Castle Upton

THE VISCOUNTS TEMPLETOWN WERE MAJOR LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY ANTRIM, WITH 11,924 ACRES

The family of UPTON was seated at Upton, Cornwall, about the time of the Conquest.

ARTHUR UPTON, of Lupton, Devon, elder brother of the Chevalier John Upton, Knight of Malta, and grandson of John Upton, of Lupton, by Joan his wife, daughter and heir of Sir Wincomb Raleigh, Knight.

John Upton, of Lupton, was fourth in descent from John Upton (and Agnes his wife, sister and heir of John Peniles, of Lupton), younger son of John Upton, of Trelaske, Cornwall.

The aforesaid Arthur Upton married Gertrude, daughter of Hugh Fortescue, of Filleigh, and had, with other issue,

John, of Lupton, MP;
HENRY, of whom hereafter.

The younger son,

HENRY UPTON (1592-1642), a Captain in the army of the Earl of Essex, fixed his abode in County Antrim, and was returned to parliament for Carrickfergus in 1634.

Captain Upton married, in 1628, Mary, daughter of Sir Hugh Clotworthy, Knight, and sister 1st Viscount Massereene, by whom he had four sons and three daughters, and was succeeded by the eldest son,

ARTHUR UPTON (1633-1706), of Castle Upton, MP for Carrickfergus for a series of forty years, who wedded Dorothy, daughter of Michael Beresford, of Coleraine, and was succeeded by his fourth, but eldest surviving son,

CLOTWORTHY UPTON (1660-1725), of Castle Upton, MP for Newtownards, 1695-1703, Antrim County, 1703-16, who, raising a party of men, joined the standard of WILLIAM III at the siege of Limerick, and was taken prisoner there, after entering the breach sword in hand, and almost alone, his followers, nearly to a man, being cut to pieces.

Mr Upton married firstly, Mary, only daughter of Roger Boyle, Earl of Orrery, by whom he had no issue; and secondly, Margaret, daughter of William Stewart, of Killymoon, County Tyrone, who died also without issue; and thirdly, Jane, daughter of John Ormsby, of Athlacca (by whom he had an only daughter, ELZABETH, who wedded the Rt Hon Hercules Landford Rowley, and was created a peeress of the realm, as Baroness Langford).

Mr Upton was succeeded by his brother,

JOHN UPTON, of Castle Upton, MP for Antrim County, 1725-7, a military officer, who distinguished himself at the storming of the citadel of Liège, and at the battle of Almansa, under Lord Galway; where, for his spirited conduct, he obtained the command of a regiment, upon the fall of Colonel Killigrew.

Colonel Upton wedded, in 1711, Mary, only daughter of Dr Francis Upton, of London, by whom he had three sons and five daughters.

He was succeeded by his eldest son,

ARTHUR UPTON, of Castle Upton, MP for Antrim Borough, 1692, Deputy Governor of County Antrim, who married firstly, Sophia, daughter of Michael Ward; and secondly, Sarah, daughter of Pole Cosby, of Stradbally; but dying without issue, in 1768, the estates devolved upon his brother,

FRANCIS UPTON, a naval officer; at whose decease, unmarried, they passed to a younger brother,

CLOTWORTHY UPTON (1721-85), who espoused, in 1769, Elizabeth, daughter of Shuckburgh Boughton, of Poston Court, Herefordshire, and had issue,

JOHN HENRY, his successor;
Fulke Greville;
Arthur Percy, CB, Lieutenant-General in the army;
Elizabeth Albinia, m 1st Marquess of Bristol.

Mr Upton was elevated to the peerage, in 1776, in the dignity of of Baron Templetown, of Templetown, County Antrim.

He was succeeded by his eldest son,

JOHN HENRY, 2nd Baron (1771-1846), who married, in 1796, the Lady Mary Montagu, only daughter of John, 5th Earl of Sandwich, and had issue,

HENRY MONTAGU, his successor;
GEORGE FREDERICK, succeeded his brother;
Arthur;
Edward John, father of the 4th Viscount;
Mary Wilhelmina.

His lordship was created a viscount, in 1806, as VISCOUNT TEMPLETOWN, of County Antrim.

He was succeeded by his eldest son,

HENRY MONTAGU, 2nd Viscount (1799-1863), who died unmarried, when the titles devolved upon his brother,

George, 3rd Viscount Templetown GCB (Defence Academy of the UK)

GEORGE FREDERICK, 3rd Viscount (1802-90), GCB, of Castle Upton, a General in the Army, MP for County Antrim, 1859-63, who married, in 1850, Susan, daughter of Field-Marshal Sir Alexander Woodford GCB; the marriage, however, was without issue, when the titles reverted to his lordship's nephew,

HENRY EDWARD MONTAGU DORINGTON CLOTWORTHY, 4th Viscount (1853-1939), GCB, who wedded, in 1883, the Lady Evelyn Georgina Finch-Hatton, daughter of George, 10th Earl of Winchilsea, and had issue,

Eric Edward Montagu, killed in action, 1915;

HENRY AUGUSTUS GEORGE MOUNTJOY HENEAGE, his successor;

Margaret Evelyn.

His lordship was succeeded by his surviving son,

HENRY AUGUSTUS GEORGE MOUNTJOY HENEAGE, 5th Viscount (1894-1981), who married firstly, in 1916, Alleyne, daughter of Captain Henry Lewes Conran RN, of Gordon Downs, Queensland, Australia, and had issue,

HENRY ERIC PATRICK MOUNJOY SPALDING (1917-57), dsp;
Alleyne Evelyn Maureen Louisa.

His lordship wedded secondly, in 1975, Margaret Violet Louisa, widow of Sir Lionel George Arthur Cust.

On the decease of the 5th Viscount the titles expired.

The ancestral seat of the Templetown family was Castle Upton, Templepatrick, County Antrim. 

CASTLE UPTON demesne, beside Templepatrick, County Antrim, is near the half-way point on the main road from Antrim to Belfast.

The demesne lies on the north side of the village; and the house contains numerous features which are of historical and architectural import.

The Anglo-Norman style flanker towers now form part of the main house of 1612; which, in turn, occupies the site of a 13th century priory of the Knights of St John (Hospitallers) - monks who joined the Last Crusade, sailing from Carrickfergus in County Antrim.

The said monks were expelled from Templepatrick during the Reformation; and the Knights' vaulted refectory was reconstructed, when the mansion was extended by Robert Adam in 1783 for the 1st Viscount Templetown.

Castle Upton House today is essentially a plantation castle built at the end of the 16th and beginning of the 17th centuries by Sir Robert and Sir Henry Norton Bt, who named it Castle Norton.

The castle was sold in 1625 to Captain Henry Upton, who promptly re-named it Castle Upton.

From 1783 Clotworthy Upton, 1st Baron Templetown, and his son (later 1st Viscount Templetown) employed Robert Adam to modernize the interior and give the exterior a "castle air".

Adam raised and machiolated the pair of round towers from the original castle and gave them high, conical roofs, adding a wing with another tower.

Adam also designed a Classical mausoleum in the church-yard and a splendid castellated stable range, in 1789.

In 1837 Edward Blore was employed by the 2nd Viscount to redesign the Castle, inserting mullioned windows and eradicating most of Adams' interiors; raising and panelling the hall; and refurbishing the main reception rooms in a restrained Elizabethan style, with fretted ceilings.

The Castle was sold by the Upton family early in the 20th century; and the subsequent owner re-roofed the main building, an act which ruined Adam's romantic skyline.

Adam's additional wing was allowed to fall into ruin.

In 1963, the 300-acre estate was purchased by Sir Robin Kinahan who, with Lady Kinahan, restored the Castle most sympathetically.

Their most notable achievement was the rebuilding of the ruined Adam wing, which now contains an elegant ballroom; and an Italian marble chimney-piece formerly at DOWNHILL CASTLE in County Londonderry.

The demesne itself is now diminished, with trees near the house, a small artificial lake and lawns where a 19th century formal garden was once laid out.

The walled garden is used as a field. Robert Adam’s stable block is approached via a contemporary gate lodge of 1820.

The impressive village entrance to the house is by Edward Blore (1837) and has a gate lodge hidden behind it.

Sir Robin and Lady Kinahan's son, Danny Kinahan, and his family, lived in the house until it was placed on the market in 2016.

I have met the late Sir Robin several times: When he was Lord-Lieutenant of Belfast at ceremonies in the Ulster Hall; and as chairman of the board of Belfast Cathedral. I recall him well. A true gentleman indeed.

Castle Upton was purchased in 2019 by Terry Hughes.

Other residence ~ The Holme, Balmaclennan, Castle Douglas.

First published in March, 2010.