THE ROYAL DUBLIN SOCIETY 45 



who was recently elected, was son of the Rev. Nathaniel 

 Weld, a friend of Sir Isaac Newton, which accounts for 

 his son, grandson, and great-grandson being named 

 Isaac. He resided at Harold's Cross, Dublin, and 

 married Anne, daughter of Jonathan Darby, dying 

 in 1775. 



A short time before Weld's election, Robert Jocelyn, 

 attorney-general, had become a member of the Society. 

 He was son of Thomas Jocelyn, and grandson of Sir 

 Robert Jocelyn, bart., of Hertfordshire. Jocelyn was 

 called to the Irish Bar in 1706, and became m.p. for 

 Granard in 1725. He was appointed Lord Chancellor 

 in 1739, soon being created Baron Newport, and 

 in 1755, Viscount Jocelyn. His lordship died in 

 London in 1756, aged 68. He had literary and 

 antiquarian tastes, and took the keenest interest in 

 everything Irish. Jocelyn's son and successor was 

 created Earl of Roden. Viscount Jocelyn, in 1747, 

 during his term of office as Lord Chancellor, was 

 elected president of the Physico-Historical Society, and 

 Smith, the historian of Kerry, mentions his noble 

 collection of manuscripts relating to Ireland. About 

 1 74 1 he took a lease of Mount Merrion, near Dublin, 

 and, whenever possible, it was his delight to retire 

 thither, wandering over the property, and entertaining 

 his friends. 1 



Early in 1744, a society, which in certain of its 

 objects was somewhat akin to the Dublin Society, was 

 formed, and met for the first time, on the 14th of April 

 in that year, in the Lords' committee room of the 

 Parliament House. It was known as the Physico- 

 Historical Society, formed to promote enquiries into 

 the ancient and present state of the counties of Ireland. 

 The minute book, the last date in which is the 22nd 



1 History of County Dublin^ F. E. Ball, ii. p. 86. 



