Favour Royal

THE MOUTRAYS OWNED 6,554 ACRES OF LAND IN COUNTY TYRONE 

ROBERT MOUTRAY, of Roscobie, Fife, 9th Laird of Seafield (descended from Robert Multrare, who had a Royal Charter, 1443, confirming to him the lands of Seafield and Markinch), married Anne, only daughter of Sir James Erskine, of Favour Royal, County Tyrone (to whom that estate was granted by JAMES I), grandson of John Erskine, Earl of Mar, and had a son,

JOHN MOUTRAY, of Aghamoyles, alias Favour Royal, County Tyrone, who wedded his cousin Anne, daughter of the Rev Archibald Erskine (son of Sir James Erskine), through whom the Moutray family acquired Favour Royal, and had a son,

JAMES MOUTRAY (c1661-1719), of Favour Royal, High Sheriff of County Tyrone, 1682, MP for Augher, 1692-3, 1703-13, who espoused Deborah, daughter of Henry Mervyn MP, of Trillick, son of Sir Audley Mervyn MP, Speaker of the Irish House of Commons, and had issue,

JAMES, his heir;
Anketell;
Anne, m George Gledstanes, of Daisy Hill;
Sarah, m Charles Stewart, of Baillieborough.

Mr Moutray was succeeded by his eldest son,

JAMES MOUTRAY, of Favour Royal, High Sheriff of County Tyrone, 1695, who married, in 1698, Rebecca, eldest daughter of Colonel James Corry, of Castle Coole, County Fermanagh (ancestor of the Earls of Belmore), and was father of

JOHN MOUTRAY (1701-79), of Favour Royal, High Sheriff of County Tyrone, 1721, who married, in 1720, Elizabeth, daughter of Alexander Montgomery, of Ballyleck, County Monaghan, and had issue,

JAMES, his heir;
ANKETELL, succeeded his brother;
Leslie, of Killibrick;
John;
Mary; Rebecca; Catherine; Sarah; Elizabeth.

The eldest son,

JAMES MOUTRAY (1722-77), of Favour Royal and Killibrick, MP for Augher, 1761-76, High Sheriff of County Tyrone, 1762, married Hester, daughter of Thomas Knox, MP for Dungannon, and sister to Thomas, 1st Viscount Northland, but had no issue.

His younger brother,

THE REV ANKETELL MOUTRAY (1730-1801), of Favour Royal, married, in 1768, Catherine, eldest daughter of Thomas Singleton, of Fort Singleton, County Monaghan, by his first wife, daughter of Oliver Anketell, of Anketell's Grove.

He died ca 1801, having had one son, JOHN CORRY, and six daughters, all of whom died unmarried, except the third, Isabella, who espoused Whitney Upton Gledstanes, of Fardross.

The only son and heir,

JOHN CORRY MOUTRAY JP DL (1771-1859), of Favour Royal, High Sheriff of County Tyrone, 1794, married, in 1793, Mary Anne Catherine, second daughter of Major Ambrose Upton, of Hermitage, County Dublin, by his wife Margaret, sister and co-heir of Thomas Gledstanes, of Fardross, and had issue,

ANKETELL, his heir;
JOHN JAMES, of Favour Royal;
WHITNEY, of Fort Singleton;
Thomas (Rev), 1806-43;
William (Rev), 1811-82;
Henry, of Killymoon Castle;
Catherine; Margaret; Sophia; Cecilia; Marion; Mary.

Mr Moutray was succeeded by his eldest son,

ANKETELL MOUTRAY (1797-1869), of Favour Royal, High Sheriff of County Tyrone, 1855, who dsp and was succeeded by his brother,

THE REV JOHN JAMES MOUTRAY (1802-86), of Favour Royal, Rector of Errigal-Keerogue, who married, in 1836, Maria Dorothea, second daughter of the Rev William Perceval, of Kilmore Hill, County Waterford, and had issue,

JOHN MAXWELL, his heir;
Robert Perceval, Captain RN (1840-96);
William Henry, b 1842;
ANKETELL, of Favour Royal;
Charles Frederick, b 1846;
Anna Maria Sophia; Mary Elizabeth; Caroline Helena.

This clergyman's eldest son,

THE REV JOHN MAXWELL MOUTRAY, Rector of Ballinasaggart, did not, however, succeed to the family estates, which, under the will of his uncle, Anketell Moutray, of Favour Royal, passed to his younger brother,

ANKETELL MOUTRAY JP DL (1844-1927), of Favour Royal, High Sheriff of County Tyrone, 1877, County Monaghan, 1903, who married, in 1877, Gertrude Madelina, third surviving daughter of Matthew John Anketell, of Anketell Grove, County Monaghan (by his wife Catherine Anne Frances, daughter of D Ker, of Montalto, County Down), and had issue,

John Corry (1878-79);
ANKETELL GERALD, JP, of Favour Royal, High Sheriff of Co Tyrone, 1934 (1882-1952?);
Anne Gwendoline Stella Eliza (1875-1902).

FAVOUR ROYAL, near Augher, County Tyrone, was built in 1825. 

This is quite an austere, Tudor-Gothic mansion consisting of two storeys with an attic of low-pitched gables in front and three storeys at the rear.

The front of the house has big rectangular windows with elaborate Gothic tracery and hood mouldings over them.

*****

JAMES I granted Sir Thomas Ridgeway 740 acres of land in 1613.

Sir James Erskine later purchased the Augher estates from Sir Thomas.

CHARLES II confirmed the Manor of Portclare (under the name of Favor Royal) to the Erskine family in 1665.

Eventually his estate was divided between his two granddaughters: one half became Spur Royal (Augher Castle); and the other, Favor Royal.

One of Erskine's granddaughters married John Moutray, and they built the first house, creating the demesne in 1670.

This house continued as the family home until it was destroyed by accidental fire in 1823.

Captain John Corry Moutray, the occupant at the time, commissioned the architect John Hargrave to design the new house, built in 1824-5, with an 1825 date-stone on its left elevation.

The earlier 1670 date-stone, also built into the left elevation, is presumably from the first house that was burnt down.

The fireproof vaulted brick floor construction to upper floor landings and the stone staircases are possibly precautionary, to ensure that the new house was not also destroyed by fire.

The painted transom in the book-room of a cavalry officer with white charger may be a depiction of Captain John Corry Moutray.

Captain Moutray also built the parish church of St Mary’s Portclare in 1830 as a private chapel.

It cost £1,000 and its designer may be John Hargrave who had died in a yachting accident only the previous year.

An 1834 map shows the demesne and most of its features as they are today; however, the drive to the north of the main house, its bridge over the river Blackwater, and the later (1856) elements of the outer farmyard are not shown.

The map shows the north drive and the Blackwater Bridge.

A 1903 map shows a boathouse (now gone) on the north side of the lake.

Favour Royal was occupied in 1858 by Whitney Moutray; in 1870 by the Rev John James Moutray; and during the first half of the 20th century by Major Anketell Gerald Moutray.

Anketell Moutray (1844-1927) had the misfortune of being attacked and kidnapped at Favour Royal during the troubles of 1922.

His son, Anketell Gerald Moutray, died ca 1952, but his widow continued to reside in the house until her death at the beginning of 1975.

The house, outbuildings, walled garden and park all survived remarkably intact; the park renowned for its deciduous woodland and parkland trees.

In 1976 the house and grounds were sold, with the Department of Agriculture (Forestry Service) acquiring most of the land, and Mr Herbert Craig acquiring the house and a smaller area of ground.

The house was put up for sale again in 1994, but has remained vacant and was damaged in a malicious fire in April, 2011.

Much of the demesne was heavily planted by DAERA (Forest Service) with forest trees.

It has been said that the Moutrays were the largest landowners in the valley and held the rental of 36 townlands, with a staff of no fewer than 80 at one time.

Sundials (marked on a 1977 map), one to the front and one to the right of the house, and a large collection of medieval carved stones in the rockery (opposite the front porch) were for sale with the house contents in September, 1976, and were presumably sold and removed at that time.

Following the sale of the contents, the house remained occupied until the early 1990s.

Although not consulted in detail, the Moutray family papers in PRONI are a wide and interesting range of documents from land leases to personal diaries.

*****

Stephen Paskin has taken 182 photographs of Favour Royal, including notable pictures of its interior features.

The demesne dates from the 17th century. 

It lies in a valley, with the River Blackwater flowing on the north-eastern side. 

Though no longer a fully functioning demesne, disused stabling and farm buildings remain.

There was a deer park and woodland with, ‘… a few fine old trees’ (Young, 1909). 

At the present time there is a small area of lawn at the house and one or two mature notable trees.

The walled garden has a date stone on the entrance gate of 1720.

It is not maintained but was once a fine garden. 

Most of the area is heavily planted with forest trees.

The gate lodge of ca 1825, gardener’s cottage and bridges are listed.

There is a man-made ornamental lake with an island.

Planning permission had been obtained to turn Favour Royal into a hotel and golf resort.

Arsonists badly damaged the house in April, 2011.

The estate was for sale in May, 2014.

*****

SIR THOMAS RIDGEWAY, Earl of Londonderry, was one of hundreds of English and Scottish noblemen who were granted land during the plantation of Ulster.

In Ridgeway's case, he was treasurer of wars in Ireland.

In 1610, JAMES I granted him 4,300 acres in the Clogher valley area of County Tyrone. 

In 1613, he built a castle in Augher and then sold his entire estate to Sir James Erskine in 1622. 

In 1630, a defect was discovered in the original grant of lands to Ridgeway and CHARLES I made a re-grant of the lands to Erskine.

This royal favour was acknowledged by naming the estate Favour Royal. 

Sir James Erskine's son, Archibald, was the only member of the family to carry on the family name having two daughters, Mary and Ann, between whom the estate was divided. 

Mary married William Richardson and took up living in Augher castle.

Later, as Sir William Richardson, he gained notoriety as the magistrate who kept a supply of Shillelaghs for the settlements of legal disputes. 

The other daughter, Ann, married John Moutray and moved into the house at Favour Royal in 1670.

*****

The Moutray family continued to live there until the death of Mrs Anketell Moutray on New Year's Day, 1975.

The house and what remained of the demesne was sold in 1976.

A major part of the estate was acquired by the Forest service.

The total area is ca 1,200 acres.

First published in October, 2010.

Kinlough House: II

THE BIG HOUSE AT KINLOUGH, COUNTY LEITRIM

From Chapter Eight of A Man May Fish by T C Kingsmill Moore, first edition published 1960, copyright Estate of T C Kingsmill Moore 1979. 

"… My son tells me that you are an ardent fisherman. We have a house on the shore of Lough Melvin which fishes well in April, and there will be some salmon in the Bundrowse. If you could spare a week or a fortnight of your Easter vacation to stay with us my wife and I would be very pleased.”

This letter, the first of many phrased with the same careful courtesy, introduced me to the big lakes of the west and to a feature of Irish country life then rapidly passing away.

At Bundoran a wizened coachman met me with an outside car which soon covered the hilly miles to where the Big House stood, surrounded on three sides by woodland and open on the fourth, where lawns and fields sloped to the water’s edge.

In spring, the daffodils spread themselves in golden drifts down to the lake, in autumn the scarlet lobelia blazed a flare of colour between house and shrubberies.

The house itself, built when the Georgian style was yielding to the Victorian, was large but architecturally undistinguished.

Originally the walls of all the main rooms had been covered with French cartoons in grisaille, illustrating scenes from classical mythology.

The many life-sized nudes were a little too explicit for Victorian taste, and pictures and furniture had been arranged to hide the more compromising details.

When a later generation, bracing itself to acknowledge the facts of anatomy, removed the obstructions, it was too late.

The discolouration was permanent.

Already the house was an anachronism, a manor house without an estate.

For nearly a century, when Irish country life had been built on a structure of landlord and tenant, it had been the centre of interest for a barony, its stables full of carriages and horses, its garden a model, its owners men of learning and public spirit.

Politics and literature have dealt harshly with the Irish landlord.

Sad and mad they may have been; too often they were absentees.

But many of them were men of culture, bravery, and a high sense of public duty.

Their libraries were good and sometimes remarkable.

They planted world-famous gardens.

They organised and endowed innumerable Irish charities, relieved distress, and helped and advised such tenants as were willing to accept their advice.

Much of their time was spent in hunting and field sports, but these provided employment of the type that the Irish countryman likes, and made the big house a centre of interest and society.

Above all, they supplied a personal relationship which made up for many abuses.

A good landlord was united to his tenantry by bonds part patriarchal, part feudal, and entirely human, which formed a not unsatisfactory pattern of life.

Now all of this has been changed, shattered irretrievably by a great reform which had enabled the tenants to become freeholders.

The landlords lived on, financially not much worse off, still doing their duty on bench and synod, and spending much of their leisure in sport; but the ties which bound them and their families to the countryside were snapped.

Old retainers still remained.

The coachman who had met me was serving his fourth generation, the parlour maid had been nurse to my host, the gardener had been trained by his grandfather.

But the dust was settling; the Big House was dying at its roots.

My host, who had for some years been living a life of use and wont in which sport had ceased to play a part, his guns licensed but unfired, his rods idle in their cases, now roused himself to put his son and myself on the road to true orthodoxy.

He was orthodox to a fault, his fishing methods not so much dated as out-dated, but I owe him a grounding in caution, in boat-craft, and in etiquette which was to help me in difficult times and places...

For four years my fishing centred around the Big House, ten days in spring and the same in August.

The old retainers were dropping away.

“I’ve seen what I’ve seen and I’ll not see much more,” said the coachman, now nearly ninety on the last occasion that he drove me to the station.

On my next visit he was gone.

Kate, the parlour maid, found her rheumatism too crippling, and the gardener retired on a pension to a cottage.

The squire had ceased to come to the lake with us, and he was intellectually less alert.

Over the port he had been eager to cross-question me on all the vexed problems of the day, with his unvaried courtesy treating my undergraduate opinions as if they were worth listening to.

Now he avoided discussion.

When things puzzled him he no longer sought an answer.

He lived more and more in the past.

A weary, slightly despairing look often came over his kindly face.

I was too young to recognise the significance of these changes, signs that the organism could no longer adapt itself to its environment, the first, faint, far-borne notes of the trumpet of Azrael.

Then at one stride came disaster.

Father and mother were dead; the son, always delicate, became incurably ill.

The Big House had fallen.

Another old Irish family had come to an end.

Of the Big House itself only a few ruins now remain.’ 

T.C. Kingsmill Moore was born in Dublin in March 1893 and he died there in February, 1979, at the age of 85. He went to school in Marlborough, England, and returned to Dublin to take a degree at Trinity College. 

During the First World War, from 1917-18, he was in the Royal Flying Corps in France and Flanders. He became a barrister on his return to Dublin and during the Civil War from 1922-23 was also the War Correspondent for the Irish Times. 

In 1947 he was appointed a judge of the High Court and in 1961 a judge of the Supreme Court, retiring in 1965. His visits to the Big House at Kinlough took place between 1914 and 1917 when he was an undergraduate in Trinity. 

First published in March, 2019. 

Bellarena Album

I am grateful to Aaron Callan who has sent me some images of BELLARENA, the ancestral home of the GAGES and the HEYGATE BARONETS, and now the home of the Desmond family.

Click to Enlarge.

The type-written page recounts a brief history of the house, the hall, and the drawing-room.

The image is of Sir Frederick William Heygate, 2nd Baronet (1822-94).

First published in May, 2020.

Rathgael Album: I

John Lowry, a reader from Belleville, Ontario, Canada, has kindly sent me some old family photographs of RATHGAEL HOUSE and estate, near Bangor, County Down.

I've found a newspaper cutting, dated the 5th January, 1907, that tells us,

...The Tynan and Armagh Harriers also possess a lady MH in Miss Ida McClintock, while Miss Kate Rose-Cleland and two sisters hunt the Rathgael Harriers.

The sketch below was drawn by John about forty years ago (c1980) with the advice of his father's first cousin, Eveline Ritchie.

Diagram of the Ground and First Floors.  Click to Enlarge

They were both great-grandchildren of Elizabeth Helen Louise Rose-Cleland (she married Benoni Lytton-White).

Both John's father (who died in 2016) and Eveline (who is still alive, in her mid-90s and living in Scotland) had first-hand memories of visiting Rathgael.

In the picture with the caravan, the little girl with the pen-marked X over her head is Maude Emilie Lytton-White, John's grandmother.

John selected photos that show aspects of the house, including the lake, the towers etc.

The Lake, frozen over, with Rathgael House 

The lake (the Fish Pond in old maps) is, as far as I'm aware, the only remaining feature of the estate.

Rathgael Lake (Timothy Ferres, 2022)

It now forms part of the new Helen's Wood housing development.

Click to Enlarge

The ROSE-CLELANDS were clearly passionate about hunting, and they ran the Rathgael Harriers.

Many local farmers and landowners are mentioned in the newspaper cuttings.

Elizabeth Helen Louise Rose-Cleland

John's grandmother is shown in the image above.

Kate Rose-Cleland.  Click to Enlarge

The photograph above shows 'Miss Kate Rose-Cleland, Owner and Master of the Rathgael Harriers, Bangor, County Down; the only pack in Ireland not depending on subscriptions.'

First published in May, 2020.

Brackenber Dinner

Every year, if I'm here, I attend the annual Brackenber House School Old Boys' dinner. It's held at the Ulster Reform Club in Royal Avenue, Belfast.

It was a dry evening, so I donned the glad rags, including the old school tie, and cycled into town.

The door-man at the club invariably advises me to bring my bike inside for safety.

Thence I made my way upstairs to the top floor, where the Old Billiards Room is located.

Brackenber House, Cleaver Avenue, Belfast

I gather there were forty-eight of us this year, a good number given that Brackenber closed in 1985.

As always this was a memorable occasion.

I was seated at Table Two.

There were several familiar faces missing this year, though apologies were received from a number of Old Boys and naturally numbers are dwindling: names of deceased Old Boys are read out to us. 

Gordon McCaw beside me suggested that I enable an audible feature to the Blog (how on earth is that done?), and Paddy Lowry mentioned "Spotify."

The Oxford grey lounge suit remains in remarkably excellent condition, given that it was tailored in Belfast in 1982; it still fits me like a glove; a greedy moth, however, has gained access to it and there are two holes. 

I shrug my shoulders and wear it regardless.

Johnny Irvine, who was at Brackenber with me in 1973, was at the dinner this year.

Stradbally Hall

THE COSBYS WERE MAJOR LANDOWNERS IN THE QUEEN'S COUNTY, WITH 10,110 ACRES

In the time of QUEEN MARY, this family, originally of the counties of Leicestershire and Lincolnshire, settled in Ireland.

ROBERT COSSBYE, of Harmston, in Lincolnshire, living in 1516, married Isabel, daughter and heiress of Ralph Pare, of Great Leake, Nottinghamshire, and had a son and heir,

JOHN COSBIE, who wedded Mabel, daughter of _____ Agard, of Foston, Nottinghamshire, and had two sons, viz. RICHARD, of Great Leake, and

FRANCIS COSBIE (1510-80),

The patriarch of the family in Ireland, a man famed for personal courage, as well as civil and military talents. When young he served in the wars of HENRY VIII in the Low Countries, and was not undistinguished. His abandonment of his native soil arose from the downfall of the Lord Protector, Sir Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset, whose daughter Mary, widow of Sir Henry Peyton, Knight, he had married. 

Deeming the disgrace and death of that once potent nobleman a sentence of exclusion from place and preferment in England, against his immediate connections at least, Cosbie (Mary Seymour, his first wife, being then dead), removed to Ireland, taking with him his second wife, Elizabeth Palmer, and the two surviving sons of the first. Here, in the land of his adoption, he soon found the opportunity of establishing a reputation, which he despaired of effecting in the land of his birth. 

He became an active defender of The Pale, and his vigilance, zeal, and success attracting the observation of government, he was appointed, by QUEEN MARY, 1558, General of the Kern, a post of great trust and importance in those times.

In 1559 he represented the borough of Thomastown in parliament, when he was constituted, by ELIZABETH I, Sheriff of Kildare.

Cosbie was granted, in 1562, the site of the suppressed abbey St Francis at Stradbally.

He married firstly, the Lady Mary Seymour, daughter of Sir Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset, and had issue,

ALEXANDER, his heir;
Henry;
Arnold.

General Cosby wedded secondly, in 1575, Elizabeth Palmer, and had issue, an only daughter, Catherine.

He fell at the battle of Glendalough, 1580, and was succeeded by his eldest son,

ALEXANDER COSBY, of Stradbally Abbey, who also obtained very extensive grants of land in the Queen's County.

He wedded Dorcas, daughter of William Sydney, of Otford, Kent, maid of honour to ELIZABETH I, and had issue,

FRANCIS, father of WILLIAM; fell at the battle of Stradbally Bridge;
RICHARD, succeeded to his nephew;
Charles;
Arnold;
Mabel; Rose.

Alexander Cosby, slain at the battle of Stradbally Bridge with the O'Mores, 1596, was succeeded, although for a few minutes only, by his eldest son,

FRANCIS COSBY, of Stradbally Hall, who being slain as stated above, never enjoyed the inheritance, but was succeeded by his infant child,

WILLIAM COSBY, of Stradbally Hall, born in 1596, who died in June that year, when the estates reverted to his uncle,

RICHARD COSBY, of Stradbally Hall, Captain of the Kern, who gained the battle of Dunamace over the O'Mores, 1606, who espoused Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Robert Pigott, Knight, of Dysart, and had issue,

ALEXANDER, his heir;
FRANCIS, who succeeded his nephew at Stradbally;
Sydney;
William;
Dorcas.

Richard Cosby died in 1631, and was succeeded by his eldest son,

ALEXANDER COSBY (1610-36), of Stradbally Hall, who married Anne, daughter of Sir Francis Slingsby, Knight, of Kilmore, County Cork, and was succeeded by his son,

FRANCIS COSBY, of Stradbally Hall, who dsp before 1638, when he was succeeded by his uncle,

FRANCIS COSBY (1612-), of Stradbally Hall, MP for Carysfort, who wedded Ann, daughter of Sir Thomas Loftus, Knight, of Killyan, and had issue,

ALEXANDER, his heir;
Thomas, of Vicarstown; father of THOMAS;
Sydney.

The eldest son,

ALEXANDER COSBY, of Stradbally Hall, espoused Elizabeth, daughter of Henry L'Estrange, of Moystown, King's County, and had issue,

DUDLEY, his heir;
Henry;
Thomas;
Loftus;
Alexander, father of PHILLIPS;
William;
Arnold;
Anne; Elizabeth; Jane; Dorcas; Isabella; Celia; Dorothy.

Alexander Cosby died in 1694, and was succeeded by his eldest son,

DUDLEY ALEXANDER SYDNEY COSBY (1662-1729), of Stradbally Hall, Lieutenant-Colonel, MP for Queen's County, 1703-29, who married firstly, Ann, daughter and heir of Sir Andrew Owen, Knight, which lady dsp 1698; and secondly, Sarah, daughter of Periam Pole, of Ballyfin, by whom he had,

POLE, his heir;
Sarah.

Colonel Cosbie was succeeded by his son,

POLE COSBY, of Stradbally Hall, who wedded Mary, daughter and co-heir of Henry Dodwell, of Manor Dodwell, County Roscommon, and by her, left at his decease, in 1766 (with a daughter, Sarah, who married firstly, the Rt Hon Arthur Upton, of Castle Upton; and secondly, Robert, Earl of Farnham), a son and successor,

DUDLEY ALEXANDER SYDNEY COSBY (c1730-74), MP for Carrick, 1763-8, 1ST BARON SYDNEY, of Leix, so created in 1768.

His lordship, Minister Resident to Denmark, wedded, in 1773, the Lady Isabella St Lawrence, daughter of Thomas, 1st Earl of Howth, but died in the ensuing month, January, 1774, without issue.

His peerage became extinct, while the inheritance reverted to his lordship's cousin,

VICE-ADMIRAL PHILLIPS COSBY (1729-1808), of Stradbally Hall, Admiral of the Red, who espoused, in 1792, Eliza, daughter of William Gunthorpe, and sister of William Gunthorpe, of Southampton, but having no issue, was succeeded at his decease by his kinsman,

THOMAS COSBY (1742-98), of Vicarstown, and afterwards of Stradbally, who wedded firstly, Frances Booker, and by her had two sons, both of whom died young.

He married secondly, Grace, daughter and co-heir of George Johnstone, of Glaslough, County Monaghan, and had issue,

Dudley, accidentally drowned, 1789, sp;
Francis, drowned at cork, 1791, sp;
THOMAS, his heir.

Mr Cosby was succeeded by his only surviving son,

THOMAS COSBY, of Stradbally Hall, Governor of Queen's County, High Sheriff, 1809, who wedded, in 1802, Charlotte Elizabeth, daughter of the Rt Hon Thomas Kelly, Lord Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas in Ireland, and had issue,

THOMAS PHILLIPS, his heir;
William (Rev);
Sydney, father of ROBERT ASHWORTH GODOLPHIN;
Wellesley Pole;
Frances Elizabeth; Harriet Georgiana.

Mr Cosby, High Sheriff of Queen's County, died in 1832, and was succeeded by his son,

THOMAS PHILLIPS COSBY JP DL (1803-51), of Stradbally Hall, High Sheriff of Queen's County, 1834, Captain, Royal Regiment of Horse Guards, and dsp 1851, when the property devolved upon his nephew,

ROBERT ASHWORTH GODOLPHIN COSBY JP (1837-1920), of Stradbally Hall, Vice Lord-Lieutenant of the Queen's County, High Sheriff of Queen's County, 1863, Colonel, 3rd Leinster Regiment, who wedded firstly, in 1859, Alice Sophia Elizabeth, only daughter of Sir George Edward Pocock Bt, of The Priory, Christchurch, Hampshire, and had issue,

DUDLEY SYDNEY ASHWORTH, his heir;
Sydney George Coventry;
Edith Augusta Emily; Mary Powlet; Aline Islay; Lilian Alice; Violet Grace.

Colonel Cosby married secondly, in 1885, Eliza, daughter of the Rev Capel Molyneux, Vicar of St Paul's, Onslow Square, and widow of Sir Charles Goring, 9th Baronet, of Highden, Sussex.

He was succeeded by his eldest son,

DUDLEY SYDNEY ASHWORTH COSBY DL (1862-1923), of Stradbally Hall, Captain, 3rd Battalion, Scottish Rifles, who wedded, in 1895, Emily Mabel, daughter of Lieutenant-General James Gubbins, and had issue,

ERROLD ASHWORTH SYDNEY, his heir;
Eric James Dudley;
Ivan Robert Sydney;
Irene Mabel Alys; Dulcie Iris Voilet.

Captain Cosby was succeeded by his eldest son,

ERROLD ASHWORTH SYDNEY COSBY (1898-1984), of Stradbally Hall, Major, The Rifle Brigade, who wedded, in 1934, Enid Elizabeth, daughter of Major Maurice William Chetwode Hamilton, and had issue,

ADRIAN PATRICK SYDNEY ALEXANDER;
David Ashworth Sydney Phillips, b 1947;
Julian Charles Seymour Francis, b 1947;
Anthea Moira Enid, b 1940.

Major Cosby was succeeded by his eldest son,

ADRIAN PATRICK SYDNEY ALEXANDER COSBY (1937-), of Stradbally Hall, Irish Guards, who married, in 1972, Alison Margaret, daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Wylie, and has issue,

THOMAS SYDNEY ASHWORTH, b 1974;
Mary Siobhan Elizabeth, b 1973.

Entrance Front

STRADBALLY HALL, County Laois, is a nine-bay, two-storey Georgian house, built in 1772.

The present mansion's predecessor was erected by Lieutenant-Colonel Dudley Cosby in 1699, likely incorporating an earlier dwelling.

Stradbally Hall (Image: Ger Browne, 2021)

About 1868, Ralph Ashworth Godolphin Cosby engaged Sir Charles Lanyon to enlarge and re-model the house in the Italianate style.

Garden Front

A new entrance front was added with a large, single-storey, balustraded portico.

Stradbally estate is now renowned for its Electric Picnic music festival held in the grounds.

First published in December, 2016.

Mount Stewart Memories

On the White Stag at Mount Stewart

WILLIAM PATTERSON RECOUNTS HIS MEMORIES OF MOUNT STEWART, ANCESTRAL SEAT OF THE MARQUESS OF LONDONDERRY

I was a young man living in County Down near Greyabbey.

It was 1964 if I remember correctly, and on occasion I would meet a dark haired lady of middle years dressed as a ‘nanny’ - blue uniform and darker overcoat - and pushing a very smart ‘pram’ which contained a cherubic small boy of about 18 months with fair hair.

We got chatting on one occasion and we walked the long winding footpath together towards Mount Stewart where she explained that her charge was Lady Mairi Bury’s grandson, Charles Villiers.

Nanny Ellis holding Master Charles

Her name was Elizabeth Ellis - a Scottish lady - but I was asked to call her ‘Nanny’ like everyone else.

I was invited to her apartment in Mount Stewart to take tea and biscuits on several occasions, and it was during these visits that I met Charles’ mother, Elizabeth Villiers, and his very well known grandmother, Lady Mairi.

Lady Mairi had a rather disconcerting cool appraising stare, but she must have decided that I was suitable company as I was a welcome visitor, and got to attend a couple of her famous parties.

Billy in the Nursery

I cannot remember now at this remove most of their names, but they were the great and good of society and the arts.

The ladies were very glamorous and dripping with diamonds and the men suitably attired to match their companions.

I thought I might be very out of my depth, but I was very pleased to find them, with a few exceptions, easy to speak to and interesting to listen to.

Michael O’Duffy was a very well known Irish tenor at the time and he entertained the guests accompanied by the wonderful Duncan Morrison from Stornoway on the piano.

Duncan used to play for Rev Sydney MacEwan on many of his recordings.

I met Duncan on several different occasions at Mount Stewart and we exchanged Christmas Cards for several years after.

One character I remember from one of her parties was a gentleman of whom it was whispered had psychic powers, by name Clifford Frost.

I was in deep conversation with someone, I can’t remember who, when he weaved his way over and asked to see my hand.

He took my proffered palm and stared at it, weaving slightly all the while as a result of the bountiful liquid refreshment on offer by our hostess, then dropped it and walked off saying “You’ll get all you want out of life”.

You know, despite the odd knock-back, he wasn’t far wrong.

When Jessie Matthews - dancer, actress, star of stage and screen and latterly on radio as Mrs Dale in Mrs Dale’s Diary, came to open a garden fête for Lady Mairi, I had the pleasure of meeting her, and on giving her a donation for her charity, I was rewarded with a hug and a kiss, and told I was a darling.

I admit to blushing, but walked around on air for the rest of the afternoon.

Billy at the Swimming-pool

There was a well concealed private swimming-pool belonging to the family on the Strangford Lough side of the road which I was kindly offered the use of, and spent many a happy day there in the company of Nanny, Charles the baby and my dog Kim and sometimes just on my own.

On one of these solitary visits I daringly removed my swimming togs and for the first time swam in the nude.

Billy & Charles at the Swimming-pool in 1965

I found it to be a wonderful experience - no clinging togs and a great feeling of being at one with nature.

On many warm summer days we walked around the beautiful gardens enjoying the flowers and shrubs, the statues, and little concealed nooks and crannies - little worlds within the larger one.

The well known composer and pianist from Stornoway, Duncan Morrison (above), in green velvet Scottish evening attire, with his sister Bella Morrison in a black dress (with a rather curious third figure present, seemingly in fancy dress with a black fur hat and a blacked face - maybe having been cast as "the Black Man" who had brought in a New Year?).

Wonderful days with lasting memories for me, and I bless the day I struck up a conversation with Nanny Ellis, who continued to be a friend for many years after she had left the employ of the family.

The memories all come back when I occasionally return to Mount Stewart as one of the many visitors, and one of the few who remember this historic house as a wonderful family home.

First published in February, 2019.