THE WHYTES OWNED 1,928 ACRES OF LAND IN COUNTY DOWN
NICHOLAS WHYTE married the sister of Thomas Butler, otherwise Le Boteller, Prior of Kilmainham and a Knight Hospitaller of St John of Jerusalem, and by her was father of MAURICE WHYTE the Lancastrian, so called from his having served under the three kings of the House of Lancaster. In 1418 Maurice, with the Prior of Kilmainham, led 2,000 Irish to assist at the siege of Rouen, and was afterwards Governor of Montaire, under HENRY VI.
His son,
BARTHOLOMEW WHYTE, wedded Anne Cusack, and was father of
NICHOLAS WHYTE, of King's Meadows, County Waterford, who espoused Elizabeth, daughter of _____ Power, of County Waterford, and had a son,
JAMES WHYTE, of King's Meadows, who died in 1546, and was father of
SIR NICHOLAS WHYTE (c1532-92), of Leixlip, Seneschal of County Wexford, and of Whyte's Hall.
He was also Governor of Wexford Castle, and became Master of the Rolls in Ireland, 1572.
By his wife, a daughter of the family of Sherlock, Sir Nicholas (who died in England) left a son,
ANDREW WHYTE, of Leixlip, who married Margaret, daughter of Patrick Finglass; and dying in 1599, left a son,
SIR NICHOLAS WHYTE, of Leixlip, aged 16 in 1599, Inquisition post mortem.
He wedded Ursula Moore, daughter of Garrett, 1ST VISCOUNT MOORE, of Drogheda, and died in 1654.
His fourth son,
CHARLES WHYTE, of Leixlip, was a colonel in Spain, and afterwards Governor of County Kildare, 1689, and MP for Naas.
By his second wife Mary, fifth daughter of Sir Thomas Newcomen, Knight, of Sutton, County Dublin, and Frances his wife, daughter of Sir William Talbot Bt, he left a son,
COLONEL JOHN WHYTE, (-1741), of Leixlip, who espoused Mary, daughter of Nicholas Purcell, Baron of Loughmoe, County Tipperary, by Rose his wife, daughter of Marcus Trevor, 1st Viscount Dungannon, and left a son,
CHARLES WHYTE (1714-84), of Leixlip, who married, in 1751, Anastasia, daughter of Edward Dunne, of Brittas, by Margaret his wife, daughter of Francis Wyse, of the Manor of St John, Waterford, and had issue,
JOHN, his heir;The elder son,
Nicholas (Sir), Knight of Malta;
Margaret; Rose.
JOHN WHYTE (1752-1814), of Leixlip, wedded, in 1776, Letitia, daughter of the Hon Thomas de Burgh, son of John, 9th Earl of Clanricarde, and had eight sons and two daughters,
CHARLES JOHN, father of CHARLES JOHN WHYTE;The fifth son,
John, East India Company;
Thomas, k/a in Spain;
Francis, in the army in the West Indies;
NICHOLAS CHARLES, of whom presently;
Edward, captain RN;
Marcus, Vice-Consul of Lima;
Henry, Royal Navy, died in the West Indies;
Letitia; Margaret.
CAPTAIN NICHOLAS CHARLES WHYTE JP DL RN (1784-1844), of Loughbrickland, High Sheriff of County Down, 1830, wedded, in 1825, Mary Louisa, daughter of Thomas Segrave, of Cabra, County Dublin, and had issue,
JOHN JOSEPH, his heir;Captain Whyte was succeeded by his eldest son,
Nicholas, d 1863;
Edward;
Anna Maria, a nun;
Letitia, a nun;
Louisa.
JOHN JOSEPH WHYTE JP DL (1826-1916), of Loughbrickland, High Sheriff of County Down, 1862, who espoused firstly, in 1855, Ellen Mary, last surviving daughter of Thomas Laffan Kelly, of Dublin, and had issue,
Mary Jane Elizabeth, m, 1892, Maj R Blount, of Maple Durham, Oxfordshire.He married secondly, in 1862, Caroline Letitia, daughter of George Ryan, of Inch House, County Tipperary, and had issue,
JOHN NICHOLAS, DSO (1864-1908);Mr Whyte's eldest son,
Charles Edward (1866-83);
GEORGE THOMAS (1868-1919);
Henry Marcus (1869-80);
Thomas Aloysius, b 1876;
Edward (1878-94);
WILLIAM HENRY (1880-1949);
Marcus Francis (1883-1905);
Maurice Ignatius, b 1888;
Caroline Mary; Letitia Mary; Anna Mary; Kathleen.
MAJOR JOHN NICHOLAS WHYTE DSO (1864-1906), 20th Foot Regiment, predeceased his father as the result of a riding accident, and was succeeded by his surviving brother,
DR GEORGE THOMAS WHYTE (1868-1919), who succeeded to the family estate following his father's death.
He married, in 1916, and had issue, one daughter, Bunty.
Dr Whyte was succeeded by his brother,
WILLIAM HENRY WHYTE, who was succeeded by his son,
JOHN HENRY WHYTE (1928-90), who succeeded to the estate in 1972.
The Whyte family has written an interesting history of their family here.
LOUGHBRICKLAND HOUSE, Loughbrickland, County Down, is a two-storey, late Georgian house of ca 1785.
Its principal front has three bays with a three-sided bow.
A two-storey wing was added in 1869.
The end of the Victorian wing facing the front has a three-sided bow, which is taller and narrower than the earlier bow.
The later wing also has an eaved roof with barge-boards and gables (the other roof has a parapet).
The lower storey of the original building has two Wyatt windows flanked by a pilastered porch.
The town of Loughbrickland was established in the late 16th century by Sir Marmaduke Whitechurch, to whom ELIZABETH II granted the lands in 1585.
Whitechurch built a castle on the shores of the lake and shortly afterwards a church and a mill, laying the foundations of the town for which he obtained the grant of a market and two fairs and established a Protestant settlement.
The town and church were destroyed in the 1641 rebellion, but in 1688 the church was rebuilt and the town gradually grew up once more.
Frances Whitechurch, daughter and heiress of Sir Marmaduke, married Marcus Trevor, afterwards 1st Viscount Dungannon.Loughbrickland House became the family seat of the Whytes towards the end of the 18th century.
It is thought that the Whytes were able to retain their estates through the harshest period of penal law because of their relationship with the Trevors and the presence of Arthur Hill, also related to the Trevors, as a leasing party in Whyte leases.
As a prominent Roman Catholic family, the views of the Whytes were sought on subjects such as Catholic Emancipation.
Nicholas Whyte was assured in 1829 that the petition he had drawn up from the Catholics of County Down in favour of emancipation, "would ensure the ready and favourable reception" of the Bill in the House of Commons.
On the ground floor the accommodation comprised a hall, library, drawing-room, dining-room, breakfast room, kitchen, scullery with hot and cold water, larder, butler's pantry with hot and cold water, a servants' hall, a storeroom and office.
On the first floor there were seven bedrooms, two dressing-rooms, a nursery, school-room, two bathrooms with hot and cold water and WC, a separate WC, and a housemaid's room with hot and cold water.
On the second floor there were four attic bedrooms, a box-room and a boarded roof space.
There were four cellars in the basement.
Outside was an engine house with a ten horsepower crude oil engine for powering electric light and a water pump.
Outbuildings included a garage, fowl-houses, byres, a greenhouse, piggery and gate lodge.
In the grounds were a croquet lawn, lawns, flower-bed borders and a plantation.
During the 2nd World War, part of the grounds was occupied by the War Department, 28 acres, and later another 16 acres.
In 1942, part of the house was requisitioned, three rooms on the ground floor and four rooms on the first floor, also the back hall on the ground floor and a share in the use of the main hall and corridors (about 40% of the building).
In 1953, part of the house, comprising five rooms, bathroom and kitchen, together with a garage and garden, was let for £160 per annum.
The house continues in private ownership.
In recent years an old coach house to the rear has been converted for use as holiday accommodation.
*****
THE HOUSE lies in a demesne of about 400 acres.
There was formerly a conservatory, now gone.
There are mature shelter trees, but the line of Wellingtonias is the most impressive stand at the site.
Formal gardens and terracing at the house are grassed presently.
The walled garden, uncultivated, has a turreted potting shed.
The head gardener’s house is inhabited.
Two gate lodges were added in the 1880s to the designs of Thomas Jackson: the Town Lodge and North Lodge.
First published in July, 2015.
3 comments :
Owned by Jim & Jean Ferguson early 50’s? to late 80’s? & on their deaths inherited by son James
& Nicky Ferguson (nee Stewart) who lived in Edinburgh & subsequently sold late 90’s?
I think that is incorrect. The house has been in Whyte hands for over two centuries, and still is.
The house is now owned by Nicholas Whyte upon his father John Henry's death in 1990, but very much managed by his mother Jean. The house is open to the public.
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