Co. Cavan

Cavan was a largely Catholic county, remarkable for its density of population and thriving industries. The Earl of Farnham commanded the strongest electoral interest and in 1809 this was thought to consist of at least 1,000 freeholders; others with significant interests were the Saundersons of Castle Saunderson and the Cootes of Bellamont Forest. The numerous minor interests proved capable of coalescing into an effective ‘independent’ force, when occasion demanded.Wakefield, Account of Ireland, i. 249; ii. 302. This was illustrated on the eve of the Union by the victory of Nathaniel Sneyd, the independent candidate, over Col. John Maxwell Barry, who was Farnham’s kinsman and heir presumptive, but whose relations with him were not cordial.Farnham mss, Farnham to Barry, 15 June 1818. Probably this was the reason for Maxwell Barry’s declining a poll in 1802, when he again offered. He retired in the face of the proprietary interest of Francis Saunderson (who had ousted him in 1788) and of Sneyd’s popularity with the independents.Add. 35735, ff. 76-82.

Maxwell Barry offered again in the spring of 1806, and was joined by another candidate, Thomas Stewart Corry; their target was Saunderson’s seat, Sneyd being too strong to topple. In the event Corry retired owing to the ‘very premature dissolution of Parliament’ and Saunderson followed suit, apparently because Farnham withdrew his support and gave the preference to his cousin, whom he relied on to promote his wish for a representative peerage.Dublin Evening Post, 8 Nov.; Bedford mss, Farnham to Bedford, 10 Aug. 1806. In 1807 Maxwell Barry and Sneyd were unopposed, a third candidate Lt.-Col. Joseph Pratt of the Cavan regiment withdrawing after the Castle had applied to Farnham in their favour.Wellington mss, Wellesley to Farnham, 4 May; Dublin Evening Post, 9 May 1807.

In 1812 a contest was again thought possible, though none materialized.Add. 35650, f. 367. Maxwell Barry’s conviction that even under a pro-Catholic administration he could not risk supporting Catholic claims was an indication of the nature of the threat.Add. 37297, f. 73. He doubtless felt insecure too because Farnham had to wait until 1816 to become a representative peer, while he himself had been an office-holder since 1807, and Farnham was still nursing an old resentment over Maxwell Barry’s alleged ill treatment of his sister Lady Anne Fox. His worst fears seemed to be realized when early in June 1818 Farnham asked his agent to inform Sneyd ‘that he will not support either you or Barry at the next election, nor any man who supported government indiscriminately in any measure’.Add. 40231, f. 266; 40270, f. 227; 40278, f. 96. Both Members appealed to the chief secretary to bring Farnham to heel, as Sir Charles Coote of Bellamont was canvassing on a radical, pro-Catholic platform against them. Farnham, ‘a very weak man both as to health and intellect’, explained that he feared for his independence vis-à-vis government owing to his cousin’s place, though he wished to be friendly to government. The chief secretary induced him to support his cousin and Sneyd, and this averted a contest, as Coote had made it known that if Farnham supported Maxwell Barry, he would give up for the present. In doing so, Coote claimed promises of 885 out of 4,000 registered votes. Sneyd, though relieved of the expense of a contest, thought he had obtained ‘a most predominant majority’.NLI, Richmond mss 62/492; Farnham mss, Farnham to Barry, 15-27 June 1818; Add. 40278, ff. 93, 130, 150, 184, 197, 212, 214, 223, 270; 40295, ff. 130, 137. By 1820 the two questions in Cavan elections were whether Farnham would stand by his cousin and whether Sneyd could combine support of government with championship of the independent interest.T.64/260, Headfort to Bloomfield, 19 Feb. 1820.