1st Duke of Roxburghe

THE DUKES OF ROXBURGHE WERE THE SECOND LARGEST LANDOWNERS IN ROXBURGHSHIRE, WITH 50,459 ACRES

This family and the Kerrs, Marquesses of Lothian, descended from two brothers, RALPH and JOHN, originally of Normandy, who passed from England into Scotland sometime in the 13th century, and laid the foundation of those two illustrious houses - Ralph, that of the Kerrs, Marquesses of Lothian; and John, that of the Kers of Cessford; of which the latter family, the eleventh in descent from the founder, SIR ROBERT KER (1570-1650), Knight, of Cessford (elder son of William Ker, of Cessford, warden of the Middle Marches, by Janet, daughter of Sir William Douglas, of Drumlanrig), was elevated to the peerage, in 1600, as Lord Roxburghe; and created, in 1616, Lord Ker of Cessford and Cavertoun, and Earl of Roxburghe.

This nobleman accompanied JAMES VI, King of Scotland, into England, and was Lord Privy Seal in the reign of CHARLES I. His lordship wedded Mary, daughter of Sir William Maitland. Upon the decease of his younger and only surviving son, Lord Roxburghe obtained, in 1646, a new charter, entailing his honours and estates upon his grandson, the Hon Sir William Drummond; and after him, upon the three sons successively of his granddaughter Jane, Countess of John, 3rd Earl of Wigtown.

The 1st Earl's aforesaid grandson,

THE HON SIR WILLIAM DRUMMOND (1622-75), succeeding as 2nd Earl of Roxburghe, assumed the surname of KER, and fulfilling the stipulation in the will by marrying his cousin, the Lady Jean Ker, was succeeded by his eldest son,

ROBERT, 3rd Earl (c1658-82) who was one of the privy council of CHARLES II, accompanying The Duke of York from London to Scotland in HMS Gloucester.

His lordship was lost on the coast of Yarmouth, in 1682, leaving issue by his wife, Mary, daughter of John, 1st Marquess of Tweeddale (who survived him and remained a widow 71 years), three sons, of whom the eldest,

ROBERT (c1677-96) succeeded as 4th Earl; at whose decease, unmarried, the honours devolved upon his brother,

JOHN, 5th Earl (c1680-1741); who, having filled the office of Secretary of State in 1704, was installed a Knight of the Garter, and created, in 1707, Viscount Broxmouth, Earl of Kelso, Marquess of Cessford and Bowmont, and DUKE OF ROXBURGHE, with remainder to the heirs who should inherit the earldom of Roxburghe.

His Grace espoused Mary, daughter of Daniel, Earl of Nottingham, and widow of William, Marquess of Halifax; and dying in 1741, was succeeded by his only son,

ROBERT, 2nd Duke, who wedded, in 1739, Essex, eldest daughter of Sir Roger Mostyn Bt; and dying in 1755, was succeeded by his son,

JOHN, 3rd Duke; the celebrated book collector, who was installed a Knight of the Garter and a Knight of the Thistle; but dying unmarried, in 1804, the British honours expired, while the Scottish devolved upon His Grace's kinsman,

WILLIAM, 7th Lord Bellenden, as 4th Duke.

• James Innes-Ker, 5th Duke (1736–1823)
• James Innes-Ker, 6th Duke (1816–79)
• James Innes-Ker, 7th Duke (1839–92)
• Henry Innes-Ker, 8th Duke (1876–1932)
• George Innes-Ker, 9th Duke (1913–74)
• Guy Innes-Ker, 10th Duke (1954-2019)
• Charles Robert George Innes-Ker, 11th Duke of Roxburghe (b 1981).

FLOORS CASTLE, near Kelso, Roxburghshire, was built in the 1720s by the architect William Adam for the 1st Duke of Roxburghe, possibly incorporating an earlier tower house

In the 19th century it was embellished with turrets and battlements by William Playfair for the 6th Duke.

Floors has the common 18th-century layout of a main block with two symmetrical service wings.

The 5th Earl of Roxburghe commissioned the Scottish architect William Adam (1689–1748), father of Robert Adam, to design a new mansion incorporating the earlier tower house.

It was built between 1721-26, and comprised a plain block, with towers at each corner.

Pavilions on either side housed stables and kitchens.

Ca 1837, the 6th Duke commissioned the fashionable architect William Playfair to remodel and rebuild the plain Georgian mansion house he had inherited.

The present form of the building is the result of Playfair's work.

In 1903, the 8th Duke married the American heiress May Goelet, who brought with her from her Long Island home a set of Gobelins Manufactory tapestries, that were incorporated into the ballroom in the 1930s, and added to the collection several modern pictures by Walter Sickert and Henri Matisse, among others.

The 10th and present Duke and Duchess undertake the huge responsibility of maintaining and protecting the treasures to ensure that they can be enjoyed by future generations.

In 2010, the installation of a biomass boiler providing a source of renewable heat energy marked the next page in the history of Floors Castle.

First published in January, 2014.  Roxburghe arms courtesy of European Heraldry.

Athavallie House

THE LYNCH-BLOSSE BARONETS WERE MAJOR LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY MAYO, WITH 22,658 ACRES

The family of LYNCH was of great antiquity in the province of Connaught, being amongst the very early settlers, denominated the Tribes of Galway. In an old manuscript in Ulster King-of-Arms' office, William le Petit is stated to be the common progenitor of all the Lynches of Ireland.

The founder of the honours of the family, however, was

HENRY LYNCH, Mayor of, and MP for Galway (eldest of twelve sons of Nicholas Lynch, also Mayor of Galway).

Mr Lynch was created a baronet in 1622, designated of Galway.

This gentleman was the son of Nicholas Lynch fitz Stephen (Mayor 1584–1585) and great-grandson of Mayor Arthur Lynch (died 1539); land agent for Richard, 4th Earl of Clanricarde; mentor to Patrick D'Arcy and Richard Martyn, later senior political figures of Confederate Ireland.

He was stepfather to D'Arcy and married to an aunt of Martyn. He was among the first of his family to become a lawyer, and several of his younger sons followed him into this profession, as did, under his influence, D'Arcy, Martyn, Geoffrey Browne and subsequent generations of The Tribes of Galway.

Sir Henry married Elizabeth, daughter of Richard Martin, and widow of James D'Arcy, by whom he had three sons and three daughters.

He died in 1635, and was succeeded by his eldest son,

SIR ROBUCK LYNCH, 2nd Baronet, MP for Galway Borough, 1639-42, and was resident counsel for Connaught during the rebellion.

He wedded Ellis, daughter of Sir Peter French, Knight, by whom he had two sons, and was succeeded on his decease, 1667, by the elder, 

SIR HENRY LYNCH, 3rd Baronet, a lawyer of eminence, and one of the barons of the exchequer, in 1689, wedded firstly, Margaret, daughter of Sir Theobald Bourke, 3rd Viscount Mayo, but by that lady had no issue; and secondly, and had (with a younger son) his successor,

SIR ROBERT LYNCH (-c1720), 4th Baronet, who espoused Catherine, daughter of Henry Blake, of County Mayo, by whom he had, with two daughters, a son and heir,

SIR HENRY LYNCH (-1762), 5th Baronet, of Carracastle, who married Mary, daughter of John Moore, of Brees [sic], County Galway, and had one daughter and an only son, his successor,

SIR ROBERT LYNCH-BLOSSE, 6th Baronet, who wedded Elizabeth, daughter and heir of Francis Barker, heir of Tobias Blosse, of Little Belstead, Suffolk.

He assumed the surname of BLOSSE, in addition to, and after, that of LYNCH.

It was a condition of the marriage that Robert would assume the additional surname of BLOSSE and conform to Protestantism.

The issue of this marriage were, HENRY, who succeeded to the title; and Francis, who wedded Hatton, daughter of John Smith, and had issue, Robert, who, succeeding his uncle, became the 8th Baronet.

Sir Robert died in 1775, and was succeeded by his elder son,

SIR HENRY LYNCH-BLOSSE, 7th Baronet (1749-88), MP for Tuam, 1776-83, upon whose demise, without issue, the title reverted to his nephew, 

SIR ROBERT LYNCH-BLOSSE, 8th Baronet (1774-1818), who wedded firstly, Elizabeth, daughter of William Gorman, of Carlow, by whom he had FRANCIS, the next baronet, with several other children.

He married secondly, Charlotte, daughter of John Richards, of Cardiff.

Sir Robert  was succeeded by his son,

THE REV SIR FRANCIS LYNCH-BLOSSE, 9th Baronet (1801-40), who wedded, in 1824, Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Lord Plunket, and had issue,

ROBERT, 10th Baronet;
William Conyngham, b 1826.

*****

Sir Richard Hely Lynch-Blosse (b 1953), 17th and present Baronet, lives in Oxfordshire.

ATHAVALLIE HOUSE, near Castlebar, County Mayo, is a long, low, plain, two-storey residence, its main block of five bays, with an entrance door set in a broad stone arch.

The front is extended by a four-bay range of the same height, though set back.

In 1894, Athavallie House was recorded as the seat of Sir Henry Lynch-Blosse, 11th Baronet (1857-1918), and most likely the last of the family to reside there.

In 1920, the Sisters of St Louis founded a school which catered for girls only.

It was a boarding school-cum-day school until the St Louis Sisters left in 1978 and the school became co-educational under the control of the local community.

Balla Secondary School is based here now.

Athavallie House still stands but is no longer used for educational purposes.

It was used as a military hospital during the 1st World War.

Other former seat ~ Castle Carra, County Mayo.

First published in April, 2013.

Sir James Matheson Bt

SIR JAMES NICOLAS SUTHERLAND MATHESON, BARONET, WAS THE GREATEST LANDOWNER IN ROSS-SHIRE, WITH 406,070 ACRES

Of the Shiness branch of the Mathesons, so named from their having held that place as a mortgage for several centuries, there are several notices in Sir Robert Gordon’s History of the Earldom of Sutherland, who mentions the family as chief of the name, in 1616.

Of this family was Colonel George Matheson, who accompanied Sir Donald Mackay of Farr, afterwards Lord Reay, into the service of Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, and obtained a grant of the family coat of arms from CHARLES I, in 1639.

In the last century the family was represented by

NIEL MATHESON (1700-75), having had an only son,

DUNCAN MATHESON, who died young, in 1746, from wounds received in a skirmish connected with the rebellion of 1745.

He married Elizabeth Mackay, of Mowdil.

His widow married secondly, Dr Archibald Campbell, with whom she emigrated in 1772 to America, and had a numerous progeny. Her youngest son, George Washington Campbell, was finance minister of the United States in 1813, and in 1818 was appointed ambassador extraordinary to the court of St Petersburg.

Duncan Matheson had an only son,

CAPTAIN DONALD MATHESON (1746-1810), who married Catherine, eldest daughter of the Rev Thomas Mackay, minister of Lairg, by whom he had three sons and six daughters.

His second son,

JAMES NICOLAS SUTHERLAND MATHESON (1796-1878), of Achany and the Lews, married, in 1843, Mary Jane, fourth daughter of M H Perceval, of Quebec.

Mr Matheson was created a baronet in 1851, designated of The Lews, Ross-shire.

Sir James died without issue, in 1878, when the baronetcy expired.

LEWS CASTLE is located west of the town of Stornoway, Isle of Lewis, Scotland.

It was built ca 1847-57 as a country house for Sir James Matheson, who had bought the whole island for £500,000 (about £54 million today) a few years previously with his fortune from the Chinese Opium trade.

It was designed by the Glasgow architect Charles Wilson.

On Sir James's decease in 1878 the estate fell to his widow, Mary, and subsequently to his nephew Donald and grand-nephew Colonel Duncan Matheson.

For financial reasons the Lewis estate and the Castle were put on the market in 1917.

In 1918, the Lewis estate, including the castle, was bought by industrialist Lord Leverhulme from the Matheson family.

He gifted the castle to the people of Stornoway parish in 1923.

During the 2nd World War the Castle was taken over as accommodation for air and ground crew of 700 Naval Air Squadron, who operated a detachment of six Supermarine Walrus aircraft from a slipway at Cuddy Point in the Grounds. The base was referred to as HMS Mentor.

After the war, the Castle was also used for accommodation for students of Lews Castle College in the 1950s.

Today the building is owned by the local council and is protected as a category A listed building.

Lews Castle was awarded £4.6 million by the Heritage Lottery Fund in 2011, to enable it to be converted into a bilingual museum and cultural centre.

First published in January, 2014.

Glyde Court

THE FOSTER BARONETS WERE MAJOR LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY LOUTH, WITH 3,442 ACRES

JOHN FOSTER (1665-1747), of Dunleer, County Louth, Mayor of Dunleer, married, in 1704, Elizabeth, youngest daughter of William Fortescue, of Newrath, County Louth, and had issue,

Anthony (1705-79), ancestor of Lord Oriel;
THOMAS, of whom presently;
John William, MP, of Dunleer;
Margaret; Alice; Charlotte.

The second son,

THE REV DR THOMAS FOSTER (1709-84), Rector of Dunleer, wedded, in 1740, Dorothy, daughter of William Burgh, of Birt, County Kildare, and had issue, an only child,

JOHN THOMAS FOSTER (1747-96), of Dunleer, MP for Dunleer, 1776-83, who espoused, in 1776, the Lady Elizabeth Hervey, daughter of Frederick, 4th Earl of Bristol and Lord Bishop of Derry, and had issue,

Frederick Thomas, born 1777;
AUGUSTUS JOHN, of whom hereafter;
Elizabeth.

His younger son, 

THE RT HON SIR AUGUSTUS VERE FOSTER GCH (1780-1848), of Stonehouse, County Louth, married, in 1815, Albina Jane, daughter of the Hon George Vere Hobart, and had issue,

FREDERICK GEORGE, his successor;
CAVENDISH HERVEY, 3rd Baronet;
Vere Henry Lewis.

Mr Foster was knighted 1825 for his diplomatic services (which were not particularly distinguished, since his manners were not conciliating).

Sir Augustus was created a baronet in 1831, designated of Glyde Court, County Louth.

The influence of his stepfather William, 5th Duke of Devonshire, was exercised at the instance of his mother, the Duke's second wife.

The 1st Baronet, who committed suicide, was succeeded by his eldest son,

SIR FREDERICK GEORGE FOSTER, 2nd Baronet (1816-1857), who died unmarried, and was succeeded by his next brother,

THE REV SIR CAVENDISH HERVEY FOSTER, 3rd Baronet (1817-1890), who married, in 1844, Isabella, daughter of the Rev John Todd, and had issue,

JOHN FREDERICK, his successor;
Hervey;
Jane Vere.

Sir Cavendish was succeeded by his eldest son,

SIR AUGUSTUS VERE FOSTER, 4th Baronet (1873-1947), JP DL, Captain, Norfolk Yeomanry, who married, in 1894, Charlotte Philippa Marion, daughter of the Rev Henry Edward Browne ffolkes, and had issue,

ANTHONY VERE (1908-34);
Philippa Eugenie Vere; Dorothy Elizabeth Charlotte Vere.

The baronetcy became extinct in 1947 following the decease of the 4th and last Baronet.

GLYDE COURT, near Tallanstown, County Louth, was a late 18th century house with a long elevation, remodelled in the 19th century in Jacobean style.

The long elevation had curvilinear gables and two curved bows.

The main entrance was at one end of the house, where there was a shorter front with two gabled projections joined by an arcaded cloister.

The last baronet to live at Glyde Court, Sir Augustus, features in a romantic Edwardian family portrait by Sir William Orpen KBE, on display at the National Gallery of Ireland.

First published in April, 2013.

Ardagh House

THE FETHERSTON BARONETS, OF ARDAGH, WERE MAJOR LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY LONGFORD, WITH 8,711 ACRES

The founder of this family, CUTHBERT FETHERSTON, of the ancient stock of the Fetherstons of Heathery Cleugh, County Durham, settled in Ireland after the battle of Worcester, in which Sir Thomas Fetherstonhaugh was made prisoner, and afterwards beheaded at Chester.

The eldest son of this Cuthbert, 

CUTHBERT FETHERSTON, had three sons,

Cuthbert, ancestor of Fetherston of Bracklyn;
THOMAS, of whom hereafter;
Francis.

The second son,

THOMAS FETHERSTON, settled at Ardagh, County Longford, and marrying Miss Sherlock, had four sons,

John (Very Rev), Dean of Raphoe;
William, of Carrick;
Francis;
RALPH, of whom we treat.

The youngest son,

RALPH FETHERSTON (c1731-80), of Ardagh, High Sheriff of County Longford, 1756, MP for Longford County, 1765-6, was created a baronet in 1776, designated of Ardagh, County Longford.

He wedded firstly, Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Samuel Achmuty, of Brianstown, County Longford, by whom he had an only daughter, Elizabeth; and secondly, Sarah, daughter of Godfrey Wills, of Will's Grove, County Roscommon, by whom he had issue,

THOMAS, his heir;
Godfrey, killed in the East Indies;
John;
Francis;
Sarah; Maria; Letitia; Elizabeth.

Sir Ralph was succeeded by his eldest son,

SIR THOMAS FETHERSTON, 2nd Baronet (1759-1819),  High Sheriff of County Longford, 1781, MP for County Longford, 1783-1800, who married Catherine, daughter of George Boleyn Whitney, of New Pass, County Westmeath, and had issue,

GEORGE RALPH, his successor;
John;
THOMAS, succeeded his brother;
Elizabeth; Catherine; Isabella; Sarah; Octavia.

Sir Thomas was succeeded by his eldest son,

SIR GEORGE RALPH FETHERSTON, 3rd Baronet (1784-1853), High Sheriff of County Longford, 1834, MP for County Longford, 1819-30, who espoused, in 1821, Frances Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Richard Solly, of York Place, Portman Square, London, though the marriage was without issue.

Sir George and Lady Fetherston landscaped the demesne grounds and the village of Ardagh. The conversion of the old house into the mansion within its demesne may have been completed at this time, and involved the re-siting of the village street or road. The village clock-tower and surrounding buildings were erected in 1863 in remembrance of Sir George and of his life-long devotion to the moral and social improvement of his tenantry, and the site whereon they stand purchased by Frances Elizabeth, his widow. A memorial stone in the old church records his death on 12th July 1853, and that his wife died in London twelve years later and was buried in Walthamstow. 

Sir George was succeeded by his youngest brother,

THE REV SIR THOMAS FRANCIS FETHERSTON, 4th Baronet (1800-53), who married firstly, in 1823, Adeline Godley; and secondly, Anne L'Estrange, of Moystown, County Offaly, and had issue,

George Ralph, died in infancy;
THOMAS JOHN, his successor;
Edmund Whitney;
John Henry;
Albert William Boleyn;
Boleyn Henry Francis;
Henry Ernest Wiliam;
Rosa Elizabeth; Catherine.

Sir Thomas was succeeded by his eldest surviving son,

SIR THOMAS JOHN FETHERSTON, 5th Baronet (1824-69), High Sheriff of County Longford, 1858, who espoused, in 1848, Sarah, daughter of Henry Alcock, and had issue,

GEORGE RALPH, his successor;
Adeline Margaret; Caroline Louisa.

Sir Thomas was succeeded by his only son,

THE REV SIR GEORGE RALPH FETHERSTON (1852-1923), 6th and last Baronet, High Sheriff of County Longford, 1897,  who died unmarried, when the baronetcy expired.

Sir George was born in Dublin and educated at Brighton College.

In his mid-twenties he entered Salisbury Theological College to prepare for ordination into the ministry of the Church of England.  

He served as curate in Tenby and Worcester City, and for six years as Rector or Vicar of the Parish of Pydeltrenthide in Dorset.

He served also as an honorary chaplain to Millbank Military Hospital, London, during the 1914-18 War.

He was one of the first two men in Holy Orders to serve as Sheriff in their Counties until the disestablishment of the Church of Ireland clerics of the Anglican Communion were not permitted to hold such Office.

Being Sheriff in 1897 he received the Diamond Jubilee Medal and preached his Jubilee Sermon in St. Patrick's Church, Ardagh.

Sir George was a man of many interests and hobbies — music, travel, cycling, fishing, photography, collecting ancient china and stamps, bird-watching and study of insects.

He travelled widely in Europe, Africa, North and South America.

This must have absorbed some of the Ardagh estate income.

He was Fellow and Vice-President of the Guild of Church Musicians and of the Victoria College of Music London. 

Who's Who credited him with the composition of 150 alternative tunes for Hymns Ancient & Modern, various chants, songs and other music, but none of these are to be found in current chant and Hymn books.

His publications have been listed as The Malvern Hills, Through Corsica with a Pencil. The Mystery of Maple Street, A Poem: The Rose of England. An Incident in the Siege of Antwerp, A Legend of Corpus Christi College, and four books of Sermons and Addresses.

These may have been published privately for limited sale or distribution.

Sir George may not have had much interest in the ownership and management of the estate.

He entered into voluntary agreements with over 300 tenants to sell to them the freehold of their farms, under the Irish Land Act 1903. 

The Ardagh estate was not acquired or purchased by the Irish Land Commission, which, however, advanced the money required by the tenants and others, and the holdings were vested in them by the Commission in 1922-23.

An area of 427 acres of bog land was vested in trustees for the use of purchasing new freeholders.

Sir George retained Ardagh House and demesne acres until his death in a Worcester City Nursing Home, and burial in Tenby, South Wales, in 1923. 


An attempt to destroy the house by fire in 1922 may have been a local expression of dissatisfaction with allocation of estate land or an effort to hasten sale of the last remnants of the estate.

Manuscripts written in Irish were salvaged from the 1922 flames of Ardagh House.

ARDAGH HOUSE is an eight-bay, two-storey (originally three-storey) over-basement house, originally built ca 1730 and altered ca 1826 and ca 1863. 

A Three-bay, two-storey block (formerly the ballroom) was attached to the south-east end, having hipped slate roof with overhanging bracketed eaves.

A single-bay porch with tetra-style porch to the centre of the front façade (south), adjoined to the east by a four-bay single-storey additional conservatory with pilasters and lean-to roof. 

(Image: Longford Tourism)

Ardagh House was acquired as training college by the Sisters of Mercy ca 1927, with multiple extensions to the east and the north-east.

It retains much of its early character despite a fire in 1948 that resulted in it being reduced to two storeys in height.

Much interesting fabric remains, such as some timber sliding sash windows, and console brackets to the porch. 

Although probably early-to-mid 18th century in date, this structure now has a predominantly early-to-mid 19th century appearance.

The elegant porch and conservatory, and the former ballroom/block to the east, were also added at this time. 

It also retains some of its early fabric to the interior, despite the fire in 1948, including plasterwork and fireplaces.

THE POET and novelist Oliver Goldsmith (1728-74), when a young man, once loitered on his way between Ballymahon and Edgeworthstown, strayed from the direct road, and found himself benighted on the street  of Ardagh.

Wishing to find an inn, but inquiring "for the best house in the place", he was wilfully misunderstood by a wag and directed to the large, old-fashioned residence of Sir Ralph Fetherston, 1st Baronet.

Sir Ralph, whom the poet found seated by a good fire in the parlour, immediately perceived the young man's mistake; and being humorous and well-acquainted with Goldsmith's family, he for some time encouraged the deception.

The incidents of the occasion form the groundwork of Goldsmith's well-known comedy "Mistakes of a Night."

First published in December, 2011.

Springfield Castle

THE BARONS MUSKERRY WERE MAJOR LANDOWNERS IN COUNTY WEXFORD, WITH 9,412 ACRES

This family possessed large estates in Somerset as far back as the reign of HENRY II.

The third son of MOSES DEANE, of Deane's Fort, Somerset,

MATTHEW DEANE (c1626-1711), settled in Ireland during the reign of JAMES I, and took up his abode at Dromore, County Cork, where he purchased considerable estates.

Mr Deane, who bequeathed large sums towards the erection of almshouses and other charitable purposes, was created a baronet in 1710, designated of Muskerry.

He married firstly, Mary, daughter of Thomas Wallis, of Somerset; secondly, Martha, daughter of the Most Rev Richard Boyle, Lord Archbishop of Tuam; and thirdly, Dorothy, Countess of Barrymore; by the first of whom he left, at his decease, in 1711, a son and heir,

SIR ROBERT DEANE, 2nd Baronet, who wedded Anne, daughter and co-heir of William Boltridge, one of CROMWELL'S officers; and dying in 1712, was succeeded by his son,

SIR MATTHEW DEANE, 3rd Baronet, MP for Charleville, 1713-14, County Cork, 1728-47, who espoused Jane, only daughter of the Rev William Sharpe, son of the Archbishop of St Andrew's, the ill-fated primate of Scotland, and had issue,

MATTHEW, his successor;
Thomas, dsp;
ROBERT, 4th Baronet;
Meliana; Dorothy; Jane.

Sir Matthew died in 1747, and was succeeded by his eldest son,

SIR MATTHEW DEANE, 4th Baronet (c1706-51), MP for Cork City, 1739-51, who wedded Salisbury, daughter and sole heir of Robert Davis, of Manley Hall, Cheshire, by whom he had three daughters, viz.

Salisbury; Mary; Charlotte.

Sir Matthew dying thus without male issue, the title devolved upon his brother,

THE RT HON SIR ROBERT DEANE, 5th Baronet (c1707-70), Barrister, Privy Counsellor, MP for Tallow, 1757-68, Carysfort, 1769-70, who married, in 1738, Charlotte, second daughter of Thomas Tilson (uncle to Lord Castlecoote), and had issue,

ROBERT, his successor;
Jocelyn;
Charlotte; Grace; Eliza Salisbury; Jane; Alicia; Frances.

Sir Robert was succeeded by his eldest son,

SIR ROBERT TILSON DEANE, 6th Baronet (1745-1818), MP for Carysfort, 1771-6, County Cork, 1776-81, who was raised to the peerage, in 1781, in the dignity of BARON MUSKERRY.

He wedded, in 1775, Anne, daughter of John Fitzmaurice, and sole heir of her grandfather, John Fitzmaurice, of Springfield Castle, County Limerick (nephew of Thomas, 1st Earl of Kerry), and had issue,

JOHN THOMAS FITZMAURICE, his successor;
William;
MATTHEW, 3rd Baron.

His lordship was succeeded by his elder son,

JOHN THOMAS FITZMAURICE (1777-1824), 2nd Baron, CB, Major-General in the army, who married, in 1815, the second daughter of M Haynes, of Bishop's Castle; but died in 1824, without male issue, when the honours devolved upon his only brother,

MATTHEW FITZMAURICE (1795-1868), 3rd Baron, who wedded, in 1825, Louisa Dorcas, second daughter of Henry Deane Grady, of Lodge, County Limerick, and Stillorgan Castle, County Dublin, and had issue,

ROBERT TILSON FITZMAURICE, his successor;
Henry Standish Fitzmaurice;
Matthew James Fitzmaurice.

• Hamilton Matthew Tilson Fitzmaurice Deane-Morgan, 4th Baron (1854–1929);

• Robert Matthew Fitzmaurice Deane-Morgan, 5th Baron (1874–1952);

• Matthew Chichester Cecil Fitzmaurice Deane-Morgan, 6th Baron (1875–1954);

• Matthew Fitzmaurice Tilson Deane, 7th Baron (1874–1966);

• Hastings Fitzmaurice Tilson Deane, 8th Baron (1907–88);

• Robert Fitzmaurice Deane, 9th Baron Muskerry (b 1948).

The heir apparent is the present holder's only son, the Hon Jonathan Fitzmaurice Deane.

ARDCANDRISK HOUSE, near Wexford, County Wexford (above), is a two-storey Regency villa of about 1833, comprising three polygons of differing sizes.

It has eaved roofs and Wyatt windows at one end.

It was built by the Grogan-Morgans, though was acquired by the Deanes, Lords Muskerry, though marriage.

SPRINGFIELD CASTLE, Drumcolliher, County Limerick, is the ancestral seat of the Barons Muskerry.

The Castle features a Neo-Gothic style main residential building, cornered by two towers, one of which is the large Norman keep built in the 15th Century; and the smaller tower, built later in the 18th Century, enclosing a large central courtyard.

A younger son of the 20th Lord of Kerry, William Fitzmaurice, bought Springfield.

His son John built a very large, three-storey, early Georgian mansion attached to the existing buildings

The Fitzmaurices occupied Springfield Castle until Sir Robert Tilson Deane, 1st Baron Muskerry, married Ann Fitzmaurice, the sole heiress, in 1780.

The Lords Muskerry owned 3,161 acres in County Limerick during the Victorian era.

The castle was burnt in 1921 and rebuilt by the 5th Baron.

Robert, 9th Baron, lives and works in South Africa presently.

His sister Betty and her husband Jonathan run Springfield Castle.

First published in June, 2013.   Muskerry arms courtesy of European Heraldry.

Mount Stewart Memories: I

THE LATE CHARLES VILLIERS, A GRANDSON OF THE LATE LADY MAIRI BURY AND GREAT-GRANDSON OF THE 7TH MARQUESS AND MARCHIONESS OF LONDONDERRY, REMINISCES ABOUT MOUNT STEWART, COUNTY DOWN,  DURING THE 1960s AND 1970s

The swimming-pool at Mount Stewart was such a fun place for children.

My sister Charlotte and I loved every minute of going there.

I have virtually an album full of photographs of enjoyable times on hot days at the swimming pool.

As I remember, the last summer we used the pool daily, as opposed to intermittently thereafter, was 1977. 

I was born at Newtownards in 1963 and, my parents having married whilst my father was an undergraduate at Oxford, had no proper home at first so, my mother having returned to Northern Ireland for me to be born, they then left me with my grandmother [Lady Mairi] for the first six months of my life.

Thereafter, during all my childhood and school-days, we spent huge amounts of the holidays at Mount Stewart - pretty well every Christmas and New Year, a month every summer (much spent at the pool), and occasional Easters.

My wonderful grandmother gave me my driving lessons in her lime green Rover (with bright orange interior) on the estate roads. 

Curiously enough I was always back at boarding school by the time the rhododendrons were in full flower so it was only in the 1990s when we now stayed with my grandmother in May most years that I saw them for the first time in all their glory.

First published in November, 2010.

Valete: Mount Stewart Pool

If, at Mount Stewart, you stroll along the coast-line to the south of the main road and between two of the gate lodges on the other side of the road, you shall find the remains of a low, stone wall with a sort of tower further along.

This part of the estate is across the main Portaferry Road, opposite the demesne itself.

There's a circular concrete base in the ground, with a rusty, iron rail within it.

Look inland and you will see a sunken wilderness, overgrown with gorse and long grass.

The concrete base was constructed for a wooden, revolving gazebo. 

The sunken wilderness is all that remains of Lord and Lady Londonderry's beautiful salt-water, kidney-shaped swimming-pool.

It was the most picturesque, splendid pool I have ever seen; tranquil and heavenly, surrounded by luxuriant flora, including palm trees.

On the patio beside the pool there were changing-rooms and a little fountain.

The base of the fountain and pool was painted aquamarine.

The changing-rooms were adjacent, their back against a high, stone wall.

I seem to recall a small stone plaque, or lozenge, between the cabins with Charles and Edith Londonderry's monogram.

This wall surrounded three sides of the pool area; and there was an elevated bank at the seaward side with stone steps and various features, like stone benches.

I think there was a diving-board, but I cannot be certain.

It felt like another world, within these walls; a true haven, sheltered from the sea breeze.

The pool was designed and built, it is believed, in the 1930s by Edith, Marchioness of Londonderry DBE, whose husband was the 7th Marquess.

They were really the last of the Londonderrys to live at Mount Stewart.

Their daughter, Lady Mairi, lived at Mount Stewart till her death in 2009.

The pool was in existence for barely sixty years.

This was a haven where family members, including the Lady Jane (The Lady Rayne), the Lady Annabel (Goldsmith), their brother Alastair, Viscount Castlereagh, and other friends spent many happy summers in the 1940s, playing games, swimming and picnicking.

It was still serviceable, though a bit decrepit, by the mid-eighties. 

We did our best to restore it and even managed to get water from the lough flowing in and out again.

By the 1990s, however, gangs of beer-swilling vandals had requisitioned the pool.

Its location across the main road cut it off from the rest of the estate, so it became vulnerable. 

Alas everything, including the walls, was subsequently demolished.

It is now a wilderness.

Imagine the scenario: The owner is advised, in the strongest terms, that, were one of the trespassers to injure themselves, fatally or otherwise, the owner could be held liable.

Either secure the swimming-pool and its environs from trespassers; risk prosecution; or remove the problem entirely.

Obviously the latter, simplest solution was chosen, and a decision was taken at the highest level.

Given such a beautiful creation, it cannot have been taken lightly.

I have taken a few pictures, including a stone memorial cross to some staff on the estate who perished at sea.

I adored this place. I still miss it.

I cherish fond memories of it before it was spoiled.

This is my tribute.

First published in April 2009.   Londonderry arms courtesy of European Heraldry.

Mount Stewart Pool

THE LATE CHARLES VILLIERS, A GRANDSON OF THE LATE LADY MAIRI BURY AND GREAT-GRANDSON OF THE 7TH MARQUESS AND MARCHIONESS OF LONDONDERRY, HAS KINDLY PROVIDED ME WITH A COLLECTION OF PHOTOGRAPHS TAKEN ABOUT 1970 AT MOUNT STEWART'S SWIMMING-POOL

The family's private swimming-pool was located at the edge of Mount Stewart estate, between the main Portaferry Road and Strangford Lough, County Down.

This was an idyllic spot, cut off from the estate by the Portaferry road.

Until it was demolished it was used by sunbathers during the day-time.

The swimming-pool was kidney-shaped. 

A wooden gazebo structure overlooked Strangford Lough.

It stood on a rotating mechanism which could be turned towards or away from the sunshine.

Parts of the retaining wall and foundations of the swimming-pool enclosure remain.

The salt-water, kidney-shaped pool was surrounded by exotic trees and tropical flowers.

 
The small figures in the pool are Charles and his sister Charlotte, being watched by their long-suffering Lancastrian nanny, Sheila.

Charles's parents were invariably present too and, on this occasion, Charles's godfather, Edward Biddulph (1934-2001) was present. 

First published in November, 2010.

Londonderry House: I

LONDONDERRY HOUSE, Park Lane, London, originally called Holderness House, was built ca 1760-65.

It was designed by James Stuart, though largely the work of Benjamin and Philip Wyatt, who re-modelled it for the 3rd Marquess of Londonderry, 1825-28.

It remained in the family’s ownership until 1962, when it was sold and subsequently demolished. 

More than two centuries ago the southern end of Park Lane formed part of the Brookfield estate of the Curzons.

In the early 1760s, when Hertford Street was laid out, the 4th Earl of Holderness obtained a plot at its west end, and on the corner site built a house.

When he died in 1778, his widow continued in occupation until her death, in 1801, when the lease was taken over by the 6th Lord Middleton.

Originally there was no entrance to the House from Park Lane; it was in Hertford Street, separated from its neighbour by a fair-sized garden.

Soon afterwards, the garden was built on and Holderness House was re-numbered as 25 in the street.

When, in 1822, the 3rd Marquess of Londonderry bought Holderness House, he bought with it the newer house to the east, and, having acquired the freehold as well, he proceeded to join the two houses together and to reconstruct both, greatly enlarging them in the process.

The exterior was stuccoed and re-designed, and an entrance was formed in Park Lane at the south end of Holderness House, where there was once a narrow lane.

The 3rd Marquess was half-brother of Robert, the celebrated Lord Castlereagh.

Castlereagh never lived at Londonderry House: his town residence was at 18 St James's Square.

The re-modelling of Holderness House began in 1825.

In August, 1828, it was opened with a splendid fete and ball, and at once took its place among the great mansions of London, where for over forty years Lady Londonderry entertained magnificently as one of the principal Conservative Party hostesses.

Though the house had undergone subsequent alterations, particularly on the ground floor, a considerable amount of Wyatt's and Athenian Stuart's work remained.

Entering from Park Lane was the vestibule with a chimney-piece framing a painting of Seaham Harbour.

Several steps up, one entered the staircase hall, beyond which was a wing added in 1825 to accommodate the Banqueting Hall and Ballroom over it.

The statuary at the foot of the staircase included Canova's Theseus and the Minotaur and portrait busts of Pitt and Castlereagh.

The staircase, with its double-returned flights, was framed with pairs of columns.

It was top-lit by a clerestory, rising above coffered coves, with the openings divided by Atlas figures supporting the roof.

A gallery ran round all four sides at first floor level, with columned features opening into the ballroom and the ante-drawing-room on the south and north sides. 

The north end of the drawing-room faced the whole of the first floor overlooking Park Lane. 

This room had no fewer than nine portraits by Lawrence, including two of Castlereagh and two of his brother.

At one end of the ballroom (above) hanged a full-length portrait of Castlereagh in his Garter robes, which he wore at the Coronation of GEORGE IV.

Robert, Viscount Castlereagh,
later 2nd Marquess of Londonderry, KG etc

This was a contemporary copy by Lawrence of the picture at Mount Stewart in County Down.

On the north side of the ballroom, over and flanking the fireplace, there were portraits of Czars ALEXANDER I, NICHOLAS I, and ALEXANDER II. 

Opposite the Czars hanged portraits of GEORGE IV, the Duke of Wellington and the 3rd Marquess of Londonderry.

Opening off the far end of the room was a conservatory, built on a bridge connecting the ballroom wing with the Hertford Street front.

Of the ground-floor rooms, the dining-room, facing Hertford Street, was probably the entrance hall of the original Holderness House.

The banqueting hall (above), below the ballroom, was elaborately decorated in LOUIS XV  style.

The library was on the Park Lane front, reached from the foot of the staircase; at the opposite end of which Stubbs's great picture of Hambletonian hanged.

A series of statuettes, some rather grotesque, stood on Lord Londonderry's writing-table, caricaturing such figures as Wellington, Talleyrand, Rogers, Sefton, D'Orsay, Eldon, and Brougham.

They had been discovered at Mount Stewart.

Londonderry House was closed by the family since the beginning of the 2nd World War in winter, 1939.

Edith Londonderry, however, returned to the house within months of the end of the war.

In 1946, the Royal Aero Club leased most of Londonderry House, though the family retained twenty-two rooms for their own use.

The 9th Marquess held a "farewell" party at the house in July, 1962, for 300 guests, including Mick Jagger and Paul McCartney.

A week later it was sold to a property developer and swiftly demolished to make way for the Londonderry Hotel.

The late Charles Villiers, a grandson of the late Lady Mairi Bury and great-grandson of the 7th Marquess and Marchioness of Londonderry, kindly provided me with the above documents and images. 

First published in December, 2011.