----------------------------------------------------------------
Generation
8
----------------------------------------------------------------
8.1
WILLIAM STEWART of Killymoon - 1710
KO08/41 GPS538:
Born: 1710
Parents: James Stewart & Helen Agnew.
Buried: 14.5.1797, Derryloran (now known as Cookstown, Tyrone)
MP, Co Tyrone 1747 - 1768; High Sheriff 1738
[37]
Rebuilt Cookstown. Elder for the Presbyterians of Ulster and by 1750 the
largest landowner in Tyrone. He also built an aqueduct to bring water to
Cookstown from springs high up on his estate, and a weir across Ballinderry
River to provide power for his linen mills. Colonel in Militia, raised a corps
of artillery volunteers. Killymoon Castle "a superb and beautiful seat
with ample and cultivated domains. The old house was burnt down late 18th or
early 19th C.66 Nat Library of Dublin has a collection of papers (MS 8734)
containing rents rolls for mid 18thC:
a) Undated income:
Freehold Rent: £2287-5-5
Church lands: £2424-9-11
£4711-15-4
b) 1772:
Freehold Rent: £2287-5-5
Church Lands: £2359-5-4
c) 1764:
Recd Arrears of Nov 1763: £709-12-10
Recd Rent for Nov 1764: £1168-13-5
Arrears at Nov 1764: £3676-3-11-3/4
£5547-10-2-3/4
Also
Arrears at Nov 1763: £2176-15-3.5
May & Nov 1764 rents: £3370-14-11.25
£5547-10-2.75
Note increase in arrears! Document lists all tenants.
1783[38]:
ADC to General Earl of Charlemont at a review, as Colonel.
It appears the family ran into financial trouble:
GPS:
This William Stewart was only 16 when his father died, but very early in life
he seems to have been inspired to rebuild Cookstown, and to rebuild it on a
grand scale. By the end of the Seventeenth Century there were only 43
"hearths" left in the town. A map of 1736 shows that only two houses
were habitable at that date, and in that year William Stewart, then 26 years
old, caused a survey to be made. The original map may be seen in the Public
Records Office in Belfast, and superimposed on it is the lay-out of present-day
Cookstown streets, Cookstown»s main street was to be after the pattern of the
fine broad thoroughfares then being constructed in Dublin, and so it is.
Probably this is one of the first examples, outside Dublin of Town Planning in
Ireland. The main street reaches out towards Killymoon Castle straight as a
arrow flight for a mile and a half; it is 130 feet wide. One unforeseen
consequence is that today cars can and do park three and four deep along both
sides, still leaving plenty of room for passing traffic, and motorists cannot
be persuaded to use the off=3treet car parks. It is hard luck on the inside
parkers. (6)
"It was to his mother, rather than to his father, that
William, who planned Cookstown with a vision of future greatness, owed his
inspirations and to his wife that he owed much of his political success",
In 1741 William married Eleanor King, He followed the example of his ancestors
in making a judicious marriage. Unlike them, however, he went out of Ulster for
his bride, who was the eldest daughter of the Right Honourable Sir Henry King, Baronet,
of Rockingham in County Roscommon, an M.P." Sir Henry's brother-in-law
became Viscount Powerscourt; it seems as if the Stewarts were rising socially.
In 1747 our William became Member of Parliament for County Tyrone and remained
a Member for 21 years. He was also an Elder of the Presbyterians of Ulster, and
by 1750 he was the largest landowner in County Tyrone. He also built an aqueduct
to bring water to Cookstown from springs high up on his estate, and a weir
across the Ballinderry River to provide power for linen mills. "As a
result of this fine display of public spirit Cookstown soon became really
prosperous, and its population increased rapidly." (8)
In 1779 our Colonel (as he then was) William Stewart, displaying an inherited
zeal for gunnery, raised a corps of artillery volunteers. "when in 1778—9
France and Spain, taking advantage of their old rival's trans-Atlantic
difficulties" (i.e, the American war of independence) "entered the
war on the American side, Ireland, stripped of troops, lay open to invasion. Faced
with this danger, Irishmen, or at any rate the Irish protestants, sprang to
arms,: All over the country groups of neighbours or public-spirited landlords
formed volunteer corps. Volunteering soon became the fashion. The corps were
numerous and splendidly uniformed. Reviews and parades were frequent. Gentlemen
proudly used their volunteer rank, and Ireland soon abounded with Captains and
Colonels," (9)
"Killymoon Castle was at this time one of the most celebrated houses in
the county. The “Post Chaise Companion” of 1786 refers to it as 'a superb and
beautiful seat with very ample and cultivated domains,' The estate, like so
many of its Irish contemporaries, prospered owing to the progress then being
made in scientific farming, and to the easy accessibility of limestone for the,
land," (8)
The old house was burnt down; it is not clear when this occurred but it was
likely near the end of the Eighteenth Century or very early in the Nineteenth.
Part of it survived, namely the library and the kitchen, which had been built
by this, the second, William, and which have been incorporated in the present
Killymoon Castle.
I have an engraving of this William, head and shoulders, which was made in 1786
when he was 76 years of age. He died in 1797-aged 87.
William and Eleanor had eleven children, the eldest being a boy born in 1742
and, of course, called James, who inherited the Stewart Estate. Here however
we part company with Killymoon and the Stewart Estate; this James had a son,
William, who never married and had no issue, and who became so financially
embarrassed that in the end Killymoon and all the Estate had to be sold. "Except,
therefore, for the family vault in Derryloran (parish church), the Stewarts of
Killymoon have now no connection with the town (Cookstown) or the estate which
was so carefully and laboriously collected." (4) It is a sad and salutary
tale which we set out in Appendix II hereto.
We are descended from their sixth child, Henry, born in I749. Their other
children were Isabella, born in 1745, who was married by John Hamilton; Robert
born in 1750 attained the rank of Lieutenant=Colonel in the 59th Regiment and
died unmarried in 1774 on service at St. Pierre, Martinique; Edward born in
1750 described as a Merchant of Dublin, unmarried; perhaps he had gone into his
Uncle Patrick's business but history does not relate. The youngest was Frances
Ann, born in 1764, who was married by George Stewart, Surgeon-General of
Ireland, who as far as we know was not a relation; he changed his name to
Stuart! There were three more children who died young and unmarried.
Married, 11/3/1741:
ELEANOR KING 1722
KO08/42 GPS539.
Born 9/1722
Parents: Henry King & Isabella Wingfield
Died 3/1810.
Eldest dau of Rt Hon Sir Henry King of Rockingham, Bt MP, co Roscommon.
Issue of William & Eleanor Stewart: Details
1/1. James Stewart, GPS 766, 1742-1821 Lawyer.
[39]
He built Killymoon Castle, designed by John Nash in 1802 to replace the
original which was destroyed by fire the year before. It passed to James’s son,
William. On the latter’s death in 1850, it was sold by the Encumbered Estates
Commission for Ireland: there must have been very high debts.
The estate was well described in the sale particulars in the newspapers of the
time.
See below for full description of Stewart of Killymoon papers.
Married Hon Elizabeth Molesworth, 6th dau of 3rd Viscount Molesworth.
Ref Nat Library of Dublin: Cost £26-19-11 to register pedigree and Arms
31/3/1809.
1835[40]:
Elizabeth Stewart, relict of the late James Stewart of Killymoon, in her 84th
year.
Also in collection are a number of letters about support for his election to
Parliament 1775. Also letters from AH Trench.
1776, Freeman’s Journal, writes letter soliciting votes.
1787[41],
spoke in a debate on plans for a 2nd university in Dublin.
1792[42]:
Spoke in the House in a Bill on Mail Coaches.
1789[43]:
in party to the Prince of Wales as regent.
1812[44]:
speaking on imports of linen causing apprehension in Northern Ireland.
2/1. Mary Eleanor Stewart (5/9/1775-1866) (GPS856)
Died Miss M.E. Stewart, eldest
daughter of the late Mr J. Stewart, of Killymoon, county Tyrone, at Drumshanbo,
aged 90, 25th ult. (Feb 1866)[45].
2/2. Louisa Stewart (1778-1850),
married HJ Clements (GPS857)
Probably Col Clements, of the
Leitrim Militia, died 12 Jan 1843, woodcock shooting at Ashfield Lodge,
Cootehill. Brother in law to Col Stewart of Killymoon[46].
3/1. Elizabeth Catherine Henrietta Clements, (1813-27) (GPS890)
3/2. Selina Clements, (1814-92), (GPS2159)
Married Cousin Rev Henry GJ Clements.
3/3. Louisa Clements (1816-79) (GPS2161)
3/4. Mary Isabella Clements (1816-90) (GPS2162)
3/5. Henry Theophilus Clements (1820-1904) (GPS2163)
Married Gertrude Markham. Issue:
4/1. Henry John Beresford Clements (GPS2166)
4/2. Alfred William Clements (GPS2167)
4/3. Robert Markham Clements (GPS2168)
4/4. Marcus Louis Stewart Clements (GPS2169)
4/5. Gertrude Mary Catharine Clements (GPS2170)
4/6. Selina Margaret Maud Clements (GPS2171)
3/6. Catherine Clements,
1822-1830, (GPS2172)
2/3. William Stewart, 1780-1850,
(GPS859) never married, &
lost estate. See below under
Stewart of Killymoon papers
“Letters from Ireland announces the death of Colonel Stewart of Killymoon
proprietor of the splendid seat and magnificent demesne of Killymoon, county
Tyrone, for which proposals of purchase were lately made by Lord Gough. The
deceased was for many years a representative for the county Tyrone[47].
1820[48]:
re-elected for parliament for Co Tyrone.
1851[49]:
Lord Gough has become the purchaser of the Killymoon estate, I n County Tyrone.
The price at which this fine estate has been sold at is stated to be nearly
£100,000. Another paper said £91,000 and it yields £4500 pa, some time since
the timber alone would yield £20,000.
1835[50]:
laying foundation stone for Presbyterian meeting house, Cookstown.
1848[51]:
referred to be one of the 3 most popular landlords in Ulster.
Died: on the 2nd inst (Oct 1850), at Killymoon, in the county
of Tyrone, aged 70 years, William Stewart esq, late Lieutenant Colonel of the
Royal Tyrone Militia, and for many years representative of that county in
Parliament[52].
2/4. James Charles Stewart,
1784-1869 (GPS860)
2/5. Richard Stewart (GPS861), of Killymoon, 1835.
Also as Rev. Richard of Drumshanbo
(as brother of William and James of Killymoon).
1/2. Henry Stewart, 1744- (Young) (GPS768).
1/3. Isabella Stewart, 1745-1833 (GPS769), married John Hamilton
(10/10/1735-16/5/1811, son of
James Hamilton of Brown Hall, Donegal & Dorothy Green). See Appendix 2.1.5.
Isabella (Stewart) Hamilton & her great-grandchildren James,
Isabella and Mary Hamilton. 1829. Artist: Samuel Lover
2/1. James Hamilton died 1805 (GPS12), married Helen Pakenham,
dau of Edward Michael &
Catherine (Rowley) Pakenham
3/1. John Hamilton, 1800-83,(GPS2084)
Married Mary Rose 1823.
Issue:
4/1. James Hamilton (GPS2086)
4/2. Mary Hamilton (GPS2090)
4/3. Arabella Rose Hamilton (GPS2096)
4/4. Helen Hamilton (GPS2098)
Married, 1858, Mary Simpson
Issue:
4/5. John Hamilton (GPS2104)
4/6. Catherine Hamilton (GPS2105)
3/2. Edward Michael Hamilton,
Rev. died 1861, (GPS2106)
Married, 1838, Mary Anne
Fortescue. Issue:
4/1. Edward Hamilton (GPS2108)
4/2. John Hamilton (GPS2109)
4/3. Martha (Matty) Angelina Hamilton (GPS364)
4/4. Chichester Hamilton (GPS2113)
3/3. Catherine (Kitty) Hamilton
(GPS2114)
Married: Rev. William Henry
Foster. Issue:
4/1. Catherine Helen Foster (GPS2116)
4/2. Arthur Hamilton Foster (GPS2097)
4/3. William John Foster (GPS2122)
4/4. Catherine Wilhelmina (Mina) Foster (GPS2137)
2/2. Abraham Hamilton (GPS758)
2/3. Eleanor Hamilton (GPS2044)
Married: Henry Coddington.
Issue:
3/1. Elizabeth Coddington (GPS2046)
Married as 2nd wife, rev Thomas
Lindsay. Issue:
4/1. Robert Henry59 Lindsay (GPS2058)
4/2. Henry Lindsay (GPS2059)
4/3. Thomas Lindsay (GPS2060)
4/4. Edward - Lindsay (GPS2062)
4/5. Hamilton Lindsay (GPS 2064)
4/6. John Lindsay (GPS 2065)
4/7. Frederick Lindsay (GPS 2066)
4/8. William O'Neill Lindsay (GPS2067)
4/9. Ellen Lindsay (GPS2068)
4/10. Bessie Lindsay (GPS 2070)
4/11. Isabella Lindsay (GPS2071)
3/2. Isabella Coddington
(GPS2055)
3/3. Eleanor Coddington (GPS2056)
2/4. Dorothea Hamilton (GPS2073)
2/5. Henry Hamilton (GPS2074)
2/6. Robert Hamilton (GPS2075)
2/7. William Stewart Hamilton (GPS2076)
Married, 1st, Harriett
Blackwood. Issue:
3/1. John Hamilton (GPS2078)
3/2. Hans Blackwood Hamilton (GPS2079)
Married: Frances Milford
(GPS2080). Issue:
4/1. William Hamilton (GPS2081)
Married, 2nd, Miss Blacker. Issue:
3/3. Abraham Hamilton (GPS2083).
1/4. William Stewart, 1746-60, (GPS771)
1/5. Robert Stewart, 1747-94, (GPS772), Lt Col,
died unm. Martinique.
1/6. Henry Stewart, 1749-1840. (GPS525).
1/7. Edward Stewart (GPS773), Birth 28.6.1750, Death 1.2.1833
Married, 31/7/1777: Amelia Anne
Marlar - 774, (17.1.1758-10.3.1816) Daughter of John Marlar, merchant. London
2/1. Anne Stewart (GPS841), b1779.
2/2. Eleanor Stewart (GPS842), b. 1780.
2/3. Emily Stewart (GPS843), b.1781.
2/4. William Stewart (GPS844), b.1782.
2/5. Isabella Stewart (GPS845), b. 1783.
2/6. Edward Stewart (GPS 846, b.1784.
2/7. John Stewart (GPS 847, b. 1785.
2/8. James Stewart (GPS 848, b.1786.
2/9. Charlotte Stewart (GPS 849, b. 1787.
2/10. Frances Vere Stewart GPS 850 Birth Date: 1788
Married: Chambre Townshend,
Issue:
3/1. Horace Townshend (GPS2183)
Married, Mary Susan KIRBY
(GPS2184)
4/1. Charlotte F. Payne Kirby (GPS2185)
4/2. Mary Stewart Payne Kirby (GPS2187)
2/11. Eliza Stewart (GPS 852, b.
1789.
2/12. Susan Stewart (GPS 853, b. 1791.
2/13. Henry Stewart (GPS 854, 1791-1872.
Married: Frances Maria
Atkinson17 - 855, 1798-1873.
Issue:
3/1. Edward Henry Stewart (GPS 862, 1838-1914).
3/2. Joseph Atkinson Stewart (GPS 863, 1839-1913.
1/8. Rev. Thomas Stewart, (GPS775), 5/1751-27/11/1788.
1/9. John Stewart(GPS776), 5/12/1753-143/1839.
1/10. Helen Stewart(GPS777), b abt 1764.
1/11. Frances Ann Stewart. Birth: 1764, Death: 1.1806
Married, 1764, George Stuart
(not rel, GPS779, 1760-1806)
2/1. Rev. John Stuart (GPS892)
2/2. Eleanor Stuart (GPS893), Married Robert Evans.
2/3. Anne Stuart (GPS895), 1798-1814.
2/4. Frances Stuart (GPS896)
Married: James Robert Whyte -
897
3/1. James Whyte (GPS760), 9/9/1832-16/3/60.
3/2. George Stewart Whyte (GPS761),
Birth: 6.7.1835, V.C., K.C.B.,
K.C.S.I., K.C.M.G. Notes: Defender of Ladysmith
Married, 31/10/1874: Amelia Maria Bailey - 2681, daughter of Archdeacon
(Bishop?) Bailey
4/1. James Robert Whyte (GPS2682)
4/2. Rose Frances Whyte (GPS2683)
4/3 May Constance24 Whyte (GPS 2684)
4/4. Amy Gladys Stewart Whyte (GPS 2685)
3/3. John MA, Whyte (GPS864), b.
16/7/1839.
3/4. Frances Anne Whyte (GPS 2190)
3/5. Jane Eleanor Whyte (GPS 2191)
3/6. Victoria Isabella Whyte (GPS2192)
Married, 2/11/1854, John Marcus
Clements (GPS2193)
Of Glenboy, Leitrim.
4/1. John Marcus Clements (GPS2194)
4/2. James Robert Clements (GPS2195)
4/3. George Stuart Clements (GPS2196)
4/4. Charles Henry Clements (GPS2202)
4/5. Henry Victor Clements (GPS2207)
4/6. Katherine Frances Clements (GPS2208)
4/7. Selina Mary Louise Clements (GPS2209)
3/7. Elizabeth Whyte (GPS2212),
Death: 30.8.1893
Married, 28/1/1864: Robert James
Montgomery (GPS2213).
Death Date: 13.5.1893
4/1. John Alexander Montgomery (GPS2214)
4/2. Francis James Montgomery (GPS2215)
4/3. Janet Maud Montgomery (GPS2216)
4/4. Elizabeth Barbara Isabel Montgomery (GPS2217)
2/5. Rev. George Stuart
(GPS898), Married Katherine King.
2/6. Jane Stuart (GPS2981), died young.
KO08/45
Many sites spell his name Jaffrey, the Scottish minister record has Jaffray,
but the cenotaph on the most visible side, his son Robert, is undoubtedly
JEFFREY. I will use this spelling.
This family was extensively researched by Helen H. McIver of Washington DC, who
published her "Genealogy of the Jaffrey-Jeffrey Family". A copy of
this work was given to A Maitland by Linda Hill in 2003, and was in turn a copy
of one held by Carl Gustav Smedberg of NY.
Born: Most sources say 1723[53],
but if age at death was 73rd year, it must have been 1722. Age in an
image of the cenotaph looks more like 75.[54]
Parents: John (or Andrew) Jaffrey – no source for this!
This is the only possibility found but looks unlikely:
Andrew Jaffrey bap Berwick 21/3/1721 of James.
There were some Jeffreys in the region of Aberdeen, but there is no evidence of
any connection
Died: 3/1/1795, Lochmaben, Dumfries, Bur: Saint Mary Magdalene's Churchyard
He was a Church of Scotland minister, ending his time at Lochmaben, about 4
miles west of Lockerbie, on the road to Dumfries. He was a friend of Robert Burns,
and Burns visited the Manse a number of times (see the story by Andrew’s
daughter, Jean, the muse for one of Burns’s poems).
He wrote a piece on Lochmaben in “The Statistical Account of Scotland: Drawn up
from the” ..., Volume 7 on Lochmaben (number XXII) by Sir John Sinclair. 1793.
13/5/1776 delegate from Ruthwell at General Assembly[55]
The Burns Encyclopaedia has this to say:
Jaffray, The Rev Andrew (1723 — 95)
Minister of Ruthwell parish church and later of Lochmaben,
in Dumfriesshire. He was the father of Jean Jaffray (q.v), who was the
'Blue-Eyed Lassie' of 'I gaed a waefu' gate yestreen' (written when she was
15). Burns sometimes stayed at the Manse at Lochmaben on his Excise
excursions. In a letter to the Provost of Lochmaben, Robert Maxwell, dated 20th
December 1789, Burns said: 'If you meet with that worthy old veteran in
religion and good fellowship, Mr Jeffry, or any of his amiable Family, I beg
you will give them my best compliments.'
This fine eighteenth century writing table was first used by Robert Burns when
visiting his friend, Reverend Andrew Jaffrey at the Old Manse of Lochmaben.
The Manse at Lochmaben.
Cenotaph at Lochmaben (difficult to read, a transcription online is very low
resolution – the MI of Scotland has an abbreviated version):
The remains of the Reverend Andrew Jeffrey and Agnes Armstrong his beloved wife
are here deposited. The Reverend Mr Jaffray died 3rd January 1795 in
the 73rd (looks more like 75 in photo, but the 1871 MI says 73)
year of his age. He was ordained 4th March 1753? And was translated
to Ruthwell the 17th November 1760 and from Ruthwell to Lochmaben 28th?
January 1783?. Mrs Agnes Armstrong died 16 October 1793 in the 60th?
Year of her age. Here are also deposited the remains of Mrs Jaffray’s mother
Mrs jean Somerville, widow of the Reverend William Armstrong, Minister of
Canonbie. She died 3rd April 1790 in the 86th?? Year of
her age (this minister was licensed in 1749 And was ordained to the ministry of
Tundergarth in 1755 The poet Robert Burns enjoyed his society and had him
characterised as ‘a worthy veteran in religion and good fellowship’ Jaffray’s
daughter Joan was the heroin of Burn’s son ‘I gaed a waefu' gate’
Robert Jeffrey esquire surgeon in the service of the Honourable India Company
second son of The reverend doctor Andrew Jeffrey died September 1792 on his
voyage from India to China the 27th year of his age.
Lochmaben 1783[56]:
ANDREW JAFFRAY. licensed by Presbytery of Kirkcudbright 6th Sept. 1749;
ordained to Tundergarth 6th March 1755; translated to Ruthwell 27th Nov. 1760;
presented by David, Viscount Stormont; admitted 28th Jan. 1783 ; D.D. (1793);
died 3rd Jan. 1795, aged 72. Characterised by the poet Burns, as “ a worthy old
veteran in religion and good fellowship.” He married. 8th Nov. 1762, Agnes,
daughter. of William Armstrong, min. of Canonbie, and had issue—William, born
3rd Sept. 1763; Robert, born 17th Feb. 1765; John Armstrong, born 5th Aug. 1766
; Isabella, born 28th April 1770 ; Jane, born 29th May 1773 (married 1794, ---Renwick,
New York), died 1850. She was the heroine of Burns’s song, “I gaed a waefu’
gate yestreen.” Publication—Account of the Parish (Sinclairs Stat. Acc.} vii.).—[Tombst.;
Wallace’s Life and Works of Burns, iii., 137.]
An Andrew Jaffray (1650-1720), a Quaker, published a pamphlet in 1677 to the
inhabitants of Aberdeen (ref Early English Books on Line. This is probably not
relevant.
Married, 8/11/1762, EdinburghFMP:
Born: 1733.MI
Parents: William Armstrong & Jean Somerville (confirmed by clerical
records)
Died: 16/10/1793MI. This shown given on Andrew’s cenotaph at
Lochmaben, 60th year. Daughter of rev William Armstrong.
Issue:
1/1. William Jaffrey, 1764, died Bruges.
1/2. Robert Jaffrey, born 1766, died 9/1792
1/3. John Armstrong Jeffrey, b 1768
1/4. Isabella Jaffrey, b. 1770, Issue
1/5. Jane Jaffrey, b. 29/5/1774, Ruthwell.
M. 13/8/1791, Lochmaben, William
Renwick, son of James Renwick. (WR born Manchester, England on April 16th 1769
- they came to New York in Oct 1794, where she died Oct 6th 1850 aged 77. She
was daughter of Andrew Jaffray, Great great Grandmother of Daphne
Smedberg"
Extract from a Life of Burns.[57]
Miss Jaffray married a gentleman of the name of Renwick and removed to
Liverpool, but ultimately settled in New York, where she died, in October,
1850, at the venerable age of seventy-seven years, much regretted by a large
circle of friends. A brief memoir of her life was written in America by Mrs.
Balmanno, and is included in a collected volume of her writings entitled, “Pen
and Pencil,” New York, 1858. Mrs. Renwick was tenderly sensitive in her regard
for the memory of Bums, and corrects the errors of one of his biographers in a
letter to her sister, dated New York, Nov. 13, 1838, she writes:—“ An article
in the Mirror induced me to procure and read ‘ Cunningham’s Life of Bums,' and
I think it is, as I predicted, very inferior to that of my departed friend, Dr.
Currie, wanting sadly his delicacy and refinement. I can scarcely believe that
Bums ever wrote the letter to Provost Maxwell. My dear father was never spoken
of but with love and reverence, and he is mentioned as ‘that veteran in
religion and good fellowship.’ Cunningham says he received much information
from his son Hugh. I never had a brother named Hugh; my own three brothers were
William, at that time in the house of Sir Robert Herries, in London; the
second, Robert, was at the same period surgeon of an East Indiaman, on board of
which vessel he died some time after; and the third, John, prosperous and happy
beyond the common lot of man, so that at the period spoken of fortune was using
none of them ‘hard and sharp,' as stated by the biographer. He is wrong also
in stating that the Poet’s visit was a solitary one at the manse, a statement
altogether incorrect. It was after dining in company with the Poet, at the
house of Mr. Nicol, who was living at Moffat for the benefit of his child's
health, that Bums sent to me the two songs, ‘Willie brew’d a peck o’ maut,’ and
‘The blue-eyed lassie.’ I was then only fifteen,
and sic a wee bit lassie, that
Burns danced out with me in his arms, and put me into the carriage to my
father, singing, ‘Green glow the rushes 0.' No event of my happy early days
that I look back upon with such pride as having sat at the feet of such a man.
He was, at the time I speak of, acting the part of an affectionate husband and
father, and even envy never spoke evil of him at my father’s fireside, and it
was not until many years after, when I had long mixed with a hard-hearted
world, that I ever imagined he could do, or had done, wrong. Cunningham says,
the name of Willie Wastle's wife is lost; I could tell him who she was, but
there is no use in opening old sores. It is a great pity that much more of what
he has published had not been lost, also, much that poor Burns never intended
to see the light.” Up to the advanced age of 77 Mrs. Renwick adorned a high
social position, with all those qualities of heart and mind—all those sweet,
captivating amenities of manner—which had, in her youth, when joined to great
personal attractions, rendered her one of the most fascinating maidens of
Annandale. She is referred to in the “Life and Writings of Washington Irving,”
often a guest at her house. All through life she cherished a strong, deep love
for Scotland. Writing to her niece from New York, 4th April, 1848, she
says:—“If there are any persons near you that recollect Jeanie Jaffray, say to
them that my love for the very stones around the old Kirk and manse will only
be extinguished by the last scene of all.
I hear that you are living at
Lochmaben, dear Lochmaben! I remember where the very stones and stumps stood
when I left it, and am often, in spirit, by the graves of my beloved parents
and yours. I have forgotten none of those I loved in my youthful days.” Her
son, Professor of Natural Philosophy and Chemistry, in Columbia College, New
York, thus writes of “the last scene of all,” in a letter dated 21st February,
1851:—“It is sufficient to say that she left us full of years and honours,
respected beyond the usual lot of mortals, and beloved by a wide circle of
friends and descendants,”
Issue, inter alia:
2/1. James Renwick (30/5/1792-12/1/1863)
The Renwick family includes
Prof. James Renwick (1792-1863), his wife, Margaret Anne Brevoort Renwick, his
mother, Jane Jeffrey Renwick (1773-1850), his grandfather, James Renwick
(1743-1803), his father, William Renwick (1769-1808), his sons, James Renwick
(1818-1895), Henry Brevoort Renwick (1817-1895), and Edward Sabine Renwick
(1823-1912), and his grandsons, Edward Brevoort Renwick and James Armstrong
Renwick (1857-1837).
Renwick Family papers, 1794-1916. Columbia University Libraries.
Married Margaret Ann Brevoort (issue inter alia)
3/1. Edward Sabine Renwick, 3/1/1823
Email from Allen Hankosky, Texas, 6/2005:
The Renwicks were from New York Are you related to Edward S. Renwick from New York? His father was Professor James Renwick of Columbia Univ. His brother was a
leading U.S. architect. He was working on St. Patrick's Cathedral, he designed Vassar College and the Smithsonian institution. Edward's uncle was Captain Charles Wilkes,
U.S.N. who sailed around the world for the Smithsonian.
2/2. Robert Jeffrey Renwick
Robert J. Renwick, second son of
William Renwick and Jean Jeffrey, was born in Liverpool, England, November 14,
1793. At the time his father was in charge of the English end of the business
firm. In 1794 the family came to New York. In 1809 Robert graduated from
Columbia and shortly thereafter went into business. On December 6, 1815, he
married Mary Hobart, daughter of William Rhinelander, by whom he had three sons
and two daughters, viz.:
William Rhinelander, Robert Jaffray, Junior, Frederick William, Jane Jaffray
who married S. Stanhope Callender and Mary Rhinelander who married Benjamin
Lincoln Swan. In 1818 he was a member of the firm of C. G. Smedberg & Co.,
which dissolved partnership that year. In 1819 he met with reverses and
advertised that he was about to claim the benefit of the Insolvent Act. In the
latter part of his life Mr. Renwick removed to the farm near Ithaca, New York,
purchased by his grandfather James, and there he died in the sixties. His wife
died May 3, 1846.—Rhinelander Family in America; The Press. Biographical
register of Saint Andrew's society of the state of New York. Vol i Pgs 37-S
(1925).[58]
2/3. Agnes Armstrong Renwick
2/4. Isabella Renwick, b. 20/9/1797,
M. Charles Gustavus Smedberg,
1815.
3/1. William Renwick Smedberg, 19/3/1839, M Fanny Raymond.
4/1. William Renwick Smedberg,
3/1/1871-1942
4th US Cavalry.
3/2. James Renwick Smedberg,
18/3/1833-11/8/1912. Issue.
Isabella Renwick, miniature by John Wesley Jarvis.
This may be him![59]
A listing of duels in California (illegal after 1861):
James R. Smedberg and F. W. Gardner fought at Sausalito with duelling pistols
in Aug., 1869; S. was wounded in the hand at the second fire. His second was
Col. Stuart M. Taylor; while Howard Crittenden attended Gardener. In this, one
of the latest, if not the very latest duel in California, both parties
displayed great nerve.
4/1. Agnes Adams Smedberg, M. Max Lee Rosenfeld
5/1. John Rosenberg, b.5/5/1901.
5/2. Caroline Smedberg Rosenfeld, b.21/7/1898
M. William Walter Sunkel.
6/1. Maxine Louise Sunkel, b. 20/6/1922
3/3. Oscar Smedberg (27/12/1781-29/08/1845),
M. 12/6/1860, Alice Tillou
(18/8/1840-16/2/1905)
Issue, inter alia:
4/1. Marion Smedberg, b 16/9/1865.
M. 13/9/1887 William Faulkner Bush,
b 25/7/1860.
5/1. Oscar Smedberg Bush, M. Phyllis Lloyd Davies
Dau of Gwyllim Lloyd & Ansie
(Hastings) Davies
4/2. Julian Kemble Smedberg, b
28/10/1876.
M. 8/3/1913, Lillian Grace Eveline
Greene, b. 3/6/1875. He was US consul to Edinburgh 1938
to 1943. Ref Crispin Agnew 1/2011
Issue:
5/1. Daphne Green Doveton Tillou Smedberg,
2/5. William Renwick.
2/6. Jane Jeffrey Renwick
Married Charles Wilkes,
(1798-1877), the son of John DePonthieu Wilkes and Mary Seton. His aunt was
Elizabeth Ann Seton (first American saint). Charles lived with Elizabeth after
his mother died and before Elizabeth went to Italy with her sick husband.
Charles was a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy when he commanded the U.S. Exploring
Expedition of 1838-1842. This book is about this expedition and is full of
pictures and drawings. Charles was promoted to Admiral in 1866. His
gggrandfather was Israel Wilkes and his great-uncle was John Wilkes, known as
"Wilkes No. 45" while he lived in England. (from a book quoted in
email 4/2005).
2/7. John Renwick
2/8. Sarah Kemp Renwick
2/9. Agnes Renwick
Sarah Kemp, granddaughter of James Renwick, daughter of "late" Dr
John Kemp of Columbia College, mentioned as her cousins, William, John, Jane,
Agnes Renwick and Isabella Smedberg and the children of her cousins James &
Robert Renwick in her 1820 will. She must therefore have been a daughter of
William Renwick's sister.
Sarah was of New York, and left property on Lake Cayuga, Seneca County, and a
farm near Newburgh, Orange County, both of which derived from her grandfather,
James Renwick.
KO 08/47
Born: 30/1/1751, Wigtown
Parents: Alexander McConnell & Jean Christie (from the Bible transcript)
Died 31/5/1829 aged 78, WigtownMI.
This branch of the McConnell family were centred round Wigtown and were an
important land owners and officials in the area.
For reasons unknown, none of this family appear on the main parish records,
even where other sources show an accurate date. Even William’s birth in 1751 is
only found from a much later transcription from his parent’s Bible, donated by
his daughter Jane in 1829. Even his death does not appear in spite of a
monument in the grave yard, implying that they were members of the established
church. There are no relevant wills to be found either, although this does not
seem unusual in Scotland in this era. This is discussed under his father’s
section.
William McConnell was quoted as being the county’s leading lawyer in about
1800. He was Sherriff Substitute for Wigtown for 35 years and was described as
a major landholder in an article on the subscription library in 1795.
He had a property at Culbae, on the B7085 half way between Wigtown and Port
William, which seems to have been the most significant as he was usually
described as “of Culbae”, but has also had a house & offices just at
Kirklandhill, outside Wigtown (which was sold in 1821); the Culbae farm may
have come about via the Hannay family.
He was involved in negotiations for the establishment of turnpikes in the
county in 1792-6. A letter exists about the work, showing some frustration:
“You were not quite satisfied with the proceedings of last meeting and I did
not wonder at it. It was late before the Trustees met, when they did meet the
day was wasted with business foreign to the purpose of meeting which caused the
revision of the Bill to be done in a hurried manner, but even before it was
finished in that hasty manner, Gentlemen tired, droping [sic] off one by one
till for a great part of it only three Commissioners were in the room. – At
future meetings on this business Gentlemen should attend early, 12 o’clock at
the latest – The Bill should be read over clause by clause deliberately – If
observations are offered…they should be discussed immediately without going to
other matter, which too often happens and shortly minuted… the clause should be
referred [to] and, approved, rejected as unnecessary or the like – or altered
to purport so and so.[60]
From the land tax rolls[61],
he had other properties in Mochrum & Kirkinner parishes, to the west and
south west of Wigtown:
Mochrum Parish:
William McConnell Esq. Wigtown The lands of Alticry and Drumblair
£419/6/8 Scots.
Drumblair, from the OS index 1848: 1 mile SW of Doon of May. A farm
house one story high and outhouses, all of which is in good repair with a farm
of about 412 acres of land attached the greater part of which is coarse land.
Occupied by the Widow Stewart, the property of Geo McHaffee esq Wigtown.
Drumblair Moor, W of Doon of May.
A considerable portion of moorland on the farm of Dunblair the surface of which
is rocky heathy pasture the property of Geo McHaffee esq Wigton.
Alticry is almost on the coast, on the B7005, WSW from Wigtown.
Kirkinner:
William McConnell, Of Culbae, esq The lands of Capenoch and Culbae £100 (green
notation F993)
O/S 1848 index, scotlandsplaces:
Capenoch ½ mile N of Kildarroch. A good farmhouse & Offices.
Culbae, 5/8 mile SSE of Kildarroch and 1 5/8 mile W
of Drumjargon. A good farm house and out offices.
Kirkinner is a village in the Machars, in the historical county of Wigtownshire
in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. About 3 miles (4.8 km) southwest of
Wigtown, it is bounded on the east by the bay of Wigtown, along which it
extends for about three miles, and on the north by the river Bladnoch.
It includes Baldoon, where Edward Michael Stewart resided for a while.
Wigtown, Dumfriesshire – An impressive cenotaph in Wigtown.
165 Table Stone Corner broken off
In memory of Elisabeth Hannay spouse of William McConnell of
Culbae, who died 24th April 1794 aged 28 years Honest living, private virtue,
private virtue, beloved and esteemed And also of the said William McConnell Esq
who died 31st May 1829 aged 78. He was Sheriff Substitute of Wigtownshire 35
years And also Helen McConnell youngest sister of said William McConnell and
relict of the Revd Henry Blain, Minister of Stoney Kirk who died at Wigtown on
25th August 1844 aged 97 years
And also John McConnell, Advocate, son of the above William McConnell who died
at Fort Erie, Canada in December 1876, aged 82 years.
1795[62]:
Edinburgh Jan 5 William McConnell esq, of Culbae is appointed Sherriff
Substitute of the county of Wigtown.
1795[63]:
William McConnell esq of Culbae as Commissary of the Commissariat of
Wigtownshire with founding of the Wigtown Subscription Library.
1799[64]:
William McConnell Part of Kirklandhill, £17- Wigtown Parish, (on the west
side of Wigtown centre).
1811: A freeholder of Wigtown, 1st Oct 1811
1821: For Sale, THE DWELLING HOUSE & OFFICES, in the Burgh of Wigton, with
the GARDEN and THREE INCLOSURES of the KIRKLANDHILL FEYS, adjoining to the
Burgh, all as presently occupied by William McConnell, esq of Culbae[65].
Issue of William McConnell and Elizabeth Hannay:
None of these appear in any parish record available on line, these have been
deduced from other sources.
1/1. Elisabeth McConnell (1784-1856)
1/2. John McConnell, born abt 1794, died Fort Erie, Canada,
December 1876 aged 82.
1/3. Jane Charlotte McConnell, born 4/6/1789 (from
tombstone).
In 1829, when she gave Alexander
McConnell’s Bible to be transcribed into the Wigtown parish records.
Died 16/10/1869, “relict of George Ross, barrister, Inner Temple, London” buried
Lexington Cemetery Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky, USAFindagrave.
Married 26 inst (April 1817), “George Ross esq of the Inner Temple,
Barrister at Law, to Jane Charlotte, daughter of Wm McConnell, esq of Culbae,
in the county of Wigtown”[66].
William’s wife is named on the cenotaph as Elisabeth Hannay, so there is no
doubt of her name, but there are now no records of any marriage on the on-line
databases (9/2019) At some stage, I noted from the Mormon’s listing:
Elizabeth McDowall Hannay M. William McConnell, 22 DEC 1783 Stoneykirk, (South
of Stranraer) but this does not now appear. (IGI)
OPR: John Hannay son of William Hannay and Mary McDowell, Wigtown.
Born Abt 1766MI.
Died 24/4/1794 age 28, WigtownMI. (perhaps in child birth of John)
OPR has an Elizabeth Hannay ch. 7/1/1765, Old Luce of John & Agnes Hannay,
a little early, assuming the age at death to be accurate.
The only other option on the OPR is Elizabeth Hanna ch. Stranraer 7/10/1761
– too old.
This is from the line posted on Genealogy.com in 2006[67], but contains no source
information. Much has been verified from the Scottish OPR’s, with the exception
of the birth of our Elizabeth. The Hannays were also centred at Sorbie castle,
just south of Wigtown.
Parents: Alexander Hannay & Grizel Ross:
The contributor of this line, Shirley Walsh has made a huge number of posts on
the web site.
John Hannay & Mary Ross, married 6/10/1737, Old Luce or Glenluce), a Wright
in Glenluce, son of Jno Hannay of Gennoch Mary Ross dau of Alexander Ross of
Cairnbrock, at Cairnbrock, wit inter alia Alexander Ross, factor to the Earl of
Stair (re Dalrymples, Maitland/Armstrong connection)OPR
1/1. Alexander Hannay, bap Glenluce
5/8/1738
Alexander married Grizel Ross 24/12/1764,
Old Luce or Glenluce, he the younger of Gennoch She dau of John Ross of
Cairnbrock
2/1. Elizabeth Hannay
2/2. Mary Hannay, ch Stoneykirk,
4/12/1769
Mary Hannay m Robert Hannay,
Stoneykirk, 27/7/1799
Cairnbrock to the NW of Stranraer, near the coast
Genock Mains on the coast, west of Glenluce, on the NE boundary of West Freugh
airfield.
Ref to Thomas Adair of Genoch in Land Tax Rolls Vol3 for Mochrum parish, £80
scots
A newspaper refers to Sir Robert Hannay of Mochrum being awarded the title in
1783[68].
John Ross, esq, aged 94 died at Cairnbrock 11/8/1789, The Scots Magazine,
Volume 51
John Ross esq of Cairnbrock died May? 1825, The Edinburgh Annual Register,
Volume 18.
Hannas came from Castle Sorbie, 5 miles south of Wigton. They were an extensive
and old family in the area (Hanna’s of Castle Sorbie, by James Hanna of Ohio
1959)
Part 2
APPENDICES
2.1
Stewart Background papers
2.1.1
STEWART, William (1781-1850), of Killymoon, co. Tyrone
Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1820-1832, ed.
D.R. Fisher, 2009[72]
Available from Cambridge University Press
Stewart’s Whig father James, whose family had long held one
of the principal electoral interests in Tyrone, represented his county at
Dublin and Westminster from 1768 to 1812. William regained the seat at the
general election of 1818 with the support of local magnates and Lord
Liverpool’s administration, but sided with opposition in the Commons, except
(following his father’s example) on Catholic relief.1 He was again returned
unopposed in March 1820, when he signed requisitions for county meetings on
George IV’s accession and on illicit distillation.2 He voted against the
appointment of an additional baron of exchequer in Scotland, 15 May, and
Wilberforce’s compromise motion on the Queen Caroline affair, 22 June, and for
economies in revenue collection, 4 July 1820. Having inherited his father’s
estate on 18 Jan. 1821, he took six weeks’ compassionate leave, 12 Feb., so it
was probably not he, but William Stuart, Member for Armagh, who divided against
Catholic claims on the 28th.3 He apparently suggested the temporary postponement
of the Irish tithes leasing bill, 15 Mar.4 He voted for repeal of the
additional malt duty, 3 Apr., and to disqualify civil officers of the ordnance
from voting in parliamentary elections, 12 Apr. 1821. Although by no means a
thick and thin attender, during the following three sessions he divided fairly
steadily with the Whig opposition on most issues, including for parliamentary
reform, 25 Apr. 1822, 20 Feb., 24 Apr., 2 June 1823. He voted against the
Catholic peers bill, 30 Apr. 1822. He divided for inquiries into Irish tithes,
19 June, Irish distress, 8 July 1822, the Irish church establishment, 4 Mar.
1823, 6 May 1824, the legal proceedings against the Dublin Orange rioters, 22
Apr. 1823, and the state of Ireland, 11 May 1824. He voted for securing the
proper use of Irish first fruits revenues, 25 May, and against Irish clerical
pluralities, 27 May, and the Irish insurrection bill, 18 June 1824. He was
granted six weeks’ sick leave, 10 Feb. 1825, and apparently missed the rest of
the session. The inhabitants of Cookstown congratulated him on his recovery
that autumn and early the next year he was reported to be ready to resume his
parliamentary duties.5 However, the sole piece of evidence for attendance which
has been traced that year was his probable vote against flogging in the army,
10 Mar. 1826.
He confidently asserted in his address that he would be well
enough to attend Parliament, nothing came of a rumoured challenge and he was
returned unopposed at the general election of 1826.6 He signed the requisition
for, but apparently was not present at, the Tyrone Protestant meeting at the
end of that year.7 Having also signed the anti-Catholic petition from the
landed proprietors of Ireland, he presented his county’s hostile one, 5 Mar.
1827.8 Yet he was listed as an ‘absentee’ from the division the following day
and was granted another six weeks’ sick leave on 2 Apr. No evidence of
parliamentary activity has been traced for the 1828 session and Planta, the
Wellington ministry’s patronage secretary, noted that he was ‘Protestant’ but
‘absent’ at the start of the following year. He missed the Tyrone meeting on 2
Mar., but was credited with a vote (his last) in favour of Catholic
emancipation, 6 Mar., and he may have been the Stewart who spoke in its favour,
16 Mar. 1829.9 Late that year it was expected that he would vacate, and his
hand was forced by the resolutions passed at a meeting of freeholders in
January 1830, when approaches were made to his distant kinsman Sir Hugh
Stewart* to replace him. Recognizing that he was ‘incapable of that attendance
which the fulfilment of my duties as their representative requires’, he
promised them he would resign at the dissolution, and in an address issued from
Paris, 8 July 1830, he confirmed his retirement.10 At the general election of
1831, when he claimed to have always been a reformer, he wrote to his mother
that ‘were I less poor or stronger I would try my luck once more for Tyrone’,
but nothing ever again came of such an ambition.11
In his youth Stewart had lived for some years with Ellen,
daughter of Edmund Power of Curragheen, county Waterford, with whom he had had
three daughters. She afterwards married John Home Purves, a younger son of Sir
Alexander Purves of Purves Hall, Berwickshire, who passed off the children as
his own, although, as Greville noted, ‘nothing could be more notorious than the
original connection and the real paternity’. Later still she married the
Commons Speaker Charles Manners Sutton, so ending her days (in 1845) as
Viscountess Canterbury.12 Stewart died at the soon to be sold Killymoon in
early October 1850. By his will he left the rest of his Tyrone estates to his
unmarried sister Mary Eleanor and thereafter to the family of his other sister
Louisa, wife of Henry John Clements† of Ashfield Lodge, county Cavan.13
2.1.2
The Killymoon Papers
(RONI D/3167 and
D/2966/92/B)
Summary
The Stewart of Killymoon papers comprise c.850 letters and papers, 1761-1845,
of the Stewart family of Killymoon Castle, Cookstown, Co. Tyrone, principally
of James Stewart of Killymoon, MP for Co. Tyrone, 1768-1812, and his wife, the
Hon. Mrs Elizabeth Stewart, Molesworth.
Background
James Stewart was the eldest son of William Stewart of Killymoon and Eleanor
King of Rockingham, Co. Roscommon. Shortly before embarking on his long
parliamentary career, the young James Stewart did the Grand Tour in Europe. A
splendid portrait of him (now in the Ulster Museum) was painted in Italy some
time in 1767 by Pompeo Batoni, the highly fashionable painter of foreign visitors
to Italy and then at the height of his considerable powers. Early the
following year Stewart was reported to have left Turin on his way home. The
future 2nd Duke of Leinster (eldest brother of Lord Edward FitzGerald) wrote to
his mother in March 1768 describing him as 'a gentlemanlike young man, and also
very amiable. I know no gentleman better liked than he has been in every town
he has passed through.
Stewart succeeded his father as one of the MPs for Co. Tyrone in 1768,
retaining the seat continuously and without a contest for the next thirty-two
years in Dublin and a further twelve after 1800 at Westminster. It was said of
him that 'without place or pension, one shilling of public money has never
found its way into his pocket ... during a period of 44 years'. Most county
seats in the Irish Parliament, like most of the boroughs, were dominated by
great landowning families. Tyrone was unusual at this period in having a large
number of independently minded Presbyterian voters, and its great landowners
happened to be a loggerheads. Only when faced by a combination in 1812 was
Stewart obliged to retire.
Though he himself was a member of the Protestant Ascendancy, as it came to be
called, his father was (and remained) a Presbyterian. This was ironic, in view
of the fact that Killymoon and over half the Stewart estate was churchland,
held on 21-year leases under the Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh.
Stewart became one of the leading spokesmen in the Irish Parliament for the
northern Presbyterians and was instrumental in promoting legislation to
mitigate or remove the penal laws which affected them. In particular, he
supported the Act (19 & 20 Geo. III, c.6) that repealed the Test Act for
Protestant Dissenters, proposed the Act (21 & 22 Geo. III, c.25) declaring
marriages by Presbyterian ministers valid, and helped to secure an increase in
the "regium donum", the annual grant to approved Presbyterian
clergy. The Presbyterians' regard for him was shown not only by electoral
support but also, in the usual fashion of the time, by numerous presentations
of silver plate.
Stewart was prominent in the Volunteer movement, from its foundation in the
late 1770s to its suppression in 1793. He was the close ally of the Volunteer
commander-in-chief, James Caulfeild, 1st Earl of Charlemont, was active at
Volunteer meetings and parades, and in September 1783 took the chair at the
second great convention of northern Volunteer companies in Dungannon, in
preparation for the national meeting in Dublin. After Lord Charlemont's
celebrated but still mysterious breach with Grattan in 1783, Stewart became
Charlemont's principal spokesman in the House of Commons (thanks to the general
inarticulacy of those whom Charlemont returned, after Grattan, for the family
borough of Charlemont, Co. Armagh). Like Charlemont, and unlike Grattan,
Stewart opposed all political concessions to the Roman Catholics; not until the
Union had transferred the Irish representation to Westminster did he come round
to support of Catholic Emancipation.
By a curious confusion, Charlemont's letters to Stewart almost all passed into
the possession of Stewart's younger brother, Henry Stewart of Tyrcallen, Co.
Donegal, and passed down that branch of the family (see PRONI, D/3319); the
rest of Stewart's papers passed down the female line through Stewart's
daughter, Louisa, who in 1811 married into the Clements family of Ashfield, Co.
Cavan, later of Lough Rynn, Co. Leitrim. The papers which passed down the
collateral male line have been re-united with those which passed down the
direct female line to constitute D/3167/1.
In 1772 Stewart married Elizabeth Molesworth, daughter of the 3rd
Viscount Molesworth. She was one of the survivors of a tragic fire in London in
1763, where she was living with her widowed mother. Lady Molesworth, two of her
daughters and six of the servants were killed. Two other daughters were badly
injured when they jumped from upper windows - one had to have a leg cut off
after landing on the railings below - and a third was severely burned.
Elizabeth Stewart became in 1794 a co-heiress of her late brother, the 4th
Viscount Molesworth, and inherited a share of the Molesworth estates in Dublin
City, near Swords, Co. Dublin, and in and around Philipstown, King's County.
Another sister, Louisa, was married to William Brabazon Ponsonby, 1st
Baron Ponsonby, the leader of the celebrated political 'cousinhood' of that
name - a connection which strengthened Stewart's links with the Whig
opposition, both before and after the Union.
After the Union, Stewart also formed a friendship with the Prince of Wales
which has been much exaggerated in family mythology (although the Prince did at
least trouble to condole with Stewart's son and successor, William, on
Stewart's death in 1821). Stewart is also popularly reputed to have lost
Killymoon to the Prince in an unsuccessful bet. This almost certainly
apocryphal incident is not documented in the papers, which do however contain
some documentation, 1803-1804, about the early 19th century re-building of
Killymoon by John Nash, and about the furnishing of it by Thomas Tatham of
London, 1809-1810; there are also earlier letters of architectural interest
from Frederick Trench (1795) and Robert Woodgate (1801).
A visit to Killymoon
In 1824, when Stewart's widow and the Stewarts' unmarried son, Colonel William
Stewart, were living in Killymoon, they invited their Tyrone neighbour, John
Burges, '... to pass a few days at this romantic and most beautiful place [as
Burges recorded in his diary (PRONI, T/1282/1, pp.10-13)]. It may be well
termed so, for I suppose its equal is not to be found in any country for the
most perfect combination of wood, water, mountain and undulation of ground.
My brother and I rode there. ... We arrived at the bridge which spans the
widest part of the river, famed for its enormous sycamores. At one side is a
long glade, richly wooded at its furthest end. On the other you see the
castle, at that time nearly shut out by elms of picturesque forms. We passed
the bridge and through fine specimens of the old Irish pines, fir, now no
more. We gained the park, and soon found ourselves in the apartments allotted
for us. ...
[When the dinner gong sounded, they descended] '... the grand staircase, for
grand it is ... . Colonel Stewart took the head of the table, and his
venerable mother the foot, a lady of the old school, so clever, so agreeable,
such a one is not to be seen now, so kind, so anxious to please, so dignified,
with the greatest good nature. William Stewart was the Sir Charles Grandison of
the day, what some would call fine, but fineness was natural to him and it did
not sit unseemly on him. He had the softest voice and the gentlest manner, and
with all the courage and prowess of a hero. His gallantries as a man of
fashion are well known, the only portion of his character I wish to veil
over...
The following morning we lionised this magnificent place. Every walk and drive
brought us into new features. The extensive gardens, celebrated for an
enormous pear tree, caught our attention. The length of said tree is something
immense. Also, I must not forget the huge Portugal laurel and the larch...;.
The silver firs are equal to the most luxuriant [?piceas] in the pinetums of
the present day. It would be difficult to find such specimens now. The dark
green of the foliage and the thickness of the stems seem as if they belonged to
some distant hemisphere. The spruce firs, too, are very fine. The grandeur of
the timber, particularly the oaks and sycamore, quite give you the idea of a
scene of Claude Lorraine's, and that dark, clear river always running rapidly
along [?creates] a scene that perhaps might border, without its cheerful and
its darling sound, upon the gloomy.'
Killymoon Castle and the estate were sold on Colonel Stewart's death in 1850.
The (Killymoon) papers
As might be expected, James Stewart's papers are at their
best in documenting Co. Tyrone elections and politics during the period 1768-
1812, his role in the local Volunteer movement from the late 1770s to the bitter
end in 1793, his position as spokesman for the Presbyterians (particularly
letters to him from the Rev. William Campbell of Armagh and the Rev. William
Crawford of Strabane, Co. Tyrone, urging him to oppose a bill of 1785 to
prevent clandestine marriages, which the Presbyterians felt was particularly
aimed at marriages celebrated by their ministers), etc, etc.
Mrs Stewart's letters and papers, 1798-1831, which include a
copy of her will (1821), principally consist of a run of 337 letters to her,
spread over this whole period, from Rebecca Leslie, wife of Colonel, later
General, David Leslie, the third son of the 6th Earl of Leven. The Leslies had
come to Ireland in 1796 with the Tay Fencibles, a Scottish regiment of which
David Leslie was colonel and which had been stationed at Cookstown, where the
Leslies met and befriended the Stewarts. The letters begin towards the end of
1797 and become frequent and regular when the Leslies moved with the Tay
Fencibles to Carrickfergus in 1798. They mostly contain news of family and
social events, but the '98 and '99 letters make many references to the
rebellion and its aftermath. A letter of 27 January 1807, for example, comments
amusingly on the Marquis and Marchioness of Donegall, '... who have come to
Scotland to retrench and to starve, as her Ladyship says, upon £17,000 per
annum, "which is all their cruel creditors will allow them", ... are
so dashing they quite astonish our sober Scottishies, but our gentlemen have
found out that the poor Marquis is very weak and does not understand literary
conversation, which is what they feed themselves upon; so they hold him rather
cheap and look a little glum at the gold bragg parties which Ly D. has
introduced....' During the next thirty years the Leslies served or lived in
various places in Ireland and Scotland, and the correspondence between Mrs
Leslie and Mrs Stewart continues throughout these years.
The Stewart papers peter out unsurprisingly with Stewart's
descendants huddling in Boulogne to escape their creditors. The Stewart
finances, always parlous, finally collapsed in the 1840s, so that there was
nothing left for Stewart's daughter, Louisa, who had married Henry John
Clements of Ashfield in 1811, to inherit when her brother, Colonel William
Stewart, died childless in 1850. Some 150 letter to Colonel Stewart's Dublin
agents, Messrs Stewart & Kincaid, 1841-1848, documenting the financial
difficulties of these last years, will be found at D/2966/92/B.
The above description is mainly based on the content of the
archive. However, it also draws on W.A. Maguire (ed.), "Up in Arms: the
1798 Rebellion in Ireland: a Bicentenary [Ulster Museum] Exhibition"
(Belfast, 1998), which in turn draws on Professor E.M. Johnston-Liik's 'History
of the Irish Parliament, 1690-1800' database.
A.P.W. Malcomson
This material is subject to Crown copyright and, except for
personal study, any unauthorised use, copying or mirroring, is prohibited.
Permission to publish may be obtained by writing to; Head of Reader Services,
PRONI, 66 Balmoral Avenue, Belfast BT9 6NY, Northern Ireland.
Stranorlar, Co. Donegal
Lewis 1842: County Donegal:
STRANORLAR, a market and post-town, and a parish in the barony of RAPHOE,
county of DONEGAL, and province of ULSTER; 10¼ miles (W. by S.) from Lifford,
and 18 (N. W. by N.) from Dublin, on the road from Strabane to Ballyshannon,
and on the river Fin; containing 6114 inhabitants, of which number 641 are in
the town. The parish, according to the Ordnance survey, comprises 15,509
statute acres, of which 159 are under water. That part which forms the estate
of Sir Edmund Hayes is under an improved system of agriculture, but the other
part appears to be neglected. Here appear two veins containing spar, ochre, and
apparently lead ore; they are in a limestone rock, and in the vicinity are
great bodies of decomposed limestone, forming excellent manure, and some is
quarried for building. The stupendous mountains of Barnesmore, alike remarkable
for their perpendicular ascent and for their beautifully varied rocks and herbage,
form the Gap of the same name, situated at the south western extremity of the
parish; through this gap a fine stream flows into Lough Esk, and it is also the
pass between the north and west of Ireland, coastwise, and on the leading road
to Donegal. The town comprises 116 houses, of which 20 are well built, the
remainder being occupied by labourers and artisans. Here is a good hotel; also
a market and court house. The market, at which fine brown linen is sold, is
held every Saturday; and there are fairs on March 29th, June 11th, July 6th,
Aug. 12th, Oct. 10th, and Dec. 9th and 10th. Manor courts are held in the court
house before the seneschal on the first Saturday in every month; and petty
sessions are held on alternate Wednesdays. The linen manufacture is partially
carried on; there are two extensive bleach greens near the town, one belonging
to J. Johnston. Esq.; the other adjoining Summer Hill, to J. and C. Johnston,
Esqrs. In the neighbourhood are numerous gentlemen's seats, among which are
Drumboe Castle, the residence of Sir E. Hayes, Bart., M. P., situated on a
pretty lawn in the centre of an improved demesne; Tyrcallen, of H. Stevens,
Esq., in a beautiful and extensively planted demesne, on the principal
elevation in which the proprietor has erected an observatory; Edenmore, of J.
Cochran, Esq., J. P., a neat mansion, in a small but handsome demesne, on the
south bank of the Fin; Woodlands, a handsome modern residence, of J. Johnston,
Esq., J. P.; Summer Hill, of C. Johnston, Esq.; Glenmore, of C. Style, Esq., a
handsome mansion in improved grounds; the Glebe house, of the Rev. T.
Fullerton; and Cloghan Lodge, the occasional residence of Sit T. O. Style,
Bart., near the romantic waterfall and salmon leap of this name on the Fine.
The living is a rectory and vicarage, in the diocese of
Raphoe, and in the patronage of the Crown; the tithes amount to £485. The glebe
house was built in 1812 at a cost of £692 British currency, of which £46 was a
loan, and the remainder a gift from the late Board of First Fruits. The church
is an old building, to which the same Board, in 1825, granted a loan of £300
for the erection of a gallery. Prior to the 24th of March, 1835, this parish,
forming part of the deanery of Raphoe, consisted of the two perpetual cures of
Stranorlar and Kilteevock, but by an order in council of the above date it was
disappropriated from the deanery, and erected into a separate and distinct
parish, or benefice. It was provided, howsoever, that the incumbent should pay
to the perpetual curate of Kilteevock the same salary as had been paid by the
dean. The R. C. parish is co-extensive with that of the Established Church;
there are two chapels, one in the town, and one about five miles westward.
There are places of worship for Presbyterians, in connection with the Synod of
Ulster (of the third class), for Seceders (of the second class), and for
Wesleyan Methodists; also a dispensary. The parochial school has an endowment
from Col. Robertson's charity; there is another under the trustees of Erasmus
Smith's charity; and four more are aided by subscriptions; in these schools are
about 350 children. There are also two private schools, in which are about 130
children; and two Sunday schools.
2.1.3
The Tyrcallen Papers
(PRONI D/3319)
Summary
The Stewart Papers comprise c.2,250 documents (including some volumes) and
c.25 outsize maps. They derive from the Tyrcallen branch of the Stewarts of
Killymoon, Cookstown, Co. Tyrone: in particular, to Henry Stewart of Tyrcallen,
Stranorlar, Co. Donegal (1743-1840), younger brother of James Stewart of
Killymoon, M.P. for Co. Tyrone, 1768-1812. For further information about the
family, see the calendar of the Stewart of Killymoon papers (D/3167), one
section of which was also deposited by Mr H.W.B. and Mr G.P. Stewart. For
another related collection, see T/3007.
Background
Henry Stewart's wife, Elizabeth, was a daughter of the 2nd Lord Longford
and a sister of the Duchess of Wellington. For this reason, some sections of
these papers consist of letters to, as well as from, members of the
Longford/Pakenham family, 1755-1846. The letters from the Duchess of
Wellington run from 1813 to 1831, and there are earlier 'Grand Tour' letters
from Mrs Stewart's and her brother, the 2nd Earl of Longford, 1793-1795. Henry
Stewart himself was a land agent - perhaps 'accountant' would be a better word
- who managed the estate affairs of a number of families, on a basis which was
professional by the standards of the day, from an office in Clare Street and
then at 6 Leinster Street, Dublin. The bulk of the archive relates to his
clients' (and his own) estate and business affairs.
The Palmerston
estate
His most important clients were the 2nd and 3rd Viscounts
Palmerston, who owned Irish estates mainly in Cos. Dublin and Sligo. Henry
Stewart was not appointed to this prestigious agency until 1784, so the
majority of the papers were actually inherited by him from his predecessor,
John Hatch. They include: case papers, 1757-1792, about the debt due to the
1st Viscount Palmerston, grandfather of the 2nd, by Robert Roberts of Dublin,
who had been the 2nd Viscount's deputy as Chief Remembrancer of the Court of
Exchequer in Ireland (an office held by the 1st Viscount from 1727 until his
death in 1757, closely followed by that of Roberts). When the 1st Viscount's
executors came to settle accounts with his successor as Chief Remembrancer, it
was found that there were outstanding balances to the amount of well over
£20,000. A long legal battle then followed, and in the end - in 1785 - all Roberts's
estates were conveyed to the 2nd Viscount Palmerstone. The title deeds to
these estates go back to 1693, and the estates consisted of property in Hanbury
Lane (Earl of Meath's Liberty) and Ballsbridge, Co. Dublin, and in Drumcondra,
Dublin City, and at Garrynew, Co. Wexford. Included among the title deeds are
a copy Prerogative probate (1756) of the will (1755) of Joseph Maddock, Captain
in Colonel Stewart's Regiment of Foot, together with a grant of administration
(1758) to the will (1757) of Robert Roberts himself.
Other Palmerston estate papers include: a rental, with
observations, of the ancestral Palmerston estate in the county and city of
Dublin (the residue of Palmerston itself, Chapelizod, Oxmantown Green and Hill
and various houses), c.1805; a rental and account, with observations, for the
entire county and city of Dublin property, 1821; accounts, 1813-1815, between
James Walker, the local receiver of the Co. Sligo rents, and Stewart & Swan
(Henry Stewart and his partner, Graves Chamney Swan) for receipts and
disbursements on the 3rd Viscount's account; and letters and papers, 1820,
1826, and 1841-1845, all relating to the Sligo estate of the 3rd Viscount.
Other clients'
papers
Papers relating to the estates of other clients include: rentals
and accounts, 1822-1851, between Stewart & Swan and their successors, on
the one hand, and successive Earls of Longford and Viscounts de Vesci, on the
other, relating to the Longford/de Vesci joint estate in Dunleary, Co. Dublin,
and in Cos. Cork (Ballyhindon, Glandore and Monkstown) and Limerick; set of
detailed accounts, 1797-1800, between the 'Hon. Colonel King [Robert King,
later 1st Viscount Lorton] as sole executor to his father, Robert Earl of
Kingston, and residuary legatee ... with Henry Stewart Esq., from 24 November
1797 to 30 June 1800'; title deeds, leases and other papers, 1688-1812, about
the Co. Limerick property (Ballymorelly, Ballyroan, etc) of Serjeant Richard
Benson Warren of Dublin; receipts, rentals, accounts, surveys, correspondence
and a notice (1818) about tree-planting, 1800-1824, all relating to the Fartagh
estate of James Butler Stopford in the barony of Galmoy, Co. Kilkenny, with a
rental of £1,356 per annum in 1823; title deeds, leases, rentals, accounts,
surveys and correspondence, 1764-1882, about the estates of Mrs Gertrude
FitzGerald, nee Lyon, at Watercastle, Queen's County, and Mount Blakeney,
barony of Coshma, Co. Limerick, including a copy of the will (1802) of her
father, Thomas Lyon of Watercastle; leases, deeds, rent ledgers, receipts,
accounts, correspondence, etc, 1765-1850, all relating to the estates of the
Nugent family of Castlerickard, Co. Meath, in Cos. Meath and Westmeath; and
papers and voluminous correspondence, 1814, 1827, and 1844-1846, about the estate
and financial affairs of the 2nd and 3rd Earls of Howth, and the development of
the Howth Castle estate, Co. Dublin, particularly in the mid-1840s.
Business records
of Stewart and Swan
Papers relating to the running of Stewart & Swan's land
agency business include: voluminous, usually biannual (and also with some
duplication) balance sheets of the firm, 1804 and 1807-1824, recording the
identity of the clients and the huge sums which passed through the books of the
firm (presumably the then equivalent of turnover) and which could amount to
£90,000 or even £175,000 during the half-year; a printed advertisement for the
'New Brighton' development on the Longford/de Vesci estate between Seapoint and
Dunleary, Co. Dublin, c.1820; and copy testimonials to Stewart's efficiency as
a land agent from satisfied clients, including the 3rd Viscount Palmerston,
1834.
Papers about the
private affairs of Henry Stewart and G.C. Swan
Papers relating to the private estate and financial affairs
of Henry Stewart include: accounts, 1786-1801, between Henry Stewart and George
Whitelocke, Wokingham, Berkshire, all relating to their joint purchase of the
Tyrcallen estate, Stranorlar, Co. Donegal, from the Rev. Oliver McCausland in
1789 and the subsequent receipts from and disbursements on that property;
subsequent Tyrcallen estate papers, 1808, 1819 and 1836-1850, including
correspondence about the sale of the estate in the second half of the 1840s;
receipts, receipted accounts, vouchers, etc, 1823 and 1828-1840, to Henry Stewart
and other members of his family for all sorts of things, among them work on
Tyrcallen House (1828), a carriage (1829), work and other expenses relating to
Stewart's business office at 6 Leinster Street, Dublin, at various times, his
funeral expenses (1840), etc.; and an original bundle of 'Vouchers of the Hon.
Mrs [Elizabeth] Stewart's accounts from 1 February 1843 to 31 January 1848
...'.
Papers about the private estate and financial affairs of
Henry Stewart's partner, Graves Chamney Swan, include: deeds, bonds,
judgements, accounts and correspondence, 1739 and 1774-1844, about Swan's
estates in Drogheda, at Kildavin and Ballypierce, Co. Carlow, and at Bolecreen
and Balinclea, Co. Wexford, and those of the Graves, Chamney and Graham
families in Drogheda, Cos. Louth and Meath, Cos. Carlow, Wexford and Wicklow,
and Dublin City and County, 1668-1799, including 'A rent roll of the real and
personal estates of John Graham of Plattin ...', Co. Meath, 1763.
Probably Rev Frederick William Stewart, died 4/1/1884,
admon. 22/2/1884, of Farnham House, Finglas, co Dublin, batchelor, granted to
Margaret Reid, (wf of William Reid) of Randlophfield, Stirling, the sister and
one of the next of kin.
Killymoon Estate in Newspapers - Sale
1851[73]:
The KILLYMOON Estate.—The creditors of the Killymoon estate, for which it is
known that the veteran Lord Gough is in treaty, are desirous of having that
noble property put up for public competition, in the hope that there will be as
much realized as will pay off the entire encumbrances. Many persons with local
interest prefer that the property should not be apportioned in small lots, as,
if it were in the hands of one wealthy proprietor, more encouragement would be
given to the tenantry and the business of Cookstown. The inhabitants have
lately petitioned his Excellency, the Lord Lieutenant, and got the town
incorporated under the act, to be governed by commissioners for lighting,
cleansing, and watching. They have not yet commenced operations, but will do so
as soon as the Encumbered Estates Commissioners will have the Killymoon
property disposed of.
The following refers to William (1710)’s grandson William (son of James) who
lost the estate, and to his sister Eleanor and nephew Theophilus Clements.
In the Court of the Commissioners for Sale of Encumbered Estates in Ireland.
in the Matter if the Estate of William Stewart, esq, Owner and Petitioner,
deceased, continued in the names of Mary Eleanor Stewart, and Henry Theophilus
Clements, executors and devisees of the last will and testament of said William
Stewart.
Sale postponed to 24 October (1851).
The House of Castle of Killymoon was designed and executed by the late Mr.
Nash, at a large expense, about 40 years ago. It is in good order, and contains
every accommodation and embellishment which the well- known taste of the
architect could produce.
Upon the Demesne there is a
profusion of beautiful and valuable timber, of the finest growth, valued some
years ago at £23,359 17s. Id. It is watered by two good rivers, in which there
is excellent trout fishing; both streams unite under the Windows of the house.
The grounds are nearly surrounded by a high demesne wall, which secures its
privacy. The woods are well stocked with pheasants and other game. Numerous
stocks of wild fowl frequent the rivers, upon which there are two falls of 15
feet each, admirably adapted to drive spinning machinery or bleach mills in
that fine flax growing country.
The Gardens and Pleasure Grounds
are very extensive and in good order, with a range of 150 feet of Graperies
and Peach-houses, in full bearing. The neighbourhood is peaceable, and the
inhabitants are orderly and industrious. The timber on the lands adjoining
Killymoon and Cookstown (exclusive of that in the demesne) has been valued at £3,562
14s.[74]
It appears that the estate was bought by Mr Cooper, who sold off some timber in
1854.
COUNTY TYRONE, IRELAND[75].
To be SOLD by Private Contract, KILLYMOON DEMESNE and MANSION-HOUSE,
Within a mile of the Cookstown Terminus of the Belfast and
Ballymena Railway, and Eight miles from the Dungannon Terminus of the Portadown
and Dungannon Railway, the latter of which affords easy access to Dublin.
The Killymoon Demesne, situated in one of the best districts
in Ireland, and widely celebrated for its picturesque beauty, contains about
600 acres of excellent well-drained, arable, and pasture Land, and is almost
entirely surrounded by a well-built Wall from ten to twelve feet high. The
ground of the Park is beautifully undulated, interspersed with Plantations and
studded throughout with clumps of Forest Trees, and Timber of splendid growth,
and is intersected for the entire length by two rivers, which unite near the
Mansion-house. The Park is entered by four lodges and avenues, at different
points, and contains two valuable Stone Quarries, a Lime Quarry and Kiln, a
Gravel Pit, also a few acres of Bog Turf, and is provided with labourers’
Cottages, and two ornamental Cottages. The Mansion-house (for many generations
the seat of the Stewart family) is of dressed stone, in the castellated style,
and was built by the well-know architect of Carlton House, Joseph Nash, at a
cost of upwards of £70,000. It stands upon rising ground, which forms a natural
terrace, at a short distance from the junction of the two rivers, the views of
which it commands, and is in every way a suitable residence for a nobleman or
gentleman of fortune, no expense having been spared in the decorations,
fittings, and appointments. The principal rooms are 10 feet high, and their
dimensions as follows (the window-frames, folding-doors, and floors, being of
solid Oak):—Reception and Anteroom, 52ft. by 24ft.; Morning Drawing-Room, 26ft.
by 20½ ft.; Entrance Hall, 48ft. by 24ft.; Dining-room, 35ft. by 24ft.;
Library, 35ft. by 24ft.; Breakfast-Room, 20ft. by 20½ ft., &c. The Bed-
Room accommodation comprises 25 Rooms, and Dressing-rooms, and the Offices of
every description are on the most ample scale, consisting of Butlers’ Pantries,
Store-Rooms, Wine and Beer Collars, Washhouse, Laundry, Dairies, Kitchen (35ft.
by 24ft.), Larders, Housekeeper's-Room, Wood, Coal, and Turf Stores, &c.
Excellent Spring Water is laid on. The walled Flower and Kitchen Gardens, with
Lawns and Ornamental Shrubberies, all laid out with the greatest taste,
comprise about 12 Acres (exclusive of several Miles of picturesque walks
through the Park and Woods), and are furnished with a great variety of Flowers
and Shrubs, and contain extensive Vineries, Peach and Fig houses in full
bearing, Conservatory Stove, Mushroom and Forcing-houses, Potting Sheds,
Tool-houses, two excellent Gardener’s Dwelling- houses, Ice-house, &c. The
walls are covered with every kind of choice Fruit Trees in good bearing. The
Timber, which has been most carefully cultivated for several generations, and
is universally admitted to be unequalled in growth and beauty in the country,
comprises Oak, Spanish Chestnut, Ash, Elm, Beech, Purple Beech, Lime, Poplar,
Birch, Tulip Tree, Sycamore, variegated Sycamore, Alder, Maple, Hornbeam,
Walnut, Larch, Pine, Scotch Fir, Silver and Spruce Fir, etc. The power of the
falls of the rivers within the park is estimated at about 100 horse, a great
part of which is taken advantage of by the erection of two Mills, with Water
Wheels, one of which is employed in dressing flax, threshing com, &c., and
the other, 124ft. by 54ft., with new iron Water Wheel, 18ft. in diameter, is
furnished with powerful sawing machinery, and could easily be converted to the
manufacture of linen yarn, which is extensively carried on in the
neighbourhood. The Stables are furnished with Stalls for 25 horses, 4 Carriage
Houses, Granaries, Stores, Saddle House, &c., and the Farm Yard with
extensive sheds for feeding cattle, Piggeries, Kennels, Poultry Yard, &c.
The rivers, which are strictly preserved, abound in trout, and the fishing is
excellent. The covers are well stocked with pheasants, and there is an
abundance of wild fowl; woodcocks are extremely numerous in the season, most of
the under-wood in the covers being laurel. The following is an extract front a letter
written by Sir Joseph Paxton M.P.:_ “I have visited most of the celebrated
country seats in the United Kingdom, and a very large number on the Continent,
and I have never seen one (for the extent of it) more compact, more perfect in
itself, than Killymoon, or where the highest natural beauties have been more
aided by refined taste and judgment.” All the Land is in hand, and the Title
Parliamentary.
For information, apply to Messrs. SWIFT & WAGSTAFF, 32, Great George
Street, Westminster, London; or to the Proprietor, Mr. J.D. COOPER, who will
afford any further particulars which may be required.
The Estate was again sold by Col Bolton in 1872[76].
2.1.4
STEWART, of ATHENRY,
CO. Tyrone. June 14, 1803.[77]
The Right Hon. JOHN STEWART, late Attorney-General in Ireland, M.P., in 1802,
for the county of Tyrone, created a Baronet, as above, married Mary, daughter
of Mervyn Archdall, of Castle Archdall, co. Fermanagh, Esq., (by Mary Dawson,
daughter of Viscount Carlton) and by her (who d. in 1795) had issue: 1. Mary, b.
in 1791, d. 1810; 2. Hugh, 6. March, 17931 and 3. Mervyn, b. in 1799.
Andrew Stewart, (commonly styled captain Andrew Stewart,) who, with lord Castle
Stewart, to whom he was related, and his (Andrew's) brother James, who
afterwards fixed his residence at Ballymona, co. Tyrone, went from Scotland to
Ireland about the year 1627: on his marriage, (as hereafter mentioned,) he
obtained from lord Castle Stewart the greater part of the manor of Castle
Stewart; but he afterwards built, and resided on, another seat, called
Gortigil, near Stewart's Town, GO. Tyrone (at a spot immediately adjoining the
present residence of the Castle Stewart family,) which has ever since been in
possession of captain Stewart's descendants : he served with colonel Robert
Stewart, of Fry, in defence of the forts of Dnngannon and Mountjoy in 1641; and
at the rising of the rebels at Artrea, or Ardtreigh, co. Tyrone, for the
purpose of destroying the protestant families of that county, his house was
attacked; but with a few Scots' followers he defended it for two days, when
assistance was sent to him from Mountjoy Fort. Captain Stewart m. Sarah, eldest
daughter of lord Castle Stewart, (commonly styled lord Ochiltree, and sister to
Mary, countess of Suffolk,) by whom (who survived him, and d. in 1687,) he had
issue : l. Robert, who had an only child, Janet, who m., in 1684, John Bell, of
Mulluntear, esq.; 2. Hugh, (of whom hereafter); 3. James, an officer R. N., who
m. ------ daughter of Admiral sir Cloudesley Shovel (A3M: who was responsible
for and died in, a major naval disaster in the Scilly Isles), and d. gallantly
in battle. Captain Stewart having long been an object devoted to vengeance for
the zeal and loyalty he evinced in the royal cause, was, at length, put to
death by rebels about the year 1650. Hugh, the 2d son, m. Margaret, daughter of
Thomas Morris, of Mountjoy Castle, esq., and had issue, John, of Gortigal, who
m. Mary, daughter of ---- Kennedy, and had issue, Hugh and James, and several
daughters. Hugh Stewart, the eldest son, in holy orders, rector of Suman, co.
Tyrone, m. Sarah, daughter of the rev. Andrew Hamilton, (a relative of the Marquis
of Abercorn, from whom he obtained the two valuable parishes of Toboyne aud
Donogheady, both in the presentation of the Abercorn family, in Ireland): by
his 1st wife, the sole daughter and heiress of sir William Cunningham, of
Cunningham Head, in North Britain, and of Castle-Conyngham, co. Donegal, bart.,
and had issue: 1. John, created a baronet, as above; 2. Andrew, an officer in
the service of the East India Company, who fell in an engagement in India; and
3. Henry, in holy orders, rector of Toman, co. Tyrone, m. Sophia, daughter of
-— Clossy, of Dublin, esq., and has issue: Henry, John, William, Bagnall, Hugh,
and other children; 4. Anne, m. Humphrey Nixon, of Nixon Lodge, co. Cavan,
esq.; 5. Sarah, m. William Baillie, of Termsker, co. Tyrone, esq.; and 6
Amelia, d. unm.; and
I. The right, hon. sir JOHN, the eldest son, was created a baronet, as above.
Anns—Or, a lion rampant, within a double tressure,
connterflory, gules, within a bordure, gobony, azure and argent.
2.1.5 Hamiltons
(also in the Pakenham volume).
From Wendy Reid 27 Jan 2003:
Wendy Reid
My Hamilton descent is from the 1st Duke of Hamilton. The Hamilton seat of
Brownhall in Co. Donegal was founded by John Hamilton, a grandson of the 1st
Duke.
He came from the Scottish family whose seat at the time was Broomhill,
Lanarkshire. Land in north western Ireland was granted to him and he took
possession of lands at Murvagh - just out of Donegal town and near to the
coast. The original Brownhall house was built there around 1550 and in 1690 his
descendant, James Hamilton, moved the family seat to nearby Ballintra where the
present Brownhall house still stands today - and still occupied by the present
John Hamilton.
The family maintained the old tradition of naming the eldest son after the
grandfather, so since then the line has gone John - James - John - James etc,
down to John today.
His eldest son is James.
Fortunately, the family has maintained an unbroken line of ownership of the
estate down through the centuries. The estate is not as extensive as it had
been back in the 1800's due to debts left by my 4th Great Grandfather, John H,
but it stands as one of the few estates still remaining in the original
family's hands.
The debts were not down to bad management. That particular John H inherited
Brownhall just before the Famine and spent a good deal of the family finances
on his tenants. He built several churches, instigated Sunday schools, built a
workhouse and mills to create employment at the time.
As a result his tenants did not suffer the same fate suffered by so many
others.
A book was recently published about this man and I've sent you a link on it.
His daughter, Mary, married Frederick Courbarron, a farmer from Jersey in the
Channel Islands. Her son, Augustus James, eventually settled in Australia in
1888 and I descend from him - my GG Grandfather.
This Hamilton family married with several Stewart families, namely the Killymoon
Stewarts. Isabella Stewart, daughter of Col. William Stewart (b.1710) of
Killymoon, married John Hamilton and their eldest son, James, married Helen
Pakenham.
The John Hamilton of the book is the eldest child of the Hamilton/Pakenham
marriage.
You have covered this Stewart line quite well in your site.
I had a look at the line of Eleanor King - wife of William Stewart - of
Rockingham. Her father, Sir Henry King, was one of those not very well liked by
the Irish.
They lived in the town of Boyle, Roscommon, and last year I paid a visit to the
house still there. It was destroyed by fire some time ago but has been
completely restored and is now a museum to the history of the family and the
Earls of Kingston.
I would like to get back there again and tour the place properly as back then I
was 8 months and 2 weeks pregnant and found the two hour tour quite a haul!
Very informative though - I just remember constantly looking for somewhere to
sit down:)).
At the moment one of my missions is to trace back further on the line of the
Killymoon Stewarts, one thing I know is that they are connected to the Athenree
Stewarts.
In 1999 there was an exhibition at the Ulster Museum featuring William Stewarts
son, James and his "Grand Tour" of Europe.
Another family that married with the Brownhall Hamiltons is the Crightons
(Creighton) who were the Earls of Erne.
The James Hamilton, who built the present Brownhall house at Ballintra in 1690,
married Jane Creighton, daughter of Col. Abraham Creighton. This family were
the owners of Crom Castle in Co. Fermanagh and his grandson was the 1st
Earl of Erne.
I don't know how much information, if anything, you would like about the
Grenfells. I know on my own tree that I rarely go further back than one
generation in families who married in, if for no other reason that the amount
of information increases very rapidly indeed if you do otherwise. So unless
you ask I shan't do anything. We think the Grenfells are an interesting
family, with all sorts of adventurers. One John Grenfell was killed by bush
rangers in Australia, but it led the arrest and conviction of the outlaws, so
in honour of him they gave the township of Emu Creek the new name of Grenfell.
There's Lord Grenfell, of course (not close enough to me ...), and Sir Wilfred,
who was my father's first cousin.
If you like, I can send you the section of my family tree relating to the
Hamiltons ?.
I have the entire tree on disc - its huge going back to the 1200's - but
haven't run it on the computer since I arrived here from Australia in Feb last
year.
2.1.6 Extract
from “The Scotch-Irish in America”
By
Henry Jones Ford
1915
[http://www.libraryireland.com/ScotchIrishAmerica/Contents.php]
This is an extract only
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE
Chapter
I. The Plantation of Ulster
II. The Land and the People
III. Scotch Migration to Ulster
IV. Formative Influences
V. Emigration to America
VI. Scotch-Irish Settlements
VII. On the New England Frontier
VIII. In New York and the Jerseys
IX. Pennsylvania--The Scotch-Irish Centre
X. The Indian Wars
XI. Planting the Church
XII. On Stony Ground
XIII. The Source of American Presbyterianism
XIV. Expansion South and West
XV. Some Pioneer Preachers
XVI. Scotch-Irish Educational Institutions
XVII. The Spread of Popular Education
XVIII. The Revolutionary Period
XIX. The Birth of the Nation
XX. A Survey and an Appreciation
APPENDICES
A. Ireland at the Time of the Plantation
B. The Scottish Undertakers
C. The Making of the Ulster Scot
D. Statement of Frontier Grievances
E. Galloway's Account of the American Revolt
F. The Mecklenburg Resolves
Chapter I.
In 1609, six years after the accession of James VI of
Scotland to the throne of England as James I. in its line of kings, a scheme
was matured for planting Ulster with Scotch and English, and the following year
the settlement began. The actual settlers were mostly Scotch, and the Ulster
plantation took the character of a Scotch occupation of the North of Ireland.
In that plantation was formed the breed known as Scotch-Irish, which was
prominent in the struggle for American independence and which supplied to
American population an ingredient that has deeply affected the development of
the nation. It is the purpose of this work to give an account of this
Scotch-Irish strain in the composition of the American people, tracing its
history and influence.
The circumstances in which the Ulster plantation was formed
had much to do with fixing the characteristics of the breed. The plantation was
attended by an ouster of native Irish that is a staple subject of censure by
historians who, from the point of view supplied by the ideas of our own times,
hold that wiser arrangements might have been made in the interest of all
parties. But that was not easy to see then. Francis Bacon is reckoned a wise
man but he did not see it. In a letter written in 1601 to Cecil, Elizabeth's
famous Secretary of State, Bacon referred to three roots of trouble in Ireland:
"The first, the ambition and absoluteness of the chiefs
of the families and septs. The second, the licentious idleness of their kernes
and soldiers, that lie upon the country by cesses and such like oppressions.
And the third, the barbarous laws, customs, their brehon laws, habits of
apparel, their poets or heralds that enchant them in savage manners, and sundry
other dregs of barbarism and rebellion."
The policy of making English settlements in Ireland was no
new thing. It had been pursued fitfully from Norman times. Bacon did not
question it, but he argued that further undertakings of the kind should not be
left "as heretofore, to the pleasure of Undertakers and adventurers, where
and how to build and plant; but that they do it according to a prescript or
formulary." In this way the Government would be assured that the places
would be selected "which are fittest for colonies or garrisons, as well
for doubt of the foreigner, as for keeping the country in bridle." Bacon
had the matter so much on his mind that in 1606 he presented to King James
Considerations Touching the Plantation in Ireland written in the highest style
of his stately eloquence. He said that among the works of kings two "have
the supreme pre-eminence: the union, and the plantation of kingdoms." By a
singular favour of Divine Providence "both these kinds of foundations or
regenerations" had been put into the hands of King James: "the one,
in the union of the island of Britain; the other in the plantation of great and
noble parts of the island of Ireland." Adorning his periods with elaborate
metaphors in which figured the harp of Ireland, the harp of Orpheus and the
harp of David, Bacon expatiated upon the greatness of the achievement
"when people of barbarous manners are brought to give over and discontinue
their customs of revenge and blood, of dissolute life, and of theft, and of
rapine; and to give ear to the wisdom of laws and governments."
At the time this discourse was written the property of the
Crown in Ulster consisted chiefly of the abbey lands, and plans were under
consideration for settling English and Scotch colonists upon these lands while
the Irish lords retained their lands with English title and under English law.
But so important did the plantation appear to Bacon, even although thus
limited, that he suggested that the King, the better to express his "affection
to the enterprise, and for a pledge thereof," should add the Earldom of
Ulster to the titles of the Prince of Wales.
Bacon went on to discuss in detail the principles that
should govern the enterprise. He thought that "the generality of
Undertakers" should be "men of estate and plenty," not that they
would go there themselves but that they would have means to engage in the
business for the "advancement of their younger children or kinsfolk; or
for the sweetness of the expectation of a great bargain in the end." As
incentives the lands should be let to them on easy rates and large liberties.
Upon the latter point Bacon promptly explains that he does not mean liberties
of jurisdiction which "hath been the error of the ancient donations and
plantations in that country." He means only "liberties tending to
commodity; as liberty to transport any of the commodities growing upon the
countries new planted; liberty to import from hence all things appertaining to
their necessary use, custom-free." If this wise advice had been acted upon
consistently the course of Irish and American history would have been
different.
At this time the colonization of Virginia was appealing for
support, but in comparison with the Ulster project the Virginia plantation
seemed so visionary that Bacon referred to it as "an enterprise in my
opinion differing as much from this, as Amadis de Gaul differs from Caesar's
Commentaries." He struck the same note in 1617 when as Lord Chancellor of
England he addressed the person called to be Lord Chief Justice of Ireland.
Bacon remarked that "Ireland is the last ex filiis Europae which hath been
reclaimed from desolation and a desert (in many parts) to population and
plantation; and from savage and barbarous customs to humanity and civility."
He commended the plantations to the special care of the new justice, with the
admonition: "You are to be a master builder, and a master planter, and
reducer of Ireland."
Bacon's views have been considered at some length because
they illumine the ideas with which the statesmanship of the age approached such
tasks, and also reveal the origin of some characteristic features of the Ulster
plantation. To Bacon's view the tribal system of Ireland with its state of
chronic disorder was a remnant of the same barbarism against which Caesar
fought in Gaul and Charlemagne in continental Europe. The planting of trusty
colonies among uncivilized peoples as garrisons to check their insubordination
and as centers from which culture would be diffused was a practice that went back
to the times of the ancient Roman commonwealth, had been adopted by many
European rulers, and was generally regarded as a well-settled expedient of
prudent statesmanship. Nothing in Bacon's remarks indicates any doubt in his
mind as to the rightfulness of such a policy in Ireland, although it
necessarily involved dispossession of natives.
His only concern was to adopt such measures as would make
the policy efficacious. Moreover it should be borne in mind that in that time
the feudal principle that the tenure of land is contingent upon personal
service to the State had not been overborne by the notions of individual
ownership and exclusive right that have since become dominant, although in our
own times there are signs of reaction. It seemed altogether fitting that rebels
and traitors should be ejected and that the land should be placed in charge of
those upon whom the King could rely when he called for service. At the bottom
of land tenure was a personal relation between the King and his liege. The State
in its modern aspect as a sovereign authority deriving its revenues from
systematic taxation and regulating rights and duties by positive law was in
process of formation but it was not fully developed until long after the period
of the Ulster plantation.
The effect of Bacon's advice in the Ulster arrangements is
distinctly marked. To it seems to be due one of the existing orders of English
nobility. Bacon deemed it so important "to allure by all means fit
Undertakers" that in the memorial of 1606 he suggested that grants of
knighthood, "with some new difference and precedence," might
"work with many" in drawing them to the support of the cause. Action
taken by the King early in 1611 accords with Bacon's advice. The order of
baronets, officially described as "a new dignitie between Barons and
Knights," was instituted, to consist of gentlemen who should bind
themselves to pay a sum sufficient to maintain thirty foot-soldiers in Ireland
for three years, the money thus obtained to be kept as a special fund so that
it might be "wholly converted to that use for which it was given and
intended." The first of these baronets was Bacon's own half-brother, and
it appears that Bacon advised the King on points raised touching the dignity
and precedence of the new order of nobility. There have been many flings at
James I. in this matter of the institution of the order of baronet--it seems to
have a special attraction for the sarcasm of writers of popular history--but
the record shows that it was inspired by Bacon and was performed by the King as
a utilitarian transaction quite in the modern spirit. A similar creation of
baronets was planned by King James in 1624 in aid of the colonization of Nova
Scotia, the fundamental condition being that each baronet of this class should
maintain six colonists for two years. The two classes are still distinguished
in their heraldry, all baronets having the right to bear the Red Hand of Ulster
on their coat of arms, except those of the Nova Scotian creation who display
the arms of Scotland. The order of baronet, although ranking below other orders
of nobility in dignity and precedence, may justly claim to possess a distinctly
imperial character.
Not long after Bacon's memorial to the King the
possibilities in Ulster were enlarged by a series of events which at the same
time emphasized the need of vigorous measures. These events serve also to
illustrate the clash of cultures that was the underlying cause of Irish
anarchy. The accession of James took place just as an uprising aided by Spanish
troops had been subdued after more than four years of hard fighting. The
submission of the Earl of Tyrone, the chief native magnate of Ulster, whose
surrender ended resistance in that province, took place only a few days before
James set out from Edinburgh to take possession of the throne of England to
which he had just been called. The Irish situation presented an urgent problem
to James and his counsellors. That problem, in addition to its chronic
perplexities arising from internal conditions, was complicated by foreign
influences. The Counter-Reformation was prosecuted with great vigour and
success by Jesuit missionaries in Ireland and their plans of making the country
an independent kingdom gained the sympathy of Pope Gregory XIII., who accepted
the Crown of Ireland in behalf of a nephew. The movement acquired serious
importance when Philip II. of Spain gave support to it. He was not inclined at
first to have anything to do with the Irish as he was embittered by the way in
which crews of wrecked galleons of the Armada had been robbed and murdered on
the western coast of Ireland. But English attacks on the coasts of Spain and
Portugal, and the support which Elizabeth extended to the provinces of the
Netherlands in revolt against his rule, reconciled him to alliances with Irish
insurgents, and twice during Elizabeth's reign Spanish forces were landed in
Ireland. Hugh O'Neill, the Earl of Tyrone, took a leading part in the dealings
with Spain, and he received from the Pope a crown of peacock's feathers. In
making his submission he had stipulated for the retention of his Earldom, with
its territorial jurisdiction in Ulster, although renouncing his Celtic chiefry.
This was done before he had heard of Elizabeth's death, and on hearing the news
he is said to have cried with vexation at not having held out for better terms.
With such an attitude on his part there was an instability in the Ulster
situation, soon to be displayed.
A difficulty with which the Government had constantly to
contend arose from the conflicts among the Irish themselves. The chiefs argued
that the land belonged to them; the occupants protested that the land was
theirs although the chiefs had a customary right to various services and dues
in kind. The chiefs quarrelled among themselves as to their rights. Tyrone was
incensed against his principal vassal, O'Cahan, who had made his submission
before Tyrone gave him leave. O'Cahan's feudal rent, formerly fixed at 21 cows
a year, was summarily raised to 200 cows. In support of this demand Tyrone took
possession of a large district belonging to O'Cahan. When O'Cahan made his
peace with the Government he had been assured that he should in future hold his
lands not from Tyrone but directly from the Crown. O'Cahan appealed to the
authorities at Dublin, but it was difficult to get Tyrone to appear to answer
the charges. When he did so he insulted the Lord Deputy and Council by
snatching the papers from O'Cahan's hand and tearing them to pieces. Eventually
the King decided to hear the case in England, but instead of obeying the
summons Tyrone fled the country, never to return. This action was quite
unexpected by the Government as Tyrone had been demanding that he be allowed to
plead his cause before the King in person. The affair has never been fully cleared
up but it is known that the Government had received information that
arrangements were making for another rising with Spanish aid and that Rory
O'Donnell, Earl of Tyrconnel, was in the movement. This information did not
mention Tyrone; but his cousin, Cuconnaught Maguire, who was in the plot and
who had just gone to Brussels on its business, heard there that it had been
discovered. Maguire procured a ship with which he sailed to the North of
Ireland and on September 4, 1607, took off both Tyrconnel and Tyrone. This was
the famous Flight of the Earls by which a great part of Ulster was escheated to
the English Crown. Those were times when the more strong and active spirits
among the masses of the people preferred to live as fighting men and raiders
rather than as industrial drudges, and bands began operations in various
districts. O'Cahan himself became disaffected, owing to some claims of the
Bishop of Derry to lands in O'Cahan's territory. He drove the bishop's tax
gatherers off the disputed lands, defied writs of law and did not submit until
a body of troops was about to march on his castle.
While these events were taking place a clash occurred
between the English commander at Derry and a neighbouring Irish lord that
culminated in another insurrection. Sir George Paulet, commander at Derry, was
a dull, incapable and arrogant person who had obtained the command by purchase.
In one of the Lord Deputy's reports to the home Government it is said of him
that "he was hated by those over whom he had command, and neither beloved
nor feared by the Irish, his neighbours." O'Dogherty, lord of Innishowen,
collected a number of his followers to fell timber. A rumour reached Paulet
that O'Dogherty was out to await the return of Tyrone, and Paulet marched on
O'Dogherty's castle. Although O'Dogherty was away, his wife refused to open the
gates and showed such an undaunted spirit that Paulet had to choose between
attempting a siege with an inadequate force or marching home again, and chose
the latter. O'Dogherty wrote a sharp letter of complaint to Paulet, but it was
in respectful language and was subscribed "your loving friend."
Paulet sent a railing letter in reply, closing with the declaration: "So
wishing confusion to your actions, I leave you to a provost marshal and his
halter." Although O'Dogherty was greatly incensed he did not refuse to
present himself at Dublin to answer for his conduct; and soon afterward he
acted as foreman of the Donegal grand jury that found bills for high treason
against the fugitive Earls. O'Dogherty, who was young and hot-headed, was
worked upon by others so that at last he did engage in a plot that enabled him
to take vengeance on Paulet. The details of this affair are particularly
instructive from the revelation they make of the sort of experiences that coloured
Ulster traditions and stamped the character of the Ulster breed.
O'Dogherty's first task was to procure a supply of arms and
ammunition to use against Paulet. He approached Captain Henry Hart, commander
of the fort of Culmore guarding the entrance to the Foyle, with complaints that
the attitude of the ladies of Derry deprived his wife of society suitable to
her rank. He asked Captain Hart to set a good example of social intercourse by
coming to dine with him bringing also Mrs. Hart and the children. The request
accorded with the conciliatory policy of the Government and the invitation was
unsuspectingly accepted. As soon as dinner was over O'Dogherty threatened Hart
with instant death unless he would agree to surrender the fort. Hart, a man of
the bull-dog breed, flatly refused. His wife and children were brought before
him and threatened with death; his wife fell at his feet on her knees, crying
and beseeching him to yield. It was urged that by so doing he would save the
garrison too, as all would be killed if force had to be used whereas all would
be spared if the post were quietly surrendered. O'Dogherty offered to take a
solemn oath that he would carry out his promise. Hart reminded him that he was
even then breaking the oath of allegiance he had taken not long before; and
bluntly declared that he "should never trust oath that ever he made
again." But while O'Dogherty failed to budge Captain Hart, he gained his
end by the aid of the Captain's wife. In her terror for her husband and her
children Mrs. Hart entered into a scheme for betraying the garrison.
Accompanied by O'Dogherty and his men, she went to the fort at nightfall,
crying out that the Captain had fallen from his horse and had broken his arm.
The little garrison ran out to help their commander and O'Dogherty rushed in
and took possession.
These events took place on April 18, 1608. Having obtained
the arms he needed, O'Dogherty set out at once to attack Paulet at Derry.
Although that commander had been warned of danger, he had not taken any
precautions and habitually neglected even such routine duty as the posting of
sentries. O'Dogherty's men" were inside the fortifications before the
noise roused Paulet. He ran out of his own house and hid in one of the other
houses where he was finally discovered and killed. The surprise was so complete
that the garrison was not able to make much resistance, but Lieutenant Baker
with about 140 persons, men, women, and children, took possession of two large
houses and held out until noon on the following day. By that time provisions
had run short and O'Dogherty had brought up a cannon from Culmore, so Baker
surrendered upon the promise that the lives of all with him should be spared.
This promise was fulfilled. O'Dogherty slew no prisoners and in the course of
his short rebellion no blood was shed by his orders except in actual conflict.
As soon as the Government was able to throw troops into the
country O'Dogherty's lieutenants abandoned Derry and Culmore, after setting
them on fire. The rebellion was never really formidable although O'Dogherty's
energetic movements carried it into several counties. His forces were finally
routed and he himself was killed on July 5, 1608. In a report to the home
Government Sir John Davies, Attorney-General of Ireland, noted that
O'Dogherty's death "happened not only on the fifth day of the month, but
on a Tuesday, but the Tuesday 11 weeks, that is 77 days after the burning of
Derry, which is an ominous number being seven elevens and eleven sevens."
The special mention of Tuesday in this collection of portents is an allusion to
an old proverb that Tuesday is the day of English luck in Ireland.
In consequence of these events vast areas were escheated to
the Crown, including most of the territory now forming the counties of Donegal,
Londonderry, Tyrone, Fermanagh, Armagh and Cavan. It was the good fortune of
the Ulster plantation that the man then at the head of the Irish Government as
Lord Deputy was an administrator of rare ability. Sir Arthur Chichester, the
Lord Deputy, is a typical specimen of the class of proconsuls whose solid
characteristics have been the building material of the British Empire. He was
born in 1563, the second son of Sir John Chichester of Ramleigh, near
Barnstaple, Devonshire. He was educated at Exeter College, Oxford; was an
officer in one of the Queen's best ships in the fight with the Spanish Armada
in 1588; in 1595 he was employed in a military command in Drake's unfortunate
last expedition to the West Indies, and the next year he commanded a company in
the expedition of Essex that captured Cadiz; in 1597 he was third in command of
a force sent to the assistance of Henry IV. of France, was wounded at the siege
of Amiens and was subsequently knighted. He afterward served in the Netherlands
and was in garrison at Ostend when he was summoned to duty in Ireland, in
command of a force of 1,200 men. The record shows that although only thirty-six
when he began his distinguished career in Ireland, he was a veteran thoroughly
seasoned by land and by sea.
A characteristic instance of his determination in all
matters of discipline took place soon after Essex arrived in Ireland as head of
its Administration by Elizabeth's personal favour. Having heard of the good
order in which Chichester kept his force, Essex went to Drogheda to review it.
Carried away by excitement the scatterbrain Earl led a cavalry charge against
the pikemen. Chichester repulsed the horsemen as if they had been actual
enemies, and the Earl himself was scratched by a slash from a pike that made
him wheel about and retreat. Essex took the affair in good part and on April
28, 1599, appointed Chichester to be governor of Carrickfergus and the adjacent
country. Chichester took an active but subordinate part in the war waged against
Tyrone and his adherents. On April 19, 1603, shortly after the accession of
James, Chichester was made a member of the Irish Privy Council; and on October
15, 1604, he was appointed Lord Deputy of Ireland, although not inducted into
office until February 3, 1605. The appointment may be ascribed to the influence
of a predecessor in that office, Mountjoy, who was now Earl of Devonshire and
the King's chief adviser on Irish affairs, and who well knew the need there was
for a strong hand and a cool head at the helm in Ireland. Chichester himself
did not seek the office. About five months after assuming it he wrote to the
home Government that it would be advisable to put a more eminent man at the
head of affairs, "a man of his [Chichester's] estate and fortune being
better fit to serve His Majesty in meaner places."
The perusal of Chichester's State Papers impresses one with
his virtue in the Roman sense of hard manliness. His concern was always for the
discharge of his professional duty; and that formed his moral horizon. He chose
means with regard to their efficacy in attaining practical results, offering
rewards for the heads of rebel chiefs, slaying their active partisans and
wasting the land on occasion, but never indulging purposeless cruelty. He had a
low opinion of the character of the native Irish, but he had no animosity and
was more disposed to adopt conciliatory measures than the home Government.
Indeed, his disapproval of measures to force the Roman Catholics into the
Established Church eventually led to his retirement. While bent on repressing
disorder and bringing the Irish chiefs under the rule of law, he was also
vigilant against abuses in the administration and spared no one. He advised
Montgomery, the Bishop of Derry, "sometimes to leave the care of the
world, to which he thought him too much affected, and to attend to his pastoral
calling and the reformation of his clergy." He showed great powers of
sustained application to the literary tasks in which his position involved him,
and his numerous State Papers are full, clear, and precise. In view of his
previous career this side of his activity is remarkable, for he handles the pen
with a readiness unusual in the captains of that age. In filing dispatches from
the home Government he not only endorsed them with the date on which they were
received but also added a summary of their contents, in a handwriting
remarkably bold, clear and regular. The information gathered by his spies
included stories of plots to make away with him by assassination or poisoning,
but to alarms of that sort he appears to have been incredulous and callous. In
the camp or in the office he was ever ready, clear-headed and sensible. In the
plantation of Ulster he received a large grant of land and in 1613 he was
raised to the Irish peerage as Lord Chichester of Belfast. He had no children
and his estates devolved on his brother, Edward, father of Arthur Chichester,
first Earl of Donegal.
Another official whose copious and vivid writings add
greatly to our knowledge of this period is Sir John Davies. The modernized
spelling of his name is here used although in the Irish Calendars it appears as
Davys. He was born in Wiltshire, England, in 1569 and took his A.B. degree at
Oxford in 1590. His poetical works hold an established place in English
literature and his literary ability gives a distinctive lustre to his official
papers, but in Ireland he figures as a hard-working administrator. He arrived
in 1603 to assume the office of Solicitor-General. In 1606 he succeeded to the
post of Attorney-General. From first to last he took an active and prominent
part in the Ulster plantation. He was a man of high personal courage and of
versatile ability, a fine poet, a voluminous essayist on legal, antiquarian and
historical subjects, an eloquent speaker and a vigorous man of action. He held
office in Ireland until 1619 and died in England in 1626, after he had been
appointed Lord Chief Justice but before he had assumed the office.
The scheme adopted for the plantation of Ulster was not the
invention of anyone but was the outcome of the statesmanship of the age. Just
such ideas as Bacon expressed in his Considerations presented to King James run
all through the State Papers of this period. So early as October 2, 1605, long
before the Flight of the Earls, Chichester wrote that the situation "can
only be remedied by planting of English and others well affected in fit
places." Chichester held that none of the fields in which colonization was
then projected equalled Ireland. He remarks that he "knows of many who
endeavour the finding out of Virginia, Guiana, and other remote and unknown
countries, and leave this of our own waste and desolate, which needs be an
absurd folly or wilful ignorance." The allusion to Sir Walter Raleigh's
projects is transparent. As a matter of fact both the Ulster and the Virginia
plantations took root and bore abundantly, each deeply affecting the other's
destiny. On September 17, 1607, less than a fortnight after the Flight of the
Earls, Chichester advised the English Privy Council that to bring Ulster to any
settled state of order it would be necessary either to plant strong
"colonies of civil people of England or Scotland" or else drive out
the wild Irishmen to the waste lands "leaving only such people behind as
will dwell under the protection of the garrisons and forts which would be made
strong and defensible." He strongly recommended the former course although
he held the latter to be justifiable. At that period "civil" had a
significance for which the term "civilized" would now be employed.
The term "civilization" did not get into the vocabulary until long
afterward, and so late as 1772 it was resisted by Dr. Samuel Johnson as an
unnecessary innovation which he refused to admit into his dictionary. When
Bacon and Chichester spoke of introducing civility into Ireland they had in
mind substituting legally organized communities for the tribal groups.
The home Government was quite ready to act upon the
suggestion and the response was prompt and decided. The Chief Secretary of
State was Robert Cecil, a cousin of Francis Bacon. Cecil had served Elizabeth
as Secretary of State and had been continued in the position with augmented
power by James, who in 1605 conferred upon him the title of Earl of Salisbury.
In advance of the action of the English Privy Council, Salisbury wrote to
Chichester assuring him of support and on September 29, 1607, the ground plan
of the Ulster plantation was thus formulated in a communication from the Privy
Council to Chichester:
"For the plantation which is to follow upon attainder,
the King in general approves of his (Chichester's) project, being resolved to
make a mixture of the inhabitants, as well Irish as English and Scotch; to
respect and favour the Irish that are of good note and desert, and to make him
(Chichester) specially judge thereof; to prefer English that are and have been
servitors before any new men from hence; to assign places of most importance to
men of best trust; and generally to observe these two cautions;--first, that
such as be planted there be not needy, but of a reasonable sufficiency to
maintain their portions; secondly, that none shall have a vast, but only a
reasonable proportion; much less that any one of either nation shall be master
of a whole country. But before this plantation can be digested and executed,
much must be prepared by himself (Chichester), as His Majesty is to be better
informed of the lands to be divided; what countries are most meet to be
inhabited; what Irish fit to be trusted; what English meet for that plantation
in Ireland; what offers are or will be made there; what estates are fit to be
granted; and what is to be done for the conviction of the fugitives, because
there is no possession or estate to be given before their attainder."
The tenor of official dispatches makes it clear that the
Flight of the Earls was regarded as a good opportunity for radical treatment of
the Ulster situation, "that those countries be made the King's by this
accident," to use Salisbury's own words. By the term "servitors"
is meant officers in the King's service in Ireland, who knew the country and
had had experience in dealing with the natives. The need of careful management
was appreciated by the Government, for in the preceding reign three attempts
had been made at Ulster colonization, all ending in total failure. These had
been in the nature of grants of territory to individual adventurers who
undertook to take possession and bring in tenants, but who were unable to
overcome the resistance of the native Irish, desperately opposed to the
intrusion of individual holdings in their tribal territory. The Government was
determined that the next attempt of the kind should be made in sufficient
force.
The information demanded by the home Government was
submitted under date of January 23, 1608, in "a project for the division
and plantation of the escheated lands," etc., prepared by the Privy
Council of Ireland. This is a long document in which for the first time the
plantation scheme took definite form. It included a schedule of available lands
in the six escheated counties, with a scheme of allotment. The different
classes of Undertakers and the size of their holdings to be allowed to them
were designated, and the main points of the scheme as finally carried into
effect were set forth.
Not long after the transmission of this project the
O'Dogherty rebellion broke out. With its suppression work on the project was
resumed and in September, 1608, Chichester prepared a detailed statement
entitled Certain Notes of Remembrances Touching the Plantation and Settlement
of the Escheated Lands in Ulster, which he gave to Chief Justice Ley and
Attorney-General Davies as their instructions in sending them to England to
confer with the King and Privy Council. This was a soldier's review of the
Ulster situation, county by county, noting the force and disposition of the
natives, and mentioning the places that should be strongly occupied to guard
the peace of the plantation.
The outcome of these reports and conferences was the
publication of Orders and Conditions To Be Observed by the Undertakers issued
by the King and Privy Council in March, 1609. The preamble sets forth that
"many persons being ignorant of the conditions whereupon His Majesty is
pleased to grant the said land are importunate suitors for greater portions
than they are able to plant, intending their private profit only and not the
advancement of the public service." The orders then set forth conditions
of allotment and occupation similar in general to those proposed in the project
of January 23, 1608, framed by the Irish Privy Council.
From now on the course of events spreads out in Ireland,
England and Scotland, and an attempt to follow chronological order would
confuse the narrative. A chronology appended to this chapter gives the sequence
of events, but comment upon them can be made most conveniently by a topical
arrangement.
While the home Government was arranging to responsible
Undertakers, the Irish Administration was busy getting the lands ready for
occupation. On July 21, 1609, a new commission, with Chichester himself at the
head, was appointed to survey the country and mark fit places for settlement.
The letters of Davies, who was on this commission, give a picturesque account
of its proceedings. It was accompanied by surveyors who worked under guard, for
"our geographers," wrote Davies, "do not forget what
entertainment the Irish gave to a map-maker about the end of the late
rebellion." When he "came into Tyrconnell the inhabitants took off his
head, because they would not have their country discovered." The
thoroughness with which the commissioners did their work is attested by the
completeness of their records. Abstracts of title were made, and detailed maps
were prepared, for which there is still so much demand that the British
Government issues facsimile copies, with the exception of the map of Donegal
which has been lost. On June 5, 1610, Chichester received the King's warrant to
prepare a new commission to put the settlers in possession and on August 28,
1610, this commission issued a proclamation that the allotted lands were open
for occupation.
Meanwhile Court influence had been exerted to induce the
City of London to take part in the enterprise. At that time London was still a
medieval city, surrounded by walls the gates of which were shut at a certain
hour. The population was less than 250,000, and even this number was regarded
as overcrowding the area so as to invite outbreaks of the plague, deaths from
which cause in London amounted to 30,561 in 1603. One of the arguments used in
support of colonization projects was that they would, draw off surplus
population and thus avert the periodical visitations of the plague. The
importance of London was very much greater than the size of its population
might suggest, for it was the privileged seat of great chartered companies,
whose transactions ranged far abroad. In that period a municipal corporation
was not so much a governing body in the modern sense as a mercantile body. It
was interested in trade for the advantage of the burgesses far more than in
administration of public affairs for the benefit of the inhabitants. Judicial
and administrative functions were vigorously exercised as an incident of
charter privileges and for their protection, but the conception of a public
trusteeship for the general welfare was still undeveloped.
It was not until 1684 that the lighting of the streets was
made a public function. The dirty and turbulent town was a mixture of squalor
and magnificence, but its merchant princes were a recognized power in the State
and the King and his Council were anxious to interest them in the Ulster
project. One difficulty in the way was that schemes of American colonization
were then attracting business adventure. Much was known about Ireland; it was a
stale subject fraught with disagreeable associations. Little was known of
America, and impressions originally derived from the East attached to it, as
the term "West Indies" still bears witness, as also the common
appellation of the American aborigines. The mention of Ireland called up
notions of hard knocks and poor gains, while concerning America there were
vague but alluring notions compounded of traditional belief in the gorgeous
opulence of India, of genuine trade knowledge of the value of its products, and
of rumours of vast treasure gained by the Spanish in America. Among the
corporate powers of the London Company that founded Jamestown in May, 1607, was
the right to search for mines and to coin money. No such golden lure could be
held out in behalf of Ireland. It was felt that special efforts were necessary
to impress upon the City magnates the business advantages to be derived from
Irish colonization.
The King had a statement prepared for the purpose entitled
Motives and Reasons To Induce the City of London To Undertake Plantation in the
North of Ireland. An appeal is made to civic pride by citing "the eternal
commendation" gained by Bristol, which city in the reign of Henry II.
rebuilt and populated Dublin, and the hope is expressed that "this noble
precedent were followed by the City of London in these times." The King
desired that London do for Derry what Bristol did for Dublin, and he submits a
detailed statement of the natural resources, industrial opportunities and
commercial facilities of the north of Ireland, which in view of actual results
does not seem to be much inflated. His assertion that materials for the linen
trade are "finer there and more plentiful than in all the rest of the
Kingdom" was eventually borne out by the establishment of the linen
industry for which the North of Ireland has since been famous. This appeal
together with the project of plantation as formulated in Orders and Conditions
To Be Observed by Undertakers, was sent to the Lord Mayor, who, on July 1,
1609, issued a precept to the chartered companies requesting that they meet to
consider the subject and also to nominate four men from each company to serve
on a committee to represent the City in the negotiation.
The City companies were apparently reluctant to engage in
the enterprise, and a few years later when some differences occurred as to the
terms of the bargain, it was officially declared that the City had at last
yielded to pressing importunity. The record shows that the companies did not
move until a second and more urgent precept was issued, dated July 8, 1609. The
companies then sent representatives to meet at Guildhall to discuss the King's
proposals and deputies were appointed to answer for the City. Several
conferences took place between these deputies and the Privy Council, hut the
most that the City magnates would agree to do was to look into the matter. At a
conference with the Privy Council held on Sunday, July 30, 1609, it was decided
that the negotiations should he suspended until "four wise, grave and
discreet citizens should he presently sent to view the place." They were
to go at the City's charges and "make report to the City, at their return
from thence, of their opinions and doings touching the same."
The official correspondence of that period reveals the
solicitude of the King and Privy Council for the successful conclusion of the
negotiation with the City. On August 3, 1609, the Privy Council wrote to
Chichester notifying him that the City was sending out certain deputies to view
the land and instructing him to provide such guidance as would impress upon
them the value of the concessions, while "matters of distaste, as fear of
the Irish, of the soldiers, of cess, and such like, he not so much as
named." These citizens of London, John Brode, goldsmith, John Monroes,
Robert Treswell, painter, and John Rowley, draper, doubtless found themselves
much courted and flattered by the dignitaries to whom they bore letters of
introduction. In a letter of August 28, written from camp in Colerain, to Lord
Salisbury of the Privy Council, Davies tells how they were all using
"their best rhetoric" on the Londoners. He mentions that "one of
the agents is fallen sick, and would fain return, but the Lord Deputy and all
the rest here use all means to comfort and retain him, lest this accident
should discourage his fellow-citizens."
However flattered the citizens may have been by these
blandishments their business keenness was not impaired. On October 13, 1609,
Chichester writes that "these agents aim at all the places of profit and
pleasure upon the rivers of the Bann and Loughfole." He had endeavoured to
meet their demands "whereby he thinks they depart fully satisfied."
But the soldier evidently does not repose entire confidence in the disposition
of the civic bargainers, for he remarks that "he prays God they prove not
like their London women, who sometimes long to-day and loathe to-morrow."
But the citizens evidently made a favourable report to the City guilds for in
the following January three conferences took place in London between the
Government and the City in which the City's representatives showed an eager
spirit. The City deputies that went to Ireland were present and the course of
the proceedings showed that they had prompted demands beyond what the Government
had thought of allowing. The minutes record that on some points there was
"much altercation." The representatives of the Government showed an
accommodating spirit and eventually an agreement was reached confirmed by
articles signed January 28, 1610. In consideration of various privileges the
City agreed to levy £20,000 in aid of the proposed plantation. The county of
Colerain, thereafter known as Londonderry, was allotted to the City for
colonization, and it was stipulated that the city of Derry and the town of
Colerain should be rebuilt. The agreement is set forth in twenty-seven
articles, concluding with the provision that "the City shall, with all
speed, set forward the plantation in such sort as that there be 60 houses built
in Derry and 40 houses at Colerain by the first of November following, with
convenient fortifications."
Although it was undoubtedly a wise stroke of policy on the
part of the King to enlist the powerful City guilds in the enterprise, the
mainstay of the Ulster plantation turned out to be the Scottish participation,
which does not seem to have been originally regarded as important. Although
from the first there was an understanding between Chichester and the English
Privy Council that eventually the plantation would be opened to Scotch
settlers, no steps were taken in that direction until the plans had been
matured. If meanwhile any expectations of a share were entertained in Scotland
there was no legal basis for them. Ireland belonged to the English Crown and
although the King of Scotland was also King of England, the two kingdoms were
then quite separate and distinct. The first public announcement of any Scottish
connection with the Ulster plantation appears in a letter of March 19, 1609,
from Sir Alexander Hay, the Scottish secretary resident at the English Court,
to the Scottish Privy Council at Edinburgh. The tone of the letter shows that
he was all agog with the news of the fine prospects opening up for the Scotch.
Hay relates that he had been present by command at a meeting of the English
Privy Council, at which he was notified that the arrangements for the Ulster
plantation had been settled and that the King's Scottish subjects were to be
allowed a share. Several members of the Privy Council put down their names in
his presence, and the roll of the English Undertakers was already complete.
The articles required that every Undertaker for 2,000 acres
should build a castle of stone, which he feared "may effraye our
people," but upon inquiry he learned that "nothing was meant thereby
bot any litill toure or peill suche as are common in our Bordouris." He
was also curious to know how great an area 2,000 acres would be, and was told
that it meant a property two miles square of arable land and pasture, without
counting attached wood and bog. He suggests to the Council that here is a great
opportunity for Scotland, since "we haif greitt advantage of transporting
of our men and bestiall in regard we lye so near to that coiste of
Ulster." The Scottish Privy Council acted promptly. On March 28 orders
were issued for public proclamation of the good things now available upon
"certain easy, tolerable and profitable conditions," which the King
had offered "out of his unspeikable love and tendir affectioun toward his
Majesties subjectis"; and those of them "quho ar disposit to tak ony
land in Yreland" were requested to present their desires and petitions to
the Council. The King's ancient subjects responded so heartily that by
September 14 the allotments applied for by seventy-seven persons amounted to
141,000 acres although Hay had reckoned the Scottish share at 90,000 acres. In
the following year the matter of Scottish participation was taken over by the
English Privy Council, and when the list of the Scottish Undertakers was
finally revised and completed, the number had been reduced from seventy-seven
to fifty-nine, and of these only about eighteen had been among the original
seventy-seven. Instead of the 141,000 acres applied for, the final award
allotted 81,000 acres to Scotch Undertakers.
Military considerations presided over arrangements for the
plantation. Hence the scheme provided that the natives should have locations of
their own, while the settlers should be massed in districts so that their
united force would confront attack. Only the "servitors," a class of
Undertakers restricted to officers in the public service in Ireland, were
permitted to have Irish tenants. The design was that the servitors should have
estates adjacent to the Irish reservations, to "defend the borders and
fortresses and suppress the Irishry." This expression occurs in a letter
of May, 1609, from the Bishop of Armagh urging a postponement of actual
occupation until the following spring, one of his reasons being that it would
be dangerous for the English Undertakers to start until the servitors were
ready. The lands were divided into lots of 2,000, 1,500 and 1,000 acres,
designated respectively as great, middle and small proportions. Each Undertaker
for a great or middle proportion had to give bond, in £400 or £300 respectively,
that within three years he would build a stone or brick house with a
"bawn," fortified enclosure, and he was required to have ready in his
house "12 muskets and calivers, 12 hand weapons for the arming of 24
men." The Undertaker for a small proportion had to give bond in £200 that
he would build a bawn.
The Scotch and English Undertakers for great proportions
were under obligation "within three years to plant or place upon the said
proportion 48 able men, aged 18 years or upward, born in England or inward
parts of Scotland." Applications for estates were open to three classes:
(1) English or Scottish persons generally, (2) servitors, (3) natives of
Ireland. The estates of 2,000 acres were charged with knight's service to the
King in capite; those of 1,500 acres with knight's service to the Castle of
Dublin; and those of 1,000 acres with the tenure of common socage. That is to
say the larger estates were held by the military tenure of the feudal system,
while the small proportions were simply held by perpetual lease at a fixed
rent. The yearly rent to the Crown for every 1,000 acres was 5£ 6s 8d for
Undertakers of the first sort, 8£ for the second and 10£ 13s. 4d. for the
native Irish. If the servitors should plant their lands with English or Scottish
tenants they should pay the same rent as the Undertakers of the first sort. No
Undertaker or his assign had the right to "alien or demise any of his
lands to a meer Irish, or to any who will not take the oath of supremacy"
upon pain of forfeiture.
These particulars are taken from the Carew Manuscripts,
which give a summary of the allotments as completed in 1611, making a total of
511,465 acres. Accompanying documents mention by name 56 English Undertakers
holding 81,500 acres, 59 Scottish holding 81,000 acres, and 59 servitors
holding 49,914 acres. The names of 277 natives are given as holders of
allotments in the same precincts with the servitors, aggregating 52,479 acres.
In addition Connor Roe Maguire received 5,980 acres and "several Irishmen"
are scheduled as holding 1,468 acres, making a total of 59,927 acres allotted
to natives. The Carew summary lumps together "British Undertakers and the
Londoners" as holders of 209,800 acres. On deducting the 162,500 scheduled
to English and Scotch Undertakers in the records accompanying the summary, the
London allotments appear to have aggregated 47,300 acres. The remainder
consisted of church endowments and lands reserved for public uses such as
corporate towns, forts, schools, and hospitals. The College of Dublin received
an allotment of 9,600 acres.
The total area appropriated in Ulster for the purposes of
the plantation has been a controversial issue and estimates differ greatly,
some writers putting it at about 400,000 acres while others contend that it
amounted to nearly 4,000,000 acres. Such wide difference on a question of fact
shows that passion has clouded the issue. The whole of the six counties
includes only 2,836,837 Irish acres, or in English measure 3,785,057 acres.
Just how much of this area was allotted to settlers it is impossible to
determine exactly, notwithstanding the apparently precise statement made in the
Carew records, for it seems that only cleared land was reckoned. The Orders and
Conditions say that to every proportion "shall be allowed such quantity of
bog and wood as the country shall conveniently afford." The negotiations
with the City of London show that in that case large claims were made of
privileges appurtenant to the acreage granted, among them woodlands extending into
the adjoining county of Tyrone.
Nevertheless there is reason to believe that the Carew
computation of 511,465 acres is a fair statement of the actual extent of the
lands appropriated for the plantation. The principle upon which the plantation
was founded was that the settlers should be massed in certain districts. It
appears from a letter of Davies that the commissioners charged with making the
surveys were in camp in Ulster nine weeks. In that period of time they could
not have done more than to note and map areas suitable for tillage and pasture,
and in a report of March 15, 1610, accompanying the transmission of the maps to
the English Privy Council a summary is given of land available for the
plantation aggregating 424,643 acres. There are also indications that
appurtenant rights were strictly construed. The grant of woodlands to the City
of London was made with the reservation that the timber was "to be
converted to the use of the plantation, and all necessary uses in Ireland, and
not to be made merchandize." It was afterward ordered that settlers in
Donegal and Tyrone should be allowed to take supplies of timber from the
Londoners' lands. The Carew computation of the area allotted exceeds by 86,822
acres the estimate of available lands made by the commission of 1610 which
suggests that the Carew computation includes areas of every kind covered by the
grants. This conjecture is strengthened by the fact that the articles of
agreement with London in 1610 mention only 27,000 acres, whereas the Carew
record made in 1611 of the actual distribution charges the Londoners with
47,300 acres.
Further confirmation is supplied by a report made in 1618 by
Captain George Alleyne as muster-master of Ulster. It contains the names of all
the landholders and the number of their acres, men, muskets, calivers, pikes,
halberds and swords. The holdings of the English and Scottish Undertakers are
returned as amounting to 197,000 acres, and of the servitors 51,720 acres, a
total of 248,720 acres. The same items in the Carew summary aggregate 259,714
acres. So far as it is possible to test the Carew summary it appears to cover
the total area appropriated for the occupation and use of the plantation. That
is to say, about 18 per cent. of the total area of the six escheated counties,
including however all the then desirable lands, was taken from the native Irish
proprietors for the purposes of the plantation, but over 11 per cent. of these
confiscated lands was allotted to Undertakers coming forward among the native
Irish. However opinions may differ as to the morality of the scheme there can
be no doubt of the success of the plantation. Ulster had been the most backward
province of Ireland. It became the most populous and wealthy.
CHRONOLOGY
1605 October 2:--Chichester to Salisbury urging the need of
"planting of English and others well affected" in Ulster.
1606 Bacon to James I:--"Considerations Touching the
Plantations in Ireland."
1607 September 4;--Flight of the Earls, September
17:--Chichester urges the need of bringing into Ulster "colonies of civil
people of England and Scotland." September 29:--Privy Council replies that
the King is "resolved to make a mixture of the inhabitants, as well Irish,
as English and Scottish."
1608 April 18:--O'Dogherty captures Derry. July 5:--O'Dogherty
killed. September:--Chichester sends to the Privy Council "Certain Notes
of Remembrances touching the Plantation and Settlement of the Escheated
Lands."
1609 March:--The Privy Council issues "Orders and
Conditions to be observed by the Undertakers." March 19:--Letter from the
Scottish Secretary of State in London to the Scottish Privy Council at
Edinburgh announcing that Scots are to share in the Ulster Plantation. March
28:--Proclamation of the Scottish Privy Council inviting applications for
Ulster lands. July 14:--Deputies chosen by the London Guilds to confer with the
Privy Council on the matter of taking part in the Ulster Plantation. July
21:--Commissioners appointed to make allotments and to mark fit places for
settlement. July 30:--Four citizens of London sent at the City's charge to view
the country.
1610 January 28:--Articles of Agreement with the City of
London for the rebuilding of Derry and the planting of Coleraine. June
5:--Chichester receives the King's warrant to appoint a new commission for
Ulster to remove the natives and put the settlers in possession. August
28:--Proclamation from commissioners that allotted are open for occupation.
END OF CHAPTER I.
Chapter III.
The racial elements that have gone into the making of Scotland
are matters upon which there are sharp differences among specialists in this
field. The first chapter of Andrew Lang's History of Scotland gives a statement
of the conflicting views that are expressed upon ethnic questions. The great
question is: Who were the Picts? An eminent Celtic scholar, Professor Rhys,
mainly upon philological grounds holds that they were members not of the Celtic
hut of some non-Aryan race, enmeshed by Celtic migration like the Basques of
France. Mr. Lang himself concludes that they were simply a Celtic tribe, the
ancestors in some degree of the present Highlanders. In Scotland as in England
the historical data point to Teutonic and Scandinavian invasion pushing back
the Celtic tribes. Mr. Lang points out that there is no marked difference in
the racial composition of the people between the Scottish Lowlands and the
adjacent parts of England. In both countries the people spoke a language now
designated as Early English. The two regions were one geographically. Mr. Lang
remarks: "Nothing in the topography of the country contains a prophecy of
this separation of the Teutonic or English conquerors of Southern Scotland into
a separate Scottish nation. The severance of the English north and south of the
Tweed was the result of historical events."
Substantially the same view is taken in T. F. Henderson's
history of Scottish Vernacular Literature. He holds that: "The Scottish
vernacular is mainly a development of the Teutonic dialect of that Northumbria
which embraces the more eastern portion of Britain from the Humber to the Firth
of Forth. Here the Saxons obtained a firm footing early in the sixth century,
the Cymri being, after a series of desperate struggles, either conquered or
forced gradually westward until they concentrated in Cumbria or Strathclyde,
between the Mersey and the Clyde, where for some centuries they maintained a
fragile independence. . . . The triumph of the Saxon element was finally
assured by the great influx of Saxons during the period of the Norman conquest.
. . . The Teutonic speech and civilization gradually penetrated into every
district of the Scottish Lowlands."
Mr. Henderson points out that "when it first emerges
from obscurity toward the close of the fourteenth century, the literary
language of the Scottish Lowlands is found to be practically identical with
that of England north of the Humber." Early English exhibited three
dialects, Northern, Midland and Southern. The Midland dialect became the sole
literary language of England, the Northern and the Southern dialects
"vanishing almost entirely from English literature." In the Scottish
Lowlands the Northern dialect survived and from it the literary language of
Scotland was fashioned. In support of these views Mr. Henderson points out that
early Scottish, the Scottish of Barbour and Wyntoun (fourteenth century),
"differs but slightly, if at all, from Northern English." At a later
period the difference became marked.
The matter of ethnic origins has been touched upon, because
some writers upon the Scotch-Irish have placed the Picts, the Caledonians and
other early inhabitants of Scotland among the forebears of the Scottish
settlers in Ulster. But as a matter of fact the settlers were almost as English
in racial derivation as if they had come from the North of England. Occasional
allusions in the State Papers show that the Government had in mind the
English-speaking districts of Scotland and not the Gaelic regions as the source
from which settlers should be drawn. Indeed, the conditions were such that the
Ulster plantation appeared as part of the general campaign carried on to break
down Celtic tribal polity and to extend civilized polity in both Ireland and
Scotland. During the O'Dogherty insurrection Chichester wrote to the Scottish
Privy Council advising that the sea-passage between Western Scotland and
Northern Ireland be guarded to prevent the recruiting of the Ulster rebels by
sympathizing fellow-Celts from Kintyre, Islay, Arran, and the neighbouring
islands. The Scottish Privy Council on the receipt of the news of O'Dogherty's
rising had been quick to perceive the danger of sympathetic disturbance in
Gaelic Scotland, and before they heard from Chichester they had issued a
proclamation forbidding any aid from the south-western shires to the Ulster
rebels on pain of death. In later correspondence, after O'Dogherty's rising had
been suppressed, Chichester referred to his own work in Ulster and the work
which the Scottish Council had in hand against the Celts of the western
Scottish islands as but two branches of one and the same service.
Irish history during this period has been kept under the
spot-light so much as to create an impression that English policy in Ireland
was somewhat singular in character and was actuated by special animosity. No
support to this notion is found in the State Papers. In them the Ulster
plantation appears as part of a general forward movement against barbarism. So
far as treatment of the native inhabitants goes the measures taken in Ireland
seem less severe than those taken in Scotland itself. The reign of James was
marked by a determined effort to crush the marauding spirit of Gaelic Scotland
and to suppress the feuds that were carried on in defiance of law. An armed
expedition to the western islands was fitted out in 1608, and many castles were
seized and dangerous chiefs were arrested both in the islands and the
neighbouring parts of the mainland. Andrew Stewart, Lord Ochiltree, who was in
command of this expedition, became one of the Ulster Undertakers. His name did
not appear in the original list, but on returning to Edinburgh, triumphant from
his expedition, he was sent to London to make his report to the King. When the
revision was made by the King and the English Privy Council of the list of
applicants submitted by the Scottish Privy Council, the name of Lord Ochiltree
appears as Undertaker for 3,000 acres in County Tyrone.
The steady pursuit of the Clan MacGregor in the main
Highlands is an evidence of the determination to crush outlawry at any cost.
They are described in proclamations as that unhappy race which has so long
continued "in bluid, thift, reif and oppression." The members of the
clan were proscribed and the use of the very name was prohibited. The war on
these wild clansmen went on for many years. In 1604 Alexander MacGregor of
Glenstrae, chief of the clan, and eleven of his principal kinsmen and
retainers, were hanged and quartered at the Market Cross in Edinburgh. In
August, 1610, a commission of fire and sword against the MacGregors was issued
to twenty-eight nobles and lairds in territories surrounding the MacGregor
country. By proclamation the King's lieges were warned not to assist any of the
clan, their wives, children or servants nor have any intercourse with them. In
1611, after a preamble declaring that the clansmen still persist in their
"barbarous and wicked lyff," the Earl of Argyle is commissioned to
root out and extirpate all of that race, until, says the King, "they be
ather reducit to our obedience or ruitit out of our kingdome."
Notwithstanding these energetic measures a report of 1613 says that remnants of
the clan have again begun to go about the country "sorning, oppressing,
quarrelling, where they may be masters and commanders."
"Sorning" is the Highland equivalent of the Irish
"coshering," the privilege claimed by the warrior class of living on
forced hospitality. The harrying of the MacGregors went on by fits and starts
for many years.
Besides these campaigns to introduce the King's law into
Celtic Scotland, the Government had to deal with the habits of rapine which had
been implanted by centuries of border warfare, and which possessed something of
a patriotic character when Scotland and England were traditional enemies. Now
that a Scottish King had mounted the English throne the further continuance of
border lawlessness became intolerable. It was put down with ruthless energy.
The English and Scottish shires which had formerly been "The Borders"
were rechristened by James in 1603 as "The Middle Shires of Great
Britain" and the administration was put into the hands of ten
commissioners, five for each side, each set of commissioners executing their
orders through an appointed chief of mounted police. The Scottish State Papers
from April, 1605, to April, 1607, contain abundant evidences of the activity of
the Scottish commissioners. Their chief of police was Sir William Cranstoun,
and with his force of twenty-five horsemen he scoured the Borders, arresting
murderers and robbers and bringing them before justice courts held by
commissioners from time to time at stated places. At the end of the first year
the commissioners give the names of thirty-two persons hanged for their crimes,
fifteen persons banished, and above seven score in the condition of fugitive
outlaws, who should be pursued with hue and cry wherever they might be found.
In October, 1606, fifteen more of these Border outlaws were hanged and by the
end of the year the list of fugitives had increased to thirteen score, whose
names were to be advertised on the market crosses of all towns and the doors of
all parish kirks in all the "in-countrey." The Scottish Privy Council
sustained this work with hard resolution. The commissioners reported
periodically to the Council, asking instructions upon difficult points,
sometimes referring a case in which they think there might be mercy, but in
every such case the Council sent back word to "execute justice,"
which meant that the culprit should be put to death.
Besides hanging and banishing, the commissioners were active
in breaking up the nests of outlawry. The houses of thieving families were
searched for stolen goods, the iron gates that barred entrance were removed and
dragged away to be turned into plough irons. The official record of those who
were hanged doubtless fell short of the actual number put to death, for Sir
William Cranstoun thought it necessary to obtain an act of indemnity, which was
granted by the King, December 15, 1606. It sets forth as its occasion that he
had been moved "often tymes summarlie to mak a quick dispatche of a grite mony
notable and notorious thevis and villanes by putting thame to present death
without preceiding tryall of jurye or assyse or pronunciatioun of ony
conviction or dome."
Among the names of malefactors officially returned as having
been hanged by order of the justice courts are such good patronyms as
Armstrong, Gilchrist, Johnstone, Milburn, Patterson, Scott, and Wallis. This
Scott may well have been a kinsman of the great author, for in times when
Border lawlessness had been so long extinct as to be susceptible of romantic
treatment Sir Walter was pleased to claim Border outlaws as among his forbears.
The Lay of the Last Minstrel describes the stronghold of Auld Wat of whom the
poet says:
"But what the niggard ground of wealth denied,
From fields more blessed his fearless arm supplied."
Of Auld Wat's bride, Mary Scott, "the Flower of
Yarrow," Lockhart relates that "when the last bullock which Auld Wat
had provided from the English pastures was consumed the Flower of Yarrow placed
on her table a dish containing a pair of clean spurs; a hint to the company
that they must bestir themselves for their next dinner." As the Flower of
Yarrow married Auld Wat in 1567, the halcyon days of her predatory housekeeping
were separated by little more than one generation from the stern suppression of
such methods. The effect of the thorough work of King James' commissioners was
very marked. The Borders were so tamed and disciplined that in 1610 Chancellor
Dunferline was able to assure the King that they had been purged "of all
the chiefest malefactors, robbers and brigands" as completely as Hercules
had cleansed the Augean stables and that they were now "as lawful, as
peaceable and quiet as any part of any civil kingdom in Christianity."
There is evidence that the chronic turbulence of the Borders
was not so completely suppressed as would seem from the Chancellor's account,
but the opening of safe land-passage for steady trade between the two kingdoms
appears to date from that period. The memorials of the period of turbulence
were eventually converted by the relieved people into materials for legend and
song, but this poetry of the situation did not appear until the prosaic aspect
had been established to which Dr. Johnson adverted when he remarked that the
noblest prospect a Scotchman could see was the high road that led to England.
The enlargement of commercial intercourse and the growth of business
opportunity were essential features of the pacification of the Borders, as of
all regions brought under the rule of law. Severe and terrifying punishment of
crime is an indispensable agency in disciplining a people addicted to rapine,
but in compelling them to live by honest industry the law must afford them
opportunity.
To complete this account of the conditions in Scotland from
which the Ulster settlers derived their habits of thought it should be added
that the Ulster settlement was essentially a migration from the Lowlands. The
elements of the population to whom the opportunity appealed are displayed by
the first list of Undertakers. It was mainly composed of sons and brothers of
lairds, sons of ministers, and burgesses or sons of burgesses in the shires
south of the Firth of Forth, and nearly all were from the upper tier of those
shires from Edinburgh to Glasgow. A few names appear from Border shires, among
them Robert Stewart of Robertoun, a parish of Roxburghshire in which was
situated Harden Castle, the seat of Auld Wat's power. This Robert Stewart
received a grant of 1,000 acres in County Tyrone. A grant of 1,500 acres in the
same county was made to Sir Robert Hepburn, a lieutenant of the King's Guard.
This was a force employed in the general justiciary work of the Scottish Privy
Council, outside of the special jurisdiction of the Border commissioners.
The Scots that flocked into Ulster carried with them
prepossessions and antipathies implanted by centuries of conflict with
predatory clansmen.
The monkish writer Gildas, A.D. 560, describes the Picts as
"a set of bloody free-booters with more hair on their thieves' faces than
clothes to cover their nakedness." This might serve as well for a concise
expression of Lowland opinion of the Celtic clansmen at the time of the Ulster
settlement. The Lowlanders were accustomed to regarding the clansmen as
raiders, pillagers, cattle-thieves, and murderers. The abduction and ravishing
of women were crimes so frequent as to engage the particular attention of the
Government. Hardened by perpetual contact with barbarism, the Lowlanders had no
scruples about making merciless reprisals. The people were hard; the law was
hard. It was an iron age. One of the acts of the Scottish Parliament at this
period declared that every man and woman of the Gypsy race found in Scotland
after a certain date should be liable to death and persons giving them
accommodations should be liable to fine and imprisonment. Mention of arrests
for sorcery and witchcraft is found in the records. The proceedings of the
Privy Council for 1608 contain a report by the Earl of Mar of the burning of
some witches at Breichin. "Sum of thame deit in dispair, renunceand and
blasphemeand, and utheris half brunt, brak out of the fyre, and wes cast in
quick in it agane quhill thay wer brunt to the deid." This horrible scene
of human misery was evidently viewed with grim composure. There is not a word
to indicate that the event was even deplored.
The greater avidity with which the Ulster opportunity was
seized in the Scottish Lowlands than in England, which had the prior claim, is
to be attributed to the chronic need of Scotland for outlets to the energies of
her people. The migrating Scot was a familiar figure in continental Europe. In
Quentin Durward Scott gives a romantic picture of the Scottish military
adventurer, a type renowned throughout Europe for a shrewd head, a strong arm
and a sharp sword. The Scottish trader was quite as well known. There were
settlements of Scottish people living under their own laws and perpetuating
their national customs in various countries of Europe. William Lithgow, a
Scottish traveller who visited Poland in the seventeenth century, reported that
there were thirty thousand Scots families in that country. When Sir William
Alexander, afterward Earl of Sterling, was urging the colonization of Nova
Scotia, an enterprise that came into competition with the Ulster plantation, he
remarked that Scotland, "being constrained to disburden herself (like the
painful bees) did every year send forth swarms." Many through stress of
necessity had been compelled to "betake themselves to the wars against the
Russians, Turks or Swedens." Alexander urged that this scattering of
Scottish ability should be discontinued, saying:
"When I do consider with myself what things are
necessary for a plantation, I cannot but be confident that my own countrymen
are as fit for such a purpose as any men in the world, having daring minds that
upon any probable appearance do despise danger, and bodies able to endure as
much as the height of their minds can undertake."
Together with a long implanted migratory tendency operating
to promote Scottish colonization of the territory opened to settlement in
Ulster, another cause of Scottish forwardness was facility of access. The North
of Ireland could be reached by ferries from the south-western extremities of
Scotland which had been purged of their dangerous elements by Lord Ochiltree's
expedition. The Scotch settlers had quick transit for themselves and their
chattels while the English settlers had to take the risks of a much longer
sea-passage beset with pirates.
At this period piracy was a thriving trade, its range
including both Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts. Among the outrages charged
upon the pirates was that they associated with the Turks, to whom they sold
captives, Tunis being a port at which this traffic was carried on.
In a report made to the English Privy Council, August 22,
1609, it is mentioned with satisfaction that John Ward, a pirate chief, had
been captured by "the galliasses of the Venetians" with his ship and
pinnace and their crews, "whereof thirty-six the next day were hanged in
view of the town of Zante, the rest in other places, amongst which number were
divers Englishmen." The Irish State Papers contain frequent references to
the depredations of pirates on the southern and western coasts of Ireland.
Chichester says in his despatches that it was their habit to move from the
Spanish coasts to the Irish coasts during the fishing season, to revictual
themselves at the expense of the fishing fleet. He mentions that in 1606 the
pirates "hath robbed more than 100 sail and sent them empty home."
The traffic that sprang up as a consequence of the Ulster
plantation attracted the pirates into the waters between Ireland and England.
In a dispatch from Dublin Castle, June 27, 1610, Chichester says:
"The pirates upon this coast are so many and are become
so bold that now they are come into this channel, and have lately robbed divers
barks, both English and Scotch, and have killed some that have made resistance;
they lay for the Londoners' money sent for the work at Colerain, but missed it;
they have bred a great terror to all passengers, and he thinks will not spare
the King's treasure if they may light upon it."
Chichester had not the means of taking effective action
against piracy, his frequent appeals for sufficient naval force failing of
proper response from the home Government. This Scottish authorities acted with
prompt decision and energy. An entry of June 27, 1610, on the Register of the
Privy Council of Scotland notes that an English pirate had appeared on the coast
of Ireland opposite Scotland, waylaying boats bound for the Irish plantation.
Commission was given to the provost and baillies of Ayr to fit out an armed
vessel to pursue the pirates. About the same time pirate ships were seen even
in the Firth of Forth. Upon funds advanced by the City of Edinburgh three armed
vessels were fitted out at Leith. The pirates had a depot in the Orkneys from
which northern position their vessels could make excursions either to the
eastern or western coasts of the mainland. An action was fought off the Orkneys
in which one of the two pirate vessels was captured but the other escaped by
fast sailing. Of the thirty pirates taken alive twenty-seven were put to death.
They are constantly referred to in the State Papers as "English pirates"
and their names are such as to justify the description. A feature of the
official record that casts a curious light on the morals of the times is that
the pirates had "one whome thay did call thair parsone, for saying of
prayeris to thame twyse a day." This pirate chaplain furnished the
Government with much useful information and he was not brought to trial. Piracy
of such a serious-minded type must have been a relic of the time when marauding
whether by land or by sea ranked as an honorable industry. This pious band
perhaps regarded Scotland as a foreign country whose waters were as fair a
field for spoils as the Spanish main in Elizabeth's time.
After this affair no notice appears in the Scottish records
of any molesting of the sea-passage to Ulster, although mention is made of the
presence of pirates in the Hebrides and the Orkneys. The probability is that
the pirates found the narrow channel between Scotland and Ireland too tight a
place in which to venture and they kept to safer and more profitable cruising
grounds in the wide seas. Numerous references continue to appear in the Irish
State Papers to their activity and audacity. They established a depot at
Leamcon, a land-locked harbour, on the southern coast of Ireland, and at one
time in the summer of 1611 they had there a fleet of nine sail together with
four captured vessels. They were engaged in fitting up one of the captured
vessels as an addition to their fleet, after which they were going to the
Barbary coast where they had a market for their goods. They preyed upon the
commerce of Holland, France and England impartially and defied the authority of
all those Powers with remarkable success. The Dutch, who were particularly
energetic in their efforts to crush the pirates, obtained permission from the
English Government to pursue them into Irish waters. Three armed vessels were
dispatched from Holland to the Irish seas in 1611, but the pirate fleet
scattered at their coming to return when the coast was clear. Piratical
depredations on the southern coast continued for many years thereafter, and the
participation of the Barbary States in the business eventually led to a
horrible affair. On June 20, 1631, a squadron of Algerine pirates sacked the
town of Baltimore in County Cork, carrying off with their booty more than a
hundred citizens of the place, mostly English colonists. Ulster, however,
remained untroubled by the pirates after they had been driven out of the North
Channel in the early days of the settlement. The South of Ireland was not delivered
from the depredations of the pirates until about 1636 when Wentworth's
energetic measures made the region too dangerous for them to visit.
In Appendix B will be found a complete list of the
Undertakers as provisionally accepted by the Scottish Privy Council, and also
the list as finally prepared by the English Privy Council. Although the two
lists differ greatly, probably the class of immigrants was not to any
corresponding extent affected by the change. It has already been remarked that
the first list made up in September, 1609, was chiefly composed of sons or
brothers of lairds and burgesses in the Lowlands. There is no name of a
Scottish noble in the list of Undertakers. Lord Ochiltree appears as surety for
four of the principals, but was not a principal himself at that time. The list
as revised in England in 1611 contains the names of five Scottish noblemen,
each receiving an allotment of 3,000 acres whereas in the first list the
largest allotment was 2,000 acres. Only eighteen of the seventy-seven applicants
enrolled in the first list appear in the final list. In view of the usual tenor
of the King's proceedings in such matters favour doubtless played a part in
those changes, but they cannot all be ascribed to favour.
According to the ideas of those times it was important to
interest wealthy and influential noblemen in the success of the plantation. It
is a point on which Chichester laid stress in his communications. Since it
appears that Lord Ochiltree refrained from applying in his own behalf when the
matter was in the hands of the Scottish Privy Council but is included in the
list as made up in England it seems fair to presume that influence was brought
to bear upon him. And it would also seem likely that the kinsmen and friends in
the Lowlands for whom he had been willing to be surety when the first roll was
made up might retain their connection with the enterprise under cover of his
name. In a dispatch of July 29, 1611, Chichester mentions that Lord Ochiltree
had arrived "accompanied with thirty-three followers, gent. of sort, a
minister, some tenants, freeholders, artificers, unto whom he hath passed
estates." Chichester notes that building and fortifying were going briskly
forward, that horses and cows had been brought in and that ploughing had begun.
Other Scotch noblemen had thrown themselves with a will into
the work of colonization. The Earl of Abercorn had brought in tenants with
ploughs and live stock, and the Earl and his family were already in residence
on their Irish estate. Sir Robert Hepburn was also resident, and was building
and farming energetically. Mills and houses were going up and tools and live
stock were being brought into the country. That there was a great bustle of
intercommunication between Scotland and Ulster is evidenced by a petition to
the Scottish Privy Council, October 27, 1612. The petitions set forth that in
settling on their lands in Ulster they are "constrained and compellit to
transporte frome this countrey thereunto, verie frequentlie, nomberis of men for
labouring of the ground, and mony bestiall and cattell for plenisching of the
same," so that passage between Scotland and Ulster "is now become a
commoun and ane ordinarie ferrie," where seamen and boatmen are making
rates at their own pleasure "without ony controlment." The public
authority of Scotland was neither impotent nor irresolute in such matters. The
Privy Council commissioned the justices of the peace along the west sea-coast
to "reforme the said abuse in sic forme and maner as they sail hold
fittest, and for this effect that they appoint and set down reasounable and
moderat frauchtis [rates] to be tane for the transporte of men, bestiall, and
goodis to and fra Yreland."
No further mention of this matter appears in the records but
the severity with which unlawful exactions were repressed is evidenced by the
entry in 1616 of an order that one Patrick Adair should be imprisoned in the
Tolbooth of Edinburgh at his own expense during the pleasure of the Council for
insolence in demanding custom on certain horses sent to Ireland by the Earl of
Abercorn. There is however evidence that as communications became regular and
ample criminals made use of the facilities. Entries of October, 1612, and
November, 1614, refer to traffickers in stolen goods between Ireland and
Scotland and orders are given to keep a strict watch of ports and ferries,
"for apprehending of suche personis as in thifteous maner travellis to and
fra Yreland, transporting the goodis stollin be thame furthe of the ane cuntrie
to the uther."
The energetic scouring of the Scottish Border shires
contributed some elements to Ulster plantation that did not make for peace and
order. Men proscribed in the Borders would take refuge in Ireland. A
proclamation issued in 1618 orders the wives and children of all such persons
as have been banished or have become voluntary fugitives into Ireland to join
their husbands with all convenient diligence, nor presume to return under pain
of imprisonment. To facilitate better control over travel between Ireland and
Scotland it was restricted to certain ports, and passports were required.
The situation in the Borders which were the southern tier of
Lowland shires throws light upon a saying that is often quoted in histories as
indicative of a low state of morality among the Ulster settlers. The authority
for it is the Rev. Andrew Stewart, an Ulster minister. He remarked: "Going
to Ireland was looked upon as a miserable mark of a deplorable person; yea, it
was turned into a proverb, and one of the worst expressions of disdain that
could be invented was to tell a man that 'Ireland would be his hinder
end.'" As one follows through the state papers accounts of the measures
taken by James to rid the Borders of "maisterles men and vagabondis
wanting a lawful trade, calling and industrie" and notes the terrible
punishments inflicted, branding, drowning and hanging, it is easy to understand
how the popular imagination would be impressed. The severe attitude of the
authorities is strikingly displayed by the measures taken in August, 1612, when
some Scottish companies that had been in Swedish service returned home. It was
ordered that "the said soldiers shall, within two hours after landing,
dissolve themselves and repair peaceably to their homes, and that no more than
two of them shall remain together, under pain of death." To escape from
such rigor emigration to Ireland would be a natural impulse among the restless
and wayward, and an association of ideas was established that became a text of
warning in the mouths of sober-minded people. But there is abundant evidence
that both in Scotland and Ireland the authorities were active in precautions
against crime and disorder. A frontier has a natural attraction for the misfits
of old communities but the evidence when analyzed does not warrant the opinion
that the Scottish migration into Ulster was so low in moral tone as has been
averred by historians on the testimony of early Ulster divines.
The authorities upon whose word rests the charge of
prevailing immorality are the Rev. Robert Blair, the Rev. Andrew Stewart, and
the Rev. Patrick Adair. Blair, who arrived in Ireland in 1623, left an
autobiographical fragment which was begun in 1663 when he was seventy. In it he
gave this account of the early settlers:
"The parts of Scotland nearest to Ireland sent over
abundance of people and cattle that filled the counties of Ulster that lay next
to the sea; and albeit amongst these, Divine Providence sent over some worthy
persons for birth, education and parts, yet the most part were such as either
poverty, scandalous lives, or, at the best, adventurous seeking of better
accommodation, set forward that way. . . . Little care was had by any to plant
religion. As were the people, so, for the most part, were the preachers."
Stewart's account of early conditions is contained in a
church history which was begun in 1670 and was left unfinished at his death in
1671. He was minister at Donaghdee from 1645 to 1671, so his account cannot be
regarded as contemporary testimony as to original conditions although it has
been cited as such. His account has been supposed to derive support from the
fact that his father before him was a North of Ireland minister, but the elder
Stewart himself did not arrive in Ireland until 1627, and the son was only ten
years old when the father died. Even if the younger Stewart is to be credited
with information derived from his father, his knowledge does not approach so
close as Blair's to the first settlement but nevertheless he paints the
situation in much darker colours. Stewart says:
"From Scotland came many, and from England not a few;
yet all of them generally the scum of both nations, who, from debt, or breaking
and fleeing from justice, or seeking shelter, came hither, hoping to be without
fear of man's justice in a land where there was nothing, or but little as yet,
of the fear of God. Yet God followed them when they fled from Him. Albeit at
first it must be remembered, that as they cared little for any church, so God
seemed to care little for them. For these strangers were no better entertained
than with the relics of popery, served up in a ceremonial service of God under
a sort of anti-Christian hierarchy. . . . Thus on all hands atheism increased,
and disregard of God, iniquity abounded with contention, fighting, murder,
adultery, etc., as among people who, as they had nothing within them to overawe
them, so their ministers' example was worse than nothing; for 'from the
prophets of Israel profaneness went forth to the whole land.'"
Adair settled in Ireland, in charge of the parish of Cairn
Castle, Antrim, May, 1646. He died in 1694 leaving unfinished A True Narrative
of the Rise and Progress of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland. His account of
the first settlers is simply a reproduction of Blair's, in almost the same
language.
An examination of these several accounts shows that the
purpose of the writers was hortatory rather than historical. The motive that
set them all writing in their old age was to put on record edifying
experiences. Literary composition of this sort instinctively avoids all colours
except black and white. It needs strong contrasts to accomplish the desired
effect. Hence Dr. Reid, in his History of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, a
work written in the genuine historical spirit, while he reproduces Stewart's
account, gives the caution that it is "probably a little
over-charged."
Doubtless to clergymen of strict opinions there was
deplorable laxity of morals among the early settlers of the Ulster plantation,
but if one's views are formed upon examination of the official records, it will
not be thought that the people settling in Ulster were any worse than people of
their class in Scotland or in England. If anything, the comparison is to the
advantage of the Ulster settlers. As a matter of fact they showed far more
regard for religious establishment than is usual among emigrants. It has
already been noted that a minister accompanied the party of settlers brought
over by Lord Ochiltree in 1611. By the close of 1625 seven ministers are known
to have settled in the country. Neal's History of the Puritans, published in
1731-2, mentions the Ulster plantation as a field in which Puritanism
prospered. Referring to the work of colonization carried on by the London
companies, Neal said:
"They sent over considerable numbers of planters, but
were at a loss for ministers; for the beneficed clergy of the Church of
England, being at ease in the enjoyment of their preferments, would not engage
in such a hazardous undertaking, it fell therefore to the lot of the Scots and
English Puritans; the Scots, by reason of their vicinity to the northern parts
of Ireland, transported numerous colonies; they improved the country and
brought preaching into the churches where they settled; but being of the
Presbyterian persuasion, they formed their churches after their own model. The
London adventurers prevailed with several of the English Puritans to remove,
who, being persecuted at home, were willing to go anywhere within the King's
dominions for the liberty of their consciences."
This reference to the Puritan complexion of the
ecclesiastical arrangements made along with the Ulster plantation accounts for
the acrimony with which pioneer ministers, writing in their old age, described
the situation in which they began their fruitful labours. That situation did
not exist however because the Ulster settlers as a class were worse than the
other people, but because exceptionally high standards had been set up,
measured by which morals that elsewhere might have passed without much
reprobation were regarded as abominable. Such an epithet as "atheism"
when employed by religious zealots must be taken with allowance. It may mean
really no more than an indifference which however culpable from the ministerial
view-point was far from implying actual atheism. It may be noted that Stewart
couples the charge of atheism with "disregard of God." That is to say
the people were atheists because they neglected the ordinances of the church as
construed by Puritan clergymen. Blair in his autobiography mentions incidents
that show that atheism could hardly have been prevalent. He remarks that on the
day after he landed in Ireland he met some Scots with whom by way of conference
he discoursed the most part of the last sermon he had preached. He speaks of
finding several ministers in the field, and of hours spent "in godly
conference and calling on the name of the Lord." Alongside of such fervour
the behaviour of the common people doubtless seemed cold and indifferent, and
Blair describes them as "drowned in ignorance, security and
sensuality." Yet he says the people were much affected by two sermons he
preached on the same day, "one sermon on heaven's glory and another on
hell's torments." It was suggested to him that as some of the people that
dwelt far from the kirk returned home after the first sermon, he should
thereafter preach of hell in the morning and of heaven in the afternoon. In
fine, his autobiography gives such an account of successful ministry as to
indicate that the people were not a bad sort when judged by ordinary standards,
and that upon a fair scale of comparison with new settlements in any country
they really stood high in their concern for religion and their attachment to
ecclesiastical order.
They certainly were tractable, for the relations that have
come down from this period show that the ministers were able to establish a
strict discipline. Blair tells how he made evil-doers make public confession of
their sins. The Rev. John Livingston who was called to Ireland in 1630 thus describes
the process of church discipline in his time:
"We [i.e. the session] met every week, and such as fell
into notorious public scandals we desired to come before us. Such as came were
dealt with, both in public and private, to confess their scandal in the
presence of the congregation, at the Saturday's sermon before the communion,
which was celebrated twice in the year. Such as after dealing would not come
before us, or coming, would not be convinced to acknowledge their fault before
the congregation, upon the Saturday preceding the communion, their names,
scandals and impenitency were read out before the congregation, and they
debarred from the communion; which proved such a terror that we found very few
of that sort."
This was not an isolated case, for Livingston mentions that
"there were nine or ten parishes within the bounds of twenty miles or
little more, wherein there were godly and able ministers." Both Blair and
Livingston speak of the extraordinary appetite of the people for religious
exercise. Livingston says:
"I have known them come several miles from their own
houses to communions, to the Saturday sermon, and spending the whole Saturday's
night in several companies, sometimes a minister being with them, and sometimes
themselves alone in conference and prayer. They have then waited on the public
ordinances the whole Sabbath, and spent the Sabbath night in the same way, and
yet at the Monday's sermon were not troubled with sleepiness; and so they have
not slept till they went home. In those days it was no great difficulty for a
minister to preach or pray in public or private, such was the hunger of
hearers."
All this, in less than twenty years after the colonization
of Ulster began, certainly does not exhibit a community prone to atheism and immorality.
It is evident that ecclesiastical control over the people was promptly applied
and was speedily effectual, and it was a control of a strict Puritan type. The
development of this characteristic was promoted not only by the fact that the
North of Ireland served as a refuge for Puritan ministers harassed by Episcopal
interference in Scotland and England, but also by the fact that at this time
the established church in Ireland had a strong Puritan tincture and the bishops
there were friendly and sympathetic in their attitude toward the Presbyterians.
The low state of the Established Church at the time of the accession of James
had been somewhat retrieved by the appointment of good bishops and diligent
pastors, trained under Puritan influence. During Elizabeth's reign Cambridge
University had been a centre of Calvinistic theology and Puritan doctrine. The
famous Richard Cart-wright, sometimes called the father of English Puritanism,
was a fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. Dublin University, founded in 1593,
drew upon Cambridge University for its staff of professors and their influence
upon the Irish Church was very marked. The articles of religion adopted by the
Church of Ireland in 1615 are printed in full in Neal's History of the Puritans
as a Puritan document. Blair, Livingston and other Presbyterian ministers
accepted Episcopal ordination after a form made to meet their approval. Neal
says:
"All the Scots who were ordained in Ireland to the year
1642, were ordained after the same manner; all of them enjoyed the churches and
tithes, though they remained Presbyterian and used not the liturgy; nay, the
bishops consulted them about affairs of common concernment to the church, and
some of them were members of the convocation in 1634."
Looking back upon the situation in the plantation period
from the standpoint of our own times, the remarkable thing now appears to be
that the people were so spiritually minded. In the time when Blair used to
preach his sermons on heaven's glory and hell's torments, both on the same day,
it may have seemed deplorable indifference that some of the people were
satisfied to hear only one; but what surprises one now is that there should
have been so many willing to make long journeys to give whole days to hearing
sermons. Such devotion is hardly intelligible until the general circumstances
of the times are considered. Previous to the spread of popular education, the
rise of journalism, and the diffusion of literature, the pulpit was in most
places the only source of intellectual stimulus and mental culture. It was like
the well in the desert to which all tracks converge, whereas now some sort of
supply is laid to every man's house.
The nervous disorders that are apt to result from immoderate
states of religious introspection and emotional fervour were early manifested
in Ulster under the excitements of Puritan exhortation. In describing a revival
under Blair's preaching Stewart says: "I have seen them myself stricken
and swoon with the word--yea, a dozen in a day carried out of doors as dead, so
marvellous was the power of God smiting their hearts for sin." Such scenes
before long produced religious vagaries that gave trouble. Blair in his
autobiography gives a long account of his dealings with Glendinning, described
as "lecturer at Carrickfergus." Glendinning settled himself at
Oldstone, near the town of Antrim, where "he began to preach diligently,
and having a great voice and vehement delivery, he roused up the people and
waked them with terrors." But Blair notes that he "was neither
studied in learning, nor had good solid judgment." Indeed, it would appear
that the man became deranged, judging from the strangeness of the doctrines he
began to preach. "He watched much and fasted wonderfully, and began
publicly to affirm that he or she after they had slept a little in bed, if they
return themselves from one side to another, could not be an honest
Christian." Blair gives a long account of a struggle he had with
Glendinning to keep him from putting his foot in the fire to show that it would
have no power to burn him. Glendinning professed to know when the Judgment Day
was to come and he taught people to save themselves by "a ridiculous way
of roaring out some prayer, laying their faces on the earth." Glendinning
finally left the country, giving out that he had a call to visit the Seven
Churches of Asia.
The educated clergy who directed the interests of early
Presbyterianism of Ulster set themselves firmly against religious ecstasies
that tended to folly and disorder. Blair described some manifestations at
Lochlearn in 1630 as "a mere delusion and cheat of Satan." It seems
that there were persons who "in the midst of the public worship fell as
mourning, and some of them were afflicted with pangs like convulsions."
Their case excited sympathy at first but as conference with them disclosed no
spiritual value in such experiences they were before long sharply rebuked.
Blair tells how a woman of his own congregation "in the midst of the
public worship, being a dull and ignorant person, made a noise and stretching
of her body." He forthwith denounced the exhibition as the work of the
lying spirit and charged it not to disturb the congregation. Blair notes that
after this rebuke nothing more of the kind occurred, "the person above
mentioned remaining still a dull and stupid sot." One can hardly be
mistaken in thinking that these early experiences had much to do with
developing in Ulster Presbyterianism its characteristic insistence upon the
importance of having an educated clergy. We may therefore descry here the
initial impulse of important educational activities in the United States
ensuing from Ulster emigration.
These accounts of early conditions by the pioneer clergy are
tantalizingly curt in their references to the industrial situation. Blair
remarks that when the plantation began "the whole country did lie waste;
the English possessing some few towns and castles, making use of small parcels
of near adjacent lands; the Irishes staying in woods, bogs and such fast
places." After mentioning the influx from Scotland he observes: "The
wolf and widcairn were great enemies to these first planters; but the long
rested land yielded to the labourers such plentiful increase that many followed
the first essayers." These brief references are all that Blair has to say
about the conditions that the planters had to endure, but they cast a
flashlight on the situation. A relief map of Ireland shows that elevations
above 500 feet are more thickly clustered in Ulster than in any other part of
Ireland except the south-western extremity. Three highland masses whose general
direction follows rather closely the sixth, seventh and eighth meridians of
longitude stretch across Ulster from the north to the great central plain of
Ireland. Between and about these highlands are lake basins and river valleys
terminating in short coastal plains. At the time of the settlement forests and
swamps occupied much of the country.
Ancient Ireland was a densely wooded country. State papers
of 1529 represent the districts in which English law prevailed as being
everywhere surrounded by thick forests. From time to time the Government had to
cut passes and take measures for their maintenance. During the wars of
Elizabeth it was a proverb that "the Irish will never be tamed while the
leaves are on the trees," meaning that the winter was the only season in
which the Irish could be descried and pursued in the woods.
"Plashing" is mentioned as a great obstacle to the movement of the
troops, by which was meant the interlacing of the tree trunks with under-wood
so as to render the forest paths impassable. The Government sought to reduce
these woodland areas, with such success that by the time James succeeded to the
throne the central plain of Ireland was nearly destitute of woods; but extensive
forests still remained in Ulster, in the counties of Tyrone, Londonderry,
Antrim and Down, particularly on the east and west shores of Lough Neagh, and
the territories adjacent.
Almost everywhere the lands occupied by the planters were in
reach of the "fast places" in which Blair speaks of the "Irishes
staying." The planters had to pasture their cattle near coverts in which
wolves prowled or marauding natives lurked. Blair speaks of the wolf as a great
enemy. Its ravages were so great that so late as 1652 under Cromwell's
Government a bounty of six pounds was offered for the head of every she wolf.
Grand jury records mention payments for killing wolves as late as 1710, and
they were not wholly extinct until about 1770. The "widcairn" mentioned
by Blair is a corruption of wood kern. From the reference to this enemy it
appears that although Chichester had shipped out of the country many of the
fighting men many still remained behind, still trying to live their old lives
as a privileged class to whom tribute was due. The planters thus lived in a
state of siege. Thomas Blenerhassett, whose Direction for the Plantation in
Ulster describes conditions at this period says: "Sir Toby Caulfield's
people are driven every night to lay up all his cattle, as it were, in warde;
and do he and his what they can, the woolfe and the wood kerne (within caliver
shot of his fort), have oftentimes a share." Gainsford, another writer of
this period, mentions that it was an Ulster practice in 1619 "to house
their cattle in the bawnes of their castles where all the winter nights they
stood up to their bellies in dirt."
Such hazards powerfully impelled the settlers to build
securely. In the official survey made by Nicholas Pynnar in 1619 such entries
appear as the following:
"On the allotment of Lord Aubigny, held by Sir James
Hamilton, is built a strong castle of lime and stone, called Castle Aubigny,
with the King's arms cut in free stone over the gate. This is five storeys
high, with four round towers for flankers; the hall is 50 feet long and 28
broad; the roof is set up and ready to be slated. Adjoining one end of the
castle is a bawn of lime and stone, 80 feet square, with two flankers 15 feet
high, very strongly built."
"John Hamilton has built a bawn of lime and stone, 80
feet square and 13 feet high, with round towers for flankers; he has also a
stone house, now one storey high, and intended to be four, being 48 feet long
and 24 broad; besides two towers, which are vaulted, flank the house. Also a
village of eight houses adjoining the bawn, inhabited by British tenants, a
watermill and five houses adjoining it."
Pynnar says that at that time there were in Ulster "in
British families 6,215 men, and upon occasion, 8,000 men, of British birth and
descent for defence, though the fourth part of the lands is not fully
inhabited." Of buildings there were "107 castles with bawns, 19
castles without bawns, 42 bawns without castles or houses, 1,897 dwelling
houses of stone and timber, after the English manner, in townredes, besides
very many such houses in several which I saw not."
This estimate of the number of men able to bear arms of
course implies a much larger population when the women and children are taken
into the reckoning. The number of houses also points the same way. Inasmuch as
the settlers took their families, and families were apt to be large in those
days, the statistics given by Pynnar indicate that from 30,000 to 40,000
colonists were then settled in the country. Pynnar classes together English and
Scotch as "British" but he gives details which show that the Scotch
were much the more important element. He remarks that "many English do not
yet plough nor use husbandry, being fearful to stock themselves with cattle or
servants for such labours," and he goes on to say that "were it not
for the Scottish, who plough in many places, the rest of the country might
starve."
From the very first the Scotch took the lead in the
settlement. In a report written in November, 1610, Chichester describes the
English Undertakers as:
"For the most part, plain country gentlemen, who may
promise much, but give small assurance or hope of performing what appertains to
a work of such moment. If they have money, they keep it close; for hitherto
they have disbursed but little, and if he may judge by the outward appearance,
the least trouble or alteration of the times here will scare most of them away.
. . . The Scottish come with greater port and better accompanied and attended,
but it may be with less money in their purse; for some of the principal of
them, upon their first entrance into their precincts were forthwith in hand
with the natives to supply their wants, or at least their expenses, and in
recompense thereof promise to get license from His Majesty that they may remain
on their lands as tenants unto them; which is so pleasing to that people that
they will strain themselves to the uttermost to gratify them, for they are
content to become tenants to any man rather than be removed from the place of
their birth and education, hoping, as he conceives, at one time or other to
find an opportunity to cut their landlord's throats; for sure he is they hate
the Scottish deadly, and out of their malice toward them they begin to affect
the English better than they have accustomed."
Even apart from the ease of access enjoyed by the Scotch,
Ulster opportunities were more attractive to the Scotch than to the English
whose experience and habits did not fit them so well to endure the hardships.
The Rev. Andrew Stewart dwells on this in his account of early conditions,
remarking:
"It is to be observed that being a great deal more
tenderly bred at home in England, and entertained in better quarters than they
could find here in Ireland, they were very unwilling to flock hither, except to
good land, such as they had before at home, or to good cities where they might
trade; both of which in these days were scarce enough here. Besides that the
marshiness and fogginess of this Island was still found unwholesome to English
bodies, more tenderly bred and in a better air; so that we have seen in our
time multitudes of them die of a flux, called here the country disease, at
their first entry. These things were such discouragements that the new English
come but very slowly, and the old English were become no better than the
Irish."
By the "old English" Stewart means the descendants
of English formerly settled in Ireland. In every age they have shown a marked
tendency to melt into the general mass, making Irish nationality so composite
in character that it would be hardly more accurate now to describe the Irish
people as Celts than to describe the English people as Angles or Saxons. The
conflicts of which Ireland has been the scene have been more political and
religious than racial, and the political and religious differences have caused
undue emphasis to be put upon racial differences. Even the preservation of the
Celtic language and customs in some regions is no guarantee of race purity, for
there is abundant evidence that descendants of early English settlers have
adopted Irish speech and ways.
According to the original scheme only the class of servitors
whose houses were to possess the character of military posts were to be allowed
to have Irish tenants. It was the intention to remove the native Irish from the
lands assigned to the Scotch and English Undertakers. But this part of the
scheme, to which Chichester had always been opposed, proved to be
impracticable. In a report made in July, 1611, the English Privy Council is
informed that "experience tells the Undertakers that it will be almost
impossible for them to perform the work they have undertaken, if the natives be
removed according to the general project, for when they are gone there will be
neither victuals nor carriage within twenty miles, and in some counties
more." In view of this situation the removal had to be deferred and as
time went on the obstacles increased. The Irish were willing to pay for the use
of pasture lands and the newcomers found that the readiest way of turning their
holdings to account was to let them out. Pynnar, writing in 1619, observes that
"the British, who are forced to take their lands at great rates, live at
the greater rates paid to them by Irish tenants who graze." He adds that
"if the Irish pack away with their cattle the British must either forsake
their dwellings or endure great distress on the sudden." Those
considerations did not relax their force and the removal of the natives,
although from time to time announced as settled policy, was never actually
attempted.
The practice by the Undertakers of letting the lands was
particularly marked in the large tracts assigned to the London companies.
Pynnar in his report made in 1619 says: "The greatest number of Irish
dwell upon the lands granted to the City of London." He explains this by
pointing out that the lands are "in the hands of agents, who, finding the
Irish more profitable than the British, are unwilling to draw on the British,
persuading the companies that the lands are mountainous and unprofitable, not
regarding the future security of the whole."
The behaviour of the London companies became the subject of
an official inquiry, which incidentally produced a curious and beautiful record
of the state of the plantation in the County of Londonderry in 1622. The survey
was made under a royal commission to Sir Thomas Phillips and Richard Hadsor.
The editors of the Calendar of State Papers, 1615-1625, say of the commission's
report:
". . . . in it the state of every building, public and
private, is portrayed in colours, giving a picture of the liveliest kind. There
are views of Londonderry and Colerain, with all the houses in the streets and
other buildings, the ramparts, etc. And on the proportions of the several
London companies are drawn not only the several manor houses, but those of the
freeholders and farmers, besides the cage-work houses in course of building,
but yet unfinished."
In their report the commissioners call attention to the
preponderance of natives and to the need of larger settlements of British
"which would prevent many robberies and murders daily committed by the
Irish, to the great terror of the few poor British already settled." Of
one place the commissioners remark: "This plantation, albeit it is the
strongest and most ablest of men to defend themselves, yet have they sustained
great losses by the wood kerne and thieves." Of another place the
commissioners report: "The few British that inhabit this proportion live
so scattered that upon occasion they are unable to succour one another, and are
daily robbed and spoiled and driven to leave the country." The military
importance of the forests at that period is indicated by the urgent
recommendation that there be "large passes cut through the woods to answer
each several plantation."
In 1624 Sir Thomas Phillips made a petition to the King in
which he charged the London companies with "defects and abuses ... by
which they have brought the country into an almost desperate case." He
declared that "their towns and fortresses are rather baits to ill-affected
persons than places of security, besides the few British now planted there be
at the mercy of the Irish, being daily murthered, robbed and spoiled by
them."
The London companies eventually incurred heavy penalties on
conviction of default, but no great change took place in the general situation.
The plantation instead of being a substitution of British for Irish, as
originally intended, assumed the character of an incursion of British
landlordism among the Irish. The mass of the natives were not displaced but
became tenants and labourers upon the lands they used to regard as their own.
And this appears to have been the case not only in Londonderry County but
throughout Ulster. An official return made in 1624 gives the names of 629 Irish
tenants in County Fermanagh alone.
The settlers thus lived surrounded by a hostile population,
with almost daily risks from raiders and in almost constant alarm of a general
rising. In 1615 a plot for the surprise and burning of Derry and Colerain was
formed, but was frustrated by the arrest of many of the conspirators. According
to the cruel practice of the times torture was used to extort confessions. The
authorities were too alert and the military precautions too extensive to admit
any opportunity for a general rising at that time. But there appears to have
been more or less marauding going on all the time. In an official report of
March 27, 1624, the writer mentions that many thefts and robberies were being
committed by bands operating in the counties of Tyrone and Londonderry. He
adds: "I know well that this is a trifle to speak of in this kingdom,
where such courses have been frequent, and where there are now many others in
several counties upon their keeping, as we call it here." The phrase
"upon their keeping" may be taken to denote such as adhered to the
old order, what had once been tribal privilege now taking the form of rapine.
A Discourse upon the Settlement of the Natives in Ulster
which was submitted to the Government in 1628 gives this account of the situation
at that time:
"Whosoever doth know Ulster and will deal truly with
His Majesty must make this report of it; that in the general appearance of it,
it is yet no other than a very wilderness. For although in many of the
proportions, I mean of all kinds, there is one small township, made by the
Undertakers which is all, yet, the proportions being wide and large, the
habitation of all the province is scarce visible. For the Irish, of whom many
townships might be formed, do not dwell together in any orderly form, but
wander with their cattle all the summer in the mountains, and all the winter in
the woods. And until these Irish are settled, the English dare not live in
those parts, for there is no safety either for their goods or lives, which is
the main cause, though other reasons may be given, why they do not plentifully
go thither, and cheerfully plant themselves in the province."
These perils and difficulties almost put an end to the
settlement of English in Ulster. Their home conditions were not of such urgency
as to force them out into such a field. It was different with the Scotch. More
accustomed to emigration than the English of that period, more inured to
hardships, more capable in meeting them, they held their ground, throve and
spread, giving to the Ulster settlement a Scottish character.[1] Exact figures
as to population are not attainable. No proper census of Ireland was taken
until 1821; prior to that time there are only estimates. All authorities agree
that Ulster increased rapidly in population, both in the native stock and in
the planted stocks. Wentworth, who was Lord Deputy of Ireland from 1623 to
1640, estimated that there were at least 100,000 Scots in the North. The
historian Carte, whose work although published in 1736 is based upon such
diligent study of documentary sources that it still ranks as a leading
authority, estimates that in 1641 there were in Ulster 100,000 Scotch and
20,000 English. When it is considered that Pynnar in 1619 reported only 6,215
men settled on the plantation, so great a growth in the next twenty years seems
almost incredible. It is to be observed however that the estimates include not
only the population of the six escheated counties covered by the plantation
scheme, but also Antrim, Down and Monaghan in which settlements of Scotch and
English took place before the plantation of 1610. After making all allowances
for possible exaggeration, it is certain that within thirty years from the
beginning of the plantation there was a large Scotch population in the country.
END OF CHAPTER III.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTE
[1] After this chapter had been written a valuable history
appeared entitled The Ulster Scot, by the Rev. James Barkley Woodburn of
Castlerock, County Derry, Ireland. This work may be commended as a fair and
well-informed history of Ulster.
Mr. Woodburn, however, makes a statement in regard to racial
origins with which I am unable to agree. He holds that there is little or no
racial distinction between the Ulster Scots and the Irish people in general and
that "the Ulsterman has probably as much Celtic blood as the
Southerner." In support of this averment he argues that the regions of
Scotland from which the Ulster plantation drew settlers were predominantly
Celtic. Mr. Woodburn's argument was the subject of thorough consideration by
the Rev. Professor James Heron of the Assembly's College, Belfast, in an
address delivered at that institution on April 9, 1910. This address, which
makes a thorough and complete analysis of this intricate subject, will be found
reproduced in Appendix C of this book.
2.1.7 Scottish
applicants for Ulster allotments
The first list of Scottish applicants for Ulster allotments was completed by
September 14, 1609. The following is the list as given in volume VIII of the
official edition of the Register of the Privy Council of Scotland:
ADAMSON, JAMES, brother of Mr. William Adamson of Graycrook
[Craigcrook]: surety, Andrew Heriot of Ravelston: 2,000 acres.
AITCHISON, HARRY, in Edinburgh: surety, Mr. James Cunningham
of Mountgrennan: 2,000 acres.
ALEXANDER, ROBERT, son of Christopher Alexander, burgess of
Stirling: surety, his said father: 1,000 acres.
ANDERSON, JAMES, portioner of Little Govan: surety, John
Allison in Carsbrig: 1,000 acres.
ANDERSON, JOHN, burgess of Edinburgh: surety, Thomas
Anderson, burgess there.
BELLENDEN, JOHN, son of the late Justice-Clerk Sir Lewis
Bellenden: surety, Sir George Livingstone of Ogilface: 2,000 acres.
BELLENDEN, WILLIAM, also son of the late Sir Lewis
Bellenden: surety, Mr. John Hart, younger, in the Canon-gate: 2,000 acres.
BORTHWICK, DAVID, chamberlain of Newbattle: surety, George
Thorbrand, burgess of Edinburgh: 2,000 acres.
BROWN, JOHN, in Gorgie Mill: surety, Harry Aikman, in
Brumehouse: 2,000 acres.
CARMICHAEL, DAVID, son of James Carmichael of Pottishaw:
surety, Mr. John Ross, burgess of Glasgow: 1,000 acres.
COLQUHOUN, MR. MALCOLM, burgess of Glasgow: surety,
Alexander Colquhoun of Luss: 2,000 acres.
COUTTS, ROBERT, of Corswoods: surety, John Coutts, skinner,
burgess of Edinburgh: 1,000 acres.
CRANSTOUN, NATHANIEL, son of Mr. Michael Cranstoun, minister
of Cramond: surety, Robert Wardlaw in Edinburgh: 1,500 acres.
CRAWFORD, DANIEL, goldsmith in Edinburgh: surety, George
Crawford goldsmith there: 1,000 acres.
CRAWFORD, DAVID, son of Andrew Crawford of Bedlair: surety,
Robert Montgomery of Kirktown: 2,000 acres.
CRAWFORD, JAMES, goldsmith, burgess of Edinburgh: surety,
Archibald Hamilton of Bairfute: 2,000 acres.
CRAWFORD, ROBERT, of Possil: surety, John Montgomery of
Cokilbie: 2,000 acres.
CRICHTON, ABRAHAM, brother of Thomas Crichton of Brunstone:
surety, said Crichton of Brunstone: 2,000 acres.
CRICHTON, THOMAS, of Brunstone: surety, Mr. James Cunningham
of Mountgrennan: 2,000 acres.
CUNNINGHAM, ALEXANDER, of Powton: surety, George Murray of
Broughton: 2,000 acres.
CUNNINGHAM, JOHN, of Raws: surety, James Guidlet in
Strabrock: 2,000 acres.
DALYRYMPLE, JAMES, brother of Dalyrymple of Stair: surety,
George Crawford, younger of Auchincorse: 2,000 acres.
DOUGLAS, GEORGE, of Shiell: surety, Douglas of Pumpherston:
2,000 acres.
DOUGLAS, JAMES, of Clappertoun: surety, George Douglas of
Shiell: 1,000 acres.
DOUGLAS, WILLIAM, son of Joseph Douglas of Pumpherston:
surety, his said father: 2,000 acres.
DUNBAR, ALEXANDER, of Egirness: surety, George Murray of
Broughton: 2,000 acres.
DUNBAR, JOHN, of Avach, surety, David Lindsay, Keeper of the
Tolbooth of Edinburgh: 2,000 acres.
FINLAYSON, MR. JOHN, heir apparent of Killeith: surety, John
Dunbar of Avach: 2,000 acres.
FORRES, JOHN, in Dirleton: surety, Walter Ker of Cocklemill:
2,000 acres.
FORSTER, WILLIAM, in Leith: surety, John Forster in
Edinburgh: 1,000 acres.
FOWLER, WILLIAM, merchant-burgess in Edinburgh: surety,
James Inglis, skinner, burgess of Edinburgh: 2,000 acres.
GUIDLET, JAMES, in Strabrock: surety, John Cunningham of
Raws: 2,000 acres.
HAMILTON, CLAUD, of Creichness: surety, Archibald Hamilton
of Bairfute: 2,000 acres.
HAMILTON, GEORGE, of East Binnie: surety, Mr. Edward Marshall,
clerk of commissary of Edinburgh: 2,000 acres.
HAMILTON, ROBERT, of Stanshouse: 2,000 acres.
HAMILTON, ROBERT, son of the late Gilbert Hamilton: surety,
Gavin Hamilton of Raploch: 2,000 acres.
HEPBURN, ALEXANDER, of Bangla: surety, Sir Robert Hepburn of
Alderstoun: 2,000 acres.
HOME, ROBERT, of Blackhills: surety, Mr. John Home of
Swansheill: 2,000 acres.
INGLIS, THOMAS, younger of Auldliston: surety, James, Lord
Torphichen: 1,000 acres.
IRVING, ROBERT, at the mill of Cowie: surety, Edward Johnston,
younger, merchant in Edinburgh: 2,000 acres.
JOHNSTONE, JOHN, bailie of Water of Leith: surety, Daniel
Coutts in Dairy Mill: 2,000 acres.
KER, WALTER, of Cocklemill: surety, John Forres in Dirleton:
1,500 acres.
LAUDER, ALEXANDER, son of William Lauder of Bellhaven:
surety, his said father: 2,000 acres.
LINDSAY, MR. JEROME, in Leith: surety, David Lindsay, keeper
of the Tolbooth of Edinburgh: 2,000 acres.
LINDSAY, MR. ROBERT, in Leith: surety, George Smailholm in
Leith: 2,000 acres.
LIVINGSTON, SIR GEORGE, of Ogilface: surety, John Crawford
of Bearcrofts: 2,000 acres.
LOCKHART, STEPHEN, of Wicketshaw: surety, Thomas Weir of
Kirktoun: 2,000 acres.
McCLELLAN, HERBERT, of Grogrie: surety, George Murray of
Broughton: 2,000 acres.
McCULLOCH, JAMES, of Drummorell: surety, George Murray of
Broughton: 2,000 acres.
McGILL, M. SAMUEL, burgess of Glasgow: surety, Robert Gray,
brother of Patrick, Lord Gray: 2,000 acres.
MAC WALTER, PARLANE, of Auchinvennell: surety, Alexander
Colquhoun of Luss: 2,000 acres.
MARJORIBANKS, THOMAS, son of Thomas Marjoribanks of Ratho:
surety, John Marjoribanks, apparent of Ratho: 2,000 acres.
MELDRUM, JOHN, brother of the Laird of Seggie: surety,
Ramsay of Balmonth: 2,000 acres.
MELVILLE, JAMES, son of John Melville of Raith: surety,
James Melville of Fodinche: 2,000 acres.
MONTGOMERY, ROBERT, of Kirktown: surety, Robert Crawford of
Possill: 2,000 acres.
MOWBRAY, WILLIAM, son of John Mowbray of Groftangry: surety,
his said father: 2,000 acres.
MURE, JAMES, portioner of Both-Kenner: surety, Cuthbert
Cunningham, provost of Dumbarton: 2,000 acres.
MURRAY, GEORGE, of Broughton: surety, Alexander Dunbar of
Egirness: 2,000 acres.
ORROCK, CAPTAIN DAVID: surety, Lord Ochiltree: 2,000 acres.
PONT, MR. TIMOTHY, minister: surety, Alexander Borthwick of
Nether Laich: 2,000 acres.
PURVES, THOMAS, in Bald: surety, John Purves, cordiner in
Edinburgh: 1,000 acres.
RAMSAY, ALEXANDER, brother of Thomas Ramsay of Balmonth:
surety, Meldrum of Seggie: 2,000 acres.
ROSS, MR. JOHN, burgess of Glasgow: surety, James Carmichael
of Pottishaw: 1,500 acres.
SMAILHOLM, GEORGE, in Laith: surety, Mr. Robert Lindsay in
Leith: 2,000 acres.
STEWART, HARRY, of Barskimming: surety, Lord Ochiltree:
2,000 acres.
STEWART, JAMES, of Rossyth: surety, William Stewart of
Dunduff: 2,000 acres.
STEWART, ROBERT, uncle of Lord Ochiltree: surety, said Lord
Ochiltree: 2,000 acres.
STEWART, ROBERT, of Robertoun: surety, William Stewart of
Dunduff: 2,000 acres.
STEWART, ROBERT, in Edinburgh: surety, William Stewart of
Dunduff: 2,000 acres.
STEWART, WILLIAM, of Dunduff: surety, Lord Ochiltree: 2,000
acres.
TARBET, JAMES, servitor to the Earl of Dunfermline: surety,
Thomas Inglis, younger of Auldliston: 1,000 acres.
THORBRAND, ALEXANDER, son of George Thorbrand, burgess of
Edinburgh: surety, his said father: 1,500 acres.
WATSON, MR. JAMES, portioner of Sauchton: surety, John
Watson, portioner of Sauchton: 2,000 acres.
WATSON, JOHN, portioner of Sauchton: surety, James Crawford,
goldsmith, burgess of Edinburgh: 2,000 acres.
WEIR, THOMAS, of Kirktoun: surety, Stephen Lockhart of
Wicketshaw: 2,000 acres.
WILKIE, JOHN, burgess of Edinburgh: surety, James Murray,
burgess there: 2,000 acres.
WOOD, ANDREW, brother of John Wood of Galstoun: surety, his
said brother: 2,000 acres.
THE SECOND LIST
The Scottish Undertakers who were actually granted
allotments in Ulster were those on the list made up in 1610 by the King and his
English Privy Council sitting in London. The following schedule is taken from
Vol. IX of the Register of the Privy Council of Scotland:
UNDERTAKERS FOR 3,000 ACRES EACH
LUDOVIC STEWART, Duke of Lennox (in Donegal County).
JAMES HAMILTON, Earl of Abercorn (in County Tyrone).
ESME STEWART, Lord D'Aubigny, brother of the Duke of Lennox
(in County Cavan).
MICHAEL, BALFOUR, Lord of Burley (in County Fermanagh).
ANDREW STEWART, Lord Ochiltree (in County Tyrone).
UNDERTAKERS FOR 2,000 ACRES EACH
JOHN CLAPEN (in County Tyrone).
SIR JAMES CUNNINGHAM, of Glengarnock (in County Donegal).
SIR JAMES DOUGLAS (in County Armagh).
SIR ALEXANDER HAMILTON (in County Cavan).
SIR CLAUD HAMILTON (in County Tyrone).
SIR JOHN HOME (in County Fermanagh).
SIR ROBERT MacLELLAN, of Bomby (in County Donegal).
UNDERTAKERS FOR 1,500 ACRES EACH
------------ BALFOUR, Younger of Montquhany (in County
Fermanagh).
SIR THOMAS BOYD (in County Tyrone).
WILLIAM FOWLER (in County Fermanagh).
JAMES HAIG (in County Tyrone).
ROBERT HAMILTON (in County Fermanagh).
SIR ROBERT HEPBURN, late Lieutenant of the King's Guard in
Scotland (in County Tyrone).
GEORGE MURRAY, of Broughton (in County Donegal).
WILLIAM STEWART, brother of Lord Garlies (in County
Donegal).
SIR JOHN WISHART of Pitarro (in County Fermanagh).
UNDERTAKERS FOR 1,000 ACRES EACH
HENRY AITCHINSON (in County Armagh).
ALEXANDER AUCHMUTIE (in County Cavan).
JOHN AUCHMUTIE (in County Cavan).
WILLIAM BAILLIE (in County Cavan).
JOHN BROWN (in County Cavan).
-------------- CRAWFORD, of Liefnoreis (in County Tyrone).
JOHN CRAIG (in County Armagh).
ALEXANDER CUNNINGHAM, of Powton (in County Donegal).
CUTHBERT CUNNINGHAM (in County Donegal).
JAMES CUNNINGHAM (in County Donegal).
JOHN CUNNINGHAM, of Granfield (in County Donegal).
SIR JOHN DRUMMOND, of Bordland (in County Tyrone).
ALEXANDER DUNBAR (in County Donegal).
JOHN DUNBAR (in County Fermanagh).
WILLIAM DUNBAR (in County Cavan).
JAMES GIBB (in County Fermanagh).
SIR CLAUD HAMILTON (in County Cavan).
CLAUD HAMILTON (in County Armagh).
GEORGE HAMILTON (in County Tyrone).
ALEXANDER HUME (in County Fermanagh).
WILLIAM LAUDER (in County Armagh).
BARNARD LINDSAY (in County Tyrone).
JOHN LINDSAY (in County Fermanagh).
ROBERT LINDSAY (in County Tyrone).
ALEXANDER MACAULAY, of Durling (in County Donegal).
JAMES MACCULLOCH (in County Donegal).
SIR PATRICK M'KIE (in County Donegal).
-------------- MONEYPENNY, of Kinkell (in County Fermanagh).
JOHN RALSTON (in County Cavan).
GEORGE SMAILHOLM (in County Fermanagh).
JOHN STEWART (in County Donegal).
ROBERT STEWART, of Haltoun (in County Tyrone).
ROBERT STEWART of Robertoun (in County Tyrone).
SIR WALTER STEWART, of Minto (in County Donegal).
WILLIAM STEWART, of Dunduff (in County Donegal).
JAMES TRAIL (in County Fermanagh). PATRICK VAUS (in County
Donegal).
2.1.8 WINGFIELD
EARLIER GENERATIONS – 1085-1625
These individuals are mainly from a Wingfield History, with additions from the
LDS records and others.
Captain LEWIS WINGFIELD - 1623
KO11/333 377
Born circa 1623.
Parents: Edward & Ann (Cromwell) Wingfield
He died After Sep 1673 Before 16 at Scurmore, Sligo, Connaught Ireland.
2ND Son Lewis Was Called Richard IN Father’s Will. He Under Age 21 IN 1632.
1638 - Received £1000 from father's will.
Commonwealth (Roundhead) soldier in his teens.
Received £400 in Viscount Powerscourt's will.
1660 & 1661 - Commissioner of Ordinance collecting money (40s or 10s) for
Army in Co Sligo and Co Mayo.
21 Jan 1661 - Received Charles II's pardon for fighting on the other side in
the English Civil Wars.
1665 - Lieutenant in Militia, flourishing at Scurmore.
(Sources: Wingfield Memorials, 40; 1816-1820 Records of Ireland Pp249-300 Soc
of Generals; C & P (Irld) 39: 1660-62/188 -1669-70 P 553).
Married Sidney Gore (5433), daughter of Capt, Sir Paul Gore (142401). Sidney
Gore (5433) was born at Manor Gore, Donegal, Ireland. She died in 1677. Lewis
Wingfield May Have Been Called Richard (2nd Son) Debrett. She Sister OF Sir
Ralph Gore, Ancestor of Earls OF Ross.
Known issue:
1/1. 514. Edward Folliott Wingfield Esq (5440).
married Eleanor Gore (5439);
married Arabella Lloyd (5441).
1/2. 515. Lewis Wingfield (5442).
1/3. 516. Thomas Wingfield (5443)
Died Without Issue -
Sources-Wingfield Memorials P 41 And Debrett.
1/4. 517. Anne Wingfield (5444).
1/5. 518. Isabella Wingfield (5445).
1/6. 519. Eleanor Wingfield (5446).
Sir EDWARD WINGFIELD
KO12/665
254. (5426)
Born: Ireland.
Parents: Richard & Honora (O'Brien) Wingfield
Died on 22 April 1638 at Carnew, Wicklow, Ireland.
Distinguished Against The Rebels.
Lived Butler Lane Dublin.
Of Carnew, County Wicklow and Butler land, Dublin until he inherited
Powerscourt, "With Lands and Jewels". Knighted 1603.
1615 in Lord Deputy Chichester's funeral procession at Carrickfergus (Vls J. Of
Arch.v 9/105)
1636 - Inherited much land from mother, Honora (O'brien) Wingfield. Bought much
land in County Wicklow. Served Charles I in Sundry Employments of Trust. (Hist
of Powerscourt. 145)
He married:
Anne CROMWELL (5427)
Born at Okeham.
Parent: Lord Edward Cromwell (142400), at Tickencote, Rutland.
Died on 11 July 1636. Buried at Templebecan, Wicklow, Ireland - Alias, Stangonal, Alias Powerscourt.
Known Issue:
1/1. 375. Francis Wingfield (5430)
Under 22 in Nov 1631 - Still
Living 16 April 1638 -.
He OF CO Clare And CO Limerick, Ireland. Died Without Issue.
1/2. 376. Anthony Wingfield (5431) died in 1653 at London.
Citizen and wool merchant of
London
1638 WILLED £800 BY FATHER, SIR EDWARD Wingfield. IN WILL (16TH MARCH 1653)
LEFT ESTATE FIFTY FIFTY TO BROTHERS LEWIS AND CROMWELL.
HE STATED THAT HE WISHED TO BE BURIED AT POWERSCOURT (BETHAM WILLS 4, PRO)
1/3. 377. Capt Lewis Wingfield (5432), born circa 1623;
married Sidney Gore (5433).
1/4. 378. Edward Wingfield (5434)
1638 willed £800 in father's
will. He Not Mentioned in grandmother Honora's will of 1650. He Not mentioned
in brother Anthony's will in 1653.
1/5. 379. Cromwell Wingfield (5435)
Born at Newcastle, Wickow, Ireland. Died after January 1705.
He OF Kilmurry & OF Newcastle, CO Wicklow, Tenant OF Thomas Mallet AT Robertstown, CO Limerick 1650.
SOURCES OF INFORMATION ON CROMWELL Wingfield (RN5435):
1634 LEFT £6000 BY HIS GRANDFATHER, MARSHAL Wingfield
1638 LEFT £800 BY HIS FATHER, LEWIS Wingfield.
1650 LEFT LANDS AND £200 BY GRANDMOTHER, HONORA Wingfield.
660 COMMISSIONER FOR ORDINANCE - CO WICKLOW, IRELAND.
1662 RENT COLLECTING FOR LORD ORRERY
1664 TENANT OF LORD ORRERY AT BALLYMALLOW AND RUSSELL (ORRERY PAPERS 37)
1683 MENTIONED IN LADY ORRERY'S LETTER. [SOURCES: ORRERY PAPERS 19,37,297].
1/6. 380. Christiana Wingfield (5436)
Married Henry Hartestongue
(5850).
Husband Was Counsellor And Then A Judge.
STANDISH HARTESTONGUE IN ORRERY LETTERS 10 MAY 1683 TO DOWAGER COUNTESS CALLS
CROMWELL Wingfield HER COUSIN. [P 277]
(CONNECTED TO BROWNLOWS AND MORE THAN ONE LORD MAYOR OF LONDON, LATER EARLS OF LIMERICK). [BETHAM WILLS, PRO].
1/7. 381. Richard Wingfield Esq (5437),
Born 1621 at Powerscourt,
Wicklow, Ireland; married Elizabeth Folliott (5438).
RICHARD WINGFIELD - 1621
KO13/1329
165
Parents: George & Ratcliffe (Gerrard) Wingfield, #108
Flourishing at Robertstown Castle County Limerick (Opposite Shannon Airport)
1592-1619.
"Hath a castle, a fair store house".
1599 on Earl of Essex's Ulster Expedition
1600 Also of Ballycullen, 2 m west of Ashkeam now a Georgian house.
1606 30 Aug Tenant of Sir Richard Boyle's at Tullow County
Dublin.
1613 a House at Smithstown, County Clare (his wife's property)
1614 of Castel Cragge, County Limerick - 4100 acres
Married Honora O'Brien (5425), daughter of Teige O'Brien (142399), in 1590.
Born at Smithstown, Limerick, Ireland. Grandfather 1ST Baron Inchiquin, Died
1557,
Descendant OF Brian Boroimhe, King OF Ireland. She Buried Abbey OF Ennis, Co
Clare.
1650 "OF Smithstown, CO Limerick.
Issue:
1/3. 254. Sir Edward Wingfield (5426),
born at Ireland; married Anne Cromwell (5427).
1/2. 255. Lady Honora Wingfield (5428), born 1596;
married Sir Donogh Macconner
O'Brien (5429).
George WINGFIELD
108. (5420)
Parents: Lewis & Margaret (Noone) Wingfield.
1525 - Living, no sons. Brother Richard to pay 40s P.A. from Bishop Sutton's
will if RW the eldest survivor.
1538 - Mugged in London by Mr Thomas Martell and servants. King Henry VIII's
council took up his case.
1538 - Living in Wooley. (Derby Collection 6688,BM) this was probably Wooler in
Northumberland from whence came the Worcester Wingfields in the 16th Cent. (See
Nash's "Worcester" [London, 1782, W Tree; Worcs R.O.]
Father Lewis' will PR 1526 held in Hants Record Office, Winchester, Extant
1989.
Married Ratcliffe Gerrard (5421), daughter of Sir
Gilbert Gerard (142398), on 18 July.
Ratcliffe GERRARD (5421) died on 9 September 1634. She Father
Master OF Rolls TO Queen Elizabeth. SOURCES OF INFORMATION ON RATCLIFFE GERRARD
WINGFIELD (RN5421):
Not mentioned in father's will, although a son, Ratcliffe, yet this Ratcliffe
Gerrard married post 1592 "Thomas Wingfield of Easton next
Letheringham"
Issue:
1/1. 165. Richard Wingfield
(5424), married Honora O'Brien
Lewis WINGFIELD
54 (5296)
Born at Letheringham, Suffolk,, England.
Parents: John & Elizabeth (FitzLewis) Wingfield
Died after 1526.
Married Margaret Noone (5297), daughter of Henry Noone (142375),
Maiden Name Possibly Derby (Records 142).
Issue:
1/1. 104. John Wingfield (5414) died after 1538.
1538 LEFT HOUSE BY GRANDSON, SIR
ROBERT Wingfield, PC.
1537 1 OF 3 SENT TO CAMBRAI [FRANCE] BY HENRY VIII TO ASSASSINATE CARDINAL
REGINALD POLE WHO WAS GODFATHER OF HIS FIRST COUSIN THOMAS MARIA Wingfield 1.
1537 SENT PRESENT OF A WHOLE DEER (TO CALAIS?) BY QUEEN JANE (SEYMOUR). [LISLE
LETTERS BY MURIEL STLLORE-BYRNE] CHICAGO, 1981.
APRIL-MAY 1537 WITH THE EMPEROR'S TROOPS WITH HIS COUSIN FRANCIS HALL OF LINCS
[LISLE LETTERS IV, 302].
1/2. 105. Sir Richard Wingfield (5415),
married Christiana Fitzwilliam
(5416).
1/3. 106. Thomas Wingfield (5417).
ALSO MENTIONED IN FATHER'S WILL
IS "GODFREY Wingfield SQUIRE" ONE OF HIS EXECUTORS - UNIDENTIFIED,
AND ANOTHER SON ROBERT Wingfield.
1/4. 107. Catherine Wingfield (5418) married Anthony Pounds
1/5. 108. George Wingfield (5420), married Ratcliffe Gerrard 1/6. 109.
Godfrey Wingfield (6003) Executer of Lewis Wingfield's
Will Dated 1525. Lewis Died
1526. He Other Executor was Sir Robert Wingfield.
1/7. 110. Robert Wingfield (6045)
Mentioned in father Lewis' will
as younger brother of George Wingfield 5420.
Sir John WINGFIELD
31 Knt of the Bath
(5040)
Born circa 1428 at Letheringham, Suffolk, England.
Parents: Sir Robert & Elizabeth (Goushill) Wingfield
Died on 10 May 1481.
Buried at Letheringham, Suffolk, England.
He married Elizabeth FitzLewis (5041), daughter of Sir John FitzLewis (85805)
and Anne Montacute (85806), circa 1450.
Elizabeth FitzLewis (5041) was born circa 1431 at Essex, England. She died
circa 1497 at Letheringham, Suffolk, England. She was buried at Letheringham,
Suffolk, England. She Name may be Elizabeth FitzLewis Wingfield.
Issue:
1/1. 46. Sir Robert Wingfield (5153), born CA 1476-1515;
Married Lady Joan
"Mary" Clinton (5154).
1/2. 47. Sir Edward Wingfield (5147) married Anne Widvile
daughter of Earl of Kent Richard
Widvile (142336).
He Died without issue.
1/3. 48. Henry Wingfield (5149)
died in 1500 at Rendlesham, Suffolk. Buried at Letheringham, Suffolk. He A Priest.
1/4. 49. Sir William Wingfield (5150)
Married Jane Waldegrave (5151),
daughter of Sir Thomas Waldegrave (142337). He died on 4 December 1491 at
Letheringham, Suffolk. He was buried at Letheringham, Suffolk.
1/5. 50. Sir Thomas Wingfield (5152) died at Bosworth.
1/6. 51. Sir Richard Wingfield (5303), born CA 1441-1461
Married Duchess of Buckingham
Katherine Woodville (5302); married Bridget Wiltshire (5304).
1/7. 52. Walter Wingfield (5155) married Female McWilliam.
1/8. 53. Sir John Wingfield (5294), born CA 1430-1479;
Married Margaret Durwarde
(5295).
1/9. 54. Lewis Wingfield (5296),
born at Letheringham, Suffolk; married Margaret Noone.
1/10. 55. Capt Sir Edmund Wingfield (5298),
married Margaret Ashwell
Wentworth (5299).
1/11. 56. Sir Humphrey Wingfield (5300), married Ann
Wiseman.
1/12. 57. Sir John Wingfield (5145),
born c1450 at Letheringham, Suffolk; married Anne Touchett.
1/13. 58. Anne Wingfield (5305) married John Echingham.
1/14. 59. Elizabeth Wingfield (5306) A Nun.
1/15. 60. Katherine Wingfield (5307) married Robert Brewse.
1/16. 61. Elizabeth Wingfield (5308)
married Francis Hall (5309), son
of Thomas Hall (142382) and Alice Bromswell (142383).
Sir Robert WINGFIELD, MP - 1403
24(5034)
Parents: John & Margaret (Hastings) Wingfield
Born in 1403 at Letheringham, Suffolk, England.
Died on 21 November 1451 at Letheringham, Suffolk, & was buried at
Letheringham, Suffolk.
This is the last Will of Sir Robert Wingefeld Knight made a Cambridge the 6th
day of October the reign of king henry the vi after the conquest xxxi. In the
beginning he prayeth his Feffees that they would make astate after his decease
to Elizabeth his wife of the Manor of Lederingham with all the lands tenements
Rents and services with all the appurtenances lying in divers Towns to the said
Elizabeth term of her life with her dower of all my other Manors lands
tenements Rents and services Being in the Shire of Suffolk outsept Caldwaller.
And also he prayeth his Feffees that they will make astate to John his Son to
him and to his Heirs male of his body lawfully begotten of the Manors towns and
with the Reversion of the Manor of Lydringham with all the lands tenements
Rents and services in foresaid which the said Elizabeth holdeth term of Life to
him and to his Heirs male of his body lawfully begotten. And in case the said
John die without issue male of his body coming that then all the sid Manors
lands tenements Rents and services with the appurtenances Remain to Robard the
son of said Sir Robard to him and to his Heirs male of his body coming. And for
Default of Issue male of his body coming that then all the said Manors lands
tenements Rents and services remain to Thomas the son of the said Sir Robard to
him and to his Heirs male of his body coming: And for Default of issue male of
his body coming that then all the said Manors lands tenements Rents and
services Remain to William the son of the said Sir Robard to him and to his
Heirs male of his body coming and for Default of issue male of his body coming
that then all the said Rents tenements and services Remain to Havy the son of
the said Sir Robard to him and to his heirs male of his body coming. And for
default of issue male of his body that then all the said Manors lands tenements
Rents and services Remain to Elizabeth and Ann and Katherine daughters of the
said Sir Robard to have and to her Heirs male of her body coming. And for
Default of issue male of her body coming to Remain to the Right Heirs of said
Sir Robard Wingefeld.
page 2 missing
profits of the Manor of Westale the first year after his death shall all go to
pay his Debts and to reform his apperstiences (?). And after this Done he
prayeth his Feffees to make astate to John his son to him and to his Heirs male
of his body coming the Remainder of the said Manors As the Manor been
aforesaid. Also the said Sir Robert Will that John his Son a Relic of the holy
Cross and a piece of Silver with a [tonerkill] to him and to his Heirs male of
his body coming as the Manor been aforesaid. Also I will that John my Son
nought attempt nor be about to break my Will upon pain of my Curse. And the
Residue of all my goods without or left my Will performed then I Will It be
done for me and mine [Annatere] by the Advice of my Executors. In Witness
whereof to this present Writing I have put to my Seal the Day and year
abovesaid.
Probate granted 21 of the month of November AD 1454.
Right hand Margin - Last Wish(es) pf
Sir Robert Wing [felde], Knight.
Married:
Lady Elizabeth Goushill (5035), daughter of Sir Lord of Hault-Hucknall Derby,
Robert Goushill (27653) and Duchess Elizabeth Fitzalan (44415), circa 1430.
Born in 1404 at Arundel or Heveringham, Notts.
Died after 1443.
Issue:
1/1. 31. Sir Knt of the Bath John Wingfield (5040),
born circa 1428 at Letheringham,
Suffolk, England; married Elizabeth Fitz Lewis (5041).
1/2. 32. Sir Robert Wingfield (5050) was born circa 1431.
married Anne Harling (5049),
daughter of Sir Robert Harling Knt (142312) and Jane Gonville (142313). He died
before 23 November 1481 at Rushforth, Suffolk, England. He was buried at
Rushforth, Suffolk, England.
1/3. 33. Sir Henry Wingfield, born c1434, Orford, Suffolk,
Married Alice Harte (5051);
married Elizabeth Rookes (5053).
1/4. 34. Sir Richard Wingfield (5047) was born circa 1435.
died at Letheringham, Suffolk, England. He was buried at Letheringham, Suffolk, England.
1/5. 35. Sir Thomas Wingfield (5043) was born circa 1438.
married Mary Clifford (5042),
daughter of Sir Roger Clifford (142307) and Joan Courtenay (142308). He married
Phillipa Tiptoft (5044), daughter of Sir John Tiptoft (142309). He died at
Letheringham, Suffolk, England. He was buried at Letheringham, Suffolk,
England.
1/6. 36. Elizabeth Wingfield (5058), born circa 1438;
married Lord Paulet (5939);
married Sir William Brandon
1/7. 37. William Wingfield (5048) was born circa 1440.
died in 1510 at Letheringham, Suffolk, England. He was buried at Letheringham, Suffolk, England.
He Died without issue - Served
in France.
1/8. 38. Katherine Wingfield (5056) was born circa 1444.
married John Bonville (5846).
1/9. 39. Anthony Wingfield (5045), born circa 1446;
married Mary Duke (5046).
1/10. 40. Agnes Wingfield (5057), born 1448 at Orford,
Suffolk,
married John de Fremingham
(5196).
1/11. 41. Alice Wingfield (5054) B. c1450 Orford, Suffolk.
1/12. 42. Margaret Wingfield born circa 1452. Unm.
Sir John Wingfield - 1345
15, of Letherigham
Born circa 1345 at Letheringham, Suffolk.
Parents Thomas & Margaret (de Boville) Wingfield
Died in 1389, buried at Letheringham, Suffolk.
MP For Suffolk. Knighted 1389. Slim, Droopy Moustache.
1383-89 Member of Parliament for Suffolk.
Held Cleervands Manor, Framlingham; Lee, Cheshire; Gisloham, Lowestoft, Stamford. For Which One Quarter and One Sixth of a Knight's Fee, Commanded When Required
Guards at Framlingham Castle.
He married:
Margaret Hastings (5030) was born circa 1355 at Elsing, Norfolk, England,
daughter of Sir Hugh de Hastings (54407) and Anne Le Despenser.
She married Sir John Russell (54495), son of Robert Russell
Died & buried in 1397 at Letheringham, Suffolk,
Father's Brass at Elsing Church. Moated House Still Extant.
The Hugh Hastings Brass Is the Most Famous in England
Issue:
1/1. 20. John Wingfield (5031) buried at Letheringham, Suffolk.
Summoned AS A Graduate Before
Richard II[Proc. 47/127/1]. Died Without Issue.
1/2. 21. Sir Robert Wingfield (5032),
born circa 1370 at Letheringham,
Suffolk, England; married Elizabeth Russell (5033).
Thomas7 DE WINGFIELD
Parent: John Wingfield
11. Sir John Wingfield of Letheringham
Born: circa 1328 at Letheringham, Suffolk, England.
Died: in August 1378 at Letheringham, Suffolk, England. He was buried at
Letheringham, Suffolk, England.
Inherited Badingham.
Lanky, Monkish Looking, His Monument Is in Wingfield Church.
1346 Fought at Crecy [Salt Xvi,96] (Edward Iii Defeated the French). In the
Retinue of Earl of Arundel.
Left 12 Silver Spoons and 6 Pieces of Plate and De Brews'
Armour Which Was "Never to Leave the Family."
Held Metton and Hasketon.
1347 Keeper of Bromfield for the Black Prince
Married, before 1345.
Margaret DE BOVILLE
born at Letheringham, Suffolk, England.
daughter of Sir John de Boville (54403) and Petronella Scales
Married (1): Sir William Carbonell (142302).
She died at Letheringham, Suffolk, England.
Her married name was Wingfield.
Miserere of Margaret and Her Husband, North Choir, Norwich Cathedral (Carved
Wooden Busts)
Held Falcons Hall, Rickinghall.
The two known children of Sir, Knt of Letheringham Thomas7 de Wingfield (5022)
and Margaret de Boville (5023) were as follows:
1/1. Elenor Wingfield born Suffolk, England.
She married Sir Knt William Hoo
(5925).
1/2. Sir John Wingfield,
born circa 1345 at Letheringham,
Suffolk, England; married Margaret Hastings (5030).
Sir John WINGFIELD
7. Lord of Wingfield
7. Sir Lord of Wingfield John WINGFIELD
Born: circa 1305 at England.).
Parents: John Wingfield
Died: circa 1358.
Sir John Wingfield Held Lands in:
Yorks (Nettons, balne, 8 Miles East of Pontefract, of John of Warren, Earl of
Surrey) 220 Acres
Hants (Crondall, near Farnham)
Norfolk (Maidestone, near Frettenham)
Suffolk (Hurts Hall, Saxmundham; Saxlingham).
Married: Elizabeth Honypott (5016), daughter of John Honypott Esq (54532) and
Juliana Unknown
Elizabeth HONYPOTT (5016) was born circa 1309 at England. She died CA
1298-1388. She Honypott Arms: 8 Torreauxes, 3,2,2 And 1.[Vis. Norfolk 1563]
There is Still A Honeypot Farm at Wingfield Today.
Issue:
1/1. 10. Sir John Wingfield, Lord of Wingfield (5020),
Born at Saxmundham, Suffolk, England; married Elenor or Alianore de Glanvyle (5021).
1/2. 11. Sir Thomas DE Wingfield, Knt of Letheringham
(5022),
born circa 1328 at Letheringham,
Suffolk, England; married Margaret de Boville (5023).
Sir John DE Wingfield - 1279
5. Sir Lord of
Wingfield & Dennington
Born circa 1279 at England.
Parents: Thomas de Wingfield
25th April 1279 Going Beyond the Seas with Edward I Was William De Brews, of
Stowlangtoft, Suffolk Who Nominated John Wingfield and Richard De Brews as His
Attorneys until Christmas. (Reyce 257)
1290-1302: Alice Wingfield Sister of Ada, of next Manor to Holt, Norfolk Widow
of Walter De Wingfield was Heiress of Robert De Bringhurst (Near Rockingham
Castle). (Vch Leics 82; Iro De 221-4).
1308 & 1310 Letitia De Wingfield, of Darsham and Syleham Presented to
Hulverton Church by the Countess of Norfolk (Alice De Hemnonia. (F of F,
Suffolk, 1189-1482, Rye 1900). Letitia De Wingfield's Daughter Married Sir Hugh
Hercy of Grove, Yorks. [Vis-Yorks 1584/5].
He married Ann "Peach" Peche (5010), daughter of Sir John of Peche's
Manor Peche (54530), before 1305.
Sir John Peche of Peche's Manor, Diss (Blomford V18) Had Sir Ralph's or
Curple's Manor, Helmenham and Flixton (Blomford V, 185)
1302 Hugo Peche Was One of two Knights (MPs) for Suffolk. [Reyce 257]
1310-12 John Botetourt, Governor of Framlingham Castle. [Hawes 36]
Issue:
1/1. 6. Giles Egidius Wingfield (5014)
Lord of Stradbroke "The
Poaching Parson".
Born at England. He died without issue.
1272 PARSON OF Wingfield. PATRON WAS GILES LE RUS. [ALDWELL 55]
1299 PARSON OF CHICKERING [BM AD 7260 CHARTERS]
1321-1338, or later. RECTOR & PARSON OF EARSHAM. PRESENTED 1321 BY THOMAS
DE BROTHERTON, MARSHAL OF ENGLAND [ROT. ORIG I, 184 V7; BM 33247 ORIG 669]
1338 HAD UP BY HIS NEPHEW FOR POACHING RABBITS.
1/2. Sir Lord of Wingfield John Wingfield (5012),
Born circa 1305 at England;
married Elizabeth Honypott (5016).
1/3. 8. Richard Wingfield (5011), Lord of Dennington,
born 1305 at Suffolk, England; married Female Unknown (5015).
1/4. 9. Roger Wingfield (5013)
born after 1306 at England. He died at Brinston/Badingham/ Weighton. HE WAS EDWARD I'S CLERK OF THE WARDROBE,
WHICH MEANT EFFECTIVELY THE MINISTER IN CHARGE OF THE WAR OFFICE, THE FOREIGN
OFFICE AND THE TREASURY, AND ONE OF THE EIGHT MOST POWERFUL MEN IN THE COUNTRY.
HE LIVED AT BRINSTON, NEAR ALTHORP, AND AT BADINGHAM, SUFFOLK, AND AT WEIGHTON,
YORKS.
1306 - 1314 CLERK OF THE WARDROBE
1308 - 1310 HIGH STEWART OF ALL KNIGHTS TEMPLARS LANDS IN ENGLAND
1310 TOOK ALL TEMPLARS IN LINCOLN CASTLE TO THE TOWER OF LONDON
ROGER W. OF BISHAM, BERKS, WHERE ROBERT DE BRUCE'S WIFE WAS HELD CAPTIVE.
1312 DELIVERED UP ORFORD CASTLE.
1313 RECEIVED FARMS OF KING'S FAVOURITE, PIERS GAVESTON
1314 OVERSEAS WITH EDWARD I AND IN DUNGANNON, IRELAND. WAS THEN THE KEEPER OF
THE PRIVY SEAL, WHICH HE WAS CARRYING WITH HIM WHEN HE WAS CAPTURED AT THE
BATTLE OF BANNOCKBURN IN 1314
T.F.TOUT: CHAPTERS IN MEDIAEVAL ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY VOLS I & V (OF VI),
LONDON (1928-30).
Thomas DE WINGFIELD
4. Lord of Wingfield
and Westerfield
Born in 1280 at England.
He died circa 1322.
R and A Buried at Priory Church, Woodbridge, Suffolk [Copinger II,369]
Wife's uncle was Thomas Weyland, Chief Justice, 1257, Was accused of taking
fines for Breaking Assize of bread and ale at Middleton, near Dunwish, Suffolk. Sacked 1289. Banished to Tower. (Parker III).
1248 and 1256 Henry III visited Framlingham Castle disguised as a monk.
He married Alice Weyland (5008),
daughter of Sir Nicholas Weyland (54399). Born CA 1189-1248 at Cromer, Norfolk. She died CA 1220-1329.
In 1248, 1254, 1256 and 1257 Henry III [1216-72] Called on Those Holding £15
Worth of Land to Take Order of Knighthood and Accompany Him to Wars in Gascony,
France. Included Sir Nicholas, Sir William and Sir John De Weyland, Sir William
and John De Bovile; Sir William, Robert, -, Hugh Peachie [Reyce 63-66]
1257 Famine and Pestilence
1270-1288 Nicholas De Weyland Held Garboldisham, Norfolk and Lands near
Sudbury, Suffolk and Shipham and Cromer. [Blomfield's Norfolk Iii, 478; 1, 172;
Copinger Ii, 369;1,96
1275 Alice Held Cromer for a Pair of White Gloves a Year [Blomfd Iii,478].
Issue:
1/1. 5. Sir John DE Wingfield, Lord of Wingfield & Dennington,
born circa 1279 at England; married Ann "Peach" Peche (5010).
Robert DE WINGFIELD
3
Born CA 1146-1216 at England. He died CA 1183-1292.
Parents: Robert & Joan (Falstaff) Wingfield
He was styled "Of Wingfield Castle" [Reyce'S Breviary], Although The
Castle was not built of stone until 1385.
He married Joan Falstaff/Falstolf (5006), daughter of Sir John Falstolfe
(54397), CA 1172-1248.
Born CA 1152-1219 at England. She died CA 1183-1298. Her married name was De Wingfield.
Father's Descendant (?) Married to Sir John Falstolfe 1398, Squire to Thomas
Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk.
Kirkley Falstolfe's Hall Believed Part of the Dowry Passed in 1552 from
Descendant, Anthony Wingfield, K.G. To Daughter Mary. [Copinger V, 83]
Ancient Seat of the Falstolfes Was at Kimberley, Norfolk.
Issue:
1/1. 4. Lord of Wingfield and Westerfield Thomas4 DE Wingfield
(5007), born 1280 at England;
married Alice Weyland (5008).
John de WINGFIELD
2
1/1. 3. Robert DE Wingfield, born CA 1146-1216 at England;
married Joan Falstaff/Falstolf.
Robert de WINGFIELD
(Robertus de Campo
Venti)
Born at England. He died at England. He was buried at
England.
Was Living C. 1087, 1100;
Was Witness to Deed of the Nedhams, Temp. Henry I (1100-35). (Source: Norris'
Collections)
Main Wingfield Manor 1087: the Extent of the Land Was 3 and a Half Miles by
Half a Mile = 240 Acres. This Was Held by a Freeman and Worked by 7 Bordars.
24 Acres of Glebe : Manor Enfeoffed 1086 by the Abbot of Ely to Roger Bigod
(Father of the Earl of Norfolk) of Framlingham Castle, 1101.
Domesday Book: 1086 "In Wighafelda a Freeman by Commendation and Soche
[Held] 10 Acres Valued at 20 Pence.
Landholders Summoned to Salisbury to Pay Homage to William the Conqueror."
Gough's "Sepulchral Monuments", Vol Ii, Mentions a "John
Wingfield, Two Generations Before 1087".
Issue:
1/1. 2. John de Wingfield (5003), born at England;
married Female Unknown (5004).
was renewed in 1856, and
repaid in 1859. Presumably, this money was used to build what Palmer called
Tyrcathlen, and which was renamed Ker Cavan in 1928. (see end of this section
for more about Arthur Palmer).
Demesne for an early 5 bay, single story, 19th century
shooting lodge, built for Henry Stewart. Set in woodland and parkland, the
house is now derelict. A square stone tower observatory lies on the high ground
to the northeast of the house.
