John Howard Parnell
Encyclopedia
John Howard Parnell was an older brother of the Irish Nationalist
leader Charles Stewart Parnell
and after his brother’s death was himself a Parnellite Nationalist Member of Parliament, for South Meath
from 1895 to 1900. He was also for some years City Marshal to Dublin Corporation
and Registrar of Pawnbrokers for Ireland (as can be seen in his return from the Census of 1911).
John Howard Parnell was the fifth child of John Henry Parnell of Avondale
, Co. Wicklow and of his wife Delia, daughter of Commodore Charles Stewart of the US Navy. He was educated in Paris
, Chipping Norton and School of Mining where he was awarded a certificate in Geology. He made a late marriage, in 1907, to Olivia Isabella Smythe, daughter of Colonel James Smythe and widow of Archibald Matier of Carlingford, and mother of Captain Archie Matier. Due to the terms of the bequest to the family, it was the younger son Charles who inherited the family estate of Avondale when their father died in 1859, while John inherited another estate in Armagh
.
John Howard Parnell was the first of the two brothers to stand for Parliament. He sought election as a Home Rule
candidate for Co. Wicklow
in the general election of 1874
, but was unsuccessful. After this he went to Chambers County
, Alabama
, USA, where he was a cotton-grower and. later, a pioneering peach farmer, establishing the 700 acres (2.8 km²) Sunny South Fruit Farm. He also founded the first Catholic congregation in that part of the state, now the Holy Family Catholic Church in Lanett, Alabama
. (Quinlan-2004)
Parnell returned to Ireland when he inherited Avondale on Charles’s death in October 1891, against the wishes of his brother, who had wanted to leave it to his wife Katharine (née Wood). He found the estate heavily mortgaged and eventually sold it in 1899 and five years later, at the suggestion of Horace Plunkett it was purchased by the State. It is open to public view, the local town Rathdrum, County Wicklow
the location of the "Parnell National Memorial Park".
By this time the Irish Parliamentary Party
had split over his brother’s leadership, and John Howard Parnell stood unsuccessfully for West Wicklow as a Parnellite in 1892
. However, he was successful as a Parnellite in South Meath
in 1895
, narrowly defeating the sitting anti-Parnellite Jeremiah Jordan
by 43 votes. He intended to stand again at the general election of 1900
, but lost the seat unexpectedly. J. L. Carew
, a former Parnellite turned Healyite, was under attack in his own constituency of Dublin College Green
because he had attended a royal function. On nomination day, Carew was nominated for South Meath. Parnell had expected no opposition and had not brought the fees necessary for nomination in a contested election. Carew was therefore returned unopposed. Carew subsequently stated in a letter to the press that his return was secured without his knowledge or consent, and offered to resign in favour of Parnell or any other candidate nominated by the constituency. However he was defeated at College Green and did not resign South Meath.
On Carew’s death in 1903, John Howard Parnell did not secure the official Irish Parliamentary Party nomination for South Meath. He contested the seat as an independent Nationalist, but was defeated by the official Irish Parliamentary Party candidate David Sheehy
by more than two to one.
In his obituary in 1923, The Times commented that John "was like his brother in appearance, but differed from him in every other respect. He never spoke in the House of Commons, and was far better known in the members’ chess room". His memoir of his more famous brother is an important source for the latter’s biography.
Irish nationalism
Irish nationalism manifests itself in political and social movements and in sentiment inspired by a love for Irish culture, language and history, and as a sense of pride in Ireland and in the Irish people...
leader Charles Stewart Parnell
Charles Stewart Parnell
Charles Stewart Parnell was an Irish landowner, nationalist political leader, land reform agitator, and the founder and leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party...
and after his brother’s death was himself a Parnellite Nationalist Member of Parliament, for South Meath
South Meath (UK Parliament constituency)
South Meath was a UK Parliament constituency in Ireland, returning one Member of Parliament 1885–1922.Prior to the 1885 general election the area was part of the Meath . From 1922 it was not represented in the UK Parliament....
from 1895 to 1900. He was also for some years City Marshal to Dublin Corporation
Dublin Corporation
Dublin Corporation , known by generations of Dubliners simply as The Corpo, is the former name given to the city government and its administrative organisation in Dublin between 1661 and 1 January 2002...
and Registrar of Pawnbrokers for Ireland (as can be seen in his return from the Census of 1911).
John Howard Parnell was the fifth child of John Henry Parnell of Avondale
Avondale House
Avondale House, in Avondale, County Wicklow, Ireland, is the birthplace and home of Charles Stewart Parnell one of the greatest political leaders in Irish history.-Place:...
, Co. Wicklow and of his wife Delia, daughter of Commodore Charles Stewart of the US Navy. He was educated in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, Chipping Norton and School of Mining where he was awarded a certificate in Geology. He made a late marriage, in 1907, to Olivia Isabella Smythe, daughter of Colonel James Smythe and widow of Archibald Matier of Carlingford, and mother of Captain Archie Matier. Due to the terms of the bequest to the family, it was the younger son Charles who inherited the family estate of Avondale when their father died in 1859, while John inherited another estate in Armagh
County Armagh
-History:Ancient Armagh was the territory of the Ulaid before the fourth century AD. It was ruled by the Red Branch, whose capital was Emain Macha near Armagh. The site, and subsequently the city, were named after the goddess Macha...
.
John Howard Parnell was the first of the two brothers to stand for Parliament. He sought election as a Home Rule
Home Rule League
The Home Rule League, sometimes called the Home Rule Party, was a political party which campaigned for home rule for the country of Ireland from 1873 to 1882, when it was replaced by the Irish Parliamentary Party.-Origins:...
candidate for Co. Wicklow
Wicklow (UK Parliament constituency)
Wicklow was a parliamentary constituency in Ireland, represented in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. From 1801 to 1885 it returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland....
in the general election of 1874
United Kingdom general election, 1874
-Seats summary:-References:* F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987* British Electoral Facts 1832-1999, compiled and edited by Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher *...
, but was unsuccessful. After this he went to Chambers County
Chambers County, Alabama
Chambers County is a county of the U.S. state of Alabama. Its name is in honor of Henry H. Chambers, who served as a United States Senator from Alabama. As of 2010 the population was 34,215. Its county seat is Lafayette...
, Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
, USA, where he was a cotton-grower and. later, a pioneering peach farmer, establishing the 700 acres (2.8 km²) Sunny South Fruit Farm. He also founded the first Catholic congregation in that part of the state, now the Holy Family Catholic Church in Lanett, Alabama
Lanett, Alabama
Lanett is a city in Chambers County, Alabama, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 7,897. Lanett, originally called Bluffton, is located in eastern Alabama, on the Chattahoochee River, southwest of Atlanta, Georgia...
. (Quinlan-2004)
Parnell returned to Ireland when he inherited Avondale on Charles’s death in October 1891, against the wishes of his brother, who had wanted to leave it to his wife Katharine (née Wood). He found the estate heavily mortgaged and eventually sold it in 1899 and five years later, at the suggestion of Horace Plunkett it was purchased by the State. It is open to public view, the local town Rathdrum, County Wicklow
Rathdrum, County Wicklow
Rathdrum is a village in County Wicklow, Ireland. It is situated high on the western side of the Avonmore river valley, which flows through the Vale of Clara.-People:Born in Rathdrum:...
the location of the "Parnell National Memorial Park".
By this time the Irish Parliamentary Party
Irish Parliamentary Party
The Irish Parliamentary Party was formed in 1882 by Charles Stewart Parnell, the leader of the Nationalist Party, replacing the Home Rule League, as official parliamentary party for Irish nationalist Members of Parliament elected to the House of Commons at...
had split over his brother’s leadership, and John Howard Parnell stood unsuccessfully for West Wicklow as a Parnellite in 1892
United Kingdom general election, 1892
The 1892 United Kingdom general election was held from 4 July to 26 July 1892. It saw the Conservatives, led by Lord Salisbury, win the greatest number of seats, but not enough for an overall majority as William Ewart Gladstone's Liberals won many more seats than in the 1886 general election...
. However, he was successful as a Parnellite in South Meath
South Meath (UK Parliament constituency)
South Meath was a UK Parliament constituency in Ireland, returning one Member of Parliament 1885–1922.Prior to the 1885 general election the area was part of the Meath . From 1922 it was not represented in the UK Parliament....
in 1895
United Kingdom general election, 1895
The United Kingdom general election of 1895 was held from 13 July - 7 August 1895. It was won by the Conservatives led by Lord Salisbury who formed an alliance with the Liberal Unionist Party and had a large majority over the Liberals, led by Lord Rosebery...
, narrowly defeating the sitting anti-Parnellite Jeremiah Jordan
Jeremiah Jordan
Jeremiah Jordan J.P. was an Irish nationalist politician from County Fermanagh. He was a Member of Parliament from 1885 to 1892, and from 1893 to 1910, taking his seat in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.- Early life :Jordan was born in Tattinbar, eldest son...
by 43 votes. He intended to stand again at the general election of 1900
United Kingdom general election, 1900
-Seats summary:-See also:*MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1900*The Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885-1918-External links:***-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987**...
, but lost the seat unexpectedly. J. L. Carew
James Laurence Carew
James Laurence Carew was an Irish nationalist politician and Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom...
, a former Parnellite turned Healyite, was under attack in his own constituency of Dublin College Green
Dublin College Green (UK Parliament constituency)
College Green, a division of Dublin, was a UK parliamentary constituency in Ireland. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1885 to 1922.-Boundaries and boundary changes:...
because he had attended a royal function. On nomination day, Carew was nominated for South Meath. Parnell had expected no opposition and had not brought the fees necessary for nomination in a contested election. Carew was therefore returned unopposed. Carew subsequently stated in a letter to the press that his return was secured without his knowledge or consent, and offered to resign in favour of Parnell or any other candidate nominated by the constituency. However he was defeated at College Green and did not resign South Meath.
On Carew’s death in 1903, John Howard Parnell did not secure the official Irish Parliamentary Party nomination for South Meath. He contested the seat as an independent Nationalist, but was defeated by the official Irish Parliamentary Party candidate David Sheehy
David Sheehy
David Sheehy was an Irish nationalist politician. He was a Member of Parliament from 1885 to 1900 and from 1903 to 1918, taking his seat as a member of the Irish Parliamentary Party in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.- Political career :Born in Limerick, he...
by more than two to one.
In his obituary in 1923, The Times commented that John "was like his brother in appearance, but differed from him in every other respect. He never spoke in the House of Commons, and was far better known in the members’ chess room". His memoir of his more famous brother is an important source for the latter’s biography.
Publications
- Charles Stewart Parnell: A Memoir, with a foreword by Daniel Horgan, Constable London (1916)
Sources
- F. S. L. LyonsF. S. L. LyonsFrancis Stewart Leland Lyons was one of Ireland's premier historians.-Biography:Lyons was born in Derry, Northern Ireland, in 1923, but soon moved to Boyle in County Roscommon where his father was a bank official...
, Charles Stewart Parnell, Collins London (1977) - The Times (London), 14 July & 4 October 1900; 24 September 1903; 4 May 1923
- Brian M. Walker (ed.), Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland, 1801-1922, Royal Irish Academy, Dublin (1978)
- Who Was Who, 1916–1928
- D.J. Hickey, J.E. Doherty, A new Dictionary of Irish History from 1800, p. 386, Gill & MacMillan (2003) ISBN 0-7171-2520-3
- Quinlan, KIeran (2004) Strange Kin: Ireland and the American South. Baton Rouge, Louisiana: Louisiana State University Press ISBN 978-0807129838
- Fair, John D. (April 2005) "Parnell and Peaches: A Study in the Construction of Historical Myth." Alabama Review
External links
- photograph of Parnell at USGenWeb Archives Project - Alabama, Chambers County History
