Conway House

EDWARD CHARLEY OWNED 35 ACRES OF LAND AT CONWAY HOUSE, COUNTY ANTRIM

The family of CHARLEY, or CHORLEY, passing over from the north of England, settled in Ulster during the 17th century, at first in Belfast, where they were owners of house property for two hundred years; and afterwards at Finaghy, County Antrim, where

JOHN CHARLEY (c1659-1743), of Belfast, left a son,

RALPH CHARLEY (1674-1756), of Finaghy House, County Antrim, who wedded Elizabeth Hill, and had an only child,

JOHN CHARLEY (1711-93), of Finaghy House, who married Mary, daughter of John Ussher, and had issue,

Matthew, died unmarried;
JOHN, of whom hereafter;
Hill, died unmarried;
Jane, died unmarried.

The eldest surviving son,

JOHN CHARLEY (1744-1812), of Finaghy House, married, in 1783, Anne Jane, daughter of Richard Wolfenden, of Harmony Hill, County Down, and had issue,

John, of Finaghy House (1784-1844), dsp;
Matthew, of Finaghy House and Woodbourne;
WILLIAM, of whom we treat.

The third son,

WILLIAM CHARLEY (1790-1838), of Seymour Hill, Dunmurry, married, in 1817, Isabella, eldest daughter of William Hunter JP, of Dunmurry, and had issue,

John, his heir;
William, succeeded his brother;
EDWARD, of whom we treat;
Mary; Anne Jane; Eliza; Isabella; Emily.

The third son,

EDWARD CHARLEY (1827-68), of Conway House, Dunmurry, County Antrim, wedded firstly, Mary, daughter of A Caldecott, of Woodford Hall, Essex, and had a daughter,

Mary Caldecott, m Captain George Leslie Poë JP DL RN.

He espoused secondly, Catherine Jane, daughter of Jonathan Richardson, and had issue,

Edward (Rev), dsp;
Ernest William Ralph (1864-9);
Edith Margaret; Kathleen Isabel Airth.

CONWAY HOUSE, Dunmurry, Belfast, was a two-storey Victorian mansion with a symmetrical front of two shallow, curved bows and a central projection.

A pillared and balustraded veranda ran on either side, joining to a single wing.

At the other end there was a pilastered conservatory.

An Italianate tower rose from the roof above a bracket cornice.

In 1852, William Charley, who had succeeded to Seymour Hill, gave land to his younger brother, Edward, to build a house for his first wife Mary.

Edward named it Conway after the local landowner, Lord Hertford (also Baron Conway).

The house was then occupied, until his death in 1892, by the Lord Bishop of Down, Connor and Dromore, the Rt Rev William Reeves.

Thereafter it was sold by the executors of Edward Charley's brother, William, to John D Barbour, of Hilden, father of Sir Milne Barbour Bt. 

Sir Milne lived at Conway for many years until his death in 1951.

At one time the Charley crest stood over the front door.

The Conway Hotel

Conway House operated for many years as a hotel operated by Trusthouse Forte.

First published in February, 2011.