Arthur Annesley, 5th Earl of AngleseyPC, PC (Ire) (c. 1678 – 31 March 1737), of Farnborough, Hampshire, Bletchingdon, Oxfordshire, and Knockgrenan, near Camolin, county Wexford, was an Anglo-Irish Tory politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons from 1702 to 1710 and in the Irish House of Commons from 1703 to 1710. He then succeeded as 6th Viscount Valentia and 5th Earl of Anglesey, joining both the British and Irish House of Lords. He served as Vice-Treasurer in Ireland from 1710 to 1716 and was a member of the regency commission upon the succession of George I.
Anglesey became Vice-Treasurer and Paymaster General in Ireland, but in 1711, after spending a period in Ireland, he had ambitions to succeed the Duke of Ormond as Viceroy of Ireland. When the Duke of Shrewsbury replaced Ormond, he opposed the parliamentary confirmation of the commercial treaty with France and undermined Shrewsbury in Ireland.
In July 1714 he was commissioned to remodel the Irish Army. However, following the death of Queen Anne in August he took his place on the regency commission for George I until his arrival from Hanover. Following the publication of plans to reduce the Irish army, he lost his position in court by 1715, and in 1716 he was removed from office, expressed in public as voluntary.
The death of George I in 1727 saw Anglesey encourage Irish Torys to come to court, however, his appointment as Governor of County Wexford was one of only a few gains.
^"Privy Counsellors 1679–1835". www.leighrayment.com. 11 January 2010. Archived from the original on 7 June 2008. Retrieved 3 January 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
^"Privy Counsellors – Ireland". www.leighrayment.com. 23 January 2010. Archived from the original on 7 June 2008. Retrieved 3 January 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)