This is another post about Williams families of Dublin as part of my ongoing search for John Williams, the father of our great-great grandfather, Richard Williams of 17 Eden Quay and Dundrum. John Williams had died by the time of Richard's wedding to Geraldine O'Moore Creighton in 1847, and nothing further is known about him. I have no idea if the subjects of this post are related in any way to my own Williams family.
In this post, I'm concentrating on Thomas Williams (1779 - 1858) of Sackville Street who was initially in business with a John Williams.
Our great-great grandfather, the bookkeeper Richard Williams (1812 - 1885) of Eden Quay, married our great-great grandmother, Geraldine O'Moore Creighton (1811 - 1888), in 1847, and named his deceased father as a gentleman named John Williams, who has so far proved elusive.
http://alison-stewart.blogspot.ie/2011/11/john-jeffery-williams-father-of-richard.html
Another of the 1827 shareholders was Thomas Williams of 50 Lower Sackville Street who contributed £200 of capital to the CDSPCo, and who had a circumstantial link to our Richard Williams through his wife.
Our Richard Williams, widower, married spinster Geraldine O'Moore Creighton in the Registrar's Office, Dublin, on 15th June 1847. He was an officer to a public company, ie, CDSPCo, living at 17 Eden Quay, the son of a deceased gentleman, John Williams. Geraldine O'Moore Creighton was the daughter of presbyterian minister, Rev. David Hill Creighton, and was living at 5 Harcourt Terrace. This was the address of her maternal aunt, Louisa Willis (1795 - 1866) , who had married the printer George Allen Proctor (1778 -1848) in St. Peter's, Dublin, on 26th May 1825. Geraldine O'Moore Creighton's mother was Louisa Proctor's sister, Eliza Willis, both Louisa and Eliza being the daughters of the Portarlington schoolmaster, Thomas Willis.
Geraldine's father, Rev. David Hill Creighton, was associated with the Scots Church of Mary Street and with the Presbyterian Church in Bray, just south of Dublin. Both he, and his daughters, also ran a Ladies' Academy in a variety of locations around Dublin, which, following his death in 1866, his three unmarried daughters continued to run in North Great Georges Street.
'Saunders News-Letter' of 2nd March 1835 noted that Mr. Creighton and his daughters were running a Ladies' Academy at 50 Lower Sackville Street, having lately removed from 14 Upper Gardiner Street. 50 Lower Sackville Street was the business premises of Thomas Williams.
Later, the edition of 6th April 1835 advertised the Ladies' Academy at 50 Lower Sackville Street and added that Mr. Creighton had been requested by some ladies to open a summer school in Kingstown, and that enquiries for this could be made to himself, and references could be requested from Mrs. Roe of Sans Souci and Mrs. Ferrier of Willow Park. Both the Roes and the Ferriers were closely associated with the CDSPCo.
'Saunders News-Letter' of 29th August 1836 once again ran the advertisement for the Ladies' Academy of 50 Lower Sackville Street conducted by Mr. Creighton and his daughters. Later, on 11th September 1843, the paper noted that Mr. Creighton had moved his establishment to 9 Westland Row with his daughter.
Saunders of 10th April 1837 noted in an advert that Mr. Creighton and Mr. and Mrs. Newcombe were in attendance at the Ladies' Academy in 1, Foster Place, College Green.
James Ferrier 'of Willoe Park' was a proprietor of the CDSPCo at its inception in the 1820's, and was its chairman in 1840. He was also the treasurer of The Evangelical Society and was involved in fundraising for the 'Free Church of Scotland', the 'Dublin Observer' of 1st March 1834 noting that donations were needed to set up meetingplaces and that subscriptions had already been received from James Ferrier and George Allen Proctor who was Geraldine O'Moore Creighton's uncle and brother-in-law of Rev. David Hill Creighton.
'Saunders News-Letter' of February 1835 reported that a sermon was to be preached on behalf of the schools connected with the Scots Church on Marys Abbey (with an entrance at 132 Capel Street), this being the church associated with David Hill Creighton - in 1829 Rev. Creighton had been instrumental in taking over St. Mary's Abbey, Meetinghouse Lane off Capel Street, Dublin, for the Evangelical Society; his services were 'gratuitous', and he hoped to pay the £50 rent through donations.
As noted earlier, Rev. Creighton and his daughters ran a Ladies' Academy at 50 Lower Sackville Street in the 1830s. 50 Lower Sackville Street was the address of the woollen merchant, Thomas Williams, who had contributed £200 in capital to the fledgling City of Dublin Steam Packet Company. Given that one of the daughters of Rev. David HIll Creighton was Geraldine O' Moore Creighton, and given that she would, in 1847, marry Richard Williams of the CDSPCo, was our Richard Williams related somehow to the merchant Thomas Williams, or were they all merely connected via the Dublin Steam Packet Company or via the Presbyterian Church?
All that is know of the immediate family of our great-great grandfather, Richard Williams, is that he was the son of a John Williams, a gentleman who had died by 1847 when his son married Geraldine O'Moore Creighton in Dublin.
Thomas Williams of 50 Lower Sackville Street began his working life in Dublin alongside a John Williams, and I wondered if this might be the father of our Richard Williams. This is pure conjecture since I have found no definitive link to prove this, but I'll lay out what I know of Thomas (1779 - 1858) and John Williams (died 1813) here nonetheless.
From 'The Dublin Evening Packet and Correspondent' of 28th February 1828, an advertisement for Thomas Williams of 50 Lower Sackville Street confirmed that Thomas Williams was 'himself a native of Wales'. He had been born somewhere in Wales in about 1779, since his Mount Jerome headstone notes that he was 79 when he died at Burnett Avenue, Kingstown, on 14th February 1858.
Saunders Newletter of 20th February 1804 ran an advertisement for John and Thomas Williams, Linen Drapery Warehouse of No. 1 Church Lane, College Green. They held patterns for yeomanry uniforms which could be seen at 21 Little Strand Street; they also engaged in piano tuning and had shop, parlours and houses to let in different parts of Dublin.
Saunders Newsletter of 24th November 1804 announced that John and Thomas Williams were moving from Church Lane to Grafton Street on the corner of Nassau Street.
From 1806, John and Thomas Williams were noted in the street directories at 1, Grafton Street. The National Library in Kildare Street holds a publication of 1805 with an advertisement for them - 'The Welch flannel and linen drapery ware-house, John & Thomas Williams, No.1 Grafton-street, opposite Suffolk-street.'
The London and Country Directory' of 1811 has 'Williams, John and Thomas, linen drapers, flannel and blanket merchants, Grafton St.'
By 1811, Williams & Co. were operating at 1 Grafton Street and 30 Lower Sackville Street. Our Richard Williams was born at this time, in about 1812, although people weren't altogether accurate with their ages in this era.
In 1811, Rev. David Hill Creighton was the assistant secretary of the Hibernian Sunday School Society - subscribers included Rev. Thomas Willis of Portarlington, who was Geraldine O'Moore Creighton's uncle, and John Williams of Grafton Street.
An 1811 Report by the Hibernian Sunday School Society again showed up John Williams of Grafton Street as a subscriber, along with Thomas Willis of Portarlington; D.H. Creighton was named as the assistant secretary.
'The 'Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette' of 17th October 1811 noted the marriage of John Williams of Dublin to Miss E. Taylor of Halkin near Holywell, Flintshire.
The Welsh papers of the day chronicle the family of John and Elizabeth Taylor of Halkin, Holywell, Flintshire. Their children were baptised locally:
John Taylor on 3rd April 1783 - he died aged 68 and was buried in Halkin on 19th January 1854.
Thomas Taylor, later an innkeeper in Halkin, was baptised on 16th January 1787.
Isaac Taylor, later a land surveyor, was baptised in Halkin on 22ndJune 1789.
Martha Taylor was baptised on th February 1791 and was buried on 17th June 1862.
Elizabeth Taylor, who was most likely the woman who married John Williams in 1811, was baptised in Halkin on 16th September 1792.
Charles Taylor was baptised on 24th October 1795.
George Taylor of Eccleston near Chester was noted as the son of John and Elizabeth Taylor when his mother died aged 64 on 15th July 1824.
Deed 637-485-439770, lodged in the Dublin Registry of Deeds, was a memorial of the marriage settlement of 20th September 1811 between John Williams of Grafton Street and Elizabeth Taylor formerly of Halkin and now of Dublin. The trustees implicated in the memorial were Alderman John Carleton of Dublin and William Taylor, merchant of Dublin, who was a possible relative of Elizabeth Taylor. The memorial recited a lease between Allen Fowler and Sarah Williams, dated 16th November 1800 (this might not be the correct year since the writing in the deed book was difficult to decipher), and a later lease, dated 13th December 1804, from Allen Fowler to John Williams for the house at the corner of Grafton Street and Nassau Street for 39 years. It's unclear who Sarah Williams was, since I haven't come across this individual before, but Alderman John Carleton was a member of the Carleton family of Eustace Street who would intermarry with the Williams family who founded the City of Dublin Steam Packet Company.
http://alison-stewart.blogspot.ie/2011/11/carleton-family-of-eustace-street.html
12 months after the marriage of Elizabeth Taylor and John Williams, the couple had a daughter, Elizabeth, who was baptised in St. Mark's on 28th October 1812.
Five months later The 'Chester Chronicle' of 26th March 1813 noted the death of John Williams -
'In Dublin, on the 10th inst., Mr. John Williams of Grafton Street in that city. - He was a native of the Isle of Anglesey, and during a residence of twenty years in Dublin, acquired, by his affable, friendly and truly obliging disposition, the warm esteem and affectionate regard of a numerous circle of acquaintances, by whom he is sincerely and deservedly lamented.'
The above obituary notes that John, and presumably his partner Thomas Williams, (as well as David Williams of Grafton Street), arrived in Dublin in about 1793. It was about this time that the sons of lawyer, John Jeffery Williams, also arrived in Dublin as merchants.
If John Williams died five months after the birth of his daughter Elizabeth, then the only way he could be the father of our Richard Williams of Eden Quay would be if his wife had been pregnant at the time of his death. Since the register of St. Mark's, where the Williams were baptising their children at this time, has survived, then I would expect to find the 1813 baptism of Richard Williams if he were indeed the son of the late John Williams and Elizabeth Taylor, but I've come across nothing.
Following the death of her husband in 1813, Elizabeth Williams, née Taylor, remarried. Her second husband was the Dublin architect, William Murray. The couple married in St. Andrew's, Dublin, on 1st July 1814.
I came across a deed (1838-3-133) which was a memorial of an indented deed of assignment, dated 7th February 1838, between William Murray of Lower Gardiner Street, and Elizabeth Murray, otherwise Williams (and previously Taylor) his wife, and Elizabeth Murray, daughter of the said Elizabeth Williams of Lower Gardiner Street. This later deed of 1838 recited the earlier marriage settlement of Elizabeth Taylor and John Williams and concerned the house on Grafton/Nassau Street, naming Alderman John Carleton and merchant of Dublin, William Taylor, as trustees. The Elizabeth Murray, who was named as the daughter of Elizabeth Williams of Lower Gardiner Street, was also the daughter of the late John Williams of Grafton Street.
Architect William Murray and Elizabeth Taylor had a large family:
Edward Charles Williamson Murray was born 17th January 1819.
William Johnston Murray was born 30th November 1820.
William George Murray was born on 9th November 1822.
Francis Johnston Murray was born 9th August 1824.
Charles Frederick Murray was born in Eccles Street and was baptised in St. George's on 21st January 1827.
John Henry Murray was born at 36 Eccles Street on 30th June 1828.
Isabella Augusta Murray was born at 36 Eccles Street on 26th August 1830.
Adelaide Anne Murray was born at 36 Eccles Street on 6th April 1835.
Francis Johnston Murray (the first child by this name must have died young) was born at 72 Lower Gardiner Street on 23rd November 1837.
Daughter Adelaide Anne Murray married the architect Thomas Drew of 60 Upper Sackville Street on 21st February 1871. When Adelaide Anne's mother, the widowed Elizabeth Murray of Lower Gardiner Street, died aged 77 on 19th July 1870 at Martilla Cottage in Bray, her son-in-law, Thomas Drew of Sackville Street, was present at her death and registered the death. If our immediate ancestor, Richard Williams, was indeed the son of this Elizabeth Taylor and John Williams, then I would have expected him to have registered his mother's death.
On 8th October 1845, in Howth Church, Elizabeth Georgina Williams of Baldoyle (near Howth), the only daughter of the late John Williams, a merchant, and of Elizabeth Taylor, later Murray, married the Waterford architect, Abraham Denny, then living at Marino Crescent, Clontarf, son of the Waterford merchant, Henry Denny. This family were the ancestors of the present-day Denny meat company. The witnesses to the wedding were architect colleagues of Abraham Denny, William Murray (the bride's stepfather), Henry Murray and John Mallet Williamson. There was also a member of the Williams family, but the signature on the certificate is so illegible that I got nowhere with it...it seems to be something along the lines of M.G. Williams.
Elizabeth Georgina's late father was noted in several of the papers as John Williams, formerly of Penrallt, North Wales, and late of this city, ie, Dublin. There are several places by the name of Penrallt in North Wales, one on Anglesey island, and a second on the neighbouring mainland close to Penrhyn. In 1833 the Dublin papers were advertising the sale of an estate named Penrallt situated between Bangor and the Menai Straits. This Penrallt on the Welsh mainland was the place where the Williams family of the Dublin Steam Packet had their origins.
Elizabeth Georgina Williams, (the daughter of John Williams and Elizabeth Taylor), and Abraham Denny had four children together before Elizabeth Georgina's (unrecorded) death in 1887. Son, Charles Edward Denny, was born in Lower Gardiner Street in April 1849, Edith Elizabeth Denny was born at 4 Leinster Terrace on 22nd September 1850, a second daughter was born there on 29th November 1851, while Emma Florence Denny was born on 17th March 1852.
Abraham Denny was closely related to the Denny family of Tralee. His daughter, Emma Florence, would marry one of her Kerry cousins, Henry Arthur Denny, an office in the Royal Artillery, in Drumcannon Church on 23rd August 1870. He was the son of William Henry Denny of Tralee and grandson of Sir Edward Denny, a prominent member of the Plymouth Brethren.
Both the Tralee and Waterford branches of the Denny family used the name 'Maynard'. When Arthur Denny of Tralee made his will in August 1767 he named his brother as Maynard Denny, while Abraham Denny's brother, according to his father, Henry Denny's 1869 will, was named as Edward Maynard Denny of Westcliffe House, Tramore. Henry Denny who founded the family's bacon business and who was the father of architect Abraham Denny, also named his other children in his 1869 will - children were, including Abraham Denny, Thomas Anthony Denny of 101 Westbourne Terrace, London, Edward Maynard Denny of Tramore, Rev. William Henry Denny who lived at 35 Redcliffe Gardens, Kensington, Anna Warr wife of Rev. George Winter Warr of St. Saviour's, Liverpool, Mary Murphy wife of Rev. Robert Murphy L.L.D. of Bangalore, and Ellen Fagan, wife of Major Christopher Sullivan Fagan of Madras. A niece was named as Rebecca Denny, the daugher of Henry's brother, Joseph Denny, and a grandson was Henry Denny, the son of the late Henry Hall Denny. An unmarried daughter was Sarah Denny who, along with her brother, Abraham, was the executrix of her father's will.
Betham's Genealogical Extracts (published online via Find My Past) recorded the marriage of David Williams of 1 Grafton Street, to Elizabeth Caton Sherwood of St. Catherine's Parish on 26th August 1809.
The preceding Thomas and John Williams also lived, or worked, at 1 Grafton Street at this time. When David William's wife, Elizabeth, died on 10th January 1868 at her residence, 21 Newgrove Avenue, Sandymount Strand, she was named in the papers as the relict of the late David Williams, formerly of Penrallt, North Wales, and late of this city, ie Dublin.
Elizabeth Caton Sherwood, who married David Williams in 1809, was the daughter of the shoemaker, Thomas Caton Sherwood, who lived in Cornmarket and who was sworn in as Master of the Corporation of Shoemakers in June 1804. Married to Sarah Greene in April 1785 in St. Catherine's, this couple were, along with Elizabeth Caton Sherwood, the parents of youngest daughter Sarah who died unmarried in Mary Street on 31st December 1846, and of Arthur Sherwood was was baptised in St. Catherine's in 1801. Other members of this somewhat elusive family might be the Hannah Sherwood of Cornmarket who was buried in St. Catherine's on 25th March 1806, and the Margaret Sherwood who married John Adams of Armagh in St. Catherine's on 6th September 1822. A son was Oliver Caton Sherwood, a shoemaker, who was admitted to the Freemen of Dublin in 1810, by birth, being the son of Thomas Caton Sherwood. The Fictitious Votes report of 1837 showed him living at 11 Charlotte Street, but Oliver Caton Sherwood, for many years a member of the Police force, died on 14th September 1837. Arthur Caton Sherwood, son of Thomas Caton Sherwood, was himself the father of a Thomas Caton Sherwood who settled in England.
'The Liverpool Mercury' of 19th June 1861 carried an advertisement for the 'Sea King' whose commander was David Williams, late of the City of Dublin Steam Packet Company. Later he worked for the Dublin and Kingstown Steam Packet Company - in February 1864 he took command of the 'Kingstown' steamer, and had previously worked for 20 years on the Kingstown, Holyhead and Liverpool stations, and had commanded the 'Merlin' and the 'Llewellyn'. In July 1866, he was appointed to the 'Anna Liffey' which operated day trips around Dublin Bay from Kingstown.
Captain David Williams must have died at some stage between 1866, when he was appointed commander of the 'Anna Liffey' and 1868 when his wife died in Sandymount.
David Williams and his wife, Elizabeth Caton Sherwood baptised two sons in St. Mark's - William John Williams was born in Nassau Street (which runs from 1 Grafton Street) and was baptised on 12th September 1813, while son Thomas William Williams was baptised on 27th February 1816.
The couple also baptised two children in the Non-Conformist Chapel of Great George Street in Liverpool - John Donald Williams had been born in Dublin on 17th October 1817 and was baptised in Liverpool on 30th July 1820.
A daughter, Elizabeth (Howard?) Williams was born in Harrington Street, Walton, Lancashire, on 15th April 1820 and was likewise baptised in the Great George Street Chapel on 30th July 1820 alongside her older brother John Donald Williams. At the time of these two Liverpool baptisms, David Williams was working as a linen draper.
Son John Donald Williams of 1 Tenchfield Terrace, Sandymount, was admitted to the Freemen of Dublin on 16th June 1859 by virtue of being the grandson of Thomas Caton Sherwood who had been admitted in Midsummer 1789. John Donald Williams died in Sandymount on 3rd December 1866 ('Belfast Telegraph') and his death was registered in South Dublin as John Donaldson Williams. He was buried in Mount Jerome Cemetery.
A possible daughter was the Rachael Williams who was baptised in St. Nicholas's, Dublin, by her parents, David and Elizabeth Williams, on 8th September 1822.
A definite son of David Williams and Elizabeth Sherwood was the Joseph Pim Williams who was admitted to the Dublin Freemen on 16th June 1859, on the same day as his brother, John Donald, by virtue of being the grandson of Thomas Caton Sherwood.
When David Williams' widow, Elizabeth, née Sherwood, died on 10th January 1868 in Sandymount (she was buried in Mount Jerome), her son, Joseph Pim Williams, was the informant of death. Joseph Pim Williams was most likely named in honour of Joseph Robinson Pim (1787 - 1858), who was the head of the St. George Steam Packet Company. David Williams was the commander of the Sea King in 1861, one of the St. George steamers.
In December 1869 in Donnybrook Church, Joseph Pim Williams of Newgrove Avenue, Sandymount,
fourth son of the late David Williams of Penrallt, North Wales, married Rosetta, the 3rd daughter of Edward Atkinson, M.D., and J.P. of Glen William Castle, Co. Limerick. ('Cork Examiner', 11th Dec.1869.) On 26th October 1877, the bride's sister, Sarah Rosetta Atkinson, married Brabazon Brunker, eldest son of the late Robert Burrowes Brunker of Simmonscourt House, Donnybrook.
Joseph Pim Williams, a clerk in the Police Courts and also Registrar of Dogs (?), and Rosetta Atkinson had Rosetta Elizabeth Williams at 9 Newgrove Avenue on 14th October 1871, Emma Anne Williams at 21 Newgrove Avenue on 7th March 1873, Edward Atkinson Williams at 7 Newgrove Avenue on 3rd July 1874, and William Henry Williams on 17th February 1877.
The Electoral Lists compiled for the City of Dublin Elections in July 1865 showed up Joseph P. Williams and John Williams at 1 Tenchfield Terrace, Sandymount; earlier, in 1847, William Williams was listed as living in Newgrove Avenue.
Joseph Pim Williams died aged 60 at 57 Morehampton Road, Donnybrook, on 13th January 1890; son Edward Atkinson Williams was present and registered the death .
The 1891 UK Census captured Emma Anne and Rosetta Elizabeth Williams, the daughters of Joseph Pim Williams and Rosetta Atkinson, living in South Bury, England, where Rosetta, aged 19, was a student school teacher, while her sister, Emma Anne, was an 18-year-old schoolgirl.
Emma Anne Williams, the daughter of Joseph Pim Williams and Rosetta Atkinson, married in St. Kevin's on 1st September 1899, Robert Maxwell Power, electrical engineer and son of Richard Power, now of Stoke-on-Trent, England, but formerly of Ballydavid, Thurles, Co. Tipperary. Robert Maxwell Power had been born on 7th August 1865 in Littleton, Tipperary to Richard Power and Mary M. Weldon. Richard and Mary Power also had William Power on 9th March 1867, Ellen Desmond Power on 23rd October 1868, Lucy Mary Power on 16th July 1870, and Francis Xavier Power on 3rd June 1874. Richard Power and Mary Marcella Weldon had married in the Pro Cathedral in Dublin on 26th Febrayry 1859 - she was named in the papers as the daughter of the solicitor James Anthony Weldon, while he was the son of Michael Power and Ellen Desmond of Fourmilewater, Co. Waterford. Other children of Michael Power and Ellen Desmond were Margaret, John, William and Michael, all born between 1816 and 1826. Richard Power, who would later married Mary Marcella Weldon, was their youngest son, who had been born in Co. Waterford on 20th May 1830.
Mary Marcella Weldon was the daughter of Cashel-born solicitor, James Anthony Weldon of Baggot Street, and of Maria, eldest daughter of Joseph Maxwell of St. Andrew Street, who married in November 1825. James Anthony Weldon died in 1844.
In 1899 at the time of her marriage to Robert Maxwell Power, Emma Anne Williams was living at 13 Curzon Street. The couple had a son, Frederick Desmond Power in Yardley, Worcester, England, who was baptised there on 30th August 1901, but they returned to Ireland and were living in Cregagh, Co. Wicklow, near Macreddin, when Robert Maxwell Power died of TB aged 48 on 28th May 1913.
Rosetta Elizabeth Williams, daughter of Joseph Pim Williams and Rosetta Atkinson, married George Belford in Paris on 11th May 1897. George Belford was the son of Belfast-born William Belford who had moved across the water to the Uk, working at one time in Headingley, Yorkshire, where son George was born in 1868, and then in Scotland. George's mother was Elizabeth Milne of Auchtergavan, Scotland.
George Belfort and Rosetta Elizabeth Williams settled in West Ham, England, where George Belford worked as the clerk to a wine merchant. Ten years later he was the director and secretary of the Australian Wine Importers and they had moved to Prittlewell in Essex. A son, William Atkinson Belfort, had been born in 1907. He would die on 26th January 1942 at 49 Conway Road, Llanrhos, Conway, in North Wales.
Edward Atkinson Williams, the son of Joseph Pim Williams and Rosetta Atkinson, emigrated to New York aboard the 'Campania', arriving there on 23rd September 1899, having previously been living in Paris, presumably with his sister and her husband George Belford who had married there in 1897. When Edward Atkinson Williams applied for naturalization on 7th February 1909 he was living in 365 W.25th Street. Later when he re-applied on 29th September 1909 he was living at 1983 Crotona Avenue and was a bookkeeper. He had married Katherine L. Casey, who had been born in NYC to Irish-born parents. The couple had had a son, also Edward Atkinson Williams, who died in infancy or at birth, on 5th November 1910.
Edward Atkinson Williams was drafted during the First World War and the Draft Registration Cards show him and his wife, Catherine, living in Cochise, Arizona. I could trace him no further after this.
The oldest son of David Williams and Elizabeth Caton Sherwood, William John Williams, had been born in Nassau Street, Dublin, and had been baptised on 12th September 1813 in Liverpool. He was noted as being of 1 Tenchfield Terrace, Sandymount, in the 1850's, and also on 22nd October 1857, the day he was admitted to the Freemen of Dublin by virtue of being the grandson of Thomas Caton Sherwood.
In May 1859, William Williams of 1 Tenchfield Terrace, Sandymount, married Agnes Oldham, the oldest daughter of William Oldham of Bedford House, Rathgar.
Following the 1859 marriage, William and Agnes Williams lived for a time in Rathgar - the papers noted the birth of a daughter in Rathgar by Mrs. William Williams on 8th February 1860, while, on 13th March 1866, Vivian Williams, the four and a half year old son of William Williams, died. On 10th September 1861 in Bedford House, Rathgar (the home of William Oldham), a son was born to Mrs. William Williams. This child might be son Lionel Williams, an actor who proved his father's will when William, a retired civil servant, died aged 75 at Ulverton Road in Dalkey on 15th January 1892. The 1911 UK census captured Lionel Williams, single and aged 47, working at the Prince of Wales Theatre under the management of Charles Hawtrey, but I can find nothing further about him after this.
William Williams' father-in-law, William Oldham of Bedford House, was the brother of the Bank of Ireland engineer, John Oldham, who had connections to Charles Wye Williams through both the Bank of Ireland - Charles' father was Thomas Williams, the first Secretary to the bank - and through the steam shipping industry. John Oldham (1779-1840) of Dublin was a miniature painter and a distinguished engineer-inventor. In 1809 he developed a machine for serial numbering of bank notes, adopted by the Bank of Ireland in 1812. Oldham was appointed engineer and chief engraver to the bank. In 1817, and 1820, he patented designs for paddle steamer propulsion systems. His systems were eventually used in the first ever ocean-going iron steamer Aaron Manby. In 1832 he designed a mechanical water supply system for the R.D.S. botanic garden. Oldham migrated to London in 1837, where he worked for the Bank of England. He died at his residence in Montagu Street, London, on 14 February 1840.
On 21st May 1846 at Rathgar, Henrietta Agnes Oldham, the daughter of William Oldham and niece of the late John Oldham of the Bank of Ireland, marriedWilliam Mafflyn or Mattlin of Lower Bridge Street. Another child of William Oldham must be the engraver Arthur Oldham of Bedford House who died on 11th April 1907 at 62 Fontenoy Street in Drumcondra.
Following the death of John Williams in 1813, Thomas Williams sold off his stock at 1 Grafton Street (Saunders 4th May 1813) and set up in business alone at 30 Sackville Street. The old business had been named as 'Williams & Co'. At this stage he turned from the linen/flannel industry, and took up deliveries via the mailboats crossing the Irish sea.
By 1822, he was noted as 'Agent to the London and Holyhead Packet Parcel office'.
A typical advertisement for the business appeared in the Dublin Evening Mail of 27th February 1828. Thomas Williams would forward, twice daily, goods and parcels by the Holyhead Mail and regularly by the Liverpool, London and Bristol steam packets; parcels would also be delivered to and from the interior of Ireland by the Mail and Day Coaches. Obviously this business would bring him into daily contact with the Dublin Steam Packet Company.
Thomas Williams of 50 Lower Sackville Street, wrote a letter of complaint to the House of Commons in 1823 to highlight the unfair taxation of certain foreign goods imported from Great Britain into Ireland. (House of Commons Papers, Vol.18).
By 1828, Thomas Williams was operating at 50 Lower Sackville Street, where Rev. David Hill Creighton and his daughters would run their academy in the 1830's. It was in 1828 that Thomas Williams of 50 Lower Sackville Street paid in £200 to the CDSPCo.
Saunders Newletter noted in 1837 that Thomas Williams of 50 Lower Sackville Street operated a real Welch (sic) handspun flannel warehouse, the flannel being manufactured at Welch Pool, Wales.
The Dublin Morning Register of 11th October 1837 noted Thomas Williams as a contributor to the 'Suppression of Street Begging' organisation, and gave two addresses for him - along with 50 Lower Sackville Street, there was also 127 Lower Baggot Street.
By 1839 Thomas Williams was also the agent for the National Provident Institution, and, as well as being a wholesale flannel and woollen merchant, is noted as a Welsh flannel merchant.
By 1850, Thomas Williams was still working at 50 Lower Sackville Street but was living in the southern suburbs at 3 Belvidere Terrace, Sandymount Strand.
'Thomas Williams & Co., Parcel Agent to His Excellency the Lord Lieutenant, military and general agents per English and Irish railways, daily, and agents to Stanbury & Co, London.'
‘Williams, Thomas & Co., parcel agents to His Excellency Earl de Grey, military and general agents, and flannel and blanket merchants, 50 Sackville Street Lower.’
Thomas Williams of Sackville Street, Dublin merchant, married Mary Bell of St. James's Parish on 22nd December 1812..
Thomas Williams, formerly of Sackville Street, late of Burdett-avenue, Kingstown, Dublin, died 14th February 1858 at Burdett-avenue, and his will was proved by his widow Mary Williams of 16 Burdett-avenue. Thomas Williams was buried in the family plot in Mount Jerome.
His wife, Mary Williams, née Bell, of Corrig Avenue, Kingstown, died 22nd May 1860 at the home of her son in Killucan (Dublin Medical Press of 30th May 1860) and her will was administered by him. Mary Williams (1793 - 1860) was buried in Mount Jerome Cemetery.
Children of Thomas and Mary Williams of Sackville Street:
1) John William Williams was baptised in St. Mary's, Dublin, on 16th December 1813 by Thomas and Mary Williams.
Later a doctor, John William Williams can be seen in the Trinity admission records:
‘Williams, John William, Pen. (Luxembourg School) Oct. 18 1830, aged 14; son of Thomas, Mercator; born Dublin, BA Vern 1835, MA Vern, MB Aest 1839.’
It’s very interesting to see from the above that John William Williams was educated at the Luxembourg School - this was also known as the Feinaigle Institute, a liberal school which aimed to develop independent thinking in its young pupils, and which was supported by the CDSPCo Williams family - the sons of Richard Williams of Drumcondra Castle were educated here, and Richard was on the board of directors of the school.
On Griffiths Valuation of 1854, Thomas William’s son, Dr. John
(William) Williams, was leasing a house and land in Killucan; the Medical Bibliography of 1877 also shows up Dr. Thomas J. De Courcy Williams of Killucan, who was John William William’s son. Dr. John William Williams of Killucan died on the 31st dOctober 1889, and his will was administered by his children, John Almericus de Courcy Williams of Killucan, Rev. Sterling William S. de Courcy Williams of Rathconnell Rectory, Killucan, and Thomas John de Courcy Williams of Birmingham.
John William Williams married Emily Letitia de Courcy, the daughter of Rev. Michael de Courcey and Emily Smyth, in 1848 in Drumcree, Westmeath. Her birth on 18th June 1827 was recorded in the Drumcree Church register. She was sister to Michael William de Courcy born 29th September 1822, Nevison de Coury born 7th October 1835 and Anne Alice de Courcy born 16th April 1826.
The Honorable Emily Laetitia Williams, née de Courcy, wife of John William Williams of Killucan, died 29th February 1912, and her will was administered by her sons, John Almericus de Courcy Williams and Rev. Sterling William Sinclair de Courcy Williams.
The children of John William Williams, MD, and Emily Letitia de Courcy were all born in the parish of Killucan, West Meath, and were christened by Emily Letitia’s father, Rev. Michael De Courcey:
Anne Jane Georgina Sinclair Williams, born October 23rd 1863. The Belfast Newsletter of 26th October 1865 noted her death, aged 1 year and 11 months, on 21st October 1865 at Killucan, Westmeath. She was stated to be the eldest child of John William Williams, Fellow Royal College of Surgeons, Ireland.
Son Thomas John De Courcy Williams, born July 19th 1849, was also a surgeon who worked in Birmingham. He died at Christchurch, Hampshire in 1898. The Medical Bibliography of 1877 earlier showed up Dr. Thomas J. De Courcy Williams of Killucan.
Emily Anne de Courcy Williams, born September 5th 1850. She died unmarried in South Dublin in 1940.
John Almericus De Courcy Williams, born July 11th 1855 to John William Williams and Emily Letitia De Courcy. John Almericus married, at Ryde on the Isle of Wight, in 1892, Frideswide Catherine Emily Smyth, daughter of Robert Ralph Smyth and Sarah Maria Martin of Portlick Castle, Westmeath.
From Mount Jerome records online: 'J. A. De.C. WILLIAMS M.D. Killucan who died 21st January 1924, aged 68 years Also FRIDESWIDE his wife who died August 16th 1948.' At the time of his death in 1924, John A. de Courcy Williams was living at 6 Morehampton Road, Dublin.
John Almericus De Courcy Williams followed his father into the medical profession and in 1911 was practising in Killucan, Co. Westmeath.
John Almericus De Courcy Williams and Frideswide Smyth had a son, Almericus John Falkener De Courcy Williams in Green Hills, Killucan, on 4th May 1895, and a daughter, Emily Francis Frideswide De Courcy Williams on 20th April 1897. Son Almericus John De Courcy Williams died in France on 22nd October 1914 and was buried at Bethune, Departement du Pas-de-Calais.
Sterling William Sinclair de Courcy Williams, born October 10th 1858 to Dr. John William Williams and Emily Letitia De Courcy. A Church of Ireland minister, in 1901 he was living in Durrow, Tullamore, with his sister, Emily Anne De Courcy Williams. In 1889, he had been Rector of Rathconnell Rectory, Killucan.
On 8th June 1913 in St. John's, Buttevant, Co. Cork, Sterling William Sinclair De Courcy Williams married Mary Estelle Smith of Buttevant, the daughter of James Smith, a secretary with the Perrier Distillery. This wedidng was witnessed by K.A.H. Sikes and John Arthur Jagoe.
Mary Frances Elizabeth de Courcey Williams - this daughter had been born in Westmeath in 1853.
2) The daughter of Thomas and Mary Williams, of 50 Lower Sackville Street, was Anne Jane Williams who was baptised in St. Mary's on 13th March 1815 and who died in 1843. She married, on 7th July 1835, Thomas Berry, the son of Sterling Berry and Dorothy Winslow of Eglish Castle, King's County.
Anne Jane Berry died at Rathgar in 1843, and her husband went on to marry Sarah Alicia Seymour.
The children of Thomas Berry and Anne Jane Williams were:
- Sterling Thomas Berry, 1837 - 1865, who was in the Mercantile Marine service and who died young in Calcutta.
- Mary Frances Berry (1839 - 1907) who married Rev. Thomas Skipton, son of Pitt Skipton of Derry, in 1888. The wedding in Dublin was witnessed by Mary Frances Berry's first cousin, Mary Frances Eliza de Courcy Williams, the daughter of John William Williams MD and Emily Laetitia de Courcy, and by Mary Frances' brother, William Winslow Berry.
- John Berry, born 1841.
- William Winslow Berry, born 1842. He witnessed his sister's wedding in 1888. He married Zaldah Suzette Fannan, and the couple emigrated to Australia.
3) Thomas and Mary Williams baptised their second daughter, Mary Eliza Williams, in St. Mary's on 24th November 1816. 'The Oxford Chronicle' of 12th March 1859 noted the marriage in Monkstown Church, Co. Dublin, on 5th March 1859, of Mary Eliza, second daughter of the late Thomas Williams of Dublin and of Connaught Place, Kingstown, to William Vallancy/Vallancey Drury MD of 3 The Crescent, Camden Villas, London. Another marriage notice in a second paper of the day named Mary Eliza as the second
surviving daughter of the late Thomas Williams. This makes sense - her sister, Anne Jane Berry, had died in 1843, while her sister, Esther Eleanor de Courcy, wouldn't die until 1864.
William Vallancey Drury MD, later an early homeopathy exponent, and son of an army captain, Charles Chastage John Drury, had married Mary Eliza Williams as his second wife - earlier he had married to Maria Isabella Toomy by whom he had a daughter, Susanna Henrietta Drury, at 9 Lower Merrion Street on 6th April 1846.
4) Esther Eleanor Williams was baptised in St. Mary's by Thomas and Mary Williams on 5th April 1818 and died in 1864.
On 26th May 1852, Thomas Williams' daughter, Esther Eleanor Williams, married Michael William de Courcy/Courcey, the son of the Rev. Michael de Courcy of Kilcumney, Westmeath, in St. Mary’s, Dublin. The witnesses were Esther Eleanor’s father, Thomas Williams, and her brother, John William Williams. (Limerick and Clare Examiner of 29th May 1853, and Irish Genealogy website.) Rev. Michael de Courcy of Kilcumney, Westmeath, performed the ceremony.
From the Drumcree Church register, viewable on microfilm at the National Archives in Bishop Street: 'Michael William, born to Michael and Emily de Coursy (sic), on September 29th 1822.'
Michael William de Courcy, born in 1822 to Michael de Courcy and Emily Smyth, succeeded his cousin, John de Courcy as the 32nd Baron Kingsale in 1890. Michael William De Courcy died in Stoketon, Saltash, Cornwall, in November 1895, and was himself succeeded in the baronetcy by his son Michael Constantine de Courcy who had been born on 8th May 1855. The Kingsale barons held the honour of being the only peers permitted to wear their hats in the presence of royalty.
(Note: Rev. Michael de Courcy of Drumcree married twice, first to Emily Smyth who died on 21st January 1830 at Gleniden, then in Edinburgh on 7th October 1833 to Mary Anne, second daughter of the late Robert Balgrie Esq., of Midgarty, Sutherlandshire. Mary Anne would die on 17th October 1847 in Kilcumney, Westmeath. Rev. Michael de Courcy died aged 72 in Kilcumney Glebe on 15th May 1860. The eldest daughter of Rev. Michael de Courcy of Drumcree was Frances Anne de Courcy of The Grange, Marle Hill, Cheltenham, who died aged 90 on 4th December 1911 - her executor was her nephew, the Rt. Hon. Michael Constantine, Baron Kingsale of The Grange. )
The children of Esther Eleanor Williams and William de Courcy were baptised in the parish of Drumcree/Kilcumney, Co. Westmeath. Two of the births took place at 50 Lower Sackville Street - Saunders Newsletter of 7th March 1853 noted that the lady of Michael William de Courcy had had a stillborn son at 50 Lower Sackville Street, while the Dublin Evening Mail of 3rd March 1854 noted that she had had a daughter there. A son was also born on 4th November 1857 in Kingstown, Co. Dublin - this was wrongly printed by the papers of the day, since it was daughter Esther Emily Anne Jane de Courcy who was born here.
I went through the Kilcumney/Killucan Parish Register in the Archives office on Bishop Street.
Constantine de Courcey was born on May 8th 1855 to William de Courcy Esq. and Esther Eleanor of Kilcumney. This was Michael Constantine de Courcy, later the 33rd Baron Kingsale.
William Nevinson de Courcy was born on August 3rd 1855. (Which doesn't tally with the preceding baby born three months earlier...)
John Sinclair Emile de Courcy was born on November 4th 1857, but the register later records his death - he was buried on March 26th 1858
Esther Emily Anne Jane de Courcy was born on November 4th 1857.
The online archives of Mount Jerome cemetery confirm that Esther Eleanor, wife of M.W. De Courcy and youngest daughter of Thomas Williams, died aged 43 on 27th December 1864. Following her death, her husband, Michael William De Courcy, married again, this time in 1874 to Jessie Maud Polwhele, daughter of Rev. E. Polwhele, the rector of Pillaton, Cornwall.
5) The St. Mary's register recorded the baptism on 1st September 1822 by Thomas and Mary Williams of a son, James Charles Williams, who had been born the previous month on 3rd August 1822. I can find nothing further about this individual.
UPDATE December 2019: The Possible Origins of Thomas Williams of 50 Lower Sackville Street:
Jon Williams of Llandyfnan, Anglesey, recently contacted me to tell me that his family bible has for generations held a document relating to Thomas Williams of 50 Lower Sackville Street and that they have always believed him to be a member of their Williams family. Jon has kindly given me permission to share this document online.
Jon confirms that his great-great-grandfather, Henry Williams, had been baptised in Llandrygarn parish, Gwyndy, Anglesey, in 1836; Henry collected rents for the nearby Tregaian Estate in the 1860s before moving to Llanddyfnan in 1870 where this Williams family remain to this day.
Griffith Williams of Crampton Court, Dame Street:
Griffith Williams of Crampton Court is interesting and might be a relation of the Williams discussed in this post. He was a woollen merchant who operated at 2 Darby Square and who was admitted by Grace Especial to the Dublin Freemen in Easter 1905; by 1815 he was working with a nephew at 9 Crampton Court; by 1832 he was ‘Griffith Williams (& Sons), woollen-merchant & Manchester warehouse. Crampton Court.’ (Treble Almanack, 1832.)
His son, William Williams of Chancery Lane, was admitted to the Freemen of Dublin on 10th March 1847, by virtue of being the son of Griffith Williams, while two grandsons would later also be admitted. Grandson Henry Williams of 4 Whitehall Terrace, South Circular Road, was admitted on 30th December 1879, while earlier, grandson John Williams Jnr., a divinity student of
Penrallt, Booterstown Avenue, was admitted on 23rd June 1865.
The 'Evening Freeman' of 11th May 1869 noted that James Williams, the 3rd son of John Williams of Pen Rallt, Booterstown, had qualified as a surgeon. On 23rd February 1870, this same son, James Williams, died aged 23 of yellow fever in Rio de Janeiro.
John Williams of Booterstown avenue died aged 56 on 19th August 1876; his will was proved by a son, William David Williams.
Henry Williams, the fourth surviving son of the late John Williams, M.A., of Penrallt, Booterstown, died aged 30 at 15 Albert Road, Sandycove, on 26th February 1886.
Some other John Williams of Dublin:
Our great-great grandfather, Richard Williams, who married Geraldine O'Moore Creighton, at 17 Eden Quay in 1847, was the son of a deceased John Williams. I have found no definite link between our Richard and any other Williams family, other than circumstantial links to the Williams family of the Dublin Steam Packet Company, and to the business premises of the Welsh merchant, Thomas Williams of 50 Lower Sackville Street who is discussed in this post.
During my search for other John Williams of Dublin, who had died by 1847 when our great-great grandparents married, I came across two other interesting contenders, but have similarly failed to find any plausible link between them and Richard Williams of 17 Eden Quay. I note my findings here nonetheless....
A few strays from the papers....
In 1844 at Mumtoor, Bombay, Henry Neville Esq, of the Madras Civil Service, married Sarah Anne, daughter of John Williams of Dublin.
In 1850 at Summerhill, Co. Meath, in the 16th year of her age, the death occurred of Maria, daughter of John Williams of Dublin.
