Stuart Hall

THE EARLS CASTLE STEWART WERE THE SECOND LARGEST LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY TYRONE, WITH 32,615 ACRES

This is a branch of the royal house of STEWART, springing from Robert, Duke of Albany and Regent of Scotland, third legitimate son of ROBERT II, King of Scotland.

This cadet (whose elder brother was Andrew, first and last Lord Avandale), was

WALTER STEWART, of Morphie, Aberdeenshire, who married Elizabeth, daughter of Arnot, of Arnot, Fife, and by her had issue, a son,

ALEXANDER STEWART, of Avandale, who had a charter of the lands and barony of Avandale on the resignation of his uncle, Lord Avandale (born 1485-6).

He was one of the lords auditors, 1488, but died before June, 1489, when he was succeeded by his son (by some said to be his brother),

ANDREW STEWART, 1st Lord Avondale, who wedded Margaret, sister of David, 1st Earl of Cassillis, and had issue,

ANDREW, his successor;
Henry, 1st Lord Methven;
James;
Alexander;
William;
Barbara; Agnes; Anne.

His lordship fell at the battle of Flodden, 1513, and was succeeded by his eldest son,

ANDREW (c1505-49) succeeding his uncle as 2nd Lord Avondale, who exchanged the title for that of OCHILTREE.

His lordship married Margaret, natural daughter of James, 1st Earl of Arran, and had issue,

ANDREW, his successor;
Walter;
Isobel.

He was succeeded by his eldest son,

ANDREW (c1521-91), 2nd Lord Ochiltree, who married Agnes Cunningham, and had a son and heir, Andrew Stewart, styled Master of Ochiltree, who predeceased him in 1578, and was succeeded by his grandson,

ANDREW, 3rd Lord Ochiltree (c1560-1629), who having sold the feudal barony of OCHILTREE to his cousin, Sir James Stuart, of Killeith, was created, 1619, Baron Castle Stewart, of County Tyrone, where he possessed considerable estates.

He wedded, ca 1587, Margaret, daughter of Sir John Kennedy, of Blairquhan, and had issue,

ANDREW, his successor;
JOHN, 5th Baron;
Robert, ancestor of the Earl Castle Stewart;
Margaret, m George Crawford, of Crawfordsburn;
Maria, m John Kennedy, of Cultra;
Anna.

His lordship was succeeded by his eldest son,

SIR ANDREW, 2nd Baron (1590-1639), who had been previously created a baronet.

He espoused, ca 1604, the Lady Anne Stewart, fifth daughter and co-heiress of John, 5th Earl of Atholl, by which lady he had issue,

ANDREW, 3rd Baron;
JOSIAS, 4th Baron.

His lordship was succeeded by his eldest son,

ANDREW, 3rd Baron (-1650), who married Joyce, daughter and heiress of Sir Arthur Blundell, by whom he had issue, an only child, MARY, who wedded Henry 5th Earl of Suffolk.

His lordship died without male issue, and the honours devolved upon his brother,

JOSIAS, 4th Baron (c1637-62), who espoused Anne, daughter of John Madden, of Enfield, Middlesex, by his wife Elizabeth, daughter and co-heiress of Charles Waterhouse, of Manor Waterhouse, County Fermanagh.

This marriage was without issue and the titles reverted to his uncle,

JOHN, 5th Baron, after whose decease without issue, the title remained in abeyance until 1774, when it was claimed by, and allowed to

CAPTAIN ROBERT STEWART, de jure 6th Baron, who married Anne, daughter of William Moore, of Garvey, County Tyrone.

He died ca 1685, and was succeeded by his son,

ANDREW, de jure 7th Baron (1672-1715), who wedded Eleanor, daughter of Robert Dallway, of Bellahill, County Antrim, by whom he had issue,

ROBERT, de jure 8th Baron (1700-42), who wedded, in 1722, Margaret, sister and co-heiress of Hugh Edwards, of Castle Gore, County Tyrone, and had issue,

ANDREW THOMAS, 9th Baron (1725-1809), who was created Viscount Castle Stewart in 1793.

His lordship was further advanced to an earldom, in 1800, as EARL CASTLE STEWART.

His lordship wedded, in 1781, Sarah, daughter of the Rt Hon Godfrey Lill, Judge of the Court of Common Pleas in Ireland, by whom he had issue,

ROBERT, his successor;
Andrew;
Caroline; Sarah.

His lordship was succeeded by his eldest son,

ROBERT, 2nd Earl (1784-1854), who espoused, in 1806, Jemima, only daughter of Colonel Robinson, by whom he had issue,

EDWARD, 3rd Earl;
CHARLES ANDREW KNOX, 4th Earl;
Andrew Godfrey, in holy orders, father of 6th Earl.

His lordship was succeeded by his eldest son,

EDWARD, 3rd Earl (1807-57), who married, in 1830, Emmeline, only surviving daughter and heir of Benjamin Bathurst, in a childless marriage.

His lordship was succeeded by his brother,

CHARLES ANDREW KNOX, 4th Earl (1810-74), who wedded, in 1835, Charlotte Raffles Drury, only daughter of Acheson Quintin Thompson, of County Louth, and had issue,

HENRY JAMES, his successor;
Mary; Ella Sophia; Alice Maude; Margaretta.

His lordship was succeeded by his son,

HENRY JAMES, 5th Earl (1837-1914), High Sheriff of County Tyrone, 1870, who espoused, in 1866, Augusta Le Vicomte, daughter of Major William Stewart Richardson-Brady, and had issue, two daughters,

Mary; Muriel Albany.

His lordship died without male issue, and the titles reverted to his cousin,

ANDREW JOHN, as 6th Earl (1841-1921); who married, in 1876, Emma Georgiana Diana, daughter of Major-General Arthur Stevens, and had issue,

Andrew John, Viscount Stuart (1880-1915), killed in action;
Robert Sheffield (1886-1914), killed in action;
ARTHUR, of whom presently;
Charles Patrick;
Katherine Frances.

His lordship was succeeded by his eldest surviving son,

ARTHUR, 7th Earl (1889-1961), MC, Major, Machine Gun Corps, MP for Harborough, 1929-33, who wedded, in 1920, Eleanor May, daughter of Solomon Robert Guggenheim, and had issue,

David Andrew Noel, Viscount Stuart (1921-42), killed in action;
Robert John Ochiltree, Viscount Stuart (1923-44), died of wounds in action;
ARTHUR PATRICK AVONDALE, of whom hereafter;
Simon Walter Erskine.

His lordship was succeeded by his eldest surviving son,

ARTHUR PATRICK AVONDALE, 8th Earl (1928-2023), of Stuart Hall, near Stewartstown, County Tyrone, who married firstly, in 1952, Edna, daughter of William Edward Fowler, and had issue,

ANDREW RICHARD CHARLES, his successor;

Bridget Ann.

His lordship was succeeded by his son,

ANDREW RICHARD CHARLES, 9th Earl (1953-), who wedded, in 1953, Anniw Yvette, daughter of Robert le Poulain, and has issue, a daughter,

Celia Elizabeth, born in 1976.

THE other major event of his long reign as head of the family was the 1st Earl's acquisition, in 1782, of a third manor in County Tyrone, the manor of Orritor, alias Orator.

Orritor was near Stewartstown, and was thus geographically well-situated to round off the existing manors of Castle Stewart and Forward.

However, the Orritor Estate adjoined Drum Manor and was, thus, closer to Cookstown than Stewartstown; or New Mills, around where the Forward estate is situated.

The fourth manor in the Tyrone estate came in by inheritance, not deliberate purchase, and was remote from the other three: the manor of Hastings, alias Castlegore (near Castlederg) formerly the property of the Edwards family of Castlegore.

Robert Stewart of Stuart Hall had married Margaret Edwards of Castlegore back in 1722; and, as a result of failure of heirs male in the Edwards family, Castlegore passed to the Stuarts.

In 1862, the four manors generated an annual income of £7,567.

A further temporary addition to the Tyrone estate was made in 1866, when Lord Stuart, later 5th Earl Castle Stewart, married the heiress of the Richardson Brady family of Oaklands, alias Drum Manor, Cookstown.

On his death in 1914, however, he was succeeded in the earldom and in the Castle Stewart estates by his cousin; but at Drum Manor by one of his daughters, Lady Muriel Close.

STUART HALL, near Stewartstown, County Tyrone, was built about 1760 for Andrew, 1st Earl Castle Stewart.

It was originally a three-storey Georgian block with a pillared porch, joined to an old tower-house by a 19th century Gothic wing.

More recently, the top two storeys of the main block were removed, giving it the appearance of a Georgian bungalow.

Stuart Hall was blown up by the IRA in July, 1972, and subsequently demolished.

A new dwelling was subsequently built on the site in 1987.

The present house is surrounded by lawns and a maintained woodland garden.

There is a ha-ha to grazing, with fine views of the landscape park and woodland beyond.

The stables and farm buildings survive from the 18th century and are listed.

The walled garden has a 1832 date stone and is adorned by a castellated wall and two folly towers backing onto the former stack yard.

Rowan describes it as ‘…castellated, of rubble stone with brick corbelling and a plump round tower at either end.’

A stone inscription on a frieze, though, has an inscription which reads either 1783 or 1785.

The walled garden is not kept up.

There were extensive glasshouses.

The chief attribute of the demesne is the fine stands of mature trees, disposed in the landscape style of the mid-18th century.

There is also forest planting.

A gate lodge of ca 1835 has gone but the gate screen remains.

First published in December, 2009.