Chapter 21

Robert Bomford of Rahinstown, second son of Stephen Bomford and Elizabeth Sibthorpe (16.9) died in 1817 (19.2.3) leaving his wife Maria (15.5, 19.1) and seven children (15.5.1 Note 9, 19.1), a boy and six sisters, all minors. In 1811 Robert made provision for his wife and children (19.2.2) by placing his lands in the hands of trustees, John Arthur of Seafield, Co Dublin, who was Maria’s first cousin, and William Leonard of Baker Street, London, who was a relative of Maria’s mother. The trustees had to raise £3,000 for Maria, £3,000 for Robert George the only son, and £15,000 to be split between the six daughters (£2,500 apiece), making an overall total of £21,000. This was a considerable task for the trustees and an enormous burden for the lands of Rahinstown, Dirpatrick, Baconstown and Arradstown, which totalled 2,358 statute acres. William Leonard died about 1820 and was not replaced. Once the money was raised from the land, two other trustees were responsible for allocating it to the members of the family. These other trustees were Robert's brother George Bomford of Drumlargan (16.9), and John Massy Bolton who in 1821 inherited Massy land and so changed his name to John Bolton Massy (19.2.2). George Bomford died before Robert, in 1814 (18.8.6) so the only trustees left were John Arthur and John Bolton Massy.

The pound was devalued after the war and sometime between the settlement and the payments, so the payments appear to be in excess of that stipulated in the settlement. Some of the deeds use the words ‘old currency’ and ‘new currency’, but others are not so good and one is left guessing. This has led to a problem concerning mortgages, particularly those on Rahinstown, which Maria took out to cover payments of the settlement.

There are many deeds concerning the settlement and this chapter takes each child and covers their marriage, their ‘in-laws’ and their settlement. The following tree may help to place the family.

There are two Richard Boltons -

Richard Bolton of Bective Abbey who married Frances and

Richard Bolton of Brook Lodge who married Jemina

See also the Massy-Dawson and Poore Pedigrees.

21.2 Maria Bomford (the Mother)

17th November 1821 Maria’s Settlement

Between

1. Maria Bomford of Rahinstown, widow and sole executor of Robert Bomford, late of Rahinstown.

2. Rev John Graham of Thornhill, Co Tyrone

Reciting

1. The settlement of 28th June 1811 (This is quoted at length and agrees with 19.2.2).

2. Robert Bomford’s will of 17th December 1816 (ref 19.2.3) (in which he conveyed land in trust and directed that the money, £21,000, should be paid in equal parts to his six daughters, Annette Maria, Jane Rosetta, Frances Georgina, Jemima Letitia, Susan Margaret and Sarah Maria at their marriage or at the age of 21 which ever comes first). Robert George is to receive £3,000 at the age of 21. His wife is to be the sole executor and guardian of the children. (This is the only reference to Robert’s will, which is missing (though see also 21.6.1). It is also important because it gives a list of the daughters which is normally in order of age, and this confirms that the order in Burke is wrong, that the last two are the other way around; this was previously suspected from an estimate of their birth dates).

3. That Maria (Annette Maria) and Rosetta (Jane Rosetta) had recently come of age. (Actually Rosetta was only 19 but she was married this year and so eligible for her settlement).

4. That the widow, Maria Bomford, had borrowed £2,000 from John Graham by mortgaging the land. John Bolton Massy arranged this mortgage and the money was paid to Jane Rosetta.

Now Maria Bomford has been paid in full, £5,040.

(Book 767 Page 132 No 520267)

A second deed of the same date is almost a duplicate of the above, but adds that George Bomford has died so John Massy Bolton is the sole executor.

(Book 767 Page 133 No 520268)

21.2.1 Second Mortgage on Rahinstown 20th March 1824

This states that:

Maria Bomford, widow, is to receive an annuity of £800;

Annette Maria is lately 21 and is to receive £3,000;

John Bolton Massey raises another loan of £2,500 from Rev John Graham of Thornhill (presumably a second mortgage on Rahinstown); and

Robert George is also ‘lately 21’.

(Book 790 Page 250 No 534185)

Technically Annette Maria and Jane Rosetta should have had £2,500 apiece and their mother Maria £3,000 making a total of £8,000, whereas, in the first deed, Maria was paid £5,040 and in the second a further £2,500 making a total of £7,540 or three lots of £2,500, plus £40 which was no doubt interest. There is an anomaly here, which even the devaluation of the pound does not clarify. However no matter how the figures are juggled the settlement was paid to Maria and two of her daughters, and John Graham holds two mortgages on the land totalling £4,500.

The Rev John Graham of Thornhill was a brother to William Graham (24.6.2) who in 1834 bought Oakley Park for £15,000 and in 1837 sold it to George the younger who in 1824 was aged 13.

Canon Leslie states that from 1795 - 1834 John Graham was Rector of Pomeroy in Co Tyrone which he got through the influence of Lord Norbury (1st Earl, 1745-1831) whose wife was Grace, daughter of Hector Graham of Ballinakill. Rev John married Anna, daughter of Rev John Field and had four children: Letitia Graham born 1800, James Jones Graham born 1801, Henry Hope Graham born 1808 and became Colonel of the 77th Regiment and later a General, and Isabella Graham who married William Lowry of Drumreagh, Commander R.N., whose family came from Pomeroy House.

The Rev John’s father was William Graham of the Meath Militia (15.6.3) and Rev John died in 1834. A more extensive tree of these Grahams will be found in 24.6.2.

21.3 Jane Rosetta (2nd Daughter)

As said above Jane Rosetta was paid her settlement on her marriage rather than at the age of 21. She was born on 13th March 1802 so was 13 months short of her 21st birthday when she married. There are portraits (#1) (#2) (#3) of her at Grenane House.

Much of the detail of the Mansergh family comes from Howard’s Visitations of Ireland of 1897.

21.3.1 Marriage – Jane Rosetta Bomford & Richard Martin Southcote Mansergh 25th February 1822

The Mansergh Family

In the early 1500s this family was living at Barwicke Hall in England. A century later Bryan and his younger brother James migrated to Ireland and obtained grants of land, Bryan mostly in Kilkenny, and James mostly in Co Cork around Fermoy. James’ line died out in the early 1700s and most of his land came to Bryan’s son, Daniel, including what was to become the family home of Grenane, two miles north of the town of Tipperary. Much later, in 1878, the land around the house totalled 2,086 acres. The present house is late Georgian and so was possibly built by Daniel’s grandson, Nicholas Southcote Mansergh who died in 1818, or, more likely by his great-grandson, John Southcote Mansergh.

John Southcote Mansergh (Jane Rosetta’s father-in-law) was born at Grenane on 3rd April 1773 and was baptised there. Two of his godparents were Richard Martin and his wife, Catherine, of Clifford, Co Cork, and it was their nephew, Charles Rudinge Martin (21.8.1, 21.8.3), who in 1826 married Susan Margaret Bomford, the fourth sister of Jane Rosetta. Meanwhile on 7th January 1795 John Southcote married Mary Martin (portrait), the only daughter of his godparents Richard and Catherine Martin, and Mary eventually inherited Clifford House near Castletownroche from her father and Bridgetown from her mother.

Mary died on 3rd September 1811 and was buried at Castletownroche, and John Southcote married again. He died at Grenane on 14th September 1817 and was buried in the family vault in Tipperary. They had five sons and three daughters and it was their eldest surviving son, Richard Martin Southcote Mansergh, who married Jane Rosetta Bomford. So Jane Rosetta had four brothers-in-law and three sisters-in-law and ended up with more than 23 Mansergh nephews and nieces. For more on the Mansergh family, see the Mansergh clan website.

The Marriage

Richard Martin Southcote Mansergh of Grenane was born at Bridgetown Co Cork, “at half-past 11 o’clock at night” on 14th November 1800. He was baptised privately at Castletownroche and received into the Church at Tipperary by the Rev Bryan Mansergh, his uncle.

His marriage to Jane Rosetta Bomford (born 13th March 1802 and so age 19) took place at Fitzwilliam Square, Dublin, on 25th February 1822. Maria Bomford, Jane’s mother, had taken No 9 Fitzwilliam Square North for the year 1822 according to the Dublin Almanack, so the marriage probably took place from that house. They were married by the Hon Charles Dalrymple Lindsay, Bishop of Kildare from 1804 till his death in 1846. The only parent alive at the time of the marriage was Maria, aged 53; her husband Robert had died in 1817, and both the Mansergh parents had died, John in 1817 and Mary in 1811. However it would have been a social occasion and Maria even took a town house for it. It is doubtful if Jane Rosetta was given away by a Bomford, all her uncles were dead with the possible, though unlikely, exceptions of Ephraim and Chichester, so it is likely that her Massy-Dawson uncle, James Hewitt of Ballynacourty who was a Member of Parliament at this time, did the honours.

Jane Rosetta died 20th February 1836, aged 34, and was buried in the Mansergh family vault at Tipperary. They had five children. Her husband Richard lived on at Grenane and married again in 1843 (21.3.3) and had six more children. He died, aged 76, at Grenane on 24th March 1876 and was buried with his two wives in the family vault.

21.3.2 Jane Rosetta’s Children

1. The eldest was John Southcote Mansergh who inherited Grenane, born at 138 North Gate, Chester, ‘at 3 o’clock in the morning’ of 28th June 1823. The sponsors at his baptism at Little Neston, Cheshire, were: George Bomford who was only 12 that year so it must be Robert George of Rahinstown, the baby’s uncle who was 21. Charles Mansergh, the baby’s uncle who was still at Trinity, and the Hon Mrs Edward Massy of Chester, Jane Rosetta’s mother’s cousin and sister-in-law of Hugh 3rd Baron Massy. It may have been at her house where the baby was born. John joined the army, firstly the 62nd Regiment of Foot, then the 2nd Dragoon Guards (Queen’s Bays) which in 1847 was stationed at Carlow and finally he became the colonel commanding the 4th Battalion South Lancashire Regiment, becoming their Honorary Colonel. On 24th July 1851 he married in England Mary Elizabeth, only daughter of Charles Walter Wyatt of St Asaph, Flintshire. They had no children. He died in Fulham, London, on 8th February 1899 and was buried at the Brompton Cemetery. His wife died a month later (8th March) and was probably buried with her husband. Grenane was passed to his nephew, Richard Southcote Mansergh.

2. Robert George Mansergh, born at 27 Molesworth Street, Dublin, ‘on Sunday at 2 o’clock p.m.’ 17th April 1825. The sponsors at his baptism were Mrs Mansergh his great-great-grandmother (this is according to Howard but I think she was Elizabeth his great-grandmother); Mrs Massy his great-aunt; Colonel Massy his great-uncle (see below); and Rev John Charles Martin, Fellow of Trinity College (and Jane Rosetta’s future brother-in-law). Robert graduated BA from Trinity in 1844 and died unmarried at Cheadle, Cheshire, on 29th May 1869 aged 44, and was buried there. The relationship of Mrs Massy, the baby’s great-aunt, and Colonel Massy, the baby’s great-uncle, is given by Howard. The baby’s grandparents were Robert Bomford and Maria (Massy-Dawson), so Mrs Massy and the Colonel must be a brother or a sister of Robert or Maria. They are not relatives of Maria who in any case were Massy-Dawsons and so they must be Robert Bomford’s sister Frances Jane and her husband Colonel Cromwell Massy. This adds to our Bomford information because the last mention of this couple was in 1804 and we now know that they were both alive in 1825 and, in all probability, were living in Dublin (15.10.1).

3. Maria Annette Mansergh was born at 3.45 p.m. on 24th April 1828 at Cheltenham. The sponsors at her baptism were Richard Bolton, Rosetta’s brother-in-law (probably the one of Bective Abbey because the other one had not yet married into the family); Mrs Bomford, Rosetta’s mother Maria who at this time was living in Cheltenham and so, no doubt, it was at her house that Maria Annette was born; and Lady Hesketh of Rufford Hall, Lancashire, Rosetta’s sister Annette Maria after whom the baby was named. Maria Annette was married at Tipperary on 26th September 1865 to Joseph Edmund Kooystra Nadin who was born in 1826 and was a Member of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1850. He had previously been married to Emma Margaret Mitchell and by her had issue, Emma Catherine Nadin, b 1855, Chorlton, Lancashire, d c 1865, Tipperary Town, aged 10. He died at Nelson Place, Tipperary on 27th May 1900 and was buried in the Churchyard of Tipperary. One assumes that he was the surgeon at the Tipperary Hospital and that they lived in Nelson Place. Maria Annette died three months before her husband on 13th February 1900 at Nelson Place and both were buried together. Maria and Joseph had a daughter, Annette Jane Nadin, b 27 Jun 1866, Tipperary Town.

4. Jane Rosetta Mansergh was born at Grenane at 7 a.m. 12th March 1830 and was baptised there privately. Her sponsors were Mrs Massy-Dawson (who must be Eliza Jane the wife of James Hewitt Massy-Dawson and great-aunt of the baby) Miss Clarinda Mansergh (another great-aunt, the sister of John Southcote), and Southcote Mansergh, 50th Regiment (of Grallagh Castle, Thurles, now demolished, the baby’s uncle). Jane Rosetta was married at St Paul’s Dublin on 23rd April 1852 to William, son of John Lane, both of Lanespark, Thurles, Co Tipperary. He was born in 1825 but it was not known when either of them died. Neville Good (email 20 Nov 2008 and personal communication Dec 2008) provided additional infromation. Neville has a copy of Jane Rosetta Lane's death certificate, which reveals that she died on 18 August 1908 at 396 Stanmore Road, Marrickville (Sydney) aged 78, that her father Richard Martin Southcote Mansergh was of independent means, that her mother's maiden name was Jane Rosetta Bomford, the informant was her grandson Stanley Rudduck, that she was buried on 19 August 1908 in the Church of England Cemetery in Waverley, that she was born at Grenane, Co Tipperary and had been in NSW for 56 years, that she was 21 years old when she married William Lane, and that she had three children, all living at the time of her death, John Lane aged 54 (so b c1854), Jane Lane aged 50 (b c1858) and Maria Lane aged 48 (b c1860). From that, Jane Rosetta moved to New South Wales, Australia, in 1852, the year of her marriage. Jane Rosetta and John Lane seperated about 1880 when he went to New Zealand. Jane Rosetta's daughter Maria Lane married Sydney Herbert Rudduck (1855 - 1921) in Balranald NSW in 1877. Jane Rosetta lived with her grandson, Maria's son Stanley Rudduck, in Sydney until her death in 1908. Neville Good is compiling a family tree of all the Rudducks in Australia, all descended from two brothers, Samuel Rudduck (1806 - 1869) and Joseph Benjamin Rudduck (1812 - 1879: he moved to Australia with several of his family of 10, including his youngest, Sydney Herbert Rudduck, on the 'Yorkshire' in 1861). If you want more information on the Rudduck family in Australia, contact us.

5. Rosetta’s youngest child was Richard St George Mansergh who was born at Grenane ‘at 10 minutes to 2 o’clock pm’ 25th February 1833. The sponsors at his baptism were Mrs George Walker (Catherine, 1797-1860, wife of Commander George Walker of the Royal Navy of Fermoy, the baby’s aunt), Richard Southcote Mansergh St George of Headford Castle, Galway, (the baby’s great-uncle, the additional surname, St George, was added to inherit Headford Castle), and the Rev John Dawson of Ballinacourty (unable to trace). Richard lived at Friarsfield outside Tipperary in the same parish as Grenane. He inherited Friarsfield from his great-uncle Captain Robert Mansergh. He married Sophia Elizabeth, the eldest daughter of Richard Oliver Ellard of Newtown-Ellard, Pallasgrean, Co Limerick, and his wife Charlotte Rebecca who was the eldest daughter and co-heiress of Thomas Lindsay of Peake, Coachford, Co Cork. Sophia Elizabeth was born on 6th August 1839 and the marriage took place at Pallasgrean on 5th August 1858. Richard died at 5.35 am on 9th August 1897 and was buried in the family vault at Tipperary; Sophia Elizabeth died 7th August 1905. They had three children:

1. Richard Southcote Mansergh was born at his grandparents place at Newtown-Ellard on 25th October 1859. He was baptised at Pallasgrean in the Parish of Grean, and his sponsors were Richard Martin Southcote Mansergh and Richard Oliver Ellard, his grandfathers, and Mrs Charlotte Rebecca Ellard, his grandmother. He was educated at ‘The Abbey’ Tipperary, and Rossall in Lancashire. He inherited Grenane when his uncle died in 1899. He never married and Grenane was passed to his younger brother when he died on 22nd January 1906.

2. Charlotte Rosetta Mansergh was born at Friarsfield 2nd August 1861. Her sponsors were her grandmother, Mrs Charlotte Rebecca Ellard, and her aunt, Miss Elizabeth Mary Mansergh (1845-1868). Charlotte did not marry and died 11th July 1917.

3. Philip St George Mansergh was born at Friarsfield 12th May 1863. The sponsors at his baptism were Miss Maria Annette Mansergh his aunt, and two of his uncles, Philip Oliver Ellard and Southcote Mansergh. He was educated at ‘The Abbey’ with his brother, and became a Railway Engineer based on Beira, East Africa. His home became Friarsfield, which he inherited when his father died in 1897, and in 1906 he inherited Grenane. On 23rd April 1907 he married his cousin, Ethel Marguerite Otway Louisa Mansergh, only daughter of Major Charles Stepney Perceval Egmont Mansergh, 40th Regiment, of Clifford and Bridgetown, Co Cork. Philip died 5th October 1928 and his wife Ethel died 8th February 1963. They had two boys and the elder, Charles Ogilvy Martin Southcote Mansergh, born 1908 inherited Grenane House and the younger one known as Philip has Friarsfield.

21.3.3 Jane Rosetta’s Family Tree

There follows a simplified family tree showing Jane Rosetta’s family. It will be seen that she died in 1836 when her family were still very young, aged 13 down to 3. Her husband married again so the children were brought up by their stepmother, ChristineMauleverer, the daughter of the local Rector of Tipperary, Richard Mauleverer. There were also three step-brothers and three stepsisters, but they were much younger.

21.4 Annette Maria (Eldest Daughter)

It is not known when Annette was born, but she was probably the oldest of Robert and Maria’s children. She is first mentioned in the deed of November 1821 (21.2) when she had recently come of age so she was born in or before 1800, probably c1799. She received the money for her settlement in 1824, which was no doubt embroidered into her marriage settlement, which has not been found.

Neither is it known how she or her mother came to meet Thomas Henry Hesketh. The Hesketh family had Irish connections, many of the daughters had married into Irish families in Queen’s Co, Limerick, Tipperary and Tyrone, but basically the Hesketh family came from England.

21.4.1 The Hesketh Family

The Hesketh pedigree goes back to the 1100s, and their house, Rufford Hall near Ormskirk in Lancashire, came into the family by a marriage in the 1200s. William Hesketh fought at the Battle of Crecy in 1346 and was knighted by Edward III. Rufford Old Hall was built in the early 1400s and has been added to at various times since then; the last addition being in 1821, a couple of years before the marriage of Annette Maria Bomford and Thomas Henry Hesketh.

Many of the early Heskeths were soldiers and so were involved in the Wars of the Roses and the Hundred Year’s War. Robert Hesketh was knighted by Henry VIII in 1539 and we are told that “he served the King in France and for his valoure, forwardness, actyvytie and good service was Knighted by the King’s own hand with great countenance and many good wordes”.

Robert’s son, Thomas, was also knighted by Queen Mary at her Coronation in 1553 for service in the Scottish Wars. The family were Royalists in the Cromwellian Wars and would have lost their estates if the head of the family, another Robert, had not been over 80, and his heir an infant grandson.

In 1761 Thomas Hesketh was created a baronet; he died without children and his brother Robert became the 2nd Baronet. Sir Robert’s grandson was the 3rd Baronet and he was the father of our Sir Thomas Henry Hesketh

The 3rd Baronet, Annette Maria’s father-in-law, was Thomas Dalrymple Hesketh, born 1777 and died 27th July 1842. He married twice:

Firstly in 1798 to Sophia, only daughter of Rev Nathaniel Hinde. She died in 1817 having had one son and three daughters:

1. Thomas Henry Hesketh, who married Annette Maria Bomford, was born 11th February 1798 which appears to be the same month and year that his parents married, hopefully Sir Thomas and Sophia were married in 1797 in February.

2. Harriett Hesketh married in 1832 Rev Joshua Horton of Howroyde in Yorkshire. She had children but died in 1836.

3. Sophia Elizabeth Hesketh married in 1840 Rev J.S. Hodgson, Rector of Brinklow in Warwickshire. She had children and died in 1886.

4. Emma Susette Hesketh married a Mr E. Honzecker.

Secondly in September 1821 to Louisa Allemand who died in 1832 giving birth to:

5. Matilda Catherine Hesketh who died unmarried in 1906. No doubt Annette Maria assisted in bringing her up.

21.4.2 Marriage Annette Maria & Sir Thomas Henry Hesketh 3rd April 1824

Thomas Henry was 26 when he married Annette Maria who was perhaps 25. His mother was dead and his father had just married again. It is not known where the marriage took place (familysearch.com records it at Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England) but in 1826 they were both living at Rufford Hall with Thomas’ three sisters.

Rufford Old Hall is now a folk museum, presented to the National Trust in 1936 by the late Lord Hesketh, great grandson of Annette Maria. It is a medieval timber-framed manor house with an ornate hammer beam roof. The great hall itself was built in the early 1480s and has remarkable carved wooden screens designed to keep out drafts. The east wing was built about 1662 and is a good example of late Jacobean brick architecture. Much of the original Jacobean oak furniture and a magnificent Tudor tester bed is now in the folk museum which also includes the Hesketh collection of arms, tapestries, ancient coins, porcelain, and books. All of these would have been familiar to Annette Maria.

Tomas Henry succeeded to the title and to Rufford Old Hall when his father died in 1842, but seven months later he himself died on 10th February 1843. This left Annette Maria with Rufford Hall and the two children, both minors. She did not die until 17th April 1879.

21.4.3 The Children of Annette Maria and Sir Thomas Hesketh

They only had two children, a boy and a girl

1. Thomas George, born 11th January 1825, succeeded to the title in 1843 when he was 18, and became the 5th Lord Hesketh. Later he became Colonel of the 2nd Lancashire Militia and Member of Parliament for Preston. When he was 21 he married on 10th March 1846 Lady Anne Maria Arabella Fermor, the eldest daughter of Thomas William, 4th Earl of Pomfret, a title that is now extinct. He took the name Fermor-Hesketh as a result of inheritance contained in the marriage settlement. She died 25th February 1870 and he died 20th August 1872. Their children were:

a. Thomas Henry Fermor-Hesketh, born 9th January 1847, became the 6th Baronet of Rufford Hall. He died unmarried aged 29 on 28th May 1876.

b. Thomas George Fermor-Hesketh, born 9th May 1849 and succeeded his brother in 1876, 7th Baronet of Rufford Hall. He served with the Rifle Brigade and later became Honorary Colonel of the 3rd and 4th Battalions of the King’s Liverpool Regiment. On 23rd December 1880 at San Francisco he married Florence Emily, daughter of William Sharon, Senator of Nevada. Flora, as Florence was called, and her husband took Somerville from Lord Athlumney, and later Killeen from the Earl of Fingall, for the hunting with the Meath. Elizabeth (Daisy), Countess of Fingall of Killeen, has much about her in her book ‘Seventy years young’. She says that Flora had the distinction of wearing the red coat out hunting and goes on to relate:

“Flora looked very well on a horse, with her neat figure and charming face. She was most attractive and had all the young men after her. She used to entertain greatly in London later at their house, 111 Piccadilly, and often entertained King Edward there. On one occasion Flora told Lady Annette La Touche that she was to meet the Prince of Wales – as King Edward was then – at dinner, and Lady Annette thought that Flora was making fun of her. And, being introduced to His Royal Highness, refused flatly to curtsey, saying, ‘Oh, I know you are not the Prince of Wales!’ I talked of Flora the other day to Sir Seymour Fortescue. He said, ‘What I liked was Flora’s independence. If she liked you, she liked you, no matter who you were. If she didn’t like you, she didn’t like you, no matter who you were.’ In those early hunting days in Meath she went with more courage than knowledge, and couldn’t hold her horses, so that they carried her rather wildly across the country. Once, pulling hard, unable to stop her mount, she landed on top of Harry Bourke – Lord Mayo’s brother, and a great hunting man – at a double. When they were disentangled on the other side he asked her, with much good language, what the devil she thought she was doing. Flora smiled at him enchantingly; ‘Well’, she said, ‘If you will sit roo-oosting on those doubles.’ It was Flora’s victory.”

Their two sons were:-

i. Thomas Fermor-Hesketh, born 17th November 1881, 8th Baronet of Rufford Hall. Served with the Royal Horse Guards. He married and the Hesketh line continues from his marriage

ii. Frederick Hesketh, born 24th September 1883, served with the 9th Lancers

c. Hugh Robert Hesketh, born 11th June 1850, died unmarried aged 29 in 1879

d. Edith Elizabeth Hesketh married 10th August 1871 Lawrence Rawstorne of Penwortham Priory, Lancashire, and had children.

e. Constance Maria Hesketh

f. Augusta Sophia Hesketh died unmarried 1875

2. The only daughter was Maria Harriet who on 15th November 1845 married Lawrence Palk, 1st Lord Haldon.

21.4.4 Lord Haldon’s Family Annette Maria’s Son-in-Law

Lawrence Palk, 1st Baron Haldon of Haldon, near Exeter, was the eldest son of Sir Lawrence Vaughan Palk, 3rd Baronet, and Anna Eleanora the eldest daughter of Sir Bourchier Wrey. He was born in 1818 and became a JP and DL for Devon. In 1845 he married Maria Harriet Hesketh and they had six children, and in 1880 he was made a peer. He died on 22 March 1883 and she lived on until 18th December 1905 when she died. Their children were:

1. Lawrence Hesketh Palk, 2nd Baron Haldon, born 6th September 1846, became a JP and saw service with the Scots Guards. On 7th October 1868 he married Hon Constance Mary, the eldest daughter of George William, 7th Viscount Barrington. He died 31st December 1903 having had 4 children

a. Lawrence William Palk, 3rd Baron Haldon, was born 13th July 1869. He was a Captain with the Royal Fusiliers and served in the South African War in 1900 and 1901. On 10th February 1893 he married Lidiana Amalia Crezencia, a daughter of Colonel Jacob William Maichle of the Imperial Russian Army. They had a son:

Lawrence Edward Broomfield Palk, born 13th May 1896, the 4th Baron Haldon.

b. Lawrence Charles Walter Palk born 28th September 1870 was a Captain in the Hampshire Regiment.

c. Florence Annette Georgina Palk was born 21st October 1871.

d. Mary Evelyn Palk was born 28th October 1875.

2. Robert Henry Palk, born in 1848, served with the 23rd Fusiliers and died unmarried 6th March 1878 aged 30.

3. Walter George Palk was a Lieutenant with the Royal Horse Artillery when he died unmarried 1st May 1876 aged about 26.

4. Edward Arthur Palk, born in 1854, saw service with the Devonshire Regiment and became their Honorary Colonel. On 18th July 1883 he married Charlotte Frances, a daughter of the Rev Sir Frederick Shelley, 8th Baronet of Shobrooke Park, Devon. She was born 21st May 1855 and they had no children.

5. Annette Maria Palk married on 16th July 1873 Sir Alexander Baird, 1st Baronet of Urie, Kincardine. She died on 21st May 1884 having had two sons and five daughters, of whom the eldest son was:

a. Sir John Lawrence Baird, 2nd Baronet, born 1874 and joined the Diplomatic Service in Abyssinia. He married in 1905 Ethel Sydney Keith-Falconer, the eldest daughter of the 9th Earl of Kintore.

6. Evelyn Elizabeth Palk married on 26th April 1882 Ernest Gambier Perry of Elmcroft, Goring-on-Thames. He was a Major in the Royal Welsh Fusiliers. They had children.

21.5 Robert George Bomford (Only Son)

The deed of 1824 (21.2.1) states that Robert George Bomford is “lately 21” and so eligible for the money from his father’s settlement, but there does not appear to be any deed which actually states that he got his £3,000. He did not have it in 1827 because the deed of that year only says that he has “become entitled to” it (21.6.1).

Robert George was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, and graduated BA as the following extract from Alumni Dublinenses shows: “Bomford, George, Socius Comitatus, Private Tutor, 5th May 1817 (entered) aged 16, son of Robert, Generosus, born Meath, BA Summer 1821.”

This is the only document, which tells us about Robert George’s early days, and immediately his birth date is under dispute. Burke states that he was born in 1802 and, if this is so, then he and Jane Rosetta were twins since she was born on 13th March 1802; on the other hand the Trinity record states that he was born in 1801 (entered 5th May 1817, aged 16) and this is much more likely and Burke should be amended.

So Robert George was born in 1801 in Meath, most probably at Rahinstown. Later he had a private tutor, also probably at Rahinstown. At the age of 16 he entered Trinity and 4 years later he got his BA.

In 1826 he married Elizabeth Kennedy in Dublin according to the Marriage Licence issued by the Diocese of Dublin, “Bomford, Robert George, and Elizabeth Kennedy, 1826 ML” Page 373.

The marriage settlement was dated 9th October so it is most likely that the marriage was in October 1826.

The next chapter (22.1) contains more about Robert George and his wife Elizabeth.

21.5.1 Marriage Settlement – Robert George Bomford & Elizabeth Kennedy 9th October 1826

Between

1. Robert George Bomford of Rahinstown

2. James Trail Kennedy of Annadale, Co Down, and his only surviving child

Elizabeth Kennedy, spinster

3. John Arthure of Seafield, Co Dublin (Trustee of Robert Bomford’s settlement)

4. James Stewart of Belfast, merchant

(Trustee with John Arthur of Kennedy property).

5. Thomas Henry Hesketh of Old Rufford Hall, Lancashire (Robert George’s brother-in-law) and Archibald Hamilton Rowan of Leinster Street, Dublin (Trustees of Robert George’s marriage settlement).

6. James Massey-Dawson Junior of Forest (New Forest) Co Tipperary (died 1837, 1st cousin of Robert George) and Arthur Hill Read of Killeleagh, Co Down (perhaps a Kennedy relation).

Reciting

1. Lease of 27th June 1811. (This is the lease, the day before Robert Bomford’s settlement of Rahinstown etc (19.2.2) to the trustees John Arthur and William Leonard; the latter has since died.)

2. Marriage settlement of the marriage shortly to be had between Robert George Bomford and Elizabeth Kennedy. The land is to be conveyed to Robert George Bomford (this land must be Mullagh), and that Elizabeth Kennedy is to be given, after his death, the sum of £500 of the late currency or £461.10.9 present currency; and further that the sons and daughters of the marriage should receive £4,000. The Trustees are to be Thomas Henry Hesketh (Annette Maria’s husband) and Hamilton Rowan.

3. James Trail Kennedy leases to the trustees, John Arthure and James Stewart: the lands of Mullagh containing 297 plantation acres (481 statute) in the Barony of Deece; Derrylough 89 plantation acres (144 statute) in the Parish of Loughbrickland, Co Down; Ballymacanallin, Ballintagert and Mullabruck, Co Down, half share only; Galvally 21 and 32 plantation acres (total 86 statute) in the Barony of Castlereagh, Co Down . . . (The list goes on and includes houses in Belfast).

The trustees are to pay Robert George Bomford £400 late currency a year during the life of James Trail Kennedy.

They are to hand over the land of Mullagh to Robert George Bomford. (Book 818 Page 198 No 550933)

This deed is really a memorial of a number of previous deeds and includes the details of the marriage settlement; the actual marriage settlement has not been located. However it is clear that Robert George is to get £400 a year whilst his father-in-law is alive, that Elizabeth is to get £500 when Robert George dies and that the children of the marriage are to get £4,000; it is not clear whether this £4,000 is to be shared between the children or whether they are to get £4,000 each, but the question will not arise as Elizabeth had no children.

Mullagh

Mullagh becomes a Bomford property. This townland covers the crossroads of the Kilcock - Dunshaughlin road and the Summerhill - Dunboyne road. Ten years later in 1836 the Ordnance Survey places it in the Parish of Kilmore and states that it contains “496 acres the property of Mr Bomford (Robert George) who has it let at £1.15.0 an acre”, and so bringing in an income of £868. The survey of 1654 also places it in Kilmore Parish but then it had less than half the acreage, only 220 statute acres.

21.5.2 Portrait of Robert George

Robert George Bomford c 1801 - 1846. Click on picture for larger view.

This miniature portrait by an unknown artist hangs at Crodara. The frame is a duplicate of that of his mother Maria, and Joan Clifford of Canterbury who had the portrait there at one time, thought that it was of Robert George’s father, Robert Bomford; but my father was quite definite in the identification of the picture as that of Robert George. I do not remember his reasons but certainly the clothes indicate the 1820s rather than the 1800s.

Robert George is dressed in a black coat with high astrakan collar and white shirt with a black cravat. He looks to be in his early 20s and has curly black hair with white streaks in it. He has blue eyes and a fresh complexion. He was married when he was 25 and this portrait may be dated about that time, as he looks to be about that age. A note pasted to the back of the picture states "Robert George Bomford of Rahinstown High Sheriff of Co. Meath 1832 ...".

21.5.3 The Kennedy Family

Elizabeth’s grand-parents were Gilbert Kennedy of Belfast, born 1706 (another source gives 1717) and died 12 May 1773. On 24 December 1742 he married Elizabeth, second daughter of James Traill 1690-1743 and Mary Hamilton; he was a son of Hans Traill of Tullochin (Catherine Holman email 10 Jul 2008). She was born 12 October 1712 and died 20 April 1786. They lived at Annadale, Knockbreda, Co Down and had at least one son, James Traill Kennedy of Annadale. He was born on 8 April 1751and died on 28 August 1832 in Belfast (Elsie Ritchie email 10 Jul 2008), becoming a respected merchant in Belfast along the way. In 1790 he married Ann who was born in 1769 (could she be the “Anna” of “Annadale”?). They had at least two children:

1. James Kennedy, baptised 6 March 1792 and died at Windsor 29 December 1806, aged 14

2. Elizabeth Kennedy, baptised 18 Aug 1806, Eustace Street Presbyterian, Dublin, died 1 July 1870, buried at St Annes Church, Dublin (Elsie Ritchie email 10 Jul 2008), married c October 1826 Robert George Bomford, who died in 1846. See paragraph 22.10 concerning Elizabeth’s second marriage of 6 June 1850 to Marcus Gervais de la Poer Beresford, Archbishop of Armagh and Lord Primate of Ireland. She had no children.

After Elizabeth married and her father had died, her branch of the Kennedy family ended and Annadale was sold. The Kennedy who underwrote the Rahinstown mortgage of 1838 (22.2.2) was from another branch – the Kennedy family of Cultra on the south side of Belfast Loch in County Down.

21.6 Frances Georgina Bomford (3rd daughter)

There are a number of deeds concerning her settlement and marriage. The settlement was paid in two parcels, £1,800 in April 1827 and the balance in December, and involved another mortgage on Rahinstown.

21.6.1 Mortgage on Rahinstown etc 20th April 1827

Between

1. John Bolton Massy of Ballywire, Co Limerick (actually it is just inside Co Tipperary)

2. William Jones Armstrong of Demerara, West Indies (where he was Colonial Secretary, later he lived at the family home of Killylea, Co Armagh. His mother was a daughter of John Tew and connected to the Bomfords through Thomas the elder. See family trees under 9.3.7 and 22.2.2).

3. Maria Bomford of Rahinstown, widow of Robert Bomford deceased, now residing at Cheltenham, Co Gloucester.

4. James Hewett Massey Dawson of New Forest, Co Tipperary, Member of Parliament, and Bartholemew Dillon of Kildare Street, Dublin, Doctor of Physic (These two were party to Robert Bomford’s settlement on his children of June 1811, 19.2.2.)

5. Robert George Bomford, only son and heir of Robert Bomford deceased.

Reciting

1. Lease of 27th June 1811 (Robert’s trust of Rahinstown etc 21.5.1).

2. Will of Robert Bomford of 17th December 1816 (21.2).

3. Frances Georgina Bomford has lately become 21 and has received £1,800 on 18th April 1827 out of her £3,000.

Now Maria Bomford the widow and George Robert Bomford, also lately 21, have become entitled so a mortgage is raised by the only surviving trustee John Bolton Massey. He gets £1,384.12.3 or £1,500 old currency from William Jones Armstrong. (Book 824 Page 491 No 554826)

A continuation of the above deed dated 8th December 1827 lists the land mortgaged. These lands were Dirpatrick 475, Arradstown 77, Baconstown 507, and Rahinstown 396 all in plantation measure. (Book 830 Page 557 No 558392)

Their mother, Maria, is now living in Cheltenham and has left Rahinstown to Robert George and his wife Elizabeth; later she returns to Dublin. She ends her days with her daughter Frances Georgina at Bective Abbey.

Final Settlement Payment to Frances Georgina Bomford 8th December 1827

Between

1. Richard Bolton of Headfort, Co Meath, (belonging to Thomas, 1st Marquess of Headfort, Kells) and Frances Georgina Bolton, his wife and 3rd daughter of Robert Bomford formerly of Rahinstown deceased.

2. John Bolton Massey of Ballywire, Co Limerick, surviving trustee of the settlement of 8th June 1811 (19.2.2, which is recited).

Reciting

1. That Frances Georgina Bolton was entitled to £3,000.

Now she has received payment in full. (Book 830 Page 445 No 558381)

21.6.2 Marriage Settlement of Frances Georgina Bomford and Richard Bolton 9th May 1827

Between

1. Richard Bolton of Bective, Co Meath

2. Frances Georgina Bomford of Rahinstown, spinster.

3. Robert George Bomford of Rahinstown and Thomas H Hesketh of Rufford Hall, Co Lancaster.

On the marriage of Frances Georgina Bomford and Richard Bolton, Richard Bolton places in trust to Party 3 his lands of Bective Abbey and the surrounding land (all listed). (Book 829 Page 379 No 557714)

They were married in November 1827 and it looks as though they spent the honeymoon at Headfort House at Kells. It may be that the Boltons and the Taylors of Headfort were connected; but of course ‘Headfort’ in the December deed could be a mistake for ‘Bective’.

21.6.3 Richard Bolton of Bective Abbey and his family

Much time was spent in sorting out the two Richard Boltons (the other is covered at 21.7.2); but finally the following was found in the 1861 edition of ‘Henderson’s Post Office Directory for County Meath’. Items in brackets come from other sources. See also his entry in Burke (A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain, 4th Edn, 1862, page 123).

“Bolton, Richard Esq. of Bective Abbey, DL, married Frances, daughter of George Bomford of Rahinstown. (Should be Robert Bomford).

Lineage

Sir Richard Bolton, Knight Recorder of Dublin in 1607, was the son of John Bolton of Great Fenton, Co Stafford, and derived from a branch of the family of Bolton at Bolton Lancashire.

In 1639 he became Lord Chancellor of Ireland. (1639 was a critical year for Ireland and Sir Richard became involved with the constitutional wrangle between King Charles, Pym and Strafford, but he ended up on the right side and literally kept his head although Strafford did not. He was granted the Parish of Bective by King Charles I.)

He married firstly Frances, daughter of R Walters of Stafford. (Frances died in 1641 defending Brazeel against Ruah O’Neill whilst her husband was away. Lady Bolton held off the attackers for some time but the Castle caught fire, was burnt down and Frances died in the flames. The Castle was not rebuilt. Sir Richard married...) secondly Margaret, daughter of Sir Patrick Barnewall of Turvey (at Donabate, Co Dublin, who held the now extinct Viscountcy of Kingsland. (See note). He had two daughters and seven sons by his first wife, of whom the eldest...

Sir Edward Bolton, of Brazeel, Co Dublin, was knighted in 1635 and constituted Chief Baron of the Exchequer in Ireland, but was removed by the Commonwealth. [The Civil Survey of 1654 records “Sir Edward Bolton of Braseile, Protestant” as the proprietor in 1640 of the whole of the Parish of Bective consisting of eight townlands totalling about 2,000 statute acres in the Barony of Navan, plus 226 acres of the townland of Balreesk in Balsoon Parish. All this came in time to Richard who placed it in trust in 1827 for his wife Frances Georgina (Bomford) (21.6.2). The Survey updates the above to 1654 and says that Bective Parish “was then in the possession of Sir Edward Bolton, Knt, Protestant, whoe helde the same in ye sayd yeare by Patent and then worth Twenty Pounds of all ye Tythes. Posessed now by Nicholas Bolton Esq. son and heire to Sr Edward Bolton.” From this we can deduce that Sir Edward died about 1650 (Burke says 1848).]

His eldest son Nicholas, of Brazeel, d 1692, married in 1649 Anne, daughter of Nicholas Loftus of Fethard (died 1666) and ancestor of the Marquess of Ely. They had five children and his second son...

Richard of Brazeel, married Anne Catherine, daughter of Stein Bill of Copenhagen, and dying in 1721 was succeeded by his eldest son ...

Edward (of Brazeel), MP for Swords, who married Letitia, (youngest) daughter of (Robert 1st) Viscount Molesworth (Ambassador to Denmark) and died 1758 leaving nine children. The eldest son ...

Robert married 1754 Elizabeth, daughter of John Blennerhassett, and had two sons. (Elizabeth’s mother was Anne the daughter of Colonel James Dawson of Ballynacourty, and sister to Mary the wife of the 1st Lord Massy. Mary was the grandmother of Maria who married Robert Bomford of Rahinstown, see 19.2.2). Robert Bolton died 1798 and was succeeded by his son:

Edward of Brazeel who married firstly Miss Donaldson, and secondly ... Frances, daughter of Joseph Neynoe. The eldest son ...

Robert Compton of Brazeel, had two wives: His first wife was Elizabeth, daughter of James Massy-Dawson (and sister to Maria Bomford); they had no children (but see below). By the second wife, Charlotte, daughter of Joseph Neynoe, whom he married in 1800, he had a daughter and two sons. His eldest son succeeded him ...

Richard Bolton, now (1861) Bective Abbey.”

The 'Massy-Dawson and Poore Pedigrees' (1937, published privately, copy in the British Library) has a different end to that story. According to it, Robert Compton Bolton and his wife Elizabeth Rosetta Bolton had 5 children. The eldest son was Captain Robert Dawson Bolton, who became a Cornet on 18 June 1801 and died of wounds received while on duty at the Battle of Orthes in the Peninsular War in 1814; the second son was John Bolton-Massy, born 1785, took the name Massy on inheriting Ballywire and other lands from his grand uncle the Hon John Massy, married Jane Greene (1793-1878) and died in Dublin on 4th February 1871 having had three sons; the third son was James Bolton who died when about 20 years old; the second daughter was Kate Bolton, who died in infancy. Elizabeth Rosetta was born c 1770 and died in 1851, aged 80 or more. According to the 'Pedigrees', Robert and Elizabeth married in about 1783 (and the eldest son must have been born about then), when she would have been an improbable c 13 years old, so she may have been born before 1770. The 'Pedigrees' states that Robert Crompton Bolton "joined a band of strolling players and was never heard of again."

The 'Pedigrees' records that Richard Bolton of Bective Abbey was born in 1804, died on 28th February 1868, was buried in the Bective Churchyard, and was the only and younger brother of Lieut.-Colonel John Bolton. It does not record who their parents were. Lieut.-Col John Bolton, the elder brother, was born in 1797, was an ensign in the 67th Regiment of Foot from 5th November 1813, Lieut from 26th March 1819 and became a Captain on 4 September 1835. He joined the 75th on 6 April 1837, was promoted to Brevet-Major on 9 November 1846 and retired on 28 January 1848. Six years later he was confirmed as Lieut.-Colonel on 28 November 1854. He married Maria Arthur (1808-89) and died at Sedbury, South Devon, on 7 December 1862 aged 65. She died in Dublin on 27 January 1889.

So the parentage of Richard Bolton of Bective Abbey is uncertain. Possibly as stated in the Post Office Directory he is the son of a second marriage of Robert Compton Bolton of Brazeel who otherwise "joined a band of strolling players and was never heard of again", though probably not the elder son by that marriage. Given that Robert Compton's first wife Elizabeth lived until 1851, when she was 80 or perhaps even older, something odd seems to have happened to Robert Compton Bolton after the last of the children from his first marriage was born.

What is clear is that Richard’s marriage to Frances Georgina Bomford took place in November 1827 probably in Dublin. They had no children and Bective Abbey was passed to their nephew, Rev George Henry Martin, youngest and fourth son of Frances Georgina’s sister Susan Margaret and Charles Rudinge Martin (21.8.4).

In 1838 Lewis comments: “Bective Parish is the property of Richard Bolton. He resides at Bective House a handsome modern residence, pleasantly situated on the banks of the River Boyne. There is no Church and the parishioners attend Divine Service at either Trim or Kilmessan. The Abbey was dissolved by Henry VIII.” Since previous Bolton’s were “of Brazeel” and Bective House was ‘modern’ in 1838, we can presume that it was Richard Bolton who built the house before his marriage in 1827. Burke’s Country Houses places it as c1790 but this would make Richard’s father “of Bective” rather than “of Brazeel”. Richard also built the Church at Bective in 1851; the Church was closed down in 1990.

Richard Bolton died at Bective on 27th February 1868 and was buried in the church there on 4th March by the Bishop of Meath, Samuel Butcher.

Frances Georgina lived on for another 16 years. She headed the list of subscribers in Bective Parish till her death on the 24th June 1884, aged 80.

‘The Landowners of Ireland’ 1878 edition credits “Mrs Frances G. Bolton of Bective, Navan,” with 3,516 acres in Co Meath with a valuation of £3,034. On her death this all passed to her nephew.

Richard was one of two unplaced Boltons.

Note on Turvey

I could not resist including this story of Turvey and wonder if it was the origin of the saying ‘topsy-turvy’. It happened when our Richard Bolton was a little boy. Towards the end of the 1700s, when there was a false rumour of the death of the bachelor 5th Viscount Kingsland, who lived abroad, a Dublin tavern waiter named Matthew Barnewall, believing himself to be the heir, took possession of Turvey with a party of his friends and dispensed ‘rude hospitality’ there to the local populace; cutting down trees and lighting bonfires. After a short while he was evicted and committed to prison for contempt; but in 1814, thanks to the researches of a friendly lawyer, he was actually recognised as the 6th Viscount Kingsland. However he did not succeed in claiming Turvey or any of the other estates, which formerly went with the title, since they had been bequeathed by the 5th Viscount, who died in 1800, to his kinsman the 13th Lord Trimlestown.

21.7 Jemima Letitia Bomford (4th Daughter)

Jemima was twin to Frances Georgina and was born in 1806. This would make her 27 when she was married in 1833. No marriage licence has been found, but the following deed places her ‘of Merrion Square, Dublin’. The Dublin Almanacks record no Bomford living in Merrion Square but ‘Mrs Bomford’, was living just round the corner in No 7 Merrion Street. ‘Mrs Bomford’ would be Jemima’s mother Maria, and it is likely that the marriage took place from this house.

21.7.1 Marriage Settlement - Jemima Letitia Bomford and Richard Bolton 15th March 1833

Between

1. Lyndon Bolton of Monkstown Castle, Co Dublin, and Jane (formerly Carpenter), his wife

2. Richard Bolton of Monkstown Castle, eldest son and heir of Lyndon Bolton

3. Jemima Letitia Bomford of Merrion Square, Dublin, spinster

4. John Massey Bolton, then John Bolton Massey, of Ballywire County Tipperary and late of Dawson Street, Dublin. (Executor of Robert Bomford’s settlement)

5. William Parsons Hooey of Leeson Street, Dublin and Henry Justice of Denzelle Street, Dublin, Barrister at Law (Trustees of Jemima’s £400 annuity)

6. Thomas Henry Hesketh of Old Rufford Hall, Co Lancaster, and Richard Bolton of Bective, Co Meath. (Both are Jemima’s brothers- in-law)

7. Andrew Bourne of Fitzwilliam Street, Dublin, Barrister at Law, (Richard Bolton’s brother-in-law), and Abraham Bolton of Dublin, Captain H.M. 5th Regiment of Dragoons (Richard’s younger brother) (Both were trustees for the children).

8. Robert George Bomford of Rahinstown

Reciting

1. Lyndon Bolton leased Richard Bolton several houses in Dublin on 21st May 1831, and land in Co Dublin.

2. Richard Bolton is to receive £3,000 on his marriage

3. In accordance with the settlement of Robert Bomford for his children, Robert (George) Bomford gives Jemima Letitia her settlement of £3,000

4. A marriage is intended to be had between Richard Bolton and Jemima Letitia Bomford.

Now Richard Bolton places his Dublin houses and land in Co Waterford and in Co Dublin in the hands of William Parsons Hooey and Henry Justice in trust for an annuity of £400 to Jemima Letitia to be paid upon his death. Jemima Letitia places her £3,000 in trust to Andrew Bourne and Abraham Bolton for an annuity of £60 for each of her children. (Year 1834 Book 5 No 277)

This is not the only Bomford / Bolton marriage. Jemima and Richard’s niece, Elinor Jane Bolton, will marry John Francis Bomford in 1866 (30.3.1). The following background to the Bolton family will lead to both marriages

21.7.2 The Bolton Family

(cf the family of the other Richard Bolton (of Bective Abbey), covered at 21.6.3)

There are many Boltons in Ireland, but this branch is “of The Island”, their residence at Kilmuckridge, Co Wexford. The house is about half way between Gorey and Wexford Town, and due east of Enniscorthy. It was probably built by John Bolton who died in 1758 without leaving any children and he bequeathed it to his brother William. The centre block of the house was of three storeys with five bays and the wings were of two storeys, the right wing being of three bays and the left of one bay so the wings were not balanced; the rooms had low ceilings which were decorated with elaborate plasterwork in the ground floor rooms during the 1800s. The Island has been passed from one William to the next until the William who died in 1958 without any children. He left it to his three nieces, Eva, Violet, and Mary Hughes who sold it in 1962, there being no more Bolton’s from that branch in Ireland.