DOMVILE, Sir Compton, 1st Bt. (c.1775-1857), of Templeogue and Santry House, co. Dublin.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1790-1820, ed. R. Thorne, 1986
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

1818 - 1826
1826 - 1830
23 Dec. 1830 - 1832

Family and Education

b. c.1775, 1st s. of Charles Domvile (formerly Pocklington), MP [I], of Templeogue and Santry House by Margaret (m. 1774), da. of Thomas Sheppard. m. (1) 21 Oct. 1811, Elizabeth Frances (d. 10 Aug. 1812), da. of Rt. Rev. Charles Lindsay, bp. of Kildare, 1s.; (2) 7 Dec. 1815, Helena Sarah, da. of Frederick Trench of Heywood, Queen’s Co., 3s. 3da. suc. fa. 1810 and changed his name to Domvile, 11 Oct. 1814; cr. Bt. 27 Dec. 1814.

Offices Held

Ensign 6 Ft. 1800; capt. 5 garrison batt. 1807; capt. 68 Ft. 1808-10.

Gov. co. Dublin 1822, custos rot. 1823-d.

Biography

Domvile’s father, a Member for county Dublin in the Irish parliament, inherited both the Domvile and the Santry estates (from his kinsman, 4th Baron Santry [I]) in that county. This made his son, who retired from the army with the rank of captain on succeeding to the estates in 1810, ambitious of obtaining a revival of the barony of Santry. When he married the bishop of Kildare’s daughter in 1811 he was said to have ‘20,000 a year, fair good looks and nothing against him but a very disagreeable way of talking, a hesitancy that renders it difficult to understand him’.1 In January 1816 the Irish secretary Peel refused his application for an Irish privy councillorship and on 28 Feb. 1818, writing to the viceroy, Peel referred to a memorial presented to him by Domvile for a peerage with the title of Santry. He added: ‘He is a man of good character, good property, no political influence worth consideration, and was made a baronet ... so lately as 1815. [He] has exalted notions of his own importance. The truth is I think he has no claim whatever ... it would be thrown away upon him.’ Lord Talbot thereupon discouraged Domvile, so he informed Peel on 15 Apr.2

Not long afterwards Domvile, who aspired in vain to an opening in county Dublin in 1817, was returned for Bossiney on the Mount Edgcumbe interest, placed at the disposal of administration; this was evidently a conciliatory arrangement instigated by Peel, whose brother had held the seat until the dissolution. Domvile was a silent supporter of administration. On 1 Mar. 1819 he was a defaulter ordered to attend on the 18th, but he voted against Tierney’s censure motion on 18 May. His applications to Peel and to the King in 1822 for a peerage were unsuccessful.3 He died 23 Feb. 1857.

Ref Volumes: 1790-1820

Author: R. G. Thorne

Notes

  • 1. Barnard Letters, 198.
  • 2. Add. 40194, f. 247; 40290, f. 39; 40294, f. 170.
  • 3. Add. 40193, f. 151; 40348, ff. 129, 131; 40352, ff. 187-8.