Henry Conyngham, 1st Earl Conyngham (1st Creation), Viscount Conyngham, Baron Conyngham, Privy Councillor of Ireland, MP-Killybegs & Tiverton & Sandwich

IRISH BRANCH OF THE SCOTTISH CLAN CUNNINGHAM

Major General Sir Henry Conyngham (1705 - 3 April 1781) 1st & Last Earl Conyngham [1st Creation], Viscount Conyngham, Baron Conyngham (UK), Privy Councillor of Ireland, Member of Parliament for Killybegs (Ireland), Member of Parliament for Tiverton (UK), Member of Parliament for Sandwich (UK)

[Not to be confused with his grand nephew General Sir Henry Conyngham (26 December 1766 – 28 December 1832) 1st Marquess Conyngham, Baron Conyngham, Baron Minster, Viscount Conyngham, Viscount Mount Charles, Viscount Slane, Earl of Mount Charles who gained a 2nd Creation of 1st Earl Conyngham and a 2nd Creation of Viscount Conyngham, and was The Lord Steward of the Household & Privy Councillor [UK], The Constable & The Governor of Windsor Castle, The Governor of County Donegal, Custos Rotulorum (The Keeper of the Rolls) of County Clare, Knight of St. Patrick.]

Henry was the 2nd son of General Henry Conyngham of Slane Castle and his wife Mary Williams Petty, daughter of Sir John Williams, 2nd Baronet, and the widow of Charles Petty, 1st Baron Shelburne.

Henry succeeded to the family estate upon the death of his older brother William Conynham Baron Conyngham.

An absentee landlord, Henry owned extensive properties in counties Meath and Donegal, Ireand, while spending most of his time abroad.

Despite being a British MP, he also controlled the *pocket Irish constituency of Newtown Limavady and sat in Irish House of Commons for Killybegs between 1727 and 1753.[1]
[*A rotten or pocket borough, also known as a nomination borough or proprietorial borough, was a parliamentary borough or constituency in England, Great Britain, or the United Kingdom before the Reform Act 1832, which had a very small electorate and could be used by a patron to gain unrepresentative influence within the unreformed House of Commons. The same terms were used for similar boroughs represented in the 18th-century Parliament of Ireland. The Reform Act 1832 abolished the majority of these rotten and pocket boroughs.]

In 1765 Henry was made a Privy Councillor of Ireland.

Henry married Ellen Merrett, daughter of Solomon Merrett & Rebecca Savage, but they had no children.

Upon Henry's death, all of his titles became extinct except for Baron Conyngham, which passed by special remainder to his nephew Francis Burton, who adopted the surname Conyngham to become Francis (Burton) Conyngham.

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• Wikipedia contributors. "Henry Conyngham, 1st Earl Conyngham." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.
• Burke, Bernard, Sir. A genealogical and heraldic dictionary of the peerage and baronetage of the British Empire. London : Harrison 1869. page 258