Lord Edward Conway, 1st Viscount of Ragley

   Another name for Edward was Sir Edward Vincent Conway Viscount Conway.

  Notes and Events:

• Alt. Birthplace: Ragley, County Warwickshire, England.

• Knighted: by Robert, Earl of Essex and March, 1596. At the sacking of Cadiz in Spain in 1596 where he commanded a Regiment of Foot during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. He was advanced to the title of Lord Conway of Ragley and held various positions including Secretary of State, Lord President of His Majesty's Privy Council, and Embassador Extraordinary to Germany.

• Note. By the early 14th century Norman power was waning and the powers of Irish chieftains had a brief recovery. Lisnagarvey or Lisburn was under the control of the O'Neills, but after Queen Elizabeth's Irish Wars and The Flight of the Earls in 1607 there arose a new power, the `New English', who arrived during the Plantation of Ulster. Lisburn, with a sizeable part of South Antrim, passed to Sir Fulk Conway by Letter Patent in 1609. It is interesting to note that the Conways' forebears were Normans who, before that, were Vikings settling in the Seine Basin. So these people's travels in some ways mirrored the footsteps of previous settlers, many of whom they were now displacing.

Captain Fulke Conway served in Aghalee, a part of Manor of Killultagh, with the Earl of Essex (sent there by Queen Elizabeth I) in 1598. In 1600 he was knighted, Sir Fulke.

In the reign of King James I, Lisburn, which was then known as Lisnegarvy (Gamblers Fort), was an inconsiderable village, but in 1611 the Manor of Killultagh of which Aghalee formed a part, was granted to Sir Folk Conway, and it could be seen that Aghalee was beginning to prosper.

it was granted to Sir Fulke Conway. Sir Fulk and his brother-in-law Sir George Rawdon brought over many natives of England and Wales to tenant the estate and some of their descendants are there today. After Sir Fulke's death in 1624 it was granted by Charles I, to Viscount Conway in 1627, his reward for his service in the Irish wars which defeated the great Hugh O'Neill, Captain of Killultagh, and his horde of Irish warriors and which destroyed for ever the Irish clan system and the Irish way of life which had endured for centuries.

Edward erected [I believe possibly rebuilt/remodeled.EGB] the castle for his residence, the Manor of Killultagh, and laid the foundation of the prosperity of the town by the introduction of English and Welsh settlers. In November 1641, the town was taken by the insurgents (also known as the Irish rebellion of 1641) who on the approach of superior numbers, set fire to it.

The troops of Cromwell gained a victory near the town in 1648, and the castle surrendered to them in 1650. The church in Lisburn was constituted a cathedral in 1662 by Charles II.

The 3rd Viscount Conway was created Earl of Conway in 1679 and died in 1683 having no issue. The estate then passed to his cousin Francis Seymour who took the name Conway and in 1750 Lord Conway was created Earl of Hertford and Viscount Beauchamp. This is the family that had an influence on a large part of the destinies of people of this region for many years to come.

• Royal Title: The following is a chronology of Royal Titles which were bestowed upon Edward Conway. 1596 Knighted by Robert Earl of Essex, at the sacking of Cadiz
in Spain.
1616 Appointed special envoy to Brussels and Prague, a Privy Councillor.
30 Jan. 1620 Governor of the Brill.
1623 One of the principal Secretarys of State.
March 22, 1625 Advanced to the dignity of a Baron of the Realm, by the title of Lord Conway of Ragley by King James the first.
Dec 8, 1625 Captain of the Isle of Wight [England].
1627 Created Viscount Killullagh (of Killullagh of the Commonwealth of Antrim in Ireland) by King Charles the first.
June 3, 1627 Viscount Conway, of Conway castle, in the Commonwealth Caernarvon.
He was afterwards [1628] also made Lord President of His Majesty's Privy Council; and employed into Germany as Ambassador Extraordinary. He held this position until his death.

•.

• Note: Individual Information revised on 4 April 2004. It has become the opinion of this author that Edward Conway, 1st Viscount of Ragley, has been erroneously listed by genealogist (including myself) as Edward Vincent Conway. It is my further opinion that the middle name Vincent was applied by some historian/genealogist, who misinterpreted Viscount as Vincent, or even possible is the mispelling by a transcriber. Whatever the cause, I have ONLY found the name Vincent applied by genealogist. The study of history books and European acrchives I have viewed, have only listed the royal title Viscount where many have placed the name Vincent. Hereon, I will use the name Lord Edward Conway, Ist Viscount of Ragley and Edward, Viscount Conway.

This is only an opinion and future research could prove me wrong.
Erle Gordon Bush.

• Alt. Death, 3 Jan 1629-1631.

• Note. The relationship of Edward Conway, 1st Viscount of Ragley, to Edwin Conway (a1610-1674) of Virginia is not clear. Edwin Conway appears in many genealogist's records as son of Edward Conway, 1st Viscount of Ragley, a single paragraph in the book by Rev Horace Edwin Hayden, "A Genealogy of the Glassell Family", discounts this as only a possibility, NOT fact. The paragraph reads:
"Collins in his Baronetage (I., 332), shows that Edward Conway, who m. Anne, dau. and heiress of Richard Burdet, of Bramcote, Co. Warwick, from whom the Lords Conway descended, held estates in Worcestershire, whence Edwin Conway of Va. came. In 1531 and 1533 Thomas Burdet sued Edward Conway and his wife Anne for part of the lands of which they were seized as heirs of Richard B. The arbitrators in the suits decided that Conway should have, among other property, "the Manors of Belne, Hoblench, Clodshall, Upton-Warryn, Upton upon Severn, with Breley and Elmbrigge in Co. Wigorn." Probably examination of Conway wills and deeds in Worcestershire would show the connexion of the Ragley and the Va. lines. A tradition told by Mr. Conway Nutt states that two brothers named Conway, related to the Marquis of Hertford, were exiled to America for political reasons and came to Va. Sir Edward Conway and Captain Thomas Conway were members Va. Co. of London, 1609-1620. (v. Brown's Genesis of the U. S.)"

Sadly, Burke, in his "Extinct Peerage," article "Conway," gives only the eldest succeeding son of each generation, omitting mention of younger sons, so the relationship may be difficult to ever prove.

Edward married Dorothy Ann Tracy, daughter of Sir John Tracy, Viscount Rathcoole and Anne Throckmorton, about 1593 in Wigorn, Womester, England. (Dorothy Ann Tracy was born in 1563 in Hailes Abbey, Toddington, Gloucestershire, England, died on 5 Mar 1612 in Arrow, Warwickshire, England and was buried on 5 Mar 1612 in Arrow, Warwickshire, England.)