Sir Roper and Lady Parkington gave a dinner last~ night at Claridge’s Hotel to meet the Montenegrin Peace Delegates. Among those present were M. Lazare Miouchkovitch, M. de Voinovitch, and M. Jean Popovitch (Delegates), the Greek Minister and Mme. Gennadius, M. Grouitch (Servian Charge d’ Affaires), M. de Fleuriau (French Embassy), Lord and Lady Rotherham, Sir Alfred and Lady Newton, Lady Meiklejohn, Sir Edward and Lady Boyle, Lady McGregor, Sir Benjamin and Lady Franklin, Sir Albert Rollit, and Sir Horatio and Lady Shephard.
I’ve avoided this one for a while, partly because it is out of period, and also partly because it is hard to work through. It does also appear to be slightly showy-offy, which it isn’t intended to be, well maybe a bit.
It does make it a bit slow going around the National Portrait Gallery, as well as getting a bit of a look when I chime up with “That’s another one of yours…”
Where I do think it helps, is in helping to set into context, how the Grehans would have felt about themselves. In a period when lineage, and status was very important to people; and when there was a strong emphasis on family backgrounds, then it is almost impossible to believe that there wasn’t talk of being the descendants of Irish kings, and of the Anglo-Irish aristocracy. It almost certainly colours some of the wedding choices in the C19th.
But a word of warning from Sir Bernard Burke, in the preface to the 1912 edition of Burke’s Irish Gentry.
“Of course, one knows that every Irishman is the descendant of countless kings, princes and other minor celebrities. One admits it, the thing is unquestionable. One knows, of course, also, that every family is the oldest in Co. Galway, or Co. Sligo, or somewhere else, and that, for some reason or other, every Irishman is the ” head ” of his family…”
Elizabeth I – The Armada portrait
However, it does appears that if you are somehow descended from Patrick Grehan Senior (1756 -1832) and Judith Grehan (nee Moore), [in our case, they are great,great,great,great, grandparents, so ha ha Danny Dyer] then you are a fourth cousin of Anne Boleyn [yes that one.], and a fifth cousin of Elizabeth 1st [yes that one, as well.], as well as descended from a number of Kings of Laois, and a fair smattering of Irish Earls.
The first major clue comes from Burke’s Landed Gentry in the 1871 edition. In the lineage of Patrick Grehan III (Patrick Grehan senior’s grandson) there is the following statement.
“(lineally descended from Lewis, the 4th son ofRoger O’More(more commonly, referred to now as Rory O’More), of Leix, by Margaret, dau. and heiress of Thomas, 3rd son of Pierce, 8th 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.”
Patrick Grehan III had his rights to the arms confirmed in June 1863, so it must have been accepted by the Ulster King of Arms.
Broken down in, I hope, the simplest way; Judith Grehan’s great-grandfather was Edmund Moore,and he, in his turn, was the great-grandson of Lewis More, the youngest son of Rory O’More, and Margaret Butler. So they are separated by seven generations.
Therefore, Judith Grehan is a fourth cousin of Anne Boleyn, seven times removed, and a fifth cousin of Elizabeth 1st six times removed. In order to work out your own relationship simply add on the right number of generations. In the case of my children, it is a fourth cousin of Anne Boleyn, fourteen times removed, and and a fifth cousin of Elizabeth 1st thirteen times removed.
Rather than expand this post too much, I have decided to link to two further posts, containing the workings-out.
The Royal Palace Hotel once stood at 6 Kensington High Street, at the corner with Palace Avenue. It was demolished in the 1960s. The Royal Garden Hotel now stands in its place. I’m not entirely sure the Royal Garden Hotel was an inspired addition to the High Street.
Royal Palace Hotel c.1900Royal Garden Hotel c1967
In 1960, the Royal Palace Hotel was demolished and a new hotel was built in its place designed by Richard Seifert, who was responsible for some of the nastier buildings in London in the 1960’s and 70’s, including Euston Station, Centrepoint at the top of Oxford Street, Kings Mall in Hammersmith, and Tower 42 in the City.
After five years of building works, the new hotel opened in 1965 as the Royal Garden Hotel. In 1966, it hosted the official reception celebrating England’s victory in the World Cup final. I find it very odd I have no memory at all of the hotel being built, even though we played in that part of the park at least once a week, using the path that is just visible in the bottom right-hand corner of the photo above.
My first memory of the hotel is The Monkees waving to thousands, and thousands, of teenage girls in the park from a seventh, or eighth, floor balcony.
The Royal Palace Hotel had a stunningly over-decorated Victorian style, as can be seen from the photos below.
View north from the roof of the Royal Palace Hotel, looking towards Kensington Palace in 1920. On the left-hand side of the picture, you can see the allotments on Palace Green remaining after WW1.
Jane Grehan (1782- Abt. 1866, aged 84), was the daughter of Patrick Grehan Senior and Judith Moore. She is a great,great,great,great, aunt. She seems to be rather a shadowy figure; but from the extract below from the New Hall records at least we know what her school fees were. And from the look of it, great,great,great,great, grandpa Paddy Grehan Senior was paying the equivalent of an Eton education for a girl in 1798. So good on him for that…
RECORDS OF THE ENGLISH CANONESSES OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE OF LIEGE, NOW AT NEW HALL.1652-1793.EDITED BY RICHARD TRAPPES-LOMAX.
[Trappes-Lomax, Richard, late Captain 3rd Batt, K.O. Lancaster Regiment, J. P. for Lancashire — born 1870, eldest son of Thomas Byrnand Trappes, of Stanley House, Clitheroe, by Helen,daughter of Thomas Lomax, of Westfield, Preston, who inherited the Clayton and Great Harwood properties from her uncle, James Lomax, D.L., K.C.S.G.; educated at Stonyhurst; took name of Lomax 1892; served in the South African War 1900-1901; married (1894) Alice, daughter of Basil Fitzherbert, of Swynnerton, Co-editor with Mr Joseph Gillow of “The Diary of the English Nuns of the Immaculate Conception at Paris”. The Manor of Clayton- le-Moors came to the Lomax family by marriage with the heiress of John Grimshaw of Clayton Hall about 1720. The Trappes family was formerly seated at Nidd Hall, Yorkshire. from the Catholic Who’s Who and Yearbook 1908.]
A history of this community was printed for private circulation, on the occasion of its Centenary at New Hall, in 1899 ;and to it I am indebted for the following brief account :
About 1480, one John a Broeck, a Canon Regular of the Holy Sepulchre, established a Monastery at Mount St. Odile, near Cologne, and another a few years later at Kinroy, near Maesych on the Meuse. This he soon after transformed into a Convent of Canonesses. The Order flourished, and rapidly spread over the Low Countries.
In 1641, Susan Hawley and Frances Carey entered the Sepulchrine Convent at Tongres, with a view to founding an English Convent of the same order. In the autumn of the following year they established themselves at Liege, accompanied by a Belgian lay sister and a Mother Margaret of the Tongres Community. They settled in a house on the Hill of Pierreuse.
In 1656 they numbered fifteen choir nuns, four young professed, and four novices. After ten years on the Pierreuse they moved to a house in the Faubourg d’Avroy (1655-6). In 1794 the Revolutionary wars compelled them to move to Maestricht, and thence to London. After a two years stay at Holme Hall, near Market Weighton, in Yorkshire, they moved to Dean House, near Salisbury, (1796)and in 1798 to The following records from the Convent Archives comprise :
A. The Chapter Book.
B. The Benefactors Book.
C. The Dead Book, or Necrology.
D. An Account of the Beginning of the Convent at Liege.
E. An Account of the Revolutionary Troubles, migration to
England, and settlement at New Hall.
F. Lists of the girls at the Convent School, 1770-1799.
G. Notes of Deaths from the Book of Pensioners and Boarders.
H. Charities received, 1651-1663.
I. Accounts of Pupils and Boarders, 1651-1777.
The above have been transcribed by Mother Aloysia James (Kendal) and Sister Ann Frances (Trappes-Lomax)
.
RECORDS OF THE ENGLISH CANONESSES OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE OF LIEGE p.157
F. NAMES OF THE SCHOOL GIRLS.
[Original list of school girls from 1796]
DEAN HOUSE, WILTSHIRE.
Miss Goldie came upon ye 18th of June 1797 she pays 40 Guineas a yr She left us ye 18th June 1798. pd all.
The Honble Miss & Miss Christina Clifford came here upon ye 22d of Augst 1797. They pay 37 Guineas a yr each they do not drink Tea. They accompanied us to New Hall where Miss Clifford
died ye 1st of July 1805. Miss Christina left us ye[?] of May 1806.pd all.
Miss Smith came here upon ye 24th of Augst 1797. She pays £23. 3s. including washing she does not drink Tea, she accompanied us to New Hall. She left us ye 7 of Augst 1800. pd all.
Miss Nihell came here upon ye 20th of Sepbr 1797, she pays 25 Guineas a yr including washing She accompanied us to New Hall. She left us ye 5th of Decbr 1807.
Miss Tuite came here ye 6th of Novbr 1797, she pays 40 Guineas a yr. She left us ye 16th of Novbr 1798. pd all.
The 2 Miss Wrights came ye 23d of Octbr 1797, they pay 40 Guineas a yr they accompanied us to New Hall. Miss Mary Wright left us ye 30th of Janry 1801. Miss ann Wright left us ye 9th of Augst 1802. pd all.
Miss O. Toole came here upon ye 13th of Decbr 1797. She pays 40 Guineas a yr She accompanied us to New Hall. She left us ye 26th of June 1800.
The 2 Miss Whites came here ye 13th of Decbr 1797. They pay 30 Guineas a yr & are not found in Tea & Pocket money. They accompanied us to New Hall. Miss White left us ye 22d of June1806. Miss Margaret White left us June ye 28th 1808. pd all.
Miss C. Stourton came here upon ye 3d of July 1798, she pays 40 Guineas a yr, she accompanied us to New Hall. She left us ye20th of June 1800.
Miss Isabella McDonald returned to us ye 14th of Janr v 1798.she accompanied us to New Hall. She left us ye 28th of May 1800.pd all.
Miss Charlotte Conolly came here ye 10th of Sepbr 1798. She accompanied us to New Hall. She left us ye 10th of June 1803 she pays 40 Guineas a yr. Pd all.
Miss Melior Weston came here on ye 28th of Sepbr 1798. She pays 20 Guineas a yr. She accompanied us to New Hall. She left us ye 23d of Febry 1804. pd all.
Miss Addis came here on ye 3d of Octbr 1798. She accompanied us to New Hall. She pays 40 Guineas a yr. She left us ye 4th of May 1800. pd all.
Miss Coppinger came here the same day. She pays 20 Guineas a yr. She accompanied us to New Hall. She left us ye [?] of Augst 1800. pd all.
Miss Bourke came here upon ye 4th Octbr 1798. She accompanied us to New Hall, she pays 40 Guineas a yr. She left us ye 16th of Novbr 1801. pd all.
Miss Grehan came here upon ye 29th of Novbr 1798. She pays 40 Guineas a yr. She accompanied us to New Hall. She left us ye 23d of April 1804. pd all.
Miss Power of Waterford came here on ye 17th of Decbr 1798, she pays 40 Guineas a yr,she accompanied us to New Hall. She left us ye 24th of May 1802.
There is a post about the 125th anniversary of the school and convent here
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.
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 1st 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 4th son ofRoger O’More, of Leix, by Margaret, dau. and heiress of Thomas, 3rd son of Pierce, 8th 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
Clonmeen Lodge
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 IIIis 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.
St Leonards Bromley-by-Bow
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.
Patrick III (born 21 Mar 1818)
Joseph Maunsell (born about 1829)
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.
Stonyhurst College
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, 3rd son of Pierce, 8th 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: 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.
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.
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 .
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.
Cardinal Bourne
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
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)
78 South Audley St
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)
Stonor Park, Oxfordshire
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,
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)
Sir Robert Peel 1788-1850
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.
Pishill parish church
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 .]
