Manuscripts and Special Collections

Biography of John Monckton, 1st Viscount Galway (1695-1751)

John Monckton was the eldest son of Robert Monckton of Cavil and Hodroyd, Yorkshire, and his wife Theodosia. He entered Trinity Hall, Cambridge, in 1713. He purchased Serlby Hall in North Nottinghamshire in 1725.

His first entry into politics was as a Whig candidate for Clitheroe at the election of 1722, where he was defeated. He stood again in 1727 and was elected, having secured the support of Sir Nathaniel Curzon by selling him a number of burgages. On 17 July 1727 he was created Viscount Galway and Baron of Killard, both in the Irish peerage.

In 1734 Galway was appointed Commissioner of Revenue in Ireland, serving until 1748. Also in 1734, Galway lost his Clitheroe seat. Instead, he was elected for Pontefract, having gained control of one seat in the borough thanks to the purchase of 77 burgages a few years earlier. He gave up the seat to his eldest son in 1747, but returned as M.P. in 1749 in order to qualify for the post of Surveyor-General of Lands, Woods and Forests in England and Wales, for which he was recommended by his brother-in-law Henry Pelham.

A member of the Dilettante Society, Viscount Galway amassed a collection of Old Masters.

Family

He married 1stly Lady Elizabeth Manners (d 1730), daughter of the 2nd Duke of Rutland, and had:

He married 2ndly, in 1734, Jane (d 1788), daughter of Henry Warner Westenra of Rathleagh, Ireland, and had:

  • John Monckton (1739-1830), of Fineshade Abbey, Northamptonshire
  • Henry Monckton (1740-1788), Lt Col. in the Army. Killed at the Battle of Monmouth, New Jersey
  • Edward Monckton (1744-1832), of Somerford, Staffordshire
  • Mary Monckton (1748-1840), m. in 1786, as his 2nd wife, Edmund Boyle, 7th Earl of Cork and Orrery

Archive Collections

  • Title deeds, settlements, estate and legal papers relating to the 1st Viscount's ownership of his estates are part of the Galway papers held in Manuscripts and Special Collections at the University of Nottingham

Published sources

  • There do not appear to be any published works about the 1st Viscount Galway

 

Manuscripts and Special Collections

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