The Irish Bomfords

This chapter concerns the marriages of two Bomford families, those of Edward of Hightown and those of Stephen of Gallow. These marriages are summarized below. For the birth dates of these children see 5.8.

Edward of Hightown and Margaret his wife had four children:

1. John who died c1739 and probably did not marry (5.7 Note 4)

2. Catherine who married Antony Hamilton in 1742 (8.1)

3. Lucy who married Thomas Birmingham in c1760 (8.12)

4. Ann who firstly married Owen Daly in c1745 (8.3) and secondly married John Molloy in 1755 (8.9)

Stephen of Gallow and Anne his wife had nine [ten] children:

1. Thomas who married Mary Foster in 1740 and died the next year (6.3)

2. Stephen who married Elizabeth Sibthorpe in 1745 (8.2)

3. John who married Ann Forster in 1753 (8.7)

4. David who married Sarah Burtchaell in 1756 (8.11)

5. Isaac who married Sarah Matthews in 1756 (8.10)

6. Ann who married Samuel L’Estrange in 1750 (8.5)

7. Dorcas who married Edward Williams in c1745 (8.4)

8. Mary who married William Coates in 1750 (8.6)

9. Esther who married John Kelly in 1756 (8.8)

10. Elizabeth who married Christopher Standring in 1741 (8.3.2)

8.1 Catherine Bomford Marries Antony Hamilton

According to Burke, Catherine was Colonel Laurence’s second daughter, and as such her birth date and age at this time was a problem, but the following deeds clearly make her the eldest daughter of Edward of Hightown.

Burke simply states that “Catherine married. --- Hamilton”. This can now be correct to read:

“Catherine married February 1742, Antony of Kilnacarra, Co Longford, son of Charles Hamilton. He died June 1755; she died after 1759 having had issue.

1. James Edward Hamilton of Kilnacarra, b 1743

2. Antony Hamilton, b c1748

3. John Hamilton, b 1751

1. Sidney (a girl), b c1745

2. Margaret Hamilton, b c1753”

8.1.1 Marriage Settlement of Antony Hamilton and Catherine Bomford 15th February 1742

(Extracted from the Four Courts, Marriage Articles 4255 1742/1743)

Between

1. Anthony Hamilton of Kilnecarrow, Co Longford

2. Edward Bomford of Hightown, Co Westmeath, and Catherine Bomford his eldest daughter.

3. Launcelot Lauder of Kiltobrid (Kiltubrid), Co Leitrim, and James Tyrrell of Cloonard, Co Kildare (the two trustees).

Whereas a marriage is shortly intended between Antony Hamilton and Catherine Bomford.

Now a jointure is made and Edward Bomford agrees to pay £300 to the trustees Launcelot Lauder and James Tyrrell and a further £300 to Antony Hamilton making £600. This money may be laid out in land and the interest will go to Antony Hamilton during his life and to Catherine Bomford after his death, and then shared between their children.

Also Antony Hamilton agrees to convey in trust to the trustees the lands of:

Killnecarrow containing 124 plantation acres (201 statute) and
Aghaga containing 141 plantation acres (248 statute) both in the Barony of Longford; and the lands of
Smear containing 295 plantation acres (418 statute) and
Crott alias Crutt containing 262 plantation acres (324 statute) both in the Barony of Granard.

Which were leased on 11th May 1738 by the Rev James Achmuty, Dean of Armagh, to Charles Hamilton, deceased, father of Antony Hamilton for the lives of:

Charles Hamilton (the father)
Antony Hamilton his son and
William Hamilton his second son

at a rent of £66.

Signed: Ant Hamilton; Edwd Bomford; Catherine Bomford; James Tyrrell.

The Four Courts envelope also contains two other deeds. The first one is dated November 1721 and has no interest to us except that it is between Charles Hamilton and ‘Frances Hamilton, widow, mother of Charles Hamilton’. So Frances Hamilton must be a grandmother of Antony, and his father Charles must have died between 1738 and 1742.

The second deed is dated 1770 and is included in 8.1.5.

8.1.2 Marriage Settlement 3rd March 1750

Edward Bomford of Hightown, Co Westmeath, Gentleman, in trust to James Tyrrell of Cloonard, Co Kildare, gentleman, with the consent of Antony Hamilton of Kilnecarraid, Co Longford.

Reciting

1. (The money part of the deed of 1742)

2. Lancelot Lawden has died leaving James Tyrrell the only trustee.

3. Mark Whyte of the City of Dublin leased on 7th February 1750 to Edward Bomford for £150.3.0 per annum the lands of Balloughter, otherwise Hightown, and Quinera containing 429 plantation acres (695 statute) of good land, plus 125 plantation acres (203 statute) of bog for three lives (see 10.2.1).

Now Edward Bomford makes over these lands in trust to James Tyrrell to manage for the payment of the £300 marriage portion of Catherine. (Book 146 Page 383 No 98040)

8.1.3 Death of Anthony Hamilton June 1755

This branch of the Hamilton family has not been traced, neither has his house in Co Longford, which has a variety of spellings in the documents. Luckily Betham records the will of Anthony Hamilton. No other relevant wills were found.

“Anthony Hamilton of Kilnacarra, Co Longford, Esq., will dated 26th May 1755 and proved 7th July 1755.” [So he must have died in June 1755].

Father Charles Hamilton

Wife Katherine Hamilton, eldest daughter of Edward Bomford of Hightown, Co Westmeath

Brother William Hamilton

Cousin Launcelot Lawder, eldest son of Uncle John Lawder who married Anthony’s aunt

Daughter Sidney Hamilton

2nd son Anthony Hamilton

3rd son John Hamilton

Eldest son James Edward Hamilton

Daughter Margaret Hamilton

Wife’s uncle Thomas Bomford” (Thomas of Rahinstown who died in 1740).

The will mentions “Cousin Launcelot Lawder, eldest son of uncle John Lawder”.

The Lawder Family (sometimes spelt Lauder or Lawden in deeds):

The Lawder’s of Kiltubrid, south of Lough Allen in Co Leitrim, are an offshoot of the Lawder’s of Lawderdale at Ballinamore, Co Leitrim.

John Lawder of Kiltubrid must have died about 1700; his eldest son was Launcelot, (8.1.1), one of the trustees of the marriage settlement of Antony Hamilton and Catherine Bomford and who had died before 1750 (8.1.2); John had two nephews:

1. William Lawder who married Catherine Achmuty daughter of Arthur Achmuty of Brianstown, Co Longford and who died in 1715; and

2. James Lawder who married secondly Dorcas Townley, daughter of Samuel Townley, and widow of Thomas Achmuty, Catherine Achmuty’s brother

8.1.4 The Hamilton Family

All Catherine and Antony’s children would be minors until at least 1763 and no doubt Catherine and the children stayed on at Kilnacarra after Anthony died in June 1755.

Catherine wrote a letter in 1759 concerning the Oldtown and Enniscoffey court case (10.5). It is not known when she died but it must have been after 1759.

8.1.5 Hamilton Land Purchase 5th May 1770

Between

1. Rev John Auchmuty of Fosterstown, Co Meath and Isabella Auchmuty of Belmount, Co Westmeath, spinster, both executors of the Rev James Auchmuty, deceased (Dean of Armagh)

2. James Edward Hamilton of Kilnecarrow, Co Longford.

James Edward Hamilton buys the land (mentioned in 8.1.1) of the deed of 1742 from the Auchmuty family for cash. (Four Courts envelope: 8.1.1)

With this purchase of land James Edward Hamilton, the eldest son of Catherine (Bomford) and Anthony Hamilton, not only had the Hamilton home of Kilnacarra consisting of 201 acres but now owned the land previously leased consisting of 990 acres. No other details of the Hamilton children have been found. In 1766 John Bomford married Dorcas Achmuty (14.10). See 14.10.4 for a summary of the Achmuty family.

8.2 Stephen Bomford Marries Elizabeth Sibthorpe 18th April 1745

Marriage Settlement

Between:

1. Stephen Bomford the younger of Rahinstown

2. Roger Jones of Dollinstown (see 2.5.1) and Benjamin Pratt of Agher (the trustees for Elizabeth)

3. William Foster of Dublin (Elizabeth’s uncle) and Robert Sibthorpe, only son of Stephen Sibthorpe of Dunany, Co Louth (and brother of Elizabeth) (trustees for children of the marriage)

4. Stephen Sibthorpe of Dunany and Elizabeth Sibthorpe (the bride), eldest daughter of Stephen Sibthorpe..

Reciting:

1. 15th December 1726. Stephen Bomford of Gallow was granted by William Conolly, then one of the Lord Justices and General Governors of Ireland, the Lands of Dirpatrick containing 475 plantation acres (770 statute) in the Barony of Deece, at the yearly rent of £500.

2. 7th February 1714. William Palmer granted 77 plantation acres (125 statute) in the lands of Arratstown, or Arrodstown, in the Barony of Deece, by Garrett Wesley of Dangan, for three lives at a rent of £27.4.3

3. 11th December 1691. Thomas Bomford, deceased of Oldtown, rented Baconstown 507 plantation acres (821 statute) and part of Rahinstown containing 396 plantation acres (642 statute) both in the Barony of Moyfenragh, from Sir Arthur Langford

The settlement on the marriage between Stephen Bomford and Elizabeth Sibthorpe “shortly to be had” was:

1. Stephen Bomford to get £1,200 from Stephen Sibthorpe (the bride’s father).

2. Stephen is confirmed in the use of Dirpatrick during his life, but leases it on trust to Roger Jones and Benjamin Pratt so that his wife Elizabeth will receive an annuity of £150 from this estate upon his death.

3. Stephen is confirmed in the use of Arraattstown or Arradstown, Baconstown and Rahinstown during his life but they are placed in trust in the hands of William Foster and Robert Sibthorpe for the male children of Elizabeth and Stephen. For the next 500 years these lands are to pass to the oldest male heir (in other words the land is entailed).

4. The eldest son of this marriage is to receive £1,500 at the age of 21, and the other children are to share £3,000 at the age of 21 or on their marriage whichever comes first. [See 18.1.2 for how this was distributed in Stephen's will, and 18.8.3, 19.2 and 19.2.1 for how it was paid. The amounts don't seem to correspond exactly.]

5. The trustees for the children of the marriage and for the entail are William Foster and Robert Sibthorpe.

Signed: Stepn Bomford Junr; Ste Sibthorpe; and Elizth Sibthorpe

Witnessed: Ant Foster, City of Dublin (Elizabeth’s uncle); and Ephm Stannus, Carlingford, Co Louth (Elizabeth’s brother-in-law).

1. The Registry of Deeds also records this in Book 117, Page 375, No 81163 and the settlement is repeated in 1808 (18.8.3), particularly concerning the entail of Rahinstown, Baconstown and Arrodstown.

2. It is interesting that Stephen had to be confirmed in the lands (probably the confirmation was that he, and not the trustees, had day to day use of the land and retained the profits). His father, Stephen the elder of Gallow, did not die for another 14 years, but he had given up farming and handed over to his son. Stephen (senior) was about 60 (1.6.1) and was blind, but by no means an invalid as below we have a record of him attending a party at Agher in 1746.

3. Many of those taking part were also mentioned in the marriage settlement (6.3) of Mary Foster and Thomas Bomford the younger, Stephen’s older brother. From these deeds and other documents a rough tree can be drawn showing the Foster - Sibthorpe - Bomford connections; much of the Foster information comes from an old Burke but it does not seem to be complete.

Marriages from Exshaw's and the Hibernian magazines, volume 1 page 30. Looks like Mifs [Miss] Eliza Sebtrop.

Stephen's family is the subject of Chapter 18.

8.2.1 The Foster and Sibthorpe Families

Mary Foster who married Thomas Bomford the younger (6.3) and Elizabeth Sibthorpe who married Thomas’ brother Stephen (8.2) are of different generations. Mary Foster was the aunt of Elizabeth Sibthorpe and yet they married brothers.

See also A P W Malcomson, John Foster: The Politics of the Anglo-Irish Ascendancy, Oxford University Press, 1978, ISBN 0-19-920087-4. That work reportedly contains a genealogy of the Foster family which is essentially the same as the one below, but there are minor differences.

The executor Benjamin Pratt of Agher lived half way between Gallow and Rahinstown. He was a close friend of these Bomfords and died in 1771 after all his children had died except for Margaret Pratt (see 20.2.1). Margaret married Francis Winter who had just died in 1743 and, being the only child alive, inherited her father’s estates including Agher. The Pratt estates then passed to her son Samuel Winter who was just four at this time. However it is also possible that the executor, Benjamin Pratt, was the son of Benjamin and sister of Margaret. This younger Benjamin was born at Agher on 14th October 1712 and so quite likely to be a trustee, however he and his two brothers died before 1761. His youngest brother John, 1721 - 1761, was the last of the brothers to die and of him his father wrote that he was “a young gentleman of the strictest honour and integrity”. John Pratt kept a diary, the 1745 - 1747 portion being in the National Library (Positive 4160). The diary has two contemporary items concerning the Bomfords:

“19th November 1745 Jack Bomford dined and suped, 3 bottles of claret”; and

“19th July 1746 Old Stephen Bumford dined here” (at Agher).

‘Jack’ must be John Bomford, Stephen’s younger brother, who was then 18 and at Trinity. He was six years younger than John Pratt.

‘Old Stephen’ was Stephen the elder of Gallow who was then in his late 50s (1.6.1) and obviously going strong though his eyesight had gone.

See notes below this diagram: it has errors:

Notes:

The last four in the diagram above (ie Robert, Elizabeth, Margaret and Frances Sibthorpe) are brother and sisters, not father and daughters. Robert also had children, including another Margaret Sibthorpe who married Thomas O'Reilly of Baltrasna [email from Kevin Penders 16 Jun 2007].

According to part of his entry in Wikipedia, and the IGI, John William Foster MP was the grandson, not the son, of John Foster MP (b c1645, d 1747) and Elizabeth Fortescue. Based on the IGI entries, John and Elizabeth had a son William Foster b c1711, d 17 Aug 1783, who married Patience Fowles on 19 Mar 1733 and had issue John William Foster 'about 1730', along with his brothers and sisters Patience Foster, Elizabeth Foster, Frederick John Foster and/or Henry Foster. Some ICI entries suggest William Foster was also an MP for Dunleer, along with (perhaps?) his father John Foster, his brother Anthony Foster, his son John William Foster (and several other Fosters), but that is not evidently correct.

Links to 6.3 11.3 16.7.2.2

8.3 Anne Bomford Marries Owen Daly c1745

An article in the ‘Grand Juries of Westmeath’ records the marriage of a daughter of Edward Bomford of Hightown. This was the first hint of a daughter and triggered a hunt, which named the daughter Anne, and her three sons from two marriages. However it also leaves us with a number of anomalies over dates. The following Daly tree is principally based or the ‘Grand Juries’ but deviates with clues from Betham’s will extracts and other family extracts.

Link to 8.9

In 1758 “Ann Daly, also Bomford, widow,” wrote a letter, which is recorded in the 1762 document concerning the court case over Oldtown and Enniscoffey (10.6.1). From this we know that Anne Bomford had been married and that her husband had died, and both had occurred before the letter was written in 1758. The ‘Grand Juries of Westmeath’ gives the date of marriage as 1775 but this is far too late and must wrong, not only because Anne was a widow in 1758 but because her son would have to have married when he was aged four. We must assume that 1775 is a misprint, and I am further assuming that only one figure is wrong. The choice seems to be 1755, 1745, 1735 etc. I have selected 1745 as the most likely date for the marriage because her older sister married in 1742 (8.1), her second marriage takes place in 1755 and her father would be that much younger; however the marriage could have been c1735, but there is more discussion concerning these dates at the time of her second marriage (see 8.9). The marriage took place at Killucan.

The Daly tree ends about 1850, but both Edward and Owen are known to have children who would be the great great grandchildren of Anne Bomford, and there is no reason why the Daly family might not be still in existence to this day. Con Maxwell (email 1 Oct 2006) says, "I remember the last of them. There was an old man and his sister who died about 25 years ago, I think. For the last century they were Catholic but they may have been Protestant earlier."

In 1784 ‘Owen Daly of Dublin Gent,’ bought Clounstown in trust for Augustine Pentheney (14.5.l/2). With such a name he is likely to be a relative but he cannot, at this stage, be fitted into the tree; perhaps he is a son of Owen Daly’s brother Matthew.

Multyfarnham Parish History by Peter Wallace (1987) indicates (page 217) that there were Protestant churches and cemetries in the Multyfarnham area at Leny and at Stonehall, which is about a mile and a half east of the village. The Stonehall church is in ruins and has not been used since around 1920. The cemetry is rarely used now. Wallace reports (page 202) a Daly tombstone in the Stonehall cemetery which reads as follows: "Tho Daly (gt gt gf) Tho (gt gf) Owen (gf) Jn (father) and Matt uncle of Ed Daly. Mary Daly 1804 aged 42, Anne 1810 aged 8 months, and Anne wife of Owen Daly, Mornington, 1810 aged 19". Con Maxwell (email 18 Oct 2006) says this last Anne was a Bomford but Wallace does not mention that. In addition, Wallace reports (page 201) an Anne Bumford buried in Leny cemetery. Her epitaph, dated 1787, reads:

Here rests the body of Miss Anne Bumford,

She lived in innocence and at the age of sixteen
after a few hours of illness was taken away
by the kindness of Providence
from the cares and contaminations of the World.

The same day that saw the bloom
of perfect health and beauty on her cheek
saw it faded by the withering hand of death
a sad but to the vain a salutary lesson.

Wallace reports (page 235) there were between 5 and 9 Bomford baptisms among the almost 2700 recorded in the Multyfarnham Parish Register between 1824 and 1849 inclusive. These records have not been checked. There was a Mary Bomford living in Multyfarnham recorded in Griffiths 1854 valuation.

A further Bomford-Daly link is William Bomford married Anne Daly on 30 August 1839 in the Roman Catholic Parish of Summerhill in Co Meath. There are no further details and neither bride nor groom has been placed (17.10.13).

8.3.1 The Cooke Family

The Cooke family appears above and will appear again. There are two branches mentioned: those of Cookestown or Cookesborough who tie the families of Reynell, Pratt and Purdon together but have no direct ties with the Bomfords; and those of Retreat who are closely involved with the Bomfords. The following illustrates that involvement.

Note 1. Thomas Cooke was the only son of Thomas Cooke who in 1742 leased Retreat near Athlone, which he later purchased. Thomas Cooke the younger married Elizabeth Dawson in 1790, the daughter of William Dawson of Nohaville, Co Westmeath; he inherited Retreat when his father died in 1798 and lived there until he died. Thomas and Elizabeth had three children.

Note 1a. Thomas Cooke joined the army and was a lieutenant in the 9th Regiment. He served on the staff of the Duke of Wellington in Spain, and with his regiment on the Walcheren Expedition of 1809. This was to be a raid to destroy the ships and dockyards at Antwerp, but the commanders of the fleet and army refused to work together, and the whole affair was a failure. During this fiasco Thomas’ health became so impaired that he died in 1811.

Note 1b. William Cooke succeeded to Retreat in 1811. He married twice: Firstly to Catherine the only child of Falkiner Chute, Captain 6th Dragoons and their daughter Catherine Cooke married Edward Daly of Mornington in 1850, the great-grandson of Anne (Bomford) and Owen Daly. He married secondly Ruth Chute, a cousin of Catherine his first wife, and the daughter of Richard Chute of Chute Hall, Co Kerry. Her brother Francis Chute of Chute Hall married Mary Anne Bomford, the great-grand-daughter of Stephen Bomford of Gallow (18.5.3). Ruth had a number of children whose children lived at Retreat until fairly recently.

Note 1c. Catherine Cooke married in 1816 Owen Daly of Mornington, 1780 - 1847. Their son Edward Daly, born 1817, married in 1850 his cousin Catherine Cooke, see (1b) above.

Note 2. Thomas Cooke the elder who died in 1798 was descended from the Cappoquin branch of Co Waterford. He was one of several brothers and it would appear, though it is not definite, that one of these brothers was Rev Richard Cooke, Vicar of St Peter-the-Poor in London, and he had three sons, the eldest being William Cooke, 1737-1789, who at the early age of 27 was made a Director of the Bank of England, was a merchant in Turkey and the Levant. Around 1780 he married and had three sons and two daughters. His eldest son was also named William Cooke, born in London in 1782, was sent to India at the age of 17 as Under-Secretary in the Military and Political Department in Madras. In 1812 in Madras he married Martha, the only daughter of John Pybus, the Consul to Ceylon. In 1825 he became the Principal Collector and Magistrate at Chittoor near Madras and the next year he retired to Cheltenham in England where he died in 1863. He and Martha had four boys and three girls, the eldest being Cecil Pybus Cooke (1813 - 1895) who married Arbella Winter (1821 - 1892) (See 18.7.6). Arbella’s older sister, Frances Jane, married Samuel Bomford the brother of George Bomford of Oakley Park and her mother was Frances Rose Bomford the younger daughter of Trevor and Mary Bomford.

Note 3. William Dawson has been included in the tree since his grandson, another William Dawson of Nohaville, Co Westmeath, married Catherine the eldest daughter of Robert Bomford-Jessop (14.8.2). Robert Bomford-Jessop was the great-grandson of Oliver Bomford of Cushenstown.

Note 4. Thus, rather tenuously in some cases, the Cooke family ties together the descendants of three of Colonel Laurence Bomford’s sons, Oliver of Cushenstown, Edward of Hightown, and Stephen of Gallow.

8.3.2 Elizabeth Bomford marries Christopher Standring 1 June 1741

It is most likely that Elizabeth was the eldest, but unrecorded, daughter of Stephen of Gallow. She was born about 1720 in the Parish of Rodanstown. On 1 June 1741, also at Rodanstown, she married Christopher Standring. He was born about 1715 in the Parish of St Andrews in Dublin and grew up to be a tallow chandler in Dublin.

In June 1762 they were both mentioned in the Brief to the Lord Chancellor, Christopher as the administrator of his wife Elizabeth. So Elizabeth must have died before 1762. There were no known children.

8.4 Dorcas Bomford Marries Edward Williams c1745

Dorcas was the second daughter of Stephen Bomford and Anne (Smith) of Gallow and was born about 1722. All we know about her is the bald statement in Burke, which reads “Dorcas married E. Williams”. All the rest is conjecture. No marriage licence has been found nor has any reference to the Williams family, but the documents have four references to the couple.

30th March 1753 (8.7.1) “Edward Williams of Trim, Gentleman” was party to Rev John Bomford’s marriage settlement.
1st October 1759 (9.6.1) “Thomas Williams, son of Edward Williams of Trim” was one of the lives of the Gallow lease.
12th June 1761 (9.7.2) “Dorcas, the wife of Edward Williams, his (Stephen’s) second daughter.”
4th September 1766 (10.6; photo 2574) 'Edward Williams and Dorcas his wife' are listed in a list of people in an 1801 document; and 'Answer Franklin & Williams & Kiernan 4 Sept 1766' is in a list of documents in the same section. Williams would be the same person in both references, and it suggests that both Edward and Dorcas were alive in 1766.

In addition the Meath Freeholders List dated sometime between 1775 and 1780 records “Williams, Edward, Trim” and “Williams, Stephen, Trim”.

From these there is confirmation that Dorcas married Edward Williams of Trim, Co Meath, and that in 1759 they had a son named Thomas Williams. Most of the Bomford leases had children aged between 12 and 15 as lives although one or two lives were as young as aged 4. If we selected aged 14 for the life of the Gallow lease then Thomas would be born in 1745 and this date has been selected, for want of a better, as the marriage date of Dorcas and Edward; this date would make Dorcas around 23 at the time of her marriage.

Dorcas was likely alive in 1766 but she was only in her mid-40s then so probably lived on for another twenty years. Edward was alive in the late 1770s and was living in or near Trim then. It is not clear who is the Stephen Williams of the Freeholders List; perhaps he was Edward’s brother or even another son, my guess would be a son named after his grandfather, Stephen Bomford, but of course he may not be any relation at all.

8.5 Ann Bomford marries Samuel L’Estrange 1750

Ann is the eldest daughter of Stephen Bomford of Gallow and was born around 1720.

There are no Bomford documents concerning this marriage, nor has a marriage licence been seen, but the L’Estrange family is well documented in Burke. However there are conflicting dates for the marriage in Burke; under Bomford the date is 1740, and under L’Estrange it is 1750. 1750 is the more likely date.

Samuel L’Estrange died in 1757 leaving Ann to bring up their four sons at Clowestown which is beside Violetstown, her mother’s family home in Westmeath. Ann died in 1784 and her death and children are recorded under 15.1.1

The L’Estrange family and the Smith family are inter-connected and both are heavily involved with the Bomfords, so both families are introduced below. The Smith family is in more detail because it is not in Burke and relies on these documents plus four wills from Betham’s notebooks, those of John of 1733, Dorcas of 1746, Isaac of 1763 and John of 1772.

8.5.1 The Smith Family

There are many Smith or Smythe families around Westmeath and they all probably stem from the same source.

Our particular branch starts with Abraham Smith who was alive in 1666, of Kiltoon and Rathduff, Co Westmeath; Rathduff which was later renamed Anneville is situated three miles south of Mullingar on the road to Tyrrellspass, and is sandwiched between Gurteen and Gainstown on the north and Tyrrellstown on the south, all Bomford properties. Kiltoon has not been traced but it may be in Co Roscommon.

John Smith of Vilanstown, later renamed Violetstown lies east of Anneville and north of Gaybrook where another branch of the Smiths lived. John died in 1733 (will August 1732, proved March 1733). His wife was Dorcas Wheatley of Co Tipperary. Her will of November 1742 (proved April 1746) names a brother Benjamin Wheatley, a sister Esther Christian, and two nieces Mary Madden and Jane Wheatley. Benjamin Wheatley might have married Mary Tarleton (12.1.2). John and Dorcas had 8 children.

1. Joshua Smith was named in his father’s will but not in his mother’s, so he probably died between 1732 and 1742.

2. John Smith of Violetstown was an executor of the will of Stephen Bomford of Gallow, his brother-in-law, and wrote letters concerning the court case of Oldtown and Enniscoffey. According to the January 1768 deed (11.7) he bequeathed £1,000 to David Bomford in his will of 15th February 1763 and he appointed his wife Anne and Charles Lyons executors.

His wife was Anne, daughter of Benjamin Pratt of Agher (20.2.1) and her niece was Margaret Pratt who married Francis Winter and who inherited Agher. The deed of January 1768 also records that Anne Smith is ‘now’ the wife of Thomas Walpole. She may have married him in 1767 which means that her first husband, John Smith, must have died between February 1763 (the will) and say 1766. John and Anne had three sons

a. John of Anneville, which he inherited from his uncle Isaac, married Louisa Bermingham (8.5.3) and died in 1794. Anneville was sold sometime before 1838 when William Robinson owned it. John and Louisa had four boys

i John Smith, born 1776, educated at Trinity and died unmarried.

ii Richard Smith of the 42nd Regiment died unmarried in 1805.

iii Benjamin Smith married Catherine Adams and died in 1808. They had a son and a grandson both named John Smith.

iv Francis Pratt Smith married Louisa McNamara in 1806.

b. Richard of Violetstown is mentioned in David Bomford’s will of 1807 as being ‘late of Violetstown’. He left Violetstown to his younger brother. He must have died without children before 1807.

c. Benjamin Smith of Violetstown never married. His attorney was his cousin Isaac Bomford and later, when Isaac was old, Trevor Bomford. He died in 1809 (probate). Violetstown was sold some time before 1838 when E. Lewis owned it.

3. Isaac Smith of Anneville changed the name of Rathduff to Anneville after his wife Anne, daughter of Major John Lyons of Ledestown. They were married probably about 1700 but certainly before 1720 (see 9.3.5). He was a trustee of the marriage settlement of 1753 between John Bomford and Ann Forster, and about the same time he leased Gainstown and Tyrrellstown from John Bomford. He died in 1763 (will 15th February and proved 28th March 1763) leaving Anne a widow. They had two daughters and Anneville was passed to his nephew John Smith (above).

4. Anne Smith, the eldest daughter, born 1696 (9.7.3) married Stephen Bomford of Gallow in 1713, (2.13). He died in 1759 and she died sometime between 1761 and 1774. They had nine children. Two of their sons, David and Isaac Bomford who may have been twins, were mentioned in their uncle Isaac Smith’s will.

5. Elizabeth Smith married David Tew, brother-in-law of Thomas Bomford the elder of Rahinstown, some time before 1732. They had five children (see the Tew family in 9.3.7.).

6. Esther Smith married John L’Estrange of Boardstown, Co Westmeath, also some time before 1732. John’s will was dated 26th June 1736, but see the L’Estrange tree which follows. Incidentally Esther was named Ellen in her mother’s will but this must have been wrongly copied by Betham.

7. Mary Smith married Mr Smith between 1732 and 1742. They had a daughter, Dorcas.

8. Dorcas Smith married Thomas Smith between 1732 and 1742. Thomas Smith of Lismacrony, Co Tipperary, died on 10th May 1774. His family name seems to have gradually changed from Smith through Smyth to the present day name of Smythe. He was related to the Smiths of Fieldstown, Gaybrook, Barbaville, Drumcree, Glananea and Ballynagall, all estates in Westmeath. They had three sons

a. Ralph Smith of Milford House, Co Tipperary, who in 1772 married Elizabeth, 3rd daughter of George Stoney of Greyfort. He died in 1813 and his offspring live to this day.

b. Rev John Smith died in 1813. He married but had no children

c. William Smith of Gurteen, Co Tipperary, married but also had no children.

Other Smiths of this period mentioned in the documents but not apparently connected are:

1711 Thomas Smith of Gurteen and Gainstown, Co Westmeath.
1715 James Smith, vintner of Dublin
1744 Jane Smith of Dublin who married Laurence Bomford of Killeglan
1751 John Smith of Kilbrew

Some Smith (Smyth or Smythe) families of Westmeath mentioned by Lewis in 1838 are:

Gaybrook - Mrs A Smith, in the Parish of Enniscoffey, “a hansome mansion in a fine demesne richly planted and diversified with artificial lakes”.
Archerstown - R. Smyth, in the Parish of Castletown-Delvin
Barbaville - W. B. Smyth, in the Parish of Feighan of Fore (built 1730)
Benison Lodge - Rev T. Smythe; and Lake View - W. Smyth (both near Castlepollard)
Ralphsdale - Ralph Smyth, “the demesne of which is entered by a beautiful gate”
Drumcree - Robert Smyth “in whose demesne is a fine lake”.

These last two are in the Parish of Kilcumney.

It could be said that ‘our’ Smiths of Violetstown and Anneville had died out or moved away by 1838.

8.5.2 The L’Estrange Family

The family name until the mid 1600s was Le Strange.

Richard Le Strange second son of Sir Thomas Le Strange of Hunstanton, Norfolk, married and had three sons. Sir Thomas was a soldier who went to Ireland; he was made Governor of Roscommon in 1566 with a garrison of infantry and 20 horsemen after it had been recaptured for Queen Elizabeth from the ‘Old English’ aided by Spain. This must have been the reason for Richard’s eldest son settling in that part of Ireland. He was:

Thomas of Castle Strange, Co Roscommon, south of Fuerty on the River Suck. Thomas was living in 1616 and had one son:

Hamon of Castle Strange who died in 1639 leaving a son and a daughter, Elizabeth. The son was:

Thomas of Castle Strange died in 1655. He had two sons and three daughters. The family left Castle Strange and the eldest son Henry went to Moystown in King’s County on the River Brosna between Shannonbridge and Cloghan. Henry died in 1666 and we have little interest in his branch except that in 1824 a descendant, Mary L’Estrange, married Marcus Beresford, Archbishop of Armagh, as his first wife. Mary died in 1845 and the Archbishop married secondly Elizabeth, the widow of Robert George Bomford of Rahinstown, in 1850 (22.10). The second son was:

William who went to Castle Cuffe in Queen’s Co to the west of Clonaslee. He died in 1676 having had four sons and a daughter. Only the third son’s descendants continued the line and some of them are still living. The third son was:

Robert of Keoltown, Co Westmeath. He changed the family name to L’Estrange and had one son:

John of Keoltown was named in August 1682 in an address from County Westmeath to King Charles II concerning the plight of the Roman Catholic community in the county. He married Susanna Harrison, daughter of Rev John Harrison and his wife Sarah who was a daughter of Bishop Lewis Jones (see this family, 2.5.1). The family then moved to Boardstown for a couple of generations, and then to Clowestown and Clonsheevor, all in Co Westmeath. Clowestown is just north of Violetstown, the Smith family place, but neither Boardstown nor Clonsheevor have been located although Clonsheevor is the name of a lake north of Mullingar.

John of Keoltown had issue:

Link to 15.1.1

The cousins who married, Anne and Edward L’Estrange of Clonsheevor, had four sons. The youngest was Antony, 1768 - 1848, of Dublin, who had three sons:

1. Major-General Edward L’Estrange who served in the Peninsular War and in India, died unmarried

2. Lieutenant Frederick L’Estrange, 1798 - 1871, of the Royal Navy married and his line continues. His wife was Frances Amelia Matthews, died 1877, daughter of Rev John Matthews, Vicar Choral of St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin.

3. Francis L’Estrange, 1803 - 1875, F.R.C.S.I., Surgeon of the Antrim Artillery; and perhaps also an eminent dentist (Daphne & Don Gregg emails 22 & 27 Nov 2008: though the record of the eminent dentist is also attributed to Francis L'Estrange, born about 1786 in Dublin who became a major in the 3rd Buffs (15.1.1 5 b). In 1830 he married Catherine Eliza Matthews, another daughter of Rev John Matthews. She died in 1865 leaving two sons and two daughters.

Their eldest son, Colonel Edward Napoleon L’Estrange, married as his second wife Belinda Emily North-Bomford (see 27.10.). Thus Belinda’s great-great-aunt was Anne L’Estrange (Bomford) of Gallow.

Note 1. John Cooke of Cookesborough (later Cookestown), Co Westmeath, died in 1733 (probate) leaving as his heirs two daughters; Mary who married Edward L’Estrange above; and Jane who married James Nugent of Clonlost, Co Westmeath. Jane and James Nugent had a daughter, also named Jane, who married Benjamin Pratt of Agher, (see 20.2.1).

Note 2. According to Burke, Edward L’Estrange of Boardstown was an only son, but according to the ‘Grand Juries of Westmeath’ there was a brother and three sisters. These would become Anne Bomford’s uncle and aunts and were:

2. John

3. Margaret who married Thomas Naghten

4. Anne; and

5. Sarah.

8.5.3 The Bermingham Family

There are too many Bermingham connections for them not to be related. There are:

1. Louisa Bermingham who married John Smith of Anneville, a cousin of Anne (Bomford) and Samuel L’Estrange.

2. Thomas Birmingham who married Lucy, one of the daughters of Edward Bomford of Hightown (8.12). Lucy was another cousin of Anne (Bomford) and Samuel L’Estrange.

3. Anne (Bomford) and Samuel L’Estrange had a son, Rev Samuel L’Estrange who married Louisa Birmingham, the daughter of Walter Birmingham.

Louisa, Thomas and Walter Bermingham are all of the same generation, and may even be brothers and sister with a niece Louisa. Unfortunately no suitable Bermingham pedigree has been found. The question of the spelling of the name, Bermingham or Birmingham, has been found in my research not to be of great importance during the 1700s. See also 11.2.4.

8.6 Mary Bomford marries William Coates 22nd June 1750

Mary is the third daughter of Stephen Bomford the elder of Gallow and his wife Anne (Smith). She was probably born between 1725 and 1730 so would be in her early 20s at this date.

Marriage Licence extracted from the Prerogative Grant Book of 1748 - 1751 (4/238/39 f. 144) in the Public Record Office (National Archive) in the Four Courts, Dublin: “A Licence was Granted by the Most Reverend Father George and so forth [King George II] also Judge and so forth to Solomize Matrimony between William Coates of the Citty of Dublin, Gontt, and Mary Bomford of Gallow in the Parish of Radenstown and County of Meath, spinster, directed to the Rector, Vicar and Curate of Said Parish. Dated the nineteenth day of June in the year of Our Lord 1750.”

Gallow was at this time in the Parish of Raddenstown and the marriage would have taken place from the Church there. The immediate family who may have attended the wedding were -

Parents

Stephen aged about 60 (b c1688: 1.6.1) and Anne in her 50s (b c1696: 9.7.3).

Brothers

Stephen of Rahinstown and Elizabeth (Sibthorpe) are the only ones married; their eldest child would be about two.
John aged 23, probably at Trinity working for his MA, he got his BA in 1748.
David and Isaac, both about 20, were probably working in Dublin.

Sisters

Ann marries Samuel L’Estrange during this same year.
Dorcas is married to Edward Williams and is living in Trim with her little son Thomas Williams.
Esther, the youngest sister, is in her teens.
Her eldest sister has only recently been “discovered”. She is Elizabeth who married Christopher Standring in 1741.

8.6.1 Marriage Settlement 22nd June 1750

Marriage Settlement between:

1. Thomas Coates of Abbyshrule, Co Longford, Gent, and William Coates his eldest son

2. Stephen Bomford of Gallow and his daughter Mary Bomford

On the marriage ‘shortly intended to be had’ between William Coates and Mary Bomford,

1. Thomas Coates gives his son £500.

2. Thomas Coates gives his son the lease of the land of Killmore in the Barony of Carbery, Co Kildare, dated May 1722 which he now holds for the lives of:

himself, Thomas Coates,
Jane Coates, his wife, and
Thomas Coates, second son of William Coates of Knockanally, Co Kildare.

3. Thomas Coates gives his son a second lease, that of Killcoony in the Barony of Carbery dated 17th October 1747 for the lives of:

Thomas Coates, second son of Thomas of Abbyshrule, and
Thomas Coates, second son of Thomas of Knockanally.

(Book 156 Page 472 No 106863)

In view of the phrase ‘shortly intended to be had’ and the date of the marriage licence, the wedding has been dated the same day as the settlement, 22nd June 1750.

Concerning the places mentioned:

Abbeyshrule is a village on the River Inny between Mullingar and Lough Ree, just in Co Longford. It is the family home of this branch of the Coates family where William was brought up.

Knockanally is the home of another branch of the Coates family. It is on the Enfield to Donadea road about five miles southwest of Kilcock.

Kilmore, one of the leases which William was granted, is two miles west of Enfield; the site of the other lease, Killcoony, has not been found but a stream of that name is just outside Carbury and the land must be thereabouts.

8.6.2 The Coates Family

The only information to give us some of the Coates family background is two wills from Betham and the land assignment, which follow.

Will of Thomas Coates, father of William:

Thomas Coates of Driminuree, formerly Abbeyshrule in Longford [will dated] 14th January 1776, [probate granted] 16th June 1777
Wife Jane

1st son William C - Mary Bomford the land of Abbeyshrule and [what looks like] Clonlrin
Son Thomas C - [married] Ruth and [their two] sons Mathew and Thomas, the land of Killinboy, Co Longford

Son James C - and [his two] sons Thomas and Edward

Son Samuel C married 1750 Lydia Barker, and [their two] sons Thomas and James
- Thomas Coates of Caikstown, Co Westmeath
- Mathew C of Knockinally, Co Kildare

[Cannot read, looks like ‘Girr Nice’] George C of Castle Poolard [Castlepollard] in Westmeath, [and his wife] Elinor
Daur Mary C - [married] ... Longworth
Daur Elinor C - ... Cannon

Daur Jane C - ... Tailford…

Most of these relations are fairly clear and hopefully have been made clearer in the spider tree, which follows.

William’s father, Thomas, died in 1777, and his mother Jane lived on. At this date William had three married brothers, three married sisters, and six nephews, who were all alive in 1776 but there may have been others. As the eldest son he inherited the family home and another farm named in the will, but no doubt he still had the two places named in the marriage settlement. He and Mary probably lived at Abbeyshrule although the marriage licence places him ‘of the City of Dublin’. Nothing is known about the house at Abbeyshrule.

8.6.3 Death of William Coates March 1789

His will is from Betham’s notebooks:

William Coates of Abbey Shrule in Co Longford, Esq. [will dated] 11th February 1789 [probate] 2nd April 1789

Wife Mary Bomford
Daur Anne C, widow of Mathew Coates
Gr daur Ruth C, ditto

Father Thomas C of Abbey Shrule

- Thomas Coates of Glynan [This could be his brother or one of his three nephews, all named Thomas]
- Rev George Coates Vicar of Castle Pollard [who was also named in the father’s will].

William and Mary (Bomford) had one daughter named Anne before William died in 1789 in March. Anne married Matthew Coates who must have died before the will was drawn up in 1789. They had a daughter named Ruth, the grand-daughter of William and Mary.

It is not clear which of the Matthew Coates married Anne, probably her cousin, the eldest son of Thomas and Ruth, since Ruth’s name was also given to the granddaughter. It was not Matthew of Knockanally because he married Mary as will be seen later.

There is not much more to be gleaned except for the following deed, which will wind up this branch of the Coates family. The Knockanally branch will reappear later in 1803 (19.4) when there is another Coates-Bomford marriage. These two branches must have been fairly closely related and I suspect that Thomas the elder of Abbeyshrule had a brother named William whose home was Knockanally.

8.6.4 Assignment of Woodtown and Clonee 2nd November 1790

[Photo; original is now in the National Library of Ireland]

Between

1. Anne Jane Coates, widow of Matthew Coates, late of Abbey Shrule Co Longford.

2. Rev George Coates of Castle Pollard, Co Meath and George Bomford of Rahinstown.

Reciting

1. On 27th March 1776 Edward Stirling leased to William Coates the town and lands of Clony (Clonee) in the Barony of Dunboyne for three lives at a rent of £200.

2. On 18th December 1760 Rev George Bomford of Gallow [should be Rev John Bomford] leased to William Coates the town and land of Woodtown in the Barony of Deece for three lives or 31 years at a rent of £66.

3. In his will William Coates bequeathed his lands to Anne Jane Coates.

4. William Coates and Matthew Coates were indebted to several persons at the time of their death, which money Anne Jane Coates agreed to pay and she also agreed to make provision for her daughter by Matthew Coates, Ruth Coates then a minor.

Now Anne Jane Coates makes over to the Rev George Coates and George Bomford the lands of Clony and Woodtown in trust to pay the debts of William and Matthew Coates from the rents, and to maintain Ruth Coates until the age of 21 or her marriage. The lands would then be made over to Ruth Coates.

Signed: Anne Jane Coates and George Coates

Witnessed: Trevor and Mary Bomford of the City of Dublin

This deed presumably is Anne arranging her affairs following the death of her mother, Mary (Bomford). Mary was alive when her husband died the previous year (8.6.3), so Mary died between March 1789 and November 1790.

Trevor and Mary Bomford who witnessed the deed were married in the previous year, 1789. He was an attorney and may have drawn up the deed, which does not appear to be registered in the Registry of Deeds.

The Woodtown lease of 1760 (9.3.8) is by the Rev John Bomford, so the Rev George Bomford is an error. Unfortunately the ‘lives’ were recorded in the missing 1755 lease and since the 31 years were up in 1791, there must have been some ‘lives’ still alive at this time. There is no further record of Woodtown as a Bomford property so it has been deleted from c1800.

Clonee was never a Bomford property but a deed of December 1750 (9.2.2) and another of December 1760 (9.3.8) both place William Coates ‘of Clonee’, so he and Mary probably lived there after their marriage for about ten years until they moved to Abbeyshrule, and the house they lived in was Stirling House.

In 1836 Clonee (or Clony) had been split into two and was the property of:

Samuel Garnett whose house was Summerseat with 155 acres of demesne, and
Doctor Barker who lived in Stirling House with 103 acres of demesne.

It may just be a coincidence but William’s brother, Samuel Coates, married Lydia Barker in 1750 and this Doctor Barker may be a descendant of that same Barker family. However no Coates are recorded in 1836 so one assumes that either Ruth had married (Doctor Barker?) or she had let the lease run out.

8.6.5 The Coates Family Tree

Excluded from the above:

The Coates family of Knockanally, Kilcock will be found under 19.4.1.
The Rev George Coates, Vicar of Castlepollard, and his wife Elinor. He died in 1802 (probate).
Thomas Coates of Caikstown, Co Westmeath, and Thomas Coates of Glynan, though there are so many Thomases that they may be included.
William Coates of Staplestown, Co Kildare, merchant (see 15.12).

Mary Bomford’s entry in Burke just reads, “Mary, married W. Coates”.

This can be amended to read:

“Mary, born c1725 - 1730, married 22nd June 1750 (ML) at Roddanstown, William of Abbeyshrule, eldest son of Thomas Coates of Abbeyshrule, Co Longford. He died March 1789 and she in 1789 or 1790 having had issue:

Anne Jane of Abbeyshrule, b c1752, married Matthew Coates her cousin, son of Thomas and Ruth Coates. He died before 1790 having had issue:

Ruth Coates, born after 1770.”

8.7 John Bomford and his Marriage

John was the third son of Stephen the elder of Gallow. He appears to have been the brains of the family being the only one who went to Trinity College in Dublin. The register states - “Bomford, John, Pensioner, (Mr Butler), 7th July 1744, aged 17, son of Stephen, Generosus, born Meath, Scholar 1746, BA Spring 1748, MA Summer 1752.”

Which being translated means that John paid a fixed sum (pensioner) and after attending Mr Butler’s school, entered Trinity on 7th July 1744, aged 17. He was the son of Stephen, a gentleman (generosus), was born in Co Meath, and became a scholar in 1746. He got his BA in the spring of 1748 and was granted his MA in the summer of 1752.

From this we know that John was probably born at Gallow and his birth date was 1727. Of all Stephen’s children, John birthday is the only one we know so it is important because amongst other things, it helped to determine when his father married.

The only Bomfords to become clergymen until the mid-1800s were John, and Thomas Bomford the grandson of Laurence of Killeglan. John is mentioned in Healy’s History of the Diocese of Meath as the Rector of Roddanstown, but Canon Leslie is more precise and states that John was first made Curate of Kilmore and on 30th October 1755 was presented as Rector of Roddanstown. The Church is just short of three miles from Gallow so John was able to live at Gallow and look after his ageing parents. It is also probable that any Bomford living at Gallow worshipped at Roddanstown Church until it was closed down soon after John left it. John lived at Gallow until his death in 1776 (11.11) and since he had much land he was what one might call a farming-rector.

8.7.1 Rev John Bomford marries Ann Forster March 1753

The Marriage Licence Bonds of the Diocese of Meath state “7th April 1753 Rev John Bomford - Ann Foster of St Peter’s Place, Dublin.”

The documents refer to both ‘Foster’ and ‘Forster’; the latter is used more often and has been accepted as the correct spelling.

Marriage Settlement of Rev John and Ann Forster 30th March 1753

There is no mention of a marriage in this deed but with those involved and the way it is written, it must be the marriage settlement. The will of David Bomford (19.6) indicates that there was another deed on the following day made by Stephen of Gallow in which the land was settled on the Rev John.

The parties concerned in the deed are:

1. Stephen Bomford of Gallow and his wife Ann (Smith),

2. Reverend John Bomford of Gallow, son of said Stephen.

3. Reverend Nicholas Forster of Dublin (probable brother to Ann Forster) and Isaac Smith of Anneville, Co Westmeath, (uncle of John Bomford), (The Trustees of the marriage settlement).

4. Ann Forster of Dublin, spinster (the bride).

5. Francis Evans of Dublin and Wentworth Thewles of Dublin (see below)

6. Samuel L’Estrange of Boardstown, Co Westmeath, and Edward Williams of Trim, gentleman. (Both are brothers-in-law to John).

The deed is in two parts:

A. Stephen Bomford leases to Nicholas Forster and Isaac Smith in trust the lands already in their possession being:

that part of the lands of Culmullin commonly called Woodtown or Mount Dopping containing 556 plantation acres (901 statute),
the town and lands of Ferrans or Fennars containing 265 plantation acres (429 statute),
the town and lands of Tyrrellstown containing 214 plantation acres (347 statute) in the Parish of Moylesker and Barony of Fertullagh, Co Westmeath, and
the town and lands of Gallow containing 200 plantation acres (324 statute), plus a further 60 plantation acres (97 statute) of Gallow in another place;

the lease to run during the lives of the sons of Stephen, namely Stephen, John and David.

B. Stephen Bomford leases for 99 years to the Rev Nicholas Forster and Isaac Smith in trust the town and lands of Gurteen and Gainstown containing 431 plantation acres (698 statute) in Co Westmeath.

Signed: Stephen Bomford

Witnessed: Patrick Fannon of Gallow, servant to John Bomford (Book 161, Page 98, No 107760)

Francis Evans who died in 1780 and Wentworth Thewles who died in 1777 (probate), both of Party 5 may have been trustees as they were concerned with two later deeds (9.3.l and 9.3.5) concerning Culmullen, but they also may have held a mortgage on the place.

One of the sisters of Francis Evans was Honora who died before 1729 and who was married to William Forster, a possible relation of Ann Forster.

8.7.2 The Forster Family

The Reverend Nicholas Forster was the son of William Forster, gentleman of Dublin; he was born in Dublin about 1729 and educated by Dr Ford; he entered Trinity. Dublin, in April 1743 aged 14 and got a BA in 1747 and LLB in 1750.

Both John and Nicholas were in Trinity at the same time and I feel sure that John met Ann Forster at Nicholas’ house in St Peter’s Place, and that they were brother and sister. If so William Forster would be Ann’s father. Ann was born in 1733 so was four years younger than Nicholas, her brother.

Rev Nicholas was a ‘pluralist’ according to Canon Leslie and indeed he did hold a number of parishes at the same time. He was curate of Stradbally in 1751 becoming Vicar there from 1774 until his death in 1812. He was also Rector of Fenagh 1776 - 1812, Vicar of Cloydagh 1788 - 1801, Rector of Kilclonbrock 1801 - 1812, and Vicar of Timahoe 1801- 1812; most if not all these places are in Queen’s County near Port Laoghaise. Nicholas died on 25th July 1812. A ‘pluralist’ may also mean one who is not tied to his own religion, though it would be unlikely that this would be allowed in Ireland at that time.

8.8 Esther Bomford marries John Kelly 1756

Esther was the youngest daughter of Stephen of Gallow being born in 1732 probably at Gallow. Very little is known about her, and various hopeful leads all came to a dead end. Burke only records “Esther married T. Kelly of Galway”.

However she is recorded in the Marriage Licence Bonds Prerogative of Dublin as “10 December 1756 Esther Bomford - John Kelly.”

So she was 24 when she married and her husband was John, not ‘T’ Kelly.

They are mentioned three times in the documents:

12th June 1761 (9.7.2) - “Hester the wife of John Kelly, his (Stephen’s) fourth daughter.”
23rd June 1762 (10.6) - “John Kelly (and) Hester his wife”. In this deed she signs her name ‘Esther’.
20th January 1768 (11.7) - “John Kelly, Merchant of the City of Dublin.” In this deed Esther’s uncle, John Smith, bequeathed money to the Bomfords and £100 is granted to John Kelly. It is doubtful if John would have been granted anything if Esther was not still alive.

From the above it is possible to summarize Esther and amend Burke to read “Esther, born 1732 at Gallow, married 1756 (ML) John Kelly of Galway and Merchant of Dublin, both alive in 1768.”

The origin of the Burke entry of ‘Kelly of Galway’ is not known, but there is no reason to dispute it; however he must have moved to Dublin before January 1768. Two years previously in 1766 there were two merchants in Dublin named John Kelly; a brewer of Thomas Court and a wine merchant of Abbey Street; the latter may be our John Kelly since the wine business could be linked to Galway where shipments of wine regularly arrived from Portugal and the Continent.

There were a number of Kelly families in Co Galway and Vicar’s Index of Wills records four wills, those of two families, one in Clonlyon and one in Loughrea:

1694 John Kelly of Clonlyon, Co Galway
1714 John Kelly of Clonlyon
1772 John Kelly of Loughrea, Co Galway
1789 Denis Kelly of Loughrea.

It is impossible to say if any of these were ‘our’ John’s family but a check still has to be made in Betham’s notebooks.

There is no indication if John and Esther had any children, but see “Unplaced Bomfords” paragraph 17.3.4.

8.9 Anne Bomford marries John Molloy 4th June 1755

Initially, when this Bomford history was started, it was not known where Anne slotted in, but now we know that she was the youngest daughter of Edward Bomford of Hightown and that she married twice; firstly to Owen Daly of Mornington about 1745 (8.3) and, now, this second marriage to John Molloy of Clonbela. The second marriage was a mystery for a long time but was finally discovered almost by accident in Burke’s Landed Gentry of 1912, and with details of some of Anne’s grandchildren in Arthur Crisp’s ‘Visitations of Ireland’ of 1897 but not under Molloy as might be expected but under Homan-Mulock.

No marriage licence has been located but the details from these two sources appear to be fairly conclusive, although references in the documents to the date of the marriage indicate otherwise, however see the note below which explains the anomaly.

8.9.1 The Molloy Family and Anne’s Children

On the failure in the male line of the Molloys, Lords of Fircall, the Clonbela family assumed the headship of the Clan. They were descended from Art Molloy, son of Conall Molloy, Lord of Fircall, who died in 1599. Art was the father of Daniel Molloy of Streamstown and Clonbela. Streamstown is near Kinnitty and Drumcullen, and Clonbela is about 3 miles northeast of Birr and south of the road to Kilcormac, both in King’s County.

Daniel Molloy had a son, Edward, who retired to Spain after the Cromwellian success in 1651 and returned to Ireland in 1662 when he was restored to his estates. Edward was succeeded in Clonbela by his grandson:

Edward Molloy who died soon after 1752 leaving two sons: Daniel and John.

Daniel inherited but died in January 1760 leaving the estates to his brother. Thus, five years after his marriage to Anne Bomford, John came into the lands unexpectedly. In July 1752 Daniel married Susanna, daughter of Peter Daly of Kilceagh near Mote, Co Westmeath; Peter Daly may well have been an uncle of Owen Daly, Anne Bomford’s first husband.

John Molloy of Clonbela, born 1725, married 4th June 1755 Anne Bomford, widow of Owen Daly (see note below) and daughter and co-heir (with her two sisters, Catherine Hamilton and Lucy Birmingham) of Edward Bomford of Hightown, by whom he obtained property in Westmeath. John died at Streamstown, near Kinnitty, in May 1803. It is not known when Anne died. They had at least two sons, Laurence and Daniel, and Clonbela passed to the elder one. Another son, Arthur, is recorded in Molloy family trees.

Laurence Bomford Molloy born 1760 and married 22nd February 1788 to Elizabeth, second and youngest daughter of Rev John Mulock DD of Bellair, King’s County, by his second wife Anne, daughter and heir of Richard Homan of Shurock, near Moate, Co Westmeath. Elizabeth died in 1804 and Laurence on 31st May 1805. They had four children [see table below]. He was recorded as a landowner and of Clonbela in the mid 1870s.

The younger son, brother of Laurence Bomford Molloy, was Daniel Molloy, born c1763, who had a daughter named Anne Bomford Molloy. She married another Bomford connection, Francis Hugh Massy of Suir Castle, Co Tipperary, about 1820. Further details will be found in paragraph 15.5.1 concerning the marriage of Robert Bomford and Maria Massy-Dawson.

Grand-children of Anne Bomford and John Molloy [children of Laurence Bomford Molloy b 1760 and Elizabeth Mulock]:

1. Rev John Bomford Molloy, born 1790, succeeded to Clonbela in 1805, BA 1811, and MA 1816 (TCD) and died June 1818 aged 28 unmarried. He and nearly all these Molloys of Clonbela were buried at Ballyboy where there appears to have been a family vault.

2. Daniel Molloy was born in 1793 and inherited Clonbela and the other Molloy estates from his brother in 1818. He married Julia Higginson at Tore, Tyrrellspass Co Westmeath, on 16th May 1834, and died at Clonbela aged 63 on 25th April 1856. His wife Julia b 1807 was the only daughter of James Higginson of Cushendon Lodge, Co Antrim, Major of the 10th Regiment and sister of Sir James Higginson. She died aged 75 in July 1882 having had seven children.

a. Mary Macaulay Molloy, born 1835, married Robert MacDonnell, MD, FRS, President of Irish College of Physicians 1877, 2nd son of John (James) McDonnell, MD of Murlough, Co Down; they lived in Dublin but had no children. She died 8th July 1869 and he married again.

b. Elizabeth Mulock Molloy, born 1836 and died unmarried 8th July 1856 aged 20.

c. Laurence Molloy died in infancy.

d. Anne Homan Molloy, born 1839 at Clonbela, married as his second wife on 3rd June 1876 Major-General Walter Weldon of Forenaughts, Naas Co Kildare, formerly o£ the Madras Army. He was born in May 1828, third son of Sir Antony Weldon, 4th Baron, Colonel Madras Army, of Rahinderry, Queen’s Co. The General married his first wife in July 1861 and had five daughters; by Anne Molloy he had one son and two more daughters. He died in 1907 aged 79 and Anne went to live at Craddoxtown near Naas where she was living in 1911. The great-grandfather of Walter Weldon was Arthur Weldon of Rahinderry who married Mary, one of the daughters of Bishop Dopping of Meath, and Arthur Weldon’s cousin was Mary Tarleton who married Arthur Bomford of Rathfeigh c1742 (7.15).

e. Harriett Molloy was born in 1843 and died in 1856 aged 14.

f. James Higginson Molloy was born in 1848 and died the next year in May 1849

g. Laurence Bomford Molloy was born 2nd January 1845 at Clonbela, as were all his brothers and sisters. When he was 11 he inherited Clonbela in 1856. Educated at Marlborough College, and was Ensign in 69th Regt. On 3rd February 1869 he married Amy Frances, 3rd daughter of Rev John Gemly of London, Canada. She died on 14th Dec 1895 having had one son who died unmarried in 1892, and four daughters. One daughter was Eveline Maud Molloy, b 25 October 1874 (parish record). The eldest daughter married a nephew of Major General Walter Weldon; the second married Rev G. Cruddas and the fourth married the eldest son of Rev G. Cruddas. This branch of the Molloy family therefore died out and Laurence Bomford Molloy, JP, DL, was the last of them being still alive in 1922.

According to the 1878 ‘Landowners of Ireland’ he had that year land in King’s County, 1061 acres at a valuation of £390 and in Westmeath, 1421 acres at a valuation of £819. a total of 2482 acres worth £1,209. Much of this Westmeath property was Enniscoffey, which the 1854 valuation shows as belonging to Daniel Molloy and then as shown above was passed to his son Laurence. This must have been the land which Edward Bomford of Hightown possessed and which he bequeathed to his daughter Anne, and so it became Molloy property. Just when the land was handed over to the Molloys is not known but it was most likely to have been on the death of Edward’s widow, Margaret, in the mid-1760s (10.4).

3. Anne Homan Molloy, born about 1795, married in 1818 Alfred Henry L’Estrange who was the grandson of Anne L’Estrange the daughter of Stephen Bomford of Gallow (see 15.1.1 No 4a). Anne died the year after her marriage in December 1819 and Alfred died in Paris the next year on 3rd September 1820. There were no children.

4. Thomas Edward Molloy was born on 5th May 1798 and went to Trinity where he got his MA and MB in 1825. The next year he became a Doctor of Medicine (MD) and started practising as a doctor. On 5th February 1828 he married Frances Sophia Berry at Liss Church in the Parish of Kilnagarna, near Ballycumber King’s County. She was the daughter of John Berry of Cloneen four miles north of Clonbela, who was the eldest son of Thomas Berry of Eglish Castle in between Cloneen and Clonbela. Frances Sophia was born at Cloneen on 12th December 1809, died 12th August 1863 and was buried at Leghorn in Italy. For more on the Berrys see www.users.bigpond.net.au/berrygenealogy.

On the death of his uncle Thomas Homan-Mulock, his mother’s brother, he inherited the latter’s estate of Bellair on 16th January 1843 on condition that he took the name of Homan-Mulock; this he did by Royal Licence dated 14th February 1843. Hence his descendants, many of whom are alive today, were, and are, really Molloys. Thomas Edward lived during the latter part of his life as a country gentleman at Bellair and died there aged 92 on 25th June 1889 and was buried at nearby Liss Churchyard, as were most of the Homan-Mulock’s.

His wife had died 25 years ahead of him at the age of 54. She raised 15 children and all but one of them lived to maturity. Bellair was passed in 1889 to William Berry Holman-Mulock, the 9th child, born in 1841, and on his death in the early 1900s Bellair was passed to his niece Frances Ethel, the writer and daughter of Francis Berry Homan-Mulock of the ICS in Bengal: in 1900 she married Claude Beddington who was then serving in the South African War. In turn Mrs Beddington passed Bellair to her daughter Sheila, Viscountess Powerscourt.

Eleanor Susan Molloy was born on 13 Sep 1843 and baptised on 24 November 1843. She was a daughter of Laurence Bomford Molloy, farmer, and Abby Cherie, of 3 Camden St (St Peter COI parish records, Dublin). To be a father on that date, it would seem that this Laurence Bomford Molloy is different from any of those mentioned above, though she would seem to be the same generation as the children of Daniel Molloy and Julia Higginson. Her parents seem to be the Laurence Bomford Molloy who married Charity Abigail Croker on 5 October 1836, but it is not known what his antecedents were (http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~balmer04/1350.htm). A chart at http://members.iinet.net.au/~nickred/trees/boss.pdf suggests he may have been from Galway.

8.9.2 Anne’s Marriage Dates

Anne’s second marriage date to John Molloy of 4th June 1755 is pretty definite, but the date of her first marriage to Owen Daly is not so clear. The problem stems from the Brief of June 1762 concerning the dispute over Enniscoffey and Oldtown (10.6). In the brief it is recorded that in 1758 “Ann Daly also Bomford, widow” wrote a letter. Owen Daly has died, but Anne Daly wrote the letter three years after Edward Bomford’s will and also after the marriage of Anne to John Molloy; and so on the face of it the Anne who wrote the letter could not be Anne Molloy. On the other hand Anne Daly is not mentioned in Edward’s will, whilst the other two daughters are, but Anne Molloy is mentioned. Could it be possible that the letter was not written in 1758 but in l748? If we accept 1748 as the date then everything falls into place.

Anne married Owen Daly about 1745, her son Edward Daly was born about 1746, Owen died about 1747 and she wrote the letter in 1748 as a widow, and finally she married John Molloy in 1755. This must be the correct solution and that the date of the letter is just a clerical error, an error which actually occurred in 1801 because the entry was written in the schedule of letters which Stephen the younger produced.

A summary of Anne Bomford’s two marriages and her children

8.10 Isaac Bomford marries Sarah Mathews 24th November 1756 (ML)

Isaac is the fifth son of Stephen of Gallow (8.0). He became an attorney (11.14).

The details of this marriage come from two sources:

1. Betham’s Dublin Marriage Licences, “Bomford Isaac of the City of Dublin, Gent, and Sarah Mathews of the Parish of St Bridget, Dublin, spinster, 24th November 1756, directed to said Parish”; and

2. Vicar’s Index of Wills gives the details of Isaac Bomford’s will, and that part concerning his wife reads “Sarah, daughter of Edward Mathews Esq. ... brother Hill Mathews Esq.”

Edward Mathews' will is recorded in Eustace and gives more details of the Mathews family. It reads:

Mathews Edward, Dublin, Esq., will 10th January 1756, probate 19th June 1758.

His wife Sarah Mathews and his sons Daniel, Hill, and Edward Mathews are the trustees and executors

His sons Andrew Mathews [eldest] and John Mathews [5 sons]

His eight daughters Elizabeth, Grace, Sarah, Jane, Ann, Charlotte, Leslie and Mary Mathews

His said son Daniel when he gets any preferment in the Church is to pay back the value of the books in his hands.

His real estate, his lease in or near Newry, Testator’s law books and manuscripts to his son Edward.

Ruth Foulsham (email 15 Nov 2015) has a copy of Mathew Edwards' will. It alludes to substantial financial troubles which were caused or exacerbated by Edward's 'insolent and disrespectful' son Andrew, and not helped by his son John on whom he had already outlayed 'a very considerable sum of Money'. It appears that Edward was 'confined' (imprisoned?) for 5 years, part of 7 years of trouble with his creditors, with whom he tried but failed to implement a scheme of arrangement.

The father, Edward, was clerk to Mark Whyte, a Dublin attorney and public notary (7.10); from the will it looks as though the son, Edward, also has something to do with the law, and that Daniel is about to be a clergyman. Isaac Bomford is to become an Attorney and it is possible that his training was done at Mark Whyte’s office and so he worked with his brother-in-law Edward Mathews. No doubt the married couple continued to live in Dublin.

The sequence in the will of the sisters largely agrees with the deed of January 1803, so it is safe to say that Sarah was the 3rd daughter of Edward, and came from a family of 13 children alive at this date, and that none of them had married at the time of the father’s will though Edward did live to see Sarah married. More about the family occurs later and a family tree will be found in 16.6.2.

8.11 David Bomford marries Sarah Burtchaell December 1756

David is the fourth son of Stephen Bomford of Gallow (8.0) and of him Burke records “David, of Gallow, married December 1756 Sarah (will dated 26th August 1814, proved 23rd March 1816), daughter of David Burtchaell of Brownstown Co Kildare, and died (will dated 17th April 1807, proved 2nd February 1810), leaving issue …”.

There is nothing from the documents to add to this, and we must assume that, although no marriage licence has been found, all the information about the marriage is correct. David was ‘of Gallow’ only after he had lived in Dublin until at least 1786; a number of the deeds describe him as a ‘Merchant’ and the Dublin Almanacks record that in 1760, four years after his marriage, he was living on Ormond Quay and in 1786 he was in Camden Street. See 11.6. The last of David's family is covered at 19.3.

One thing does point to David's marriage being a little earlier than 1756: the date of birth of his eldest son. Stephen, according to Trinity records (11.9) was 18 when he entered Trinity on 10 July 1773, which makes him born in July 1755 at latest. If he was not illegitimate, the marriage must have taken place before then. Of if it did take place in December 1756 then Stephen was illigitimate. Stephen was recognised as the eldest son in the marriage settlement for his sister Anne (16.3) and there are no other indications that he was not legitimate, except, perhaps, his non-inclusion in Burke, 1976, the source of the 1756 marriage date: just possibly, Burke has acted on information supplied by someone who did not want Stephen acknowledged - so left him out of the record and fudged the marriage date. Until more evidence comes to light, all we can say is that it looks like David married and Stephen was born in the mid 1750s.

8.11.1 The Burtchaell Family

Burke’s 1912 edition confirms the marriage and gives further details about Sarah’s relations.

Michael Burtchaell of Burgagemore, Co Wicklow, born c1648 and died 1732. He was married three times and by his first two wives he had 4 children. By his 3rd wife, Patience, daughter of Mr Morgan, married 17th September 1699 he had his 5th son:

5. George Burtchaell of Burgagemore, baptised 1702, married 1731 and had children, who are not named.

6. David Burtchaell of Brownstown in Co Kildare just south of the Curragh Camp, born 1707, married Jane, daughter of William Senior a farmer who died 1736 of Drumnagh, Co Dublin, and died 18th September 1783, Vicar’s Index confirms all this but adds that David was an innkeeper. They had three children -

a. David of Brownstown, Lieutenant Naas Independent Light Dragoons, born 1749, married 1771 Mary, daughter of Richard Senior of Aughasan, Queen’s Co, and died 2nd December 1834. They had children.

b. Mary married John Leedom.

c. Sarah married December 1756 David Bomford of Gallow

8.12 Lucy Bomford marries Thomas Birmingham c1760

According to Burke, Lucy Bomford was Colonel Laurence’s third daughter and the entry reads simply “Lucy married T. Birmingham”.

If she was his daughter then the latest that she could have been born would be about 1680 (maybe rather later - see 1.6.1 - but it doesn't change the argument) and so at the time of her marriage her age would be about 80. The same problem occurred with Catherine who married Antony Hamilton (8.1).

There are only two references to Lucy in the documents and both relate to a legal dispute:

1. Lucy Bomford wrote a letter in 1758 (10.5); and

2. “Thomas Birmingham and Lucy his wife” wrote another letter in 1766 (10.6.1).

Unless there is another Lucy, about whom we know nothing, we must assume that Lucy and Thomas Birmingham were married between 1758 and 1766, the dates of the two letters.

There is just one other reference to Lucy and that is in the will of Edward of Hightown (10.4). The writing in the will is very difficult to read but it would appear that she is a daughter of Edward; at any rate her name is coupled with those of Catherine and Anne who are definitely his daughters.

With this evidence and her age Lucy has been placed as a daughter of Edward of Hightown and not of his father Laurence. It is not known whether they had any children but the following might indicate a case for a son.

The 1762 document (10.5) mentions John Fallon of Clonagh, Co Roscommon, and his wife Bridget (Cheevers). It is possible that their daughter married a son of Lucy and Thomas Birmingham named William; this may be completely wrong but in view of the absence of any information about the Birminghams (8.5.3), the following extract from the Hibernian magazine has not been discarded - “William Birmingham of Kelsylan, King’s Co, married Miss Fallen of Clonagh, Co Roscommon, in 17(?85?).”

It should be made clear that although I have removed both Lucy and Catherine as daughters of Colonel Laurence Bomford and placed them as daughters of Edward of Hightown, I am not stating that the Colonel did not have daughters named Lucy and Catherine. Indeed the inscription on the Colonel’s headstone (1.3) indicates that there were other children who had died, but there is no evidence either of their names or sex.

Next Chapter: Chapter 9

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