Castle Caldwell

CASTLE CALDWELL COMPRISED 4,899 ACRES IN THE 19TH CENTURY

The founder of the Caldwells in Ulster,

JOHN CALDWELL (c1590-1639), a prosperous merchant at Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, was born at Preston, Ayrshire.

The second son by his second wife, Mary (née Swettenham),

JAMES CALDWELL (c1630-c1717), who settled at Rossbeg, afterwards named Castle Caldwell, County Fermanagh, High Sheriff of County Fermanagh, 1664 and 1677, married firstly, ca 1657, Catherine, daughter of Charles Campbell, of Ayrshire, and had issue,

Charles;
HENRY, his heir;
Hugh;
John.

He wedded secondly, ca 1690, Mrs Susanna Becke, of London.

Mr Caldwell was created a baronet in 1683, designated of Wellsborough, County Fermanagh.

In 1671, Sir James purchased the estate of Wellsborough, close to the present village of Belleek, County Fermanagh.

He was Captain of Horse and High Sheriff of County Fermanagh, 1677.

In 1689, Sir James, Colonel of Foot, was attainted by the Irish Parliament of JAMES II.

He was succeeded by his eldest surviving son,

SIR HENRY CALDWELL, 2nd Baronet (d 1726), High Sheriff of County Fermanagh, 1693, who espoused Catherine, daughter of Sir John Hume, 2nd Baronet, and had issue, an only child,

SIR JOHN CALDWELL, 3rd Baronet, High Sheriff of County Fermanagh, 1730, who married, in 1719, Anne, daughter of the Very Rev John Trench, Dean of Raphoe, and had issue,

JOHN, his successor;
Hume;
Henry, father of the 6th Baronet;
Catherine.

Colonel Hume Caldwell was a very distinguished officer in the Austrian service. He was killed in a sally from the fortress of Schweidnitz in 1762.

Sir John died in 1744, and was succeeded by his eldest son,

THE RT HON SIR JAMES CALDWELL, 4th Baronet (c1720-84), High Sheriff of County Fermanagh, 1756, who being in the service of the Empress Maria Theresa, was created by that princess COUNT OF MILAN, in the Holy Roman Empire.

In 1766, Sir James, in passing through Vienna, having had an audience of leave of the Empress Queen, Her Imperial Majesty, in a very gracious manner, charged him with a magnificent gold box, to present to the Dowager Lady Caldwell, mother of Colonel Caldwell, as a testimony of Her Majesty's gratitude for the signal services performed by that gallant officer. Sir James raised, in 1759, at his own expense, a body of light horse comprising 250 men, which he commanded for some years.

Sir James married, in 1753, Elizabeth, daughter of the Most Rev Josiah Hort, Lord Archbishop of Tuam, by whom he had, with four daughters, three sons,

JOHN, his successor;
Fitzmaurice;
Josiah John.

He was succeeded by his eldest son,

SIR JOHN CALDWELL, 5th Baronet (1756-1830), of Castle Caldwell, Count of Milan, who wedded, in 1789, Harriet, daughter of Hugh Meynell, and had two daughters, of whom the elder, Louisa Georgiana, espoused firstly, in 1823, Sir Josiah William Hort Bt, of Hortland; and secondly, Major John Colpoys Bloomfield, of Redwood, County Tipperary.

Sir John was Governor of County Fermanagh, 1793; lieutenant-colonel in the Fermanagh Militia; Sheriff of County Fermanagh, 1798; Captain in the Belleek Infantry, 1802.

On his death, his countship of the Holy Roman Empire expired, and the baronetcy reverted to his cousin,

SIR JOHN CALDWELL, 6th Baronet (1775–1842), born at Quebec, who married, in 1800, Jane, daughter of James Davidson, an army surgeon, and had issue,

HENRY JOHN, his successor;
Anne.

Sir John was buried at St Matthews, Quebec; called to the Canadian Bar, 1798; member of the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada, 1810-23 Receiver-General, 1823.

He was succeeded by his only son,

SIR HENRY JOHN CALDWELL, 7th Baronet (1801-58), was a Seigneur and political figure in Quebec.

He represented Dorchester in the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada from 1830-34.

Sir Henry was born in Quebec City, the son of John Caldwell, who was the son of Henry Caldwell, and Jane Davidson.

He inherited the seigneury of Lauzon after the death of his grandfather.

Sir Henry was a Justice of the Peace in 1816.

He married Sophia Louisa Paynter, though the marriage was without issue.

In 1826, the seigneury of Lauzon was sold to clear his father's debts, even though it had not been part of his father's property; Caldwell's appeal was unsuccessful.

He later operated a sawmill in the seigneury of Île-Verte.

The title became extinct on the 7th Baronet's death in 1858.

Photo credit: David Gore

CASTLE CALDWELL, near Belleek, County Fermanagh, is now an 18th century ruin comprising two storeys over a basement.

The original castle was built by Francis Blennerhassett, son of Sir Edward Blennerhassett, who obtained it in 1610.

The property was purchased about 1662 by by James Caldwell.

It overlooks the shore of Lough Erne.

The facade is in the pasteboard Gothic style, with quatrefoil pointed windows, two small projecting turrets, and a battlemented pediment-gable at either end, surmounted by a pointed arch rather akin to a belfry.

The main block is linked by battlemented curved sweeps to a pair a tower-pavilions.

There is an octagon temple in the grounds near the lough.

Castle Caldwell passed to the Bloomfield family through the marriage of Frances, daughter and co-heiress of Sir John Caldwell, 6th Baronet, to John Bloomfield, in 1817.

The house became ruinous by the end of the 19th century.

*****

THOUGH Castle Caldwell today is largely covered with forest planting, having been developed for this purpose since 1913, it remains an outstanding site, both for its peninsular position on the shores of lower Lough Erne and for the remnants of the dwelling and garden.

The demesne was established in the early 17th century by the Blennerhassetts, and the original gardens were in a formal layout, with straight avenues and canals aligned upon the house, known as Castle Hassett.

Extensive changes were undertaken in the grounds in the 18th century, which was by then heavily wooded, though there were views of the lough from the house.

Portions of these features still can be found in the undergrowth.

The decline of the ornamental and productive gardens preceded the acquisition of the grounds early in the 20th century for forestry.

The forest planting itself has become historic: There is a noted large Sitka spruce in the car park planted in 1921.

The gate lodge, known as Railway Gate, was built ca 1866 into the newly-constructed railway embankment.

Trains rumbled overhead and carriages entered the demesne underneath and arch beside the castellated porter's house.

Within the demesne there is a 17th century ruined church and graveyard.

Bloomfield ordered a geological survey of his land and was informed that the clay contained all of the necessary raw materials to make pottery (feldspar, kaolin, flint, clay and shale).

He took on two partners (Robert Williams Armstrong and David McBirney), talked the government into building a rail spur to near-by Belleek (4 miles to the west) and built a pottery factory, Mrs Bloomfield laying the first foundation stone in 1853.

Thus were the beginnings of a very successful business and a line of pottery now known the world over as Belleek Pottery.

Unusual in its lustre and beauty, it has been a prized possession of royalty and many others for many years.

Blanche Caldwell Grierson (nee Bloomfield) was the only daughter of John Caldwell Bloomfield DL, of Castle Caldwell, a former High Sheriff of County Fermanagh.

She was also related to the Brookes of Colebrooke.

During the First World War, Mrs Grierson was an active enthusiastic worker on behalf of the UVF Hospital, where many beds were endowed through her efforts.

She died in 1920.

The Griersons had a daughter, Ula, who married Henry Kinahan and died on 24 February, 1949.

First published in September, 2010.