Early Life
Merrick Hartwas born in c. April 1628 in
London to Captain
Henry Hart of
Donegal in Ireland, and
Frances Bosvile. Merrick was baptised on the 7
th of April at
St Stephen Coleman in the City of London
1.
His baptismal record reads:
Merricke, sonne of Henry & Francis Harte baxt the 7th of April
Looking at Berry's
County Genealogies for Kent, another thing to bear in mind is that in that document Merrick is not listed as a son of Henry and Frances: the latter are listed as having 5 sons, none of them named Merrick. However, I think Berry is based off the Visitation of Kent 1619-1621, which was obviously written before Merrick was born. The primary source for Merrick being a son of Henry and Frances is
FHoHoD2, p25.
Career
From
TFHoHoD2:
Merrick Hart was granted land by Charles II and settled in Crobert, co. Cavan; his descendants seem to have been lost sight of, although mention is made of them by various authorities, chiefly by Sir W. Betham. In 1661 he seems to have been a signatory of a loyal address by the Lords Justices and officers of the Dublin Headquarters to the King....
The descent of this branch of the family has not been carried down, as the identification of individuals has been a difficult task with the few records that have been discovered. In Betham's rough notes there are some discrepancies that have occurred.
For more discussion of Betham's pedigree, see Merrick's son
John Hart.
Family Life
Merrick married
Lettice Vesey, daughter of the
Hon. Thomas Vesey (Archdeacon of
Armagh) probably in about 1660 though I haven't found a source for that date. He and Lettice had eight children:
- Thomas, born 1661
- Henry, born 1663
- Lettice, born 1666
- Jane, born 1668
- Anne, born 1672
- Mary, born 1676
- Elizabeth, born 1679
- John, born c. 1680, later Governor of Maryland, who married his cousin Mary or Anne Hart
Note that I don't have baptismal records for any of these children and am relying on the entirely unreliable Ancestry trees for these dates.
Death
Will extract
2:
I, Merrick Hart of Crover in co. Cavan, Esq., to be buried in parish church of Bellemhugh (?) in barony of Clanmoghan. My will is that my lands of Caulin, together with the rest of my real estate in sd Barony, be managed by my dear wife Mrs Lettis Hart during her widowhood, or until she can raise the amount out of ye Rents, issues & profits of sd estates the sum of £500 to be equally divided between Lettis Hart, Jane Hart, Ann Hart, Mary Hart, Elizabeth Hart, Henry Hart, &
John Hart in lieu of their portions, and in case of any of my aforementioned children shall die before they receive their portions then their share to descend to the remainder of my children.
My eldest son Thomas Hart, now of Middle Temple, London, shall have £30 yearly paid him out of my estates towards ye mainteyning of him in ye sd Inns of Court, or until he begin to ... in ye practice of a Councillor at law & no longer. And when sd Thomas Hart shall be able to pay the intire som of £500 into ye hands of my dear wife, ye most Rev. ye Archbishop of Tuam & my nephew Henry Hart of Muffe in co. Donegall for ye use & ... of my above mentioned children, then my eldest son Thomas shall have my estates in ye Barony of Clanmoghan, co. Cavan.
Executors: Wife, Archbishop of Tuam & nephew Mr Henry Hart of Muffe. 14 March 1680.
Sealed with coat of arms and crest as mentioned in Chapter II., p. 9, line 34, et seq.
Witnesses "Sam Townley, Henry Waldrom, William Brooker, William B ..."
Proved 21 July 1681.
[1] I do have some slight reservations why he would have been baptised in London given that his father lived in Ireland, but perhaps his mother Frances (who was from Kent) had travelled back to England for the birth. Note that Merrick's father Henry would have been nearly 60 when Merrick was born, and his mother Frances would have been in her 40s, possibly as old as 46; to put this a different way, Merrick would have been born 25 years after his parents were married. Whilst not completely outlandish or impossible, such advanced age is uncommon. See the
entry for Merrick's father Henry (Death section) for an obituary that confirms that Merrick was indeed Henry's son notwithstanding the age gap. The effect of this late birth is to make the early Hart branch look out-of-synch relative to parallel branches.
[2]
The Family History of Hart of Donegal, by Henry Travers Hart, London, 1907, pages 105-106
Abt 1628 - 1681 (~ 52 years)
[1, 2] 
