Bank Buildings, Belfast

The Bank Buildings in 1901 (Image: Robert Welch/NMNI)

THE BANK BUILDINGS, ONE OF BELFAST'S MOST ICONIC BUILDINGS, WAS ENGULFED BY A CATASTROPHIC FIRE ON THE 28TH AUGUST, 2018.

The Bank Buildings, Castle Place, Belfast, stand between Castle Street to the south, and Bank Street to the north.

The first building on the site (originally part of the 16-acre grounds and gardens of old Belfast Castle) was designed by Robert Taylor and erected by Waddell Cunningham in 1785.

Cunningham, one of Belfast's most prominent business men, opened the premises as a bank in 1787.

Castle Place, Belfast, 1843

Following the bank's collapse in 1789, the building became the episcopal residence of the Lord Bishop of Down and Connor, the Rt Rev Dr William Dickson.

In 1804, it was converted into a shop and, in 1816, the last public execution was carried on its doorstep.

The Northern Banking Company purchased the Bank Buildings in 1825 for use as their head office.

In 1853, William Robertson and Henry Hawkins from Waterford, J C Ledlie from Cork, and Robert Ferguson, of Belfast, established a wholesale drapery firm, which soon became a commercial department store in the city.

The old Georgian edifice was demolished and a four-storey, seven-bay Italianate building of 1855 was erected in its place by Hawkins, Robertson and Co.

The History Hub Ulster has written an article about the history of The Bank Buildings, including a rare image of the second building built in 1855.

W H Lynn designed the new bank buildings in 1900.

He intended it as a bridge to the 20th century, with a compromise between the classical style of the upper part of the building and the great expanse of plate glass below.

Old photographs show a statue directly above the clock, and a coat-of-arms at third floor level.

I contacted the pre-eminent Ulster architectural historian Marcus Patton, OBE, about this, and he remarked:-

"I have a photo of Bank Buildings which I took around 1980 and there is no sign of the statue then, whereas there is a Hogg one perhaps of 1930 which does show it (a couple of winged cherubs holding a torch)." 

"It could have gone with the bomb damage in 1975 or the subsequent renovations." 

"The coat of arms doesn’t show in the Hogg photo so it must have gone early on..."

Photo Credit: Kyle Leyden

Robertson, Leslie, Ferguson and Co were royal warrant holders to Queen Victoria.

Until 1961, only the ground and first floors were used as a retail store, with the remainder of the building taken up by the company’s wholesale warehouse.

In that year, however, the Bank Buildings underwent total renovation.

The new arcade shop front was lighted at night, and a modernised main entrance was added at Castle Place (or Junction, as it was known when trams operated).

The old pillars and showcases on the ground floor were removed.

The Belfast Telegraph announced the ’bold policy of renovation, repair and the moving and improving of entire departments, has brought it into line with the latest Bond Street ideas.’

In 1969, the shares of Robertson, Ledlie, Ferguson and Company were sold to the House of Fraser group, whose chairman was Sir Hugh Fraser Bt.

It was hoped at the time that the Bank Buildings would benefit from the knowledge and resources of a large national firm, expanding throughout the United Kingdom.

Robertson, Ledlie, Ferguson and Co, however, continued to operate the store as a subsidiary company, and only four years later, Boots acquired the Bank Buildings when it took over House of Fraser.

On the 9th April, 1975, three bombs exploded in the Bank Buildings.

A huge fire broke out shortly afterwards and damaged parts of the building.

In 1979, the Bank Buildings were taken over by the Dublin-based fashion retailer Primark.

Within 18 months, the store was totally refurbished and the exterior restored to its 1903 glory.

A catastrophic fire engulfed the Edwardian building at about 11am of the 28th August, 2018.

The blaze lasted for a number of hours, leaving it a roofless, gutless shell.

The interior was cleared of rubble in 2020, and site works are currently being progressed.

The Bank Buildings reopened in the first week of November, 2022.

First published in August, 2018.

The Princess Royal

Her Royal Highness THE PRINCESS ROYAL KG KT GCVO is 76 today.

The Princess Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise was born at Clarence House, London.

HRH is married to Vice-Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence KCVO CB.

Princess Anne is a Royal Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Garter and an Extra Knight of the Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle.

Her Royal Highness is also Grand Master and Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order.

The Princess Royal holds the ranks of Admiral in the Royal Navy, General in the Army, and Air Chief Marshal in the Royal Air Force.

BH Memoirs: VII

REMINISCENCES OF LIEUTENANT-COLONEL JOHN MATTHEW BLAKISTON-HOUSTON DL (1898-1984), OF BELTRIM CASTLE, COUNTY TYRONE, AND RODDENS, COUNTY DOWN, BORN AT ORANGEFIELD HOUSE, NEAR BELFAST

HE SERVED IN THE FIRST AND SECOND WORLD WARS; WAS AIDE-DE-CAMP TO THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF AUSTRALIA, 1929-30; HIGH SHERIFF OF COUNTY DOWN, 1944; DEPUTY LIEUTENANT OF COUNTY DOWN, 1946; HIGH SHERIFF OF COUNTY TYRONE, 1954

In April, 1939, Roddens House was burnt down.

We had been carrying out some alterations and were living in one corner of the house.

A high wind was blowing off the sea and one of the front windows had been removed.

It was probably caused by a smouldering beam in the chimney.

We planned to rebuild starting on the 1st September, 1939, but Hitler had different plans.

In the meantime we lived in Roddens Farm House.

Lattice and the children remained there till after the war but built on two extra rooms.

In July, 1939, some of us Reservists were invited to do some voluntary training and I did a fortnight’s attachment to the 4th Hussars commanded by Scotty Cockburn at Tidworth.

To my amusement Bunny Head, who had been a Stockbroker in New York for the previous ten years, was my instructor!

At 9pm on the 31st August, 1939, the wireless announced that all Class “A” Reservists were to rejoin.

It was my 41st birthday.

I crossed over on the evening of the 1st September, having fixed up my affairs as best I could during the day.

I was in camp with the Eton OTC on 4 August 1914, and I remember well the cheer and songs with which we greeted the declaration of war then.

But we’d learnt what war meant since.

Waterloo Station was full of reservists rejoining their units and a sad looking lot they were.

When they actually joined and met their old comrades’ things cheered up in the canteen, but I could not help being struck by difference in atmosphere to that I just remembered a quarter of a century earlier.

During these two months I found plenty to do in connection with the buying of cows; bad reports of milk, and the rejection of 41 cows at one half yearly tubercular test.

First published in January, 2015.  Extracts by kind permission of RP Blakiston-Houston OBE JP DL

The Magill Baronetcy

JOHN MAGILL, of Gill Hall, County Down, bequeathed, about 1676, all his estates in County Down to (the son of Lieutenant William Johnston) his grandson,

JOHN JOHNSTON (ante 1639-1701), of Gill Hall, who assumed, in consequence, the surname and arms of MAGILL, and was created a baronet in 1680, designated of Gill Hall, County Down.

Sir John, MP for Hillsborough, 1692-3, Downpatrick, 1695-9, married firstly, in 1677, Elizabeth Mary, daughter of William Hawkins; and secondly, in 1683, Arabella Susannah, daughter of Hugh Hamilton, 1st Viscount Glenawly.

Sir John died without surviving issue in 1701, when the baronetcy expired.

The estates, however, devolved, in accordance with the will of the original testator, John Magill, upon Sir John's nephew and heir,

ROBERT HAWKINS (1704-45), of Gill Hall, MP for County Down, 1724-7-45 (grandson of his sister Mary, who assumed the additional surname of MAGILL), who espoused firstly, in 1728, Rachael, eldest daughter of Clotworthy, 3rd Viscount Massereene and widow of Randal, 4th Earl of Antrim, and had an only son, JOHN (1729-36).

Mr Hawkins-Magill wedded secondly, in 1742, the Lady Ann Bligh, daughter of John, 1st Earl of Darnley, and had issue an only daughter and heiress,

THEODOSIA  HAWKINS-MAGILL (1743-1817), who married, in 1765, John, 1st Earl of Clanwilliam.

The Hawkins-Magill coat-of-arms is displayed at the top.

Theodosia Countess of Clanwilliam (Image: Ulster Museum)

In the 1650s, during Cromwellian land confiscation and the subsequent plantation era following the Irish rebellion of 1641, Captain John Magill acquired land in the Tullylish area and founded Gilford, the name of the village being derived from Magill’s Ford.

Gill Hall

Gilford dates from the mid-17th century when the Magill family, after whom it was called, acquired the land.

The Magills were of Scottish origin. 

Before the Rebellion of 1641 Captain Magill, whose name appears in the list of officers of the Cromwellian Army, obtained half the townland of Ballynagarrick from Art Og Maginnis for £150.

At the end of the war Captain Magill acquired an extensive estate at Gilford, comprising the townlands of Loughans, Drumarin, Drummillar, Mullabrack, Ballymacanallen and half of Ballynagarrick. 

Furthermore, he owned land in Donacloney and Dromore; and it was here, in his Gill Hall estate, that the family seal was placed. 

Robin Knowles once unearthed a manuscript at a library in Northern Ireland concerning Sir John Magill,

In 1674, Magill held a grand pheasant shoot on his estate which had been stocked with nine hundred birds obtained by natural hatch and from eggs hatched under broody hens. He invited sixty-four guns - a nobleman and a commoner from each of the Kingdom of Ireland's thirty-two counties - to shoot and they bagged three hundred pheasants in a day. 

First published in February, 2011

Owenmore House

THE ORMES WERE MAJOR LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY SLIGO, WITH 11,771 ACRES

WILLIAM ORME, of Hanch Hall, Longdon, Staffordshire, descended from a family of graziers long settled in Cheshire, married, in 1612, Grace, daughter of Nicholas Hurt, of Castern, Staffordshire.

He died in 1623, leaving a son,

WILLIAM ORME (1614-65), of Hanch Hall, who being a Royalist, suffered heavy fines and imprisonment at the hands of the usurper, CROMWELL.

He lived to witness the Restoration, and had a confirmation of his arms by Sir William Dugdale, Norroy King-of-Arms, 1665.

Mr Orme wedded Anne, daughter of Thomas Brudenell, of Staunton Wivell, Leicestershire, and had issue,

Thomas (c1637-1716), dsp;
William, Colonel in the French Army;
JAMES, of whom presently;
Robert;
Dorothea.

The third son,

JAMES ORME, settled ca 1671 in County Mayo, where he purchased considerable estates.

He espoused Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Barrow, of County Cork, and had issue,

ROBERT, his heir;
William, of Ballintubber.

Mr Orme died in 1707, and was succeeded by his eldest son,

ROBERT ORME, of Carne, County Mayo, who married, in 1703, Elizabeth, daughter of James Johnston, and had issue,

Thomas, of Carne;
James, of Fairfield;
WILLIAM, of whom hereafter;
Robert (Congressman), settled in Jones County, USA;
Mary; Margaret; Lettice.

The third son,

WILLIAM ORME JP (1810-76), of Owenmore, County Mayo, wedded firstly, in 1837, Janette, daughter of Christopher Carleton L'Estrange, of Market Hill, County Fermanagh; and secondly, in 1858, Margaret Barbara, eldest daughter of the Rev Savage Hall, Rector of Loughgall, County Armagh,

He dsp and was succeeded by his brother, 

ROBERT ORME JP DL (1815-77), of Owenmore, County Mayo, and Enniscrone, County Sligo, who espoused, in 1843, Sidney Frances, daughter of Christopher Carleton L'Estrange, and had issue,

ROBERT WILLIAM, his heir;
CHRISTOPHER GUY, succeeded his brother;
Albert L'Estrange;
Janet Georgina, m 1882, Claude Brownlow, of Killynether.

The eldest son,

ROBERT WILLIAM ORME JP DL (1856-1903), of Owenmore and Enniscrone, High Sheriff of County Sligo, 1879, died unmarried, and was succeeded by his brother,

CHRISTOPHER GUY ORME JP DL (1858-1929), of Owenmore and Enniscrone, High Sheriff of County Sligo, 1914, who married, in 1907, Mary Kathleen, daughter of the 1st Baron Morris and Killanin, and had issue,

ROBERT WILLIAM MARTIN, b 1908;
Lettice Frances; Cicely Dorothea.

OWENMORE HOUSE, near Crossmolina, County Mayo, built ca 1847, comprises two storeys over a high basement.

It has a five-bay entrance front, with a single-storey Doric portico.

The other side elevation has a two-storey bowed wing of similar style and height to the main block, though set back.

When the estate was decimated by the Land Acts, about 1926, it was sold to the Knox family.

It was sold again in 1950 to Major Marcus McCausland.

First published in July, 2012.

Ely Lodge

THE MARQUESSES OF ELY WERE THE GREATEST LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY FERMANAGH, WITH 34,879 ACRES

The family of LOFTUS, or, as it was anciently spelt, Lofthouse, appears, from the archives of York Minster, to have flourished in Yorkshire as early as the reign of ALFRED THE GREAT. The same records show that Christopher Lofthouse was prior of Helagh, Yorkshire, in 1460. Before the advent of the Normans it held the lands and town of Loftus, in Yorkshire, by thanage, and after the Conquest by military tenure.

EDWARD LOFTUS, of Swineshead, Yorkshire, living about 1480, left two sons, namely,

1. ROBERT, father of ADAM LOFTUS, LORD CHANCELLOR OF IRELAND, 1619;
2. ADAM.

The younger son,

THE MOST REV ADAM LOFTUS (c1533-1605) accompanied, as private chaplain, the Viceroy, Thomas, Earl of Sussex, into Ireland, and was consecrated Lord Archbishop of Armagh, 1562-3.

In 1567, Dr Loftus was translated to the see of Dublin; and six years afterwards we find him Lord Keeper of the Great Seal.

In 1578, His Grace was constituted LORD CHANCELLOR OF IRELAND, and he continued to hold the seals until his death.

This esteemed divine having a principal share in the foundation of Trinity College, Dublin, was appointed by charter its first Provost, which office he resigned in 1594.

He married Jane, eldest daughter of Alan Purdon, of Lurgan Race, County Louth, and by her had twenty children, of whom seven died young.

The survivors were eight sons and five daughters.

The Archbishop was succeeded by his eldest son, 

SIR DUDLEY LOFTUS (1561-), of Rathfarnham, who wedded Anne, daughter of Sir Henry Bagenal, of Newry, and had, with other issue,

ADAM, 1st Viscount Lisburne;
NICHOLAS, of whose line we are about to treat;
Edward;
Samuel.

Sir Dudley's second son,

NICHOLAS LOFTUS, of Fethard (1592-1666), Joint Clerk of the Pells and of the treasury in Ireland, wedded, in 1623, Margaret, daughter and heir of Thomas Chetham, of Nuthurst, in Lancashire, and Hacketstown, County Dublin; and was succeeded by his eldest surviving son,

SIR NICHOLAS LOFTUS (1635-1708), of Fethard, MP for Wexford, 1661-6, Fethard, 1695-9, who married firstly, Susan, daughter of Thomas Adderley, of Innishannon, County Cork, by whom he one surviving daughter, Margaret, wedded to Thomas Mildmay, of Lisburn.

Sir Nicholas espoused secondly, Eleanor, third daughter of Sir Edmund Butler Bt, and had several children, of whom the sons all died issueless, when the estates descended to his brother,

HENRY LOFTUS (1636-1716), of Loftus Hall, who wedded firstly, Annie, daughter of John Gorges, of Coleraine, County Londonderry, and had a son (who died young) and three daughters.

He married secondly, Anne, daughter and heir of Henry Crewkern, of Exeter, by whom he had two sons; and was succeeded by his elder son,

NICHOLAS LOFTUS (c1687-1763), MP for Fethard, 1710-13, Clonmines, 1713-14, Wexford County, 1715-51, who was elevated to the peerage as Baron Loftus, of Loftus Hall, in 1751.

His lordship was sworn of the privy council in 1753; nominated Governor of County Wexford, and advanced to a viscountcy, in 1756, as Viscount Loftus, of Ely.

He married firstly Anne, second daughter of William, Viscount Duncannon, by whom he had issue,

NICHOLAS, his successor;
HENRY, succeeded as 4th Viscount Loftus;
Mary; Anne;
Elizabeth, mother of CHARLES TOTTENHAM.

His lordship wedded secondly, Letitia, daughter of Sir John Rowley, Knight, by whom he had no issue.

His lordship was succeeded by his elder son, 

NICHOLAS (1714-66), 2nd Viscount, who was advanced to the dignity of an earldom, in 1766, as Earl of Ely.

His lordship married, in 1736, Mary, eldest daughter and heir of Sir Gustavus Hume Bt, of Castle Hume, County Fermanagh; and dying in 1766, was succeeded by his only son, 

NICHOLAS, 2nd Earl, MP for Fethard, 1759-67, who died unmarried in 1769, when the earldom expired, but the viscountcy and barony reverted to his uncle,

THE HON HENRY LOFTUS (1709-83), as 4th Viscount; who was advanced to an earldom, as Earl of Ely, in 1771; and installed a Knight Founder of the Most Illustrious of St Patrick, in 1783.

His lordship espoused firstly, in 1745, Frances, daughter of Henry Munroe, of Roe's Hall, County Down; and secondly, in 1775, Anne, daughter of Hugh Bonfoy, but had no issue.

At his demise, therefore, in 1783, the honours all expired, while his estates devolved upon the son of his sister (the Hon Elizabeth Tottenham), his nephew,

THE RT HON CHARLES TOTTENHAM, who then assumed the surname and arms of LOFTUS, and was created, in two years afterwards, Baron Loftus, of Loftus Hall.

His lordship, Privy Counsellor, Knight of St Patrick, Joint Postmaster-General in Ireland, Governor of County Wexford, was advanced to a viscountcy, in 1789 as Viscount Loftus; and, in 1794, Earl of Ely.

He was further advanced, in 1800, to the dignity of a marquessate, as MARQUESS OF ELY.

His lordship wedded, in 1766, Jane, elder surviving daughter and co-heir of Robert Myhill, of Killarney, by whom he had two sons,

JOHN, his successor;
Robert Ponsonby (Rt Rev), father of CHARLES JOHN.

He was succeeded by his elder son,

2nd Marquess of Ely KP (The National Trust)

JOHN, 2nd Marquess (1770-1845), Knight of St Patrick, 1807, Privy Counsellor, who espoused, in 1810, Anna Maria, daughter of Sir Henry Watkin Dashwood Bt, and had issue,

JOHN HENRY, his successor;
George William;
Adam (Rev), Rector of Magheraculmoney; father of 5th and 6th Marquesses;
Augustus William Frederick Spencer;
Henry Yorke Astley;
Charlotte Elizabeth; Catherine Henrietta Mary; three other daughters.

His lordship was succeeded by his eldest son,

JOHN HENRY, 3rd Marquess (1814-57), who married, in 1844, Jane, daughter of James Joseph Hope-Vere, and had issue,

JOHN HENRY WELLINGTON GRAHAM, his successor;
Marion Jane.

His lordship was succeeded by his only son and heir,

JOHN HENRY WELLINGTON GRAHAM, 4th Marquess (1849-89), who wedded, in 1875, Caroline Anne, daughter of George Caithness, though the marriage was without issue, and the titles passed to his cousin,

JOHN HENRY, 5th Marquess (1851-1925), who espoused, in 1895, Margaret Emma, daughter of F A Clark, though the marriage was without issue, and the titles passed to his youngest brother,

GEORGE HERBERT, 6th Marquess (1854-1935);

• George Loftus, 6th Marquess (1854–1935);

• George Loftus, 7th Marquess (1903–69);

• Charles Tottenham, 8th Marquess (1913–2006);

• John Tottenham, 9th Marquess (b 1943).

• The heir presumptive is the present holder's brother, Lord Timothy Tottenham (b 1948).

• The heir presumptive's heir apparent is his son Scott Tottenham (b 1977).

The Ely Papers are deposited at PRONI.

Ely Lodge, demolished in 1870.

The Loftus family relocated to Ely Lodge from nearby Castle Hume, through the marriage of the Hume heiress to Nicholas Loftus, 1st Earl of Ely.

Work began in 1813, under the direction of the celebrated landscape gardener, John Sutherland (1745-1826), in advance of the construction of a new Georgian house by the Dublin architect, William Farrell.

Located on a ‘greenfield site’ on the north side of Ely Island (171 acres), Ely Lodge (above), consisted of a two-storey, five-bay stuccoed block with Tuscan pilasters and flanking single-storey bowed wings.

Antique print of Ely Lodge ca 1869 (Image: eBay)

It was built for John, 2nd Marquess of Ely, as a replacement for the earlier (1729) mansion that stood 1½ miles to the south on the Ross Inner peninsula.

The park extended into Rossnafarran and Drumcose on the west bank of Lower Lough Erne, with two porter’s lodges on the Enniskillen Road, both apparently by Farrell.

One was based on Blenheim’s Eagle Lodge in Oxfordshire; while the other is a Tudor-Picturesque style lodge of ca 1830, with an associated causeway bridge incorporating flood arches.

Farrell also designed a pump house; and possibly the main landing pier, now mostly high and dry; while Sutherland was probably responsible for the Garden House and the original walled garden, located in the woods on the south side of the island.

Sutherland’s landscape, essentially Reptonian in style, was considered to be ‘a perfect example of the serpentine outlines so much admired by him’.

It was later criticised by some advocates of the Picturesque, among them Edmund Murphy, for harmonizing ‘indifferently with the bold projections and deep irregular lines of the natural woods’.

In 1870, Ely Castle was blown up as part of the twenty-first birthday celebrations of the 4th Marquess, whose intention had been to build a new house.

Doubtless he had expended too much of his income on his principal seat, Loftus Hall.

However, in the 1880s the former stable range, lying on the south side of the old house site, was converted into a residence with good views of the lough.

By this stage, the Elys spent most of their time at Loftus Hall and were mainly absentee landlords in County Fermanagh.

Ely Lodge today

George, 7th Marquess of Ely, sold the property ca 1948 to Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Grosvenor DSO TD JP DL, Lord Hugh Grosvenor's younger son, who subsequently succeeded as 5th Duke of Westminster.

The 5th Duke upgraded the former stable-block into a fine residence about 1965.

The 5th Duke's mother was the Lady Mabel Crichton, of Crom Castle, indeed the Duke spent much of his childhood at Crom.

The 5th Duke's son Gerald, 6th Duke of Westminster, was born at Omagh, County Tyrone. 

The 6th Duke was at that time styled Earl Grosvenor.

Both he and his sisters spent their childhood at Ely Lodge.

Ely Lodge remained part of the Westminster Estates till about 1987, when Viola, Dowager Duchess of Westminster, Lord-lieutenant of County Fermanagh, was tragically killed in a car accident.

In 1994, Charles Plunkett, the Duchess's land agent, inherited the estate on Her Grace's death, and subsequently sold the estate.

First published in January, 2010.

Ker of Portavo

THE KERS WERE MAJOR LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY DOWN, WITH 20,544 ACRES

DAVID KER (1530-1610), a Scottish laird who settled in Ballymena, County Antrim, in 1566, fled Ayrshire following the murder of David Rizzio (private secretary to Mary, Queen of Scots).

By the 18th Century the family had prospered in the linen industry.

DAVID KER, a merchant, of Ballymena, married Jean, daughter of _______ Boyd, and had issue, eleven children, including

William, of Ballymena;
Hugh. of Dublin;
DAVID, of whom hereafter.

One of his sons,

DAVID KER (1710-70), of Cateaton Street, City of London, and Tottenham, Middlesex, a prominent merchant banker, married, in 1748, Martha, daughter of William Macpheadris (sometimes spelled Mackpheadris), and had issue,

DAVID;
Richard Gervas, MP, of REDHALL, County Antrim;
Martha.

He purchased the Portavo estate in County Down for £23,000 (equivalent to about £4 million in 2019), in 1765, for his eldest son,

DAVID KER (1751-1811), of Portavo, who purchased the MONTALTO demesne about 1800 from the Earl of Moira.

By Maddelena, his wife, daughter of Francesco Guardi, of Venice, he left a son and heir,

DAVID GUARDI KER JP DL (c1778-1844), of Portavo and Montalto, MP for Athlone, 1820-6, Downpatrick, 1835-41, who purchased, in 1844, the De Clifford estate, Downpatrick.

He married, in 1814, the Lady Selina Sarah Stewart, daughter of Robert, 1st Marquess of Londonderry, and had issue,

DAVID STEWART, his heir;
Richard John Charles Rivers, JP, DL, MP for Downpatrick;
Catherine Anne Frances; Madelina Selina.

The eldest son,

DAVID STEWART KER JP DL (1816-78), of Montalto and Portavo, MP for Downpatrick, County Down, 1852-7, High Sheriff of County Down, 1852, Antrim, 1857, wedded, in 1842,  Anna Dorothea, daughter of Hans, 3rd Baron Dufferin, and had, with other issue,

ALFRED DAVID, his heir;
Charles;
RICHARD WILLIAM BLACKWOOD, succeeded his brother;
Henry;
Edward;
Robert;
David;
Hamilton Chichester (Rev);
Selina Frances Imogene; Helen; Violet.

He espoused secondly, in 1869, Caroline Hellena, eldest daughter of Parsons Persse, of Castle Turven, County Galway.

Mr Ker was succeeded by his eldest son,

ALFRED DAVID KER JP (1843-77), of Montalto and Portavo. High Sheriff of County Down, 1877, who married, in 1871, Eva Frances Caroline, elder daughter of Thomas, 1st Baron Deramore, by his wife, the Hon Caroline Elizabeth Anne, second daughter and co-heir of George, 4th Baron Dynevor, and had issue,

Sybil Anna; Eva Winifred Selina; Kathleen Elianore Mary; Eva Cecil Violet.

Mr Ker died without male issue, and was succeeded by his brother,

RICHARD WILLIAM BLACKWOOD KER JP DL (1850-1942), of Montalto and Portavo, High Sheriff of County Down, 1880, who wedded, in 1876, Edith Louisa, daughter of William George Rose, of Wolston Heath, Warwickshire, and had issue,

MAJOR DAVID ALFRED WILLIAM KER OBE (1878-1954), of Portavo, High Sheriff of County Down, 1939, who wedded Anna, eldest daughter of John Pollock, DL, of Mountainstown, County Meath, and had issue,

DAVID JOHN RICHARD;
Rosemary.

The son and heir,

CAPTAIN DAVID JOHN RICHARD KER, Coldstream Guards, High Sheriff of County Down, 1952, wedded, in 1948, Virginia Mary Eloise, daughter of the Hon James Knyvett Estcourt Howard, and had issue,

DAVID PETER JAMES, b 1951;
Caroline Moira; Camilla Rosanna Glan.

Ker armorial bearings in Down Cathedral, Downpatrick

THE family of KER (pronounced Carr), of Portavo and Montalto, of whom David Ker (1530-1610) settled at Ballymena, County Antrim in the second half of the 16th Century having fled Scotland after the murder of David Rizzio (private secretary to Mary Queen of Scots) in 1566.

By the 18th Century the family had prospered in the linen industry, and David Ker (1710-1770) a banker and merchant purchased Portavo in County Down for his eldest son, David (1751-1811).

Portavo House (Image: Irish Architectural Archive)

This David Ker was a voracious purchaser of land and by 1800 had acquired a number of estates culminating in the purchase of Montalto from the Earl of Moira in 1800.

He and his brother had taken the Grand Tour together in 1771, where David eloped with a Venetian singer by the name of Madelina Guardi, reputedly the daughter of Venetian painter Francesco Guardi.

Following the death of his young wife, David Ker returned to Italy with his three daughters, leaving his son to be educated at Eton.

In Italy he began to collect in the best traditions of the Grand Tour, purchasing a Raphael portrait and sending ‘three cases’ of purchases from Rome to Ulster, and later another ‘containing a Scagliola table’ in 1794.

This visit, which lasted two years, culminated in David Ker sitting for Angelica Kauffman and, at her suggestion, his daughters sat for Francis Xavier Fabre.

His son, David Guardi Ker, married Lady Selina Stewart, fourth daughter of the 1st Marquess of Londonderry.

This David Ker devoted his life to the collection of books and prints.

He also served as MP for Athlone and later Downpatrick, the seat he purchased from Lord de Clifford in 1844.

His eldest son, David Stewart Ker (1816-1878) started life as one of the richest commoners in Ireland.

He married Anna Dorothea Blackwood, daughter of the 3rd Baron Dufferin and Claneboye, of Clandeboye, County Down.

However, by the time of his death in 1878, he was declared bankrupt and considered ‘quite mad’.

He began the first dispersal of the family collections assembled by his father, grandfather and great-uncle, following the disastrous fire at Portavo in 1844.

First sold were books and prints at Christie’s in a series of seven day sales in 1847, 1848 and 1849, followed by endless dispersals of renowned pictures.

His son Alfred David Ker (1843-1877) did his best, in his short tenure, to bring some order to the family finances, but with his death at the young age of 34, the estates and possessions devolved to Richard Blackwood Ker (1850-1943), his brother, who married Edith Rose of Wolston Grange, Warwickshire.

Dick Ker’s greatest love next to women was horses, and being totally untrained in the management of estates was, like his father, eventually declared bankrupt.

Montalto was then sold in 1912 to the Earl of Clanwilliam, and the family returned to Portavo, where he built a ‘shooting box’ from the ruins of the mansion which had been destroyed by fire in 1844.

Dick Ker was succeeded by David Alfred Ker (1878-1954) who spent most of his life in minority controlled by Trustees.

His son, David Richard (Dick) Ker (1920-1997) finally sold Portavo in 1980, and it is his son David (born 1951) who proceeded to make dispersals from the Ker Collection.

David Ker had an interest in works of art and collecting from an early age, and after a career in property he started the David Ker gallery in 1980; and in 1993 formed Simon C Dickinson Ltd with Simon Dickinson.

*****

The Ker Papers contain a detailed account of the family:-

David Ker, a merchant of Ballymena, Co. Antrim, who had taken a lease of the first fall on Sir Robert Adair's mill-race at Ballymena, c.1710. He married Jean Boyd of Clontfinnan near Clough, Co. Antrim, and had a family of eleven children, of whom three were prominent merchants: William in Ballymena, Hugh in Dublin, and David in London. David Ker settled in London and traded at Cateaton Street, first as Ker & Elmes, then after 1755 as Ker, Elmes & Priest, and later after 1758 as David Ker & Co.

In 1765 he purchased the Portavo estate near Groomsport, in the Ards. He died in 1770 and was succeeded by his son, David, during whose lifetime the firm traded as Ker, Pope & Dyson and later as Ker, Brookland & Priest. In 1785 he purchased the Clough and Magheraknock estates in Co. Down from Arthur Annesley and in 1800 that of Montalto at Ballynahinch, Co. Down, from the 2nd Earl of Moira.

His brother, Richard Gervas Ker, High Sheriff of Co. Antrim in 1791, bought the Red Hall estate at Ballycarry, Co. Antrim, in 1780 from Sir Archibald Edmonstone Bt. David Ker died in 1811, and was succeeded by his son David, who married, in 1814, the daughter 1st Marquess of Londonderry and in 1834 bought the Southwell estate at Downpatrick, Co. Down, from the representatives of Lord de Clifford.

First published in March, 2012.