PRITTIE, Henry Sadleir, 2nd Bar. Dunalley [I] (1775-1854), of Kilboy, co. Tipperary

Dunalley, an Irish peer, came in again for Okehampton in 1820 as the paying guest of Albany Savile*. He was an occasional attender who gave silent support to Lord Liverpool’s ministry, though his younger brother remained, initially at least, in opposition. He voted in defence of ministers’ conduct towards Queen Caroline, 6 Feb. 1821. He may have divided for Catholic relief, 28 Feb. According to Parl. Deb. (n.s.), iv. 1031, but not The Times, 5 Mar. 1821. He voted with government on the state of the revenue, 6 Mar., and Hume’s economy and retrenchment motion, 27 June. He divided against parliamentary reform, 9 May 1821. His name appears in none of the surviving division lists of the 1822 session, but on 16 May he was added to the select committee on Irish grand jury presentments, in which he took a special interest. Two months later he asked the home secretary Peel whether he should serve on a grand jury at the forthcoming assizes, but was told that the only precedent of an Irish peer with a seat in the Commons doing so was a doubtful one. Nevertheless, it appears that he was appointed, as he caused irritation in Dublin administrative circles by his ‘impudent’ request to be made foreman of the jury. Add. 40348, ff. 39, 41; TCD, Donoughmore mss F/13/49. He voted against repeal of the Foreign Enlistment Act, 16 Apr., and inquiry into delays in chancery, 5 June, but he went against ministers with the combined majority for inquiry into the prosecution of the Dublin Orange rioters, 22 Apr. 1823. He coveted above all an Irish representative peerage, and on a vacancy in July 1823 he stated his claim to Peel:

I have gone considerable lengths and made much personal sacrifice to support the present administration. Out of many obligations by which I think their support is due to me on this occasion I consider it not the least to have sat opposite to my brother now for some years in the House of Commons ... I feel it hard that I have been passed over, probably from not having friends who are connected with government to urge my claims ... I have through life been very little absent from my country residence, and been always zealous to maintain the peace and assist the improvement of my part of Ireland ... Previous to [obtaining] my seat in the Commons I had applied for government support, at which time His Majesty was pleased to express that my return would be agreeable to him if consistent with ministerial views. I then took my seat with an implied feeling as I conceived that I should soon receive the support of government. Add. 40296, f. 17b; 40357, f. 210.

He received no satisfaction on this occasion and vacated his seat in May 1824 for his late wife’s brother. The following year Liverpool recommended him to the lord lieutenant of Ireland as a ‘respectable’ candidate who should be seriously considered for government support on the next vacancy in the representative peerage, his pretensions having been enhanced by the fact that his brother had largely lapsed from active opposition. Add. 37303, f. 253. Dunalley achieved his ambition in 1828, to the ‘surprise and mortification’ of his rival in county Tipperary, Lord Glengall. PRO NI, Anglesey mss D619/32A/2/121. He went on to support the Grey ministry’s reform bill. He died in October 1854 and was succeeded by his nephew, Henry Prittie (1807-85).