Resumption, Act of

Resumption, Act of (1700), the concluding stage of the Williamite confiscations. Pushed through by opposition groups in the English parliament, it cancelled the royal grants by which William III had disposed of almost nine‐tenths of all lands forfeited, instead appointing trustees to supervise their sale. The trustees heard more than 3,000 cases of persons claiming an interest in confiscated properties. They also attempted, though without success, to obtain further outlawries. The act was unpopular both as an intrusion by the English parliament into Irish affaris and because of the losses suffered by those who had bought land from the earlier grantees. An act of 1702 allowed these ‘Protestant purchasers’ to acquire resumed lands on favourable terms. Other lands were sold by public auction from October 1702, but poor demand led the trustees to sell over half the total to a consortium of English merchants, the Hollow Blades Company, which later disposed of it piecemeal.