Cuppage of Mount Edwards

THE CUPPAGES OWNED 5,560 ACRES OF LAND IN COUNTY ANTRIM

The family of CUPPAIDGE came originally from Germany, and the first member of it on record is FAUSTUS CUPPAIDGE, who removed from England to Ulster in 1604, and after the settlement, obtained the estate near Coleraine, County Londonderry.

This Faustus Cuppaidge had, with other issue,

STEPHEN, of whom hereafter;

Faustus;

Robert.

The second son,

STEPHEN CUPPAIDGE or CUPPAGE, represented the borough of Coleraine in Parliament, 1664.

His grandson,

THE VERY REV GEORGE CUPPAGE, Dean of Connor, 1739-43, accompanied Admiral Edward Vernon on the celebrated expedition to Porto Bello in 1730, as private chaplain, and was rewarded for his services by the City of London, with presentation of the living of Coleraine.

He married Miss Burke, great-aunt of the celebrated Edmund Burke, and had a son,

THE REV BURKE CUPPAGE, Rector of Coleraine, wedded Miss Kirkpatrick, and was father of

GENERAL WILLIAM CUPPAGE (1756-1832), of Shooter's Hill, who espoused Mrs Cairnes (née Nicholls), and had a son,

LIEUTENANT-GENERAL SIR BURKE CUPPAGE KCB (1794-1877), Royal Artillery, Lieutenant-Governor of Jersey, 1863, who married Emily Anne, fourth daughter of General Sir John and Lady Emily Mcleod, and had issue,

Robert, killed in the Indian Mutiny;

Burke, 21st Hussars, died 1864;

Emily; Jane; both of Hampton Court Palace.

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JOHN CUPPAGE (c1700-c1751), of Cloghglass or Retreat Castle, a younger son of the above-mentioned Stephen Cuppaidge MP, acquired a fortune, and purchased an estate in County Antrim.

Part of his property called Garden Hill (now LESLIE HILL) was sold by his son,

THE REV ALEXANDER CUPPAGE (1727-72), who wedded Mary, sister of Colonel Boyd, MP for Antrim County.

Mr Cuppage was drowned between Ballycastle and Rathlin Island, and was succeeded in the possession of the remaining portion of his property by Elizabeth, the daughter of his eldest son, who married her second cousin John Cuppage, and was mother of Adam Cuppage, of Glenbank, County Antrim.

The Rev A Cuppage's younger son,

GENERAL ALEXANDER CUPPAGE (1762-1848), of Clare Grove, County Dublin, and Mount Edwards, County Antrim, wedded Clarinda, sister of Major-General Sir Charles Bruce KCB, and had issue, ten children, of whom one of his sons,

EDMOND FLOYD CUPPAGE (1809-64), of Mount Edwards, who espoused firstly, in 1832, Louisa Elizabeth, daughter of George Thompson, of Clonskeagh Castle, County Dublin, and had issue,

ALEXANDER, his heir;

George William, of Riverston, Co Meath; father of EDMOND VERNON CUPPAGE;

Edmond;

Hamlet Wade;

Ellen Sophia (1840-58).

He espoused secondly, Susan, daughter of Henry Garnett, of Green Park, County Meath, and had further issue,

Edmond Francis (1850-69), drowned in the Red Sea;

Alice Clarinda.

Mr Cuppage was succeeded by his eldest son,

ALEXANDER CUPPAGE (1833-1907), of Mount Edwards, Lieutenant, 4th Dragoon Guards, who died unmarried.

His nephew,

EDMOND VERNON CUPPAGE (1866-1908), of Clare Hall, County Dublin, and Mount Edwards, Major, South Staffordshire Regiment, died unmarried, and was succeeded by his brother,

GRANVILLE WILLIAM VERNON CUPPAGE (1867-1940), of Mount Edwards, who married firstly, in 1898, Marion Gwendoline, daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel A J G Kane, USA; and secondly, in 1909, Edith Madeleine, only daughter of Frederick Murray Reade, by whom he had issue, an only child,

EDWARD READE VERNON.

Mr Cuppage emigrated to Canada, and held the position of Deputy Commissioner of Lands and Works, Victoria, British Columbia.

His only son,

EDWARD READE VERNON CUPPAGE (1911-), of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, married Audrey Shirley, daughter of George Frederick Tennant, and had issue,

Burke Edward Bailey, b 1939;

George Wilfred, b 1951;

Shirley Madeleine, b 1944.

MOUNT EDWARDS, south of Cushendall, County Antrim, is described by Mark Bence-Jones in Burke's Guide to Country Houses as,

"An old, plain, two-storey house, deep in relation to its length; described in 1819 as "one of those old snug farmhouses that was built by gentlemen who got tracts of land, in former days, from the Antrim family." 

"Many improvements wee carried out at that period by Samuel Boyd; by 1835 Mount Edwards had been acquired by General Alexander Cuppage, who used it as a summer residence."

Do any readers have images of Mount Edwards?