Chapel of the Resurrection

The Chapel, with Belfast Castle in the background (picture post card)

THE CHAPEL OF THE RESURRECTION, 21, Innisfayle Park, Belfast, was constructed between 1865-69 in the Gothic-Revival style as a mortuary chapel for the 3rd Marquess of Donegall.

This charming little chapel predates Belfast Castle, which was constructed in 1868-70.

The late Sir Charles Brett remarked that the 3rd Marquess found his previous dwelling of Ormeau House an ‘ill-constructed residence’, and Lord Donegall himself wrote that his estate was "under a disadvantage for want of a more suitable family residence.’

Despite being in constant debt, Lord Donegall decided to construct a new mansion house on lands he still owned in the deer park to the north of Belfast.

The Donegall family chapel, designed by Lanyon, Lynn & Lanyon, was built as a mortuary chapel that served as a memorial to the 3rd Marquess's son Frederick Richard, Earl of Belfast, who had died prematurely in 1853.

The chapel was not only a memorial to their son, but was also to be used as a burial place for members of the Chichester family (who had heretofore been interred at Carrickfergus).

The Chapel of the Resurrection was consecrated on the 20th December, 1869, by the Rt Rev Dr Robert Knox, Lord Bishop of Down, Connor and Dromore.

The Natural Stone Database records that the chapel was constructed with locally-quarried Scrabo sandstone, with Portland limestone used as a secondary material.

The interior of the chapel originally possessed a white marble monument to Lord Belfast which depicted him on his deathbed (sculpted by Patrick McDowell).

Following the completion of the site, the remains of Lord Belfast were moved to the Chapel of the Resurrection and interred in its vault.

It is said that the chapel was converted into a private chapel for the use of the owners and occupants of the Castle in 1891.

The conversion of the building included the decoration of the interior and the addition of an altar, reading-desk, organ and stained-glass windows.

The refurbishment of the interior was carried out by Cox & Sons, London, and Buckley's of Youghal, County Cork.

The church organ was built by Wordsworth of Leeds.

Following the death of the 3rd Marquess in 1883, Belfast Castle and its estate passed to his son-in-law, Anthony Ashley-Cooper (styled Lord Ashley), later 8th Earl of Shaftesbury, who had married the Lady Harriet Chichester in 1857.

The Shaftesbury family continued to own Belfast Castle until 1934, when the 9th Earl of Shaftesbury granted the building and the 200 acre estate to Belfast Corporation.

The Shaftesburys are thought to have continued using the chapel for private and semi-private services thereafter, even though they had no need of it, as they could worship in an Oratory located inside the Castle itself; but during the 1st World War services in the chapel were discontinued, except very occasionally.

Having been utilised as a private dwelling for only 65 years, Belfast Castle was granted to Belfast Corporation on 1st February 1935.

Lord Shaftesbury retained the chapel until 1938, when it was transferred to the Church of Ireland.

Brian Barton remarks that the chapel effectively became the responsibility of St Peter’s parish church from that year.

The first public service was held at the Chapel of the Resurrection on the 18th September, 1938.

The building suffered minor damage during the Belfast Blitz, and repairs were subsequently carried out to the damaged roof and windows.

The chapel continued to be used regularly for services between 1938 and the 1960s; due to the decline in church attendance, however, the change in the make-up of the local population and the vandalism of the building (following the development of post-war housing around it in the 1950s and 1960s), regular services were abandoned in 1965.

The last service was held on the 27th august, 1972.

(Timothy Ferres, 2014)

The congregation of St Peter’s endeavoured to maintain the chapel, but by 1974 recurrent acts of vandalism had forced the Select Vestry to remove all furnishings from the building and to sell the organ to a rural church.

By the 1980s the church had fallen into an advanced state of disrepair and was curtailed behind a barbed-wire fence.

In 1982 the vaults beneath the chapel were vandalised and the remaining tombs (the remains of the Chichester family) desecrated by vandals.

Sadly the chapel has continued to lie vacant since the 1970s.

In 2007-08 holding repairs were carried out to the chapel, which included repairs to its roof, the restoration of its roof trusses and the cleaning of its stonework.

The restoration aimed to make the chapel safe and restrict further acts of vandalism; all openings and doors were blocked up.

Some of the original furnishings of the chapel survive at St Peter’s parish church, Antrim Road, Belfast.

In a side chapel of St Peter's (opened in 2000; named the Chapel of the Resurrection) are a number of artefacts from the derelict chapel, including its reredos, the altar, a number of statues, the credence table and the original lectern.

(Timothy Ferres, 2014)

The chapel has a heavily-pitched, natural slate roof, with masonry cross finial to gabled façade and metal cross finial to apse.

Rock-faced masonry walls have cut-stone dressings, including string-courses and stepped buttresses.

Pointed arch window openings to nave have tracery, forming a bipartite arrangement.

There is a rose window at the gabled façade, and trefoil-arch openings to belfry.

(Timothy Ferres, 2014)

A pointed arched door opening is set within a cusped and sprocketed, gabled surround.

The chapel's interior was of great beauty and charm.

Two effigies or statues of Lord Belfast, one of which was a life-size representation in pure white marble of him on his death-bed, his mother holding his right hand; the other, a plaster statue of the young nobleman.

Both are now in Belfast City Hall.

First published in February, 2014.  See the Mausolea & Monuments Trust.

Strand Hotel Invoice

Click to enlarge

I found an invoice among several documents in a drawer recently at home.

It is dated the 28th December, 1958 ~ one year before I was born.

The Strand Hotel, Portstewart, County Londonderry, was located at the end of the road where the resort's famous strand beach is.

It was established in 1932.

When did the hotel close its doors for the last time?

Strand Hotel: prospect from the golf links

The Director in 1958 was Mrs A L S McGrath.

Golf, tennis and fishing were as popular as they remain today.

Notably the invoice contains columns for:-

• Servants' Board
• Morning Tea
• Baths
• Fires
• High Tea
• Supper
• Phone & [Tele]grams

1st Marquess of Bute

THE MARQUESSES OF BUTE WERE THE SECOND LARGEST LANDOWNERS IN AYRSHIRE, WITH 43,734 ACRES

This noble family claims direct descent from the royal and unfortunate house of STUART. JOHN STEWART, the founder of this family, was a son of ROBERT II, King of Scots. There is a tradition that his mother's name was Leitch.

About 1385, the King put together the seven islands of Bute, Arran, Great and Little Cumbrae, Holy Isle, Pladda, and Inchmarnock, into a county, and conferred the office of hereditary sheriff thereof on John Stewart his son, with a considerable grant of land. 

This grant was subsequently confirmed by charter of ROBERT III, dated 1400.

This John Stewart wedded Jean, daughter of Sir John Sempill, of Eliotstoun, and had issue,

JAMES, his heir;

William;

Robert;

John;

Andrew.

The eldest son,

JAMES STEWART, who succeeded his father as Sheriff of Bute between 1445 and 1449. He died between 1454 and 1464.

His line appears to have died with him, for he was succeeded by his brother,

WILLIAM STEWART, who received a charter of the lands of Fennok from his parents, 1444-45.

He was Keeper of the castle of Brodick in Arran, 1444-53; married Margaret Stewart.

William died ca 1465, and left three sons,

JAMES;

William;

Alexander.

The eldest son,

JAMES STEWART, Sheriff of Bute, succeeded to that office probably in 1468; and died in 1477, leaving issue,

JAMES;

NINIAN, successor to his brother;

James;

Robert;

Janet.

The eldest son,

JAMES STEWART, Sheriff of Bute, succeeded in 1477, while still a minor.

He  died about 1488, and was succeeded by his brother,

NINIAN STEWART, having succeeded his father in the sheriffdom of Bute, obtained, in 1498, a new grant of the hereditary custody of Rothesay Castle, with a salary of eighty marks yearly out of the Lordship of Bute.

He died in 1539, and was succeeded by his son,

JAMES STEWART, who was installed in his estate and heritable constabulary of Rothesay Castle.

The family favoured the French spelling of the name as Stuart, which was introduced by Mary, Queen of Scots, and is still used today.

The grandson of this James,

SIR JAMES STUART, Knight, of Bute, married Elizabeth, daughter and co-heir of Robert Hepburn, of Foord, by whom he acquired the estate of Foord, with several other lands in Haddingtonshire, and was succeeded by his son,

SIR JAMES STUART, of Bute, who was created a baronet in 1627; and adhering to the royal cause during the civil wars, suffered considerably both by fines and sequestration.

Sir James wedded Grizel, daughter of Sir Dugald Campbell, of Auchinbreck, and had, with other issue, his eldest son and successor,

SIR DUGALD STUART, 2nd Baronet (1630-70), who married, in 1658, Elizabeth, daughter John Ruthven, of Dunglass, and granddaughter, maternally, of Alexander, 1st Earl of Leven, by whom he had (besides daughters), two sons, of whom the elder,

THE RT HON SIR JAMES STUART, 3rd Baronet (1661-1710), who, being of the privy council to ANNE, and one of the commissioners appointed to treat of a union with England, in 1702, which did not then take effect, was elevated to the peerage, in the following year, in the dignities of Earl of Bute, Viscount Kingarth, and Lord Mount Stuart, Cumra, and Inchmarnock, to himself and his heirs male whatever.

In 1706, his lordship opposed the union with all his might; and when he discovered that a majority of parliament was in favour of the measure, withdrew from the house, and retired to his country seat.

His lordship was succeeded by the only son of his first marriage,

JAMES, 2nd Earl; who, after the demise of his maternal uncle, and much litigation, succeeded to the estate of Rosehaugh.

His lordship espoused Anne, daughter of Archibald, 1st Duke of Argyll; and dying in 1723, this nobleman was succeeded by his elder son,

JOHN, 3rd Earl (1713-92), KG, who married Mary, only daughter of Edward Wortley-Montagu, of Wortley, Yorkshire, and great-granddaughter of Edward, 1st Earl of Sandwich.

Her ladyship was created, in 1761, suo jure Baroness Mount Stuart, with remainder to her male issue by the Earl of Bute.

His lordship was a minister of the crown from 1737, when he was made a lord of the police, until his resignation of the high office of 1st Lord of the Treasury, in 1763.

He died in 1792, and was succeeded by his eldest son,

JOHN, 4th Earl (1744-1814), who had succeeded upon the demise of his mother, in 1794, to the barony of Mount Stuart, having been previously (1776) created Baron Cardiff, of Cardiff Castle.

His lordship was advanced, in 1796, to the dignities of Viscount Mountjoy, in the Isle of Wight; Earl of Windsor, and MARQUESS OF BUTE.

He espoused firstly, in 1766, Charlotte Jane Hickman-Windsor, eldest daughter and co-heir of Herbert, 2nd and last Viscount Windsor, of the Kingdom of Ireland.

• John Stuart, 1st Marquess (1744–1814);
• John Crichton-Stuart, 2nd Marquess (1793–1848);
• John Patrick Crichton-Stuart, 3rd Marquess (1847–1900);
• John Crichton-Stuart, 4th Marquess (1881–1947);
• John Crichton-Stuart, 5th Marquess (1907–56);
• John Crichton-Stuart, 6th Marquess (1933–93);
• John Colum Crichton-Stuart, 7th Marquess (b 1958).

The heir apparent is the present holder's son, John Bryson Crichton-Stuart, styled Earl of Dumfries.

*****

Earldom of Dumfries

(NOW UNITED WITH THE MARQUESSATE OF BUTE)

SIR ROBERT CRICHTON, of Sanquhar, Dumfriesshire, probably descended from a son of Alexander Crichton, of Crichton, Edinburgh, 1296, signalized himself at Lochmaben, against the Duke of Albany and the Earl of Douglas, when they made an incursion into Scotland, in 1484.

This Sir Robert was created a peer of parliament, in 1488, by the title of Lord Crichton of Sanquhar.

From his lordship descended lineally

WILLIAM, 7th Lord, who was advanced to a viscountcy, in 1622, as Viscount of Ayr, and Lord Sanquhar; and further advanced, 1633, to the dignity of an earldom, as EARL OF DUMFRIES.

DUMFRIES HOUSE, near Cumnock, Ayrshire, was built in 1760 for William Crichton-Dalrymple, 5th Earl of Dumfries.

The 5th Earl's antecedent, William Crichton, 7th Lord Crichton of Sanquhar and 1st Earl of Dumfries, purchased the estate in 1635 from the Crawford family.

The 5th Earl died died eight years after the House had been completed, when the estates passed to his nephew, Patrick McDouall (1726-1803), 6th Earl.

The 6th Earl's only daughter and heir, Lady Elizabeth McDouall-Crichton, wedded John, Lord Mount Stuart, eldest son of John 1st Marquess of Bute.

John, 2nd Marquess of Bute, was the eldest son of this marriage, which combined the estates and titles of the Crichtons and Stuarts.

Dumfries House, Palladian in style, is noted as being one of the few such houses with much of its original 18th-century furniture still present, including specially commissioned Thomas Chippendale pieces.

The house and estate is now owned in charitable trust by the The Great Steward of Scotland's Dumfries House Trust, who maintain it as a visitor attraction and hospitality and wedding venue.

Both the House and the gardens are listed as significant aspects of Scottish heritage.

The estate and an earlier house was originally called Leifnorris, owned by the Crawfords of Loudoun.

The present house was built in the 1750s for William Dalrymple, 5th Earl of Dumfries, by John and Robert Adam.

Having been inherited by the 2nd Marquess of Bute in 1814, it remained in his family until 7th Marquess decided to sell it due to the cost of upkeep.

Due to its significance and the risk of the furniture collection being distributed and auctioned, after three years of uncertainty, in 2007 the estate and its entire contents was purchased for £45m for the country by a consortium headed by His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales, Duke of Rothesay, including a £20m loan from the Prince's charitable trust.

The intention was to renovate the estate to become self-sufficient, both to preserve it and regenerate the local economy.

As well as donors and sponsorship, funding is also intended to come from constructing the nearby housing development of Knockroon, a planned community along the lines of the Prince's similar venture, Poundbury in Dorset.

The house duly re-opened in 2008, equipped for public tours.

Since then various other parts of the estate have been re-opened for various uses, to provide both education and employment, as well as funding the trust's running costs.

The Marquesses of Bute owned a further 29,279 acres of land in Bute, 21,402 acres in Glamorganshire, and 20,157 acres in Wigtownshire.

Seat ~ Mount Stuart, Isle of Bute.

Former seats ~ Luton Hoo, Bedfordshire; Cardiff Castle, Glamorganshire; Dumfries House, Ayrshire.

First published in April, 2014. 

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.

Moore Hall

THE MOORES OF MOORE HALL OWNED 12,371 ACRES OF LAND IN COUNTY MAYO

The family of MOORE claimed descent from THE RT HON SIR THOMAS MORE, statesman and Lord Chancellor to HENRY VIII.

THOMAS MORE, born at Chilston, near Madley, in Herefordshire, married Mary, daughter of John ApAdam, of Flint, and had a son,

GEORGE MOORE, who settled at Ballina, County Mayo, Vice-Admiral of Connaught during the reign of WILLIAM III.

He wedded Catherine, daughter of Robert Maxwell, of Castle Tealing, Scotland, by Edith his wife, daughter of Sir John Dunbar, and was father of

GEORGE MOORE, of Ashbrook, County Mayo, living in 1717, who married Sarah, daughter of the Rev John Price, of Foxford, County Mayo, by his wife, Edith Machen, of the city of Gloucester, and by her had two sons,

George, of Cloongee;

JOHN, of whom we treat.

The younger son,

JOHN MOORE, of Ashbrook, County Mayo, born ca 1700, espoused Jane, daughter of Edmund Athy, and had issue,

Robert, dsp 1783;

GEORGE, of whom presently;

Edmund, of Moorbrook;

Sarah; Jane.

His second son,

GEORGE MOORE (1729-99), of Moore Hall, Ashbrook, and Alicante, Spain, married, ca 1765, Catherine, daughter of Dominick de Killikelly, of Lydacan Castle, County Galway, and had issue,

John, 1763-99;

GEORGE, of whom hereafter;

Thomas;

Peter.

The second son,

GEORGE MOORE (1770-1840), of Moore Hall, wedded, in 1807, Louisa, daughter of the Hon John Browne, sixth son of John, 1st Earl of Altamont, and had issue,

GEORGE HENRY, his heir;

John;

Arthur Augustus.

The eldest son,

GEORGE HENRY MOORE JP DL (1810-70), MP for County Mayo, 1847-57, 1868-70, High Sheriff of County Mayo, 1867, espoused, in 1851, Mary, eldest daughter of Maurice Blake, of Ballinafad, County Mayo, and had issue,

GEORGE AUGUSTUS, his heir;

Maurice George, CB, Colonel, Connaught Rangers;

Augustus George Martin;

Henry Julian;

Nina Mary Louisa.

He was succeeded by his eldest son,

GEORGE AUGUSTUS MOORE (1852-1933), of Moore Hall and Ebury Street, London, High Sheriff of County Mayo, 1905, who died unmarried.

George Henry Moore (Image: Wikipedia)

THE MOORES had originally been an English Protestant settler family.

The father of George Moore (1729-99), John Moore, converted to catholicism when he married Jane Lynch Athy from one of the principal Catholic families in County Galway.

Using her connections among the "Wild Geese," Irish Jacobite exiles in Spain, Jane supported her son in getting established in the wine import business in Alicante, Spain.

He subsequently changed his religion, and married, in I765, Katherine de Kilikelly, an Irish Catholic raised in Spain.

George made his fortune and returned to erect Moore Hall in 1792, above the shore of Lough Carra.

"He thus solidified the shift of the family from being New English settlers of Protestant faith to their nineteenth-century identity as Irish Catholic landlords who had never been humbled by the "Penal Laws" — that set of regulations aimed at limiting the property and power of Irish Catholics, and put in force after William of Orange routed James II at the Battle of the Boyne in 1688."

"The change in the confessional identity of the Moore family, like the circumstances of G H Moore's death, is important to the story of George Moore. These matters would one day be the occasion of a quarrel about family history that broke up the surviving Moore brothers, saw Moore Hall become vacant, and scattered the last generation of Moores abroad."

"Of the four sons of George Moore of Alicante, the eldest was John Moore (1763-99), a scapegrace trained in Paris and London for the law, and for a few days in 1798 the first President of the Republic of Connaught."

"Aided by French invaders at Killala, John Moore participated in the surprise victory of General Humbert over a British garrison at Castlebar on 27 August 1798, assumed nominal leadership of the rebels, then got captured after the rout of the small Irish forces."

"President Moore died while under house arrest in a Waterford tavern. The second son of Moore of Alicante was a mild-tempered man, also named George Moore. A gentleman scholar rarely out of his library, he wrote histories of the English and French revolution, something in the manner of Gibbon."

"Moore the historian had three sons by Louisa Browne, the first being George Henry Moore, the only one of the three not to die by a fall from a horse."

Moore Hall (Image: Robert French)

MOORE HALL, near Ballyglass, County Mayo, is a Georgian mansion built between 1792-6 by George Moore.

It comprises three storeys over a basement, with an entrance front of two bays on either side of a centre breakfront; including a triple window, and fluted pilasters on console brackets.

There is a Venetian window above the entrance doorway, beneath a single-storey Doric portico.

The house was burnt by the IRA in 1923, and is now a ruinous shell.

Colonel Maurice Moore, CB, had intended to rebuild the house, albeit on a smaller scale.

Moore Hall (Image: Comhar - Own work, Public Domain,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11252115

Colonel Moore's elder brother, George Augustus Moore, died in 1933, leaving  an estate valued at £70,000 (about £5.1 million in 2021).

His ashes were buried on Castle Island in Lough Carra.

First published in 2021.

The Stewart Baronets

THE STEWART BARONETS WERE MAJOR LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY TYRONE, WITH 27,905 ACRES

CAPTAIN ANDREW STEWART accompanied Andrew Stuart, 3rd Lord Ochiltree and 1st Baron Castle Stewart, from Scotland, and settled at Gortigal, County Tyrone ca 1620.

His younger brother, James, of Ballymenagh, County Tyrone, was ancestor of the Stewarts of Killymoon. 

By Sarah, his wife, to whom letters of administration were granted, 1658, he had issue,

Robert;

HUGH, of whom presently;

Andrew;

James, a naval officer, slain in battle, m a daughter of Adm Sir C Shovel.

Captain Stewart, who had been actively engaged against the rebels, died before 1658.

His second son,

HUGH STEWART, of Gortigal, wedded Margaret, daughter of Thomas Morris, of Mountjoy Castle, and had four sons, of whom the youngest,

THE REV HUGH STEWART (1711-1800), Rector of Termon, County Tyrone, wedded, in 1755, Sarah, sister and co-heir of Sir Henry Hamilton Bt, of Castle Conyngham, County Donegal, and daughter of the Venerable Andrew Hamilton DD, Archdeacon of Raphoe, and Sarah his wife, daughter and heiress of Henry Conyngham, of Castle Conyngham), and had issue,

JOHN, his heir;
Andrew, East India Company;
Henry (Rev), Rector of Loughgilly, Co Armagh;
Ann; Sarah; Amelia.

The Rev Hugh Stewart died at Bath, and was succeeded by his eldest son,

THE RT HON JOHN STEWART (1757-1825), of Athenree, who having attained eminence at the Bar, was appointed attorney-general for Ireland in 1799, and sworn of the privy council of that kingdom.

Mr Stewart was subsequently MP for Augher, 1794-7, Bangor, 1797-1800. and Tyrone, 1802-6, and 1812-25.

He was created a baronet in 1803, designated of Athenree, County Tyrone.

Sir John espoused Mary, daughter of Mervyn Archdale, of Castle Archdale, and had issue,

HUGH, his successor;
Mervyn;
Barbara; Mary; Phœbe Julia.

He was succeeded by his elder son,

SIR HUGH STEWART, 2nd Baronet (1792-1854), MP for Tyrone, 1830-35, who wedded firstly, in 1826, Julia, daughter of Marcus Gage, and had issue,

JOHN MARCUS, his successor;
Julia.

He wedded secondly, in 1837, Elizabeth, daughter of the Rev Henry Lucas St George, and had further issue,

Hugh;
Henry Lucas St George;
Elizabeth; Mary; another daughter.

Sir Hugh was succeeded by his eldest son,

SIR JOHN MARCUS STEWART, 3rd Baronet (1830-1905), DL, High Sheriff of County Tyrone, 1858, who married, in 1856, Annie Coote, daughter of George Powell Houghton, and had issue,

Albert Fortescue, d 1925;
HUGH HOUGHTON, his successor;
GEORGE POWELL, successor to his brother;
John Marcus;
Charles Gage;
Cosmo Gordon;
Julian Leslie (Rev);
Annie Coote Houghton; Mary; Madeleine Delamont; two other offspring.

Sir John was succeeded by his eldest surviving son,

SIR HUGH HOUGHTON STEWART, 4th Baronet (1858-1942), JP DL, Brigadier-General in the army, High Sheriff of County Tyrone, 1903, who married twice, though the marriage was without issue.

Sir Hugh was succeeded by his brother,

SIR GEORGE POWELL STEWART, 5th Baronet (1861-1945), Lieutenant-Colonel, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, who wedded, in 1895, Florence Maria Georgina, daughter of Colonel Sir James Godfray, and had issue,

John Houghton (1895-1915) killed in action;
HUGH CHARLIE GORFRAY, his successor;
Mary.

Sir George was succeeded by his surviving son,

SIR HUGH CHARLIE GODRAY STEWART, 6th Baronet (1897-1994), DL, of Loughmacrory Lodge, High Sheriff of County Tyrone, 1955, who espoused firstly, in 1929, Rosemary Elinor Dorothy, daughter of George Peacocke, and had issue,

DAVID JOHN CHRISTOPHER, his successor;
Elinor Godfray.

Click to enlarge

He married secondly, in 1948, Diana Margaret, daughter of James Edmund Hibbert, and had further issue,

Jane Diana;
Hugh Nicholas (Nick).

Sir Hugh was succeeded by his eldest son,

SIR DAVID JOHN CHRISTOPHER STEWART, 7th and present Baronet (1935-), who lives in Somerset.

Nick Stewart, whose half-brother is the present baronet, has kindly sent me two old photographs of Ballygawley House taken by his father in the winter of 1914.

At that time the demesne was known as Greenhill.

BALLYGAWLEY HOUSE, near Ballygawley, County Tyrone, was set in its own parkland, was a Classical mansion of two storeys, with a two-storey portico supported by two giant Doric columns and a shallow dome.

It was built for the 2nd Baronet between 1825 and 1833, to the design of John Hargrave.

Seemingly, the mansion suffered an accidental fire during the 1920s and the Stewart family never returned to it. 

First published in December, 2010. 

Lizard Manor

THE WORSHIPFUL COMPANY OF IRONMONGERS OWNED 12,714 ACRES OF LAND IN COUNTY LONDONDERRY

I VISITED LIZARD MANOR, NEAR AGHADOWEY, COUNTY LONDONDERRY, IN FEBRUARY, 2012. THE HOUSE STANDS ON A HILL AND A COBBLED DRIVE WINDS UP TO IT.

The manor of Lizard was established by the Honourable The Irish Society in 1618, and a conveyance of this manor to the Ironmongers' Company from the Society was executed in November of the same year. By this deed, the Society did "fully, clearly, and absolutely grant" the Manor of Lizard, and all the rents, advowsons [sic], tithes, and all other profits whatsoever, except timber, &c., at the yearly rent of £11. 6s. 8d., to the Ironmongers' Company, their successors and assigns for ever, to the only use and behoof [sic] of the said Company. 

Towards the end of 1614, GEORGE CANNING, a native of Barton in Warwickshire, was appointed agent by the Company and charged with building a bawn and castle at Agivey. 

A lease was granted to George Canning in 1617 for 41 years [no fine; annual rent, £120]. 

In 1630, Paul Canning, a member of the Ironmongers' Company and their agent in Ireland, sold his estate in England, and spent it in planting and stocking the Company's estate, and also at his own charge built a church.

The charter to the Irish Society granted by JAMES I was revoked in the reign of CHARLES I, by decree of the Star Chamber, in Hilary Term, 1638, and all the estates were escheated to the Crown.

In 1662, in the reign of CHARLES II, letters patent were issued, containing, with but little alteration, all the clauses of the charter of JAMES I.

The renewed grant from the Society to the Ironmongers' Company of the Manor of Lizard, dated 1663, recites, that

The King takes into consideration the vast sums of money the Society and the several Companies of London had laid out and disbursed in their building and planting.

In 1658, Paul Canning acquired a new lease [fine, £500; annual rent, £270].

This lease was assigned to another George Canning, whose son, George, obtained a new lease in 1705 for 21 years [fine, £1,900; annual rent, £250]. 

Stratford Canning, a son of George, failed to renew this lease and the estate was leased to Messrs Leckey, Macky, Cunningham and Craighead, 1726, for 41 years. 

When the lease expired in 1767 it was auctioned, and after William Alexander failed to pay with a fine of £21,000, the estate was leased to a Mr Dupree from London, for 61 years and three lives [fine, £21,000; annual rent, £600]. 

Dupree never visited the estate and his son sold the lease in 1813 to the Beresford and Hill families, who retained the estate until the death, in 1840, of the Most Rev Nathaniel Alexander [Bishop of Meath], the last of the three lives in the lease. 

LIZARD MANOR, near Aghadowey, is a two-storey, mid-Victorian house built ca 1861.

Henry Anderson, the local agent to the Worshipful Company of Ironmongers, was the first occupant.

In 1861, offices were completed. These offices (which may have included the two-storey, red brick stable block to the west of the dwelling) were completed by 1864.

The servant’s block, which abuts the northern return of Lizard Manor, was utilised as a dwelling by the estate steward.

Henry Anderson continued to reside at Lizard Manor until his death in the 1870s.

In 1874, the property was acquired by the Stronge family of Tynan Abbey, County Armagh, who continued to hold Lizard Manor until the 1950s.

SIR CHARLES STRONGE, 7th Baronet (1862-1939), lived at Lizard Manor.

After 1889, the Worshipful Company of Ironmongers began to sell portions of its estate; and in 1891 the Stronge family purchased Lizard Manor and its associated lands from the company.

The Stronges employed a large number of domestic servants, cooks and maids to manage the estate.

Lizard Manor was described at that time as

"a first class dwelling that consisted of 22 rooms and possessed a large number of outbuildings, including two stables and two coach houses, five cow houses, a boiling house and a barn."

The layout of Lizard Manor has not been altered since 1904, although some of the original minor outbuildings have been demolished in the intervening years.

Sir Charles Stronge had taken over possession of Lizard Manor from his father in 1897, although Edmond Stronge continued to reside at Rusky until his death about 1910.

Sir Charles Stronge remained at the site until his own death in 1939.

Lizard Manor remained in his family until coming into the possession of the Rt Hon Phelim O’Neill (later 2nd Baron Rathcavan) in 1953; and who resided there till 1978, when he moved to County Mayo.

*****

Lizard Manor dates from ca 1861; however, due to its association with the Worshipful Company of Ironmongers, the origins of the Victorian manor stretch back to the Plantation of Ulster in the 17th Century.

The Worshipful Company of Ironmongers was granted lands in the parish of Aghadowey.

In 1614, George Canning, the first agent of the company in Ulster, constructed a bawn and castle in the parish.

The ‘Manor of Lizard’ was established by the company in 1618, comprising lands which amounted to a total of 38,470 acres.

The title of the manor was derived from the Company’s armorial bearings, which included lizards.

The Ironmongers, having leased out their land to their agent for almost two centuries, took over control of the Manor of Lizard ca 1840 and carried out a survey of all its properties and land.

With the completion of the survey the company carried out a number of improvements to their lands, which included the construction of a permanent residence for their agent in the townland of Rusky.

Lizard Manor continues to be utilised as a private dwelling and has undergone few alterations over the past 150 years, retaining much of its original mid-Victorian character.

The demolition or dilapidation of the associated outbuildings has been the only notable alteration to have occurred to the original property.

The house comprises two storeys, with a five-bay front, centre break-front with two narrow windows above; plain projecting porch below; a three-sided bow in side elevation; eaved roof on a plain cornice.

Many trees surround the grassed area near the house, which is on a hill above the Aghadowey River.

The Company’s arms comprise lizards, hence the name.

There is a maintained ornamental garden, enclosed by a beech hedge, near the west side of the house.

A free-standing glasshouse has gone. An orchard to the north of the house is backed by a walled garden, which is of brick.

Tennis Court in 2012

The glasshouses, on the north wall of the walled garden, are ruinous and uncultivated.

First published in March, 2012.