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Tag Archives: Edmund Pery (1st Earl of Limerick)


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Birth of Edmund Henry Pery, 1st Earl of Limerick

Edmund Henry Pery, 1st Earl of Limerick PC, Irish peer and politician styled Lord Glentworth between 1794 and 1800 and Viscount Limerick until 1803, is born in Limerick, County Limerick, on January 8, 1758.

Pery is the son of William Cecil Pery, 1st Baron Glentworth, and his first wife, Jane Walcott, daughter of John Minchin Walcott. He is educated at Trinity College Dublin (TCD). He marries Alice Mary Ormsby, the daughter of Henry Ormsby of County Mayo, by his wife Mary Hartstonge, in 1783, and they have at least eight children. Alice Mary is the heiress of her uncle, Sir Henry Hartstonge, 3rd Baronet, who leaves her substantial property in the south of Ireland.

Pery is elected to the Parliament of Ireland as the Member of Parliament for Limerick City in 1786 and holds the seat until 1794, when he inherits his father’s barony and takes his seat in the Irish House of Lords. As a politician, he is a vocal Unionist. He holds the office of Keeper of the Signet and Privy Seal of Ireland between 1795 and 1797. In 1797, he is invested as a Privy Counsellor. He subsequently holds the office of Clerk of the Crown and Hanaper of Ireland between 1797 and 1806. In 1800, he is created Viscount Limerick of the City of Limerick.

Following the Acts of Union 1800, Pery becomes an Irish representative peer, sitting in the House of Lords between 1801 and 1844. He is created Earl of Limerick in the Peerage of Ireland on January 1, 1803, in recognition of his vocal and persistent support for the Union. In addition, he is created Baron Foxford of Stackpole Court in the Peerage of the United Kingdom on August 11, 1815, giving him and his descendants a permanent seat in the House of Lords. During this part of his life, he lives at South Hill Park, Berkshire, England.

Pery dies on December 7, 1844, at Bracknell, Bracknell Forest Borough, Berkshire, England. He is buried at St. Mary’s Cathedral, Limerick. His wife, Alice Mary, dies on June 13, 1850, in Marylebone, City of Westminster, Greater London, England. She is buried alongside her husband in Limerick.

Pery’s eldest son and heir, Henry Hartstonge Pery, Viscount Glentworth, predeceases him on August 7, 1834, and thus Pery is succeeded in his titles by Henry’s eldest son, William Henry Tenison Pery. One of Pery’s daughters, Theodosia, marries the Whig politician and Chancellor of the Exchequer, Thomas Spring Rice, 1st Baron Monteagle of Brandon.


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Death of Edmund Pery, 1st Viscount Pery

Edmund Sexton Pery, 1st Viscount Pery, Irish politician who serves as Speaker of the Irish House of Commons between 1771 and 1785, dies on February 24, 1806, at his home at Park Street, London.

Pery is born in Limerick, County Limerick on April 8, 1719, into one of Limerick’s most politically influential families, the elder son of the Rev. Stackpole Pery and Jane Twigge. His maternal grandfather is William Twigge, Archdeacon of Limerick.

A trained barrister, Pery becomes a member of the Irish House of Commons for the Wicklow Borough constituency in 1751. On the dissolution of the house following the death of George II, he is elected for the constituency of Limerick City and serves from 1761 until 1785, becoming Speaker of the House in 1771. In 1783, he stands also for Dungannon, however chooses to sit for Limerick City. He is considered one of the most powerful politicians in Ireland in his time, leading a faction which includes his nephew, the future Earl of Limerick, and his relatives by marriage, the Hartstonges. Following his resignation, he is created Viscount Pery, of Newtown Pery, near the City of Limerick, in the Peerage of Ireland, entitling him to a seat in the Irish House of Lords. As he has no male heirs, his title becomes extinct on his death in 1806.

Pery is also noted for his part in the history of the architecture of Limerick. In 1765, he commissions the engineer Davis Ducart to design a town plan for land that he owns on the southern edge of the existing city, which leads to the construction of the Georgian area of the city later known as Newtown Pery. He is also commemorated in the naming of Pery Square.

Pery marries Patricia (Patty) Martin of Dublin in 1756, who dies a year later, and secondly Elizabeth Vesey, daughter of John Vesey, 1st Baron Knapton, and Elizabeth Brownlow. He and Elizabeth have two daughters:

Pery dies on February 24, 1806, at his home at Park Street, London, and is buried at Furnam, Pelham, Hertfordshire, England.

Pery’s younger brother, William, is a leading figure in the Church of Ireland, becoming Bishop of Killala and Achonry and subsequently Bishop of Limerick, Ardfert and Aghadoe, and also ennobled as Baron Glentworth. William’s son, Edmund, is made Earl of Limerick in 1803 as a result of his support for the Act of Union. Pery’s younger sister is Lucy Hartstonge, the founder of what is now St. John’s Hospital, Limerick.

(Pictured: “Portrait of Edmund Sexton, later 1st Viscount Pery” by Gilbert Stuart, oil on canvas, circa 1790, National Gallery of Ireland)