Unusual mysteries in the family of the Annesley Earls of Anglesey

[dpth...@gmail.com]

A very interesting sage in the family of the Annesleys, Earls of Anglesey, can be read in Sir Bernard Burke's "Vicissitudes of Families", series 3, pages 70-88.

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Vicissitudes_of_Families/GWIBAAAAQAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1

The first part of the saga is that Arthur, 4th Lord Altham, had a son, James, the identity of whose mother was called into question. There is no doubt that originally the 4th Lord Altham acknowledged James to be his lawful son, but Arthur later turned against James. The story goes on that Arthur's brother, Richard, had James spirited off to America where he was sold into slavery. Years later James was able to escape, and eventually returned to Ireland, and a subsequent lawsuit established his legitimacy. However, he apparently never actually assumed the title even after winning the lawsuit, and soon thereafter he and his sons died without further issue.

The second part of the saga concerns James' uncle Richard, who had meanwhile succeeded de facto as 5th Lord Altham, and eventually as 6th Earl of Anglesey. Richard apparently made three separate marriages, some at the same time. It is all very complicated, and the details can be read in Burke's book, but the result was that the Irish House of Lords found that his son, Arthur, born 1744, was legitimate and able to succeed to the Irish titles, but the English House of Lords decided that Arthur was illegitimate and thus could not succeed to the earldom of Anglesey.


My genealogy of this family can be seen at:

https://www.angelfire.com/realm/gotha/gotha/annesley.html

but here is a small portion showing the relevant persons:

Hon. Richard ANNESLEY, suc his nephew by 1700 as 3rd Lord Altham (d.London 19 Nov 1701); m.by 1689 Dorothy Davey; Richard was third son of the 1st Earl of Anglesey

1.Arthur, 4th Lord Altham (d.Inchicore, nr Dublin 16 Nov 1727); m.1st London 8 Apr 1703 Hon. Phillipa Thompson (d.May 1704); m.2nd London 22 Jul 1707 Mary Sheffield, natural dau of John Sheffield, Duke of Buckingham; during the 2nd marriage he separated from her and took one Joan Landy, whom he called “Lady Altham”; he had a son, whom a chancery suit established as legitimate from the 2nd marriage under Irish law, though later claims contend that he was son of Joan Landy

1.1.James, possibly de jure 5th Lord Altham, 7th Viscount Valentia and 6th Earl of Anglesey (1715-5 Jan 1760); m.1st __ Chester; m.2nd Bidborough 14 Sep 1751 Margaret I’anson; despite winning a Chancery suit proving his legitimacy, he never assumed the titles thereafter; he claimed to have been abducted on orders of his uncle and sold into slavery in Jamaica, but eventually escaped

1.1.1.James, possibly de jure 6th Lord Altham, 8th Viscount Valentia and 7th Earl of Anglesey (d.6 Nov 1763)

1.1.2.son,  possibly de jure 7th Lord Altham, 9th Viscount Valentia and 8th Earl of Anglesey (d.1764)

2.Richard, 5th Lord Altham, 6th Earl of Anglesey and 7th Viscount Valentia (d.Camolin Park 14 Feb 1761); m.Northam, Devon 25 Jan 1715 Anne Prust (21 Sep 1694-ca Aug 1741); allegedly he also m.in 1715 Anne Simpson (d.1765); he then m. 15 Sep 1741 Juliana Donovan (d.Bath 20 Nov 1776); a subsequent finding of the Irish House of Lords was that the marriage to Juliana was valid, though the English House of Commons found that it was not; Richard’s son thus inherited the Irish peerages only, and the earldom of Anglesey was deemed to be extinct on Richard’s death

2.1.Arthur, 8th Viscount Valentia and 6th Lord Altham, cr 1793 Earl of Mountnorris (7 Aug 1744-Paris 4 Jul 1816); m.1st London 10 May 1767 Hon. Lucy Fortescue Lyttelton (London 13 Mar 1743-Bristol 20 May 1783); m.2nd Dublin 20 Dec 1783 Hon. Sarah Cavendish (24 May 1763 [per Cokayne, sub Valentia; 21 May 1763, per Debrett’s and Lodge, sub Waterpark]-London 2 Jan 1849)

[Paul Theroff]

It is interesting that at least until the decision of the English House of Lords in 1771, Arthur (1744-1816) was known as "Earl of Anglesey".

Hon. Sarah Byng Osborn wrote to her grandson John Osborn in April 1767 about some romantic adventures of "Your acquaintance Lord Anglesey". (He had engaged himself to Lucy Lyttelton, then fell in love with Lady Frances Howard, but then returned to Lucy, almost causing a duel with Lord Carlisle.)

See here:

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015031924197&seq=155