Ballydivity House

THE MOORES OWNED 8,242 ACRES OF LAND IN COUNTY ANTRIM

ANDREW STEWART, born in Renfrewshire, 1719, settled in Ulster after the battle of Culloden, in 1746, and married, in 1742, Margaret Finny, by whom he had issue,

JAMES STEWART, born in 1750, who espoused Jane, only daughter of James Moore, of Ballydivity, County Antrim, and was father of

JAMES STEWART-MOORE (1773-1845), of Ballydivity, High Sheriff of County Antrim, 1798, who wedded, in 1792, Margaret, daughter of the Ven. William Sturrock, Archdeacon of Armagh, and had issue,

JAMES, his heir;
John;
Henry;
Harriett; Jane; Elizabeth.

Mr Stewart-Moore died in 1845, and was succeeded by his eldest son,

JAMES STEWART-MOORE JP DL (1793-1870), of Ballydivity, High Sheriff of County Antrim, 1849, Captain, 11th Hussars, who served in the Peninsular War, at Waterloo, and at India.

Captain Stewart-Moore espoused, in 1845, Frances, daughter of Henry Richardson, of Somerset, County Londonderry, and had issue,

JAMES, his heir;
Henry;
Margaret; Catherine Elizabeth.

The elder son,

JAMES STEWART-MOORE JP DL (1847-1932), of Ballydivity, High Sheriff of County Antrim, 1880, married, in 1871, Elizabeth, daughter of Charles Stuart, of Ballyhivistock, County Antrim, and had issue,

JAMES, b 1876;
Charles Francis, b 1878;
Ethel; Mary; Katherine Frances.

The elder son,

JAMES STEWART-MOORE (1876-1957), of Ballydivity, and Dunluce, North Queensland, Australia, who married Katherine Marian, daughter of John Edward Wyndham Jackson, of Harbeldown Lodge, Kent, and had issue,

JAMES ANDREW;
(Alexander Wyndham) Hume;
David;
John;
Nanette; another daughter.

Mr Stewart-Moore was succeeded by his eldest son,

JAMES ANDREW STEWART-MOORE (1910-c1999), of North Queensland and Ballydivity, Commander, Royal Navy, wedded Angelina Nina, daughter of Norman C Patrick, of Glarryford, County Antrim, and had issue, six children.

BALLYDIVITY HOUSE, near Ballymoney, County Antrim, is a two storey, three bay house of ca 1760.

The door has a square fanlight.

The house was extended and the drawing-room enlarged ca 1910-11.

It has a central staircase.

The Stewart-Moores returned to Ballydivity in the 1920s, but retained their North Queensland property which James (senior) had started in 1906 (his wife, Katherine, was Australian-born).

Dunluce, the Queensland property, about 135,000 acres, is now in its fourth generation of Stewart-Moores as John, youngest brother of James, returned to farm Dunluce with his wife after the 2nd World War.

James Andrew Stewart-Moore joined the Royal Navy and was involved in sinking the German battleship Bismarck in his Fairey Swordfish bi-plane.

He farmed at Ballydivity with his wife Jill and died about 1999.

James and Jill had two children and Ballydivity was inherited by their son James (whose wife is also called Jill). 

They sold Ballydivity in 2015 and now live in the immediate vicinity.

First published in February, 2016.