Mary Elizabeth (Wren) Lyon (abt. 1753 - 1811)

Born about 1753 in Binchester, Durham, England

Ancestors

Wife of Thomas Lyon — married 13 Jun 1774 in England [uncertain]

Descendants

Died 13 May 1811 at about age 58 in Scotland

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Shirley Blomfield [send private message], Monica Kanellis [send private message], K Anonymous [send private message], and Gail James [send private message]

Biography

Mary Wren was the daughter of Farrer Wren and his second wife Mary Nelthorpe, of Binchester, County Durham, England.

She was baptised in Auckland St Andrew, Durham in May 1753.^[1]

Marriage and family

She married the Hon Thomas Lyon. ^[2]

Death

She died on 13 May 1811.

Thomas Lyon MP and Mary Mary Elizabeth Wren, daughter of Farren Wren of Binchester, co. Durham married on the on 13 June 1774. ^[3]

Her husband Thomas Lyon (1741-1796), a Scottish politician, held a seat in the House of Commons from 1768 to 1778. He was the third son of Thomas Lyon, the 8th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, and Jean Nicholson, the daughter of James Nicholson from West Rainton, co. Durham. Lyon enrolled at Pembroke College, Cambridge in 1758 and earned his MA degree in 1761. He served as a Fellow of the university from 1761 to 1763.His father had previously represented Forfar in 1734, but the seat was later held by William Maule. In 1768, the Strathmore family nominated her father to regain the Forfar seat from the Panmure family, while he also stood as a Member of Parliament for Aberdeen Burghs. After a challenging contest, Panmure was elected for Forfar, and Lyon secured the position in Aberdeen Burghs. As a result, an agreement was made between the Strathmore and Panmure families to prevent future conflicts. Lyon was re-elected as an MP for Aberdeen Burghs in 1774.

In 1776, Lyon's brother John, the 9th Earl, passed away, making her father the sole surviving uncle and one of the guardians of the Strathmore children. This responsibility led him to become deeply involved in financial and legal matters. He inherited the Hetton-le-Hole estate in Durham on April 22, 1778, after his mother's death, and consequently resigned from his parliamentary seat at the beginning of the autumn session in 1778. Lyon and his son John believed that there were valuable coal reserves beneath the Hetton estate and conducted prospecting activities from the 1770s. Lyon passed away on September 13, 1796.

Sources

1. ↑ "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NGH8-CY4 : 24 March 2020), Mary Wren, 1753.
2. ↑ Wikipedia: Thomas_Lyon,_8th_Earl_of_Strathmore_and_Kinghorne
3. ↑ "Various Wikipedia contributors; Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia" Thomas Lyon (MP) (accessed May 30, 2023)

• The Monthly Miscellany, or, Gentleman and Lady's Complete Magazine (R. Snagg, R. Cruttwell & Hodson & Johnson, London, 1774) Vol. 2, Page 54
• Wikipedia: Thomas_Lyon_(MP)
• The Peerage
• Hodgson, William Crawford (1915) North Country Diaries (Second Series) p208 Pedigree of Wren of Binchester

See also:

• Flower, William; St George, Richard & Dugdale, William (1887)Pedigrees Recorded in the Visitations of the County of Durham. 1575, 1615 & 1666, pp336-337 Pedigree of Wrenn of Billyhall and Binchester, 29 July 1575 & 4 September 1666