Aughentaine Castle

THE KNOX-BROWNES OWNED 10,350 ACRES OF LAND IN COUNTY TYRONE

JOHN HAMILTON BROWNE, of Cumber House, near Claudy, County Londonderry, and Aughentaine, County Tyrone, son of THOMAS BROWNE, of County Londonderry, by Elizabeth Hamilton his wife, niece of James Hamilton, Provost of Strabane ca 1720, and grandson of GEORGE BROWNE, also of Londonderry, by his wife Mary, daughter of Colonel Hogg, married, in 1795, Jane Matilda, daughter of William Lecky, of Castle Fin, County Donegal, MP for Londonderry City, 1790-7, by Hannah his wife, daughter of Conolly McCausland, of DRENAGH, County Londonderry, and had issue,

Conolly William Lecky, of Cumber House; died unmarried;
THOMAS RICHARDSON, his successor;
GEORGE, of Comber House;
John Hamilton;
Hannah Sidney; Elizabeth.

Cumber House (Image: YouTube)

Mr Browne died in 1848, and was succeeded by his second, but eldest surviving son,

THOMAS RICHARDSON BROWNE JP DL (1810-82), of Aughentaine, High Sheriff of County Tyrone, 1832, who wedded, in 1839, Sarah, fourth daughter of Hervey Pratt de Montmorency, of CASTLE MORRES, County Kilkenny, and had issue,

JOHN HERVEY, his heir;
Raymond Saville;
Conolly William Lecky Browne-Lecky;
Rose Sarah; Caroline Frances; Matilda Theodosia.

Mr Browne was succeeded by his eldest son,

JOHN HERVEY KNOX-BROWNE JP DL (1841-1927), of Aughentaine Castle, High Sheriff of County Tyrone, 1887, who married, in 1867, Louisa Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Francis Arthur Knox-Gore Bt, of BELLEEK MANOR, County Mayo, by Sarah his wife, daughter of Colonel Charles Nesbitt Knox, of Castle Lacken, County Mayo, and had issue,

Charles Arthur Hervey (1870-1934), died unmarried;
MERVYN WILLIAM CHARLES NESBITT;
Sarah Hannah Madeline; Augusta Caroline; Eileen Hester Louisa.

Colonel Knox-Browne, ADC to His Grace the Duke of Abercorn, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Lieutenant-Colonel, 9th Brigade, North Irish Division, Royal Artillery, assumed the additional surname and arms of KNOX in 1874.

He was succeeded by his younger son,

MERVYN WILLIAM CHARLES NESBITT KNOX-BROWNE DL (1880-1954), of Aughentaine Castle, High Sheriff of County Tyrone, 1935, who wedded, in 1911, Mary, daughter of Captain Thomas Barry George, and had issue,

MERVYN HERVEY, his heir;
Louisa May (1912-69).

Mr Knox-Browne was succeeded by his only son,

MERVYN HERVEY KNOX-BROWNE JP DL (1927-), of Aughentaine Castle, who married, in 1956, Catherine, daughter of Hugh Ferguson, and had issue,

DEIRDRE ROSEMARY KNOX-BROWNE, born in 1959.

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Mr Knox-Browne, who moved to Perthshire, sold Aughentaine Castle to Lieutenant-Colonel John Henry Hamilton-Stubber.

It was subsequently demolished in 1955. 

An ancestor of the Hamilton-Stubbers, Hugh Hamilton, settled at Lisbane in County Down during the reign of JAMES I, died in 1665 and was interred at Bangor, County Down. Hugh's son was called John Hamilton, of Ballymenoch near Holywood. A second son was Alexander Hamilton, of Killyleagh.  

MAJOR ROBERT HAMILTON-STUBBER DSO (1879-1963), of MOYNE HOUSE, married, in 1920, the Lady Mabel Florence Mary Crichton, daughter of John, 4th Earl of Erne, and had issue, an only child,

JOHN HENRY HAMILTON-STUBBER DL (1921-86), Captain, Coldstream Guards, Lieutenant-Colonel, Ulster Defence Regiment, 1972, who wedded, in 1953, Fiona Patricia, daughter of Geoffrey Wyndham Breitmeyer, and had issue,

JAMES ROBERT;
Richard J, Vice Lord-Lieutenant of Co Armagh; m Susanna, dau. of 2nd Viscount Brookeborough;
Charles Geoffrey, born 1960;
David Hugh, born 1962.

The eldest son,

JAMES ROBERT HAMILTON-STUBBER DL (1954-), of Aughentaine, former Lieutenant, Coldstream Guards, married Carola E A Savill, and has issue,

HENRY JAMES HAMILTON-STUBBER, born in 1984.

Photo Credit: © McClitock of Seskinore

AUGHENTAINE CASTLE, near Fivemiletown, County Tyrone, was a large Victorian mansion, built in 1860 for Thomas Richardson Browne.

This mansion house was named after the plantation castle mentioned by Mrs Knox-Browne in 1937 for a BBC interview.

Aughentaine Castle, Entrance Front (Image: 8th Infantry Division)

It consisted of a two-storey main block and a lower two-storey wing, with two tall Italianate campaniles of equal height, one at each end.

Aughentaine Castle, Garden Front (Image:McClintock of Seskinore)

There was an open porch; two-light and three-light windows some round-headed and others rectangular. The roofing was prominent.

The image above is shown by kind permission of McClintock of Seskinore, which contains more pictures of Aughentaine.

The house was demolished ca 1955 by Colonel Hamilton-Stubber, who built a neo-classical house (below) ca 1958 to the design of the Hon Claud Phillimore.

Land was acquired in the 18th century and a demesne was set out but not walled in.

There are many fine mature trees, evidence of the planting that took place for this imposing house.

The landscape designer, Percy Cane, planned an ornamental garden for the house and this is maintained.

Excellent distant views can be seen from the house over Cane’s double terraces and tree-tops on lower ground.

Extensive rhododendron and other shrub planting cascades below the terraces and into the parkland to the south.

Expansion took place post-1958 in the planting beneath mature trees on either side of Ballyness Glen, which runs to the east of the house in an attractive declivity.

There is a lake on high ground to the north of the house, which has an island and is backed by a wood and, further back, extensive forest planting.

It is referred to as a ‘Fish Pond’ in 1858, prior to the erection of the 1860s house.

The 1860s stables are retained and beyond lies the walled garden, which is pre-1858.

It is part-cultivated and the original glasshouses have gone except one, which is in operation.

Several bridges are necessary in the park: one, built in the 1860s, was designed as part of the planned landscape.

Aughentaine estate, near Fivemiletown, is renowned for its garden and forestry.

First published in September, 2010.