Vaughan of Quilly

THE VAUGHANS OWNED 224 ACRES OF LAND IN COUNTY DOWN

There is every reason to believe that this family, one of Welsh extraction, is descended from the old and ennobled house of VAUGHAN, of Golden Grove, in Carmarthenshire, on which was conferred the earldom of Carbery.

For more than three centuries it had been settled in the province of Ulster (firstly, however, at Ardee, County Louth), at Dromore, County Down, and, in corroboration of the Golden Grove ancestry, it may be observed that one of the daughters of Walter Vaughan, of Golden Grove, Carmarthenshire, married Sir Edward Moore, Knight, eldest son of Gerald, 1st Viscount Drogheda, and that in her widowhood she and her daughter, Letitia (b 1615) were possessed of property in County Louth, and resided at Ardee, as appears by their petition to Parliament regarding the losses they sustained in the Irish rebellion of 1641.

It may also be noticed that the Rev George Vaughan, Treasurer of Dromore (ancestor of the Vaughans of Quilly), was the devoted friend of Jeremy Taylor, Bishop of Dromore, who was in early life chaplain to Richard Vaughan, of Golden Grove, Earl of Carbery.

The first on record in Ireland was

THE REV GEORGE VAUGHAN, born in 1634, who resided for some time near Ardee.

He was first appointed Curate of Dundalk, and afterwards Treasurer of Dromore Cathedral.

The Rev G Vaughan died leaving a son,

THE REV JOHN VAUGHAN (1675-1745), Rector of the united parishes of Dromore and Annaclone, County Down; who purchased an estate in the parish of Donaghmore and other property in County Down.

Mr Vaughan married, in 1710, Anne, sister of the Rt Rev Ralph Lambert, Lord Bishop of Dromore, and had issue,

RALPH, b 1711; died unmarried;
GEORGE, of whom hereafter;
Alice.

The Rev J Vaughan's second son,

THE REV GEORGE VAUGHAN (1713-94) succeeding his father as Rector of Dromore and Annaclone, wedded Margaret Smith, of Clontibret, County Monaghan, and had issue,

RALPH, his heir;
GEORGE, of whom hereafter;
Rebecca.

The Rev G Vaughan's eldest son,

RALPH VAUGHAN, succeeding to the property of his uncle, Ralph, espoused Miss Montgomery, of County Monaghan (cousin of Ann, wife of his brother George), and had a daughter,

ANNE, m her cousin, George Vaughan, of Quilly (see below).

The Rev George Vaughan's second son,

GEORGE VAUGHAN, of Villa, County Down, Colonel, Dromore and Donaghcloney Volunteers, 1793, wedded Anne Montgomery, of Bessmount, County Monaghan, and had issue,

John, of Villa, died unmarried;
GEORGE, of whom we treat;
Ralph, died unmarried;
Margaret, died unmarried.

The second son,

GEORGE VAUGHAN (1768-1840), of Quilly, espoused firstly his cousin Anne, only daughter of his uncle, Ralph Vaughan (see above) by whom he had no issue.

Mr Vaughan married secondly, in 1824, Mary, daughter of George Tyrrell, of County Westmeath, by his wife, Catherine, daughter of the Very Rev Wensley Bond, Dean of Ross, and sister of the Very Rev James Forward Bond, also Dean of Ross.

He had issue by his second wife,

GEORGE MONTGOMERY, his heir;
John, died unmarried;
Katharine;
Margaret, m, in 1850, M Henry MP, of Kylemore Castle.

The elder son,

GEORGE MONTGOMERY VAUGHAN JP (1825-1902), of Quilly, wedded firstly, in 1850, Frances St Lawrence, daughter of Lieutenant-General the Hon Arthur Grove-Annesley, of Anne's Grove, County Cork, third son of Richard, 2nd Earl Annesley, and had issue,

GEORGE HENRY, his heir;
John Montgomery (1857-83);
Francis Warden Arthur Annesley;
Ernest Llewellyn;
Charles Annesley;
Frances Mary; Elizabeth Mary; Priscilla Georgiana; Alice Katherine; Margaret Beatrice.

Mr Vaughan espoused secondly, in 1872, Jane, daughter of Colonel Wall, of Leamington, and widow of Captain Denis Koënig, of Paris. She dsp 1876.

He married thirdly, in 1884, Caroline Anne, eldest daughter of J Wykeham Dickenson, and had further issue,

Ralph Montgomery, Major, Inniskilling Fusiliers;
Frances Mary.

Mr Vaughan was succeeded by his eldest son,

THE REV GEORGE HENRY VAUGHAN (1854-), of Quilly, Rector of St Michan's, Dublin, who wedded, in 1909, Evelyn Isabel Myra, daughter of James Duncan Long, of Inglebrook, County Wicklow, and of Castlebar road, Ealing, London.

Former seat ~ Quilly House, Dromore, County Down.
Former residence ~ 43 Wellington Place, Clyde Road, Dublin.

*****

QUILLY HOUSE, standing on a hill top to the west of Dromore, County Down, is a two-storey house, dates from pre-1834.

In the 1830s Quilly House possessed an L-shaped range of farm buildings situated to the south-east of the house.

Most of these original outbuildings, however, have been replaced with contemporary structures.

Quilly House (Image: Chris Vaughan)

A surviving two-storey barn to the south-east of Quilly House was once a dwelling and, it is thought, may predate the current house.

George Vaughan (1768-1840) established and erected Quilly House.

About 1858 Quilly's gate lodge had been swept away and a new lodge erected on the opposite side of the estate entrance.

George Vaughan’s son, George Montgomery Vaughan, succeeded to the property, which he leased from the Ecclesiastical Commissioners.

Quilly House (Image: Chris Vaughan)

G M Vaughan was stated to be a widowed farmer and landlord, who lived at Quilly with his daughters and several domestic servants.

Quilly was subsequently leased to the Rev Henry Murphy, Rector and Prebendary of Dromara between 1864-76; the Rev Charles B Knox, who continued to reside there till 1891, when the Vaughans resumed occupancy of the estate.

(Image: Chris Vaughan)

The house comprised twenty-four rooms, and outbuildings including a stable, two cow-houses, a dairy, piggery, fowl house, boiling house, a barn, turf house, potato house, a store and a laundry.

Wedding Party at Quilly (Image: Chris Vaughan)

An ordnance survey map of ca 1903 illustrates a long range of farm buildings, extending to the east of the former L-shaped range, located inside the square walled enclosure.

(Image: Chris Vaughan)

George Montgomery Vaughan died in 1902 and was succeeded by his eldest son, the Rev George Henry Vaughan (who lived in Dublin where he was Rector of St. Michan’s).

In 1929 when Evelyn Vaughan took over possession of the estate.

There are mature parkland trees, a lake, walled garden.

Quilly House (Image: Evelyn Birkinshaw)

I had no images of Quilly House until January, 2022, when Evelyn Birkinshaw, the only grandchild of the Rev George Vaughan, very kindly got in touch with me and forwarded two photographs.

Evelyn is likely the last family repository of maps and documentation about Quilly House when it was in the hands of the family.

Quilly house (Image: Evelyn Birkinshaw)

She learned to walk along its corridors in about 1954, but was too young to remember that; and Quilly was sold shortly thereafter.

First published in June, 2015.