D1854 and D2223/22].
Annesley, Richard (1694-1761), 6th Earl of Anglesey: correspondence and papers, 1741-66 [British Library, Add. MS. 31889].   
Annesley, George (1770-1844), 2nd Earl of Mountnorris: correspondence and papers, 1794-1830 [British Library, Add. MSS. 19344-48, 19418, 19423-27, 19429]
Annesley, Lt.-Gen. Sir Arthur Lyttelton- (1837-1926): correspondence and papers, 1895-1920 [Cambridgeshire Archives, R84/29].

Coat of arms

Paly of six argent and azure, over all a bend gules.

Revision and acknowledgements

This post was first published 3 November 2014 and was updated 21 August 2018, 10 January and 27 March 2024.