The Roscommon Claim of Peerage, Explained by the Speeches Delivered Before the Lords' Committee of Privileges. Taken from the Notes of Mr. [J.] Gurney

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1829. Excerpt: ... to which I would refer your Lordships is an extract from a genealogical manuscript, which is contained in the Case the Law Officers of the Crown in Ireland presented to the House of Lords in the year 1791, those Law Officers being the Prime Serjeant, and the Attorney and Solicitor General; this being given in evidence, and the original manuscript having been read in the Committee of the Irish House of Lords, ! submit that if I can identify that extract with the manuscript read in the Irish House of Lords, I can make use of it as evidence j and my Lords, I proceed to prove it in this way: A witness, named James Dillon, was called before the Irish House of Lords, and he gave in a manuscript of the Dillon family; he says, that Henry Dillon, the father of Thomas Dillon, of Belgard, this being a different family from the Earl's, that Henry Dillon, the father of Thomas Dillon, of Belgard, promised to shew him the book now produced by him, and that Thomas Dillon brought it to him. This book proved afterwards to be a manuscript, that the said book contains the genealogy of witness's family, as well as of the Earls of Roscommon, as they told him, says he is a relation of the present Claimant, that he and Claimant are by the same grandfather, that Mr Dillon did not inform him who prepared said book, that Henry Dillon died more than ten years ago, and that it is fourteen or fifteen years ago since witness first saw said book in his house in Capel Street, that he went up stairs and brought it down to witness, that witness received said book from said Thomas Dillon about a year or two before his death. On witness's cross examination, by Mr. Attorney General for the Crown, says, he applied to said Thomas Dillon, at his own house, for said book; that it is in the s...