Will – Page 15 – Forgotten Victorians

John Leeming and Mary Clare Hewitt – February 1898

April 2, 2017 Will2 Comments

This wedding has been confusing me for some time. There are some members of the family there. Notably, Uncle Alfred O’Bryen, and, inevitably, the Roper Parkingtons, whose granddaughter marries Alfred’s nephew twenty six years later. I’m also pretty confident that Miss Bullen is Aunt Florence who marries Uncle Rex who is Alfred’s youngest brother. But I find the connections, or rather the lack of connections baffling at the moment.

The Leeming family are extremely wealthy Lancashire corn merchants, and are old recusant Catholics, and have married members of the Brettargh, and Whiteside families at various points. The bride’s family appear to be Londoners. Mary Clare’s mother was a Rees, and she was born in London, as was her father. Her paternal grandfather was from Lancaster. The first few guests mentioned after the bride’s mother, and brothers are likely to be uncles and aunts. Mrs Dolan is the bride’s aunt, and Mr Behan is John Henry Behan, who is her first cousin, and he was born in Dublin. But the wedding seems to be northern boy marries London girl. There’s an eleven year age gap, but that’s fairly common at the time.

We’ll do the wedding next, and speculate at the end.

Our Lady of Victories 1908. The church served as the Pro-Cathedral between 1869 and 1903.

On the 15th inst., at the Pro-Cathedral, Kensington, by the Rev. W. H. Leeming (brother of the bridegroom), assisted by the Rev. Gilbert Dolan, O.S.B. (cousin of the bride), and the Rev. Father Fanning (Administrator, Pro-Cathedral), MR. JOHN LEEMING, second son of the late Richard Leeming, of Greaves House, Lancaster, and Lent-worth Hall, Wyresdale, was married to MARY CLARE, daughter of the late Dr. Hewitt, of Holland-road, Kensington, and of Mrs. Hewitt, of 16, Argyll Mansions. The bride, who was given away by her brother, was attired in a gown of rich white satin trimmed with old Irish Point (the gift of her cousin), and wore a handsome diamond star (the gift of the bridegroom), her bouquet being composed of lilies of the valley. The bridesmaids were Miss Rose Roskell, Miss M. Kendall, Miss Bullen, and Miss F. Leeming, who wore dresses of mauve crepe trimmed with white chiffon and ivory straw hats trimmed with orchids and white plumes ; they carried bouquets of white lilac and mauve orchids which with their bar-brooches of rubies and diamonds were the gift of the bridegroom. The bride was also attended by her little cousin, Miss Elaine Rees, picturesquely attired in white. The best man was Mr. J. W. Leeming. After the nuptial Mass, which was celebrated by the Rev. Gilbert Dolan, O.S.B., Father Leeming announced that he had received from Rome the Holy Father’s blessing for the bride and bride-groom. A reception was held at the Royal Palace Hotel, Kensington, and later in the afternoon Mr. and Mrs. Leeming left for Dover en route for the Riviera. The bride’s travelling dress was of grey cloth trimmed with white satin, and she wore a black hat with pink roses and white bird of paradise.

Royal Palace Hotel, Kensington High Street.

Among the presents were: Mrs. Hewitt, dinner service, dessert service, and old Derby tea service; Mr. J. C. Hewitt, cheque ; Mr. E. Hewitt, cheque ; Mr. Rees, diamond and pearl watch and bow ; Mrs. Rees, embossed silver sugar bowl and sifter ; Mrs. Dolan, handkerchief of Irish Point ; Mrs. Kelleher, old Irish Point lace, old silver teaspoons, and two large spoons in case ; Mr. Behan, antique silver bowl ; Mr. and Mrs. W. Mahoney, diamond and sapphire bracelet ; Mr. and Mrs. Hasslacher, dessert knives and forks ; Mrs. Charles Hasslacher, silver teaspoons ; Mrs. Schiller, silver brushes ; Mr. A. O’Bryen, silver fish carvers ; Major and Mrs. Roper Parkington, cut glass and silver claret jug ; Mrs. Charles Leeming, silver bacon dish ; Miss Mason, champagne bottle holder ; the Misses Roskell and Kendall, fan and silver buttonhook, etc.; Mr. and Mrs. Brettargh Leeming, silver toilet set in case ; the Misses Leeming, case of silver repousse fruit dishes, spoons, sugar basin and sifter, and grape scissors ; the Rev. W. H. Leeming, silver fish knives and forks ; Mr. J. W. Leeming, pair of Worcester candelabra ; Mr. William Leeming, silver tea and coffee service ; Mrs. Coffin, Crown Derby afternoon tea set, tray, and silver spoons ; Mrs. Robinson, silver paper knife and book- marker ; the Very Rev. Dean Brettargh, silver lemon-squeezer ; Mr. and Miss Hatch, horn and silver candlesticks ; the Very Rev. Dean Billington, Picturesque Mediterranean, three volumes ; Miss Coulston, antique silver sugar-basin and sifter ; Mr. and Mrs. Gibson, pair of bronze and brass candesticks ; Mr. and Mrs. H. J. Knowles, four silver bonbon dishes ; Mr. and Mrs. R. Preston, case of silver salt-cellars ; the Rev. W. Wickwar, cut-glass and silver celery-glass ; the Rev. J. Roche, case of silver spoons ; Mr. J. Pyke, silver and cut-glass lamp ; Mr. T. J. Walmsley, silver and cut-glass lamp ; Mr. J. F. Warrington, engraving after Erskine Nicol; Mr. Charles Broadbent, silver cigarette-case ; Miss C. Hall, two silver napkin rings ; Mr. and Mrs. F. Batt, two silver and cut-glass scent bottles ; indoor and outdoor servants at Greaves House, silver salver ; tenants and workmen at Lentworth Hall Estate, silver cake-basket ; keeper’s wife and servants at Lentworth Hall, silver and ivory cake knife ; tenants, Out-Raw-cliffe Estate, gold-mounted walking-stick.

The above text was found on p.26,19th February 1898, in “The Tablet: The International Catholic News Weekly.” Reproduced with kind permission of the Publisher. The Tablet can be found at http://www.thetablet.co.uk .

The Leeming family are Lancashire corn merchants, and are old recusant Catholics, and have married members of the Brettargh, and Whiteside families at various points, they are also related to the Gillow family,the famous Lancaster furniture makers who made furniture for Queen Victoria, amongst others. Richard Leeming, John’s father had bought Greaves House, in Lancaster for £11,000, in March 1874 . It’s not entirely when he acquired Lentworth Hall, and the Out-Rawcliffe Estate.

Richard Leeming died in 1888, leaving his properties in the hands of Trustees (his brother William, and three sons Richard, John, and James Whiteside Leeming. Slightly oddly, the trustees didn’t include Father William Leeming), and a great deal of money [almost £ 250,000]. His will allowed the Trustees to sell Greaves House – after the death of his widow Eliza – on the condition that two or more unmarried daughters would be permitted to live there rent-free if they wished. In January 1937 Mary Eliza died leaving her last sister Mary Frances Leeming no longer legally permitted to live in the house. It seems faintly harsh as she had lived in the house from the age of five until she was sixty three, but she was independently wealthy and ended up in Warton near Carnforth. So still close to home.

There are a large number of the extended Leeming family at the wedding, including “the Misses Leeming,” who were the groom’s four unmarried sisters, who were still living in Lancaster. “The Rev. W. H. Leeming, Mr. J. W. Leeming, and Mr. and Mrs. (Richard) Brettargh Leeming,” brothers, and a sister in law, of the groom. A pair of uncles – “Mr. William Leeming, and the Very Rev. Dean Brettargh,”.

There’s a mixture of the great, and the good from Lancashire. Mr Preston was Mayor of Lancaster four times between 1894 and 1911, and was also at Alfred O’Bryen’s wedding in 1901. “Mr. J. Pyke, ” is Joseph Pyke, of Preston, who was another corn merchant, and was also Alfred O’Bryen’s best man. He went to school with “Mr. T. J. Walmsley, and Mr. J. F. Warrington,” at Ushaw in county Durham. The bride’s brother “Mr. E. Hewitt,” Edmund Hewitt was also at Ushaw. They all overlapped one way or another with Fr. Philip O’Bryen who was also there, and I rather suspect Alfred O’Bryen was at Ushaw, like Philip who was three years younger; and that their two youngest brothers (Ernest, and Rex) were rather different in attending Stonyhurst. It would help explain why Alfred was a guest at this wedding, and why various of the guests at this wedding were at his two years later.

But I am completely baffled by why “Mr. and Mrs. Hasslacher, and (Mr?) and Mrs. Charles Hasslacher,” and “Major and Mrs. Roper Parkington” [ It was before his knighthood in 1902] were all there. The Hasslachers were all wine shippers at James Hasslacher & co. Charles Hasslacher took on the firm after his father James’ death in 1903. John Roper Parkington was a friend of the Hasslachers, and they were guests at his silver wedding later in 1898.

It could be a Kensington connection; The Hasslachers were living at 65 Holland Park, and the Hewitts were about three quarters of a mile away in Holland Road. But I still can’t get the Roper Parkington connection.

Grehan of Mount Plunkett. – from Burke’s Landed Gentry [London 1871] with additions

April 1, 2017December 11, 2020 WillLeave a comment

The irony of this entry isn’t mentioned. 2,745 acres were advertised advertised for sale under a bankruptcy proceeding in January 1870, with part re-advertised in May 1870. So sadly, by the time the fourth edition of Burke’s Landed Gentry came out, the gent was landed no longer !

Grehan of Mount Plunkett. from Burke’s Landed Gentry (1871)

Grehan Patrick, esq. of Mount Plunkett and St John’s co Roscommon, J.P., b 21 March 1818; m. 4 April 1842, Frances, eldest dau. of the late John Pitchford, esq. of Norwich, a descendant of the old family of Pitchford of Shropshire, and has issue,

Wilfrid b. 6 Aug 1848
Charles b. Nov 1850
Gerard b. May 1852
Francis b. Oct 1855

Mary O’Conor Graham
Alice
Louisa
Clare
Agnes

Lineage – The family of Grehan claims descent from the Grahams of Montrose, and tradition narrates that its ancestor, escaping from the persecutions in Scotland, fled to Ireland and changed his name to Grehan.

The present Stephan Grehan, esq. of Rutland Square, Dublin succeeded by the recent death of his cousin Major Grehan, s.p. to the representation of the Grehan family. His cousin, Patrick Grehan, esq., now of Mount Plunkett, is the son of the late Patrick Grehan, esq. of Dublin ( by Catherine his 1^st wife, dau. of George Meecham, esq., and co-heiress of her mother Catherine, dau. and eventual co-heiress of William Hodson, esq. of St John’s, co. Roscommon) and grandson of Patrick Grehan, esq. of Dublin who m. Judith, dau. and eventually co-heiress of Edward Moore, esq. of Mount Browne, co. Mayo (lineally descended from Lewis, the 4^th son of Roger O’More, of Leix, by Margaret, dau. and heiress of Thomas, 3^rd son of Pierce, 8^th Earl of Ormonde). Through this marriage with the co-heiress of Moore, Mr Grehan of Mount Plunkett quarters the arms of O’More of Leix, and Butler, Ormonde.

Arms–Or, a trefoil, slipped, vert, on a chief, sa., three escallops, of the first; quartering O’More of Leix, Butler of Ormonde, and Hodson of St. John’s–the family of Hodson of St. John’s, is one of considerable antiquity, and at the decease, in 1829, of the last male heir, Oliver Hodson, Esq., a moiety of the St. John’s estates devolved on the present Patrick Grehan [III], Esq.

Crests–A demi-lion, gu. gorged, with three escallops

Motto–Ne oubliex

Seat–Mount Plunkett, Licarrow, Roscommon

So that’s what Bernard Burke has to say; the reference to Stephan Grehan ([1776] – 1871) is slightly confusing, particularly in regard to “succeeded by the recent death of his cousin Major Grehan, s.p. to the representation of the Grehan family”. This branch of the Grehan family are the Grehans of Clonmeen, in co. Cork, and the elder Stephan Grehan really did live until 95. This branch of the family were rather better at holding on to their land than Uncle Patrick. They descend from Peter Grehan, Patrick Grehan Senior’s eldest brother, and his wife Mary Roche. Her brother John Roche married Mary Grehan, their sister. Stephan Grehan ([1776] – 1871) succeeded his father Peter, and was the principal beneficiary of his uncle John Roche. John Roche’s legacy brought Clonmeen into the family, and they successfully held onto it for roughly the next one hundred and fifty years. The family sold Clonmeen in 1975, and the estate and family papers are now in the Boole Library, University College, Cork. At its height in the 1870’s the estate amounted to 7,000 acres [approximately 11 sq. miles] in co. Cork

There are three Patrick Grehans in this post, I am going to use suffixes to distinguish between them. The suffix was not used by them and does not appear in any records. Patrick Grehan III is Celia O’Bryen’s brother, and so a great, great, great uncle. He was the son of Patrick Grehan Junior (1791 – 1853), grandson of Patrick Grehan Senior (1758 – 1832), and Thady Grehan’s (c.1726 – 1792) great grandson. But this post is principally about Uncle Patrick.

He was born in Ireland in 1818, and died 1877 in Hampstead. He married Fanny (Frances Susan) Pitchford in 1842 in Poplar, [probably the parish of St Leonard, Bromley (not the South London one)] London. She was born 1821 in Stratford, (the Olympics one, not the Shakespeare one) then in Essex, and died 1893 in Hampstead.

I’ve struggled with whether the Grehans regarded themselves as Irish, or English, or British. In all probability, it’s a mixture of all three, with further shading done with a mixture of class, and religion. The family is fairly mobile, moving between Ireland , and England, and a substantial part of Patrick Grehan III’s early life seems to have been in England, though he was born in Ireland. He is the eldest of the three children of Patrick Grehan Junior by his first wife Catherine Meecham.

1. Patrick III (born 21 Mar 1818)
2. Joseph Maunsell (born about 1829)
3. Celia Mary (born about 1831)

Patrick was born in Ireland, Maunsell in “foreign parts” according to the 1841 census, and Celia in Preston. Initially, it all seems rather peculiar. But as both Patrick, and Maunsell went to Stonyhurst; and Patrick was there between September 1830 and July 1836, it would help explain Celia’s birth in Preston, nearby.

So far, it’s relatively uncomplicated. We have an affluent Anglo/Irish family sending their sons to the oldest Catholic boys school in England. Stonyhurst had started as the Jesuit College at St Omer in what was then the Spanish Low Countries in 1593, moving to Bruges in 1762, then to Liège in 1773, and finally moving to Lancashire in 1794. Patrick Grehan III was following a family tradition, his father and both uncles went to Stonyhurst soon after it moved to England. Their cousin Stephan Grehan was one of the last pupils to have studied in France, the school being forced to move because of the French Revolution. The tradition continued in the family, with some of Patrick Grehan Junior’s sons, grandsons, great grandsons, and great great grandsons all attending as well.

In 1841, the Grehans were living at Furze Hall, in Fryerning, Essex, where we find Patrick Grehan Junior aged fifty, his wife Harriet, and ten year old Celia, four year old Ignatius,[his only child with his second wife Harriet (nee Lescher)] and four servants. Patrick Grehan Junior had married Harriet Lescher as his second wife, in Brighton in 1836. It was the start of a long inter-linking between the Grehan and Lescher families.

Two Lescher brothers, Joseph Francis, and William had emigrated from Kertzfeld, in Alsace by 1778, eleven years before the fall of the Bastille. The two brothers became partners in a starch factory. Joseph purchased the estate of Boyles Court in Essex in 1826, but William remained in London, in Bromley, East London where he had married in 1798. The two households are about twenty miles apart. Boyles Court, is still in the countryside just outside Brentwood, and just outside the M25. It’s about four miles west of the Petre family at Thorndon Hall, and about ten miles from Furze Hall.

According to “the Life of Sister Mary of Saint Philip” (Fanny Lescher). “William Lescher’s youngest sister Harriet had married Patrick Grehan of Worth Hall. Her stepson, Patrick Grehan, married Fanny Pitchford in 1842, and the young couple made their home at “ The Furze ” at Southweald in Essex, near Boyles Court. In this same year, Fanny Lescher made her social debut at the wedding of another cousin, Eleanor Walmesley, who married Lord Petre’s second son.”

It all gets massively intertwined at this point. But to try to put it as simply as possible. Patrick Grehan Junior married twice, first to Catherine Meecham in 1817, and then, after she died to Harriet Lescher in 1836. The relatively straightforward statement “Her stepson, Patrick Grehan, married Fanny Pitchford” should also include the fact that Fanny Pitchford is also Harriet’s great niece. William and Harriet’s mother was Mary Ann Copp (1775 –1858), and her elder sister, the splendidly named Cleopha Copp had married John Nyren (1764 -1837). He was a first-class cricketer, and the author of “The Young Cricketer’s Tutor, comprising full directions for playing the elegant and manly game of cricket, with a complete version of its laws and regulations, by John Nyren; a Player in the celebrated Old Hambledon Club and in the Mary-le-Bone Club.” published in 1833 which was one of the first published Laws of cricket. Their daughter Susan Nyren married John Pitchford (1772 c.-1839) who was a chemist, and political radical in Norwich. He had also been educated by the Jesuits in St Omer.

So radical, and Catholic; it’s a combustable mixture at a time when both were regarded with suspicion. Paddy and Fanny were marrying only seven years after the Marriage Act of 1836 had been passed, allowing Catholics to legally marry in Catholic churches; and Catholics in public life were regarded suspiciously up to, and beyond, the turn of the C19th.

It’s not entirely clear whether the newly-weds lived with his father, and step-mother at Furze Hall, or whether Patrick and Harriet had moved. They later lived for a time at his brother’s house, Worth Hall, in Sussex. But certainly in 1841, various sides of the family were in very close proximity. Two of Harriet Grehan’s nephews, Edward and William Lescher were at Stonyhurst, as was her step-son Joseph Maunsell Grehan. All are clearly visible on the census return that year.

“The Grehans left Southweald, in Essex, in the autumn of 1847 to fix their home at Mount Plunket in County Roscommon..” according to the Life of Sister Mary of Saint Philip (Fanny Lescher). It’s an extraordinary time to move to a poor, rural, part of Ireland. It’s the height of the Famine, in one of the areas that suffered most. They lived at Mountplunkett, Roscommon, Ireland, in the 1850s; leased by Patrick III in 1847 and then bought by him in 1851. In the 1850s Patrick Grehan III also held lands in the parishes of Killinvoy and St Johns, co. Roscommon, which he had inherited via his maternal grandmother, Catherine Hodson, who was the co-heiress of William Hodson, Lord of the Manor of St. John’s, co. Roscommon.

Patrick Grehan Junior died in Clifton, Bristol,in 1852, and his will was proved in London on the 24th March 1853, where Patrick III was the residual legatee. He had previously been left £ 1,000 in his grandfather Patrick Grehan Senior’s will, and received that in 1832.

Patrick Grehan III claimed descent from Rory O’More of Leix, and Thomas, 3^rd son of Pierce, 8^th Earl of Ormonde, via his paternal grandmother Judith Moore. As a result, Patrick III was granted Arms in 1863 that included those from St. John’s and quartered O’More of Leix and Butler of Ormonde. There is a record of the confirmation of arms to Patrick Grehan III, in 1863

National Library of Ireland: Arms of Grehan of Mount Plunkett, Co Roscommon, 1863. GO MS 179: 101
National Library of Ireland: Copy of confirmation of arms to Patrick Grehan (III), Mount Plunkett & St Johns, Co Roscommon, grandson of Patrick Grehan (Senior)of Dublin, merchant, 5 June 1863. GO MS 109: 13-14

In January 1870 the Estate of Patrick Grehan III amounting to 2,745 acres in the baronies of Athlone, Ballintober, Ballymoe and Castlerea was advertised for sale under a bankruptcy proceeding. The Mountplunkett estate and the part of South Park Demesne in the barony of Castlereagh were re-advertised in May 1870. The Irish Times reported that these lots were sold to Rev. W. West and Owen O’Connor.

Patrick Grehan III died in Hampstead, in early 1877, at almost the same time as his step-mother Harriet Grehan. This seems to have been at the house of Frank Harwood Lescher [Harriett’s nephew and Patrick Grehan III’s son-in -law] Mary O’Conor Graham Grehan [Patrick Grehan III’s daughter] had married her cousin Frank Harwood Lescher [Harriett’s nephew] in 1873.

Link to BLG 1871: http://tinyurl.com/pqu2tuj

Link to Wikipedia for Piers Butler: http://tinyurl.com/nurhox8

The Roper Parkingtons and Chiswick

March 31, 2017 Will2 Comments

This is a fairly short post. The Roper Parkington Golden Wedding notice in 1923 told us where they were both living.

” J. Roper-Parkington, J.P., of Melbourne House, Chiswick, to Marie Louise, daughter of the late A. Sims Silvester, Esq., of Stanhope Lodge. Chiswick,”

As is clear on the map, they were living about 500m apart at either end of Turnham Green Terrace. Our Lady of Grace, where they got married is about the same distance again. Then, another 500m west is Heathfield Terrace where JRP life-long friend Edward Tancred Agius was living, and where he brought his bride Maria Muscat to in 1873. There is an interesting age gap between the two men. JRP is thirty, and ETA just twenty, but the friendship lasted the rest of their lives, and they died within months of each other in 1924. Both wives are closer in age, Maria Agius is eighteen, Marie Louise Roper Parkington is twenty four. Both couples have their first child within eighteen months of the Roper Parkington wedding, and have similarly aged children; although the RP’s stop at four unlike ETA and Maria who have a grand total of fifteen children.

Entertaining the poor people at Providence Row in April 1897

March 31, 2017 WillLeave a comment

This has a slightly bittersweet feel to it. It took place eleven days before great grandpa’s death at home in Belsize Grove, with Uncle Frank deputising for him on the evening. But it does sound like a hilarious evening, for not entirely intended reasons. Mlle. Gratienne’s company are almost certainly worth more investigation. But give every impression of being a real life version of the cast of “Allo, Allo”. They were apparently a small touring reparatory company, living very much hand to mouth, and teetering on the edge of bankrupcy. Mlle. Gratienne was French, from an apparently prosperous background. Her family had owned a vineyard in Burgundy, but were ruined by the Franco-Prussian War. She still owned some property in Paris, and the quarterly rents subsidised the company. Her elderly mother travelled with the company, and acted as her dresser, and was referred to as “Madame” by the company . She played both male, and female parts, and did her own make-up which was “ghostly pale, with large chocolate brown half moon eyebrows”. The shortage of money meant they only performed plays out of copyright to avoid any royalty payment. All in all, the company sound as much of a laugh as the plays.

PROVIDENCE (Row) NIGHT REFUGE AND HOME, CRISPIN-STREET, E.—On Friday, April 23, the inmates of the above were provided with a special evening’s enjoyment in the shape of an entertainment by Mlle. Gratienne and her company. In the absence of the hon. manager, Mr. Alfred Purssell, through illness, Mr. F. W. Purssell presided and was supported by the Rev. M. Fitzpatrick, Mr. T. G. King, Mr. J. W. Gilbert (Secretary) and others. The programme consisted of three plays, the comedietta, £50,000, a comedy Only an Actress, and an interlude Poor Man, in which the characters were ably sustained by Messrs. Leslie Delwaide, Ernest Roberson and Arthur Goodsall, Miss Dora Garth, and Mlle. Gratienne. For three hours the poor people were kept in roars of laughter, and after each piece the performers were recalled and greeted with deafening applause. During the intervals between the plays, music was provided by Miss Octavia Kenmore, and Messrs. Gordon Hilmont and Claude Rivington. A vote of thanks on behalf of the Committee to the performers, who had so generously given their services, was carried with acclamation, and the inmates gave three hearty cheers for Mlle. Gratienne and her friends. The Sisters of Mercy afterwards distributed oranges and buns to the poor people.

The above text was found on p.29,1st May 1897 in “The Tablet: The International Catholic News Weekly.” Reproduced with kind permission of the Publisher. The Tablet can be found at http://www.thetablet.co.uk .

Requiem Mass for Italy September 1918

March 31, 2017 WillLeave a comment

John Roper Parkington, and Uncle Manuel (Bidwell) are both in the congregation.

REQUIEM AT WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL.

The flag of Italy floating from every high point in London on Wednesday was a sign that the hearts of our people were beating in sympathy and with admiration for Italy, in her work and trials and losses in the war. It was a day marked by great gatherings and demonstrations, the first of which was appropriately a Solemn High Mass of Requiem at Westminster Cathedral for the repose of Italy’s sons who had fallen in the fighting on the Carso, the Asiago Plateau, and the Piave. ” Westminster Cathedral,” says the Times, ” lends itself to thoughts of Italy and of the noble dead. Its grand and simple lines and the bareness of its walls are in stern keeping with the solemnity of the hour, and the unwonted sunlight of the morning ,threw into strong relief the Italian baldachin and marble-lined sanctuary, suggestive of Italy’s own beautiful and finished achievements which stand out in the great fabric of her hopes.” Before the sanctuary a catafalque had been erected, covered by a pall on which lay the Italian colours, and around it stood a guard of ten Royal Carabinieri under the command of an officer.

Outside, in the precincts of the Cathedral, on the facade of which floated the Italian and British flags, stood crowds of people, whilst within a great multitude had gathered long before the hour appointed for the service. The congregation included many distinguished figures. Facing the catafalque on the left hand were seated the Duke of Connaught, representing the King; the Hon. Sir Sidney Greville, on behalf of the Prince of Wales; and Colonel Streatfeild for Queen Alexandra. On the right of the catafalque were the Lord Mayor of London, with his guest, Don Prospero Colonna, Prince of Sonnino, Syndic of Rome; the Sheriffs of the City of London, and the Mayor of Westminster, in their State robes. There was a large number of the Corps Diplomatique present, most of whom wore full uniform, and they were accommodated with seats immediately behind the Royal representatives. Prince Borghese, the Italian Charge d’Affaires, occupied the first seat on the right, and next to him were the French and Japanese Ambassadors. The Government was represented by the Lord Chancellor, Mr. Balfour, Mr. Bonar Law, and many others, and there were also present Mr. Asquith, Lord and Lady Edmund Talbot, the Duchess of Norfolk, Lady Mary Howard, Sir John and Lady Knill, and Sir Roper Parkington. The personnel of the Italian Embassy and the officials of the Italian Red Cross Society superintended the seating of the congregation, and the Royal representatives and other distinguished mourners were received as they arrived by Mgr. Howlett, Administrator of the Cathedral.

The Cardinal Archbishop presided at the Mass, which was sung by the Bishop of Cambysopolis, and gave the Absolutions at the close. Amongst the clergy present were Bishop Keatinge (chief Catholic Army Chaplain), Bishop Bidwell, and the Canons of the Metropolitan Chapter. The music was rendered by the Royal Carabinieri Band, which before the Mass played selections from Pergolesi’s ” Stabat Mater,” and the National Anthem as the Duke of Connaught, representing the King, passed up the nave to his appointed seat. During the Mass the beautiful Requiem of Francisco Anerio was sung by the choir, under the direction of Dr. Terry. Of this music the Daily Telegraph said on Thursday :—” There is surely little that for transcendent beauty can equal Anerio’s ‘ Mass of Requiem,’ and when this is sung, as it was yesterday, it creates an effect that is overwhelming in its poignancy, and by its simple yet magnificent grandeur, and, as it were, appropriateness. It is truly wonderful, for, even though the years roll on, staling so much that is mundane, this glorious music remains unsullied, untouched, unstaled.” Our contemporary also summed up its description of the scene and the function as being ” all inexpressibly beautiful.”

At the close the National Anthem of Italy was played by the Carabinieri.

The above text was found on p.22, 28th September 1918 in “The Tablet: The International Catholic News Weekly.” Reproduced with kind permission of the Publisher. The Tablet can be found at http://www.thetablet.co.uk .

Also death of Fr Raymond Stanfield and the Count of Torre-Diaz in the same issue

Thomas Stonor, 3rd Baron Camoys (1797–1881) and family

March 30, 2017 WillLeave a comment

The Stonors are here largely on the basis that Edmund Stonor was a domestic chaplain to Leo XIII at the same time Mgr Henry O’Bryen was. The Stonors are an old recusant family. There are three obituaries, all published in the Tablet in the 1880’s. The first is Mgr Stonor’s elder brother Francis who died eight days before his father, followed by his father’s obituary, and then finally their mother’s

The Hon. Francis Stonor (1829-1881)

We also deeply regret to have to record the decease of the Hon. Francis Stonor, which took place suddenly, after a short illness of scarcely two days, on Monday afternoon, at his residence in South Audley-street [no. 78]. His death will create a painful void, not only in his own family, and not only among Catholics. In all matters affecting Catholic interests, Mr Stonor was always ready to show himself a loyal son of the Church, and in general society he was most deservedly popular. He was taken ill on Saturday night, and, though he was attended by several eminent physicians, the symptoms increased in gravity on Sunday, and after receiving all the last rites and consolations of religion from the hands of the Rev. F. Christie, S. J., he expired between 4 and 5 p.m. on Monday afternoon. The Hon Francis Stonor, Clerk in the House of Lords, was the second and eldest surviving son of Lord Camoys and his wife Frances, daughter of Mr. Peregrine Edward Towneley, of Towneley, Lancashire, and had only just entered upon his 52nd year, having been born on January 5, 1829. He married September 25, 1855, Eliza, second and youngest daughter of the late Sir Robert Peel, the great statesman. Their children are :—Francis Robert Stonor, born in December, 1856, two other sons, and an only daughter, Julia Caroline. Mrs. Stonor is Bedchamber Woman to the Princess of Wales. [ later Queen Alexandra] —R.I.P. [The above text was found on p.24, 15th January 1881 in “The Tablet: The International Catholic News Weekly.” Reproduced with kind permission of the Publisher. The Tablet can be found at http://www.thetablet.co.uk .]

Thomas Stonor, 3rd Baron Camoys (1797–1881)

We regret to announce the death of Thomas Lord Camoys, in the peerage of England, which took place at Stonor, the family seat near Henley-on-Thames. For some time past his lordship had been in feeble health, arising from his advanced years, and was unable to attend his son’s funeral at Stonor on Saturday last. He expired at about ten o’clock on Tuesday morning, having previously received the Holy Sacraments and the final blessing of the Church. A correspondent informs us that when Lord Camoys was rising his attendant heard him fervently invoking our Blessed Lady. His lordship immediately grew very faint, and the Rev. W. Stone, the family chaplain, was summoned at once. Lord Camoys made a humble confession, and whilst Mass was being said was prepared for Holy Communion by his daughter, Lady Smythe. After Mass he received Holy Communion devoutly, and then seemed so much better that he dressed himself. The exertion was too much for his feeble strength, and there was but time to give the last blessing when he calmly expired without a struggle. His daughters the Hon. Catharine Stonor and Lady Smythe were the only ones of his family present. His son, Monsignor Stonor, and most of his family had left Stonor only the preceding evening, and were summoned at once, but were too late to be present when the melancholy event took place.

The deceased peer was the eldest of the two sons of Mr. Thomas Stonor, of Stonor, Oxon, by his wife Catharine, daughter of Mr. Henry Blundell, of Ince Blundell, Lancashire, and was born 22nd October, 1797, therefore he had recently entered on his 84th year. He married 25th July, 1821, Frances, daughter of the late Mr. Peregrine Edward Towneley, of Towneley Hall, Lancashire, by Charlotte Drummond, a member of the noble House of Strathallan, by whom he leaves surviving issue an only son, the Hon. and Right Rev. Monsignor Edmund Stonor, Domestic Prelate to his Holiness, and Canon of St. John Lateran,

and seven daughters (three of whom are nuns), including the Hon. Catharine Stonor, the Hon. Lady Smythe, the Hon. Mrs. Leopold Agar Ellis and the Hon. Mrs. Pereira. The deceased nobleman became Lord Camoys in September, 1839, her Majesty having been pleased to call out of abeyance the ancient barony, created by writ in 1383. The peerage had been in abeyance from the reign of Henry VI. His lordship had been for a long series of years one of her Majesty’s Lords in Waiting, having been attached to the Court in that capacity from 1846 to February, 1852; from January, 1853, to February, 1858; again from June, 1859, to July, 1866; and from December, 1868, to February, 1874. He was returned M.P. for Oxford in 1832, but was unseated on petition, and unsuccessfully contested the city in 1835 and the county in 1837. R.I.P.

Sir John Stonor in Dorchester Abbey, Oxfordshire.

By his lordship’s death his grandson, Mr. Francis Robert Stonor, eldest son of the late lamented Hon. Francis Stonor, who died somewhat suddenly on the 10th instant ( eight days before his father), born December 9, 1856, succeeds to the barony. The family has the reputation of being very ancient, and according to Shirley, an excellent authority, may certainly be traced to the 12th century as resident at Stonor. In the reign of Edward II. and Edward III. Sir John Stonor, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, whose tomb is preserved in the chancel of Dorchester church in Oxfordshire, was the representative and great advancer of the family. One of its members, the Right Rev. John Talbot Stonor, Bishop of Thespiae, i.p.i., [in partibus infidelium, meaning “in the lands of the unbelievers”; i.e a titular bishop] was appointed Vicar Apostolic of the Midland district in 1716, and died in 1756, at the age of 79. [The above text was found on p.23, 22nd January 1881 in “The Tablet: The International Catholic News Weekly.” Reproduced with kind permission of the Publisher. The Tablet can be found at http://www.thetablet.co.uk .]

The Hon. Mrs Eliza Stonor (1832-1883)

It is with regret that we record the death of the Hon. Mrs Stonor which took place at her residence, 78 South Audley-street, on the evening of Saturday the 14th inst. Her death was the result of injuries sustained in a carriage accident more than five years ago. The deceased lady was the youngest daughter of the late Right Honourable Sir Robert Peel, and on the 25th September 1855, married the late Hon. Francis Stonor, by whom she had issue the present Lord Camoys, the Hon.Henry Julian, [Sir Harry Stonor had the rather impressive distinction of managing to be a courtier to five successive monarchs. He was a Gentleman Usher to Queen Victoria, Edward VII, and George V and then an Extra Groom-in-Waiting to Edward VIII and George VI.] , the Hon. Henry Alexander and the Hon. Julia Caroline Stonor. The deceased lady was appointed a lady in waiting to the Princess of Wales upon the formation of Her Royal Highness’s Household in 1863. The funeral took place on Wednesday at Pishill, Oxfordshire, a short distance from Stonor. Her Majesty the Queen and others of the Royal Family sent wreaths of flowers.

Attached to the wreath sent by the Prince and Princess of Wales were the words, “In token of affectionate and grateful remembrance, from Albert Edward and Alexandra ; April 18, 1883.“ [The above text was found on p.25, 21st April 1883 in “The Tablet: The International Catholic News Weekly.” Reproduced with kind permission of the Publisher. The Tablet can be found at http://www.thetablet.co.uk .]

Sir John Roper Parkington and Montenegro

March 30, 2017 WillLeave a comment

For reasons that still remain unclear, John Roper Parkington was the Consul General for Montenegro in the United Kingdom. Montenegro spent the best part of a decade at war from the First and Second Balkan Wars of 1912-1913, through World War 1 when it was at war with the Central Powers [Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire], and then finally a civil war about whether to join Serbia. It became part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes in 1918. JRP was on the side of the Montenegrins favouring independence.

He did issue press releases, from time to time, regarding the situation in Montenegro. The following three are from the Tablet. At the time of all three, the Roper Parkingtons were living at Claridge’s.

AUSTRIANS AS BABY-KILLERS.

Sir J. Roper Parkington, Consul General for Montenegro, has received the following official telegram from Cetinje :

The Austrians have again been busy with wanton attacks on undefended towns. About half-past four on Thursday an aeroplane passed over Cattaro, and seven bombs were thrown on the market place at Podgoritza, killing or wounding seventy-two women and children. One poor woman gave birth to a dead child before she could be removed to hospital.

These repeated attacks on women and children of entirely unfortified towns cause the most intense anger and indignation throughout Montenegro, as no military purpose whatever is served. The ravages of typhus and typhoid are spreading greatly, aggravated by some seventeen thousand refugees from Bosnia and Herzegovina recently driven across our borders by the Austrian troops. [The above text was found on p.15, 17th April 1915 in “The Tablet: The International Catholic News Weekly.” Reproduced with kind permission of the Publisher. The Tablet can be found at http://www.thetablet.co.uk .]

SERBIAN TERROR IN MONTENEGRO.

Sir Roper Parkington, Consul General for Montenegro, has received the following official communique :— Montenegrin men and women, who refuse to testify their loyalty to the King of Serbia and to admit the justice of the seizure and annexation-of their country, are daily arrested and forced into Serbian prisons, notably at Podgoritza, Cettigne, Nikchitch and Kolachine. General Vechovitch, formerly Montenegrin War Minister, who led the guerilla warfare against Austria, has been arrested and taken before a tribunal at Belgrade accused of high treason. Martial law has been proclaimed throughout the country, and all those who decline to recognize the Serbian authority are condemned to death. The stores of the American mission have been burnt ; and reports from other Red Cross missions confirm the carnage and misery which reign supreme throughout this unfortunate country. It is reported in Montenegro that the British Government has addressed a serious remonstrance to the Serbian authorities. [The above text was found on p.10, 25th September 1920 in “The Tablet: The International Catholic News Weekly.” Reproduced with kind permission of the Publisher. The Tablet can be found at http://www.thetablet.co.uk .]

THE SITUATION IN MONTENEGRO.—Sir Roper Parkington, Consul General for Montenegro, has received the following official communiqué :—The news that the ” Montenegrin Army ” is being armed in Podgoritza, under the command of General Mitar Martinovitch, with the intention of attacking Albania is utterly false, because in Montenegro there is no army except the insurgents who are in the mountains, and who have been struggling against the terroristic Serbian army of occupation.

General Mitar Martinovitch is a Montenegrin renegade, in pay of the Serbians. The above news is intentionally circulated by the Serbian Minister of Foreign Affairs with the intention of impairing the friendship and destroying a proposed agreement between the Montenegrins and Albanians, for which both sides have lately been feeling the necessity. The Serbians want to turn the dissatisfaction which is felt, especially in Rome, against their expedition in Albania, onto the Montenegrin people, whom they wish to represent as the instigators of these attacks. [The above text was found on p.29, 16th October 1920 in “The Tablet: The International Catholic News Weekly.” Reproduced with kind permission of the Publisher. The Tablet can be found at http://www.thetablet.co.uk .]

Captain Windsor Cary-Elwes. 1839 – 1916

March 26, 2017 Will1 Comment

Windsor Cary-Elwes is Uncle Charlie’s father, and Aunt Dede’s [Edythe Roper Parkington] father in law.

CAPTAIN WINDSOR CARY-ELWES.

We regret to record the death on Tuesday in last week of Capt. Windsor Cary-Elwes. Born in 1839 he joined the Scots Guards in 1856 and shortly after was received into the Church. [He was the first of his family to be received into the church in 1857] He married in 1862, Augusta C. L. Law (who survives him), daughter, of the Hon. William Towry Law, by whom he had a family of four sons and two daughters. Of his sons the eldest, Dom Luke, O.S.B., is a monk at Fort Augustus ; the second, Cuthbert, is a Jesuit now on the mission in British Guiana. The Requiem was celebrated at the Brompton Oratory by the Very Rev. Canon Dudley Cary-Elwes,( a cousin) assisted by the Rev. H. S. Bowden. The interment, at which Father Driscoll, S.J. officiated, assisted by Dom Luke Cary-Elwes, was at Mortlake. Amongst those present were Mrs. Windsor Cary-Elwes, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Cary-Elwes, Mr. Wilfrid Cary-Elwes (grandson), Mrs. Edward Chisholm (daughter), Miss Edith Elwes (sister), the Misses Law (sisters-in-law), Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Law, Mr. and the Hon. Mrs. Algernon Law, Major and Mrs. Adrian Law, (all brothers in law, and their wives) Mr. Ernest Chapman, Theodosia Countess of Cottenham, the Hon. Mrs. A. Fraser, Mrs. Edward Walsh, Mr. Gervase Elwes, Mr. Rudolph Elwes, (cousins) Sir Roper and Lady Parkington, (Charles Cary-Elwes’ parents in law) Lieut. General G. Moncrieff, C.B., Col. McGuire and others. Amongst the many flowers sent was a lovely wreath from the officers of the Scots Guards.—R.I.P.

The above text was found on p.28, 22nd April 1916, in “The Tablet: The International Catholic News Weekly.” Reproduced with kind permission of the Publisher. The Tablet can be found at http://www.thetablet.co.uk .

CAPTAIN W. C. CARY-ELWES.

Captain Windsor Charles Cary-Elwes, late Scots Guards, of Grevel House, Campden, Glos., who died on April 3, at 3 York Place, W., aged 76 years, has left unsettled estate of the value of £8,287 14s. 11d., the whole of which he leaves in trust for his wife and children.

The above text was found on p.26, 22nd July 1916, in “The Tablet: The International Catholic News Weekly.” Reproduced with kind permission of the Publisher. The Tablet can be found at http://www.thetablet.co.uk .

Cork Oath of Allegiance 1775

March 24, 2017 WillLeave a comment

A List of several Papists who came before the Mayor of the City of Cork, took the Oath of Allegiance, with the Quality, Title, Place of Abode, and the Days on which the appeared: 16th August. 1775.

William Hally, Cork City, Gent.

William Curtin, Cork City, Merchant.

William Coppinger, Barry’s Court, Esq.

Herbert Baldwin, Cork City, Surgeon.

Stephen Coppinger, Cork City, Merchant.

John Fitzgerald, Cork City, Merchant.

Daniel Donovan, Little Island, Gent.

Nicholas Walsh, Cork City, Surgeon.

Richard Shepheard, Dougheloyne, Farmer.

John Moylan, Cork City, Merchant.

Andrew Drinan, Cork City, Merchant.

Timothy Scannell, Cooper, Cork City.

William O’Brien, Cork City, Doctor of Physic.

Patrick Donovan, Milltown, Gent.

Barth. Brady, Merchant. Cork City.

Henry Shea, Merchant. Cork City.

Nicholas Hogan, Glover, Cork City.

John Callanan, Merchant. Cork City.

Jery Murphy, Merchant. Cork City.

Michael Mathews, Bookseller, Cork City.

William O’Brien, Publican, Cork City.

James Meaghan, Publican, Cork City.

Thomas Roche, Merchant. Cork City.

James John Barrett, Cooper, Cork City.

William Coppinger, Merchant. Cork City.

John Callanan, Doctor of Physic. Cork City.

Silvester Ryan, Merchant, Cork City.

David Rochford, Gent, Cork City.

Cornelius Sullivan, Merchant, Cork City.

Daniel Tawmy, Publican, Cork City.

James Philip Trant, Gent, Cork City.

David Connell, Merchant, Cork City.

Charles Maguire, Linen Draper, Cork City.

Marcus Sullivan, Merchant. Cork City.

John King, Merchant, Cork City.

John Silk,Woolen Draper. Cork City.

Michael McDermott, Silversmith, Cork City.

Humphry Sullivan, Shopkeeper, Cork City.

William O’Brien, Shopkeeper, Cork City.

Charles O’Neill, Shopkeeper, Cork City.

David Nagle, Merchant, Cork City.

John Newce, Shopkeeper, Cork City.

Florence Leary, Publican. Cork City.

Jery McCroghan, Merchant Taylor, Cork City.

Robert Ferguson, Surgeon. Cork City.

John Shea, Merchant. Cork City.

John Coppinger, Barry’s Court, Gent.

James Kelly, Merchant, Cork City.

Dominick Callanan, Apothecary, Cork City.

James O’Brien, Merchant, Cork City.

Patrick Crowley, Butter-Buyer, Cork City.

Daniel Daly, Shopkeeper, Cork City.

James Murphy, Butter-Buyer, Cork City.

Daniel Foley, Wollen Draper, Cork City.

Thomas Granahan, Woolen Draper, Cork City.

Michael Wolfe, Merchant. Cork City.

Henry Shea, Merchant. Cork City.

John Creagh, Jnr. Merchant. Cork City.

Robert Hickson, Merchant. Cork City.

Mathias Colbert, Surgeon, Cork City.

Walter Shea, Cooper, Cork City.

James Hogan, Shopkeeper, Cork City.

John Barry, Merchant. Cork City.

Joseph Goold, Cooper, Cork City.

Daniel Fanning, Cooper, Cork City.

Patrick O’Gunner?, Merchant. Cork City.

Francis Hore, Coach Maker, Cork City.

Michael Hore, Coach Maker, Cork City.

Owen McCarthy, Shop Keeper, Cork City.

William Brady, Shopkeeper, Cork City.

John McGrath, Merchant Taylor, Cork City.

David Fitzgerald, Merchant. Cork City.

Bartholomew Guynan, Merchant, Cork City.

John Guynan, Merchant. Cork City.

Andrew White, Merchant. Cork City.

Terence O’Brien, Gent. Cork City.

William Shea, Merchant. Cork City.

Charles Mccarthy, Merchant, Cork City.

James Rourke, Cabinet Maker. Cork City.

John Tracey, Shop Keeper, Cork City.

Daniel Griffin, Tobacconist, Cork City.

James Hayes, Merchant. Cork City.

Philip Dynan, Joiner. Cork City.

Jeremiah Egan, Merchant. Cork City.

William Trant, Merchant. Cork City.

Daniel Coughlan, Shop Keeper, Cork City.

William Quinn, Shop Keeper, Cork City.

William Molloy, Shop Keeper, Cork City.

Robert French, Gent. Cork City.

Jeremiah Driscoll, Shop Keeper, Cork City.

Patrick Creagh, Merchant. Cork City.

Stephen Anster, Merchant. Cork City.

John Keane, Shop Keeper, Cork City.

Ignatius Trant, Merchant. Cork City.

Simon Donovan, Baker, Cork City.

Denis Desmond, Shop Keeper, Cork City.

Andrew Shea, Shop Keeper, Cork City.

John Hillary, Silversmith, Cork City.

Thomas White, Merchant, Cork City.

Philip Harding, Merchant, Cork City.

John Healy, Merchant. Cork City.

John Morrogh, Merchant. Cork City.

Edmond Barratt, Merchant, Cork City.

William Roche, Merchant. Cork City.

Owen Barman, Shop Keeper, Cork City.

John Doly, Butcher, Cork City.

Thomas Barrett, Shop Keeper, Cork City.

George Goold, Merchant, Cork City.

Henry Goold, Merchant. Cork City.

__________________________

Popish Clergy. Cork.

Hon. John Butler,

Revd. John Finn.

Revd. Dr. Michael Shinnigh.

Revd. Dr. Edmond Synan.

Revd. Timothy Callanan,

Revd. James Bourke.

Revd. Dr. James Hennessy.

Revd. James Michael McMahon.

Revd. Patrick Casey.

Revd. John Lyons.

Revd. Florence McCarthy.

Revd. Denis Murphy.

Revd. Dr. Garret Fahan.

Revd. Dr. Patrick Shortal.

Revd. Arthur O’Leary.

Revd. Thomas Spennick.

Revd. Dr. Daniel Neville.

I certify the foregoing to be a true list, Dated Cork, 30th Jan. 1776.?

William Butler, Mayor.

__________________________

Cork.

A list of persons who have taken the Oath before us.

Robert Ronayne, Gent,

Robert Gofs, or Goss, Merchant,

Both of Youghall in the County of Corke,

William Jackson, Mayor of Youghall,

Matthew Parker.

Youghall, Feb. 4th 1776.

Cork: Oaths of Allegiance 1775. As researched by the Ireland Genealogy Project.

John Roper Parkington – fund-raising for St. Austin’s, Wimbledon Park.

March 24, 2017 WillLeave a comment

ST. AUSTIN’S, WIMBLEDON : A GENEROUS OFFER.—A bazaar in aid of St. Austin’s, Wimbledon Park, for the new church, was opened on Wednesday, by Miss Hood, daughter of Sir Joseph Hood, Bart., M.P., at the Welcome Hall, Wimbledon. Colonel Sir Roper Parkington, who, unfortunately, was prevented by illness from attending, requested that his speech should be read, in which he said : ” Since I have taken a house in this parish I have been deeply interested in the building of the new church of St. Austin’s at Wimbledon Park. When I arrived I went to the present temporary church, but I found that there was no proper seating accommodation. I was convinced that a new church was much needed, and I promised Father Rector to give £500 [a present day value of almost £ 150,000] as soon as the new church was begun. At the request of Father O’Gorman, our district priest, I undertook to lay the foundation-stone of St. Austin’s. I was encouraged to do this because my old and much esteemed friend, Father Bernard Vaughan, promised to speak on the occasion. I regret that he has not lived to add this good work to a life of good work for God’s glory. I earnestly appeal to you, the Catholics of Wimbledon, to come generously forward to-day to assist in collecting such a sum of money as may enable Father Rector to start the building of St. Austin’s without delay. I am looking forward to the day when I shall be able to take sittings in the new church for myself and my wife, Lady Parkington, who, as a member of the altar society and sodality, has taken the greatest interest in the parish and in the building of our new church.”

The above text was found on p.30, 16th December 1922 in “The Tablet: The International Catholic News Weekly.” Reproduced with kind permission of the Publisher. The Tablet can be found at http://www.thetablet.co.uk .