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Surveyor General of Ireland

{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}}{{Short description|Royal official in the 16th to 18th centuries in Ireland}}

The office of Surveyor General of Ireland was an appointed officer under the Dublin Castle administration of Ireland in the 17th and 18th centuries.McParland 1995 The Surveyor General was typically responsible for the surveying, design and construction of civic works, and was often involved in overseeing the construction of military barracks and public buildings.[http://www.opw.ie/en/OurBusinessUnits/CorporateServices/AbouttheOPW/History/ Office of Public Works - About - History] Though Surveyors General were officially appointed by the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, it was not unknown for the post to be "sold" by one holder to the next. For example, Arthur Jones-Nevill succeeded Arthur Dobbs in 1743, having paid £3,300 to secure the position. And despite being dismissed for maladministration, Nevill was allowed to sell the post on to Thomas Eyre in 1752.{{#tag:ref|McParland notes "Such sums were not fees or bribes to officials for the appointments; instead they represented the value of the post when it was viewed as the personal property of the holder of the patent".McParland 1995, p. 97 Thus the statement of May 1743 in TCD Clements MS 1741 that 'Dobbs has disposed his employment to one Mr Jones' (IAA, Edward McParland files, Acc. 2008/44){{original research inline|date=September 2016}}|group="nb"}} Eyre was the last holder of the office, which was abolished in 1763.

List of Surveyors General of Ireland

class="wikitable sortable"

! Name !!data-sort-type="date"| Date(s)First or only date is date of appointment !! Term !! Notes, refs.

data-sort-value="Cowley, Walter" | Walter Cowley15 November 1548During pleasure{{cite journal |title=On Mapped Surveys of Ireland |first1=W. H. |last1=Hardinge |first2=Thomas |last2=Ridgeway|journal=The Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy |volume=8 |date=1861–64 |pages=39–55: 44 |jstor=20488800 |url=https://archive.org/stream/proceedingsroya22acadgoog#page/n54/mode/1up |access-date=9 September 2016}}
data-sort-value="Sutton, Edmund" | Edmund Sutton19 September 1551Without tenure
data-sort-value="Fitzwilliam, Michael" | Michael FitzWilliam12 May 1552For lifeGrand uncle of Thomas FitzWilliam, 1st Viscount FitzWilliam{{cite book|last=Ball|first=Francis Elrington |author-link=Francis Elrington Ball|title=A History of the County Dublin: The People, Parishes and Antiquities from the Earliest Times to the Close of the Eighteenth Century |chapter-url=https://archive.org/stream/ahistorycountyd02ballgoog#page/n28/mode/1up|access-date=10 September 2016|volume=Part 2|year=1903|publisher=Alex. Thom|location=Dublin|pages=10 |quote=his brother, Michael Fitzwilliam, of Donore, in the County Meath, Surveyor–General of the Crown lands|chapter=Merrion and its Castle}}
data-sort-value="Alford, Launcelot" | Launcelot Alford16 January 1572During pleasure
data-sort-value="Fenton, Geoffrey" | Sir Geoffrey Fenton10 August 1591For life
data-sort-value="Parsons, William" | Sir William Parsons26 December 1602During good behaviourSurvey of the escheated counties of Ulster.
data-sort-value="Blundell, Francis" | Francis Blundell18 February 1609In reversion for life
data-sort-value="Parsons, William" | Sir William Parsons14 February 1610Re-instated.
data-sort-value="Parsons, William" | Sir William Parsons and his brother Laurence Parsons26 March 1611For life
data-sort-value="Parsons, William" | Sir William Parsons, his son Richard Parsons, and Adam Loftus of Rathfarnham24 December 1624Upon surrender for life{{cite book|last1=Collins|first1=Arthur|last2=Brydges|first2=Sir Egerton|title=Collins's Peerage of England; Genealogical, Biographical, and Historical|url=https://archive.org/details/collinsspeerageo09coll|access-date=9 September 2016|year=1812|publisher=F. C. and J. Rivington, Otridge and son|pages=[https://archive.org/details/collinsspeerageo09coll/page/44 44]–45}}
data-sort-value="Worsley, Benjamin" | Benjamin Worsley1652During pleasureSurveys for Adventurers' Act and Act for the Settlement of Ireland 1652{{cite journal |title=On Manuscript Mapped and Other Townland Surveys in Ireland of a Public Character, Embracing the Gross, Civil, and Down Surveys, from 1640 to 1688 |first=W. H. |last=Hardinge |journal=The Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy |volume=24, Antiquities |date=1873 |pages=3–118: 9 |jstor=30079258 |url=https://archive.org/stream/memoironmanuscri00hard#page/9/mode/1up |access-date=9 September 2016 }}
data-sort-value="Gookin, Vincent" | Vincent Gookin11 January 1657During pleasure
data-sort-value="Brodrick, Allen" | Allen Brodrick2 August 1658For life
data-sort-value="Petty, William" | Sir William Petty18 September 1660For lifeDown Survey. Date and term are from Hardinge, who says William's cousin John Pettie was the appointee.{{cite book|last=Hull|first=Charles Henry|title=The Economics Writings of Sir William Petty Together with the Observations Upon the Bills of Mortality|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PzU9AAAAIAAJ&pg=PR24|publisher=CUP Archive|page=xxiv}}
data-sort-value="Shaen, James" | Sir James Shaen13 February 1667For life
data-sort-value="Robinson, William" | William Robinson1670–1700For life

| Charles Fort, Royal Hospital Kilmainham, St. Michan's, St. Mary's, Marsh's Library.{{cite web|url=http://archiseek.com/2009/william-robinson-1645-1712/|title=Sir William Robinson (1645-1712)|work=Architects & Historical Figures|publisher=Archiseek.com|access-date=9 September 2016}}

data-sort-value="Molyneux, William" | William Molyneux31 October 1684 – 1698For life

| Molyneux paid Robinson £250 in return for a half-share of the patent (half of £300 per annum). The revised patent was issued with help from James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde. The full patent would revert to one on the other's death.{{cite book|last=Carroll|first=Patrick|title=Science, Culture, and Modern State Formation|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s2fEmwHuV9oC&pg=PA101|access-date=9 September 2016|date=2006-10-02|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=9780520932807|page=101|chapter=Engineering the Data State: Scopes, Meters, and Graphs}}{{cite book|last1=Molyneux|first1=Capel|last2=Molyneux|first2=William|editor-first=Thomas|editor-last=Phillipps|title=An account of the family and descendants of Sir T. Molyneux, Kt, Chancellor of the Exchequer in Ireland. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9qJVAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA62|access-date=9 September 2016|year=1820|publisher=Printed by J. Agg|location=Evesham|page=62}}

data-sort-value="Deburgh, Thomas" | Thomas de Burgh1700–1730| Royal (Collins) Barracks, Trinity library, St. Werburgh's.[http://two.archiseek.com/2009/thomas-burgh-1670-1730/ Archiseek.com - Thomas Burgh (1670-1730)]
data-sort-value="Pearce, Edward Lovett" | Edward Lovett Pearce1730–1733| Wings at Castletown House, Houses of Parliament, noted town-houses on Henrietta Street.[http://www.dia.ie/architects/view/4300 Dictionary of Irish Architects - Edward Lovett Pearce]
data-sort-value="Dobbs, Arthur " | Arthur Dobbs1733–1743| Finishing Houses of Parliament after Pearce's death, and becoming Governor of North Carolina.[http://www.dia.ie/architects/view/1809 Dictionary of Irish Architects - Arthur Dobbs]
data-sort-value="Jones-Nevill, Arthur" | Arthur Jones-Nevill1743–1752| Maladministration, poor quality of barracks, being dismissed from post.
data-sort-value="Eyre, Thomas" | Thomas Eyre1752–1763| Lodge (later Papal Nuncio residence) at Ashtown Castle, reconstruction of State Apartments and gardens at Dublin Castle.[http://www.dia.ie/architects/view/1807 Dictionary of Irish Architects - Thomas Eyre]

Footnotes

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References

=Sources=

  • {{cite journal |last=McParland |first=Edward |year=1995 |title=The Office of the Surveyor General in Ireland in the Eighteenth Century |journal=Architectural History |volume=38 |pages=91–101 |publisher=SAHGB |doi=10.2307/1568623 |issn=0066-622X |jstor=1568623 |s2cid=195025920 |author-link1=Edward McParland}}

=Citations=

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