The Irish Bomfords

The Irish Bomfords

Chapter IX

The Two Stephens & The Rev John  1743 - 1761

 

9.1  Lease - Rahinstown & Baconstown  26th January 1743

9.2  Lease - Dirpatrick  2nd December 1750

9.2.1  Lease - Dirpatrick  31st December 1750

The Higgins Family

9.2.2  Lease - Dirpatrick  31st December 1750

9.2.3  Lease - Dirpatrick  4th May 1754

9.2.4  Unplaced Bomfords

9.3  Mortgage - Culmullin & Ferrans   26th June 1745

9.3.1  Mortgage - Culmullin   1st October 1767

9.3.2  Lease - Culmullin   19th December 1747

9.3.3  Lease - Culmullin   19th December 1747

9.3.4  Lease - Culmullin   30th July 1748

9.3.5  Lease - Culmullin   29th October 1757

9.3.6  The Dopping Family

9.3.7  The Tew Family

9.3.8  Lease – Culmullin (Woodtown)  18th December 1760

9.3.9  A Note on the Lands of Culmullin, Woodtown & Weatherstown

9.4  Lease - Ferrans  15th February 1749

9.4.1  Lease – Brayfield (Ferrans)  30th March 1751

9.5  Lease – Gainstown & Tyrrellstown  2nd July 1755

9.5.1  Lease – Gainstown & Tyrrellstown  20th  March 1759

9.6  Lease – Gallow  11th July 1758

9.6.1  Lease – Gallow  1st October 1759

9.7  Death of Stephen Bomford the elder  1759

9.7.1  The Executors Renounce Stephen’s Will  12th November 1760

9.7.2  Stephen’s Family Renounce his Will  12th June 1761

9.7.3  Death of Ann (Smith), Stephen’s Wife  December 1765

 

9.1  Lease - Rahinstown & Baconstown  26th January 1743

Renewal of the lease by Hercules Langford Rowley of Summerhill to Stephen Bomford the younger, son of Stephen Bomford of Gallow (8.0), of the town and lands of Baconstown 507 plantation acres (821 statute) and 396 plantation acres (642 statute) of the town and lands of Rahainstown for the natural lives of:

at a rent of £160 “with a fatt Hogg at Easter and two good fatt Pullits at Christmas day yearly”.

Signed:  Stephen Bomford

Witnessed:  Christopher Standring of Dublin, tallow chandler; and Christopher Dalton of Dublin, Not[ary] Publick.  (Book 114 Page 304 No 79045)

Three generations have passed since the original lease by Sir Arthur Langford of 1691 (1.9.1). Sir Arthur’s sister Mary, who had married Sir John Rowley, inherited on her brother’s death in 1716. Mary and Sir John’s son, Sir Hercules Rowley, then inherited and the latter died in 1742, the year before this lease. So now his son Sir Hercules - Langford Rowley owned the land. He lived in the fine new mansion of Summerhill, just across the fields from Drumlargan.

Only Edward Bomford remains of the original lives, both Thomas the elder and Hercules Rowley had died within the last couple of years; the main purpose of this lease must be to incorporate new life. The amount of land remains the same but the ground rent has doubled which makes me wonder whether this £160 is not really a single payment for changing the lives. It is not known whether the Christmas and Easter dinners were included in the original lease!

9.2  Lease - Dirpatrick  2nd December 1750

Stephen Bomford of Rahinstown leases to James Grierson of Dirpatrick, Gent, the land of Dirpatrick containing 134 Irish acres (217 statute) for three lives or 31 years at a rent of £94.4.0  (Book 167 Page 4 No 110585)

Dirpatrick was first leased by Stephen the elder of Gallow from William Conolly in 1725. At some time in the early 1740s, certainly before 1745, both Dirpatrick and Arodstown were passed from Stephen to his son Stephen the younger of Rahinstown, and these Dirpatrick leases are those of the younger Stephen. Stephen the elder is always recorded as being ‘of Gallow’ whilst his son Stephen is ‘of Rahinstown’.

9.2.1  Lease - Dirpatrick  31st December 1750

Stephen Bomford of Rahinstown leases to Henry Higgins, Gent, of Dirpatrick 108 plantation acres (175 statute) at a rent of £76.3.4½. for 31 years or for the lives of

Witnessed  William Coates of Clonee (brother-in-law to Stephen); Isaac Bomford of the City of Dublin; and  Joseph Higgins of Bellewstown, Co Dublin.   (Book 253 Page 38 No 161588)

The Higgins Family

This family has been mentioned in the deeds of 1725 (5.2), 1747 (9.3.2) and 1748 (9.3.4), and the lives in this deed tie them together.

 

Links to  5.2   9.2.1   9.3.2.

Benjamin Higgins, Public Notary of Dublin, is a life in the lease of Culmullin of 1748 (9.3.4). He must be a relative but cannot be fitted in.

For more on the Higgins family generally, see www.ohigginsclan.com.

9.2.2  Lease - Dirpatrick  31st December 1750

Stephen Bomford of Rahinstown leases to Richard Bomford of Dirpatrick, Gentleman, “The lands of Dirpatrick then in Richard Bomford’s possession containing 37 plantation acres (60 statute) for the lives of:

at a rent of £26.1.3.”

Witnessed:  William Coates of Clonee, Gent;  Isaac Bomford of the City of Dublin, Gent; and John Cuming of Dublin, Gent.  (Book 244 Page 524 No 159161)

William Coates of Clonee is Stephen’s brother-in-law, he married Mary Bomford in June of this same year, 1750, and after the wedding they lived at Stirling House at Clonee (8.6).

Isaac Bomford is Stephen’s brother. He would be about 20 or 21 now and is in Dublin probably training to be an attorney, perhaps with his future brother-in-law Edward Mathews.

Richard Bomford and his sons: see note after the next lease.

9.2.3  Lease - Dirpatrick  4th May 1754

James Grierson of Dublin, sales master (of cattle), leased to Edward Bomford of Derripatrick, farmer, 23 plantation acres (37 statute) of part of Derripatrick for 26 years at a rent of £18.8.0.

(Book 170 Page 351 No 114245)

This lease has two middlemen. It runs Conolly - Stephen the younger - James Grierson - Edward Bomford.

9.2.4  Unplaced Bomfords

These last two leases have brought in Bomfords who cannot to date be tied in to the family tree. I believe them to be connections of some sort; they may even be illegitimate which was quite common in those days. There is Richard Bomford and his two sons and Edward the farmer, both of Dirpatrick.

To these we can add a gravestone inscription found in Moy Churchyard which is just inside the Summerhill demesne about two miles from Dirpatrick. The graves here are placed in circles, each facing inwards towards a mound, which is probably an old fort. Only one other place in Ireland has graves arranged in circles, in Co Down. The inscription reads:

Here lyeth ye body of RICHARD BOMFORD who dep ye life

October ye 25th 1750 aged 24 years

Erected by Edward Bomford.

So this Richard was born in 1726 and died 25th October 1750, and he is connected with Edward. My guess is that he is the son of Edward, the farmer of Dirpatrick.

The other Richard of ‘Derrypatrick’ was listed amongst the Meath Freeholders List of between 1775 and 1780, the date of this list is not known exactly. So Richard was a man of substance and lived to a good age.

 

One cannot help wondering whether Richard and Edward were brothers and, if so, who their father was. They were both born around the turn of the Century and could have been fathered by any of the sons of Colonel Laurence Bomford. But they might have been fathered by that other unplaced Bomford, George the Dublin merchant (1.7) who had a son Laurence, born 1712/3, and who went to Trinity. The following tree is pure speculation but does appear reasonable if we assume that Richard and Edward married about the age of 24, this enables us to give a sequence to the 3 brothers.

 

Other unplaced Bomfords in the area in the early 1800s were those who occurred in the Agher Parish records and those of Trim. These two families may well be the descendants of these Bomfords of Dirpatrick but unfortunately there is a missing generation (see 17.8 & 17.9).

Elizabeth Bomford married Anthony Lennon at Killucan, Westmeath, on 14 July 1747 according to the IGI. The couple are listed at item 8 at 10.6.1 so may well be connected with the family. Nothing more is known about them. The Killucan connection might suggest a connection with Mary Bomford, baptised in Killucan in 1712: she is possibily a daughter of Thomas Bomford (1.10) - but that is a very long bow. The Rev Mr(? - might be Mrs) Bumford owned 18 acres at Killucan in 1830: tax assessment.

Other unplaced Bomfords appear in parish records from the Dublin area between 1740 and 1840.  They include:

Unplaced Bomfords continue in Part B of Chapter 17.

9.3  Mortgage - Culmullin & Ferrans   26th June 1745

Stephen Bomford of Gallew leases to Boyle Spencer of Rathangan, Co Kildare, the lands of Culmullin called Woodtown, otherwise Mount Dopping, 556 plantation acres (901 statute), and Ferrans otherwise Fennars, 265 plantation acres (429 statute), for £2,500.  (Book 118 Page 482 No 81580)

This mortgage is the first mention of Culmullin. Unfortunately there is no initial lease in existence, and since there has been no previous mention of the place, it is probably one of those long leases dating from the beginning of the century, or even before. Even if we assume a 31 year lease prior to this date it works out at 1714, but we must not be greedy and I have made the initial lease start from 1725, which is the same date as the lease for the neighbouring Dirpatrick and Arodstown.  Stephen now has a block of adjoining land of nearly 3,000 statute acres. Stephen the younger will add to this block and it will become a rough rectangle of 4 miles by 3 miles. The distribution of the land in this block is discussed in 9.3.9.

£2,500 is a large mortgage for those times. It is not known why it was necessary although it is fun to speculate, and in my usual fashion I think of building - improvements to Rahinstown for his son Stephen who was married in April that year.

The next entry indicates that the penal sum may have been invoked, although there is nothing but the party names to connect the two deeds.

9.3.1  Mortgage - Culmullin   1st October 1767

The mortgage is between the following parties:

1.  Samuel Spencer, eldest son and heir of Boyle Spencer deceased (probate 1756), late of Rathangan, Co Kildare.

2.  William Newcombe and Richard Nelson, executors of the will of Boyle Spencer.

3.  Rev John Bomford and Ann Bomford, otherwise Foster, his wife (Foster is also written as Forster in the deed)

4.  Stephen Bomford (the younger, the elder Stephen died in 1759)

5.  David Bomford

6.  Isaac Bomford

7.  Rev Nicholas Forster (trustee of the marriage settlement of Rev John Bomford and Ann)

8.  Francis Evans and Wentworth Thewles (party to Rev John’s marriage settlement)

9.  Edward Williams (husband of Dorcas Bomford)

All these on the one part lease to James Wilson of Parsonstown the land in Culmullin called Woodtown or Mount Dopping.

There is more in this deed than a simple lease; the Court of Chancery ordered payment of £4,020 to various people. The principal sum was £3,000.  (Book 264 Page 153 No 167450)

9.3.2  Lease - Culmullin   19th December 1747

Stephen Bomford of Gallow (the elder) leases to Joseph Higgins the younger of Bellewstown the land of Woodtown called Berfordland, and Cannon called Mount Dopping, and also Woodtown called Dobson’s, all containing about 296 plantation acres (480 statute) for three lives at a rent of £148.3.5.  (Book 210 Page 297 No 139003)

9.3.3  Lease - Culmullin   19th December 1747

Stephen Bomford of Gallow leases to John Grierson of Doulistown, Co Meath, that part of Woodtown known as Big Wood, and Oldtown Hill also called Grierson’s Grove, containing 157 plantation acres (254 statute) in the Barony of Deece for 31 years at a rent of £82.13.9.  (Book 210 Page 297 No 139004)

By 1750 the Higgins family had leased about 650 acres from Stephen and the Griersons about 500. The latter must have had the land before since their name was given to the wood, Grierson’s Grove, on Oldtown Hill. John Grierson also at this time leased the land at Cushenstown from Thomas Bomford of Clounstown. Doulistown, where John Grierson lived, is four miles southwest of Trim on the south bank of the Boyne; he died in 1775. John Grierson’s daughter Elizabeth married Mathew Fox (1745 – 1808) and their third son Joseph Fox (c 1778 – 1855) is ‘of Doulistown’ so it looks as though the Grierson family had run out of male heirs.

9.3.4  Lease - Culmullin   30th July 1748

Stephen Bomford of Gallow leases to John Bomford of Gallow, his son, for the lives of

at the yearly rent of £48.10.0, the lands of Woodtown, Smith’s Park, 7 plantation acres (11 statute), Farranbower, adjoining the land of Arristown (Arodstown) and Weatherstown all in the Barony of Deece and all totalling 119 plantation acres (193 statute).  (Book 132 Page 312 No 89437)

John was born in 1727 and this looks like his 21st birthday present. This was also the year he also got his BA in Trinity College, Dublin. However he did not farm the land himself but leased it as the next two deeds show. The acreages do not match the leases so there must be a few missing deeds.

9.3.5  Lease - Culmullin   29th October 1757

Rev John Bomford of Gallow (he became Rector of Roddanstown in 1755) leases to John Tew, Alderman of the City of Dublin, the land of Antony Dopping, part of Culmullin called Woodtown or Mount Dopping, containing 556 plantation acres (901 statute). This was conveyed by Samuel Dopping to Antony Dopping in trust for Isaac Smith of Annville, Co Westmeath. Francis Evans and Wentworth Thewles, both of Dublin, were also party to this deed.  (Book 200 Page 9 No 131397)

Isaac Smith was the brother of Anne Smith who married Stephen Bomford of Gallow about 1715, and so was an uncle of Rev John. One of Anne Smith’s sisters was Elizabeth, an aunt of Rev John, who married David Tew; their son, John Tew, leased Culmullin from his cousin Rev John. John Tew who like his father in 1743, became Lord Mayor of Dublin in 1759 (9.3.7).

Samuel Dopping conveyed Culmullin to his brother Antony, Bishop of Ossory. Samuel Dopping died in 1720 so the trust for Isaac Smith must have been set up well before that date, probably for Isaac’s marriage settlement to Anne (Lyons) round about 1700. It would therefore appear that the Dopping family was the Head Landlord to the Bomfords of Culmullin and probably some of the surrounding townlands as well. Much, if not all of this land was still owned by the Dopping family in 1838 when Antony John Dopping was living in Culmullen House, ‘an elegant residence’ (24.4).

Isaac Smith (died 1763), Francis Evans and Wentworth Thewles were all party to John Bomford’s marriage settlement of 1753 (8.7.1).

9.3.6  The Dopping Family

John Dopping of Gloucestershire, born 1562, had two sons. The youngest died young, and the elder was:

Anthony Dopping MP, Clerk to the Privy Council 1640, married twice and had 19 children, many of whom died young. He acquired land: in the Baronies of Skreen, Ratoath and later in Deece. His 8th son was:

Right Rev Anthony Dopping, DD, Fellow of Trinity College 1662, Rector of St Andrews Dublin, Bishop of Kildare 1678-82, Bishop of Meath 1682 - 1697, (his Visitations as Bishop of Meath produced much pertinent information for this record), Vice Chancellor of Dublin University. Born 1643 in Gloucestershire, married 1670 Jane (Molyneux) died 1697 in Dublin. He acquired land in Westmeath and more in Meath. He had 3 sons and four daughters. One of his sons died young; the other two were:

 

Links to  14.2   24.4

9.3.7  The Tew Family

No actual tree has been found but Betham records six wills and from these and the other documents a fairly substantial tree can be built.

David Tew of Phepotstown, north of Rodanstown which was the church of the Rev John Bomford, died c1686. He had a brother, Mark, and a sister, Joan. The brother Mark might be the father of Mark of Mulhussey which is east of Phepotstown, but there is no proof so our family tree must start with:

 

Link to 1.10

Note a.  Mark Tew’s will of 1717 names his ‘son-in-law Thomas Bomford’ but not his daughter Elizabeth. This makes me think that Elizabeth, who married Thomas in 1691, died before 1717 and probably soon after the marriage. If she had lived until say 1725 she would have shown up in some of the documents.

Note b.  John married Mary whom he left a widow. Will dated 6th October 1738, proved 13th April 1744. Their children were:

1.  Mark

2.  David

3.  George

4.  Jane

5.  Elizabeth, who married Mr Cross.

Note c.  David was a trustee of the marriage settlement of 1740 between Thomas Bomford the younger and Mary Foster (6.3). He was a merchant in Dublin, became an Alderman, and in 1743, the year before he died, was Lord Mayor of Dublin. His will was dated 16th August 1744 and proved 24th August the same year.

Note d.  Elizabeth (Smith’s) sister Anne married Stephen Bomford of Gallow about 1715 (2.13).

Note e.  John got his BA from Trinity in 1742, probably took over his father’s business and, like his father, was an Alderman, and Lord Mayor of Dublin in 1759. He leased Culmullen in this 1757 deed and died in 1771 (will 20th February 1771, proved 23rd January 1772).  His wife was Margaret, 4th daughter of Captain Robert Maxwell of Fellows Hall, Co Armagh. Their six children were:

1.  Robert Maxwell Tew

2.  Grace Tew

3.  Elizabeth Tew

4.  Margaret Tew, born 1757 died June 1860 aged 103. Her husband was Rev William Jones Armstrong, born 1764 and died 1825. Their children occur later and are recorded under 22.2.2.

5.  Ellen Tew (or Helen Tew) married 27th May 1785 Rev Sir James Stronge, 1750 - 1804, of Tynan Abbey, Co Armagh, created the 1st Baronet in 1803. They had 3 children:

i.  Sir James Matthew Stronge, 1786 - 1864, 2nd Baronet, who married and had children

ii.  John Ker Stronge, 1787 - 1793

iii.  Elizabeth Stronge, died 1807

In 1807 Helen married secondly to the Right Hon. William Holmes, 1779 - 1853, Treasurer of the Ordnance. They had children.

6.  William Tew born in Dublin 1770, BA Trinity 1790.

Note f.  Mark Tew the elder had about 450 acres of Culmullen; the balance of 1828 acres belonged to Stephen Bomford of Gallow who passed it on to his son Rev John Bomford. Mark Tew died in 1736 (will 22nd February 1733, proved 24th February 1736); his property passed to his eldest son, Mark the younger of Culmullen, who died without children in 1739 (will 19th December 1738, proved 29th January 1739). Judging from the deed of 1767 (12.1.1) Culmullen was then divided between his brothers and sisters.

Note g.  Elizabeth married James Wilson of Parsonstown before 1733. In 1767 James Wilson took a mortgage on land including Culmullen from Rev John Bomford (9.3.1) and also in that year came into the property of Digby Tarleton and Mary (Tew) (12.1.1). They had two children:

1.  Mark Wilson

2.  Rose Wilson

Note h.  Mary Tew married Digby Tarleton in 1737 (12.1.2). He died in 1755 and she was left a widow but died before 1767. There were no children. Mary’s sister-in-law was Mary Tarleton who married Arthur Bomford of Rathfeigh (7.15), son of Oliver Bomford of Cushenstown.

Note i.  In November 1710 William Mottley was ‘in occupation’ of Rattin, Co Westmeath, which belonged to Thomas Bomford the elder (2.6). William may well be the father of this Mr Mottley, Thomas Bomford’s nephew.

Note j.  Mark Tew born 1720, was educated at Trinity, BA 1744, and died in 1767 (Vicars). He was a “farmer in County Meath” probably at Kilglin just to the east of Ferrans. Kilglin was a property of David Bomford in the 1780s but some of it belonged to the Tews who continued to lease it in 1836. Indeed in 1836 the “Mr Tew of Dublin” may be Mark’s son, another Mark, who was born in 1766 in Co Meath and educated at Trinity (Trinity Register).

More on the Tews of Ireland and Canada.

9.3.8  Lease – Culmullin (Woodtown)  18th December 1760

Rev John Bomford of Gallow confirms William Coates (his brother-in- law) of Clonee, Co Meath, in that part of Woodtown which in the lease of 17th October 1755 (missing) was in the possession of Michael Ferran containing 120 plantation acres (194 statute) for 31 years or three lives from 1756 at a rent of £66. The 1755 lease was between the same parties, Rev John to William Coates.

Witnessed: Matthew Cannon of Piercetown; and Alexander McMullen of Gallow, yeoman.  (Book 232 Page 468 No 153623)

The acreage here coincides with the acreage that John’s father Stephen leased him in 1748 (9.3.4). On William Coates’ death in 1789 this land was passed to his daughter, Anne Jane, who in turn gave it in trust to George Bomford the elder to maintain her daughter Ruth Coates (8.6.4).

Matthew Cannon of Piercetown beside Cushenstown is the brother-in-law of Mary (Bomford) and William Coates.

9.3.9  A Note on the Lands of Culmullin, Woodtown & Weatherstown

There are so many names mentioned in these leases of Culmullen etc that I have tried to position them. Much of what follows was confirmed by a local, an old man in a pub near Collegeland, but he had not heard of some of the places. As time passed, and further pints were sunk, he appeared not so certain. Neither was I, so what follows has been left as originally written.

1836 Survey

The survey map of 1836 positions the townlands of Culmullin and Woodtown in the parish of Culmullin, and Weatherstown in the Parish of Kilmore, but there are no clues to the other sub-divisions.

The 1836 survey states:

1.  Culmullin, 1266 statute acres, property of Antony John Dopping, let in farms. Culmullin House, two-story and slated, is occupied by Mr D’Arcy, At the meeting of four roads, called the Pound of Culmullin, to the east of Culmullin House, there is a fair of mainly pigs held each year on 21st  November.

2.  Woodtown, 947 statute acres, proprietor Mr Knox, all let in farms at £2 an acre.

3.  Weatherstown, formerly Butterstown, 70 statute acres, property of Mr Dopping of Culmullin, leased to Thomas Kelly at 38/- an acre.

These three places total 2,283 statute acres, whereas the Bomford leases total 1,828 acres. It is therefore likely that all the places mentioned in the leases are contained in these three townlands.

No Bomfords are mentioned in this survey, which confirms that the later leases had not been renewed.

1654 Survey

This earlier survey gives additional useful information, but at this time Culmullin, Woodtown and Weatherstown are not separate townlands.

Cullmulline

Cullmulline contains 332 plantation acres (538 Statute) which includes “10 acres Underwood”. This might be the ‘Big Wood’ of the documents. “on the premisses a stone house and a church all ruinated”.

In 1640 the owner was ‘The Lord of Slaine, Irish Papist’. Additionally “there is about 20 acres (32 statute) of Cullmulline aforesayd, Adam Birford, Irish Papist, proprietor, yt (it) is bounded on the east by the Great, and Small lands, on the west with the Comons of Cullmulline, on north with ye towne of Cullmulline and on the south with the pastur of Cullmulline.”

It would appear that most of the townland was ‘Commons’ and perhaps we have also discovered that the ‘Berfordland’ of December 1747 was 32 statute acres.

The Birford or Berford family of 1640 consisted of Adam Berford with this land and also land in Skurlockstown,

Richard Berford of Ballibane (now called Fairyhouse and famous for its racecourse) with seven townlands in the Barony of Ratoath  plus a couple in the Barony of Navan,

Michael Berford of Kilrow in the Parish of Ratoath,

and Nicholas Berford who was listed in the index of Irish Papists but was not found elsewhere in the survey.

In spite of all the above names, the 1912 edition of Burke records that for about 80 years three generations of Hussey of Mulhussey were of “Culmullen” ; these were Martyn Hussey, died 1662, his son Peter, 1596 – 1666, and two of Peter’s sons, Thomas, died 1689 and Meyler.

Woodtown

Woodtown is not to be found in the 1654 Survey but a study of the bounds show that it might be Kenraghtowne which is connected to and north of Baltrasney (Baltrasna, later a Bomford property); the acreage of both, being 210 plantation acres (340 statute). It was owned in 1640 by “Patrick Hussey, Barron of Galtrym, Irish Papist”.

The Hussey family owned much of Deece including the Bomford properties of Drumlargan, Gallow, Ferrans, Oldtown and Ardrums, but they also had land in the neighbouring Baronies as well. Some Protestant Hussey history is included in 24.7.5.

Wodderstowne

Wodderstowne or Wedderstowne in the Parish of Killmore contained 46 plantation acres (75 statute) and was the property of ‘Lord Barron of Slane, Irish Papist’.

With this knowledge we can make some shrewd guesses concerning the various leases.

1.  The 901 statute acres termed the “land of Antony Dopping, part of Culmullin called Woodtown or Mount Dopping” which occurs in four of the leases is probably in the southern part of Culmullin and overflows into the present day Woodtown.

In 1640 Antony Dopping owned no land in Deece, but he did have land in the Barony of Skreen. Also in “the yeare 1640 in the possession of Antony Dopping of Dubline by Pattent from .the Crowne the Tythes beinge that yeare worth Tenn pounds in the Barrony of Rathooth”.

2.  Little more can be added to the first lease of December 1747 amounting to 480 statute acres.

‘Cannon called Mount Dopping’ must border the Mount Dopping of the previous lease.

‘Woodtown called Berfordland’ is probably the 32 statute acres mentioned above in the 1654 survey.

‘Woodtown called Dobsons’; I can find nothing about a Dobson, he must have had a previous lease and farmed the land.

All this land would probably be together in the central area of Wood town and Cullmullin.

3.  The second lease of December 1747 amounting to 254 statute acres includes ‘Wood town known as Big Wood’, is likely to be the 16 statute acres in Culmullin mentioned in the 1654 survey as ‘10 acres underwood’ (plantation measure).

‘Oldtown Hill also called Grierson’s Grove’ has obvious connections with the Grierson family. James Grierson of Doulistown leased part of Dirpatrick in 1754 to Edward Bomford and my guess is that Grierson’s Grove borders Dirpatrick.

This would place the area of this lease in the northern part of Culmullin beside Dirpatrick.

4.  The leases of July 1748 and December 1760 amounting to 194 statute acres include ‘Woodtown’, and ‘Smith’s Park’ of 11 statute acres. Like Dobson, Smith was probably the farmer who held a previous lease, and the area is so small that it may be just the name of a field.

‘Farranbower adjoinin the land of Arristown’ must be just north of Weatherstown and east of Arodstown, but there is no positive identification. However it would be in the townland of Wood town rather than Arodstown.

‘Weatherstown’ in 1654 contained 75 statute acres in the Parish of Kilmore. It is in the southeastern corner of Arodstown and to the west of Culmullin.

This would place the area of these leases in the southwestern corner of Woodtown. Farranbower and Woodtown together would contain about 108 statute acres.

9.4  Lease - Ferrans  15th February 1749

Stephen Bomford of Gallow leases to Thomas Pearson of Drehit, Co Kildare, for 41 years at £151.3.9 a year the land of Ferns, lately held by George Dobson and on the right hand side of the road from Gallow to Kilcock, containing about 205 plantation acres (332 statute).

Witnessed:  Rev John Bomford of Gallow.  (Book 144 Page 257 No 97400)

Thomas Pearson of Drehett died in 1765 (probate) and Vicars describes him as a ‘farmer’.

9.4.1  Lease – Brayfield (Ferrans)  30th March 1751

Stephen Bomford of Gallow leases to Gregory Seall of Brayfield, Co Meath, that part of Brayfield in the possession of Gregory Seall, 48 acres plantation measure (78 Statute) for three lives for a rent of £35.8.7.

Witnessed:  William Coates, now of Clony, Co Meath; and Isaac Bomford of the City of Dublin.   

(Book 208 Page 391 No 138983)

Brayfield is probably that part of Ferrans to the east of the main road.

William Coates is Stephen’s son-in-law. He married Mary Bomford in June of the previous year and is now living at Stirling House just outside the village of Clonee.

Isaac Bomford is Stephen’s son, now aged about 21 and not yet married.

9.5  Lease – Gainstown & Tyrrellstown  2nd July 1755

Rev John Bomford of Gallow leases to John Burke of Dublin the lands of Gainstown and that part of Tyrrellstown now occupied by Isaac Smith Esq., in Co Westmeath, for 31 years at a rent of £80.  (Book 217 Page 428 No 145485)

In the marriage settlement of John and Ann Forster of 30th March 1753 (8.7.1) Stephen the elder handed over to John the lands of Culmullin, Ferrans, Gallow, Tyrrellstown, Gurteen and, Gainstown. In this deed, and the next few, John is reorganising the leases handed over by his father who must now be about 80.

Incidentally, from about 1738 until his death in 1759 Stephen the elder was blind, so, although his land was officially his, his sons must have actually controlled them all. It would seem that Thomas the younger did this until his death in 1741, then Stephen the younger took over, and John did not come into the picture until he left Trinity in 1748 when he got his BA or perhaps a bit later. However it was John who took care of both Stephen the elder and Anne (Smith) in their declining years and lived at Gallow with them.

9.5.1  Lease – Gainstown & Tyrrellstown  20th  March 1759

Rev John Bomford of Gallow leases to Isaac Smith of Anneville, Co Westmeath, (John’s cousin) the lands of Gainstown and that part of Tyrrellstown occupied by Isaac Smith for 31 years at the same rent as before.

Witnessed:  Patrick Fannon of Agher, Gent.  (Book 225 Page 347 No 146491)

This deed appears to knock out the middleman, John Burke of Dublin, of the deed of 1755 above. This would have the affect of reducing the rent that Isaac Smith had to pay.

In 1753 Patrick Fannon witnessed another deed (8.7.1) but then he was “of Gallow, servant to John Bomford”, so he has improved his lot considerably as he is now termed “Gentleman”. Perhaps this is a different Patrick Fannon.

The Westmeath Poll Book of 1761 lists “Bomford, Rev John, of Tyrrell’s Pass.”

9.6  Lease – Gallow  11th July 1758

Rev John Bomford of Gallow leases to John Wickham part of Gallow called Moattown on the east side of the Great Road leading from Killcock to Trim which was lately in the possession of Bryan Flinn and Murtagh Byrne containing 77 plantation acres (125 statute) plus another 8 plantation acres (13 statute) which is part of Ferns for three lives for £64.19.4.  (Book 196 Page 226 No 129855)

The Great Road was one of the earliest roads in Ireland. It originally ran south from Skreen and Tara, cutting through Drumlargan, Gallow and Ferrans.

The Wickham family re-appears in 1807 (19.6).

9.6.1  Lease – Gallow  1st October 1759

Rev John Bomford of Gallow leases to Thomas Dames of Rathmoyle, King’s County, that part of Gallow called Newtown Gallow containing 60 acres plantation measure (97 statute) lately in the possession of Laurence Monaghan deceased for £42 for three lives, those of:

John Dames, eldest son of Thomas Dames;

William Dames, younger son; and

Thomas Williams, son of Mr Edward Williams of Trim. 

(Book 198 Page 571 No 133672)

From this we know that Dorcas Williams, sister of John Bomford, had a son named Thomas. Thomas would probably be older than 10 at this date, and so Dorcas must have married Edward Williams in 1748 or more likely before that. I have dated their marriage as c1745.

When the, Rev John died Newtown Gallow passed to his brother David. According to David’s will (19.6) Newtown Gallow was sold to the Bomfords by William Dames, the father of Thomas Dames. This part of Gallow must have been separate to the original Gallow lease of 1710 and it must have been Stephen the elder who made the purchase from William Dames.

William Dames must have died before 1759, his son Thomas was alive in 1807 but his eldest son, John, died in 1773 and, no doubt, the younger son. William lived on.

The Dames family name died out with the two daughters and co-heirs of Thomas Dames, Elizabeth who married Francis Longworth, and Mary who married James Middleton Barry.

9.7  Death of Stephen Bomford the elder  1759

Burke gives the date of Stephen’s death as 1756. The text of the 1762 document (10.5) gives the date as 1759, and there is a list of wills at the end, which includes that of Stephen dated 19th August 1757 (10.6.1). The will itself appears to be lost but, clearly, 1756 is the wrong date for Stephen’s death.

The Public Records Office has three references to the will:

These last two are not much help as the will must have been withdrawn and then re-registered. However the date in Burke is clearly wrong so it should be changed to read “Stephen died 1759 (Will 19th August 1757)”

For most if not all of his life Stephen lived at Gallow; he died there and at his death his wife, Anne, and his son, the Rev John, were living with him. Already his land had been parcelled out to his sons so when he died there was not much left to be bequeathed, probably some money and Gallow, which went to John. This is indicated in the next two deeds, which record the renunciation of the will, by all concerned in favour of ‘the principal creditor’.

Stephen died aged about 84 [not if he was born in 1663 (1.6) and 'nearly 90' in 1750 (8.6)]; his wife Anne was alive in 1762 but was dead by 1774 (9.7.3). His children are listed at 8.0.

9.7.1  The Executors Renounce Stephen’s Will  12th November 1760

The executors of the will of Stephen Bomford (the elder) of Gallow, John Smith (Stephen’s brother-in-law) of Violetstown, Co Westmeath, and the Rev John Bomford (Stephen’s son), renounce the executorships of the will in favour of Thomas Jackson of Ballybrack, Co Meath, farmer.

Signed:  John Smith; Jno Bomford

Witnessed:  William Coates (son-in-law of Stephen).

(Neither this nor the next one were registered in the Registry of Deeds)

9.7.2  Stephen’s Family Renounce his Will  12th June 1761

Page 1. Click to see enlargement. Page 2. Click to see enlargement.

“Whereas Stephen Bomford the elder, late of Gallow in the County of Meath, Gentleman, died leaving Ann Bomford his widow and several sons and daughters hereinafter named, that is to say:

Stephen Bomford the younger his eldest son,

the Reverend John Bomford, Clerk, his second son,

David Bomford his third son and

Isaac Bomford his fourth son;

Ann Lestrange, widow, his eldest daughter;

Dorcas, the wife of Edward Williams, his second daughter;

Mary, the wife of William Coates, his third daughter; and

Hester, the wife of John Kelly, his fourth daughter;

and no other child or children.”

They renounce the Letters of Administration of the deceased Stephen Bomford and arrange that these letters be committed to “Thomas Jackson of Ballybrack, Co Meath, the principal creditor”.

There are nine signatures and each one was witnessed twice

Signature: Witness 1: Witness 2:

Anne Bomford

John Kelly

Lau Dougherty

Stephen Bomford

John Kelly

Lau Dougherty

Jno Bomford

Robt Ball

Thos Ireland

David Bomford

Sib Byers (?)

Jno O’Brien

Isaac Bomford

Fra Perville (?)

Jno Dowdall

Ann L’Estrange

John Kelly

Lau Dougherty

Dorcas Williams

Ed Williams

Tho Crawley

Mary Coates

William Coates

Mary Short

Esther Kelly

John Kelly

Lau Dougherty

 

It is not known when a number of these Bomfords died but now we at least know who was alive in 1761.

Anne (Smith), Stephen’s wife, died in 1765 (9.7.3).

Thomas the younger was actually Stephen’s eldest son but he had been dead for some 20 years. It is thought that his wife, Mary (Foster), must be dead as well or she would have shown up in some deed, at least in this one.

Stephen the younger and Elizabeth (Sibthorpe) do not die until the next century.

John was Rector of Roddanstown until 1776 when he died ‘in office’ (11.11). He was only about 49. Nothing is known about his wife Ann (Forster) except that she came from St Peter’s Place in Dublin.

David and his wife Sarah (Burtchaell) both live into the next century.

Isaac will die in 1793; his wife Sarah (Matthews) was living in 1803.

Ann L’Estrange will die in 1784, her husband Samuel had died in 1757.

Dorcas and Edward Williams were both alive in 1766. It is not known when they died. Speaking generally Parish Records in Meath do not seriously start until about 1800 and there is no record of these two in the Trim Parish records.

Mary Coates died in 1789 or 1790 (8.6.4). Her husband William Coates died in March 1789 (8.6.3).

Esther and her husband, John Kelly (8.8), are alive but very little is known about them and we do not know when they died.

The variety of spellings of names in the deeds has been standardized according to these signatures. Thus Stephen’s wife Anne is spelt with an ‘e’, whereas her daughter Ann L’Estrange is spelt without the ‘e’. Hester Kelly of the deed signs her name ‘Esther’.

One wonders why the witnesses of four of the signatories were the same, and whether Anne went to live with her son Stephen at Rahinstown, and if Ann L’Estrange and Esther Kelly were living there also. They were probably not living there on a permanent basis, as the house would be over full with 6 adults and 12 children.

9.7.3  Death of Ann (Smith), Stephen’s Wife  December 1765

Faulkner’s Dublin Journal of the 30th November – 7th December 1765 records Anne’s death, “In Abbey Street in the 69th year of her age, Mrs Ann Bomford, Widow and Relict of Stephen Bomford Esq. Late of Gallow, in the County of Meath.” (So she was born in 1696).

Next Chapter: Chapter 10

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Banner image is Oliver Bomford's signature and seal on document M 6403/35 in the National Archives of Ireland, photo by Bill Riley, reproduced with kind permission of the National Archives of Ireland