(633) Binning of Wallyford and Pilmuir

Binning of Pilmuir

Binning of Wallyford

The origins of the Binnings (sometimes Binny or Binney or Bining) are obscure, but in the 17th century the family claimed descent from a peasant called Bunnock who is said to have aided the capture of Linlithgow Castle by the Scots in 1308, during Robert the Bruce's war of independence. The story goes that Bunnock had been employed by the English garrison to gather hay and bring it to the castle, but when he approached with his laden wagon the hay concealed armed men. When he came under the gatehouse, he cut the ropes allowing the portcullis to be raised and lowered, and the armed men leapt out and overpowered the garrison, with the help of others waiting in ambush nearby. The story was first recorded in the poem 'Bruce' by John Barbour in about 1370, but there is very little evidence to connect the 17th century merchant Binnings with the Bunnock of the poem. 

The authentic records of the family seem to begin with Thomas Binning (d. 1606), who was a retainer of Lord Torpichen, and was rewarded for his service with a grant of the house and lands of Carlowriehaugh near Kirkliston (West Lothian). His son, James Binning (d. 1663), became a merchant in Edinburgh, and married twice; his eldest son, another James Binning (d. 1681), became an advocate and seems to have sold Carlowriehaugh, but his issue had died out before 1700. The only child of James's second marriage was Sir William Binning (1637-1711), kt., with whom the genealogy below begins. Like his father, he followed a mercantile career, and was also active in civic politics in Edinburgh. After serving a term as Lord Provost, however, he largely abandoned city affairs and became a government contractor and a farmer of tolls and customs. He bought the Wallyford estate with its recently-built new house in 1675, but it is not clear how much time he spent there, since his main residence always seems to have been in Edinburgh. Since Wallyford was only about seven miles from the city, however, he could have moved frequently between the two.

Like his father, Sir William was twice married, but all his ten children were borne by his first wife. His eldest son, Laurence Binning (1665-1708), died in the lifetime of his father, so it was his next surviving son, William Binning (1669-1734), who inherited Wallyford. He was educated at Edinburgh University and married into the rising Dundas family, but his only surviving child was William Binning (1710-91), who became an advocate and a director of the Bank of Scotland, but who never married. He inherited Wallyford from his father in 1734 but sold it in 1757 and lived subsequently in Edinburgh, and this branch of the family died out on his death.

Sir William Binning's fifth son, Charles Binning (1674-1758), studied law at the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands, and was admitted an advocate in 1698. In the early 18th century he became associated with the 'Squadrone Volante' - a group of families with much power in Scotland who were allied to the Whig government in London. Through this connection, and although he was never a member of parliament, he was appointed Solicitor General for Scotland in Walpole's government in 1721, but when Walpole ditched the 'Squadrone' in 1725 and allied himself instead with the Campbells, he lost office. He nonetheless remained an important figure in the Faculty of Advocates, where his association with the Dundas clan may have given him influence, and at the end of his life he was appointed Vice-Dean of the Faculty (the Dean then being generally absent on business in London and unable to fulfil the duties of his office in Edinburgh). Charles married in 1706 and in 1722 he purchased the Pilmuir estate at Bolton (East Lothian), which stood only a few miles from Wallyford. He and his wife had only one son, but several daughters, and in around 1750 he sold Pilmuir to his son, William Binning (1716-51), in order to provide funds to make provision for his daughters. William died unexpectedly in 1751, leaving as his heir an infant son who was just a few months old, and who in turn died in 1754. The estate thereupon reverted to Charles' three surviving daughters, but it became apparent that William had died leaving large concealed debts, and in 1761 the estate was sold at the instance of his creditors.

Wallyford House, Musselburgh, Midlothian (now East Lothian)

Wallyford House: entrance doorcase
from MacGibbon & Ross

An externally plain but symmetrical three-storey, gabled, stone-built house with projecting wings on the entrance front, apparently built for John Falconer (1636-86), who inherited the estate in 1670, as the classical doorcase in the centre of entrance front was dated 1672. Some previous authors have speculated that the house may have had earlier origins, but while it is possible there was a previous house on the site, there seems nothing in the plan and decoration of the building to suggest that it was not completely rebuilt.

The ground floor contained the service accommodation and a corridor leading to a handsome square staircase at the west end and thence to the principal rooms on the first floor. The staircase had a solid stone newel finished with attached moulded shafts at either end. The large room at the western end of the first floor was probably the dining room, with a withdrawing room next to it; certainly these were the most important apartments, as they were panelled and had ornamented plaster ceilings. The house was laid out so that these principal rooms had a southern aspect, and a wide corridor or gallery on their north side provided easy communication between the different rooms. 

Wallyford House: plan of principal floor, from MacGibbon & Ross

On the second floor were bedrooms and a large gallery with a boarded ceiling that extended into the roofspace and had sloping sides, as at Pinkie House nearby, although the gallery at Wallyford never received the decorative painting found at Pinkie.

Wallyford House: the ruins from the south-west, shortly before demolition in 1948.

The house was still 'in complete repair' and 'fit for the accommodation of a large and genteel family' when it was advertised to let in 1781 and 1793, but in the 19th century the house ceased to be occupied as a single dwelling, and was used as a store for the Aitchison family's distillery, and later to house 27 families of coal miners brought into the district as additional labour. At the time when it was destroyed by fire in 1884 it was empty apart from a small section which was used as a private school. The absence of water in the locality prevented the fire being contained, and the house seems to have been reduced to bare walls, but happily the plan and some information about the interior had been recorded shortly before the fire by MacGibbon & Ross. The ruins were demolished in 1948 to make way for the construction of a housing estate.

Descent: Sir John Falconer (1612-70), kt.; to son, John Falconer (1636-86), who built the house but sold 1675 to Sir William Binning (1637-1711), kt.; to son, William Binning (1669-c.1734); to son, William Binning (1710-91), who sold 1757 to James Finlay (d. 1782); to son, Robert Finlay (d. 1808); sold c.1811 to [forename unknown] Wilson; sold to Maj. William Aitchison (d. 1846); to Col. Aitchison of Drummore, who sold, by 1856, to Francis Charteris-Wemyss-Douglas (1795-1883), 9th Earl of Wemyss & 5th Earl of March. 

Pilmuir House, Bolton, East Lothian

A small but characterful harled laird's house of 1624, consisting of a single range of two storeys with a dormered attic, and in the centre a square staircase tower with a crowstepped gable that rose a storey higher than the rest of the house. A fat stair-turret which bulges so far out as to need the support of a squinch in the angle was attached to its north-east corner. The harling is now a striking but not traditional burnt orange colour. 

Pilmuir House: the north front in 1975. Image: Crown Copyright.

The ground floor of the stair tower has a moulded doorway with a datestone over it and the initials W.C. and A.B. for William Cairns and Agnes Brown, his wife, who were the builders. In the early 18th century, a new front door was formed on the principal floor in the centre of the south front, and the windows were given their thick glazing bars. Internally, the house had the kitchen and service accommodation on the ground floor, the living rooms on the first floor, and the bedrooms in the attics. The drawing room at the west end of the main floor retains an early 17th century plaster ceiling with moulded ribs and applied moulded decoration, but all the main rooms were given pine panelling in the 18th century. The top floor of the tower is occupied by a room with a coved ceiling.

Pilmuir House: south front in 1975. Image: Crown Copyright.

The house now has a formal, symmetrical approach through a walled courtyard which was presumably created in the 18th century when the south entrance was formed. There are bee-boles in the garden wall and a large 17th century doocot 100 metres south-east of the house.

Descent: built for William Cairns (d. 1653); to son; to cousin, William Borthwick (1641-89) of Johnstounburn... sold c.1722 to Charles Binning (1674-1758); sold to son, William Binning (1716-51); to son, Charles Binning (1751-54) and then to the latter's aunts, Elizabeth (1708-82), wife of Andrew Buchanan of Drumpellier, Catherine (1711-69), wife of David Inglis; and Isabella (d. 1806); sold 1761 to Adam Fairholm; sold 1770 to James Maitland, 7th Earl of Lauderdale; sold c.1777... sold c.1927 to Sir Henry Wade (1876-1955); to Sir Henry Wade's Pilmuir Trust; at the time of writing let to Mr & Mrs Christopher Cruden.

Binning family of Wallyford

Binning, Sir William (1637-1711), kt. Only son of James Binning (d. 1663) of Carlowriehaugh and Edinburgh, merchant, and his second wife Euphemia (d. 1670), daughter of [forename unknown] Baillie of Jerviston, born 11 March 1637. Apprenticed to his cousin, Alexander Brand of Edinburgh, merchant, 1655. He was admitted a burgess and guild brother of Edinburgh, 1664, and became a leading and successful merchant in the city, operating chiefly as a linen manufacturer but also as a financier and government contractor; in 1679 he supplied timber joists to the value of over £2,000 for the rebuilding of Holyroodhouse. During the two Dutch wars he joined forces with Sir Robert Baird of Saughton and Sir Robert Barclay of Perceton to fit out privateers. He was a member of the Town Council, 1666-79, and served as Treasurer, 1668-71, Bailie, 1671-72, and Lord Provost, 1675-77. He obtained a grant of arms in 1675 and was knighted while Lord Provost, in January 1677. His later years were marked by several notable instances of bribery and corruption, which, as Inglis puts it, "were a scandal even in a generation not squeamish about public morality". From 1693 he farmed the Scottish customs and excise for five years in partnership with Sir Robert Dickson and Sir Thomas Kennedy, at £20,300 per annum. He was a Commissioner of Supply for Midlothian in 1678, 1685, 1689, 1690 and 1696, and for both Midlothian and East Lothian in 1704, and was a JP for Midlothian in 1708. He was a seat-holder in the Tron Kirk, Edinburgh. He married 1st, 26 December 1662 at Edinburgh, Elspeth alias Elizabeth (1639-98), daughter of Laurence Scott of Bavelaw, and 2nd, 13 April 1701 at Canongate Kirk, Edinburgh, Mary, second daughter and co-heir of George Livingston of Saltcoats and widow of James or Alexander Menzies of Culterallers, and had issue:

(1.1) Euphame Binning (f.) (1664-65), baptised at Edinburgh, 10 January 1664; died in infancy, November 1665;

(1.2) Laurence Binning (1665-1708), baptised at Edinburgh, 19 November 1665; educated at Edinburgh University (MA 1686); farmer of the Edinburgh excise duty on ale, 1706-08; married, 24 September 1697 at Edinburgh, Margaret, daughter of Sir David Home (1643-1707) of Corserig, a Lord of Session, and had issue two daughters; died of a high fever, 17 May 1708, in the lifetime of his father;

(1.3) Catherine Binning (1667-1746?), baptised at Edinburgh, 24 February 1667; married, 13 February 1697, William Baird (1668-1737), sixth son of Sir Robert Baird (1630-97), 1st bt., of Saughtonhall (Midl.), and had issue seven sons and two daughters; probably the person of that name buried at Edinburgh, 6 October 1746;

(1.4) twin, James Binning (1669-89), baptised at Edinburgh, 30 July 1669; died unmarried and was buried at Greyfriars, Edinburgh, 31 October 1689;

(1.5) twin, William Binning (1669-c.1734) (q.v.);

(1.6) Hugh Binning (b. 1670), baptised at Edinburgh, 28 October 1670; died young;

(1.7) Elizabeth Binning (b. 1672), born 1 October 1672; probably died young;

(1.8) Charles Binning (1674-1758) [for whom see below, Binning family of Pilmuir]; 

(1.9) Richard Binning (1676-96), baptised at Edinburgh, 13 July 1676; died unmarried and was buried at Greyfriars, Edinburgh, 12 June 1696;

(1.10) John Binning (b. 1677), baptised at Edinburgh, 25 December 1677; probably died young.

He purchased the Wallyford estate in March 1675. He lived chiefly at his town house in Parliament Close, Edinburgh, which burned down in 1700, and then moved to a house in Canongate, which also burned down in 1708. After his death, his widow succeeded to the estate of her brother George Livingstone of Saltcoats near Gullane in East Lothian.

He died 8 January 1711 and was buried at Greyfriars, Edinburgh. His first wife was buried at Greyfriars, Edinburgh, 6 December 1698. His widow's date of death is unknown.

Binning, William (1669-1734). Third, but eldest surviving, son of Sir William Binning (1637-1711) of Wallyford and his first wife, Elspeth alias Elizabeth, daughter of Laurence Scott of Bavelaw, baptised at Edinburgh, 30 July 1669. Educated at Edinburgh University (MA 1688). He married, 1709 (contract 25 March) at Abercorn (West Lothian), Isabella (1677-1724), daughter of John Dundas of Duddingston (Midl.), and had issue:

(1) William Binning (1710-91) (q.v.);

(2) Elizabeth Binning (b. 1712), born 26 June 1712; died without issue;

(3) Ann Binning (1715-86), born 18 January 1715; died unmarried at Duddingston, 20/29 January 1786;

(4) John Binning (b. 1716), born 5 June 1716; died without issue;

(5) Laurence Binning (b. 1717), born 19 December 1717; died without issue.

He inherited Wallyford from his father in 1711.

He died 16 July 1734. His wife died 21 February 1724.

Binning, William (1710-91). Eldest son of William Binning (1669-1734) and his wife Isabella, daughter of John Dundas of Duddingston (Midl.), born 27 August and baptised at Inveresk (Midl.), 28 August 1710. He was admitted an advocate, 24 December 1740. He was for many years a director of the Bank of Scotland, and one of the founder managers of the Society for the Relief of the Honest and Industrious Poor, founded in 1773. He was unmarried and without issue.

He inherited Wallyford from his father in 1735 (served heir 3 January 1735), but sold the estate to James Finlay in 1757.

He died unmarried at Edinburgh, 2 February 1791; he left his entire estate (some £13,700) to his kinsman, Dr Alexander Munro, on the condition that he assumed the name and arms of Binning and invested the legacy in lands; in consequence of which Munro-Binning purchased the 500 acre Wester Softlaw estate near Kelso (Roxb.) in 1794.

Binning family of Pilmuir

Binning, Charles (1674-1758). Fifth son of Sir William Binning (1637-1711) of Wallyford and his first wife, Elspeth alias Elizabeth, daughter of Laurence Scott of Bavelaw, born 4 November and baptised at Edinburgh, 12 November 1674. He evidently studied at the University of Utrecht under the distinguished academic lawyer, Cornelis van Eck, and was admitted an advocate, 4 February 1698. He was appointed Solicitor General for Scotland in Walpole's government (though he never had a seat in parliament), 1721-25 and Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Advocates, 1755-58. Evidently a man of wide interests and activities, he was a member of the Hon. Society of Improvers in Agriculture, and of the Copartnery of Freeman Burgesses for establishing a fishing company; and a director of the Bank of Scotland. The Faculty of Advocates appointed him one of the managers of the Charity Workhouse, and he was an original trustee of George Watson's Hospital from 1724. He married, 28 July 1706 at Edinburgh, Margaret, daughter of Hugh Montgomery (1645-1728) of Broomlands (Ayrs.), and had issue:

(1) Elizabeth Binning (1708-82), born 10 January 1708; married, 1 July 1744 at Edinburgh, as his second wife, Andrew Buchanan (1691-1759) of Drumpellier, merchant and provost of Glasgow, 1740-41, but had no issue; died at Edinburgh, 6 November 1782; her will was confirmed 10 December 1782;

(2) Jean Binning (1709-10), born at Edinburgh, 11 October 1709; died in infancy, 1 June 1710;

(3) Catherine Binning (1711-69), born at Edinburgh, 9 May 1711; married, 4 June 1738 at Edinburgh, David Inglis (1702-67), merchant and treasurer of the Bank of Scotland 1757-67, and had issue one son (who died young) and two daughters; died at Edinburgh, 14 December 1769;

(4) Barbara Binning (1712-13). born at Edinburgh, 13 June 1712; died in infancy, 9 February 1713;

(5) William Binning (1716-51) (q.v.); 

(6) Margaret Binning (1717-24), born at Edinburgh, 12 December 1717; died young, 21 February, and was buried at Edinburgh, 23 February 1724;

(7) Isabella Binning (c.1719-1806), probably born about 1719; died unmarried, 28 July, and was buried at Edinburgh, 31 July 1806.

He purchased the Pilmuir House estate in 1722, but lived chiefly at his town house in Edinburgh. At some point around 1750 he sold the Pilmuir estate to his son in order to make financial provision for his daughters.

He died at Broomlands, 14/15 September 1758. His wife's date of death is unknown.

Binning, William (1716-51). Only son of Charles Binning (1674-1758) and his wife Margaret, daughter of Hugh Montgomery of Broomlands (Ayrs.), born at Edinburgh, 27 August 1716. He was admitted an advocate, 12 December 1739. He married, March 1750, Elizabeth (d. 1772?), daughter of Archibald Stuart WS (d. 1767) of Torrence, and had issue:

(1) Charles Binning (1751-54), born 29 March 1751; died young, 1754.

He purchased the Pilmuir estate from his father. After his death the property passed to his infant son and, on this child's death in 1754, to his three surviving sisters. It later emerged that he had contracted large debts unknown to his family and the estate was sold in 1761 at the instance of his creditors.

He died at Kelso (Roxb.) in the lifetime of his father, 30 August, and was buried at Edinburgh, 4 September 1751. His widow lived latterly at Edinburgh, and was probably the 'Mrs Elizabeth Binning' buried there, 3 February 1772.

Principal sources

G. MacGregor, Red Book of Scotland, 2nd edn., 2018, vol. 1, p. 538-41; D. MacGibbon & T. Ross, The castellated and domestic architecture of Scotland, 1887, vol 4, p. 64; J.A. Inglis, The Munros of Auchenbowie and cognate families, 1911, pp. 139-57; J.A. Inglis, 'Edinburgh during the Provostship of Sir William Binning', The Scottish Historical Review, 1915, pp. 369-87; M. Coventry, The castles of Scotland, 4th edn., 2006, pp. 525, 621; M. Coventry, Castles of the clans, 2008, p. 40; J. Geddes, I. Gow, A. MacKechnie, C. Tabraham & C. McWilliam, The buildings of Scotland: Lothian, 2nd edn., 2024, p. 732.

Location of archives

No significant accumulation is known to survive.

Coat of arms

Binning of Wallyford: Argent, on a bend engrailed sable a wagon or, within a bordure of the second.

Binning of Pilmuir: Argent, on a bend engrailed azure a wagon of the first, within a bordure ermine.

Can your help?

• Can anyone provide additional images of Wallyford House, especially any view of the north (entrance) front before the fire of 1884?
• Can anyone provide fuller ownership information about Pilmuir House between 1777 and 1927?
• Can anyone provide portraits of the people whose names appear in bold above, for whom no image is currently shown?
• If anyone can offer further information or corrections to any part of this article I should be most grateful. I am always particularly pleased to hear from the descendants of families associated with a property who can supply information from their own research or personal knowledge for inclusion.

Revision and acknowledgements

This post was first published 27 April 2026.

(632) Binney of Pampisford Hall

Binney of Pampisford 

The Binney family are said to have been resident in the Worksop area for several generations before the time of Thomas Binney (1762-1835), with whom the genealogy below begins. Thomas was a corn merchant and maltster, who acquired Morton Hall near Gainsborough and was eventually in partnership with his sons Richard (1796-1875) and Mordecai (1805-63), who operated branches of the family firm in Wakefield (Yorks WR) and Kingston-upon-Hull (Yorks ER) respectively. In 1830, however, father and sons were declared bankrupt, and although the sons eventually emerged from the stigma of bankruptcy and pursued other careers, Morton Hall seems to have been sold and Thomas himself died in 1835.

Morton Hall, near Gainsborough.

Thomas had married twice and produced seven sons and two daughters, and most of the sons who survived to adulthood took up trades and occupations connected with agriculture. Only one became a farmer as such, and he eventually emigrated to Australia, where the family evidently lost sight of him, for in 1865, two years after his death, they were advertising for news of him or his children. The sole exception to the pattern of agricultural pursuits was Thomas' youngest son, Edward William Binney (1812-81), who was articled to a solicitor in Chesterfield and after completing his legal studies in London, set up in practice in Manchester in 1836. From an early age he manifested an interest in scientific and geological matters, and once settled in Manchester he increasingly applied himself to understanding the complex geology of the Lancashire coalfield. In 1851 he entered a partnership with Dr James Young FRS, another geologist, for the extraction of paraffin from a seam of bituminous coal and shale in Scotland. This was financially highly rewarding and by 1865 he had not only made large profits from the business but was able to sell it to a joint-stock company for £120,000. This was the source of the family's later wealth. Edward himself bought Ravenscliffe House, a large house on the seafront at Douglas (Isle of Man) which had been built in 1849, and used it as an occasional residence, while retaining his main home at Cheetham Hill on the northern outskirts of Manchester.

Guisnes Court, Tolleshunt Darcy (Essex)

Ravenscliffe House, Douglas (Isle of Man)

Edward married in 1856 and produced three sons and three daughters. His eldest son, Edward William Binney (1857-96) settled in London but died relatively young. The second son, Thomas Godfrey Binney (1861-1943) was a militia officer and in 1906 bought Guisnes Court at Tolleshunt d'Arcy (Essex), but after his wife's death in 1923 he emigrated to the USA, where he died at San Diego in California. The third and youngest son was James Binney (1868-1935), who became a barrister in 1894. He evidently had ambitions to enter politics, and twice stood for parliament in the Crewe division in 1908 and 1909, but was unsuccessful. He purchased Pampisford Hall (Cambs) in 1893, and added considerably to the collection of conifers in the grounds, acquiring many specimens during his own adventurous travels. 

James Binney married twice, and although his first wife died after only three years of marriage, she left him a son and heir, Richard Christian Cecil James Binney (1897-1966), who duly inherited the Pampisford estate. Cecil, as he was generally known, went to Oxford, where he became one of the founders of the student magazine Cherwell, and then to the Inner Temple, from whence he was called to the bar in 1923. He stood for parliament in 1929 as a Liberal but was not elected, and had a parallel career as a writer of short stories. During the Second World War he was attached to the War Office and Pampisford Hall was used for a time as a reception centre for evacuees. Cecil remained unmarried until 1953, and had no children. When he died in 1966, the Pampisford estate passed to his much younger half-brother, Hector Binney (1919-86), a larger-than-life character who travelled extensively in Europe buying furniture, ceramics and other works of art for a collection which was largely dispersed by sale after his death. After he inherited Pampisford, he became a passionate speaker about the conifer collection in the grounds, but the gardens themselves were neglected during his ownership. On his death, the estate passed to his daughter Arabella (b. 1952), who soon afterwards married Bo Killander (b. 1958). The grounds of the house were extensively damaged in the storms of 1987 and 1990, and this prompted replanting and the start of a programme of restoration of the house and grounds which continued into the 21st century.

Pampisford Hall, Cambridgeshire

The house was first built about 1830 by an unknown architect, on newly-enclosed farmland, for William Parker Hamond (d. 1873), whose ancestors had owned the estate since about 1710 but had been non-resident. As first built it was apparently a moderate-sized villa with the principal rooms along the south-east front. Shortly after the sale of the family's Haling Grove estate at Croydon (Surrey) in the 1860s, Parker Hamond enlarged Pampisford Hall to the designs of George Goldie, creating a new nine-bay south-west front in Italianate style with the centre recessed behind a loggia of banded columns, and a new entrance front to the north-east. The southern three bays on both fronts represent the earlier house. Inside, Goldie created a new entrance hall with an encaustic tiled floor and a chimneypiece carved by Arthur Hayball of Sheffield, a grand staircase and a dining room. A little later, in 1875, all the principal rooms were redecorated in the Italian and French Renaissance styles, and they have been little altered since that time. 

Pampisford Hall: entrance front before 1912.

The large entrance porch is dated 1893 and must have been added immediately after James Binney bought the house. Further additions came in 1912, when he added a ballroom at the northern end of the house - replacing the servants' hall - and a new west wing and a conservatory projecting from the south-east front. The house was used briefly in 1939-40 as a reception centre for boys evacuated from London, but the property has remained in the Binney family. 

Pampisford Hall: the layout of the grounds in 1895, from the 1st edn 25" map.

Formal gardens in the Italian style were designed by Robert Marnock after 1840, and there are significant remains of this layout, but the layout was considerably enlarged and remodelled between 1869 and 1872. The park was already notable for its trees by the mid 19th century, and visitors were welcome every Sunday in the 1870s. The grounds now contain an even finer collection of conifers than they did 150 years ago, with over 1,000 foreign species, many of them collected by James Binney and his elder son. The site was badly affected by the great storms of 1987 and 1990 and was partially replanted with advice from Alan Mitchell. The timber-framed conservatory was restored in the early 21st century.

Descent: built for William Parker Hamond (d. 1873); to son, William Parker Hamond (d. 1884); to cousin, Col. R.T. Hamond, who sold 1893 to James Binney (1868-1935); to son, Richard Christian Cecil James Binney (1897-1966); to half-brother, Hector Danneskold Brudenell Binney (1919-86); to daughter, Arabella Cecilia Bruce Binney (b. 1952), later wife of Bo A.L. Killander (b. 1958).

Binney family of Pampisford Hall

Binney, Thomas (1762-1835). Son of Thomas Binney (1726-83) of Worksop (Notts) and his wife Elizabeth Hannah, daughter of Thomas Casson of Thorne (Yorks WR), born 23 January 1762. Corn merchant and maltster, in partnership with his sons Richard and Mordecai; the firm became bankrupt in 1830. He married 1st, 3 November 1791 at Worksop, Elizabeth (1772-97), daughter of Robert Cowley of Worksop, and 2nd, 19 May 1804 at Gringley-on-the-Hill (Notts), Elizabeth (1772-1843), daughter of James Cross of Gringley-on-the-Hill, and had issue:

(1.1) Eliza Cowley Binney (1792-1875), born 11 August and baptised at Worksop, 13 August 1792; married, 6 May 1813 at Gainsborough (Lincs), Johann Christian Mann of Rostock (Germany), but had no issue; died at Rostock, 27 September, and was buried there, 30 September 1875;

(1.2) Ann Binney (1793-1876), born 15 November and baptised at Worksop, 17 November 1793; married, 15 May 1827 at Gainsborough, Robert Hesleden (1790-1867), and they emigrated to Australia in 1838-39; died without issue at Kew, Victoria (Australia), 18 June, and was buried there, 21 June 1876;

(1.3) Thomas Casson Binney (1795-1865), born 3 May and baptised at Worksop, 6 May 1795; grain and timber merchant of Hull (Yorks ER) and corn factor at Wakefield (Yorks WR); married, 14 November 1822 at Rochdale (Lancs), Isabella Holt of Rochdale, and had issue two sons and four daughters; died 21 June and was buried at Worksop, 24 June 1865; will proved 26 January 1866 (effects under £100);

(1.4) Richard Binney (1796-1875), born 10 June and baptised at Worksop, 19 June 1796; corn merchant in Wakefield (bankrupt, 1830) and later a stockbroker in Leeds; lived in Leeds and later Doncaster; married, 5 May 1823 at Halifax (Yorks WR), Jane (1803-42), daughter of Joseph Walker of Mearclough House, Halifax, and had issue nine sons and two daughters; died in London, and was buried at Bethnal Green Cemetery (Middx), 1873;

(2.1) Mordecai Binney (1805-63), born 19 June 1805; corn merchant in Hull, bankrupt in 1830, who lived later at Retford (Notts); married, February 1841 at Hull Registry Office (and previously in Hamburg), Mary Anne Krumbhaar (1816-56) of Hamburg (Germany), and had issue four sons and one daughter; died 1 June 1863 and was buried at Worksop, where he and his wife are commemorated by a monument;

(2.2) James Cross Binney (1807-63), born 20 April 1807; farmer at Pilham (Lincs); married, 12 August 1831 at Pilham, Susanna (1806-53?), daughter of Rev. William Dunkin, rector of Pilham, and had issue two sons and one daughter; after his wife's death he emigrated to Brisbane, Queensland (Australia); died 13 December 1863;

(2.3) Henry Casson Binney (1809-38), born September 1809; tanner (bankrupt, 1837); married, 29 January 1835 at St John the Baptist, Chester, Mary Ann Oxley (d. 1837), and had issue one daughter (who died in infancy); died 29 October and was buried at Worksop, 3 November 1838;

(2.4) William Edward Binney (b. & d. 1811), born 13 March and baptised at Gainsborough, 2 April 1811; died in infancy, 16 May, and was buried at Gringley-on-the-Hill, 19 May 1811;

(2.5) Edward William Binney (1812-81) (q.v.).

He lived at Morton Hall, Gainsborough (Lincs), which was probably sold after his bankruptcy, although he was still described as 'of Morton' in 1831; he lived subsequently at Wakefield (Yorks WR).

He died at West Stockwith (Notts), 16 November, and was buried at Worksop (Notts), 23 November 1835. His first wife died 17 December 1797. His widow died 10 July 1843.

Binney, Edward William (1812-81). Fifth and youngest son of Thomas Binney (1762-1835) and his second wife, Elizabeth, daughter of James Cross of Gringley-on-the-Hill (Notts), born 7 December 1812 and baptised at Gainsborough, 1 March 1813. Educated at Queen Elizabeth's Grammar Sch., Gainsborough and articled to a solicitor in Chesterfield (Derbys). Solicitor in Manchester from 1836, but he became increasingly occupied by scientific and geological affairs and entered in 1851 into a partnership with Dr James Young FRS for the extraction of paraffin from bituminous coal and shale, with works at Bathgate in Scotland and Leigh (Lancs), which they subsequently sold for £120,000 in 1865. He had an expert knowledge of the Lancashire coalfield, and became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1856 and also of the Geological Society, 1853. He was one of founders of the Manchester Geological Society (President, 1857-59, 1866-67) and the Manchester Literary & Philosophical Society, of which he was successively secretary, vice-president and thrice president. He married, 28 August 1856*, Mary Christiana (1827-82), fourth daughter and co-heiress of Rev. David Jones (d. 1868), rector of Hope Bagot (Shrops.), and had issue:

(1) Edward William Binney (1857-96), born 13 December 1857; educated at King William's College (IoM) and Manchester University; law student; married, 14 February 1888 at St Dunstan's-in-the-West, London, Anne Alexandra Efford (1863-1906), daughter of William Henry Weekes, of Lambeth (Surrey), builder, but had no issue; died 13 October 1896 and was buried at Heston (Middx), where he is commemorated by a monument;

(2) Thomas Godfrey Binney (1861-1943), born 27 May and baptised at Hope Bagot (Shrops.), 15 September 1861; an officer in the North Irish Militia brigade of Royal Artillery (Lt., 1884; Capt.); owned Guisnes Court, Tolleshunt d'Arcy (Essex), 1906-23, but made it available as a VAD Hospital in First World War; married, 31 October 1882 at Douglas (IoM), Susan Lockhart (1865-1923), eldest daughter of Rev. Canon W.T. Hobson, incumbent of Douglas (IoM) and later rector of Playden (Sussex), and had issue six sons; after his wife's death he emigrated to the USA and died at San Diego, California (USA), 27 December 1943; his will was proved 14 September 1944 (estate in England, £2,863);

(3) Maud Elizabeth Binney (1863-1937), born 1 July 1863 and baptised at Hope Bagot, 11 May 1864; married, October 1884, Francis Sowerby (1856-1931) of Hawerby Hall, Coxwold Hall and Beelsby Hall (Lincs), son of J. Sowerby, and had issue three sons and three daughters; lived latterly at Hatfield (Herts); died 10 April 1937; will proved 5 July 1937 (estate £715);

(4) Alice Hannah Binney (1864-1955), born 6 September 1864 and baptised at Hope Bagot, 18 June 1865; married, 8 July 1885 at St Peter, Eaton Sq., Westminster (Middx), Col. Samuel Richard Grubb (1855-1921) of Kiltinan Castle (Co. Tipperary), son of Richard Davies Grubb, and had issue one son and one daughter; died at Clonmel (Co. Tipp.), 29 August 1955; will proved at Waterford, 8 November 1955 (estate £100)

(5) Joan Cross Binney (1865-1939), born 10 November 1865 and baptised at Hope Bagot, 15 April 1866; married, October 1888, Lt. George Bailie Guthrie (1861-1900) of Craigie (Angus) and had issue one daughter; died 14 January 1939; will proved 2 March 1939 (estate £25,375);

(6) James Binney (1868-1935) (q.v.).

He lived at Morton Hall, Gainsborough (Lincs) and later at Cheetham Hill, Manchester. After he made his fortune, he invested in a large seafront house, Ravenscliffe House, at Douglas (IoM), which was sold in 1884, following his death.

He died 19 December, and was buried at Worksop (Notts), 23 December 1881; his will was proved 31 March 1882 (effects £109,278 in the UK). His widow died at Ludlow (Shrops.), 4 May and was buried at Hope Bagot, 10 May 1882; administration of her goods was granted to her second son, 30 May 1883 (effects £241).

* The date is given thus in Burke's Landed Gentry, but I have been unable to trace the marriage, which seems not to have been recorded at Hope Bagot.

Binney, James (1868-1935). Third and youngest son of Edward William Binney (1812-81) and his wife Mary Christiana, daughter and co-heiress of Rev. David Jones, rector of Hope Bagot (Shrops.), born at Douglas (IoM), 14 August 1868. After being orphaned in 1882 he was made a ward in Chancery. Educated at Giggleswick, Rugby and Trinity Hall, Cambridge (matriculated 1887; BA 1892; MA 1898) and Middle Temple (admitted 1889; called 1894). Before attending university he travelled in Europe with a tutor. Barrister-at-law. An officer in 3rd battn., King's Regiment (2nd Lt., 1890; Capt., 1892; retired 1901). JP and DL for Cambridgeshire; High Sheriff of Cambridgeshire, 1903-04. A Conservative in politics, he stood unsuccessfully for Parliament in the Crewe division, 1908, 1909. He travelled extensively in Europe, India, Egypt, the West Indies and South America, and was a notable collector of conifers which he added to the gardens at Pampisford. Author of a short biography of his father, The centenary of a nineteenth-century geologist (1912). He married 1st, 4 January 1894 at Whiston (Lancs), Cecilia de Anyers (1872-97), younger daughter of Capt. Henry Rudolph de Anyers Willis of Halsnead, Whiston, and 2nd, 9 July 1907 at Great Bedwyn (Wilts), Lady Violet Louisa Marjory (1880-1923), daughter of Henry Augustus Brudenell-Bruce (1842-1911), 5th Marquess of Ailesbury, and had issue:

(1.1) Cecilia Ermyntrude Alice Binney (1896-1941), born 4 February and baptised at Pampisford, 29 February 1896; educated at Girton College, Cambridge; language teacher; married, 1938, Maurice Henry Black (1910-91), musician; died 19 March and was buried at Rose Hill Cemetery, Oxford, 24 March 1941; administration of goods granted to her brother, 11 March 1942 (estate £920);

(1.2) Richard Christian Cecil James Binney (1897-1966) (q.v.);

(2.1) Merlin Brudenell Binney (1908-76), of St Annes Heath, Virginia Water (Surrey), born 5 August and baptised at Pampisford, 20 October 1908; educated at Radley, 1922-23, and St Catherine's College, Cambridge; died unmarried at the Holloway Sanatorium, Egham (Surrey), 18 May 1976; administration of goods (with will annexed) granted 14 June 1977 (estate £3,109);

(2.2) Olivera Rowena Binney (1910-86), born 3 September and baptised at Pampisford, 20 October 1910; educated at Heathfield School, the London School of Economics and the Open University (BA 1979); Vice-President of Royal College of Nursing; a member of the Governing Body of the Church in Wales; JP for Glamorganshire (from 1954); appointed OBE, 1967; a Dame of Grace of the Order of St John; married, 24 May 1934 at Pampisford, Col. Sir Cennydd George Traherne KG (1910-95), of Coedarhydglyn, Cardiff (Glam.), son of Cdr. Llewellyn Edmund Traherne; died 22 October 1986; will proved 16 April 1987 (estate £187,255);

(2.3) Hector Danneskold Brudenell Binney (1919-86) (q.v.).

He purchased Pampisford Hall in 1893 and also owned property in Lancashire.

He died 3 September and was buried at Pampisford, 6 September 1935; his will was proved 19 December 1935 (estate £115,230). His first wife died 25 March and was buried at Pampisford, 30 March 1897. His second wife died 26 August 1923; her will was proved 29 November 1923 (estate £6,644).

Cecil Binney (1897-1966) 

Binney, Richard Christian Cecil James (1897-1966). Only son of James Binney (1868-1935) and his first wife, Cecilia d'Anyers, younger daughter of Capt. Henry Rudolph d'Anyers Willis of Halsnead (Lancs), born 27 February 1897. Educated at Eton, and then served in the First World War with Royal West Kent Regiment (Lt.), before completing his education at Balliol College, Oxford (matriculated 1919; BA 1923; MA) and Inner Temple (admitted 1921; called 1923). Barrister-at-law with chambers in 6 Kings Bench Walk, London; employed in Second World War as civilian assistant to the General Staff in the War Office, 1940-43. A freeman of the City of London. While an undergraduate at Oxford he became one of the founders of Cherwell magazine. He was a Liberal in politics and stood unsuccessfully for Parliament in the Uxbridge constituency, 1929, and he also enjoyed considerable success as a writer of short stories. He married, 14 August 1953, Elaine (1904-2002), daughter of G.L.K. Finlay of Edinburgh, but had no issue.

He inherited Pampisford Hall from his father in 1935.

He died 2 October and was buried at Pampisford, 6 October 1966; his will was proved 4 November 1966 and 7 April 1967 (estate £379,790). His widow died aged 97 on 26 January 2002; her will was proved 24 October 2002.

Binney, Hector Danneskold Brudenell (1919-86). Second son of James Binney (1868-1935) and his second wife, Lady Violet Louisa Marjory, daughter of Henry Augustus Brudenell-Bruce, 5th Marquess of Ailesbury, born 5 December 1919 and baptised at Pampisford, 9 January 1920. He served in the army in the Second World War. He was a bon vivant and a larger-than-life character, who travelled extensively throughout Europe, amassing an impressive collection of furniture, ceramics and works of art, especially objects with romantic or historical associations; his collection was sold after his death. On succeeding to his family property, he became known as an eccentric conservationist and spoke passionately about his collection of rare conifer trees. He married 1st, (div. by 1960), Jutta Katharina Marie Elizabeth Antonia von Haxthausen (1916-2004), and 2nd, Oct-Dec 1960, Ann Elizabeth (1926-2017), daughter of Lt-Col. Bernard Ewart Hammond-Davies (1894-1969), and had issue:

(1.1) Arabella Cecilia Bruce Binney (b. 1952) (q.v.);

(2.1) Theresa C. Bruce Binney (1958-2013), born Apr-Jun 1958; had issue three sons and one daughter; died at her home at Wolf Hall Manor, Burbage (Wilts), 25 April 2013.

He inherited Pampisford Hall from his half-brother in 1966.

He died 15 May 1986; administration of his goods (with will annexed) was granted 3 December 1986 (estate £1,678,429). His first wife married 2nd, [forename unknown] Bowen and died in February 2004. His second wife died 21 March 2017.

Binney, Arabella Cecilia Bruce (b. 1952). Only child of Hector Danneskold Brudenell Binney (1919-86) and his first wife, Jutta Katharina Marie Elizabeth Antonia, daughter of Walter Paul Wilhelm von Haxthausen, born 23 December 1952 and baptised at Great Bedwyn (Wilts), 23 June 1953. She married, August 1987, Bo A.L. Killander (b. 1958), and had issue:

(1) Calixta Emily M.G. Binney Killander (b. 1989); educated at Ampleforth and Warren Wilson College, North Carolina (USA); created an award-winning regenerative farming and organic vegetable business (Flourish Produce) on 80 acres of the estate;

(2) Karl Frederick Killander (b. 1992), born 6 March 1992; a competitive shooting specialist, who has represented Great Britain in skeet shooting.

She inherited Pampisford Hall from her father in 1986.

Now living. Her husband is now living.

Principal sources

Burke's Landed Gentry, 1972, pp. 67-68; VCH Cambs, vol. 6, 1978, pp. 105-13; S. Bradley & Sir N. Pevsner, The buildings of England: Cambridgeshire, 3rd edn., 2014, p. 633; T. Mowl & L. Mayer, The historic gardens of Cambridgeshire, 2013, pp. 165-68.

Location of archives

Binney family of Pampisford: deeds, manorial records, estate and family papers, 1672-1925 [Location unknown: for further information contact The National Archives]

Coat of arms

Per saltire, or and azure, four horses' heads couped at the neck counterchanged

Can you help?

• Can anyone provide portraits or photographs of the people whose names appear in bold above, for whom no image is currently shown?
• If anyone can offer further information or corrections to any part of this article I should be most grateful. I am always particularly pleased to hear from current owners or the descendants of families associated with a property who can supply information from their own research or personal knowledge for inclusion.

Revision and acknowledgements

This post was first published 22 April 2026.

(631) Bingham of Newbrook and Bingham Castle, Barons Clanmorris

Bingham, Barons Clanmorris 

My third post on the Bingham family concerns the descendants of Sir George Bingham (d. 1599) [for whom see my post on the Bingham family, Earls of Lucan] who settled at Newbrook (Co. Mayo) and became Barons Clanmorris at the time of the Union. The genealogy below begins with John (or possibly Richard) Bingham, who is usually said to be the son of Sir George, although their respective dates make it much more likely that he was a grandson. He had two known sons: John Bingham (d. 1707), who was an officer in the army and settled at Newbrook (Co. Mayo), but who died without surviving issue; and Charles Bingham (d. 1691), who was killed at the Battle of Aughrim in the Williamite Wars in 1691, but who did leave a family. His eldest son was the Rt. Hon. Henry Bingham (1688-1743), who was a significant player in Irish politics for much of the early 18th century, and who became a member of the Irish privy council and one of the Lords Justices of Ireland (who in effect held the Lord Lieutenancy in commission during vacancies). He married a daughter of John Vesey, Archbishop of Tuam, and together they had two sons and six daughters. His eldest son, and the heir to Newbrook, was John Bingham (1714-80), but it was his second son, Henry Bingham (1715-69), who continued his father's political activities. Henry was married three times but left no children, but John was more fortunate. His eldest, and probably only surviving, son was Henry Bingham (1739-89), who was perhaps the first of the family to be sent to England for education, although he is not known to have attended a university in either England or Ireland. He was MP for Tuam alongside his uncle of the same name between 1761 and 1768 (which must have been very confusing!), and in 1761 married Letitia Daly, who brought him property in Co. Galway. Henry and Letitia had three sons and six daughters, of whom the eldest son, John Bingham (1762-1821) inherited the Newbrook estate and the family's control of the two parliamentary seats at Tuam. When the British government needed to secure a majority in the Irish parliament to push through the Union of Britain and Ireland, John Bingham let it be known that he would support whichever side offered him the greatest inducement. This proved to be the Government, which compensated him for the disenfranchisement of the two seats at Tuam with £15,000 and granted him a peerage, as Baron Clanmorris.

Lord Clanmorris was succeeded in turn by his two sons, Charles Barry Bingham (1796-1829), 2nd Baron Clanmorris, and Denis Arthur Bingham (1808-47), 3rd Baron Clanmorris. The former, who is said to have been the handsomest man in Ireland, but who suffered from delicate health, was married but had no children. Denis married Maria Helena Persse (c.1802-99), the daughter of a family noted for their close association with fox-hunting and other sports in the west of Ireland, who lived to be 96. They had six sons and three daughters, and the sons had varied and interesting careers.

Cregaclare (Co. Galway).

Unfortunately the family seat at Newbrook burned down in 1833, and was not repaired or replaced, although the estate remained in the family until the impact of financial difficulties and land reform in the late 19th and 20th centuries. The family retreated to a house called Cregclare, now Cregaclare (Co. Galway), which they first leased and purchased in the 1850s. This was a two-storey, five-by-three bay house, said to have been built in 1802, of which only fragmentary ruins now remain. The 3rd Baron's eldest son, John Charles Robert Bingham, 4th Baron Clanmorris, lived at Cregclare throughout his life, and was buried in a mausoleum constructed within the shell of a medieval church on the demesne. His widow, Sarah Selina (c.1826-1907) was also buried there, but their remains were removed and reinterred at nearby Ardrahan (Co. Galway) in 1947. John was succeeded by his eldest son, John George Barry Bingham (1852-1916), 5th Baron Clanmorris, who seems to have lived for sport and foreign travel, an expensive combination which whittled away the 18,000 acres he had inherited and led to the leasing of Cregclare, and in 1899 to bankruptcy.  Happily, he was married to the daughter and heiress of the Wards of Bangor Castle (Co. Down), so there was still somewhere for him, his wife and ten children to live, but on his wife's death in 1941 Bangor Castle passed to another branch of the Ward family, and the Barons Clanmorris ceased to be country house owners.

The younger sons of Henry Bingham (1739-89) of Newbrook were Henry Bingham (c.1767-1807) and Denis Bingham (c.1769-1842). Henry was a barrister, educated in England and Dublin, who probably spent his whole working life in Dublin. Some mystery attaches to Denis's career; he spent some five years as a cavalry officer in the British army, retiring in 1790 with the rank of Lieutenant, but in the mid-1790s he pops up in Co. Mayo as 'Major Bingham' and buys lands on the windswept western edge of Co. Mayo. It is possible that he held a militia appointment after leaving the army but I can find no record of this and his majority may have just been invented. At some point, perhaps c.1820, he built a dramatically Gothick house called Bingham Castle on the coast of Co. Mayo which remained the home of this branch of the family until the 1920s. Denis is known to have had at least seven children with a woman called Katherine Geraghty, but the illegitimacy of his eldest son was explicitly stated in a court case in 1843, after he had tried to forge his father's will. It is at least implied in the reports of the case that Denis's other children were born in wedlock, and they included two other sons, including Maj-Gen. Henry Bingham (c.1807-78), whose seat was later Wolverton House, Dalkey (Co. Dublin). It is surprising, therefore, that Denis bequeathed Bingham Castle to none of his sons, but to Denis Bingham (1818-1902), the eldest son of his daughter Anne (c.1797-1882), who had married her first cousin, Robert Augustus Bingham (c.1797-1828), the son of Denis' brother Henry Bingham. Robert Augustus Bingham had died in a bizarre accidental shooting at his house in Co. Mayo before Major Bingham wrote his will, and the young Denis Bingham inherited at the age of 24. His marriage in 1846 brought Carne House (Co. Mayo) into the family, and this was settled on his second son, Gerald Henry Bingham (1855-1947), who later sold it to meet his debts. Bingham Castle was reserved for Denis' eldest son, Denis George Charles Arthur Bingham (1849-76), but he died well within his father's lifetime. He did, however, marry and leave two sons, the elder of whom, Denis George Broad Bingham (1875-1953) succeeded his grandfather as owner of Bingham Castle in 1902. He seems to have stuck to the property all through the difficult years of the Irish revolution and civil war only to abandon the house in about 1929 and move to Poole (Dorset), where he named his house 'Newbrook'. Bingham Castle was subsequently pulled down and the stonework used to improve the local sea defences. D.G.B. Bingham was married but had no children, and this branch of the family, and their connection with Co. Mayo, came to an end with his death.

Newbrook, Claremorris, Co. Mayo

A mid to late 18th century house of two storeys above a basement, possibly to be attributed to William Leeson, which was probably built by John Bingham (1714-80). The seven-bay entrance front had a doorcase with blocked engaged Doric columns and a pediment, and a broad flight of steps leading up to the door. The adjoining front, also of seven bays, had the central three bays stepped forward, and the lower windows of the centre were longer than those in the bays to either side. The rooms are said to have been spacious but not very lofty.

Newbrook House: the ruins of the house in the late 19th century.

In December 1833, while the house was tenanted by Lord Clanmorris' brother-in-law, Parsons Persse, it was gutted by a fire which is said to have burned for eight days, and it was not rebuilt.

Descent: John Bingham (c.1655-1707); to nephew, Rt. Hon. Henry Bingham (1688-1743); to son, John Bingham (1714-80), who probably rebuilt the house; to son, Henry Bingham (1739-89); to son, John Bingham (1762-1821), 1st Baron Clanmorris; to son, Charles Barry Bingham (1796-1829), 2nd Baron Clanmorris; to brother, Denis Arthur Bingham (1808-47), 3rd Baron Clanmorris; burned 1833 and abandoned. 

Bingham Castle, Belturbet, Co. Mayo

A large symmetrical Gothic castle, said to have been built for Denis Bingham (c.1769-1842), who acquired the estate after he left the army in 1790. With its big three storey machicolated towers, however, the castle surely cannot date from the 1790s and is more likely to date from the 1810s, when the influence of John Nash had permeated into Ireland and popularised such features. It is possible that the building was designed by James and George Richard Pain, who worked in a not dissimilar style at Dromoland Castle in 1826.

Bingham Castle: engraving of 1836 showing the castle

Bingham Castle, as shown on OS 6" map of 1838. Note the line of towers to the east.

The towers stand either side of a three bay, two storey centre, with a turreted central feature and a projecting porch, while an engraving of 1836 shows screen walls either side of the house leading to further towers, one of which housed a chapel of ease. A plan of 1838 shows buildings built against the back of the screen wall to the left of the house, but later photographs show only the screen wall and tower on the west, and it is evident that the matching features to the east of the house were demolished in the 19th century. 

Bingham Castle: photograph of the house c.1915.

The 1838 plan shows that the line of the screen wall was continued further east by field boundaries to three further towers, which may have been intended to add to the drama of the composition as seen from the sea to the north. Nothing is known of the interiors of the house, which may well have been classical rather than Gothic. The house was abandoned in about 1929 and subsequently demolished, with much of the stonework being used to strengthen local sea defences.

Descent: built for Denis Bingham (c.1769-1842); to grandson, Denis Bingham (1818-1902); to grandson, Denis George Broad Bingham (1875-1933); abandoned c.1929 and subsequently demolished.

Bingham of Newbrook, Barons Clanmorris

Bingham, John or Richard. Usually said to be the son, but more probably the grandson, of Sir George Bingham (d. 1599) and his wife Cecily, daughter of Robert Martyn of Athelhampton (Dorset) [for whom see my previous post on the Bingham family of Castlebar and Laleham House, baronets and Earls of Lucan]. He married and had issue including:

(1) John Bingham (c.1655-1707), born about 1655; educated at Middle Temple (admitted 1682); an officer in the Duke of Ormonde's regiment of foot (Capt. by 1685); High Sheriff of Co. Mayo, 1686, 1691-92; Deputy Governor of Co. Mayo, 1699; MP for Castlebar, 1692-93 and for Co. Mayo, 1695-99, 1703-07; acquired lands in Co. Mayo c.1685 and settled at Newbrook; married, 30 June 1684, Mary, daughter of Rt. Hon. George Lane (c.1620-83), 1st Viscount Lanesborough, but had no surviving issue; died 1706/7;

(2) Charles Bingham (1664-91) (q.v.).

He lived at Bellanaloobe (Co. Mayo).

His date of death is unknown. His wife's date of death is unknown.

Bingham, Charles (1664-91). Second son of John or Richard Bingham and his wife, born about 1664. Educated at Trinity College, Dublin (admitted 1682) and Grays Inn (admitted 1688). An officer in the army in Ireland (Maj.). He married Mary (d. 1705), second daughter of Henry Blennerhassett, and had issue including:

(1) Rt. Hon. Henry Bingham (1688-1743) (q.v.);

(2) Lettice Bingham (d. 1728); married, as his second wife, her cousin Sir Henry Bingham, 3rd bt.; died 1728; will proved 1728;

(3) John Bingham (d. 1728), probably of this family; MP for Castlebar, 1715-27; died 1728.

He lived at Foxford (Co. Mayo).

He was killed at the Battle of Aughrim, 22 July 1691. His widow died at Castle Hassett (Co. Fermanagh), 1705; administration of his wife's goods was granted to their son, 15 April 1705.

Bingham, Rt. Hon. Henry (1688-1743). Elder son of Maj. Charles Bingham (1664-91) and his wife Mary, second daughter of Henry Blennerhassett of Enniskillen (Co. Fermanagh). Educated at Galway and Trinity College, Dublin (admitted 1705). High Sheriff of Co. Mayo, 1712-13. He was a Tory in politics and was MP for Co. Mayo, 1707-14 and for Castlebar, 1715-43, but he appears to have accommodated himself to the Hanoverian succession while remaining Tory in outlook. Like his father-in-law, he is said to have served as one of the Lord Justices of Ireland (effectively, one of the commissioners for the Lord Lieutenancy during a vacancy). He was also a Trustee of the Linen Board for Ulster, 1739-43 and a Commissioner of the Tillage Act for Connaught, 1736, 1739-43. He was sworn of the Irish Privy Council, 1735. He married, c.1708, Anne (1684-1737), fifth daughter of John Vesey (1638-1716), Archbishop of Tuam, and had issue:

(1) Ann Bingham (b. 1709?; fl. 1743), eldest daughter; probably the child of this name baptised at St Peter & St Kevin, Dublin, 25 August 1709; in 1728 acted as executor to her aunt, who left her a house in Dublin, and in 1744 as executor of her father; probably died unmarried;

(2) John Bingham (1714-80) (q.v.);

(3) Henry Bingham (1715-69), born 1715; educated at Trinity College, Dublin (admitted 1733; BA 1738; hon. LLD, 1762) and Middle Temple (admitted 1739); barrister-at-law in Ireland (called 1744); MP for Tuam, 1750-60, 1761-68; portreeve of Castlebar, 1757; recorder of Tuam, 1756-61; JP for Co. Mayo, 1752, 1756 and for Tuam, 1755-60; lived at Castle Burke (Co. Mayo); married 1st, Cornelia Tighe, 2nd, May 1751, Elizabeth Tucker (d. 1760), and 3rd, 1762, Cordelia Horish, but had no issue; died 15 April 1769; will proved in Dublin, 13 May 1769;

(4) Susanna Bingham (d. 1783); probably the woman of this name who married, 1754 (licence 11 June), Rev. Dr. John Forster (c.1707-88), Fellow of Trinity College, Dublin and Professor of Laws, 1743-59; rector of Tullyaughnish, 1759-67, Drumragh (Co. Derry), 1767-88, vicar of Rathmullen, 1769-83 and rector of Killyleagh (Co. Down), 1783-88, but had no issue; buried at Donnybrook (Co. Dublin), 24 August 1783;

(5) Catherine Bingham (c.1718-87); married, 10 February 1745/6 at St Peter & St Kevin, Dublin, Rev. Chamberlin Walker (1720-73), rector of Rosconnell (Co. Kilkenny), vicar of Abbeyleix (Co. Leix), 1753-73  and rector of Ballyroan (Co. Leix), 1756-72, son of Sir Chamberlain Walker, kt., and had issue at least two sons and two daughters; died 29 March 1787;

(6) Rebecca Bingham; married, 1753, Charles Hamilton of Dublin, merchant;

(7) Dorothy Bingham; unmarried in 1743;

(8) Mary Bingham; married, 1729, Joshua Cooper (c.1695-1757) of Markree (Co. Sligo) (who m2, 1747, Mary Grier alias Mercer), and had issue at least three sons; perhaps died before 1743 as she is not mentioned in her father's will.

He inherited Foxford from his father and Newbrook from his uncle and came of age in 1709.

He died 5 December 1743; his will was proved in 1744. His wife died in 1737.

Bingham, John (1714-80). Elder son of Rt. Hon. Henry Bingham (1688-1743) and his wife Anne, daughter of John Vesey, Archbishop of Tuam, born 1714. Educated in Dublin and at Trinity College, Dublin (admitted 1732; hon. LLD, 1744). MP for Tuam, 1739-60; Governor of Co. Mayo in absence of Lord Tyrawley, 1746-53 and in his own right, 1754-59; High Sheriff of Co. Mayo, 1753; a Commissioner of the Tillage Act for Connaught, 1733-80. He married, 1 June 1738, Frances, eldest daughter and co-heir of Sir Arthur Shaen, 2nd bt., of Kilmore, and had issue including:

(1) Henry Bingham (1739-89) (q.v.);

(2) Arthur Bingham (fl. 1743);

(2) Mary Bingham (fl. 1789).

He inherited Newbrook from his father in 1743.

He died before 24 October 1780. His wife's date of death is unknown.

Bingham, Henry (1739-89). Elder son of John Bingham (1714-80) and his wife Frances, eldest daughter and co-heir of Sir Arthur Shaen, 2nd bt., of Kilmore, baptised 7 November 1739. Possibly educated at Eton, 1756-57. MP for Tuam, 1761-68; Sovereign (i.e. Mayor) of Tuam, 1789. He married, 19 October 1761, Letitia, daughter of Denis Daly of Raford (Co. Galway), and had issue:

(1) John Bingham (1762-1821), 1st Baron Clanmorris (q.v.);

(2) Anne Bingham (c.1765-86), eldest daughter, born about November 1765; married, December 1778, Christopher French (later St. George) (1754-1826), of Tyrone House (Co. Galway) (which he built in 1779), and had issue at least four sons; died at Newbrook, 4 March 1786 and was buried at Drumacoo Cemetery, Kilcolgan (Co. Galway);

(3) Henry Bingham (c.1767-1807) [for whom see below, Bingham of Bingham Castle];

(4) Denis Bingham (c.1769-1842) [for whom see below, Bingham of Bingham Castle]

(5) Frances Bingham (d. 1806?); living in 1789 and probably the woman of this name who died unmarried in Grafton St., Dublin, about May 1806;

(6) Letitia Bingham (fl. 1789); 

(7) Charlotte Bingham (fl. 1789); 

(8) Harriet Bingham (fl. 1789); 

(9) Louisa Bingham (fl. 1789).

He inherited Newbrook from his father in 1780.

He died in December 1789 and was buried in the chapel attached to Bingham Castle, where he was commemorated by a monument; his will was proved 13 March 1790. His widow married 2nd, 1794, Brig. Walter Blake (c.1761-1816), third son of Sir Walter Blake, 10th bt.; her date of death is unknown.

Bingham, John (1762-1821), 1st Baron Clanmorris. Eldest son of Henry Bingham (1739-89) and his wife Letitia, daughter of Denis Daly of Raford (Co. Galway), born 1762. An officer in the Carra Cavalry (Capt., 1796). He stood unsuccessfully for parliament in Co. Mayo in 1790, and fought a duel with Denis Browne of Westport, whom he accused of being 'a [Dublin] Castle hack'; both men avoided injury after Browne deliberately fired his second shot in the air. He was elected MP for Tuam, 1797-1800 on his own interest, and during the debate about the union of Great Britain and Ireland, made it clear that he intended to sell the votes of his two parliamentary seats at Tuam to the highest bidder; he was eventually compensated for their loss with £15,000 and a peerage as Baron Clanmorris, which was created 31 July 1800. A correspondent wrote to Lord Downshire that 'Bingham is a ruffian in his manners, so I wish your Lordships joy of him'. He was also appointed Escheator of Munster in 1800, which may have been an additional reward for his support of the Union. His estates were reckoned to yield some £10,000 a year in the early 19th century. He married, 21 May 1791, the Hon. Anne Maria (1775-1865), only daughter of Rt. Hon. Barry Yelverton (1736-1805), 1st Viscount Avonmore, and had issue:

(1) Charles Barry Bingham (1796-1829), 2nd Baron Clanmorris of Newbrook (q.v.);

(2) Hon. Letitia Maria Zaida Bingham (d. 1832); married, 1815 (licence), perhaps as his second wife, Robert Joseph Ffrench (c.1770-1831) of Rahasane (Co. Galway); died 23 October 1832 and was buried in the Catholic cemetery at Florence (Italy), where she is commemorated by a monument;

(3) Hon. Louisa Catherine Bingham (d. 1891); married, 1838, her cousin, Rev. Benjamin Chapman Frederick Yelverton (d. 1849) of Ballea (Co. Offaly), second son of Hon. Walter Aglionby Yelverton (1772-1824), and had issue two daughters; died 14 May 1891;

(4) Hon. Anna Maria Bingham (d. 1866); married, about June 1829 at Toulouse (France), her cousin, Bentinck Walter Yelverton (1792-1837) of Bellew (Co. Offaly), eldest son of Hon. Walter Aglionby Yelverton (1772-1824), but had no issue; died 21 January 1866;

(5) Denis Arthur Bingham (1808-47), 3rd Baron Clanmorris of Newbrook (q.v.);

(6) Hon. Caroline Harriet Bingham (c.1809-24); died young and was buried at Hollymount churchyard, Kilcommon (Co. Mayo), April 1824;

(7) Hon. Julia Henrietta Francesca Bingham (d. 1864); apparently married [forename unknown] Cataliotti; died in Palermo, Sicily (Italy), 1864; will proved in Dublin (effects under £2,000).

He inherited Newbrook from his father in 1789.

He died at Newbrook, 18 May 1821; his will was proved in Dublin, 1823. His widow died at Penzance (Cornw.), 27 April 1865.

2nd Baron Clanmorris

Bingham, Charles Barry (1796-1829), 2nd Baron Clanmorris. Eldest son of John Bingham (1762-1821), 1st Baron Clanmorris, and his wife Hon. Anne Maria, only daughter of Barry Yelverton, 1st Viscount Avonmore, born 1796. He is said to have been the handsomest man in Ireland, although this is not something his portrait, reproduced here, necessarily conveys! He succeeded his father as 2nd Baron Clanmorris, 18 May 1821. He married, 1816 at Athenry (Co. Galway), Sarah (c.1795-1864), daughter of Walter Lambert of Castle Lambert (Co. Galway), but had no issue.

He inherited Newbrook from his father in 1821.

He died on board his yacht at Plymouth (Devon), 3 June 1829; his will was proved in Dublin, 1829. His widow married 2nd, 29 May 1830 at St Mark, Dublin, Edward Shadwell Hickman of Dublin, and had issue one son; she died 17 May 1864.

Bingham, Denis Arthur (1808-47), 3rd Baron Clanmorris. Second son of John Bingham (1762-1821), 1st Baron Clanmorris, and his wife Hon. Anne Maria, only daughter of Barry Yelverton, 1st Viscount Avonmore, born 12 January 1808. He succeeded his elder brother as 3rd Baron Clanmorris, 3 June 1829. He was a keen racehorse owner. He married, 1 May 1825 at Portpatrick (Wigtowns.), Maria Helena (c.1802-99), second daughter of Robert Persse of Roxborough (Co. Galway), and had issue:

(1) John Charles Robert Bingham (1826-76), 4th Baron Clanmorris of Newbrook (q.v.);

(2) Hon. Denis Arthur Bingham (1829-97), born at Rahasane (Co. Galway), 5/6 November 1829; educated at Rugby; lived in Paris (France), where he wrote a number of books on French military history, ranging from the French Revolution to a first-hand account of the Siege of Paris during the Franco-Prussian War; later settled at Cheltenham (Glos); married, 6 November 1864, Eugenie Colette Gabrielle de Lacretelle (d. 1893) of Burgundy, and had issue one daughter; died 8 July 1897;

(3) Hon. Dudley Persse Bingham (1832-67), born 1 February 1832; he was unmarried and without issue; died suddenly, after returning home from shooting at Foxford, 8 October 1867;

(4) Hon. Henry Charles William Bingham (1834-79?), born 2 February and baptised at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster (Middx), 25 May 1834; said to have died in 1879;

(5) Hon. Anna Maria Bingham (1836-1923), born 25 August 1836; married, 2 October 1856 at Bray (Co. Wicklow), Rev. Ferdinand Cotter Spiller (d. 1857), eldest son of William A. Spiller of Uplands, Bandon (Co. Cork), but had no issue; died 1 May 1923;

(6) Hon. Elizabeth Caroline Bingham (1837-1919), born 28 December 1837; married, 23 July 1856 at Bray (Co. Wicklow), St John Legh Clowes (1832-1915) of Torworth (Notts) and later of Charlton Park, Charlton Kings (Glos), son of Lt-Col. William Legh Clowes of Broughton Hall (Lancs), and had issue five sons and two daughters; died 21 September 1919;

(7) Hon. Albert Yelverton Bingham (1840-1907), born 11 February 1840; DL for Co. Mayo; after his second marriage lived at Stonebyers (Lanarks) and later rented Kitley House (Devon) for some years; married 1st, 24 June 1858 at  St Mary, Windermere (Westmld), Caroline (d. 1879), daughter of James Begbie MD, physician in ordinary to the Queen in Scotland, and had issue one son and two daughters; married 2nd, 20 March 1883 at St Peter, Eaton Sq., Westminster (Middx), Jean Crawford (d. 1924), only child and heir of Thomas Service of Stonebyers House (Lanarks), and had further issue one son (who died young); died 31 March 1907; will proved 16 October 1907 (estate £527);

(8) Hon. Barry John Bingham (1841-68), born at Brighton (Sussex), 3 September 1841; according to one press obituary, he was a physician educated at Trinity College, Dublin; married, 8 November 1866 at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster, Pauline Cecilia Anna Louisa (1835-1915), second daughter of Rev. Frederick Benjamin Chapman Yelverton and widow of Rowland A.G. Davies of Penzance (Cornw.), solicitor; died of sunstroke at Buenos Aires (Argentina), 23 May 1868; administration of goods granted to his widow, 11 December 1868 (effects under £600);

(9) Hon. Isabella Catherine Sarah Bingham (1843-1918), born 11 May 1843; lived at St Leonards-on-Sea (Sussex); died unmarried, 29 November 1918; administration of goods granted 21 January 1919 (estate £1,923).

He inherited Newbrook from his elder brother in 1829, but the house burned down while tenanted in 1833 and was not rebuilt. His widow lived latterly with her youngest daughter at St. Leonards-on-Sea.

He died at Rugby (Warks), 24 February 1847; his will was proved in the PCC, 20 April 1847. His widow died aged 96 on 27 August 1899; administration of her goods was granted to her daughter, 2 October 1899 (estate £270).

4th Baron Clanmorris 

Bingham, John Charles Robert (1826-76), 4th Baron Clanmorris. Eldest son of Denis Arthur Bingham (1808-47), 3rd Baron Clanmorris, and his wife Maria Helena, second daughter of Robert Persse of Roxborough (Co. Galway), born 28 November 1826. According to his obituarist, he was 'one of the most generous and kind-hearted landlords in Ireland' and he does seem to have been well regarded by his neighbours and tenants. He succeeded his father as 4th Baron Clanmorris, 24 February 1847. He married, 24 May 1849 at Lickerrig (Co. Galway), Sarah Selina (c.1826-1907), fourth daughter of Burton Persse of Moyode Castle (Co. Galway), and had issue:

(1) Hon. Matilda Maria Helena Bingham (1850-1943), born 27 April 1850; appointed OBE, 1919; married, 12 January 1871 at Ardraham (Co. Galway), Albert Brassey MP (1844-1918) of Heythrop House (Oxon), fourth son of Thomas Brassey, the famous railway contractor, and had issue three sons and five daughters; died 16 July 1943;

(2) John George Barry Bingham (1852-1916), 5th Baron Clanmorris of Newbrook (q.v.);

(3) Hon. Burton Percy Bingham (1853-98), born 11 September 1853; visited Australia in 1882 with his younger brother and Persse relations; a keen hunting man; married, 3 January 1895, Frances Matilda (d. 1935), third daughter of Burton Robert Parsons Persse of Moyode Castle (Co. Galway), but had no issue; died at Ivymount, Athenry (Co. Galway), 10 December 1898; will proved 20 April 1898 (estate £36);

(4) Hon. Bentinck Yelverton Bingham (1855-92), born 11 January 1855; emigrated to Queensland (Australia) where he became a runholder and later a station hand; became mentally ill and was admitted to a Queensland asylum, 1890, where he died, 6 August 1892;

(5) Hon. Florence Madeline Bingham (c.1856-1941), born about 1856; married 1st, 17 April 1873 at Ardrahan (Co. Galway), John Pollok (1850-91) of Lismany (Co. Galway), son of Allen Pollok, and had issue three sons and three daughters; married 2nd, 6 June 1895, possibly at the British Embassy in Paris, Maj. James David Barry (1857-1941) of Scribblestown Park (Co. Dublin), elder son of Rt. Hon. Charles Robert Barry, Lord Justice of Appeal in Ireland; died 20 December 1941; will proved 17 July 1942 (estate £3,403);

(6) Hon. Rose Elizabeth Bingham (1858-1935), born 10 February 1858; awarded Medaille de la Reconnaissance Francaise; author of Memoirs of the Binghams (1915); married, 29 September 1885 at Eyre Court (Co. Galway), Maj-Gen. Sir Hugh McCalmont KCB CVO (d. 1924), eldest son of James McCalmont of Abbeylands (Co. Antrim), and had issue; died at Funchal, Madeira (Portugal), 28 April 1935 and was buried at St Peter, Kilkenny (Co. Kilkenny); will proved 13 November 1935 (effects in England, £7,426).

He lived at Cregclare (Co. Galway).

He died at Lismany, Ballinasloe, 5 April 1876, and was buried in the Bingham mausoleum at Ardrahan (Co. Galway); administration of his goods was granted to his widow, 31 May 1876 (effects under £16,000). His widow died 28 November 1907; her will was proved 4 January 1908 (estate £482).

Bingham, John George Barry (1852-1916), 5th Baron Clanmorris. Elder son of John Charles Robert Bingham (1826-76), 4th Baron Clanmorris, and his wife Sarah Selina, fourth daughter of Burton Persse of Moyode Castle (Co. Galway), born 27 August 1852. Educated at Eton, 1866-69. An officer in the South Mayo militia (Lt.) and later in the army (Lt., 1874; retired 1878); ADC to Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, 1876-78. DL for Co. Mayo and JP for Co. Galway and Co. Down. He succeeded his father as 5th Baron Clanmorris, 5 April 1876. A profile in the Irish Field in 1892 described his travels and sporting exploits; which included travelling round the world in 1885-86, visiting South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and South America, while another journey took him across Russia. He was a devotee of hunting, shooting, fishing, mountaineering and yachting, and was Master of the Galway Blazers Hunt, 1891-95, for whom he built new stables and kennels at his own expense; in return, the members of the hunt presented him with 'the largest silver cup ever made' in 1896. He succeeded his father as 5th Baron Clanmorris, 5 April 1876, and was declared bankrupt in 1899. He married, 27 June 1878 at Bangor (Co. Down), Matilda Catherine Maude (1858-1941), only child and heiress of Robert Edward Ward of Bangor Castle (Co. Down), and had issue:

(1) Arthur Maurice Robert Bingham (1879-1960), 6th Baron Clanmorris of Newbrook, born 22 June 1879; a page of honour to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, 1889; educated at Eton; an officer in the army (2nd Lt., 1898; Lt., 1900; Capt., 1905; retired 1909; returned to colours, 1915-19), who served in the Boer War and First World War; ADC to Governor-General of New Zealand, 1904-07; succeeded his father as 6th Baron Clanmorris, 4 November 1916; married, 5 June 1907, Leila (c.1881-1969), fourth daughter of Gordon Cloete JP of Rosebank, Cape Town (South Africa), and had issue one son (later the 7th Baron*); died 24 June 1960; will proved in Belfast, 3 August 1960 (estate £1,140);

(2) Hon. John Denis Yelverton Bingham (1880-1940), born 11 August 1880; educated at Harrow and Royal Military College, Sandhurst; an officer in the army (2nd Lt., 1900; Lt., 1901; Capt., by 1912; Maj., 1919; Lt-Col., 1920; retired 1926), who served in South Africa, India, the First World War (mentioned in depatches), Ireland and Egypt; awarded DSO, 1918, and Legion d'honneur; he was a noted racehorse owner, polo player and amateur jockey; while serving in India he rode the winner of the Indian Grand National and in 1924 he competed for the British polo team at the Paris Olympics, winning a bronze medal; in 1925 he was cited as co-respondent in divorce proceedings between Capt. Frank Keith Simmons and his wife Amy, who were divorced in 1926, but he when married, 29 July 1926 at St George, Hanover Sq., Westminster (Middx), his wife was not Amy Simmons but Vera Mary (1891-1972), eldest daughter of Maj. Francis Norman James Darbyshire of Sefton Park, Liverpool; they had issue two daughters; died 28 December 1940 and was buried at Stratton Cemetery, Cirencester (Glos), 1 January 1941; will proved 12 February 1941 (estate £9,620);

(3) Hon. Edward Barry Stewart Bingham (1881-1939), born 26 July 1881; educated at Arnold House, Llandulas (Denbighs.) and Royal Naval College, Greenwich; an officer in the Royal Navy (Sub-Lt.; Lt., 1903; Lt-Cdr.; Cdr., 1914; Capt., 1920; Rear-Adm., 1932; retired 1932), who served in the First World War (mentioned in despatches; VC, 1916, OBE, 1919, Russian Order of St. Stanislaus, 2nd class); prisoner of war, 1916-18; naval ADC to HM King George V, 1931-35; married, 18 May 1915 at St Martin-in-the-Fields, Westminster (Middx) (div. 1937), Vera Maud Temple (1893-1972), daughter of Edward Temple Patterson, and had issue one son and one daughter; died 24 September 1939; administration of goods granted 11 December 1939 (estate £2,454);

(4) Hon. Harriette Ierne Maude Bingham (1882-1917), born 18 July 1882; married, 22 December 1908 at Bangor (Co. Down), Sir Herbert Lightfoot Eason CB CMG MD (1874-1949), medical superintendent of Guy's Hospital (who m2, 10 April 1920 at St Saviour, Southwark (Surrey), Hilda Margaret (1898-1977), daughter of Robert Wallace of Quidenham (Norfk), estate agent)), son of Edward Henry Physick Eason of Forest Hill, surveyor, and had issue one daughter; died 11 January 1917; administration of goods granted to her husband, 20 October 1925 (estate £165);

(5) Hon. Emily Ina Florence Bingham (1884-1957), born 3 March 1884; married, 25 November 1905, Herbert Dixon MP (1880-1950), later 1st Baron Glentoran, and had issue one son and four daughters; died 25 April 1957; will proved 13 September 1957 (estate £5,808);

(6) Hon. Hugh Terence de Burgh Bingham (1885-1957), born 31 December 1885; engineer (AMICE) with Indian State Railways from 1909 (Chief Engineer) served in Indian Defence Force, 1914-18; married, 2 November 1912 at Lahore (now Pakistan), Dorothea Minnie (1888-1976), third daughter of John Alexander Sinclair, barrister, of Lahore, and had issue two sons and one daughter; died 27 February 1957; administration of goods granted to his widow, 30 April 1957 (estate £191);

(7) Hon. Henry Derrick Thomas Bingham (1887-1902), born 17 October 1887; educated at Arnold House, Llandulas, where he died young of double pneumonia, 22 February 1902;

(8) Hon. Eleanor Clare Alice Bingham (1892-1972), born at Bangor (Co. Down), 18 January 1892; married, 15 September 1915 at Bangor, Maj. Harold Murray Fleming (1886-1953), only son of Col. Edward William Fleming of Belville (Co. Cavan), and had issue one son; died 24 November 1972; will proved 30 January 1973 (estate £99,023);

(9) Hon. George Roderick Bentinck Bingham (1894-1972), born at Bangor, 10 May 1894; educated at Cheltenham College; served in the army (2nd Lt., 1914; Lt., 1914; Capt.) in the First World War and in Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (Sq. Ldr.) in Second World War; emigrated to South Africa; married, 4 April 1921 at Lucknow (India), Barbara Melvill (b. 1891), youngest daughter of Col. Charles Henry Joubert de la Ferté MB IMS, but had no issue; died at Pietermaritzburg (South Africa), 10 December 1972;

(10) Hon. Richard Gerald Ava Bingham (1896-1918), born 8 March 1896; an officer in the Royal Air Force (2nd Lt.); killed in action, 8 October 1918, and was buried at Inchy-en-Artois (France); administration of goods granted in Dublin and sealed in London, 17 May 1919 (estate £106).

At first, he lived mainly at Cregclare and Seamount (Co. Galway). In 1883 his estates comprised 12,337 acres in Co. Mayo and 5,744 acres in Co. Galway, together worth £14,473 a year. His wife inherited a life interest in Bangor Castle (Co. Down) and it became their main home in Ireland.

He died 4 November 1916; his will was proved 21 December 1916 (estate £13,967). His widow died 14 February 1941; her will was proved in Belfast, 15 August 1941 (estate £15,722).

* John Michael Ward Bingham (1908-88), 7th Baron Clanmorris, was an MI5 officer during the Second World War and the Cold War, and also a detective novelist; his only son is the present Lord Clanmorris.

Bingham of Bingham Castle and Annagh House

Bingham, Denis (c.1769-1842). Third son of Henry Bingham (1739-89) and his wife Letitia, daughter of Denis Daly of Raford (Co. Galway), born c.1769. An officer in the 14th Light Dragoons and later 5th Dragoon Guards (Cornet, 1785; Lt., 1788; retired 1790); after his retirement he was always known as Major Bingham, though there seems to be no evidence he ever held this rank in the army or militia. He is said to have married, c.1795, Katherine Geraghty, and had issue:

(1) Anne Bingham (c.1797-1882), born about 1797; married, 1817 (licence 26 July), her first cousin, Robert Augustus Bingham (c.1797-1828) (q.v.) and had issue three sons and three daughters; died 7 June 1882;

(2) Letitia Bingham (c.1799-1875), born about 1799; lived with her brother at Wolverton House, Dalkey (Co. Dublin); died unmarried, 7 August 1875;

(3) Louisa Bingham (c.1800-72), third daughter, born about 1800; married, 6 September 1818, Villiers Bussy Fowler (c.1798-1848) of Dublin, solicitor and secretary of the Law Society of Ireland, who was declared of unsound mind in 1847, and had issue three daughters; drowned in the wreck of the SS Royal Adelaide off Dorset, 29 November 1872 and was buried at St John, Portland (Dorset);

(4) Maria Bingham (c.1805-71), born about 1805; died unmarried at Dalkey (Co. Dublin), 29 May 1871;

(5) Maj-Gen. Henry Bingham (c.1807-78), born about 1807; an officer in the army (2nd Lt., 1827; Lt., 1832; Capt., 1841; Maj., 1851; Lt-Col, 1857; Col., 1862; Maj-Gen., 1868; retired 1864); lived at Wolverton House, Dalkey (Co. Dublin); married, December 1839, Louisa French St. George (1813-80) and had issue three sons and one daughter; died 1 October 1878; will proved in Dublin, 4 December 1878 (effects under £300);

(6) Charles Bingham (fl. 1830); living in 1830, when he was allegedly assaulted at Binghamstown by John Shawe, the Chief Constable of Co. Mayo.

He also had an illegitimate son, reputedly born to the woman who became his wife before their marriage:

(X1) William Bingham (b. c.1794), born about 1794; he seems to have made a clumsy attempt to forge a will purporting to be made by his father in 1843; death not traced.

He built Bingham Castle (Co. Mayo) and founded the town of Binghamstown, c.1795. At his death Bingham Castle passed to his grandson and namesake, Denis Bingham (1818-1902).

He died 10 March 1842. His wife's date of death is unknown.

Bingham, Henry (c.1767-1807). Second son of Henry Bingham (1739-89) and his wife Letitia, daughter of Denis Daly of Raford (Co. Galway), born about 1767. Educated at Trinity College, Dublin (admitted 1784), Lincoln's Inn (admitted 1788), St Mary Hall, Oxford (matriculated 1791) and King's Inns (called 1794). Barrister-at-law. He married, 15 April 1792 (licence 17 March), Anne (b. c.1765), 'an heiress of large fortune', daughter of Robert Bodkin of Annagh House (Co. Galway), and had issue:

(1) Maria Henrietta Elizabeth Bingham (c.1793-1876), born about 1793; died unmarried, 10 January 1876;

(2) Henry Bingham; eldest son; probably died young;

(3) Anna Sarah Augusta Bingham (c.1795-1874), born about 1795; died unmarried, 14 February 1874;

(4) Robert Augustus Bingham (c.1797-1828) (q.v.);

(5) Rev. Denis John Charles Bingham (c.1801-32); educated at Trinity College, Dublin (admitted 1818; BA 1822; MA 1825); ordained deacon, 1827; married, 24 June 1827 at Turlough (Co. Mayo), Sarah, daughter of Luke Higgins of Castlebar; said to have died 1832;

(6) Harriet Catherine Anna Bingham (1801-72); married Benjamin Jennings of Mount Jennings (Co. Mayo) and had issue at least two sons and five daughters; died 6 October 1872.

He probably lived in Dublin.

He died in Glamorganshire, December 1807. His wife's date of death is unknown.

Bingham, Robert Augustus (c.1797-1828). Second son of Henry Bingham (c.1767-1807) and his wife Anne, daughter of Robert Bodkin of Annagh House (Co. Galway), born about 1798. Educated at Trinity College, Dublin (admitted 1813). He married, 1817 (licence 26 July), his cousin Anne (c.1797-1882), eldest daughter of Maj. Denis Bingham of Bingham Castle, and had issue:

(1) Denis Bingham (1818-1902) (q.v.);

(2) Maria Louisa Bingham (c.1819-73); married, 29 August 1846, George Joseph d'Arcy (c.1821-74), perhaps of Hyde Park (Co. Westmeath), and had issue one son and one daughter; died 4 April 1873;

(3) Henry Bingham (c.1823-94), born about 1823; settled at Annagh House aka Bingham Lodge, Belturbet (Co. Mayo); married 1st, 1 September 1846 at Westport (Co. Mayo), Margaret F. McGreal and had issue one son; married 2nd, 25 May 1876 at Kingstown (Co. Dublin), Maria, fifth daughter of Benjamin Jennings of Mount Jennings (Co. Mayo) and had issue one son who died in infancy; died 27 March 1894 and was buried at Belmullet (Co. Mayo); will proved 22 August 1894 (effects £5,429);

(4) Robert Augustus Bingham (c.1825-47), born about 1825; died unmarried, 4 October 1847;

(5) Anne Bingham (c.1827-97), born about 1827; died unmarried aged 70 in a fire at her home in Kingstown (Co. Dublin), 17 March 1897; administration of goods granted 18 June 1897 (effects in England & Wales, £572);

(6) Letitia Bingham; living in 1894; died unmarried, but death not traced.

He lived at Ballykinlettea Lodge. His wife lived latterly at Sandycove, Kingstown (Co. Dublin).

He died after being accidentally shot in his own home by a surveyor called Knight whom he had employed to work on improving estate roads, 21 March 1828. His widow died 7 June 1882.

Bingham, Denis (1818-1902). Eldest son of Robert Augustus Bingham (c.1797-1828) and his wife Anne, eldest daughter of Maj. Denis Bingham of Bingham Castle, born 8 September 1818. An officer in the North Mayo Regiment of Militia (Lt., 1846; Capt., 1851); JP for Co. Mayo. In 1843 he was described by his uncle, Henry Bingham, as 'a hot-headed young man'. He married, 19 February 1846, Elizabeth Elinor (1822-94), only child and heiress of Arthur Nash of Carne House (Co. Mayo), and had issue:

(1) Adelaide Elizabeth Bingham (c.1847-85); married, 10 July 1867, Henry Tilson Shaen Carter (1846-82), who by 1880 was a person of unsound mind, eldest son and heir of Thomas Shaen Carter (1813-75) of Watlington Park (Oxon), but had no issue; died in Dublin, 1 February 1885; administration of goods granted to her father, 9 June 1885 (effects £1,240);

(2) Denis George Charles Arthur Bingham (1849-76) (q.v.);

(3) Constance Letitia Anne Bingham (1853-84); married, 1873, Cochrane E. Palmer, eldest son of Robert Palmer JP of Beckfield House (Co. Leix);

(4) Elizabeth Clara Bingham (1854-80); died unmarried, 17 November 1880; administration of goods granted to her father, 11 March 1880 (effects under £200);

(5) Gerald Henry Bingham (1855-1947), born 6 July 1855; educated at Eton; lived at Carne House (Co. Mayo), which he sold to meet his debts, and later at Binghamstown House (Co. Mayo); married, 5 December 1877 at St Anne, Dublin, Augusta Cecilia Yelverton (1858-1927), daughter of Rowland Augustus Griffith Davies of Tredinick (Cornw.), and had issue two sons and six daughters; died at Binghamstown, 4 March 1947;

(6) Richard Lionel Nash Bingham (1856-1901), born 29 October 1856; emigrated to the United States of America in 1876; married, 3 April 1889 at Bowie, Texas (USA), Callie Elizabeth Elliot (1872-96), and had issue one son; died at Stamps, Lafayette, Arkansas (USA), 25 July 1901;

(7) Robert Milcombe Bingham (1858-64), born 31 August 1858; died young, 12 February 1864;

(8) Frances Anne Shaen Bingham (1860-73), born about 1860; died young, 30 July 1873;

(9) Ernestine Elizabeth Bingham (c.1862-71), born about 1862; died young, 24 January 1871;

(10) Viola Alexandra Bingham (1865-1921), born 24 March 1865; married, 6 June 1885 at Bingham Castle, by special licence of Archbishop of Tuam, Lt. Arthur Tilson Shaen Carter RN (1851-94), son of Thomas Shaen Carter of Watlington Park (Oxon), and had issue two sons; died in Portsmouth Corporation Mental Hospital, 27 February 1921; administration of goods granted 28 February 1922 (estate £693).

He inherited Bingham Castle from his grandfather in 1842.

He died at Bingham Castle, 24 December 1902; his will has not been traced. His wife died 11/12 January 1894.

Bingham, Denis George Charles Arthur (1849-76). Eldest son of Denis Bingham (1818-1902) and his wife Elizabeth Elinor, only child of Arthur Nash of Carne House (Co. Mayo), born 19 November 1849. He married, 24 September 1874, Maria Mary Hutchinson (c.1846-81), eldest daughter of Capt. William Henry Broad RN, and had issue:

(1) Denis George Broad Bingham (1875-1953) (q.v.);

(2) Charles Henry Arthur Shaen Richard Bingham (b. 1877), born posthumously, 9 April 1877 and baptised at Ringsend (Co. Dublin), 17 May 1878; educated at Christ's Hospital, London; emigrated to United States of America, 1906, and worked as an accountant in the insurance industry in New Jersey; married, 18 March 1920 in Manhattan, New York (USA), Maude Hannah (b. 1888), daughter of Uriah Pollard, and had issue one daughter; living in 1950 but death not traced.

He lived at 3 Bayview, Irishtown (Co. Dublin).

He died in the lifetime of his father, 10 October 1876; administration of his goods was granted to one of his creditors, 29 January 1878 (effects under £800), and a further granted was made to his elder son, 4 June 1919. His widow died 19 April 1881; her will was proved 10 June 1881 (effects under £100).

Bingham, Denis George Broad (1875-1953). Elder son of Denis George Charles Arthur Bingham (1849-76) and his wife Maria Mary Hutchinson, eldest daughter of Capt. W.H. Broad RN, born 27 November 1875. An officer in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (Lt., 1915; retired 1919) in the First World War. He married, 2 June 1909 at Alverstoke (Hants), Ina Mary (1879-1965), daughter of Capt. George Alexander Broad RN MVO, captain of the Royal Yacht and later HM Serjeant-at-Arms, but had no issue.

He inherited Bingham Castle from his grandfather in 1902, but abandoned the house in about 1929 and settled at Poole (Dorset), where he named his house 'Newbrook'.

He died at Poole, 4 December and was buried at Canford Magna (Dorset), 8 December 1953; his will was proved 25 February 1954 (estate £38,290). His widow died 26 May 1965; her will was proved 16 August 1965 (estate £85,156).

Principal sources

Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 2003, pp. 794-95; Burke's Landed Gentry of Ireland, 1904, p.47; Burke's Landed Gentry of Ireland, 1912, p. 44; R.E. McCalmont, Memoirs of the Binghams, 1915; T. Bingham-Daly, The Mayo Binghams, 1997, pp. 134-51.

Location of archives

No significant archive is known to survive.

Coat of arms

Azure, a bend cottised between six crosses pattée or.

Can you help?

• Can anyone provide portraits or photographs of the people whose names appear in bold above, for whom no image is currently shown?
• If anyone can offer further information or corrections to any part of this article I should be most grateful. I am always particularly pleased to hear from current owners or the descendants of families associated with a property who can supply information from their own research or personal knowledge for inclusion.

Revision and acknowledgements

This post was first published 12 April 2026.