Whitla of Ben Eadan

THE WHITLAS OWNED 545 ACRES OF LAND IN COUNTY ANTRIM

This family was of Scottish origin, the founder of the Ulster branch having settled in County Antrim from Ayrshire during the plantation of Ulster, and settled in the townland of Gobrana, Glenavy, where the family continued to reside until 1860.

WILLIAM WHITLA, of Glenavy, County Antrim, born in 1655, had issue by his wife, Elizabeth, three sons,

GEORGE;
James;
Valentine.

The eldest son,

GEORGE WHITLA (1689-1762), of the townland of Gobrana, Glenavy, married, in 1727, his cousin, Elinor Whitla, by whom he had four sons and three daughters,

William, of Derrychrin (1729-94);
John, of Lisburn;
Francis, of Glendona;
VALENTINE, of whom we treat;
Elizabeth; Eleanor; Jane.

Mr Whitla's youngest son,

VALENTINE WHITLA (1735-1802), of Gobrana, wedded, in 1779, Jane, daughter of John Bashford, by whom he had five sons and a daughter,

GEORGE, of Inver Lodge, Larne, JP;
JAMES, of whom hereafter;
Francis;
William John;
Valentine, of Ben Eadan, JP (1786-1865), dsp;
Jane.

Mr Whitla's second son,

JAMES WHITLA JP (1781-1862), of Gobrana, espoused, in 1806, Catherine, third daughter of Alexander Gunning JP, of Carrickfergus, and had issue,

GEORGE ALEXANDER, his heir;
Valentine (1821-57);
William John, died young;
Francis, died young;
Alicia Jane; Katherine; Anne; Susannah; Frances.

Mr Whitla died at Dunmurry, County Antrim, and was succeeded by his eldest son,

GEORGE ALEXANDER WHITLA JP (1818-67), of Ben Eadan, Captain, Royal Antrim Rifles, who married, in 1858, Isabella Frances, youngest daughter of the Rev John Hammond, of Priston Rectory, Bath, Somerset, and grand-niece of George Hammond, of Portland Place, London, Under Secretary of State of Foreign Affairs and First British Minister to America, and had issue,

JAMES ALEXANDER, his heir;
Valentine George, Major, 3rd Hussars;
Mary Isabel Hammond; Ellen Constance; Isabella Frances Alexandra.

Captain Whitla's widow married secondly, in 1869, Sheffield Grace Phillip Fiennes Betham, Cork Herald of Arms (second son of Sir William Betham, Ulster King-of-Arms).

His eldest son,

JAMES ALEXANDER WHITLA (1859-1913), of Ben Eadan, near Belfast, Major, 4th Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles, wedded, in 1881, Honoria Maria, third daughter of John Handcock Townshend, of Myross Wood, and had issue,

GEORGE TOWNSHEND, b 1882; 4th Battalion, RIR;
Edith Constance; Norah Kathleen; Alice Mildred.

BEN EADAN HOUSE (above) was built in 1849 on the site now occupied by St Clement’s Retreat House, which stands above St Gerard’s Church.

In the 1890s, this house was owned by the Whitla family.

The site was acquired by the Church in 1951.

The rest of the land was acquired by the Belfast Corporation to complete the link between Belfast Castle and Hazlewood.

Some of the original farmyard buildings still survive.

The House was replaced by St Clement's retreat house ca 1960.

First published in June, 2015.