The Irish Bomfords

Achmuty family

(4) John Achmuty of Newtownflood, younger son of Arthur of Ballykenny

Notes from Clare Eagle (emails Apr 2009)

John Achmuty XE "Achmuty:John" of Newtownflood, younger son of Arthur of Ballykenny and Martha his wife

Dublin pedigree: “Captain John Achmuty of Newtown Flood & of Ballykenny M.P. for St Johnstown in 1695 and 1703, 2nd son , will dat 19 May 1726 prd 24 June 1726 by Richard Achmuty Eyer [heir] of his father’s will 25 Aug 1698 buried June 26 at 77 in Old Church of Lisbrack M.I. == Isabella Stirling dau of the Rev’d James Stirling Rector of Temple Michael mentioned in her husband’s will.”

Will of Arthur of Ballykenny 1697: “My Son Capt John Aghmuty of Newtowne flood”

Will dated 19 May 1726, proved June 1726 in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury. The original will is in The National Archives of Ireland, Dublin.

In this will Captain John names “my eldest son James Auchmuty … my second son Robert Auchmuty … my third son Richard Auchmuty … and my fourth son Forbes Auchmuty" not listing his first son Arthur who had died in 1712 [or 1722]. John mentions Arthur’s sons “.. my grandson John Auchmuty eldest son of my late son Arthur . . and my grandson Arthur Gates Auchmuty ”

Captain John names his son Richard his executor.

Helena Forbes Auchmuty “My Ancestor Arthur had two sons, the eldest called after himself the second John who was a Captain in King William’s Army. John purchased the estate of Newtown Flood, at Longford settled there and married a Miss Sterling (sic) whose Grandfather and mother were murdered in the Civil Wars of that time by the O’Neal party. Their names were Maxwell and are mentioned in Sir Wm Temple’s History of Ireland.”

and “Captn John Auchmuty of Newtown Flood the younger son of Arthur, who came from Scotland married as I have already mentioned Miss Stirling and settled at Newtown Flood and sold out of the Army. They lived many years happily together though her temper was not of the best. They had 17 children lived to grow up.”

Thomas Gordon Auchmuty p 33: “John 2nd son of Arthur Senior called Capt John of Newton flood married Isabella Stirling daughter of the Rev’d James Stirling Rector of Temple Michael and Helen Maswell (Maxwell?) his wife – by her his offspring was numerous male and female his sons were the Reverend James Dean of Armagh, Robert who emigrated to America, Rich’d in the Army, Forbes. I know not of another. (I think there was another Arthur, from whom descended Patrick and Arthur Forbes Auchmuty both in Company’s Service.) his daughters were Martha married to . . . . . . Dodd, Helen also wife of Dodd, . . . . . . wife of Perrot, perhaps more.

Richard and Forbes died without issue the descendants of the Dean of Armagh were the Rev’d John Auchmuty Vicar of Laracor and I believe Rector of Trim, Elizabeth first wife of Francis Savage by whom she had a son Robert and a daughter Susannah Maria, Isabella and Mary who lived in London and married her own footman.”

Bessie Auchmuty quoted in TGA p 51: “My G Great Grand Father Capt’n John A of Newtown Flood I have heard my Aunt Helen Dodd who was his youngest child say, had seventeen children sons and daughters live to grow up. He had many died of a Decline – two daughters Catherine and Letitia I have heard of Died of that complaint young and single and are buried I believe in Edgeworthstown Churchyard.” ……and p 56: “Five daughters of Cap’n John Auchmuty Two married to their cousins Dodds and one Mr Perrot and two died young women there are therefore seven children I know nothing of.”

John married Isabella Stirling XE "Stirling:Isabella" and had five sons and four daughters known. John is said to have had 17 children raised to adulthood.

Arthur of Whithill - 1712
James, Dean of Armagh
Robert, Judge of the Admiralty, Boston, Mass. 1687 - 1750
Richard
Forbes
Isabella, married Brockhill Perrott XE "Perrott:Brockhill"
Martha, married James Dodd XE "Dodd:James"
Catherine
Helen, married Toby Dodd XE "Dodd:Toby"

AUCHMUTY, Robert, lawyer, b Scotland; d Boston, Mass, Apr 1750. He was descended from a family settled in Fife, Scotland, in the 14th century. His father removed to Ireland in 1699, and the son emigrated to America and settled in Boston, where he practised law with success. He was appointed to the Court of Admiralty in 1703, which office he resigned shortly afterward; but he was reappointed in 1733. He was in England in 1741 as agent for the colony, and in that year published in London a pamphlet entitled The Importance of Cape Breton to the British Nation, and a Plan for Taking the Place.

His son, Robert, b Boston; d Marylebone, England, Dec 1788. He was an eloquent and successful advocate in Boston, was one of the counsel for the soldiers engaged in the Boston massacre, and became a judge of admiralty in 1769, but in 1776, being a zealous loyalist, withdrew to England. His and Hutchinson's letters from Boston, sent over by Franklin, in 1778, caused great excitement.

Another son, Samuel, clergyman, b Boston 16 Jan 1722, d New York 6 Mar 1777, was graduated at Harvard in 1742, studied theology in England, and was appointed assistant niinister of Trinity church in New York. In 1764 he became director, and had charge of all the churches in the city. He continued to read prayers for the king during the revolution, until Lord Stirling, in command at New York, compelled him to desist ; whereupon he locked the churches and withdrew to New Jersey, ordering that no services should be held until the prayers could be read without abridgment. When the British captured New York he passed the American lines amid great hardships. He found his church and parsonage burned and the church records destroyed. The exposure that he underwent in order to evade the American sentries caused his death.

Sir Samuel, British general, son of the Rev Dr Samuel, b New York 22 Jun 1758, d Dublin, Ireland, 11 Aug 1822, was graduated at King's college in 1775, and volunteered in the British army in Aug 1776 ; was commissioned for gallant conduct at the battle of Long Island, and served in three campaigns against the Americans. He obtained a captaincy, and served in India from 1783 to 1796. In 1800 he was adjutant-general in Abererombie's Egyptian expedition, in 1803 was made a Knight of the Bath went in 1806 to South America as a brigadier-general, and in Feb 1807 captured Montevideo. In 1810 he was in command in the Carnatic, and in 1811 he reduced Java. Returning to England in 1813, he was made a lieutenant-general, and in 1822 was appointed commander-in-chief in Ireland.

A question: where did the name Forbes come from? Captain John (4) called one of his sons Forbes (13), and the name stuck through several generations (even though this Forbes (13) had no issue). Normally extra names come in by marriage or inheritance, but no sign of either in this instance. Forbes' four younger sisters and his brothers Arthur (15) and James (11) (and possibly all the other children) were born at Castle Forbes, Longfordshire, Ireland. According to https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/13303001/castle-forbes-castleforbes-demesne-newtown-forbes-longford, in 1661 the Manor of Mullingar was granted to Sir Arthur Forbes, and the Forbes family of Castle Forbes would own or control the town for 200 years. Sir Arthur Auchmuty (1) helped in the defence of Castle Forbes. Helena Forbes Auchmuty: 'Between the Auchmutys and Forbes there was a strong friendship which made them determine on settling near each other. My Ancestor’s name was also Arthur [(1) and (2)]. He had lent £800 to Sir A(rthur).F(orbes). who had received a Grant from the Crown of their present estate called Castle Forbes and the village near it.' Thomas Gordon Auchmuty 1828 p.23: 'The grant of fee farm of Brienstown is from the 2nd Sir Arthur Forbes in 1654, twenty two years after the death of the first.' Perhaps in the circumstances, a question should be how come none of the Auchmutys married a Forbes?

"Richard Achmuty Eyer [heir] of his father’s will 25 Aug 1698" in the Dublin Pedigrees (p. 300/518) suggests or hints that there may be an earlier will bearing that date; if so, it may shed light on the claim that son Arthur was disinherited. If not, it is unclear what the date refers to.