Rathlin Manor House

THE GAGES OWNED 3,311 ACRES OF LAND IN COUNTY ANTRIM

This family is a branch of GAGE of Firle.

JOHN GAGE, whose name is found in deeds during the time of HENRY IV, and who was lineally descended from the Norman, left a son,

JOHN GAGE, who married Joan, daughter and co-heir of John Sudgrove, of Sudgrove, Gloucestershire.

The son and successor of this John,

SIR JOHN GAGE (c1420-75/6), Knight, made great additions to his estate by purchases, and, further, by marrying Eleanor, daughter and heir of Thomas St Clere, lord of the manor of Aston Clinton, Buckinghamshire, and had issue,

William, ancestor of GENERAL GAGE;
JOHN, of whom we treat.

The younger son,

JOHN GAGE, married Margaret, daughter of John Tawyer, and had issue, an only child,

HENRY GAGE, of Raunds, Northamptonshire, espoused Margaret, daughter of George Boyvill, and had issue,

GEORGE;

Mary; Anne.

The son and heir,

GEORGE GAGE, of Raunds, wedded Cecily, daughter of William Wolston, and had issue,

Henry;

John;

ROBERT;

Thomas;

William;

Mary; Elizabeth; Allane.

The third son,

ROBERT GAGE, of Raunds, married, in 1573, Anne, daughter of Robert Pemberton, and had issue,

JOHN, of whom presently;

Thomas;

William;

Mary; Anne.

The first of the family to settle in Ulster,

JOHN GAGE, married, before 1608, Jane, daughter of Richard Goodwin, and had issue,

Richard;
Charles;
William;
John, ancestor of GAGE OF BELLARENA;
ROBERT, of whom hereafter;
Jane; Anne; Alice; Florinda; Elizabeth; Margaret; Mary.

Mr Gage, Clerk of the Peace for Northamptonshire, 1611-22, acquired the Magilligan estates, County Londonderry, in 1635.

His younger brother, William, purchased the lease of Magilligan in 1630 from the Lord Bishop of Derry, and was Mayor of Londonderry, 1631-2.

The youngest son,

THE REV ROBERT GAGE (c1659-1725), Chaplain to QUEEN ANNE, and to Lionel, Duke of Dorset, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, for many years Prebendary of Aghadowey, County Londonderry, and in which he was succeeded by his son,

THE REV JOHN GAGE (1693-1763), Prebendary of Aghadowey, who wedded, in 1733, Susannah, daughter of the Rev John Johnston, Rector of Clondevadogue, in the Diocese of Raphoe, and had issue,

John, died unmarried;
Frederick, died unmarried;
ROBERT, his heir;
Barbara, m R Harvey, of Malin Hall;
Susan; Mary Anne.

The Rev John Gage, who purchased Rathlin Island in 1746, was succeeded by his third son,

ROBERT GAGE JP (1739-1801), of Rathlin Island, High Sheriff of County Antrim, 1787, who married, in 1776, Barbara, daughter of the Rev John Richardson, of Somerset, Coleraine, County Londonderry, and had issue,

John, died unmarried;
Frederick; RN; died unmarried;
ROBERT, his heir;
Barbara Frances; Susanna Maria; Elizabeth; Mary Anne;
Henrietta; Catherine; Jane; Elizabeth Harriet.

Mr Gage was succeeded by his third son,

THE REV ROBERT GAGE JP (1790-1862), of Rathlin Island, who wedded, in 1812, Catherine, daughter of Ezekiel Davis-Boyd, of Ballycastle, County Antrim, and had issue,

ROBERT, his heir;
EZEKIEL, succeeded his brother;
John;
John;
Catherine; Barbara; Rosetta; Amelia; Susan; Elizabeth; Adelaide;
Dorothea, m HSH Prince Albrecht of Waldeck & Pyrmont.

Mr Gage was succeeded by his eldest son,

ROBERT GAGE JP (1813-91), of Rathlin Island, who died unmarried, when the family estates devolved upon his next brother,

MAJOR-GENERAL EZEKIEL GAGE (1819-1906), of Raghery House and Rathlin Island, who espoused, in 1848, Maria, daughter of John Dobbs, and had issue,

ROBERT CHARLES, his heir;
RICHARD STEWART, succeeded his brother;
FRANCIS (Dr);
ALEXANDER HUGH (Rev);
Marianne;

CATHERINE (1854-1918), m Col. AS Grove ;

Amy Boyd. 

General Gage devised Rathlin Island between his four sons, the eldest of whom,

ROBERT CHARLES GAGE (1851-88), of Rathlin Island, espoused Georgina, daughter of William Braddell, and died leaving a son, ROBERT HARVEY, who married and had issue, one son and a daughter.

General Gage's second son,

RICHARD STEWART GAGE (1862-1909), of Rathlin Island, Captain, Royal Dublin Fusiliers, wedded, in 1895, Norah Lilian, daughter of O'Donnell Grimshaw, and had issue,

EZEKIEL HUGH;
RICHARD FRANCIS O'DONNELL.

Captain Gage's elder son,

EZEKIEL HUGH GAGE MC (1896-1931), Captain, Royal Horse Artillery, died unmarried, when the family estates devolved upon his only brother,

BRIGADIER RICHARD FRANCIS O'DONNELL (Rex) GAGE CBE MC (1897-1973), of Rathlin Island, who wedded, in 1931, Marjorie, daughter of Captain Conn Alexander, and had issue,

EZEKIEL CONN;
Patrick Richard, OBE, Commander RN;
Patricia Ruth.

Brigadier Gage was succeeded by his eldest son,

LIEUTENANT-COLONEL EZEKIEL CONN GAGE (1933-), of Rathlin Island, who married, in 1965, Frances Elizabeth, daughter of Major Frederick George Bolam, and had issue,

Matthew James George, b 1967;
Victoria Louise, b 1968;
Alexander Richard, b 1972.

THE MANOR HOUSE, Rathlin Island, was home to the Gage family for over 200 years.

The last member of the family to live there was Brigadier Rex Gage, who died in 1973.

It is thought that the Gages left the manor-house in 1975, though still spend holidays on the island at the Old Glebe House.

The Manor-house, Rathlin Island, ante 1936 (Welch Collection/NMNI)

The Gages added a walled garden, other walled enclosures, a corn mill, boat-house and kelp store.

The Rev John Gage bought Rathlin Island from the 5th Earl of Antrim in 1746 for £1,750 (equivalent to £324,000 in 2024).

Mark Bence-Jones describes the Manor House thus:

a long, low range of buildings on the water-front of Church Bay; incorporating work-rooms for weavers which were built in the 1760s by Robert Gage, former cottages and a two-storey, six-bay late-Georgian house. The house is entered by a porch at one end - and at the extreme left-hand end of the whole long range - with a doorway of rusticated quoins surmounted by an oculus, or oeil de boeuf.

Various additions were made in 1816; a stone archway was built in 1819; and still further additions in 1831.

Some of the rooms have Victorian marble chimney-pieces.

After 1975, the manor-house lay vacant and derelict for a period till it was restored by the Rathlin Island Trust.

Following his rescue off the coast of Rathlin on his hot-air balloon in 1987, Sir Richard Branson generously donated £25,000 to the Rathlin Island Trust towards the restoration.

The National Trust acquired the Manor House in 1998 and it opened as accommodation shortly thereafter.

*****

CATHERINE GAGE (1854-1918) married, in 1873, Colonel Alexander Sinclair Grove DSO MC, and had issue, eight daughters, of whom MARY GRACE MONTGOMERY GROVE wedded, in 1897, Colonel Alan James Campbell DSO, of Lisvarna, Ballycastle.

Their younger son, MAJOR-GENERAL SIR ALEXANDER DOUGLAS CAMPBELL KBE CB DSO, was the father of COMMANDER PETER CAMPBELL LVO OBE DL RN, born in 1927.

Commander Campbell married, in 1966, the Lady Moyra Kathleen Hamilton (Lady Moyra Campbell CVO), daughter of James, 4th Duke of Abercorn.

Commander Campbell, a cousin of the Gages, retained the shooting and fishing rights on Rathlin Island.

First published in July, 2009.