The Acheson Baronets

THE ACHESON BARONETCY, OF GLENCAIRNY, COUNTY ARMAGH, WAS CREATED IN 1628 FOR SIR ARCHIBALD ACHESON

According to the Gosford Papers, deposited at PRONI,

"The [Gosford] estate was acquired by ... [them] in the reign of James I [1611]. Since that time the name appears frequently in the roll of sheriffs and of members of parliament for the county, and several members of the family have filled the office of Vice-Admiral of Ulster. ...' 'The founder of the Irish branch of the family was ARCHIBALD, eldest son of Capt. Patrick Acheson, a cadet of the family of Acheson [of Gosford, East Lothian, and Acheson House, The Canongate, Edinburgh].  


He was born in Edinburgh, but settled in Ireland as early as 1610. He was appointed a Master in Chancery on 27 June 1628, after which he was ... Secretary of State for Scotland, which office he held till his death.
 
He was created a baronet on 1 January 1628/1629, and had a grant of 16,000 acres of Nova Scotia. He married, first, Agnes Vernor of Edinburgh, and second, Margaret, daughter and heiress of the Hon. Sir John Hamilton, second son of Claud, 1st Lord Paisley. He died on 9 September 1634.
 
In Laing's Nova Scotia (1867), p.120, is a roll of the baronets of Nova Scotia who had territorial grants from Sir William Alexander, Earl of Stirling, and on 1 January 1628/1629 there is this entry: "Sir Archibald Acheson of Clancairney [Markethill], Knight".'

He was succeeded by his son from his first marriage, Sir Patrick Acheson, 2nd Baronet (ca. 1611-38). Acheson was the son of Sir Archibald Acheson, 1st Baronet, by his first wife Agnes Vernor. He married Martha, daughter of William Moore, in 1634. They had no children.

On his early death in 1638 the title passed to his half-brother, George Acheson, 3rd Baronet, the son of Sir Archibald Acheson, 1st Baronet, by his second wife Margaret Hamilton.

Sir George succeeded in the baronetcy upon the death of his half-brother in 1638. Acheson was Sheriff of County Armagh in 1657 and Sheriff of County Tyrone in 1657. He married firstly, Nichola Hannay, daughter of Sir Robert Hannay, 1st Baronet, on 23 January 1654.

He married secondly the Hon. Margaret Caulfield (b. 1638), daughter of William Caufield, 2nd Lord Charlemont, and his wife Mary King, on 3 November 1659. Acheson died in 1685 and was succeeded by his son.

Sir Nicholas Acheson 4th Baronet (ca. 1655-1701), a politician. The son of Sir George. Between 1695-99, he represented MP for County Armagh. 

In 1695, he was appointed High Sheriff of Armagh. He married Anne Taylor in 1686, with whom he had two children.

The Gosford Papers state that:

"... Sir Archibald Acheson, 5th Baronet (1717-90)], who was in 1776 created Baron Gosford of Markethill, and in 1785 was advanced to the dignity of a viscount, was described as a steady friend to the government, and a most respectable man. 


He was the father of ... [the 2nd Viscount, and 1st Earl of, Gosford (ca.1742-1807), who was appointed joint Governor of Co. Armagh in 1791 and colonel of its militia in 1793. 


He did much to make the once independent and indeed radical county of Armagh amenable to the wishes of Dublin Castle. He did not, however, succeed in persuading his son and heir, then one of the M.P.s for Co. Armagh, to support the Union in 1799-1800 (though there may have been tactical collusion between them on the issue). 


The Earldom of Gosford, a reward for the father's support, was deferred at his request until 1806, so that it would not look like an Act of Union peerage. The 1st Earl died a year later, in 1807".

Charles David Alexander John Sparrow Acheson is 7th and present Earl of Gosford and 13th Baronet (b 1942). Lord Gosford is the son of Archibald Acheson, 6th Earl, and succeeded to the earldom upon the death of his father in 1966. He married Lynette Redmond in 1983. They have no children.

Lord Gosford's ancestral seat was Gosford Castle in County Armagh.

The heir presumptive is the present holder's first cousin, Nicholas Hope Carter Acheson (b 1947). He is the eldest son of the Hon Patrick Bernard Victor Montagu Acheson (1915–2005), second son of the 5th Earl.

Gosford arms courtesy of European Heraldry.First published in April, 2011.