Francis Nathaniel Burton

Francis Nathaniel Burton
Member of the Irish Parliament
for County Clare
In office
1790–1801
Member of the British Parliament
for Clare
In office
1801–1808
Lieutenant-Governor of Lower Canada
In office
29 November 1808 – 1832
Personal details
Born(1766-12-26)26 December 1766
London, England
Died27 January 1832(1832-01-27) (aged 65)
Bath, England
SpouseValentina Alicia Lawless
Children5
Parents
RelativesHenry Conyngham, 1st Marquess Conyngham (twin)

Sir Francis Nathaniel Pierpoint Burton (26 December 1766 – 27 January 1832) was a British colonial administrator in Lower Canada and Irish politician.[1]

Burton was the younger of twin sons born to Francis Conyngham, 2nd Baron Conyngham (born Burton), and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Nathaniel Clements, in London.[1][2] Henry Conyngham, 1st Marquess Conyngham, was his elder twin brother.[1] In 1781, his father changed his surname to Conyngham upon the death of his maternal uncle, the Earl Conyngham, upon inheriting the Conyngham barony upon special remainder.[3]

Burton sat as Member of Parliament (MP) in the Irish House of Commons for Killybegs in 1790 and 1798 and County Clare from 1790 to the Act of Union in 1801. He sat then for County Clare in the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1808.[3] On 27 October 1797 he took over from his twin brother as Colonel of the Clare Militia.[4][5]

Burton was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Lower Canada on 29 November 1808, but did not travel to Lower Canada until 1822, under threat of removal of his salary. During the absence of Governor George Ramsay, Burton acted as administrator of Lower Canada from 7 June 1824 – September 1825. Although he left Quebec City in October 1825 on a permanent "leave of absence", he remained the official Lieutenant Governor until his death in 1832 in Bath, England.[6][7]

He married the Hon. Valentina Alicia Lawless, daughter of Nicholas Lawless, 1st Baron Cloncurry and Margaret Browne, and had five children, including:[3][6]

  • Henry Stuart Burton DL JP (1808–1867)
  • Capt. William Burton (born 1809) of the Scots Fusiliers
  1. ^ a b c "BURTON, Hon. Francis Nathaniel (1766-1832), of Buncraggy, co. Clare. | History of Parliament Online". The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1790-1820. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
  2. ^ "Burton, Francis Nathaniel". Répertoire du patrimoine culturel du Québec (in French). Retrieved 18 August 2021.
  3. ^ a b c Mosley, Charles, ed. (2003). Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knighthood (107 ed.). Burke's Peerage & Gentry. p. 879. ISBN 0-9711966-2-1.
  4. ^ Wilson, Joshua (1806). A Biographical Index to the Present House of Commons: Corrected to March, 1806. R Phillips. p. 105.
  5. ^ War Office, A List of the Officers of the Militia, the Gentlemen & Yeomanry Cavalry, and Volunteer Infantry of the United Kingdom, 11th Edn, London: War Office, 14 October 1805/Uckfield: Naval and Military Press, 2005, ISBN 978-1-84574-207-2.
  6. ^ a b "Burton, Sir Francis Nathaniel". Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Vol. 6. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
  7. ^ "Burton, Sir Francis Nathaniel" (PDF). Public Archives of Canada. Retrieved 18 August 2021.