Donaghadee Manor House

THE DE LACHEROIS FAMILY OWNED 1,356 ACRES OF LAND IN COUNTY DOWN

The family of DE LA CHEROIS descends from the younger branch of an ancient and noble house in France, formerly resident at Chéroy, a small town near Sens, in the province of Champagne, whence the family name is derived. The revocation of the edict of Nantes, 1685, compelled the De la Cherois', being French Protestants, to abandon their native country.

In 1641,

CAPTAIN SAMUEL DE LA CHEROIS (ancestor of the branch of the family settled in Ulster), served in the war, undertaken by Cardinal Richelieu, against the House of Austria.

He left three sons,

NICOLAS, of whom presently;
Daniel, Captain, fled to Holland with his brothers, 1685;
Bourjonval, Lieutenant in the Army; killed at Dungannon.

The eldest son,

NICOLAS DE LA CHEROIS (c1649-1702), embraced the military profession and was made a captain of fusiliers by LOUIS XIV, 1677.

In 1685, he fled with his brothers to Holland, where they were received with great kindness by the Stadtholder, into whose service they entered, obtaining commissions in the Dutch army of the same rank as those they had held in that of France.

In 1689, WILLIAM, Prince of Orange, being called to the throne of Great Britain, formed two regiments of French Huguenots, in one of which Nicolas De La Cherois was appointed Major; Daniel, Captain; and Bourjonval, Lieutenant.

They accompanied WILLIAM III to Ireland, 1690, and finally settled there.

Major de la Cherois distinguished himself at the battle of the Boyne, and afterwards performed a very gallant action, making 1,500 men lay down their arms with only a subaltern's guard, for which he was presented by the Government with 1,500 crowns and a Lieutenant-Colonelcy.

He married Mary, sister of Louis Crommelin, of Saint Quentin, Picardy, France, and left a daughter, Madeleine, who wedded Daniel Crommelin, of Lisburn, County Antrim, and an only son,

SAMUEL DE LACHEROIS (1700-84), who espoused, in 1731, Sarah Cornière, and had issue,

DANIEL, his heir;
Nicholas (1737-1829);
Samuel, who assumed the name of CROMMELIN;
Judith.

The eldest son,

DANIEL DE LACHEROIS (1735-90), of Donaghadee, County Down, married, in 1782, Mary, daughter of Alexander Crommelin, and had issue,

DANIEL (1783-1850), dsp;
SAMUEL LOUIS, of whom hereafter;
Nicholas;
Mary.

The second son,

SAMUEL LOUIS DE LACHEROIS JP DL, wedded, in 1820, Mary, daughter of John Roland, and had issue,

Nicholas, of Ballywilliam, dsp 1874;
DANIEL, of whom we treat;
Samuel, of Ballywilliam;
Louis, Lieutenant RN;
Alexander;
Jane.

The second son,

DANIEL DE LACHEROIS JP DL (1825-1905), of the Manor House, Donaghadee, High Sheriff, 1863, Barrister, wedded, in 1854, Ellen, daughter of George Leslie, and had issue,

DANIEL LOUIS, his heir;
Edmund Bourjonval (Dr);
GEORGE LESLIE, succeeded his brother;
Charles Hutcheson;
Elizabeth Mary Angelica; Helen Vaughan; Mary Louise; Edith Madeline.

The eldest son,

DANIEL LOUIS DE LACHEROIS JP (1855-1909), of the Manor House, Major and Honorary Lieutenant-Colonel, 3rd Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles, died unmarried and was succeeded by his brother,

GEORGE LESLIE DE LACHEROIS JP DL (1865-1948), of the Manor House, who married, in 1918, Catherine Charlotte, daughter of J McCance Blizard, of Comber, County Down, and had issue,

Ellen Lesie Jacqueline, of whom presently;
Georgina Mary (1921-2002), m N N Stone.

The elder daughter,

ELLEN LESLIE JACQUELINE DE LACHEROIS (1919-2007), of the Manor House, wedded Major Frederick Day, and had issue, one son and four daughters.

THE MANOR HOUSE, Donaghadee, County Down, is a plain, two-storey Georgian house with its entrance front behind railings at the corner of High Street and Manor Street.

There is a six bay entrance front with a pillared porch, and a three-sided bow in the side elevation.

The Manor House dates from the early 1600s, when Hugh Montgomery acquired the lands within the Donaghadee area and began promoting the interests of the town as a major port.

Montgomery built himself a large dwelling in the town, reputedly Donaghadee’s first stone house.

This Manor House remained one of the residences of Montgomery’s descendants, the Earls of Mount Alexander.

Thomas, the 5th Earl, died childless in 1757 and his wife, Marie Angélique Madeleine (née de la Cherois), bequeathed the Donaghadee estate to her nephew, Samuel de Lacherois, whose son, Daniel, took possession of the town following Lady Mount Alexander's death in 1771.

During this period the Manor House was likely still substantially the same as the house built by Hugh Montgomery in the early 1600s.

Daniel, however, seems to have fundamentally remodelled and extended the original building not long after 1771.

Daniel may also have built the dower house to the rear at the same time, but the entrance portico and the canted bay were probably added by his son (also called Daniel) in the early 1800s.

The stable extension to the north-west, however, appears to date from the mid 1800s.

The last major alteration to the house occurred in the 1870s, when the two-storey brick extension to the rear was constructed.

The house is surrounded by a garden, which includes glasshouses; the main garden, however, is across the road.

The ornamental section of the garden has been built over since the 1970s, but the walled garden remains productive, complete with box-edged beds, a rare survival.

The garden wall is of stone and has an impressive castellated entrance.

The De Lacherois family vault is under the west aisle of Donaghadee parish church.

The Manor House was for sale at an asking price of £1,150,000 in September, 2022.

First published in January, 2011.