Sir John James Ennis, 2nd Baronet (April 1842 - 28 May 1884) was an Irish Liberal

Liberal Party (UK)

The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...

 politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1868 and 1884.

Ennis was the only son of Sir John Ennis, 1st Baronet

Sir John Ennis, 1st Baronet

Sir John Ennis, 1st Baronet was an Irish Independent Irish and Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1857 to 1865....

 and his wife Anna Maria Henry, daughter of David Henry of Dublin. He was educated at Christ Church, Oxford

Christ Church, Oxford

Christ Church or house of Christ, and thus sometimes known as The House), is one of the largest constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England...

. He was a J.P. and Deputy Lieutenant

Deputy Lieutenant

In the United Kingdom, a Deputy Lieutenant is one of several deputies to the Lord Lieutenant of a lieutenancy area; an English ceremonial county, Welsh preserved county, Scottish lieutenancy area, or Northern Irish county borough or county....

 and was High Sheriff of Westmeath

High Sheriff of Westmeath

The High Sheriff of Westmeath was the British Crown’s judicial representative in County Westmeath, Ireland from its creation under The Counties of Meath and Westmeath Act of 1543 until 1922, when the office was abolished in the new Free State and replaced by the office of Westmeath County Sheriff...

 in 1866.

At the 1868 general election

United Kingdom general election, 1868

The 1868 United Kingdom general election was the first after passage of the Reform Act 1867, which enfranchised many male householders, thus greatly increasing the number of men who could vote in elections in the United Kingdom...

 Ennis was elected Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 for Athlone

Athlone (UK Parliament constituency)

Athlone was a parliamentary constituency in Ireland, which from 1801 to 1885 returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.-Boundaries:...

. In 1874 he and Edward Sheil

Edward Sheil

Edward Sheil was Irish nationalist politician. He was a Member of Parliament for Athlone from 1874 to 1880, for Meath from 1882 to 1885, and for South Meath from 1885 to 1892, taking his seat in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.Sheil was the son of General...

 received an equal number of votes but after scrutiny the decision was made in favour of Sheil by five votes. In 1880 Ennis regained the seat and held it until he died in 1884.

Ennis inherited the baronetcy

Ennis Baronets

The Ennis Baronetcy, of Ballinahown Court in the County of Westmeath, was a title in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 27 July 1866 for John Ennis, Member of Parliament for Athlone from 1857 to 1865. The second Baronet was also Member of Parliament for Athlone...

in 1878. He died at the age of 42 and the baronetcy became defunct.