John Gore, 1st Baron Annaly

John Gore, 1st Baron Annaly PC (Ire) (2 March 1718 – 3 April 1784)^[1] was an Irish politician and peer.

Biography

He was the second son of George Gore, judge of the Court of Common Pleas (Ireland). George was in turn the son of Sir Arthur Gore, 1st Baronet. Annaly's mother was Bridget Sankey, younger daughter of John Sankey.^[2]His mother brought his father a fortune and the manor of Tenelick in County Longford, which came to John on the death of his brother Arthur in 1758.^[3] Gore was called to the Bar by King's Inns and worked as barrister-at-law.^[2] He was Counsel to the Commissioners of Revenue and also a King's Counsel from 1749.^[2] From 1747 and 1760, he sat as Member of Parliament (MP) for Jamestown.^[4] Subsequently he sat for Longford County in the Irish House of Commons until 1765.^[4]

In 1760 Gore was appointed Solicitor-General for Ireland,^[5] a post he held until 1764, when he became Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench for Ireland.^[6] In the same year he was sworn of the Privy Council of Ireland.^[7] On 17 January 1766, Gore was elevated to the Peerage of Ireland as Baron Annaly, of Tenelick in the County of Longford.^[8] In the following year he was elected Speaker of the Irish House of Lords.^[6]

He was a popular, witty and unassuming man, and a keen sportsman. In politics he was considered a strong reactionary, arguing that the Crown had the right to keep Parliament sitting indefinitely, and he was opposed to any extension of the powers of the Irish Parliament; in his later years he was inclined to denounce the Irish people as "idle and licentious".^[9] Ball notes however that Henry Grattan liked and admired Gore despite their strongly opposed political views. His judicial qualities were viciously attacked in an anonymous satire: "Without judgement, a judge makes justice unjust". Ball on the other hand argues that his judgements and speeches in the House of Commons show that he did not lack ability.^[10]

In 1747, Gore married Frances Wingfield, second daughter of the 1st Viscount Powerscourt of the third creation.^[2] Their marriage was childless.^[11] Gore died, aged 66 at St Stephen's Green in Dublin and was buried in the family vault in the church of Tashinny in County Longford.^[2] With his death the barony became extinct,^[11] but was revived for his brother Henry, first and last Baron Annaly of the second creation.

References

1. "Leigh Rayment - Peerage". Retrieved 24 March 2009.
2. "ThePeerage - John Gore, 1st and last Baron Annaly of Tenelick". Retrieved 9 March 2007.
3. Ball, F. Ellrington The Judges in Ireland 1221-1921 London John Murray 1926 Vol.2 p.213
4. "Leigh Rayment - Irish House of Commons 1692-1800". Retrieved 24 March 2009.
5. Haydn, Joseph (1851). The Book of Dignities: Containing Rolls of the Official Personages of the British Empire. London: Longman, Brown, Green and Longman's. p. 452.
6. Lodge, John (1789). Mervyn Archdall, ed. The Peerage of Ireland or A Genealogical History of the Present Nobility of that Kingdom. vol. III. Dublin: James Moore. pp. 111–112.
7. "Leigh Rayment - Privy Council of Ireland". Retrieved 27 March 2009.
8. The London Gazette: no. 10586. p. 2. 24 December 1765. Retrieved 1 April 2009.
9. Ball pp.159-60
10. Ball p.159
11. Burke, John (1832). A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire. vol. I (4th ed.). London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley. p. 44.