Thursday 22 February 2024

Tullylagan Manor

THE GREERS OWNED 1,192 ACRES OF LAND IN COUNTY TYRONE


SIR JAMES GRIER (c1604-66), Knight, of Capenoch, Dumfriesshire, and Rock Hall, Alnwick, Northumberland, fifth son of Sir William Grier, succeeded his brother, John, in Capenoch.

Sir James married Mary, daughter of the Rev John Browne, of Glencairn, first minister after the Reformation, and widow of Thomas Grier, of Bargarg Tower, Dumfriesshire.

His eldest son, 

HENRY GRIER (c1625-c1675), of Rock Hall, and afterwards of Redford, near Grange, County Tyrone, came to Ulster in 1653.

He married, in 1652, Mary Turner, of Northumberland, and had issue,
JAMES;
Robert;
Thomas.
Mr Grier, who joined the Society of Friends (Quakers) ca 1660, was succeeded by his eldest son,

JAMES GREER (1653-1718), of Liscorran, County Armagh, who wedded, in 1678, Eleanor, daughter and co-heir of John Rea, of Liscorran, and had issue,
Henry, ancestor of the GREERS of Grange, Co Tyrone;
JOHN, ancestor of the GREERS of Tullylagan and Seapark, of whom we treat;
Thomas;
James, of Liscorran;
Mary.
The second son,

JOHN GREER (1688-1741), of Grace Hill, County Armagh, and Tullyanaghan, near Lurgan, espoused, in 1717, Mary, daughter of Jeramiah Hanks, of Birr, and widow of John Chambers, of Dublin, and had several children, of whom the second son,

THOMAS GREER (1724-1803), of Rhone Hill, Dungannon, County Tyrone, became, on the extinction of the male line of his elder brother John, the head of the second house of Ulster Greers.

He married, in 1746, Sarah, daughter of Thomas Greer, of Redford, his second cousin, and died at Rhone Hill, leaving issue,
THOMAS, his heir;
Robert (1766-1808), died unmarried in USA;
Eleanor; Mary; Jane; Sarah; Ann.
The elder son,

THOMAS GREER (1761-1870), of Rhone Hill, wedded, in 1787, Elizabeth, only child of William Jackson, and had issue,
Thomas, of Tullylagan;
William Jackson, of Rhone Hill, father of
THOMAS FERGUS;
John Robert;
Alfred, of Dripsey House, Co Cork;
Sarah; Mary Jackson; Elizabeth; Caroline; Louisa Jane; Priscilla Sophia.
The eldest son,

THOMAS GREER JP (1791-1870), of Tullylagan, married, in 1826, Wilhelmina, daughter of Arthur Ussher JP, of Camphire, County Waterford, and had issue,
FREDERICK, his heir;
Usher;
Martha Usher; Elizabeth Jackson; Wilhelmina Sophia Priscilla.
The eldest son,

FREDERICK GREER JP (1829-1908), of Tullylagan, late Royal Navy, wedded, in 1874,  Cecilia, eldest daughter of SIR NATHANIEL ALEXANDER STAPLES Bt, of Lissan, County Tyrone, by Elizabeth Lindsay his wife, only child of James Head and Cecilia his wife, third daughter of the Hon Robert Lindsay, of Balcarres, and had issue,
THOMAS, of Tullylagan;
Nathaniel Alexander Staples;
Elizabeth Lindsay; Mary Ussher.
The eldest son,

THOMAS GREER JP (1875-1949), of Tullylagan, espoused, in 1907, Constance Clara Annie, daughter of Edward Cochrane Palmer, of Beckfield House, Queen's County, and had issue,

FREDERICK WILLIAM USHER GREER, of Tullylagan, born in 1915, who died unmarried.


TULLYLAGAN MANOR, (formerly New Hamburgh), near Cookstown, County Tyrone, was built ca 1830.

It consists of two storeys over a basement, which was subsequently excavated to become a ground floor.


The house has a three-bay front; a two-bay projecting porch; an eaved roof on bracket cornice.

There is a side wing, originally one storey over a basement.

Frederick Greer inherited Tullylagan following the decease of his father, Thomas, in 1870, though he leased the estate to his cousin, Thomas MacGregor Greer ca 1898.

Thomas MacGregor Greer, the only son of THOMAS GREER, MP for Carrickfergus, was responsible for much of the development of the estate thereafter.

Mr Greer was a talented man who had many diverse interests.
Thomas MacGregor Greer of Seapark near Belfast came, after his marriage to Dorinda Florence Lowry in 1892, to Tullylagan Manor, near Cookstown, which he leased from Thomas Usher Greer. He had two daughters. 
Sylvia married Major Alexander (Pomeroy); Betty married Colonel Percival, Commander at Singapore during the 2nd World War. 
The Greers returned to Seapark after the 1st World War, where Mrs Greer died in February 1930. 
In 1931, Thomas married Miss Leonie Caroline Handcock (Dublin) returning to Tullylagan. Thomas owned one of the first motor cars in this part of Tyrone. He sponsored the work of Harry Ferguson (of Ford Ferguson fame) who often stayed at Tullylagan. 
The ancient church of Desertcreat in the 1930s was beautified by an Oak Reredos, Pulpit, communion table and rails, all of which had been carved by Thomas, also two oak Jacobean chairs and a silver salver. 
Later he donated a reading desk and a lectern made from Austrian Oak. He was Church Warden for 25 years, Parochial nominator, a member of the Diocesan and General Synod, Hon. Treasurer and Secretary and read the lessons throughout the year. 
He had a keen interest in Tullylagan prize pipe band, presenting them with kilts in MacGregor tartan. 
In 1941 the parish of Desertcreat and people of the district were greatly saddened by the death of its most generous benefactor and paid tribute to the great interest that he had taken in the welfare of Church and district during his lifetime.
Mr Greer considered the Manor House inadequately proportioned for a country residence, so rather than risk spoiling the architecture by adding to the house, he decided to excavate the basement.

This was a substantial task at the time, depending heavily on manual labour, with the soil removed from the basement, the house became three-storey.

In the farmyard he installed carpentry facilities and here many fine examples of chairs, tables and other items were produced.

Thomas MacGregor Greer remained in Tullylagan until his death in 1941.

The house is now privately owned.

Other former residence ~ Curglasson, Stewartstown, County Tyrone.

First published in January, 2012.

14 comments :

Unknown said...

Mary [Hunks in Burkes L.G.] Hanks daughter of Jeremiah Hanks of Birr married as her first Husband, John Chalmers [Chambers in Ireland] of Inverury, Aberdeenshire, lived with Robert Barclay, the Apologist, employed as schoolmaster to the Barclay children [Diary of Jaffray, 'afterwards an acceptable minister in Dublin'] John was a son of William and Jean (Forbes) Chalmers,[Will of John Chambers]John, with his wife Mary, had issue of two sons and two daughters,Patience, married Joseph Christie, her daughter Mary married Nathaniel Horne and removed to Scotland.[p 60 Christies of Scotland] On John death aged 40, Mary married at Dublin M.H., John Greer, and removed, with her children to Waringstown.

Unknown said...

Should read Archibald Horne not Nathaniel.

Anonymous said...

I believe that the obituary referring to Thomas Macgregor Greer is incorrect an refers to a completely different Thomas Macgrergor Greer

Truthseeker444 said...

I agree with the last comment, the obituary is not for the Tullylagan Macgreggor Greer. I found the Greer info in this blog very confusing.

Timothy Belmont said...

Many thanks for all the comments. Apologies for the inaccuracies and I've revised the article. If there are any further discrepancies, please let me know.

Tim

Anonymous said...

Hi Timothy
Do you have any references to support the veracity of the claim that Greer is a descendant of Grierson of Lag? I am a descendant of his sister Anne Greer who married Thomas Turner in Feb 1652. Other than the largely discredited earlier editions of Burkes Landed Gentry I can find no evidence to support the lineage. The Quaker records refer to their father James Greer as hailing from Rock Hall near Annick (sic) which is thought to refer to Alnwick in Northumberland and the Turners hail from Turners Town in Northumberland. I would of course be delighted if you can shed further light on the claim.
Best Wishes
Stewart

Timothy Belmont said...

Hi Stewart, I tend to obtain my information from Burke's Laded Gentry and Commoners; so if, as you say, it's discredited, could you provide me with the correct details?

Many thanks, Tim.

Feardorcha said...

Captain John Colthurst Bowen-Colthurst from Cork corresponded with his cousin Thomas MacGregor Greer of Tullylagan in 1918. I am interested in learning more about this part of Colthurst's family tree as I may have connections to both gentlemen. My ancestry includes the Greers from Tanderagee, and another who was a Sergeant Major who was with Bowen-Colthurst in the Royal Irish Rifles.

Anonymous said...

I am discussing this on FTDNA forum at present . Greer of Tullylagan and Grange were enrolled with a coat of Arms . Basically the same as MacGregor of MacGregor . An oak tree eradicated surmounted by a sword . These Greers as distinct from Griers have the custom of calling themselves MacGregor Greer . Indeed some have by deed poll changed it to MacGregor-Greer in 1934 by the Winsor Heralds Office , London . Sir Bernard Burke supported the claim that they were lawful MacGregors .Some Griersons of Lag disagree and say the dna proves otherwise .But I concur that Greer of The Rock are different to Grier of Lag it seems .So they may be MacGregors in the absence of any other explanation .
regds.,
Patrick Cullen.

patrick cullen said...

Hello ,
further to my previous ,
the coat of Arms atop does not agree with the Arms awarded to Greer of Tullylagan as referenced in Burkes.
It appears to be a Greer coat of Arms although memor esto motto agrees .
rgds.,
Patrick Cullen

Timothy Belmont said...

Hello Patrick, if you have seen the appropriate arms I wonder if you could send me an image? My blog email is earlofbelmont@btinternet.com

Many thanks, Tim.

patrick cullen said...

Hello Tim ,
I am working on finding an image.
Sadly the 4th ED. 1862 does not have one .
So I quote as in Ulster's office .
Crest : an eagle displayed , ppr ,charged on the breast with a quadrangular lock ,arg .
Arms : Az., a lion rampant ,or, armed and langued gu. between 3 antique crowns of the 2nd ;on a canton , arg .
an oak tree eradicated ,surmounted by a sword, in bend , sinister, ensigned on the point with a royal crown ,all ppr . Page 601 .
I have an image of Sir Wm. MacGregor similar in parts which I must sent as a comparison .
rgds,
Patrick Cullen

patrick cullen said...

https://www.queenslandplaces.com.au/exhibit/photograph/flp058
MacGregor as per Richmond Herald, London .

patrick said...

Hello Tim ,
another point of difference is the details in the canton top left/sinister.
Its reversed in order to the MacGregor Arms .Which is to the right /dexter . Not sure why .A Herald would make sure that deliberation was observed when enrolling such .
rgds,
Patrick Cullen