Colonel Henry Bruen (3 October 1789 – 5 November 1852) was an Irish Tory Party (and later Conservative Party) politician. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for County Carlow for a total of about 36 years, in three separate periods between 1812 and 1852, taking his seat in the House of Commons of what was then the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
Life
Henry was the son of Henry Bruen (1741–1795), and Dorothea Henrietta Knox. His father originally came from Boyle, County Roscommon, but had moved in 1775 to Oak Park estate, near Carlow town. The estate was inherited by Henry, and remained in the family until 1957.
Bruen was educated at Eton College and then at Christ Church, Oxford. He became a colonel in the Carlow militia in 1816.
In 1795, Bruen inherited the family estate of Oak Park. In 1828, Colonel Bruen supplied granite used in the construction of the Cathedral of the Assumption, Carlow from his quarry in Graiguenaspidogue a few kilometres south of Carlow town. He also supplied the oak for its great-framed roof from nearby Oak Park.
Political career
Bruen was elected at the 1812 general election as MP for County Carlow, and was then returned unopposed at the next three general elections. He won a contested election in 1830, but did not stand at the 1831 general election. He stood again in 1832, but did not win either of Carlow's two seats. He regained a seat at the general election in January 1835, but the 1835 election in Carlow was overturned on petition, and Bruen lost his seat in the resulting by-election on 15 June. However, the by-election was itself the subject of a petition, and the result was overturned, with Bruen being returned to Westminster, along with his father-in-law, fellow Conservative Thomas Kavanagh.
He did not win a seat in 1837, but returned to the House of Commons in 1840, when he won a by-election on 5 December after the death of the Liberal MP Nicholas Aylward Vigors. He was then re-elected at the next three general elections, and died in office in November 1852 at the age of 63, five months after holding his seat at the general election in July.
Marriage and issue
In 1822 he married Anne Wandesforde Kavanagh, daughter of Thomas Kavanagh, The MacMorrough and Lady Elizabeth Butler. (Anne's younger half-brother was Arthur MacMorrough Kavanagh (1831–1889), the severely disabled writer, politician and sportsman). They had three daughters and one son, Henry (1828–1912), who was MP for County Carlow from 1857 to 1880.
References
- "Historical list of MPs: House of Commons constituencies beginning with "C", part 2". Leigh Rayment's House of Commons pages. Archived from the original on 3 October 2018. Retrieved 9 December 2009.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ Jupp, P.J., "Bruen, Henry (1789–1852)", History of Parliament
- "Oak Park Forest Park". Carlow County Museum. Archived from the original on 6 December 2009. Retrieved 10 December 2009.
- ^ Brian M. Walker, ed. (1978). Parliamentary election results in Ireland 1801–1922. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. p. 200. ISBN 0-901714-12-7.
- ^ Walker, op., cit., page 256
- Walker, op., cit., page 56
- ^ Walker, op., cit., page 61
- Walker, op., cit., page 68
- Lundy, Darryl; ThePeerage.com. "Thomas Kavanagh, The MacMorrough". Retrieved 10 December 2009.
- Lundy, Darryl. "Colonel Henry Bruen, died 1852". ThePeerage.com. Retrieved 10 December 2009.
External links
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded byDavid Latouche Walter Bagenal |
Member of Parliament for County Carlow 1812 – 1831 With: David Latouche to 1816 Robert Anthony Latouche 1816–1818 Sir Ulysses Burgh 1818–1826 Thomas Kavanagh 1826–1831 |
Succeeded byWalter Blackney Sir John Milley Doyle |
| Preceded byWalter Blackney Thomas Wallace |
Member of Parliament for County Carlow January 1835 – June 1835 With: Thomas Kavanagh |
Succeeded byNicholas Aylward Vigors Alexander Raphael |
| Preceded byAlexander Raphael Nicholas Aylward Vigors |
Member of Parliament for County Carlow August 1835 – August 1837 With: Thomas Kavanagh 1835 – Feb 1837 Nicholas Aylward Vigors from Feb 1837 |
Succeeded byNicholas Aylward Vigors John Ashton Yates |
| Preceded byNicholas Aylward Vigors John Ashton Yates |
Member of Parliament for County Carlow 1840 – 1852 With: John Ashton Yates to 1841 Thomas Bunbury 1841–1846 William McClintock-Bunbury 1846–1852 John Ball from July 1852 |
Succeeded byWilliam McClintock-Bunbury John Ball |
- 1789 births
- 1852 deaths
- 19th-century Irish politicians
- People educated at Eton College
- Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford
- Politicians from County Carlow
- Tory MPs (pre-1834)
- Irish Conservative Party MPs
- UK MPs 1812–1818
- UK MPs 1818–1820
- UK MPs 1820–1826
- UK MPs 1826–1830
- UK MPs 1830–1831
- UK MPs 1835–1837
- UK MPs 1837–1841
- UK MPs 1841–1847
- UK MPs 1847–1852
- UK MPs 1852–1857
- Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Carlow constituencies (1801–1922)
- British Militia officers