Edmund Burke

In 1757, Edmund Burke married Jane Mary Nugent, daughter of Dr. Christopher Nugent, the Irish doctor who played a pivotal role in guiding him when he first came to London. She was sixteen when he first saw her. They first developed a friendship, which soon turned into romance.

The couple had one surviving son, Richard Burke, born on 9 February 1758. He later became a barrister and succeeded his father as a Member of Parliament from Malton, North Yorkshire. Unfortunately, soon after this, he fell ill and died on 2 August 1794.

Towards the end of his life Edmund Burke developed some kind of stomach ailments. He died on 9 July 1797 in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire. In accordance with his wish, he was buried there in the parish church alongside his son and brother. He was survived by his wife, Mary Jane Burke.

Edmund Burke was born on 12 January 1729 in Dublin into an ancient family that traced their lineage to William de Burgh, the Anglo-Norman knight, who settled in Ireland in 1185. Later they assimilated into the Gaelic society, becoming níos Gaelaí ná na Gaeil féin (more Irish than the Irish themselves).

Edmund’s father, Richard Burke, was a successful solicitor, practicing in superior courts of Dublin. It is believed that he was born Catholic, but on March 13, 1722, six years before Edmund’s birth, he joined the Church of Ireland on practical consideration.

Indeed, without taking the oath of allegiance, he could not have become a solicitor. Moreover, it is believed that he took the move to secure the future of his sons, who were yet to be born. However, Edmund’s mother, Mary née Nagle, who came from a déclassé County Cork family, remained a Roman Catholic.

The couple had four surviving children. Their only daughter, Juliana, was brought up as a Roman Catholic; but the sons, Garrett, Edmund and Dick, followed their father’s faith and joined the Church of Ireland.

Richard was known to be hot tempered, but honest and pragmatic. He chalked out his sons’ career with care. While Garrett joined the legal fraternity after five years of apprenticeship with him and Dick went into commerce, only Edmund was earmarked for university education.

In County Cork, he discovered a loving father-figure in his Uncle Patrick Nagle and remained close to him throughout his life. It was also the place where he learned to appreciate the beauty of nature and acquired a rudimentary knowledge of farming.

For his formal education, he was sent to a ‘hedge school’, which was held in the ruined castle of Monanimy for fear of persecution. Slowly he realized that to talk too much might also invite prosecution. Maybe his lifelong reticence began under such circumstances.

Eventually, he became aware of the extent of persecution faced by the Catholics and how much they resented it. He also realized that it was his father’s conversion to the Church of Ireland, which had actually saved the properties for the Nagles. It had a lifelong effect on him.

Therefore, when Edmund left Blackwater country for Dublin, he was much wiser. Sometime thereafter, he was sent to a boarding school at Ballitore in County Kildare, where he studied until 1744.

After graduating from school, Edmund Burke entered Trinity College, Dublin, for his university education. Although it is not known if he actually excelled in studies, one can surmise that he thrived in the academic setting of the college, establishing a debating society, known as Edmund Burke’s Club, in 1747.

It is also known that he read extensively not only classics, but also authors like Shakespeare and Milton. The first draft of ‘A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful’ was most probably written during his Trinity days.

After graduating from Trinity College in 1748, Burke remained there for some more time, perhaps contemplating a career in academics while his actual aspiration was to become an author. However, neither of his desires materialized for his father had already decided a career in law for him.