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Mervyn Archdall (senior)

United Kingdom Member of Parliament (died 1813)

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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionMay 4, 2026
Entity authorityQ24239141 ↗
Source-derived summary

Mervyn Archdall (c. 1724 – 18 June 1813) of Castle Archdale, Enniskillen, County Fermanagh and Trilleck, County Tyrone was a British High Sheriff and Member of Parliament.

Early life

Archdall was born the only son of Nicholas Archdall (né Montgomery) of Derrygonnelly, County Fermanagh and his first wife Angel Archdall, the daughter and heiress of William Archdall of Castle Archdale.

He was educated at Trinity College Dublin and studied law at Lincoln's Inn in London. He succeeded his mother in 1745 and his father in 1763.

Career

Archdall became the Governor of Fermanagh in 1756 and served as a member of the Parliament of Ireland for County Fermanagh from 1761 to 1800. He served as the High Sheriff of Fermanagh from 1773 to 1774.

After the Acts of Union, he became a co-opted MP in the first Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Fermanagh from 1801 to 1802, after which he handed the seat to his son and heir, Mervyn Archdall Jr.

Personal life

In 1762, Archdall married the Hon. Mary Dawson, daughter of William Dawson, 1st Viscount Carlow and sister to John Dawson, 1st Earl of Portarlington. Together, Mervyn and Mary were the parents of four sons and eight daughters.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Mervyn Archdall (senior)” as united Kingdom Member of Parliament (died 1813). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Mervyn, Archdall and senior.

Editorial reviewMost valuable as an event-and-institution map that identifies actors, dates and record creators for deeper historical inquiry. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1724, 1813, 1745, 1763—that can be checked directly. The authority record carries competing date values—1725, 1725-01-01, 1724—which should remain separate until their references and qualifiers are resolved. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Mervyn, Archdall and senior providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Mervyn Archdall (senior)”, the useful work is to connect “united Kingdom Member of Parliament (died 1813)” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Contemporary correspondence, administrative files and participant testimony can test how later narratives organized the event or institution. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 4, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q24239141. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 1 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1724, 1813, 1745 and 1763.

Critical limits

Official terminology may obscure informal participation, dissent or communities documented only indirectly. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Compare institutional narratives with records created by participants and affected communities. Dates and formal titles are useful anchors, but not substitutes for context.

Best used for
  • Event chronology
  • Institutional context
  • Locating named record creators
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Contemporary correspondence, government or organizational records, oral histories and cited historical scholarship.

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  2. Expand the search: follow Mervyn Archdall (senior) primary sources, Mervyn Archdall (senior) archive and Mervyn research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Mervyn Archdall (senior)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.