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Monday 12 March 2018

The Courtenay Family of Ballyedmond and Dublin

Our great-great-great grandparents on our mother’s side were John Pennefather and Emily Courtenay who married in St. Mary’s, Dublin, on January 2nd 1848. John and Emily had a daughter,  Isabella Anna Pennefather (aka Mama) who married Charles Jones, decorator;  their daughter, Tennie, married Joseph Edwards Dickson and was the mother of our maternal grandmother, Vera Williams, née Dickson.

Emily Courtenay, who married John Pennefather in Dublin in 1848, was the daughter of Frederick Hall Courtenay and Mary Tutty of 27 Wellington Street.

The Courtenay Pedigree:
Eleanor Courtenay, who is a direct descendant of Frederick Hall Courtenay's brother, Robert Courtenay, has recently shared with me a family tree which her family had had commissioned in 1917 before the destruction of the Four Courts and its invaluable records in 1922.

This invaluable document traces the ancestry of our Courtenay family back to Ballyedmond, north of Midleton, Co. Cork, who claim a common ancestry with the Earls of Devon and Powderham Castle.

The family tree commences with James Downing who had been born in Co. Cork in 1660 and who married Mary Cowig.
Their daughter, Aphra Downing (1688 - 1710) married  George Courtenay of Ballytrasnagh, son of Thomas Courtenay, on 29th August 1688.

George Courtenay and Aphra Downing had four sons, two unnamed as well as John and Thomas, and a daughter Catherine Ambrose.

In 1730 the son of George Courtenay and Aphra Downing, John Courtenay, married Mary Browne of Ballyedmond, and had the following known children:

1) George Courtenay of Midleton, Co. Cork, who in 1757 married Anne Ashe the daughter of Leonard Ashe of Drishane, Co. Cork.   George Courtenay made a will on 6th October 1788, which was proved on 22nd August 1791. This was recorded by Betham ('Betham's Extracts'). George Courtenay's will named his wife as Anne and his sons as John and Robert;  his property was named as Baltrasna, Castleblagh and Curroghdermdy.  George Courtenay's son, Robert Courtenay, married Catherine Nash of Ballyheen, Co. Cork  in 1790.

From Robert Courtenay and Catherine Nash we have George Courtenay of Ballyedmond (1795 - 1837) who married Caroline Augusta Smith Barry, the daughter of James Hugh Smith-Barry of Foaty Island and of Marbury Hall, Chester.   George Courtenay and Caroline Augusta Smith-Barry had George Courtenay (1822 - 1844), John Courtenay (1824 - 1841) and Caroline Augusta Courtenay who married Mountiford Longfield the son of Rev. Robert Longfield of Castle Mary, Cork.

Robert Courtenay and Catherine Nash also had John Courtenay of Ballymagooly (1798 - 8th April 1861), Anne Courtenay who married Simon Dring of Rockgrove in 1811 but who died shortly afterwards leaving no children,  Eliza Mary Courtenay who married John Smith Barry (1793 - 1837), also the son of James Hugh Smith-Barry, in 1814 and who died in 1828, and Catherine Courtenay who died unmarried in 1813.

Ballyedmond, the seat of the Courtenay family in Cork, passed to Richard Hugh Smith-Barry, one of the three sons of Eliza Courtenay and John Smith-Barry.  Captain Richard Hugh Smith-Barry of the 12th Royal Lancers married Georgina Charlotte, the daughter of the late Colonel John Grey, in Leamington in 1851.  He died in Ballyedmond on 23rd January 1894 and was buried in the family burial place in Castlelyons, Co. Cork.  Present at his funeral in 1894 were his eldest son, Robert Courtenay Barry-Smith J.P., his daughter Miss Smith-Barry and his daughter Nina Forster, wife of Major W. Forster of Holt Manor, Wiltshire.  A nephew was Arthur Hugh Smith Barry of Fota Island.


2) Alicia Courtenay (1730 - 26th May 1806), the daughter of John Courtenay and Mary Browne of Ballyedmond, who married William Ferrell.  Their daughters were Mrs. Galbraith, Maria Thorpe, and Mrs.Keogh, while their son, John Ferrell, married a Miss Judkin Butler.

3) Our immediate maternal ancestor, Thomas Courtenay (1732 - 1797), son of John Courtenay and Mary Browne of Ballyedmond, a clothier of Chamber Street, Dublin, who married Eliza Hall (1726 - 1806), the daughter of William Hall of Co. Wicklow.   Their marriage took place on 18th November 1770.   Both Eleanor, who shared her family tree with me, and I descend directly from Thomas Courtenay and Eliza Hall.


The Keeper of the Public Records shows up  Thomas Courtenay/Courtnay, a clothier of 16 Chamber Street in The Coombe, Dublin, who made his will in 1797, but appeared at the same address eligible to vote in 1801, and was in the Dublin almanacks at Chambre Street from 1785.

Thomas Courtenay, clothier of Chamber Street, married Elizabeth Hall of St, Nicholas Without on 18th November 1770.   
Eliza Hall was the daughter of William Hall of Wicklow, who was probably a business associate of Thomas Courtenay, since William Hall, a dyer of Chamber Street and Thomas Courtenay, also of Chamber Street, were both admitted in 1770 to the Free Annuity Company. 

'Saunders Newletter' of 26th November 1785 reported that the members of the Free Annuity Company were to meet at the Weaver's Hall in the Coombe to pay their half-yearly subscriptions.  Anybody wishing to become a member of this company should apply to Mr. Thomas Courtenay, President, Chamber Street.

Later in 1792, William Hall was noted as a woollen manufacturer of 29 Chamber Street.  This might be William Hall, or perhaps his son.  A William and Ann Hall of Chamber Street were parishioners of St. Catherine's at this time - they baptised a son, William, there on 22nd February 1784.  Anthony Hall was baptised on 29th March 1785, and Ann Hall was baptised on 23rd September 1793.

On 26th February 1838, William Hall of Chamber Street married Matilda McKeon of Cork Street;  the witnesses were G. Gallagher and B.P. Blakiney.


The children of Thomas Courtenay  (1732 - 1797), clothier, and Eliza Hall, as identified by the 1917 commissioned genealogy, were:

1) William Courtney of Chamber Street, son of Thos.and Elizabeth, was baptised on 20th February 1774 in St. Catherine's.  Griffiths Valuation later showed up, in the 1850s, a William Courtney of Chamber Street.  Eleanor Courtenay's commissioned genealogy records that he married a Miss Tuke of Co. Wicklow.

2) Thomas Courtney, of Chamber Street, son of Thomas and Elizabeth, was baptised on 31st May 1776.   There is no further known information about this son.

3) Frederick Hall Courtenay, our immediate ancestor (1794 - 1875), was of the 3rd Buffs and 15th Hussars.  He married Mary Tutty (1816 - 1878) of Carnew, Co. Wicklow.

4)  Francis Courtenay, who never married.

5) Anne Courtenay.

6) Robert Courtenay (1791 - 17th January 1862), a solicitor of Gloucestor Street, and immediate ancestor of Eleanor Courtenay.

The Irish Genealogy website also records the baptism in St. Catherine's of a possible two further children:
Henry Courtney, of Chamber Street, son of Thomas and Elizabeth, was baptised on 23rd February 1783.

Ann Courtney, of Chamber Street, daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth, was baptised on 8th February 1785.)

From the Freeman of Dublin Rolls:

Thomas Courtney, Shearman, was admitted in 1789.

Francis Courtenay,  Wellington Street, brother of Frederick and Robert,was admitted to the Freemen on 14th February 1845. He was admitted by birth, being the son of the above Thomas Courtenay who had been admitted as a Sheerman in 1789.

Robert Courtenay Junior, of 22 Ranelagh Road, a solicitor, was admitted to the Freemen on 22nd May 1857.  He was admitted by birth, being the grandson of the same Thomas Courtenay who had been admitted in 1789.  Obviously, the father of Robert Courtenay Junior was Robert Courtenay Senior, who was the son of Thomas Courtenay, Sheerman, and the brother of Frederick and Francis.

Thomas Frederick Courtenay, a yeoman of the Royal Hospital in Kilmainham, was admitted on 16th July 1863 - he was the grandson of Thomas Courtney, shearman. On the City of Dublin Electoral List for 1865, Thomas F. Courtenay was still living at the Royal Hospital.  Thomas Courtenay was the son of Frederick Courtenay and Mary Tutty of 27 Wellington St..

Thomas Courtenay of Alma Cottage, Georges Place, Blackrock, admitted in 1846, by service to Thomas Courtenay who had been admitted in 1789, but I haven't tracked this individual down yet.

Frederick Courtenay(1791 - 1875) and Mary Tutty (1816 - 1878), our immediate ancestors:

Frederick Courtenay (1791 - 1875)  was born in St. Luke's, Dublin, in about 1791 to Thomas Courtenay, who had been admitted to the Freemen of Dublin as a shearman in 1789. 

Frederick Courtenay was admitted to the Freemen of Dublin by birth in Midsummer 1839.

A labourer, Frederick Courtenay joined the 15th Regiment of Dragoons in Dublin on 2nd February 1820, and served in Canada as did his brother Francis Courtenay/Courtney.   Aged 29 when he joined the army in 1820, he served 14 years 5 months - for some of this, he must have been stationed in Dublin where some of his children were born.  His service record states that he was wounded at Victoria.

Upon his return to Ireland, Frederick worked as a clerk to a veterinary surgeon, then as a vet, but later he worked as the librarian in the Royal Hospital, Kilmainham, where his son, Thomas Courtenay was later a yeoman. 

The Dublin Census of 1851 recorded Fred. Courtney at the Linenhall Barracks in the parish of St. Michan's.

The 'Tipperary Free Press' of 11th December 1852 reported that Frederick Courtney (sic), a pensioner librarian at the Linen Hall Barracks, had absconded having taken with him, or having earlier removed, books to the value of £22.

The 'UK Naval and Military Courts Martial Registers 1806 - 1930' record the courtmartial on 1st of July 1854 of a Frederick Courtenay in Fermoy. 

 'The Advocate' of 2nd February 1853 reported that out-pensioner, Daniell Ball of Chelsea Hospital, had been appointed librarian at the Linen Hall Barracks in Dublin, in the room of Frederick Courtenay who had lately absconded and who was a defaulter to the extent of about 30l. for books lost of made away with.

The 1869 Commission of Inquiry into corrupt electoral practices in 1869 called in many of the inhabitants of the Dorset Street area, including Francis Courtney of 27 Wellington Street, who confirmed that his brother, Frederick Courtney/Courtenay, was a pensioner currently living in England. 

Frederick  moved to England where he lived in the Chelsea Hospital as a Chelsea pensioner - the UK census notes him there in 1871 and notes him as a widower.  This might be incorrect. On 22nd March 1878 at 158 Great Britain Street in Dublin,  Frederick's wife Mary Courtney (sic) died of chronic bronchitis.  She was married to a pensioner (ie, Frederick Courtenay) and a Mary Finnegan had been present when she died in Wellington St. Mary Courtney was supposedly 62 when she died in Great Britain Street which gives her a date of birth of 1812.  Clearly Frederick Courtenay was not a widower in 1871, and Mary's age was probably incorrect so the early records are not always 100% accurate.  The eldest son of Frederick Courtenay and Mary Tuty was Thomas Courtenay who had been born in 1824 - his mother, according to her death cert, would have been 8 years old in 1824.  Whoever had registered her death in 1878 had most likely guessed her age.

The governor of the Chelsea Hospital in 1871 was General Sir John Lysaght Pennefather, the uncle of Frederick's son-in-law, John (Lysaght) Pennefather, who had married Frederick's daughter, Emily Courtenay, in 1848.  John (Lysaght) Pennefather was the son of Edward Pennefather, who was the half-brother of Sir John Lysaght Pennefather of the Chelsea Hospital.

Frederick Courtenay died in Chelsea in the first quarter of 1875.

Frederick Hall Courtenay (1791 - 1875) was married to Mary Tutty (died 1878).  I discovered her family name in the parish register of St. James' Catholic Church. when their son, Thomas Courtney/Courtenay married Mary Browne on 5th June 1859.  This register has her name spelt as 'Tuty' whereas Eleanor Courtenay's genealogy has her named as 'Tutty' of Carnew, Co. Wicklow.  

(The 'Freeman's Journal' of 8th January 1880 carried the interesting obituary of 90-year-old Mrs. Margaret Holohan, who died at 52 James Street and who was named as the daughter of John Tutty of Kilpipe, Co. Wicklow, who was one of 25 United Irishmen shot at Carnew on 25th May 1798. Either he or his daughter were buried at Kilcashel, Wingfield, Co. Wicklow.)

The Children of Frederick Hall Courtenay and Mary Tutty (1816 - 1878):

1) Thomas Courtenay of The Royal Hospital, Kilmainham, born 26th March 1824 in St. Andrew's Parish.
http://alison-stewart.blogspot.ie/2012/10/thomas-courtenay-and-mary-brown-royal.html

2) Emily Courtenay, who married John Pennefather, baptised 27th February 1828, lived at 45 Moore Street, and from whom I directly descend.
http://alison-stewart.blogspot.ie/2011/07/john-pennefather-and-emily-courtenay.html

3) William Courtenay, baptised 20th March 1829, born at 157 Gt.Britain St. He was noted in the Courtenay family tree as being of the 60th Rifles.   British Army records note that a William Courtenay (service number 1910) of the 60th Royal Rifle Corps died of cholera in Delhi on 12th September 1857.

4) Eliza Courtenay who was living at 27 Wellington Street when she married.

5) Adelaide Anne Courtenay, baptised 10th August 1831, born at 47 Moore Street.

6) Mary Courtenay, baptised 12th May 1830, lived at 47 Moore Street.

7) Sabina Jane Courtenay, born circa 1840.
http://alison-stewart.blogspot.ie/2012/10/the-children-of-frederick-and-mary.html


 In 1868 and 1873,  the street directories mention a Mrs.Courtney at 31 Lower Dorset Street, which was where Emily Courtenay and her husband, John Pennefather, were resident at the time.   A Mary Courtenay was a witness at the wedding of her granddaughter, Eliza Pennefather, in 1880 - Eliza's address was given as Wellington Street again;  the Mary concerned may well be her aunt, Mary Moore, née Courtenay.


Frederick Courtenay worked as a clerk to a vet, but later became a veterinary surgeon; when his son, William Courtenay, was born on 20th March 1829, the Courtenay family had been living at 157 Great Britain Street, the home of Richard Johnston the vet.  Later the Courtenay family moved to 47 Moore Street, before ending up at 27 Wellington Street - the vet, Richard Johnston, owned several houses on this street.   When Mary Tuty Courtenay, Frederick Courtenay's wife, died in 1878 she was listed as living in 158 Great Britain Street.

Francis Courtenay/Courtney:
Francis Courtenay was the son of Thomas Courtney, shearman of Chamber Street. There are no records of a marriage, nor of children for Francis;  he was in the army, and spent his entire life in Dublin, much of it at 27 Wellington Street, where his niece, Eliza Yorke, ran a boarding house taking in lodgers.  The English National Archives hold papers relating to a Francis Courtney, who had been born in Dublin in about 1794, and who served with the 85th Regiment of Foot from Ist January 1817 until 31st December 1839.  Francis was called to give evidence to the 1869 Commission of Inquiry into electoral malpractice in the 1868 Dublin elections.

http://alison-stewart.blogspot.ie/2013/02/commission-of-inquiry-1869.html

http://alison-stewart.blogspot.ie/2013/02/military-record-of-francis-courtney.html

27 Wellington Street: 
The Dublin street directory for 1841 shows no members of our Courtenay family at Wellington Street/Paradise Row.

In the 1845 and 1846 Street Directory, Eliza Courtenay lived at 27 Wellington Street. This was, as shown by the 1869 Commission of Enquiry, Eliza Yorke, née Courtenay, the daughter of Frederick Hall Courtenay and Mary Tutty.

In 1847 she was Mrs. Eliza Courtney of 27 Wellington Street, although a publication of 1847, 'Private Laws, Part 1', noted Eliza Courtenay at Paradise Row.  It may have taken a few years for the new street name to catch on.

In 1848, John Pennefather and Emily Courtenay were both living here when they married, and their children were all subsequently born at this address.

On Griffiths Valuation of 1854 Eliza Courtenay (ie, Yorke) was still living at 27 Wellington Street.

On the Dublin Electoral Roll for 1865, her uncle, Francis Courtenay, is named as the householder for 27 Wellington Street. Francis was Frederick Courtenay's younger brother.

In 1870, Eliza Courtenay/Yorke had reappeared in the Street Directories, running a lodging house at 27 Wellington Street. (Although spelt as Courtney this time - she had previously been noted there in 1852 and 1856, also 1863 and 1868.)

Frederick and Mary Courtenay's granddaughter, Eliza Pennefather (the daughter of John and Emily Pennefather) was living at No. 3(?) Wellington Street in 1880 when she married James Patrick Dowling.

I've done a separate post on the children of Frederick and Mary Courtenay:

http://alison-stewart.blogspot.ie/2012/10/the-children-of-frederick-and-mary.html



Robert Courtenay Senior and Robert Courtenay Junior, solicitors:

Robert Courtenay Senior was the son of Thomas Courtenay, Shearman, and brother of our Frederick and Francis Courtenay.

The records of the Keeper of the Public Records shows up marriages for both Robert Courtenay Senior (the son of Thomas Courtenay, Shearman) and for his son Robert Courtenay Junior:

Robert Courtenay Senior married Eliza/Elizabeth Hudson in 1818.

Robert Courtenay Junior married Mary Henrietta Manifold on 27th March 1854.

In 1858, the father and son were working together in the law firm of Wolfe, Courtenay and Burke, at 28 North Gloucester Street. The partners were as follows:

William Courtenay
Robert Courtenay (Senior)
Robert John Courtenay (Junior)  of 22 Ranelagh Road.
John Wolfe
James Burke
William S. Burke, also of Rochford, Nenagh, Tipperary.


Robert Courtenay Senior and Elizabeth Hudson:

Robert Courtenay of 10 Camden Street, the brother of Frederick and Francis Courtenay,  married Eliza/Elizabeth Hudson in Donaghmore, Co. Wicklow, on 5th October 1818,  Eliza being the daughter of Matthew Hudson and Mary Fenton.

Robert Courtenay Senior operated as a solicitor at 40 Bishop Street in 1824;  in 1835 he was noted at 81 Lower Gardiner Street.   By 1846,  Robert Courtenay of the law firm, Wolfe, Courtenay and Burke, was living at 77, Lower Gardiner Street.  He was living at 23 Upper Gloucester Street by 1858.

In both the 1835 and 1845 Almanac,  Robert Courtenay Esq., of 81 Lower Gardiner Street and of Wicklow, was the Sub-Sheriff of Wicklow. The Returning Officer was James Bourke of 81 Lower Gardiner Street - this was one of Robert Courtenay’s business partners.

There was also Robert Hudson esq., of Seabank, Arklow, noted as a coroner for Wicklow, as was Abraham Tate esq., of Ballintaggart, Rathdrum, and Robert Courtenay Senior was married to an Elizabeth Hudson, while his son, Richard Hudson Courtenay, was married to a Mary Lawrence who was the widow of a member of the Tate family.

The Hudson family originated in Killiniskeyduff, near Arklow in Co. Wicklow, and the Courtenay links to Wicklow seemed to begin when Robert Courtenay married Elizabeth Hudson in 1818, although Robert Courtenay's mother was Eliza Hall, the daughter of William Hall of Wicklow.

Griffiths Valuation of 1854 records that Robert Courtenay was leasing 174 acres from The Earl of Wicklow in Killiniskeyduff.   The land records of the Earls of Wicklow record the Hudsons, the Fentons and the Manifolds in the area from the late 17th century.  The Courtenay family only arrived once Robert Courtenay married Eliza Hudson in 1818.

The Hudson Family of Wicklow:
(Family notes kindly passed on to me by Kathleen Cook of Montana, who descends directly from Mary Hudson, sister of Robert Courtenay's wife Eliza Hudson.)

Eliza Hudson was the daughter of Matthew Hudson (born circa 1744 in Wicklow; died March 1810 in Arklow; buried Kilbride Churchyard) and Mary Fenton (born circa 1745; died before 15th May 1810), who had married on 15th February 1765.    The children of Matthew Hudson and Mary Fenton were:
1) Robert/Bob Hudson (1756 - 1831) who married Nancy Anne (1779 - circa 1810). A record exists of Robert Hudson marrying Mary Manifold in 1775, so perhaps Nancy Anne was his second wife.  Robert Courtenay and Eliza Hudson's son, Robert Junior, married Mary Henrietta Manifold, the daughter of John Manifold, Barrack Master of the Royal Barracks, who would be buried in Kilbride cemetery.  A Benjamin Manifold of Kilbride made a will in 1756;  a later Benjamin Manifold made a will in Wicklow in 1799 - both were leasing land from the Earls of Wicklow.

2) Sarah Hudson who married in Arklow, on 6th May 1788,  Captain James Morton (1758 - 1833), son of Francis Morton and father of Francis Morton of Woodmount who was father of both Dr. George Morton of Toronto and of Dr. Edward Morton of Barrie.

3) Richard/Dick Hudson who was the ordinance storekeeper on the island of either Domenica or Martinique, and who was subsequently posted in Barbados and noted there in 1805.

4) Matthew/Matt Hudson (circa 1775 - 23rd or 25th May 1837), who was lodging at 81 Capel Street in 1805, and who had  moved by 1807 to Seabank near Arklow, Co. Wicklow, before settling in Killiniskeyduff.  It's believed he never married.  He owned 52 acres in Johnstown and Ballyrichard.

5) Mary Hudson, from whom Kathleen Cook directly descends, (circa 1778 or 1789 - 1st March 1858)  and who married on 26th January 1803, Captain Thomas Jones.

6) Michael/Mick Hudson (1782 - 7th May 1860) who was buried in Old Kilbride on 10th May 1860. He was land agent to Lord Wicklow of Shelton Abbey and was known to have served with the militia following the 1798 rebellion.  He moved to Woodmount, (near Kilbride) a large house built around 1790.  A Justice of the Peace, he married his cousin Isabella Fenton (1773 - 13th March 1863), the daughter of Michael Fenton of Ballinclea.  Michael Hudson of Killiniskeyduff was known to be the nephew of Michael Fenton of Ballinclea, Wicklow, Michael Fenton being the brother of Mary Fenton.  Michael Fenton lived from 1782 till 7th May 1860.

7) Eliza Hudson (1790 or 1797 - 25th September 1860)  who married the solicitor Robert Courtenay.


Robert Courtenay, solicitor, husband of Eliza Hudson, died of bronchitis on 17th January 1862, at Upper Gloucester Street.

Headstone from Mount Jerome, Dublin:

‘Frances Elizabeth, wife of William Courtenay, who departed this life February 26th 1849, aged 23 years....

    ‘Also in memory of Eliza Courtenay, née Hudson, wife of Robert Courtenay of the City of Dublin and of Killiniskeyduff in the county of Wicklow, solicitor - she departed this life 25th September 1860 aged 70 years, and in memory of the said Robert Courtenay who died 17th January 1862.  The remains of said Eliza and Robert, parents of the above named William Courtenay lie in their grave adjoining this in the south.’

Eliza Courtenay, née Hudson, died on 25th September 1860 at Upper Gloucester Street, and her will was administered by her son, Robert Courtenay of York Street.

The children of Robert Courtenay Senior and Elizabeth Hudson were:

1) Mary Alicia Courtenay.  Although I haven't found any details of her birth, it seems most likely that she was the oldest child of Robert and Elizabeth Courtenay.

 An 1841 deed of marriage (1841-17-173) was drawn up on 1st August 1840 for Mary Alicia Courtenay and James Vance. This deed gave her address as Lower Gardiner Street, which was the home of Robert and Elizabeth Courtenay.  James Vance, apothecary, lived at Suffolk Street.  The Registry was closing as I came across this deed, so I'll have to return for better details - all I got were the names of the bride and groom with their addresses, and something about property on Dorset Street, which was to be held in trust by Richard Ephraim Vance and by Mary Alicia's brother, William Courtenay.  This deed was witnessed by James Burke who was a solicitor working alongside Mary Alicia's father.  Interestingly, the wedding itself took place a year after this deed was registered, which suggests that the house on Dorset Street was to be held in trust for the bride and handed over at the time of her marriage, which was the ususal way of doing things at the time.

 James Vance and Mary Alicia Courtenay (named as Courtney in the St. Thomas register) married on August 24th 1841, and this was witnessed by William Shaw Vance and by Joshua Pasley.  It's unclear who exactly this Joshua Pasley was, but Mary Alicia's younger brother, Joshua Pasley Courtenay, was named after him.

A private contribution to the LDS website states that Mary Alicia Courtenay had been born to a solicitor, Robert or Thomas Courtenay, in 1809 in Mallow, Cork, and to his wife Sarah.  This is unproven, but could perhaps refer to an earlier marriage for Robert Courtenay.

James Vance, apothecary, died at 10 Suffolk Street, in January 1875, and his house, which included a shop and consulting rooms, was put up for auction by the auctioneers, Arthur Jones & Sons of 135 Stephen's Green, upon the instructions of his executors.

James Vance and Mary Alicia Courtenay had two sons that I know of - Robert Courtenay Vance, born circa 1849, who, in 1884, married his first cousin, Isabella Grogan, the daughter of Edwin Grogan and Isabella Courtenay.

The second son of James and Mary Alicia was Dr. James Vance of Rathdrum, Wicklow, who was married to Caroline Frances Martin.
http://alison-stewart.blogspot.ie/2012/11/more-courtenay-marriages.html


2)  Isabella Courtenay.  On 4th June 1861, Isabella Courtenay, the daughter of Robert Courtenay, the solicitor, was living at 23 Upper Gloucester Street when she married, in St. Thomas's, Edwin Grogan of the Stirling Militia, whose father was the cleric Rev.William Grogan of Slaney Park, Wicklow.

Edwin had been born in Dublin in 1833 to William and Elizabeth Grogan.  He joined the Stirling Militia and he appeared on the Scottish censuses for 1841, 1851 and 1861 in Edinburgh, Scotland, along with his widowed mother, and his brother and sister.   His mother, Elizabeth, had been born in Dublin in 1802, and she called herself 'the widow of a landowner'.   Edwin's older sister was Elizabeth Jane Grogan who had been born in Dublin in 1830;  his younger brother was Henry Grogan who had been born in Ireland in 1828 and who may have later joined the army also.

http://alison-stewart.blogspot.ie/2012/11/the-family-of-edwin-grogan-son-of-rev.html

http://alison-stewart.blogspot.ie/2013/05/the-grogan-family-of-dublin-westmeath.html

http://alison-stewart.blogspot.ie/2013/08/rev-john-grogan-and-lizzie-bourne.html


It appears that Edwin Grogan and Isabella Courtenay had a daughter, Isabella Grogan, who was born in Dublin in about 1862.  She married her first cousin, Robert Courtenay Vance, a solicitor of Dublin, in Rathdown in 1884, and was living at 19 Anglesea Road, Donnybrook, in 1901.  He was the son of James Vance and Mary Alicia Courtenay. Visiting the couple on the night of the census was Isabella's cousin, Mary Isabella Moriarty, the daughter of William Courtenay and Elizabeth Jane Grogan.

Isabella Courtenay, who married Edwin Grogan in 1861, died young, and Edwin Grogan married Agnes Emma Warner in 1873.  Agnes Emma Grogan of 23 Royal Terrace, Kingstown, died at Portland Road, Bray, on 12th September 1911, and probate was granted to her daughters, Mary Urquhart Grogan and Katherine Mary Edwin Galway, the wife of John de Burgh Galway.

3) George Frederick Courtenay was born to Robert and Elizabeth Courtenay at 37 Bishop Street on 28th July 1834 - he later married Charlotte Jane Head  in St. Peter’s, Dublin, on 26th November 1864.  He may have been named ‘Frederick’ after Frederick Courtenay, his uncle, of 27 Wellington Street.

Charlotte Jane Head’s brother was Samuel J. Head, who died aged 43 on 13th April 1860 - they were the children of Lieutenant Colonel Henry Aldborough Head of Derry Castle, Tipperary, and of  Harriet Judith de la Cherois-Crommelin of Carrowdore who died aged 81 on 7th September 1862.

George Frederick Courtenay applied to join the British Civil Service in 1861, and declared that he had been born on 28th July 1834 to Robert and Elizabeth Courtenay of 27 Bishop Street, and that he had been baptised in St. Peter's, Dublin, on 4th July 1834.

In 1901, George Frederick Courtenay was living at Cavetown, Croghan, Co. Roscommon, but, although he was married, his wife was away on the night of the census.  Charlotte Courtenay, née Head, born in about 1823 in Scotland, was lodging in a house on Baggot Street, along with Harriet Head, who was single and who had been born in Dublin in about 1851. Both women earned money from house property. Harriet was Charlotte Jane's cousin.

Charlotte Jane Courtenay died on 2nd December 1905.

The Rev. George Frederick Courtenay died at 122 Pembroke Road on 26th August 1924; the will was administered by George Duggan and Albert Damer Cooper.

Obituary of Rev. George Frederick Courtenay, from the Irish Times, August 24th 1924:

   'We regret to announce the death of the Rev. George Frederick Courtenay, MA, formerly of 122 Pembroke Rd., Dublin, who had reached his 90th year.

    'Mr. Courtenay was one of the oldest clergy of the Church of Ireland.  He took his B.A. degree in Trinity College and the Divinity Testimoniam in 1860, and received Deacon's Orders from the Bishop of Down in 1862.  He was curate of Kilbroney, Co. Down, and subsequently of Aghaderg, for the next four years, when he was transferred to St. James's Parish, Dublin.  Having served in Cloughjordan in 1867, he became Rector of Quin, Killaloe, and was Rector of Roscommon from 1878 - 1882.  He was vicar of Broomfield, Somersetshire, and other English parishes, but in 1898, he returned to the Church of Ireland, and for four years was Rector of Croghan, Co. Roscommon.   In 1902, Mr. Courtenay retired from the active duty of the ministry, but for a time he did occasional duty on Sundays in the Dublin Diocese.  This he was obliged to give up, as he became almost completely deaf.  Mr. Courtenay has been a member of the University Club for half a century.  Notwithstanding his great age, he was able to move about until quite recently.'

In his will, Rev. George Frederick Courtenay left £100 to the Association for Promoting Christian Knowledge, £100 to the Irish Auxiliary of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, and £100 to the Irish branch of the Church Missionary Society.

4)  William Courtenay, born to Thomas Courtenay and Eliza Hudson in 1823. The 1850 Street Directory names William Courtney of 23 North Gloucester Street Upper, and this was the son of Robert Senior and his wife Elizabeth Hudson.

The 1862 Street Directory records the premises of 'Courtenay and Burke' at 23 Upper Gloucester Street, with the residents there as follows:

Robert Courtenay
James Burke, solicitor.
William Courtenay and also of Woodmount, Arklow.
Thomas Burke, solicitor.
Rev. Geo. F. Courtenay, MA BA FTCD
Robert Courtenay, Junior, solicitor, and also at 22 Ranelagh Rd.

William Courtenay married three times, to Frances Elizabeth Wolfe, Olivia Daly and Elizabeth Jane Grogan.
William's first wife was Frances Elizabeth Wolfe, who he married in Nenagh Church on 12th January 1848, and who had been born in Rockfort, Tipperary, in about 1826.  She was the eldest daughter of John Wolfe of Rockfort, while William Courtenay was named in the 'Tipperary Vindicator' of 19th January 1848 as the eldest son of Thomas Courteney of Lower Gardiner Street.  Presumably John Wolfe of Rochfort was the lawyer in business with William and his father in Dublin.

A headstone from Mount Jerome, Dublin, confirms that Robert and Eliza Courtenay had a son named William, and that he had a first wife named Frances Elizabeth:

Frances Elizabeth, wife of William Courtenay, who departed this life February 26th 1849, aged 23 years....

    ‘Also in memory of Eliza Courtenay, née Hudson, wife of Robert Courtenay of the City of Dublin and of Killiniskeyduff in the county of Wicklow, solicitor - she departed this life 25th September 1860 aged 70 years, and in memory of the said Robert Courtenay who died 17th January 1862.  The remains of said Eliza and Robert, parents of the above named William Courtenay lie in their grave adjoining this in the south.’

The name 'Woodmount' recurs on a headstone in the Old Kilbride churchyard in Kilbride, Wicklow, near Avoca:    'In memory of Olivia, wife of William Courtenay of Woodmount, who died November 11th 1860 aged 26 years.  Also their child, Robert Daly, who died September 4th 1860 aged 3 years.'

And the neighbouring grave:  'In memory of Alithea Maria Daly, daughter of the late Arthur Daly Esq., and of Henrietta his wife, departed this life 17th December 1853.  Also in memory of Anne, wife of the Rev. William Daly AM, late Vicar of this parish, departed this life 22nd August 1871 aged 78.  Also in memory of Rev. William Daly AM above named, who departed this life 9th January 188(7?).'

William Courtenay (1823 - 1897) married Olivia Daly in Wicklow in 1859;  the Limerick Chronicle published her death notice on 21st November 1860 - 'At Woodmount, Olivia, wife of William Courtenay, Esq.'

William Courtenay married, thirdly,  Elizabeth Jane Grogan who was the sister of Edwin Grogan who had married William’s sister Isabella Courtenay.  The marriage occurred in Rathfarnham, south Dublin, on 24th March 1863.

William Courtenay and Elizabeth Jane Grogan had three children in Woodmount, Avoca, Wicklow - Elizabeth, born  6th August 1865,  Michael Hudson Courtenay, born 3rd April 1867, and Mary Isabella, born 31st March 1869.  William Courtenay also had a son, known as William Courtenay Junior, but it's unclear to me which of the three wives was the mother of the younger William Courtenay.
 Mary Isabella Courtenay, daughter of gentleman William Courtenay, now of Rathcoole House, Dunleer, Co. Louth, married Rev. Gerald King Moriarty of Kilcronaghan Rectory, Tobermore, Co. Derry, son of Rev. Matthew Trant Moriarty, on 9th April 1896;  this was witnessed by George G. Moriarty and William Courtenay Junior, the son of the widowed William Courtenay.

The Moriartys were living at The Glebe, Egrenagh, Tyrone, in 1901 and 1911, and this was the address given on the will of Mary Isabella's older brother, Michael Hudson Courtenay, in 1916.  It seems that Mary Isabella's mother, the widowed Elizabeth Jane Courtenay, came to live with her in the Rectory at Egrenagh, since this was where her mother was living when she died on 2nd November 1901 - her will was administered by her son, Michael Hudson Courtenay, Captain, RA.

Rev. Gerald Ivor King Moriarty died at Edenderry Lodge, Omagh, Tyrone, on 13th November 1927; he was survived by his widow, Mary Isabella Moriarty, née Courtenay.

The son of William Courtenay and Elizabeth Jane Grogan, Michael Hudson Courtenay, died, aged 48, from wounds received at the Siege of Kut in Iraq, on 4th January 1916. (He had been born to William Courtenay and Elizabeth Jane Grogan on 3rd April 1867 at Newbridge, Co. Wicklow.) He had been a lieutenant colonel in the Royal Garrison Artillery, 1st Heavy Brigade. Major Michael Hudson Courtenay appeared on the 1911 UK census stationed in India with Unit 72, Heavy Battery, address not given.

He had been born at Woodmount, Arklow and was married to Laura Courtenay, with an address in 1916 at 19 Craigerne Road, Blackheath.  Michael Hudson Courtenay is buried in Grave K15, Kut War Cemetery, Iraq.

From the Index of Wills - 'Courtenay, Michael Hudson, of Ergenagh, Omagh Tyrone, lieutenant colonel R.A. died 4th January 1916 in Mesopotamia Asiatic Turkey, Probate Dublin to Laura Courtenay widow.'

His widow was Laura Fennell, the India-born daughter of an Alza Fennell;  she and Michael Hudson Courtenay had married in Mysore, Madras, on 27th October 1891.  A child,  Gladys Courtenay, was born the following year on 24th October 1892, at Neemuch, Bengal.

The widowed Laura Courtenay, late of both 11 St. John's Road and of 16 Hawkeswood Road, Boscombe, Bournemouth, died on 27th February 1943.

On 7th October 1870, William Courtenay of Woodmount retired from the Agency of the Wicklow Estate, which terminated upon the death of Lord Wicklow.  William was presented with a large and highly embossed tea urn, which bore the inscription 'Presented by the Tenantry of the Earl of Wicklow's estates in the county of Wicklow to William Courtenay Esq., J.P., as a totem of their esteem on his retirement from the Agency.'

It was at this point that he may have moved to Crosthwaite Park, Kingstown, Co. Dublin, and then to  Rathcoole, Dunleer, where he died aged 74 on 7th December 1897.  His will was administered by Robert Courtenay Vance and by William's brother, Rev. George Frederick Courtenay. The death, when registered, showed that he had been born in 1823.

William Courtenay's eldest son, the solicitor William Courtenay Junior, who had studied in TCD, was sworn in as a solicitor in February 1889, having served his apprenticeship with Robert Courtenay Vance. 

William Courtenay Junior of 8 Crosthwaite Park, Kingstown, Co. Dublin, had, on 11th September 1890, maried Annie Rebecca Bayly, daughter of William Cole Bayly JP of Ardristan, Co. Carlow. The fathers witnessed the wedding - William Courtenay and William Cole Bayly.

William Courtenay Junior and Annie Rebecca Bayly had a daughter, Annie Rebecca Courtenay, on 16th November 1892.   The baby's mother, Annie Rebecca, died a year later on 31st December 1893, five weeks after giving birth to another child.

On 9th July 1896 in St. Peter's, Dublin, the widowed William Courtenay Junior of Rathcoole, Co. Louth, married Louisa Catherine Henry of 6 Hume Street, Dublin, the widowed daughter of John Henry;  this was witnessed by Joseph F. W. Henry and Thomas B. Middleton.  William Courtenay Junior and his second wife, Louisa, had a daughter, Eva Courtenay, in Rathescar, Co. Louth, on 20th November 1898.

'The Dublin Daily Express' of 13th April 1898 announced that anyone with claims on the assets of the late William Courtenay (senior) of Rathcoole  was to write to either one of his executors, Robert Courtenay Vance, late of 113 St. Stephen's Green and now of Hume Street, or Rev. George Frederick Courtenay of 29 Wretham Road, Birmingham.

5) Richard Hudson Courtenay.  (1824 - 1865) Another son of Robert Courtenay and Elizabeth Hudson was Richard Hudson Courtenay (who had a nephew, a clergyman, of the same name) who died at Baltinglass, Wicklow in 1865, aged about 37.

Richard Hudson Courtenay married three times, the wives being Sarah Carolin in July 1843, Susan Hoysted in 1848 and finally Mary Tate, née Lawrence, in 1855.

Sarah Carolin, his first wife, was the daughter of the carpenter/builder of Dublin, Edward Carolin Junior and of Susanna Orson.  The Carolin family had addresses in Talbot Street and in Clontarf. It's unclear when Sarah died, but Richard Hudson Courtenay remarried in 1848, five years after his marriage to Sarah Carolin.   He married Susan Hoysted in 1848, but she died in 1855....

From Mount Jerome:  ‘To the memory of Susan, wife of Richard Hudson Courtenay who departed this life May 24th 1855 aged 24 years. This Tablet is erected by her beloved brother Thomas Norton Hoysted, Her Majesty’s 77th Regiment.’  The Limerick Chronicle noted that Susan, wife of Richard Hudson Courtenay, died at Leinster Square, Rathmines.

Susan Hoysted, the second wife of Richard Hudson Courtenay, had been born in about 1831 in Kildare to John Hoysted (1887 - 1848)  and Charlotte Gatchell of Walterstown, Kildare.
In 1851,  Susan and her husband, Richard Hudson Courtenay, were living in Islington with the Hoysted family.  Richard Hudson Courtenay was a general practitioner, and licentiate of the Royal College of Surgeons, Ireland.   His son, John Hoysted Courtenay, was only 2 years old.   Also resident was Richard's younger brother, Joshua Pasley Courtenay, a 16-year-old medical student.   Susan's mother was the Kildare-born widowed Charlotte Hoysted;  Susan's siblings were the medical students (at Kings College, London), Isaac and Thomas Norton Hoysted.  Her younger siblings were Charlotte 16, James J. 14, Mary Ann 12, Charles 10, Caroline 7 and John aged 3.

Richard Hudson Courtenay was a doctor who had carried out his medical training in Richmond Hospital, Dublin.  He was, later, the surgeon accoucheur at the Islington Lying-in Hospital, and had been the Inspector of Hospitals for the Central Board of Health for Ireland.

The UK Medical Register noted Richard Hudson Courtenay as a member of the Donegal Militia in 1859. He had graduated from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland in 1845, and had received his widwifery licence in 1861.  He had also received a degree from the University of London in 1851.

By 1863, his address was Baltinglass, Co. Wicklow.

The three known children of Richard Hudson Courtenay and his second wife, Susan Hoysted, were John Hoysted Courtenay, Robert Courtenay, and a daughter with the improbable name of Maria Beatrice Victoria Emily Guy Courtenay, who was born to Richard Hudson Courtenay in Dover, England - she was living at  2 Emerald Terrace, Grand Canal St., Dublin, when she married, on 4th February 1875, John Miles of 5 Emerald Terrace, the son of the Rev. Thomas Miles.  The marriage certificate confirms the fact that her father was a doctor, but makes no mention of the fact that he’s been dead for 10 years (Richard Hudson Courtenay died in 1865 in Wicklow.)

This daughter,  known simply as Beatrice, married again later on 22nd January 1884, this time to a flour miller/merchant, Samuel Mason Kent, and the family settled in Leinster House, Wicklow town. They had  8 children, one of whom was Mason Samuel Kent, who'd been born at 2 Orwell Rd, Rathgar, on 19th January 1887.  He was educated at the Wicklow Academy, and worked as a civil servant in the registry of Deeds, before joining the army in 1914.  His next of kin at the time was his mother, who was living then at 64 Hollybank Road, Drumcondra. He was invalided home to Dublin several times - in 1919 he returned home suffering from malaria, and returned to his wife, Mrs. M. Kent at 12 Westfield Terrace, Blackrock.  When he was discharged in 1919, his home address was given as 12 Upper Mount Street, Dublin.

Other children were John Mason Kent, born 1892, and Richard Courtenay Kent born 1893.

 A headstone in Co. Wicklow commemorates the family - Samuel Mason Kent died March 11th 1908, aged 51;  his wife, Beatrice Mary Victoria Kent died April 16th 1952, aged 93;   a daughter, Undine Bischoff died in 1981 in Santiago, Chile.

The son of Richard Hudson Courtenay and of his second wife, Susan Hoysted, was the doctor, John Hoysted Courtenay, who had been born at Shrewsbury Street, Islington, on October 22nd 1849.   He operated as a midwife, like his father, and the medical register noted him at 28 Cullenswood Avenue, Ranelagh, Dublin, in 1874.  John Hoysted Courtenay emigrated to Queensland, Australia, with his wife, Mary Jane Grime, but had also been stationed earlier in Jamaica.

The second son of Richard Hudson Courtenay and Susan Hoysted was Robert Courtenay who had been born to the couple in 1851.   He went to Trinity college Dublin, got a first class honours in Maths, before taking the Indian Civil Service Exam and emigrating to Bombay.  Robert Courtenay married A. Holman and had seven children.  His wife died in childbirth, and he himself died in 1912 and was buried in the Isle of Man.  Robert's son, Reginald Herbert Courtenay, went to Cambridge and also joined the Indian Civil Service as a judge, but returned to England in the 1920s.

The wedding between Richard Hudson Courtenay and his third wife, Mary Tate, née Lawrence,  was witnessed in 1855 by  Joshua Pasley Courtenay who had been born in Dublin in about 1836 - this was Richard Hudson Courtenay's brother.  Mary Tate was the widow of a Wicklow magistrate, John Tate (1809 - 1854) who had lived at Coolballintaggart, Wicklow.

In August 1861, the wife of a Dr. R.D. Courtenay of Ballinteggart, Co. Wicklow, gave birth to a daughter at Baltinglass.   Was this a typo for Richard Hudson Courtenay?  If so, then the mother of the baby was his third wife, Mary Lawrence.

In the year of Richard Hudson Courtenay’s death, 1865, his third wife, Mary Courtenay, née Lawrence, signed a lease for No. 7, Upper Gloucester Street, but only until 1871.  The couple owned almost 3000 acres of land in Coolballintaggart near Rathdrum in Co. Wicklow, but most of this was put up for sale in 1880 - the tenant of the land, Edward Hunter, had taken out the lease in 1862 from Mrs. Mary Courtenay, Richard Hudson Courtenay and William Courtenay, Richard's brother.  The Courtenays operated a firm of solicitors at 23 Upper Gloucester Street.

The Calendar of Wills records the death of  an earlier Mary Courtenay of Upper Gloucester Street  - the will was proved  (Admon. Principal Registry in 1862) by Robert Courtenay of Upper Gloucester Street and by Roland Hudson Courtenay of Baltinglass.

Several of the daughters of the late John Tate and Mary Lawrence married at 7 Upper Gloucester Street. In 1872, Margaret Isabel Tate married Joseph Smyth Wilson, and this was witnessed by Robert Courtenay, the brother of the late Richard Hudson Courtenay.

In 1867, Annie Tate married Thomas M. Hine of Kingstown, and the marriage was once again witnessed by Robert Courtenay.  Martha C. Tate married at 7 Upper Gloucester Street, in 1868, Charles J.S.Cahill

(The above Roland Hudson Courtenay of Baltinglass, Wicklow, may be either a brother or a son of Richard Hudson Courtenay  - he made a will on 14th September 1865 at Baltinglass.)

Richard Hudson Courtenay died in Baltinglass, Wicklow, in 1865.  The Irish Times of  22nd August 1865 reported on the funeral, noting, amongst the mourners, Robert Courtenay of Dublin, D. Hudson, and loads of Fentons.

A son of Richard Hudson Courtenay and of Mary Lawrence,  Anthony Lawrence Courtenay (named after Mary Lawrence's father), was born in England on 3rd October 1859.    Anthony emigrated aboard the 'Alaska' in 1882, and,on 4th March 1885 in Chicago, he married Anna Carr Locke who had been born in Limerick, Ireland on 7th April 1856, to a Scotsman, Robert Locke of Paisley, and to Ann Carr of Limerick.  The 1900 US census captured the couple living on Indiana Avanue, Chicago, where they would spend their lives together.  With them were their children,  Gordon Trevor Courtenay, who had been born in Illinois in February 1887, and Mary Ethel Courtenay who had been born there in April 1888.  Anna's sister, Margaret/Madge Locke was also living with them.

By 1910, a second Locke sister had joined them in Indiana Avenue,  Nellie Locke, a private nurse. Anna C. Courtenay was now working as a private secretary in an office, and her husband, Anthony Lawrence Courtenay, was a carpet salesman.

Their son, Gordon Trevor Courtenay, studied medicine at the Northwestern University and practised as a GP in Chicago, then San Diego.  He married Margery Peck, on 30th November 1909.  Gordon enlisted in the US Navy at the outset of the First World War, rising to the rank of Lieutenant in the Medical Corps, but he died of influenza on 22nd September 1918 in Willard Park Naval Hospital in New York.  His widow, Margaret Courtenay, was living then at 4027 Ibis St., San Diego.

Anthony Lawrence Courtenay died in Chicago on 4th September 1922.   Their daughter, Mary Courtenay, who had been born on 17th January 1888, never married, and died in Chicago in 1966. She had been a teacher in a public school.  In 1910 she had been a student at Chicago University and had been elected president of the Travel Club there.

 His wife, Anna C. Courtenay, died on 22nd February 1931.

(Another possible daughter of Richard Hudson Courtenay was Isabella Hudson Courtenay who made a will at 28 Cullenswood Avenue, Ranelagh, on 9th February 1872, but who married, on 1st August 1878, in Bangalore, Madras, India.  She was noted as the daughter of R.H.Courtenay but this might not be Richard Hudson Courtenay.   Her groom was Alfred Hastings Streeten, the son of Rev. Edmund Crane Streeten.  Isabella Hudson Streeten died in 1891 at Barton Regis, Gloucestershire.)

6)  A son, Matthew Courtenay, died on 20th April 1847, and was noted as the fourth son of Robert Courtenay, solicitor of Lower Gardiner Street.

7)  Joshua Pasley Courtenay (1836 - 1900). Joshua Pasley Courtenay, the son of solicitor Robert Courtenay, it seems, had been named after Joshua Pasley who was a witness at his sister's wedding in 1841.  Joshua Parley may have been a relation of Joshua Pasley who had earlier been involved with the foundation of the Stove Tenter House in the Liberties, along with his philanthropist cousin, Thomas Pleasants.

In 1859 the UK Medical Register recorded Joshua Pasley Courtenay at Dunkineely, Co. Donegal. He had graduated from the College of Surgeons in Dublin in 1856.  He was still registered there in 1863.
I tracked Joshua Pasley Courtenay through the UK Censuses. In 1871,  he was an assistant surgeon with the  Navy, and was living at Walmer, Sandwich, Kent. His wife, who he'd married in Islington in 1853, was Ellen M. Rogerson,  the daughter of the Dublin merchant William Bell Rogerson and Ann Jane McGill.

The children of Joshua Pasley Courtenay and Ellen Rogerson were Mary A. Courtenay who had been born 13 years previously in Co. Donegal,  George James Vance Courtenay, aged 10, born Dublin, and the 9-month-old Ellen Maud Catherine Courtenay who'd been born in Walmer.  A son, William Bell Courtenay, would later marry, in St. George the Martyr on 30th July 1883, Phillis Morris, the daughter of a tailor, Thomas Morris of Trinity Street. William Bell Courtenay had been educated at the District Royal Naval School in Deptford, London and would remain in both Plumstead and the civil service.   George James Vance Courtenay, who had been born in Dublin in 1861, married on 8th August 1886, Louisa Maude Ellis.

In 1877, Joshua Pasley Courtenay was the staff surgeon of the 'HMS Nereus'.

In 1881, Joshua Pasley Courtenay was the staff surgeon on board what seems to be the 'Cwacoa'.  In 1881, Joshua's son, George J.V. Courtenay,  was living at 20 Hanover Road in Plumstead, along with his older brother, William B. Courtenay, who was a clerk with the inland revenue.

Joshua's wife, Ellen, was living in 1881 at 11 Cornwall Road, Paddington, with their daughter, Ellen M.K., and with four lodgers.

In 1891 Joshua was living at 54 Chepstow Villas in Kensington;  he was 'Fleet Surgeon - R.N. Retired';  his wife, Ellen, was 61 and had been born in Dublin also. Only daughter Ellen M.K., aged 20, was still living at home with her parents.

Joshua's son, George J.V. Courtenay, was a bank clerk living in Plumstead, London, in 1891, along with his English wife, Laura, and their one-year-old daughter Laetitia.  George J.V.Courtenay died in Ryedale, Yorkshire in 1950.

His father, Joshua Pasley Courtenay, was buried at Yarmouth, Norfolk, on 12th April 1900, having died on 8th April 1900.   A descendant of Joshua Pasley Courtenay is Greg Clyde-Smith whose Ancestry DNA results link to various members of the Courtenay family, including me, and also to David Whelan, a descendant of Frederick Courtenay and Mary Tutty, Frederick Courtenay being the brother of the solicitor, Robert Courtenay, from whom Greg Clyde-Smith descends.

8) Robert Courtenay Junior,  the son of Robert Courtenay Senior and Eliza Hudson.  The solicitor, Robert Courtenay Junior,  married Mary Henrietta Manifold in St.Peter’s, Dublin, on 27th March 1854.  Their fathers were named as Robert Courtenay Senior and the late John Manifold, barrackmaster of Ballymoney, Co. Wicklow.

It appears that Robert and Mary Henrietta lived at the Manifold's Dublin home in 22 Ranelagh Road for the first few years of the marriage.  Mary Henrietta’s sister, Emily Harriette Manifold, married Richard Goodisson at this address in 1857.

The father, John Manifold was the barrack master of the royal barracks (modern name Collins Barracks) for forty years, yet another military connection.  The witnesses were A.B. Manifold and Michael Fenton Manifold.  Michael Fenton Manifold, assistant surgeon to the forces, was the brother of Mary Henrietta Manifold. A. B. Manifold was Abraham Brass Manifold, a sub-sheriff of Co. Wicklow.  There is a record of a John Manifold who was born to an Abraham Manifold in Capel Street, Dublin, in the 1770s, and this may well be Mary Henrietta Manifold's father and grandfather, although the Manifold family seems to have originated near Arklow, Wicklow. 

Two siblings from the same Dublin/Wicklow Manifold family were buried alongside each other in Harold's Cross Churchyard, Co. Dublin - Mary Clarke Manifold died 20th February 1864 aged 12 years, 6 months and 27 days, while her brother, Richard Fenton Manifold, died at Morar Gwalior, India, on 21st July 1865 aged 3 years.

From The Limerick Chronicle, 6th July 1844:  'At St. Mary's Church, Richard, eldest son of John Manifold, Esq., Barrackmaster, Royal barracks, to Mary, daughter of Michael Griffin of Elmpark, county Roscommon, Esq.'

Three years later in 1860, a third Manifold sister, Lydia Isabella, also married at 22 Ranelagh Rd, this time to Frederick Louis Weber.

Henrietta's sister, the unmarried Hester Jane Manifold, died on 11th March 1883 at 10 Clarinda Park, Kingstown, Co. Dublin;  her will was granted to her sister, Henrietta, and to her brother-in-law, Robert Courtenay, solicitor of 37 York Street.

Robert Courtenay, solicitor, died at Drumcondra Hospital, Whitworth Road, Dublin, on 1st February 1898, and his will was administered by his son, Rev. Richard Hudson Courtenay of Liverpool.

The children of Robert Courtenay Junior and Mary Henrietta Manifold were:

a)  A Robert Courtenay, when he applied to enter the British Civil Service in April 1875, declared that he had been born to the solicitor Robert Courtenay and his wife, Mary Henrietta of 37 Bishop Street, at 23 Gloucester Street, on 24th November 1854, and that he had been baptised in St.Thomas's, Dublin, on 26th November 1854.  His parents had married on 27th March 1854 in St. Peter's.

b) Mary Leonard Courtenay, b. 18 Sept. 1857, 22 Ranelagh Road. Mary Leonard Courtenay married Louis Tarleton Young, son of James Young, in Lahore, Bengal, on 10th May 1890.  In 1881, Louis was working at Simpson’s Hospital, Britain St., Dublin; in the same year he won the Medical Travelling Prize at the School of Physic. Louis Tarleton Young was Surgeon-Major in the Indian army and was the author of ‘The Carlsbad Treatment for Tropical and Digestive Ailments, and How to Carry it out Anywhere’,  which probably came in useful in Lahore.

His parents were Dorinda Sophia Tarleton, the daughter of Captain Tarleton of Rathmines - she married, on 23rd February 1855 in Edenderry Presbyterian Church, Co. Tyrone, James Young, who was the master of the Omagh Workhouse.  Their son, Louis Tarleton Young, was born in 1859;  they also had two daughters, Georgina Tarleton, born 18th May 1865 in Omagh - she was later the headmistress of Huyton College, Liverpool, and Edgebaston High School, and died in 1949.  Her sister was Henrietta Young, who had been born in Dublin on 7th December 1870.

Louis Tarleton Young died in Anacapri, Capri, on 30th April 1904.

c) John Manifold Courtenay, born July 22nd 1859 at 22 Ranelagh Road. He was educated at Rathmines School, High School and Trinity College, Dublin, and  became the vicar of Holy Trinity in St. Helens, Lancashire.  He married Ida Louise Urmson, daughter of Samuel Urmson, at Christchurch, New Malden.  A son, also Rev. John Manifold Courtenay, married Alethea Katherine Barran - this second John Manifold Courtenay died in England in 1988.  John Manifold Courtenay and Ida Louise also had two daughters - Marjorie Henrietta Courtenay and Helen Courtenay.

John Manifold Courtenay, of the Vicarage, Warrington Road, Ashton-in-Makerfield, Lancashire, died on June 7th 1919, sadly, in the Manchester Royal Lunatic Hospital, Cheadle, Cheshire.

d) George Frederick Courtenay, born 37 York St., 14th May 1865 and was named after his uncle, the Rev. George Frederick Courtenay. In 1901, George Fred Courtenay, also a clergyman, was lodging in a house at Gateshead, Durham.  He married the schoolmistress Edith Knott, the daughter of Henry and Jane Knott of Durham, in 1910 - she had been born in about 1870 in Thornely-on-Tees, Yorkshire; her siblings were Arthur, Lilian, Jane, Bertha and Margaret.  In 1911 the couple were living in Sunderland.
George Frederick Courtenay died at 5 Pembroke Road, Bournemouth, on 8th April 1948, and was survived by his widow, Edith.

e) Harry Courtenay, born 9th July 1867, at 37 York Street. Harry died of TB on 13th February 1889 aged 20 at the family home of 26 Castlewood Avenue, Rathmines. His father, Robert Courtenay, registered the death,

f) Richard Hudson Courtenay, born 15th June 1869, at 37 York Street. He became the Chaplain of St. John’s Anglican Church, Rangoon, Burma from 1900 till 1923, and of the  Anglican Chaplaincy in Basle, Switzerland, from 1923 until 1945, and died in Les Planches, Switzerland, on July 19th 1945.

Richard had married a woman of the name of 'Riley' in London, but the couple had separated in about 1900 - this was, presumably, his reason for heading abroad, and he led a lonely life afterwards. In 1898 when his father, Robert Courtenay died, Rev. Richard Hudson Courtenay was living in Liverpool.

g) There was also Eleanor Henrietta Courtenay born to Robert Courtenay Junior and Henrietta Manifold on 17th December 1871.

Wednesday 21 February 2018

The Stewart Family of Crossnacreevy, Comber, Co. Down

My father, Paul Cuthbert Stewart, descends from a family who farmed in the townland of Crossnacreevy, Moneyrea, Comber, Co. Down....

The Hearts of Steel Memorials:
 The Hearts of Steel was a Protestant Agrarian protest movement set up to fight against the re-letting of farms in Antrim; the agrarian unrest later spread to other counties.  Those who opposed the agrarian violence committed by the Hearts of Steel, signed lists of protest known as the Memorials, which were published in the Belfast Telegraph.

On Friday 3rd April 1772, the paper published the memorial of the Moneyrea congregation:

"We whose Names are hereunto subscribed, principal Members of the Presbyterian Congregation of Moneyrea, County of Down...with a few of our good Neighbours of the Establishment, to testify our abhorrence of the numberless Acts of Inhumanity...committed in this neighbourhood...by those deluded Persons called Hearts of Steel...we have entered into an Association that we will oppose Force by Force against all who attempt our Lives...:

The signatories vowed to "...maintain Peace and Order amongst ourselves, and in every respect demean ourselves as Good subjects of the Best government on Earth."

Although it's impossible to isolate which of the following Moneyrea Stewarts we descend from, these were the Stewarts who signed the Memorial, and who were therefore inhabitants of the area in April 1772:

Neven Stewart
John Stewart x 4
Simon Stewart
Alex. Stewart x 2
Arch. Stewart
Sam. Stewart
And. Stewart

Freeholders' Records:
The 40-shilling freeholders either owned or leased land worth more than 40 shillings; this entitled them to vote. They held the lease for either the length of their own life or for the length of three other lives which were named in the lease.  I accessed these records for free on the PRONI website.

1769:  James Stewart, John Stewart,William Stewart, all of Crossnacreevy.  All three of these men appear on headstones in the Moneyreagh graveyard.  John Stewart of Crossnacreevy might be one of the four John Stewarts who signed the Hearts of Steel Memorial in 1772.

In the same Freeholders lists, we find the name  Robert Stewart of Crossnacreevy mentioned in 1813, 1814 and 1824.

From Moneyreagh Graveyard:
 'Here lieth the body of John Stewart of Crossnacreevy who departed this life 27th of August 1795 aged 72 years.  Here resteth the remains of the late William Stewart of Crossnacreevy who departed this life the 19th of June 1813 aged 83 years. Also the remains of his wife Elizabeth Stewart alias ALLEN who departed this life the 17th of February 1814 in the 73rd year of her age. Here lieth the body of Ann Hill alias Stewart who departed this life the 27th of June.'


Headstone, Moneyreagh Graveyard

                                           'Underneath is interred the remains of the late James Stewart of Crossnacreevy who departed this life the 7th day of May MDCCCIII, aged 83 years.  Also his wife Margaret Anderson who died April 3rd aged 87 years (undated).'

(I scoured the graveyard in Moneyreagh for the previous headstone, but failed to find it - it might have been one of the toppled headstones, or the inscription might merely have become completely eroded by the weather.)

Dates for the above Stewarts of Crossnacreevy:
John Stewart (1723 - 1795)
William Stewart (1730 - 1813) + his wife, Elizabeth Allen (1741 - 1814).
Ann Stewart, née Hill (age unknown.)
James Stewart (1720 - 1803) and his wife, Margaret Anderson (age unknown.)

Rudimentary Stewart family tree


Robert Stewart (b. 1762) and Agnes Wallace of Crossnacreevy:

Born circa 1762, Robert Stewart of Crossnacreevy was noted as a 40 shilling Freeholder in 1813, 1814 and 1824.

The Public Records Office in Belfast holds the surviving census abstracts for 1821 (T3707/1/35 and 36), and these include the Stewarts of Crossnacreevy as follows:

  • Robert Stewart, aged 59, was farming 15 acres,and was married to 40-year-old Agnes.  They had two children living or visiting on the night of the census, 11-year-old James Stewart, and 8-year-old Francis Stewart.  The census doesn't clarify the relationship between the members of the household - the later marriage notice of Francis Stewart named him as the son of an older Francis Stewart. Robert and Agnes Stewart might therefore have been the grandparents of young James and Francis Stewart who were recorded in the Crossnacreevy household in 1821.
  • William Stewart, aged in his 50s, a single farmer of 12 acres, was living with his unmarried sisters, Ann aged 48, and Eliza and Ellenor aged 40.   A William Stewart of Crossnacreevy died aged 89 on 5th November 1851. ('Belfast Newsletter', 7th November 1851.)
  • Joseph and Ann Stewart. In 1821 Joseph Stewart was an innkeeper and a farmer of 5 acres.  Both Joseph and his first wife,  Ann, were 26, and had a one-year-old son William Stewart. In later records Joseph's wife was recorded as being named 'Agnes'. These were our immediate ancestors.

Robert Stewart of Crossnacreevy, who had been born in about 1762 according to the 1821 census, and was aged 59, was married to Agnes Wallace who was 19 years younger than him.  

Robert Stewart of Crosnacreevy (sic) had married Miss Wallace of Moss-side near Moneyreagh in 1809. This from 'Saunders Newsletter' of 27th April 1809.

'The History of Moneyreagh Congregation, 1719 - 1969' named Robert Stewart of Crossnacreevy as one of the collectors of the congregation in 1799 who were charged with collecting contributions from his local townland on behalf of the needy in the area.

(A few Wallace records: in January 1826, flax premiums were paid to G. Wallace of Ballykeel, Comber, and to J. Wallace of Ballybeen, Comber in 1825.  On 26th November 1836, Rev. Fletcher Blakely, Unitarian minister of Moneyrea, married Samuel Nelson Junior of Moneyrea and Miss Margaret Wallace of the same place. ['Belfast Commercial Chronicle', 30th Nov. 1836.] In October 1833,  Rev. Fletcher Blakely married Mary Wallace, eldest daughter of Francis Wallace of Moneyrea, and Alex Johnston of Belfast. On 7th July 1844, Mr. Francis Wallace, formerly of Moneyrea, died aged 84 at his residence in Belfast.  These nuggets were from the papers of the day. I wonder was this Francis Wallace the origin of the name 'Francis' which entered the Stewart family of Crossnacreevy at this time?  A Francis Wallace of Moneyrea married Jane McKee of Drumhirk and had Mary, Samuel, William, James, Francis Jr., Jane, Margaret and John.)

When Robert Stewart had married Agnes Wallace in 1809, he had been aged 47, while she had been 28, and I wonder was Agnes, therefore, Robert's second wife?  
Was our great-great grandfather, Joseph Stewart Snr. of Crossnacreevy, the son of Robert Stewart and of his first wife?  Our Joseph had been born in 1793, when Robert Stewart was 31.  Another potential son of Robert Stewart and Agnes Wallace of Crossnacreevy was Francis Stewart whose two young sons, James and Francis Stewart, were visiting Robert Stewart and Agnes Wallace in 1821.

Francis (1813-1893) and James Stewart (born 1810) of Crossnacreevy:

As already noted, the 1821 census for Crossnacreevy recorded the family of Robert Stewart, who had been born in about 1762, and  wife Agnes Wallace living with two boys, James aged 11 and Francis Stewart aged only 8.  Circumstantial evidence points to James and Francis Stewart being the sons of Francis Stewart and grandsons of Robert Stewart and Agnes Wallace of Crossnacreevy.

There were several Francis Stewarts, some associated with Crossnacreevy, and one with neighbouring Gransha. 
The Stewarts of neighbouring Gransha, who are possibly related to the Crossnacreevy Stewarts, are documented here:
http://alison-stewart.blogspot.ie/2011/08/stewarts-of-gransha-comber-co-down.html

On 19th January 1841, Francis Stewart of Crossnacreevy married Catherine Anderson, the only daughter of William Anderson of Crossnacreevy.   The couple were married by Rev. Henry Haslett who ministered at this time in the Castlereagh Presbyterian Church immediately north of Crossnacreevy.   The marriage announcement in the Belfast Newsletter named Francis Stewart of Crossnacreevy as the son of an older Francis Stewart.   In 1821,  an 8-year-old Francis Stewart had been living - or visiting - in the home of Robert and Agnes Stewart of Crossnacreevy.  

It appears that father and son, Francis Snr. and Francis Jr., studied at the local school together. 'The Northern Whig' of June 1832 published the results of the exams held in Moneyreagh school.  Amongst the pupils were both Francis B. Stuart (sic) and Francis Stuart Snr. who had come equal first in 6th Class Reading.   Francis B. Stuart, Francis Stuart Snr. and William Stuart and come equal first in 6th Class Arithmetic.  Francis Stuart also came 2nd in 7th Class Spelling.

In 1863  Francis Stewart of Crossnacreevy was leasing 27 acres, a house and outbuildings, and subletting two houses to James Floyd and William Anderson, William Anderson being a possible relation of his wife's.
The Moneyreagh Marriage Notice Book, held in the Belfast Public Records Office, records the marriage on 29th January 1850 of a William Anderson of Crossnacreevy to Elizabeth Orr Patterson who had been living in Tullyhubbert, Comber, for one year.  William Anderson was the son of William Anderson of Crossnacreevy, while Elizabeth Patterson was the daughter of Joseph Patterson of Tullyhubbert - the witnesses to the wedding were an illegible member of the Patterson family and Martha Stewart who was a possible member of the neighbouring Gransha Stewarts.

Francis Stewart, joined the Moneyreagh Masonic Lodge on 24th May 1834, along with (his brother?) James Stewart of Crossnacreevy, who follows, but Francis was excluded, then readmitted in December 1841.

I found a headstone in Moneyreagh Graveyard which was immediately next to the headstone commemorating early members of my own Crossnacreevy Stewarts. This headstone marked the final resting place of two of the daughters of Francis Stewart.




On 5th October 1873 in St. Mary's Church of Ireland in Belfast, Edward Augustus Girvan, 26-year-old carpenter and son of gardener Robert Girvan, married Anne Stewart, aged 21, a stitcher and daughter of farmer Francis Stewart. The witnesses were Andrew Coyle and Eliza Jane Stewart.

Edward Girvan's father, the widowed gardener, Robert Girvan, died aged 79 in the Belfast Charitable Institution on 1st December 1890.

Edward Augustus Girvan died aged 37 at 17 Westmoreland Street, Belfast, of heart disease on 11th January 1888 and was buried in the Stewart family burying ground in Moneyreagh Churchyard.

In 1911 his widow, Annie Girvan, née Stewart, who had been born in about 1850, was living at 73 Woodstock Road in East Belfast with her three children - Edward Augustus Girvan had been born in Scotland in about 1878, while her son Francis had been born at 66 Moira Street, Belfast, on 19th January 1882, and daughter Catherine Annie Girvan, named for her grandmother, Catherine Anderson, had been born in Belfast on 9th May 1885. Catherine Girvan would marry John Cooke in Knockbreda in 1913 and would emigrate to Canada.

The passenger lists, viewable on Ancestry, document Edward Augustus Blair Girvan, coming and going between the USA and Belfast in the 1920s. He arrived in Southampton from New York on 14th June 1927, and was noted as a grain merchant of 43 Duncairne Gardens, Belfast. Later, on 17th August 1929, he arrived home from Montreal on 17th August 1929 aboard the 'Letitia'. A 50-year-old merchant, he was accompanied by his sister, Catherine Cooke, also of 43 Duncairne Gardens, and by 4-year-old James Cooke.

On 19th August 1892, Mary Stewart, who had been born circa 1860, of Castlereagh Street, married the bootmaker John Cowan. The wedding was witnessed by James Ritchie and Agnes Stewart, and Mary Stewart named her father as the carpenter Francis Stewart.

Francis Stewart (1813 - 1893) died aged 80 at 6 Rokeby Street, Belfast, a widowed carpenter, on 20th November 1893, and his death was registered by his daughter Agnes Stewart who would witness her sister's wedding to John Cowan two years later.

James Stewart of Crossnacreevy:

James Stewart of Crossnacreevy might have been the 11-year-old James Stewart who was recorded on the 1821 census living there with 8-year-old, Francis, and with the older Robert and Agnes Stewart.   It appears that Francis and James Stewart were brothers, the sons of an older Francis Stewart, and the grandchildren of Robert and Agnes Stewart, all of  Crossnacreevy.

James Stewart of Crossnacreevy married, in 1844, Nancy Betty Somersides of Crossnacreevy.
It is interesting to see that, on 27th July 1850, in the Meeting House, Moneyrea, the marriage of the widowed Crossnacreevy schoolmaster, James Floyd, son of James Floyd, to Jane Ellen Somerside, daughter of John Somerside of Crossnacreevy.    Francis Stewart was subletting a house to James Floyd of Crossnacreevy, while James Stewart of Crossnacreevy married Nancy Betty Somerside.

The membership registers of the Grand Lodge of the Freemasons of Ireland (1733 - 1923) are now accessible via Ancestry.com, and these record  Francis and James Stewart both joining Moneyreagh Lodge No. 556 on the same day, 24th May 1834.   This seems to confirm that Francis and James were the two brothers,  who had been recorded as living in Crossnacreevy with the older Robert and Agnes Stewart in the 1821 census.

The 'Northern Whig' of 20th July 1844 reported that James Stewart of Crossnacreevy and Hugh Nelson of Gransha had been selected by the 'Society for the Promotion and Improvement of the Growth of Flax in Ireland' to visit neighbouring farmers and instruct them on how best to cultivate flax.

 James Stewart and Ann Eliza Somersides (ie, Nancy Betty Somerside) baptised an adopted daughter, Annie Eliza Stewart, in Comber Non-Subscribing/Unitarian Church on 9th October 1861. A note in the margin of the register was added: 'Mrs. Annie E.Boyd of 87 Sidney Street, West Belfast, 1884.' However, whoever had written the note in the margin might have got the wrong Annie Eliza....a quick scroll through the PRONI Street Directories shows up a flaxdresser, James Boyd, living at 87 Sidney Street West in 1884. He appears on  the 1901 census living at 16 Sixth Street with wife Annie Eliza and with six children - Grace Boyd aged 18, Martha Jane Beverland Boyd aged 14, William James Boyd aged 11, Agnes Boyd aged 8, James Boyd aged 5 and Edward Brown Boyd aged 2 who would die at 16 Sixth Street on 6th July 1901 and who was buried in Belfast City Cemetery.   The civil marriage registration of James Boyd, who married in Belfast on 19th May 1882, reveals that his wife was Annie Eliza Lindsay of 55 Dundee Street, Belfast, the daughter of William Lindsay.  Was the note in the Comber Register incorrect, or did Annie Eliza Lindsay keep her original name following her adoption by James Stewart and Ann Eliza Somersides?

The 'Belfast Newsletter' of 8th July 1848 reported that Joseph Stewart and John Somerside, both of Crossnacreevy, were amongst the attendees of a meeting in Comber to discuss the upcoming Landlord and Tenant Bill.

(There are records relating to the children of John Somerside/Sommersides of Crossnacreevy - the family used a variety of spellings of their name.
'The Belfast Newsletter' of 16th November 1838 noted that Rev. Fletcher Blakely of Moneyreagh married Robert Somersides of Crossnacreevy and Elizabeth McCullough of Moneyreagh on 12th November 1838.  Robert married again, although perhaps there were two Robert Somersides at this time - on 3rd June 1850, Robert, son of John Somerside, married Catherine, the daughter of Robert Smith.  Although the date wasn't noted, Robert Somerside of Crossnacreevy was buried in Moneyreagh by his wife Catherine - this according to the index of mourning cards held by the H.I.F.H. society.
The son of Robert Somerside of Crossnacreevy was Matthew Somerside, who had been born circa 1845 in Ireland, and who married Sarah Jane Polley, the daughter of James Polley of Ballycreely. The wedding took place on 9th June 1873 in York Street Non-Subscribing/Unitarian Church in Belfast, the same church used by two of the children of Joseph Stewart of Crossnacreevy.  Matthew and Sarah Jane moved to Glasgow where he worked as a spirit shopman - their children were Sarah Jane born 1875 in Glasgow, Robert J. Somerside born 1877 in Ireland and Elizabeth born in Glasgow in 1879 and who died aged 7 at 9 James Morrison Street, Glasgow, in June 1885. A daughter, Margaret, was born in Glasgow in 1882.

On 27th July 1850 in Moneyreagh by the Unitarian minister Rev. Fletcher Blakely, Jane Ellen Somerside, daughter of John Somerside of Crossnacreevy, married James Floyd of Crossnacreevy National School, son of an older James Floyd.  In 1863 Griffiths Valuation showed up Francis Stewart leasing 27 acres, a house and outbuildings, and subletting two houses to James Floyd in Crossnacreevy.

On 1st June 1853, Jane Somerside, daughter of John Somerside, married Francis Aiken/Aicken, son of John Aiken, of Slatady, which is a old townland immediately north of Crossnacreevy on the road leading to Belfast.  The Mormon LDS family history site notes the birth of a Francis Aiken on 17th June 1870 to James Aiken and Margaret Somerside, as well as the birth of a James Aicken in Crossnacreevy on 26th July 1877 to John Aiken and Margaret Somersides.  On 22nd November 1944 at Bethany Cottage, Castlereagh, the death occurred of an Annie Elizabeth Aiken, the 4th daughter of the late Francis and Jeannie Aiken - she was subsequently buried in Moneyreagh churchyard.

The family tree of David McCullough of Ballycreely, Moneyreagh, who emigrated to New Zealand, and which are viewable online via www.dippam.ac.uk., notes an unnamed member of the Somerside marrying Elizabeth McCullough who had been born in about 1820 in Ballycreely.
John Somerside of Crossnacreevy made a will which was granted on 26th November 1850.
The Northern Ireland Family History index of mourning cards record the burial of Jane Somerside of Crossnacreevy, mother of Arthur Somerside, being buried in Moneyreagh on 15th October 1878.  Arthur's sister, Mary Summersides of Crossnacreevy died on 16th June 1885 and was buried in Moneyreagh two days later.
The 'Belfast Morning News' of 9th August 1880 reported the sudden death of 70-year-old Robert Summersides of Crossnacreevy whilst attending the potato market.)


Applotment Books for The Parish of Comber, 1835:

Lisleen...................Samuel Stewart, 11 acres
Ballymaglaff..........Alexander Stewart, 18 acres
Moneyreagh...........No Stewarts
Ballykeel................Joseph Stewart and William Madole (McDowell) together, 31 acres
Gransha..................Joseph Stewart 14 + 6 + 15 acres
                               Francis Stewart, 7 acres
Clontonakelly........Andrew Stewart, 22 acres
                               The Misses Stewart - 33 acres
Crossnacreevy......Joseph Stewart, 6 acres
                               William Stewart, 15 acres
                               Robert Stewart, 23 acres

Joseph Stewart Snr. (1793 - 1876):

Joseph Stewart Snr. (1793 - 1876) of Crossnacreevy was our great-great-great grandfather.  He had been born in Crossnacreevy in about 1793, possibly to Robert Stewart (born 1762), although this is purely conjecture on my part
He had been recorded on the 1821 census as a farmer and inn-keeper in Crossnacreevy;  he was initially married to Ann, and had an infant son William Stewart.  Fourteen years later he was recorded in the Tithe Books for 1835, farming alongside the older Robert Stewart and the unmarried William Stewart in Crossnacreevy, all of them having already appeared there on the 1821 census.   

According to Joseph Stewart Snr's death registration document, he lived from 1793 until April 10th 1876, dying in Crossnacreevy with his son John Stewart present at his death.  His second wife, Agnes Stewart, was still alive at this point.
Agnes Stewart (1794 - 1878), widow of Joseph Stewart of Crossnacreevy, died aged 84 on 30th August 1878 ('Belfast Telegraph', 31st August 1878).

Earlier, on 21st November 1871, a Joseph Stewart joined Masonic Lodge No. 556 in Moneyreagh. This was either Joseph Stewart of Crossnacreevy or Joseph Stewart of neighbouring Gransha.

The Northern Ireland Family History Society has published online a list of mourning cards from County Down, some of them written by the Stewarts of Crossnacreevy and of neighbouring Moneyreagh.  One of these commemorated the death of our direct ancestor, Joseph Stewart of Crossnacreevy, who died on 10th April 1876, and who was buried in Moneyreagh graveyard on 12th April 1876 - his wife was named as Agnes Stewart.

Joseph's widow, Agnes Stewart of Crossnacreevy, died there on 31st August 1878 and was buried in Moneyreagh burying-ground by her son John Stewart on 1st September 1878.    One of the sons of Joseph and Agnes Stewart was Robert McKitterick Stewart which leads me to believe that Agnes, wife of Joseph, might have been a member of the McKitterick family who farmed in neighbouring Lisleen, Moneyreagh, but, as of yet, I have no proof to support this theory other than Robert Stewart's middle name.

Joseph Stewart Snr. of Crossnacreevy not only farmed a couple of acres, but also ran a roadside shop. In 1821 he had been noted as an innkeeper, his house being on the main Crossacreevy road on the current site of the Marylands Nursery.  The 'Northern Standard' of 9th February 1847 noted that, along with about thirty other unlucky individuals,  Joseph Stewart of Crossnacreevy was fined 2s.6d. for having illegal weights and measurements in his shop.

Griffiths Valuation of 1863 showed Joseph Stewart Snr. leasing a house, shop, outhouses and 7 acres of land in Crossnacreevy, Moneyreagh, on the main Crossnacreevy to Killyleagh road.  Closeby his property William McDowell, who might have been the same William McDowell or Madole who had been farming in partnership with a Joseph Stewart in 1835, was leasing 8 acres. Both men can be found in the neighbouring townland of Ballykeel - Joseph was leasing 16 acres of land but no house which seems to suggest that this is the same Joseph Stewart of neighbouring Crossnacreevy. William McDowell was here again in Ballykeel, leasing a caretaker's house and 16 acres of land.

Following Joseph's death in 1876, his son, John Stewart, applied for a temporary transfer of the Excise Licence to sell beer, wine, cider and spirits, which were to be consumed on the premises in Crossnacreevy.  The premises in question were at present licensed in John's late father's name, ie Joseph Stewart. ('Belfast Telegraph', 26th May 1876'.)

The children of our Joseph and Ann/Agnes Stewart of Crossnacreevy, Moneyreagh, Co. Down, were:
  • William A. Stewart (1820 - 1881). William Stewart appeared on the 1821 Census for Crossnacreevy with his parents.
  • Mary Stewart (1824 - 1900.)
  • Agnes Stewart (1827 - 1891)
  • Lucinda Stewart (1830 - 27th December 1896).
  • Robert McKitterick Stewart (1838 - 18th November 1880).
  • John Stewart (1839 - 27th March 1892).
  • Joseph Stewart Jr., our great-great grandfather (1841 -  12th December 1908).
The 'Northern Whig' of 18th November 1872 reported that a Henry Boyce had been charged with the serious assault of 80 year old Joseph Stewart of Crossnacreevy - Joseph's son, John Stewart, and John's wife, Elizabeth, gave evidence in court.
Joseph Stewart Snr. died in Crossnacreevy on 10th April 1876, aged 84. ('Belfast Newsletter', 11th April 1876 - 'April 10th at his late residence, Crossnacreevy, Joseph Stewart, aged 84.)

His wife, Agnes Stewart, maiden name unknown, died a farmer's widow aged 86 in Crossnacreevy on 13th August 1878;  her son John Stewart registered the death.

Our great-great grandparents, Joseph Stewart (1841 - 1908) and Elizabeth Madine (March 3rd 1835 - 1901):

Joseph Stewart and Elizabeth Madine




The above photographs of Joseph Stewart Jr. and of his wife,Elizabeth Madine, were kindly shared with me by James May of Belfast who descends from Joseph Stewart Jr.'s sister, Agnes Cornwall.

Joseph Stewart Jr. was born in about 1841 to Joseph and Agnes Stewart of Crossnacreevy.

At some stage in the 1850s, Joseph Stewart Junior moved  north to live and work in Belfast city, where he married Elizabeth Madine in St. Anne's Church of Ireland church, Shankill, Belfast, on 14th May 1859. This church was just south of Donegall Square and was demolished in 1903 to make way for Belfast Cathedral.  Joseph seems to have converted to the Church of Ireland upon his marriage to Elizabeth, since the Stewart family were primarily Unitarian/Prebyterian, while the Madines of Downpatrick/Killyleagh were primarily Church of Ireland.

Joseph gave his profession as a writing clerk, but would later work as an ironmonger.  Although she was born in 1835, Elizabeth Madine gave her birth year as 1838.  Her father was Robert Madine, a butcher of Killyleagh.  The witnesses to the marriage were Elizabeth's siblings, John and Margaret Madine.

http://alison-stewart.blogspot.ie/2011/07/madine-family-of-killyleagh.html

The children of Joseph Stewart and Elizabeth Madine were:

  • Emily Jane Stewart, born circa 1862, died unmarried in 1924 in Dublin.
  • Louisa Helen Stewart, born circa 1863/1864 in Killyleagh, Co. Down, died unmarried in 1951 in Dublin.
  • Mary Ann Stewart born 12th February 1865 - this child died at 11 Arnon Street on 5th August 1865 (as announced in the Belfast Morning News).
  • Robert Stewart (our great-grandfather), born 26th May 1866 at 11 Arnon Street, Shankill, Belfast.  The previous year, Joseph Stewart's sister, Mary Stewart, married Hugh Morrow in York Street Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church closeby, and Joseph acted as witness.  Robert Stewart, the eldest son of Joseph Stewart and Elizabeth Madine, married Rebecca Cuthbert on 18th August 1896 in the Church of Ireland church of St. George on Cathal Brugha Street, Dublin.  Their first child, Louisa Helen, named after Robert's sister, was born 15th March 1899, and married  John Thomas Sibbald in Dublin in 1925 - their children were Hazel Sibbald and Leslie Sibbald.   Robert and Rebecca Stewart had a daughter, Vera Maud Stewart, in 1906;  Vera Maud Stewart married the tenor, Robert Irwin 1905 - 1983.   Robert and Rebecca Stewart also had a son, Cuthbert/Bertie Stewart, our paternal grandfather, in Dublin in 1909; he died in Galway in 1976;  he was married to our grandmother, Agnes/Nessie Keating Wilson of Belfast, 23rd November 1905 - 26th March 1965.   The two sons of Bertie and Nessie Stewart were our father, Paul Stewart, born 18th June 1935, and Anthony Stewart, born 19th March 1937.
  • Joseph Stewart, born 9th February 1868 at 88 Ann Street - this child died; the brother of Joseph Stewart, William A. Stewart, ran a hostelry at this time at 92 Ann Street.
  • Mary Elizabeth Stewart was born on 26th August 1870 in Killyleagh where her father, Joseph Stewart, was working as a shop assitant;   his brother, Robert Stewart, had married Joseph's sister-in-law, Jane Madine, and may have been working in Killyleagh also at this time.  Mary Elizabeth Stewart died unmarried in 1945 in Dublin.
  • John Stewart was born on 12th April 1872 at 8 Roundhill Street, East Belfast, where Joseph Stewart was working as an inspector of building works.  (An Agnes Stewart, 1844 - 1889, died at this address, 8 Roundhill St., on 27th November 1889, aged 45; she may be a relation.)  John Stewart (12th April 1872  - Feb. 27 1954) married Mabel McKenzie (21st January 1878 - March 6 1946) on August 2nd 1905 in Monkstown Church.   The couple had Eileen Gladys Stewart on  Sept. 17th 1906;  Norman Hampton Stewart, was born 26th June 1916;  Donald MacKenzie Stewart was born in Rathdown, Dublin, in the latter part of 1912.   Norman Stewart (26th June 1916 - June 7th 2001) married, firstly, Olive May Siggins of Sligo on May 9th 1942, and, secondly,  Margaret Glynne Bowen (9th March 1921 - 23rd November 2008).
  • Catherine Stewart was born on 13th March 1874 in Downpatrick, Co. Down, just south of Killyleagh;  Joseph was working as an ironmonger's assistant. Catherine Stewart died unmarried in 1957 in Dublin.
  • Joseph Stewart (22nd December 1876 in Saul Street, Downpatrick - 1956).  Joseph Stewart married Sarah Kate Barton ( 9th August 1878 -February 9th 1974) in Inishtioge, Co. Kilkenny, on August 5th 1903.  They had Lilian Kathleen Emily Stewart in Dublin on May 13th 1906 - she married John Frederick Leahy in Dublin on Sept. 9th 1930.   A second daughter was Joyce Audrey Wheeler Stewart, born August 18th 1919;  she married  Ernest Walter Hall on 25th January 1940.

Joseph Stewart Jr., ironmonger, may have been in London for the night of the UK 1881 Census - a Joseph Stewart, ironmonger's assistant, was lodging in Hanover Square;  he was Irish-born, married, and gave a date of birth of 1841.

Joseph Stewart Jr. and Elizabeth Madine moved south to Dublin;  they appear in the Dublin street directories for the first time in 1887 living at 22 Fontenoy Street in Phibsboro, North Dublin.  Living next door was a Thomas Stewart, but I doubt he was related - this Thomas Stewart only appears in the directories in 1887.
Joseph Stewart, ironmonger, stayed at 22 Fontenoy Street for two years before taking up permanent residence down the road at 18 Goldsmith Street. He would live there until his death on 12th December 1908.  
At the time of his death, he was working as a commercial traveller.  His wife, Elizabeth, née Madine, died there 7 years earlier to the day, on 12th December 1901.


http://alison-stewart.blogspot.ie/2011/07/children-of-joseph-stewart-and.html

William A. Stewart (1820 - 1881), son of Joseph and Ann/Agnes Stewart of Crossnacreevy:
One of the most prominent farming families in the Moneyreagh/Crossnacreevy area were the Huddlestons.  In 1844 Robert Huddleston, a poet, published a volume of his works, 'A Collection of Poems and Songs on Rural Subjects.' Included at the end of the collection was a list of subscribers, and these include Joseph Stewart of Gransha, a neighbour of our ancestor, Joseph Stewart, and William A. Stewart of Crossnacreevy.

William A. Stuart had been recorded on the 1821 census, living with his parents, Joseph and Ann Stewart in Crossnacreevy.  He might well be the William Stuart who came equal first in the 6th class Arithmetic exam in Moneyreagh school in June 1832, aged 11.

William A. Stewart  married Margaret Burke in Downpatrick Registry Office on 27th December 1851.  William, the son of the farmer, Joseph Stewart, was a hosteler living at 29 Prince's Street, Belfast, while Margaret was the daughter of a labourer, John Burke, with an address at the time of her marriage in Downpatrick.  The witnesses were William Lascelles, a merchant of Downpatrick,  and Agnes Crothers.

William Stewart can be traced through the Belfast street directories.  Up until 1865 he was at 29 Prince's Street - 'William A. Stewart - eating-house and stabling yard. In 1880 he made his last appearance as William A. Stewart at 50 New Lodge Road, which is where his daughter, Jane, was living when she married James M. Orr in 1875;  Ann Street must have been the business address, while New Lodge Road was the family home.

On 26th October 1871,  William A. Stewart witnessed the second wedding of his brother, John Stewart of Crossnacreevy, when John married Elizabeth McGowan of Ballystockart in York Street Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church, the same church where the brothers' sister, Mary Stewart, had married Hugh Morrow in 1865.   They had followed their ex-Moneyreagh minister, Rev. John Jellie, to York Street Non-Subscribing/Unitarian Church who had also recently moved to Belfast.

The children of William and Margaret were born prior to official registration, but Jane was born circa 1855 in Belfast, and her sister, Margaret was born circa 1859.  There was also a possible sister, Agnes Stewart, who witnessed Jane's wedding to James M. Orr, and also a Joseph Stewart, born in 1877.   William's daughter, Jane Stewart, married the Ballymena watchmaker, James Malcolm Orr, and emigrated to Philadelphia - Jane Orr would later be visited by the four daughters of Joseph Stewart and Elizabeth Madine in 1914.
http://alison-stewart.blogspot.ie/2012/08/james-m-orr-watchmaker-and-jane-stewart.html

William A. Stewart died under tragic circumstances on 3rd December 1881 at 50 New Lodge Road;  the newspapers recorded that he died from a head wound inflicted with a hammer.  An inquest concluded that he'd committed suicide by fracturing his skull while in a state of unsound mind.
From 'The Belfast Telegraph' of Dec.5th 1881:  'An inquest was held on Saturday on the body of Wm. Stewart, who was found dead with his head broken, in the yard of his house in New Lodge Road that morning.  Evidence was given that, for the past two months, the deceased talked foolishly.  The Coroner described the case as a most extraordinary one.  The jury returned a verdict of suicide, while in an unsound state of mind.'
http://alison-stewart.blogspot.ie/2013/10/william-stewart-1829-3rd-october-1881.html


John Stewart (1839 - 27th March 1892), son of Joseph and Ann/Agnes Stewart of Crossnacreevy:
John Stewart was a farmer, who spent his life in Crossnacreevy, Moneyreagh.
He married Mary Mills in Gilnahirk Presbyterian Church, Dundonald, north of Crossnacreevy on July 9th 1859. Mary Mills was the daughter of a farmer, Robert Mills, who lived in Lisleen townland adjacent to Crossnacreevy.  The witnesses were a friend, Jane Shannon, and Robert Mills who was either Mary's father or her brother.

The couple had a daughter, Esther Jane Stewart, in 1861. She married James Vincent, an engineer of Belfast in Gilnahirk Presbyterian Church on September 24th 1881. She gave her residence as Mountpottinger in south Belfast. Esther Jane Stewart Vincent died in Jan - March 1897.   Esther Jane Stewart and James Vincent had two children - Charles Vincent was born in Belfast in about 1882, and Henry/Harry Vincent in about 1895.   Following Esther Jane's death, James Vincent married a woman named Margaret J.

A daughter, Elizabeth Stewart, was born in 1864 to John Stewart and Mary Mills, but neither Elizabeth or her mother, Mary, appear in any records after this.

John Stewart later remarried. His second wife was Eliza Magowan or Elizabeth McGowan. The couple married on 26th October 1871 in York Street Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church in Belfast city centre;  Elizabeth was the daughter of John McGowan, a labourer of Ballystockart, Comber, Co. Down.  The witnesses were John Stewart's older brother, William A. Stewart, and a Martha Cummings.

The births of four of their children are recorded:
Their first child was born on April 1st 1871. Although he was christened Robert Samuel Stewart, on the census and in his father's will, he is referred to as Robert John Stewart. Robert John Stewart took over the Crossnacreevy farm following his father's death; I doubt he ever married - he appears on both the published Irish censuses.  The Masonic membership records note a Robert Johnston Stewart joining Moneyreagh Lodge 556 on 1st April 1893. and this might be Robert John Stewart of Crossnacreevy, since I can find no further record of a Robert Johnston Stewart.
A daughter, Mariah Lamont Stewart, was born to the couple on Dec. 6th 1873.
A son, Joseph Stewart, was born in Crossnacreevy on 3rd December 1877.
A daughter, Mary Annie Stewart - later known simply as Annie - was born in Crossncreevy on June 4th 1880.

Mary Stewart, daughter of Joseph and Ann Stewart of Crossnacreevy:
Mary Stewart, the daughter of Joseph and Ann Stewart of Crossnacreevy,  married Hugh Morrow, a labourer, the son of a sailor John Morrow, deceased, on 13th Sept. 1865 in York Street Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church (Unitarian) in the centre of Belfast. The marriage certificate states that both bride and groom were resident in Crossnacreevy at the time of the wedding.  They were married by Rev. John Jellie who had previously been posted to the Moneyreagh Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church.

The witnesses to the wedding were Joseph Stewart and Margaret McCullough.  This Joseph was either her father or her brother: Joseph Stewart, Mary's brother, and his wife, Elizabeth Madine, were living at the time around the corner from York Street Church at 11 Arnon Street, but their father, also Joseph, may well have travelled north into the city for the wedding.

Mary Stewart and Hugh Morrow had two recorded sons:  Joseph John Morrow was born on 25th Oct. 1866 in Lisleen, one of the Moneyreagh townlands adjacent to Crossnacreevy.
Their second son, Hugh, was born 20th Feb. 1868 in Comber but the registration doesn't mention the exact place of birth.

The records for the family are few and far between, and I can find nothing further on Hugh and Mary, but one of their sons, Joseph John Morrow, crops up on the census for both 1901 and 1911.
 The second son of Hugh Morrow and Mary Stewart, Joseph John Morrow, a postman,  married Minnie J. Allen of Tyrone in 1891 but had no children.
http://alison-stewart.blogspot.ie/2011/07/mary-stewart-and-hugh-morrow.html

Robert McKitterick Stewart, son of Joseph and Ann/Agnes Stewart of Crossnacreevy:

Robert McKitterick Stewart - photo courtesy of James May


Robert Stewart, the brother of Joseph Stewart, married his sister-in-law, Jane Madine, the younger sister of Elizabeth Madine, in Killinchy Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church on July 9th 1860.  Both bride and groom were living in the Madine's hometown of Killyleagh at the time of the marriage and Robert Stewart gave his profession as a mechanic.

There are two Killyleagh Street Directories - for 1877 and for 1880 - and a Robert Stewart appears in both of them as a grocer/engineer on Front Street, the same street where Robert's father-in-law, Robert Madine, worked as a butcher.  Same guy?

The Griffiths Valuation revision books for Killyleagh 1879 - 1884 show Robert Stewart of 41 Front Street crossed out and replaced by Thomas Calvert.

There was also a Robert Stewart mentioned in the lists of Past Masters for the Killyeagh Masonic Lodge 113.  The membership registers for the Irish Masonic Lodges note a Robert Stewart joining on 17th March 1862.
In 1873 he appears alongside another Killyleagh mechanic, Arthur Gordon of Back Street. In 1874, Robert Stewart appears beside John Davidson who was a teacher in the Killyleagh Second Presbyterian school.

The Northern Ireland Family History Society's index of mourning cards lists the death in Killyleagh of a Robert McKitterick Stewart who died in Killyleagh and who was subsequently buried by his wife, Jane, in Moneyreagh burying-ground.    His death certificate shows that Robert McKitterick Stewart, mechanic of Killyleagh, died of heart disease there on 18th November 1880 - present at his death was a Margaret Stewart (his daughter or perhaps the wife of his brother, William A. Stewart?).
http://alison-stewart.blogspot.ie/2011/07/robert-stewart-and-jane-madine.html

'The Belfast Telegraph' of 9th November 1880 published the death notice of Robert M'Kitterick Stewart of Killyleagh, the son of the late Joseph Stewart of Crossnacreevy, aged 42.

Lucinda Stewart, daughter of Joseph and Ann/Agnes Stewart of Crossnacreevy:
https://alison-stewart.blogspot.com/2023/01/lucinda-stewart-and-james-mccartney.html

Agnes Stewart, daughter of Joseph and Ann/Agnes Stewart of Crossnacreevy: