John Hartstonge

John Hartstonge or Hartstongue (1 December 1654 – 30 January 1717) was an English-born prelate of the Church of Ireland who became Bishop of Ossory and then Bishop of Derry.

Family and education He was born at Old Catton, Norfolk, on 1 December 1654, third son of Sir Standish Hartstonge, 1st Baronet and his first wife Elizabeth Jermyn, daughter of Francis Jermyn (or Jermy) of Gunton Hall. His father, who inherited substantial lands in County Limerick and County Clare, moved to Ireland in 1659, built up a successful legal practice, and became a Baron of the Irish Court of Exchequer.

John went to school at Charleville, and then attended Kilkenny College and entered Trinity College Dublin in 1672: he took his bachelor's degree in 1677. He then entered Gonville and Caius College, University of Cambridge, and took his master's degree in 1680. He spent a year at the University of Glasgow, then travelled abroad for a time before becoming a fellow of Gonville and Caius College.

Career He had a family connection with John Bramhall, Archbishop of Armagh, whose daughter was his stepmother; but of more benefit to his career was his friendship with the Dukes of Ormonde.

In fact, the marriage had social advantages for the bishop, since Belle was the first cousin to James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos on her mother's side. Family letters show that the Hartstonges were on friendly terms with the Duke and Duchess of Chandos.

Belle Danvers is a minor character in the novel Shores of Darkness by Diana Norman.