The Hamilton Baronetcy (1662)

JOHN HAMILTON (c1576-1639), of Coronary, County Cavan, and of Monella (Hamiltonsbawn), County Armagh, next brother of James Hamilton, created Viscount Claneboye in 1662, married, in 1617, Sarah, daughter of Sir Anthony Brabazon, Governor of Connaught, and had issue,

HANS, his heir;
Francis, of Tullybrick;
James, of Bailieborough;
Mary; Eleanor.

The eldest son,

THE RT HON SIR HANS HAMILTON, Knight, of Hamiltonsbawn, High Sheriff of County Armagh, 1669, MP for County Armagh, 1661-6, wedded Magdalene, daughter of Sir Edward Trevor Kt, and had an only daughter, SARAH, married to Sir Robert Hamilton, Knight, of Mount Hamilton, County Armagh.

Sir Hans was knighted in 1661, and created a baronet in 1662, designated of Monella.

He died suddenly in 1681, when the baronetcy became extinct, but the estates devolved upon Sir Hans's son-in-law,

SIR ROBERT HAMILTON, Knight, of Mount Hamilton, who was appointed Sir Hans's successor as custos rotulorum of the county, and, in 1683, created a baronet, designated of Mount Hamilton, County Armagh.

*****

Louise Duncan from Australia has researched the family:

Of John's (ie John Hamilton of Monilla) family was first Hans. In his youth he was bred at (unclear) Schools; went to the college of Glasgow, in Scotland; was much disposed for learning, and very capable of it, but by his father's death, and the urgency of his affairs, was soon called back again to Ireland.

He attended his affairs carefully and discreetly till the war of Ireland broke out, at which time duty and necessity obliged him to give his assistance therein, by my Lord Claneboy's advice. His years and parts early promoted him to be a captain of horse; as in progress of time he became lieutenant-colonel. He joined, with the Earl of Clanbrassill, in Ormond's Association.

That war being ended, he married Magdalen Trevor, daughter to Sir Edward Trevor, (and sister to Marcus Trevor, 1st Viscount Dungannon) and had by her some children, whereof only his daughter Sarah came to maturity.

His business then being to improve and plant his estate, lying mostly in the upper country; and, by reason of his very good natural and acquired parts, and justice to the King's interest and family, after King Charles II’s restoration, was knighted and made Baronet., and afterwards one of his Majesty's Privy Council in Ireland, and was very much entrusted by the Government in the oversight of the upper country (at Hamilton’s Bawn in County Armagh).

He died of a good age, in great esteem, and generally much bewailed; lies in the tomb with his father, mother, lady, and daughter.

He was guilty of great errors—whereof afterwards, His natural parts and improvements were both very considerable; his deportment, in his younger years, very commendable; but, his estate being much burdened, his disposition to live high and aim to purchase great things, occasioned many to think (as a gent, of his neighbourhood and great acquaintance once said) that.

Sir Hans Hamilton was never so honest as Hans Hamilton by half. He was unfortunate in that his daughter married contrary to his disposition, and the measures he had proposed to himself.

He fell at last in great variance with his nearest friends, and affliction by the death of his lady and daughter; went to Dublin, with design, as it is believed, to do something that was great for his family against his friends, but failed of it, and died in the enterprise, but did not perform it.

THE FORMER army barracks at Hamiltonsbawn, County Armagh, were built in 1731 on the site of a 60-square foot defensive bawn.

This bawn was built with walls twelve feet in height and used lime and stone, with two flankers which had been built as part of the plantation of Ulster by the Scottish settler John Hamilton in 1619.

It is recorded that, by 1622, the bawn was 90 feet in length and 63 feet wide.

Hamilton was responsible for a few dozen families in the area, and was able to arm thirty men as required by his undertaking as part of the Plantation.

The area had been known variously as Monela, Monella, Monilla or Moynellan.

Hamilton's bawn was almost completely destroyed during the 1641 uprising in Ulster, but following the Restoration of CHARLES II in 1660, Sir Hans Hamilton, 1st Baronet, built a three, or possibly five, chimney mansion or manor house on the ruins of the bawn.

The manor house was known colloquially as "the Castle".

Owing to substantial family debts, the land on which the bawn and house had stood was sold by Sir Hans Hamilton, 2nd Baronet, of Mount Hamilton, in the early 18th century (ca 1704).

By the 1720s it had come into the possession of Sir Arthur Acheson, of Markethill.

First published in April, 2011.

White House

THE WHITE HOUSE, Newtownabbey, County Antrim, is a roofless 17th century fortified house, surrounded by a late 20th century housing development near the eastern shore of Belfast Lough.

The bawn is defined by large circular flankers, emphasising the defensible origins of the dwelling and representative of the difficult circumstances of 17th century settlement of the eastern shore of the lough.

This significant structure is thought to date from ca 1600.

A timber window lintel in the building was dendro-chronologically dated to between 1589 and 1624.

A map of 1834 shows a number of buildings on the site, arranged on a quadrangular plan around the central courtyard.

Griffiths Valuation of 1859 records the site as "Herd’s house, Office and Lands ... yard and quay, and a coal yard."

John Thomson was the occupant at the time, and the landlord was the Marquess of Donegall.

Photo Credit: Abbey Historical Society

The buildings nearby (mentioned previously) as part of the same collection or "courtyard" are listed as two houses with gardens owned by Robert Joynt and Alexander Mee respectively.

The Ordnance Survey Memoirs of 1839 state that 

"The existing remains of this house not only bear the appearance of great antiquity, but also of great strength. Its original height was either four or five storeys, but has been unroofed and lowered to its present height about 70 years since…. No arch work appears in any part of the building. Strong oak lintels were used in all cases over the doors, windows and fireplaces."

According to the late historian Sir Charles Brett: "King William III spent the night in this house the night of 14th June, 1690."

Since the 1930s the building had been used as a gospel hall, and it was acquired in 1996 by Ulster Garden Villages on behalf of Abbey Historical Society.

In 2000 it was transferred to the White House Preservation Trust, which has been undertaking major refurbishment works.

First published in October, 2018.

Belle Isle: II

Porter Arms

REMINISCENCES FROM JULIAN BROWN, WHOSE FAMILY ONCE HAD CLOSE TIES WITH BELLE ISLE, COUNTY FERMANAGH

I often visited Miss Tiggy Brunt and Captain Hermon at Necarne Castle (the gardener's house) in the 1970s, when they took up residence there after Mr H A Porter's death.

There are pictures of that period too.

Everyone at Belle Isle, Necarne and (in the summer) Mullaghmore was kind and incredibly generous to all of the Brown family!

Even Captain Hermon mellowed as we grew up.

Mr Henry Archdale Porter (Mastie!) is the man in the hat, with my father and me.

This picture was taken at Mullaghmore, near Classiebawn Castle, in the early 1950s.

The Belle Isle household used to decamp to Mullaghmore every summer, and the Brown family were frequent Sunday guests.

Indeed Captain Hermon was a first rate shot and I recall him at the Belle Isle Shoot.

I was a beater on a couple of occasions as a lad, a dangerous occupation.

My father, Esmond, was a keen shooter too, and often Captain Hermon and my father shot together.

First published in February, 2010. 

1st Duke of Fife

THE DUKES OF FIFE WERE THE GREATEST LANDOWNERS IN ABERDEENSHIRE, WITH 135,829 ACRES

The lands of Muldavit, Banffshire, which were originally granted in 1404 by ROBERT III, King of Scots, to David Duff and Agnes Chalmer, his wife, daughter of Maud of Muldavate, were alienated by John Duff of Muldavit to the Innes family in 1481, but recovered by his grandson, AndrewDuff, in 1504.

JOHN DUFF, who had a charter of Muldavit in 1550, had issue by his first wife a son, JOHN, his heir who sold Muldavit in 1626.

John Duff, the elder, married secondly, Margaret Gordon, of the Cairnbarrow family, and died in 1593, having by her eleven sons, of whom,

ADAM DUFF, of Ardrone, and afterwards in Clunybeg, is mentioned in the records of the Kirk Session of Botriphnie, in 1666, as brother of Margaret Ogilvie.

He was a man of remarkable shrewdness and sagacity, and laid the foundation of the prosperity of the family.

A supporter of the house of Stuart, he was fined by the Covenanters.

He died about 1674, in possession of considerable wealth, leaving a numerous family, the eldest of whom,

ALEXANDER DUFF, of Keithmore, his successor, was an extensive purchaser of land in counties Banff and Aberdeen during the period preceding the Union, when many of the old lairds were greatly impoverished.

Keithmore, from which he took his designation, was a wadset from the Huntley family, and became the property of the Duke of Richmond and Gordon.

He wedded Helen, daughter of Archibald Grant, a lady who brought him a large fortune, and to whose prudence and industry, it is said, much of the future prosperity of the family was due.

He died about 1700, and a monument of some pretension was erected to his memory in Mortlach churchyard.

He had issue,

Alexander of Braco;

WILLIAM, of whom we treat;

Patrick, of Craigston.

The second son,

WILLIAM DUFF, of Dipple, purchased Dipple, Pluscarden, and other estates in Morayshire.

On his nephew's death, in 1718, he succeeded to the estates in addition to his own.

On his own death in 1722, he left the estates to his eldest son, with a rental of £6,500 (equivalent to about £1.2 million in 2024), all clear, in those days the largest fortune in the north of Scotland.

He espoused firstly, Helen, daughter of Sir George Gordon; secondly, Jean, daughter of Sir William Dunbar Bt; and had issue by both marriages, the only son by the first wife being his successor,

WILLIAM DUFF (1697-1763), of Braco and Dipple, who was MP for Banffshire, 1727-34, and was created Baron Braco, of Kilbryde, County Cavan, in 1735; and Viscount Macduff and EARL FIFE, both in the Peerage of Ireland, 1759.

He purchased considerable estates in counties Aberdeen, Banff, and Moray, and proved a careful manager of them. About 1724 he built the new castle of Balvenie. In 1740-45 he erected Duff House at the cost of £70,000 (equivalent to about £11.5 million in 2024). In 1745 he joined the Duke of Cumberland, and made a free offer of his services to Government in any way that might be desired.

His lordship married firstly, in 1719, the Lady Janet Ogilvie, daughter of James, Earl of Findlater and Seafield; and secondly, in 1723, Jean, daughter of Sir James Grant Bt, and by her had with other issue,

JAMES, 2nd Earl;

ALEXANDER, 3rd Earl;

George;

Ludovic;

Arthur;

Janet; Jane; Helen; Sophia Henrietta; Margaret.

The 1st Earl died in 1763 at Rothiemay, where he latterly resided.

There is a monument to his memory, and that of Jane, Countess of Fife, within the mausoleum at Duff House.

His lordship was succeeded by his eldest surviving son,

JAMES, 2nd Earl (1729-1809), who was created a peer of Great Britain, in 1790, as Baron Fife.

By judicious purchases he nearly doubled the possessions of his family.

He changed the name of the town of Doune to Macduff, and procured for it a Royal Charter, constituting it a burgh.

He wedded, in 1766, the Lady Dorothea Sunclair, only child of the 9th Earl of Caithness; but dying without male issue, in 1809, that barony became extinct, and the other devolved upon his brother,

ALEXANDER, 3rd Earl (1731-1811).

His great-grandson,

THE RT HON ALEXANDER WILLIAM GEORGE (1849-1912), 6th Earl, KG, KT, GCVO, VD, PC, wedded Her Royal Highness The Princess Louise, The Princess Royal, in 1889.

The wedding marked the second time a descendant of Queen Victoria married a British subject (the first being the marriage of The Princess Louise, the Queen's 4th daughter, to the Duke of Argyll).

Two days after the wedding, Her Majesty advanced Lord Fife to the dignities of Marquess of Macduff and DUKE OF FIFE.

The second quarter of the Fife arms includes the arms of the United Kingdom as borne by HM King Edward VII, differenced by a Label of five points Argent the points charged with two Thistles between three Crosses of St George Gules (HRH The Princess Royal, Duchess of Fife).

DUFF HOUSE, near Banff, Aberdeenshire, designed by the Scottish architect William Adam (1689-1748), is the grandest classical country house to be built on a fresh site in early 18th century Scotland.

It is considered to be an Adam masterpiece and is one of the most important buildings in northern Scotland.

The foundation stone was laid in 1735 and the building was finished five years later, although it took over a century to complete the interior.

The house was commissioned by William Duff, Lord Braco, later 1st Earl Fife, as a family home to replace a smaller more modest residence nearby, on the present site of Airlie Gardens in Banff.

The 1st Earl never actually lived here, preferring to live with his family at Rothiemay Castle, where he died in 1763.

The beautiful estate surrounding the house stretched for miles and remnants of its former glory can still be seen in the area.

The family continued to live at Duff House until 1906.

Duff House was in turn a palm court hotel, a sanatorium and a prisoner of war camp.

Since 1995, Duff House has been part of the National Galleries of Scotland and houses a range of art treasures and superbly furnished rooms.

It also hosts a programme of artistic events and is used as a base for artists and writers.

ELSICK HOUSE, Aberdeenshire, is situated in an agricultural area about two miles from the North Sea near the town of Cammachmore; moreover, the Elsick Estate is situated within the Burn of Elsick watershed, which stream traverses the estate property.

The house is located on the Elsick Estate (1,600 acres) and is the present family seat of His Grace the Duke of Fife.

During the Victorian era, the Duke of Fife also owned 72,432 acres of land in Banffshire and 40,959 acres in Moray; thus comprising a total of almost 250,000 acres in Scotland. 

Present seat ~ Kinnaird Castle, near Brechin, Angus.

First published in November, 2013.   Fife arms courtesy of European Heraldry.

Wallace Park

SIR RICHARD WALLACE, BARONET, WAS (AFTER LORD O'NEILL) THE GREATEST LANDOWNER IN COUNTY ANTRIM, WITH 58,365 ACRES

On Sunday, the 21st August, 2016, I paid my very first visit to Wallace Park in Lisburn.

It was presented to Lisburn by Sir Richard Wallace, 1st (and last) Baronet, whose residence, Castle House, adjoined the grounds.

This is a wooded, twenty-five acre, public park at the northern side of the town, with an ornamental duck-pond and playing-fields.

Wallace Park has several drinking-fountains with four female caryatids supporting a domed top.

In fact Sir Richard had fifty of these fountains manufactured - in French Renaissance style - to commemorate the end of the Siege of Paris in 1871.

He presented them to many major cities, including London, Paris, Rotterdam; and even Canada, South Africa and Brazil.

The Hertford Estate, centred round the area known as Killultagh at Lisburn, was one of the largest estates in County Antrim and, indeed, Ulster.

Sir Fulke Conway, ancestor of the Marquesses of Hertford, founded Lisburn.

Castle House in August, 2016

Sir Richard's residence in Lisburn, Castle House (above), is a large, imposing mansion of 1880, though he rarely stayed there.

At the time of writing (August, 2016) it appears to be unoccupied and there is a skip at the porch.

Sir Richard became MP for Lisburn in 1873 and served until 1884.

In November, 1882, Sir Richard presented the Castle gardens and outer grounds to the Lisburn Town Commissioners.

In July, 1884, it was reported that

For several months past a number of men have been employed by Sir Richard Wallace in levelling and laying out the grounds ... they afford means of recreation to all classes, and more especially to the large numbers of operatives, who, pent up in the mills and factories during the day, enjoy the pure air for some hours every evening and thus add immensely to their general stock of health.

By August, 1887, the work had been completed and it was noted that Sir Richard had

Expended a very considerable amount in ornamenting, railing-in, and making roads through the grounds, as well as erecting very commodious residences for the caretakers.

There is a pair of lodges of ca 1884 at each end of the park, intended to provide accommodation for park wardens.

*****

SIR RICHARD WALLACE became the principal benefactor of the city, paying for the improvement of water supplies as well as the building of Assembly Rooms, a court house (now demolished) and a school, which survives as Wallace High School.

Sir Richard also employed the architect Thomas Ambler, who had remodelled Hertford House for him, to build Castle House in Lisburn.

He had hoped that his son Edmond would take up residence in Lisburn, but this was not to be.

Castle House was seldom used.

After his death in 1890, the citizens of Lisburn erected a magnificent monument to Sir Richard in Castle Gardens, where one of two Wallace fountains in the city may also be found.

*****

CASTLE GARDENS is situated on a slope directly opposite Castle House between Lisburn Cathedral and the River Lagan.

These gardens retain a section of the gateway of the former 17th century Castle, destroyed by fire in 1707.

As the castle was never rebuilt, part of the area was developed as a public pleasure ground, so there is a long tradition of public access.

The town map of 1640 shows a good garden for the Castle, which became, in the words of Henry Bayley in Topographical and Historical Account of Lisburn (1834),

elegantly laid off, with walks, shrubberies, &c and are always in the best order. The fine lofty plantations (beautifully foliaged in almost all seasons) along the sides of the centre grant walk, give a majesty and a sweetness to the whole.

He also remarks on the fine views of the River Lagan from the steep terrace, maintained with grass and steps today.

The gardens on the top of the hill today, level with Castle Street, were much as Bayley described until extensive archaeological excavations and conservation, supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund, were undertaken in 2004.

The four notable 17th century terraces, three of which are of brick, with double-flight perron, bowling-green and banquesting pavilion, have been cleared and excavated for presentation to the public.

The Victorian municipal gardens have also been restored; including an avenue of mature trees, lawns, flower beds and two fountains of note; a Wallace fountain of 1872; and the Egret Fountain of ca 1870.

The Wallace Monument

A portion of the 17th century Castle gate still exists.

There is a monument to Sir Richard Wallace of 1892, and a mounted gun, captured at Sebastopol and erected on the site in 1858.

Sir Richard's name survives elsewhere in Lisburn, in Wallace High School, Wallace Park and even in a recently opened shopping centre, Wallace Colonnades.

Wallace fountain

Wallace Park is a public park comprising about twenty-five acres, created on land presented to the people of Lisburn by Sir Richard Wallace in 1884.

The area was formerly the outer park for Castle House, his Lisburn residence.

He also furnished it with a bandstand, gates and two gate lodges.

The duck pond was created from what was formerly a town reservoir.

There are mature trees and further planting has been undertaken.

Most of the grounds are grassed, the northern part consisting of tree-lined paths, and the southern end is occupied by sports fields.

Sir Richard died at Paris on the 20th July, 1890.

First published in May, 2010.

Belle Isle: I

Ross arms

REMINISCENCES FROM JULIAN BROWN, WHOSE FAMILY ONCE HAD CLOSE TIES WITH BELLE ISLE ESTATE, COUNTY FERMANAGH

By the 1950s, the Belle Isle Castle household had abandoned the elegant Georgian bay-windowed formal dining-room, except for special occasions.

Dinner was taken in the original old kitchen, which was part of a suite of sculleries, pantries and store rooms on the west side of the castle, whose windows looked out onto the road to the West Island. 

The repast was still conducted in some style: A huge, white damask tablecloth was spread on one of the wooden kitchen tables; and this was laid with the Belle Isle silver, beautiful salts, Georgian cutlery and antique silver napkin rings.

Mr Henry Porter sat at one end of the table; and, on most evenings, Mr Dick Hermon, of Necarne Castle, sat at the other.

Mrs Mary Brunt and her daughters Vida Leigh and Hilda Brunt (Tiggy) sat at the sides of the table, as did any guests (Mr Hermon often stayed at Belle Isle: he had his own room, the blue dressing room, and he had been married to Mr Porter’s sister.

Miss Tiggy would have been be in charge of ‘service’ and was assisted by the Belle Isle cook, Miss Ellen McDougal (of whom more another time); and often my mother, Pearl Brown, helped as well.

On one occasion my sister Audrey, who was about four, and myself, aged nine, were sitting near the Aga watching.

Seen, but not heard!

Miss McDougal was the most wonderful cook: she could produce anything.

However, on the occasion in question, the main course was roast swan – don’t know where it came from or the legalities of it!

Notwithstanding Miss McDougal's skills, the ‘old bird’ was very tough: Mr Hermon chewed manfully but dislodged a tooth in the attempt!

Out came the meat and the tooth. 

Audrey and I got fits of the giggles, which was unfortunate because, while the household generally were very fond of us, Mr Hermon was not. 

He did not take to children.

Our mother had to remove us speedily!

This was one of my father Esmond’s favourite stories.

He was an excellent mimic, and Mr Hermon’s predicament was recounted many times.

Miss Lavinia Baird moved the kitchens to what had been the Servants Hall in the 1970s (now Hamilton wing?); and I understand that the kitchen has been moved again, into what was the old Housekeeper's Room in the main body of the castle. 

The photograph shows Mrs Brunt; her daughter, Mrs Vida Leigh; and Julian as an infant on the steps of the french windows into the Drawing Room at Belle Isle Castle in 1949.

First published in February, 2012.    Ross arms courtesy of European Heraldry.

The O’Neill Baronetcy (1666)

At Killelagh, County Antrim, close to Lough Neagh, there are said to be remains of a castellated building, formerly the seat of a branch of the powerful family of O'Neill. Little is known of its scanty remains, though apparently a part of the walls of its courts and gardens still stand.

Ulster remained firmly in the control of the Clanaboy O'Neills until 1608. The family fought on both sides of the civil wars that racked Ireland from 1642-93. The end result was a significant loss of territory and influence due to political alliances and an influx of new families flowing in from Scotland and England.

SIR HENRY O'NEILL (c1625-80), of Edenduffcarrick (Shane's Castle), son of HUGH McPHELIM BACCACH O'NEILL, married, ca 1655, Eleanor, daughter of Sir William Talbot Bt, and had issue,

NEIL, his heir;
DANIEL, succeeded his brother;
Rose.

During the trouble of 1641, Sir Henry's estate was forfeited.

It was, however, restored in 1665, and he conformed to the Established Church.

He was created a baronet in 1666, designated of Killelagh, County Antrim.

Sir Henry's son and heir,

SIR NEIL O'NEILL, 2nd Baronet (c1658-90), of Shane's Castle, wedded, in 1677, Frances, daughter of Caryll, 3rd Viscount Molyneux, and had issue, four or five daughters.

Sir Neil boyhood was spent on the shores of Lough Neagh, in and around the townland of Ballyginniff, where an old ruin, beside the Milltown, still marks the spot of his ancestral castle.

In 1678, he inherited the family honours and estates.

In 1688, Sir Neil was in Dublin "concerting measures" with his uncle Richard Talbot, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell; and, in the same year, he was appointed a burgess of Belfast.

In 1689, he was appointed Lord-Lieutenant of County Antrim; about which time he raised a regiment of dragoons, numbered the 11th, in the service of JAMES II.

He served with his regiment at the siege of Londonderry.

At the battle of the Boyne, Sir Neil, at the head of his regiment, defended "with great gallantry" the passage over that river at Slane.

On this occasion, Sir Neil was severely wounded in the thigh and he died soon afterwards at Waterford, having followed the king to that city.

He was interred at the Franciscan Priory in Waterford, having died in July, 1690, aged 32.

Sir Neil O'Neill (Image: The Tate Gallery)

Sir Neil left his family unprovided for.

However, in 1703, his estates at Killelagh and Kilmakevit - including 19 townlands - were sold at Chichester House in Dublin.

He left no male heir but was succeeded in the title by his only brother,

SIR DANIEL O'NEILL, 3rd Baronet, who wedded, ca 1690, Mary, daughter of Sir Gregory Byrne Bt, and had issue, an only child, Eleanor, who married Hugh O'Reilly.

The title and estates were forfeited by a posthumous act of attainder in 1691.

On petitioning the government, Sir Neil's widow was granted a 41-year lease on the Killelagh estate in 1700, which she sold the following year.

Lady O'Neill died in 1732.

First published in March, 2011.