Loughry Manor

THE LINDESAYS OWNED 2,821 ACRES OF LAND IN COUNTY TYRONE 

The first of the family of LINDESAY who settled in Ulster, upon the confiscation of the O'Neills in that province, were two brothers, BERNARD LINDESAY, of Lough Hill, Haddington, Gentleman of the Bedchamber to JAMES VI, King of Scotland, and ROBERT LINDESAY, Chief Harbinger to that monarch, sons of THOMAS LINDESAY, of Kingswark, in Leith, which Thomas held several offices of high honour and trust, as well as emolument, under MARY, Queen of Scotland, and her son, JAMES VI, such as Searcher-General of Leith, in 1562, which he resigned in favour of his son, Bernard, in 1594. 

The King provided, not only for him, but his family, by pensions, to his daughters, Agnes and Elizabeth, out of the rents and tithes of the abbey of North Berwick; also to his sons, Bernard, Thomas, and Robert, from other lands belonging to the friars of Linlithgow. Sir David Lyndsay was Lyon King of Arms, 1542-54.

Thomas Lindesay, the Snawdoun Herald, and Searcher-General of Leith, was living in 1594.

His son, 

ROBERT LINDESAY, of Leith, Chief Harbinger and Comptroller of the Artillery to JAMES I in Scotland, obtained from that monarch a grant of the manor and lands of Tullyhogue, Loughry, etc, County Tyrone, by patent dated 1611.

He married Janet Acheson, and by her (who survived him, and was living in 1619) he had a son and successor,

ROBERT LINDESAY (c1604-74), of Loughry and Tullyhogue, who obtained a second patent of the said manor and lands of Loughry and Tullyhogue, described therein as Manor Lindesay, in the 14th year of the reign of CHARLES I, and who built the mansion house of Loughry in 1632, which was burnt by the rebels in 1641, and rebuilt by him in 1671.

Mr Lindesay, an officer in the royal army at the battle of Worcester, married Margaret, daughter of James Richardson, of Castle Hill, County Tyrone, and had issue (with three daughters),

ROBERT, of whom presently;
Alexander, of Cahoo;
William.

The elder son, 

ROBERT LINDESAY, of Loughry and Tullyhogue, High Sheriff of County Tyrone, 1677, a refugee and defender in Londonderry during the celebrated siege, wedded Anne, daughter of John Morris, of Bellville, County Tyrone.

He died in 1691, leaving issue,

ROBERT, his heir;
JOHN, of whose line we treat.

The elder son,

ROBERT LINDESAY (1679-1742), of Loughry and Tullyhogue, MP for County Tyrone, 1729-33, Judge of the Common Pleas, 1733, married, in 1707, Elizabeth, daughter of Edward Singleton, of Drogheda (and sister of Henry Singleton, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas in Ireland, and afterwards Master of the Rolls, in that kingdom), and had issue one son and one daughter: Robert, died an infant; Anne, died unmarried.

Judge Lindesay, a close friend of the VERY REV DR JONATHAN SWIFT, the celebrated Dean of St Patrick’s, was succeeded by his brother,

JOHN LINDESAY (1686-1761), of Loughry and Tullyhogue, who married, in 1744, Elizabeth, daughter of the Rev Bellingham Mauleverer, Rector of Maghera, County Londonderry, and granddaughter of the Most Rev William Nicolson, Lord Archbishop of Cashel.

He died in 1761, leaving a son and successor,

ROBERT LINDESAY (1747-1832), of Loughry and Tullyhogue, High Sheriff of County Tyrone, 1788, MP for Dundalk, 1781-3, a Deputy Governor of Tyrone, Assistant Barrister, County Tyrone, who married, in 1775, his second cousin, Jane, eldest daughter and co-heir of Thomas Mauleverer, of Arncliffe Hall, Yorkshire, and had issue,

John, father of JOHN LINDESAY;
Robert, died in infancy;
FREDERICK, of whom hereafter.

Mr Lindesay was succeeded by his eldest son,  

JOHN LINDESAY (1780-1826), Lieutenant-Colonel, Royal Tyrone Militia, Mayor of Cashel, who wedded Mary Anne, daughter of Richard Pennefather, of New Park, County Tipperary, MP for Cashel, and had an only son,

JOHN LINDESAY DL (1808-48), Lieutenant, 7th Royal Fusiliers, High Sheriff of County Tyrone, 1840, who succeeded to the family estate on the death of his grandfather, 1832.

Mr Lindesay married Harriott Hester, daughter of the Rt Hon Charles Watkin Williams-Wynn MP, of Llangedwin, brother to Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn Bt, MP, of Wynnstay, Denbighshire, though died without an heir, and was succeeded by his uncle, 

FREDERICK LINDESAY JP DL (1792-), of Loughry, Barrister, High Sheriff of County Tyrone, 1859, who married firstly, in 1823, Agnes Cornish Bayntun, eldest daughter and co-heiress of Sir Edwin Bayntun Sandys Bt, of Miserden Park, Gloucestershire, and Hadlington Hall, Oxfordshire (who died in 1842), and had issue,

Robert Sandys, Capt. Royal Tyrone Fusilier Militia; d 1870;
Frederick John Sandys (1830-77), of Loughry, military officer;
Thomas Edward, 22nd Native Infantry, killed in 1857;
JOSHUA EDWARD CHARLES COOPER, of whom we treat;
Jane; Philippa Allen; Agnes Sarah.

The fourth son, 

JOSHUA EDWARD CHARLES COOPER LINDESAY JP DL (1843-93), of Loughry, Lieutenant-Colonel, 3rd Battalion, East Lancashire Regiment, late 50th Regiment, died unmarried, and was succeeded by his cousin,

HENRY RICHARD PONSONBY LINDESAY (1843-1903), of Loughry, and Donore, Ivybridge, Devon, Lieutenant-Colonel, Reserve of Officers, 60th Rifles and 20th Regiment, who wedded, in 1898, Frances Mary, daughter of the Rev J Irwin, Rector of Hurworth-on-Tees.

He dsp 1903.

Loughry (Image: Ebay)

LOUGHRY DEMESNE, near Cookstown, County Tyrone, dates from the early 17th century.

The origins of the demesne can be traced to 1611, when land in the area was granted by JAMES I to his Chief Harbinger, Robert Lindesay, who is thought to have built himself a timber residence on the southern side of the river Killymoon, close to the village of Tullahogue, "surrounded by a ditch with a high bank of Clay and a quick-thorn hedge".

Robert died ca 1629 and his lands passed to his son Robert, who built a new residence on the present site in 1632.

This house was destroyed in the 1641 rebellion and the site was abandoned until 1671, when a new dwelling was commenced.

This second house was finished in 1674, shortly after Robert's death, and survived until about 1750, when it, too, was destroyed by fire, although it is thought to have been accidental.

Although there appears to be no extant documentary evidence to prove it, the relatively steeply-pitched roof and simple symmetrical lines of the present building suggest that it is that built ca 1754 to replace the 17th century residence.

Loughry (Image: Ebay)

On this, the main two-storey, five openings-wide, gabled block to the south is shown, along with a rear return and the long wing to the north, an arrangement which is by and large repeated on the revised map of 1857, but with somewhat more extensive rear returns.

It is said that Frederick Lindesay added a "saw mill, steward's house offices and lodge" to the demesne in 1863, and that in the house itself was "improved" by his son, Frederick Lindesay, upon his coming into the estate in 1871-72.

Part of the latter improvements probably involved the addition of the section to the north end of the north wing, which is believed to have originally contained "a banqueting hall and musicians' gallery", as well as the porch, and the decorative mouldings around the window openings.

Frederick Lindesay led an extravagant lifestyle, and by the time of his death in 1877, he had amassed debts said to have been in excess of £42,000.

His younger brother and successor, Joshua Lindesay, attempted to rectify this by leading a frugal existence.

Consequently he appears to have vacated Loughry during the 1880s, living within the much more modest Rock Lodge, to the south of the estate.

Joshua died in 1893, leaving the family's financial problems unresolved, and shortly afterwards the house and estate were sold to Cookstown businessman, John Wilson Fleming.

According to a family historian, Ernest Godfrey, either before or just after the sale, a fire "destroyed the top storey of the mansion".

The extent of the damage caused by the fire, and the amount of rebuilding - if any- is uncertain.

In 1908, Mr Fleming sold the house and its demesne to the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction in Ireland, which, in 1908, opened the Ulster Dairy School on the site.

Shortly afterwards, the school built a new front wing and, within the original building, converted the library to an office; the dining-room to a sewing-room; the small drawing room to a superintendent's room; the large drawing room to a school room; the blue bedroom to a staff sitting room; another bedroom to a small dormitory; the yellow room to a superintendent's room; Bachelor's Walk to a teachers' wing; and the banqueting hall and musicians' gallery to another dormitory.

In 1922, following the establishment of Northern Ireland, the school was handed over to the Northern Ireland Ministry of Agriculture.

In 1949 it became Loughry Agricultural College.

Loughry Manor-house (Image: CAFRE)

THE VERY REV DR JONATHAN SWIFT, Dean of St Patrick's, a close friend of Judge Lindesay, is thought to have written part of Gulliver’s Travels whilst staying at Loughry.

Dean Swift's Summer House, as it became known, perches precariously above the river Killymoon.

Both the summer house and Loughry Manor are listed.

The house has "1632" inscribed on a wall.

Modern planting and landscaping enhances the college buildings and the prospect to the planted top of Rockhead Hill has not been obscured.

There are mature trees in the parkland, in clumps and individual trees.

The river bank is heavily wooded throughout the demesne and old walk-ways survive.

Offices and stables for the manor house have been adapted for college use.

The walled garden contains a small collection of fruit trees, but is not otherwise cultivated.

First published in April, 2013.