Are there any WikiTree articles or info on the Viscounts Gormanston lineage?

Question

I discovered this linage in the Wikipedia page, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Stewart,_1st_Viscount_Mountjoy#cite_note-12 , while researching the father of Jane (Preston) Breckenridge.  From what little I was able to see in Wikipedia, the linage and its connections seems like it could be an interesting one (also seems to be a rare one that's still in existence).  The line I spotted under "Family", reads, "Mary Stewart (c. 1677–1765), who first married Phineas Preston (1672–1703, member of the Viscounts Gormanston lineage), aka Archibald Preston, of Ardsallagh.

Answer 1

Hi Evelyn
I'm having problems finding some totally reliable information about Mary Stewart and her Preston husband and what I have found is contradictory but I reasonably sure that the Jane Preston who married Alexander Breckenridge is definitely not the daughter of Mary Stewart and Phineas, aka Archibald Preston.  Wikipedia are incorrect on this point and don't actually cite a source for Jane Preston.

The sources I have found include The Complete Peerage, 2nd ed, vol. 6, p. 56, which states that George Forbes, 3rd Earl of Granard, married "in 1709, Mary, widow of Phineas Preston of Ardsallagh, co. Meath ... she d. 4 and was bur. 11 Oct 1758, aged 85" which would place her birth in about 1673.

However Burke's A genealogical and heraldic history of the landed gentry of Ireland, p. 576 under Preston of Swainston, states that Mary Stewart, married John Preston of Ardsallagh, who was born in 1672 and died 1702-03, having had issue a son Phineas, who died without issue (d.s.p.) and a daughter Mary, who married Peter Ludlow.

The Complete Peerage, 2nd ed., vol. 8, p. 263 under Ludlow, has Peter Ludlow, of Ardsallagh, co. Meath, son and heir of Peter Ludlow, of Ardsallagh by Mary daughter and heir of John Preston of Ardsallagh but without mentioned the name of Mary's mother's.

Lastly The Peerage of Ireland, 2nd ed., vol 3 by John Lodge, edited by Mervyn Archdall, on p. 80 has that John Preston of Ardsallagh, married while still a minor, Mary Stewart and had a son Phineas, who died while still a minor aged 20, and Mary, heir to her brother, who married Peter Ludlow. However this work confuses John Preston of Ardsallagh, with another John Preston who served in the Irish Parliament for Meath in 1731.

Based on all the above I think the chronology makes it more likely that Mary Stewart did marry John Preston of Ardsallagh who died in 1702/03 and had two children; a son Phineas who may have initially succeeded his father, but died while still a young man, and his sister Mary was his heir, which means he can't have been the father of the Jane Preston (Breckendridge).

Comments

I understand and appreciate the information. You might be interested in the temporary PDF research paper, with Sources I've found, which I posted to Jane Alexander's profile. It's called Temporary File for Resources. I hope to post the information to her biography soon.  Thank you!

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Sorry Evelyn, but I'm not seeing anything in your document that convinces me that I have made a mistake.  The Jane Preston who married Alexander Breckenridge, particularly if she had a brother John, can not be the daughter/children of Mary Stewart and either John or Phineas Preston of Ardsallagh.  It is clear that the Mary Preston who married Peter Ludlow was the heir of Ardsallagh and this would not be the case if John Preston or his sister Jane Preston were related to the Prestons of Ardsallagh, it would have been John who inherited.

I also meant to add in my previous answer, that none of the sources I looked at indicated that Phineas Preston also used the name Archibald.  If there is an Archibald Preston of Ireland, then he is a totally separate person.

Please don't add Mary Stewart and John Preston of Ardsallagh as the parents of Jane Preston without more reliable sources.

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Please know by asking you to review the sources I found, I am not saying you made a mistake or are wrong. I was just meaning they too are good sources that need to be considered as we all work together to solve this challenging problem of true linage. BTW ... thank you for the respectful, thoughtful tone of you messages. It is much appreciated!