Background
John Monckton was the eldest son of Robert Monckton (1659-1722), lord of the manors of Cavil, near Howden, and Hodroyd, near Barnsley, Yorkshire.
John Monckton was the eldest son of Robert Monckton (1659-1722), lord of the manors of Cavil, near Howden, and Hodroyd, near Barnsley, Yorkshire.
John Monckton was educated at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, which he entered in 1713.
He was elevated to the Irish peerage as the first Viscount Galway. Robert"s wife, and John"s mother, was Theodosia Fountaine, an heiress from Melton, East Riding of Yorkshire. Monckton stood unsuccessfully as a Whig candidate for Clitheroe at the election of 1722.
Victory in the seat depended on control of burgages.
Having bought a number of burgages to no effect, Monckton decided to sell them to Sir Nathaniel Curzon, one of the victorious Tory candidates. As part of the deal, Curzon deferred to Monckton for the following parliament, and he was duly elected Member of Parliament for Clitheroe on 23 August 1727, holding the seat until 1734.
On 17 July 1727 the grateful Whig government of Robert Walpole made Monckton Viscount Galway and Baron of Killard, both in the Irish peerage. In 1729 Galway purchased 77 burgages in Pontefract, his father"s former constituency, for £6000 from the Bland, Dawnay, Frank families.
This placed himself and Sir William Lowther in joint control of the borough and they agreed to nominate a member each at subsequent elections.
When Galway"s tenure at Clitheroe elapsed in 1734, he was elected Member of Parliament for Pontefract, along with Lowther. From 1734, Galway profited enormously from offices in the patronage of the government. First he was appointed Commissioner of Revenue in Ireland, a post he held until 1748.
Monckton inherited the family estate of Hodryd Hall from his father in 1722.
lieutenant had been the seat of the Moncktons since the early 17th century. In 1725 he purchased the Serlby estate in North Nottinghamshire and began the building of Serlby Hall as a new seat.
Monckton"s first wife was Lady Elizabeth Manners, daughter of John Manners, 2nd Duke of Rutland. She died in 1730. Their children were:
William Monckton-Arundell (1725-1772), later 2nd Viscount Galway
Robert Monckton (1726-1782), notable Army General and colonial administrator.
Galway"s second wife was Jane, daughter of Henry Warner Westenra of Rathleagh, Queen"s County (Ireland).
She outlived him, surviving to 1788. Their children were
John Monckton (1739-1830), of Fineshade Abbey, Northamptonshire
Henry Monckton (1740-1778), a notable army officer killed at the Battle of Monmouth, New Jersey. Edward Monckton (1744-1832), of Somerford, Staffordshire, an Member of Parliament for 32 years.
Mary Monckton (1748-1840), a notable literay and political hostess who married Edmund Boyle, 7th Earl of Cork.
7th Parliament of Great Britain. 8th Parliament of Great Britain. 9th Parliament of Great Britain.
10th Parliament of Great Britain]
There he built up a notable collection of paintings and he was a member of the Society of Dilettanti.