(75) Aldworth of Newmarket Court

Aldworth of Newmarket Court

The Aldworth family takes its name from the village of Aldworth in Berkshire, and a minor gentry family of that name was established in the Frilford and Marcham area from the 16th  century.  Sir Richard Aldworth (d. 1629), a younger son of Richard Aldworth (d. 1608) the verderer of Stow Wood (Oxon), emigrated to Ireland, became Provost-Marshal of Munster in 1610 and was knighted in 1612.  He settled at Short Castle, Mallow (Cork) and between 1610 and 1620 he obtained several grants of confiscated lands for the creation of a new settlement of Englishmen.  By 1620 he had established the town of Newmarket (Cork), which received a market charter in that year.  At his death he had no children and left his Irish estate to his nephew Richard (b. 1596; fl. 1638), who also died without issue. His heir was his brother William, whose son Sir Richard Aldworth (1618-92), kt., eventually succeeded to the estates.  In the 1630s the family may have lived chiefly at Ballyhooley Castle, but this was captured in 1645 and probably rendered uninhabitable; Short Castle was destroyed in 1642.  

It is therefore likely that after the Civil War a new house was built at Newmarket, although nothing survives of this building.  Sir Richard Aldworth was knighted in 1668 and died in 1692. His only son, Boyle Aldworth (c.1660-97), was drowned during a crossing to England, and the Newmarket estate passed to Boyle’s infant son, Richard Aldworth (1694-1776).  In 1713, Richard, married the Hon. Elizabeth St. Leger from Doneraile Court, who achieved some celebrity as the only woman ever initiated into regular freemasonry; something which occurred after she was caught spying on a lodge meeting in her father’s house as a teenage girl, as a way of satisfying the requirement that no non-initiate should observe the sacred mysteries of the lodge.  Richard was High Sheriff of Cork in 1724 and MP for Lismore (Waterford) in the Irish Parliament for over thirty years.  He built or rebuilt Newmarket House in 1725 using the same architect, Isaac Rothery, as his wife’s family had employed to rebuild Doneraile.  

Richard and his wife had two sons, the younger of whom, St. Leger Aldworth, succeeded to the Doneraile estates and took the St. Leger name.  He was later created Viscount Doneraile.  His elder brother, Boyle Aldworth (d. 1787) inherited the Newmarket estate, and passed it to his eldest son, Richard (1741-1824).  Richard seems to have lived at Anne’s Grove (Cork) before coming into his inheritance and had also built Rockmills Lodge (Cork) in 1776 as a hunting and fishing lodge.  Richard and his wife had no children, and at his death Newmarket passed to his half-brother, Robert Rogers Aldworth (1762-1836), while Rockmills Lodge passed to his wife’s cousin, Charles Deane Oliver (1771-1829).  

Robert Rogers Aldworth had also married into the Oliver family, and his eldest son was named Richard Oliver Aldworth (1794-1887).  He served as High Sheriff of Co. Cork in 1832 and married the granddaughter of his near neighbour, the Earl of Listowel.  Two of their sons, Col. Richard William Aldworth (1825-99) and Maj. Robert Aldworth (1827-1907) inherited the Newmarket estate in turn, after which it passed to a fairly distant kinsman, Maj. John Charles Oliver Aldworth (1869-1926).  He had married the heiress of Ardnalee (Cork) in 1901, and they later bought Mixbury Hall in Oxfordshire.  Ardnalee was sold in 1907 and when her husband died in 1926, Mrs. Aldworth also sold Newmarket House, although she retained some of the estate land for a while later to provide a rental income.  Mixbury Hall was sold about 1931 or 1932, although again it would seem that the manorial rights and some of the land attached to it was kept until shortly before the Second World War.  Newmarket House was sold to the Sisters of St. Joseph and remained a convent until at least 1973; it is now a rural development institute. John Aldworth's son, John Richard St. Leger Aldworth (1914-44) was a minor when his father died, and was killed in Normandy in 1944.  His young widow moved to Canada with their son and remarried.  

An account of Anne's Grove is given in my post on the Annesley family; the account of Ardnalee is reserved for an article on the Collins family.

Newmarket Court, Co. Cork

Newmarket Court.  Image: Cork City Council.

A fine two-storey U-plan house built 1725 by Isaac Rothery for Richard Aldworth MP.  The house was described in 1750 as having ‘two regular fronts of hewn stone’, which it still has; they adjoin each other, and are each of seven bays; a third, rendered facade, also of seven bays, completes the U-plan.  The stone facades are given interest and movement by recessing the three central bays on the entrance front and projecting them forward on the site elevation.  The entrance front has a pedimented doorcase.  The side elevation has a centrepiece of superimposed pilasters, niches and an entablature between the two storeys which curves upwards in a Baroque manner.  The house had a high pitched roof with a solid parapet, but in re-roofing it has lost its parapet and chimneys and gained an unlovely series of skylights; it has also suffered the indignity of uPVC replacement windows.  Inside, the oval hall and geometric staircase have fine plaster detailing. The house was sold by the Aldworths in 1927 to the sisters of St. Joseph, who had a convent here which offered music lessons and classes in secretarial skills to local girls until 1973.  It is now the James O’Keeffe Institute, dedicated to rural development and training through IRD Duhallow and Teagasc.

Newmarket Court following unsympathetic late 20th century alterations

Descent: Sir Richard Aldworth (d. 1629); to brother, William Aldworth (d. c.1638); to son, Sir Richard Aldworth, kt. (1616-c.1696); to son, Boyle Aldworth (d. 1697); to son, Richard Aldworth (1694-1776); to son, Boyle Aldworth (d. 1788); to son, Richard Aldworth (1741-1824); to half-brother, Robert Rogers Aldworth (1762-1836); to son, Richard Oliver Aldworth (1794-1887); to son, Col. Richard William Aldworth (1825-99); to brother, Maj. Robert Aldworth (1827-1907); to kinsman, Maj. John Charles Oliver Aldworth (1869-1926); to son, Maj. John Richard St. Leger Aldworth (1914-44), who sold 1927 to Sisters of St. Joseph; sold after 1973.

Rockmills Lodge, Co. Cork

Rockmills Lodge, as rebuilt in the 1920s.

The lodge was built by Richard Aldworth in 1776 as a shooting and fishing lodge.  It suffered in the 19th century from a severe outbreak of dry rot, when it was reported that "The whole staircase, and the floors of one or two rooms have been reduced to a soft spungy substance, and what seems most remarkable is, that the part adjoining the back of a chimney experienced the most rapid decay".  The house was enlarged c.1800, after 1824 and in 1906, and by 1918 was a substantial two-storey house about five bays square, with curved full-height bows either side of the main front that swept round to form the ends of the side elevations without any break.  The house was burnt in the Troubles of the early 1920s but rebuilt in a similar form with a new entrance in the side elevation, with three narrow closely-spaced windows above a fanlighted front door.

Descent: Richard Aldworth (d. 1824); to nephew by marriage, Charles Deane Oliver (1771-1829); to widow, Sarah Oliver (d. 1866); to son, Richard Charles Deane Oliver (1811-80), who leased c.1866 to his cousin Commander St. Leger Aldworth; to Charles Deane Oliver (1861-1945); ?to daughter, Elizabeth Catherine Deane Oliver (1895-1953).

Mixbury Hall, Oxfordshire

Mixbury Hall

A compact but picturesque house with semi-timbered gables, long sloping tiled roofs and prominent chimneystacks, apparently built on a greenfield site by Charles Kayler c.1900, after he had foreclosed on a mortgage of the estate by the Batson family of Horseheath (Cambs).  It seems to have been sold almost immediately to  Lena Stephanie Cecil Collins of Ardnalee (Cork), who married Maj. John Charles Oliver Aldworth in 1901.  She was lord of the manor in 1935, but the house had apparently been sold by then.  At the time of writing the house was for sale, and pictures of the interior show that it has had a fashionable all-white makeover internally.

Descent: Charles Edward Kayler (né Pugh) (1863-1934); sold c.1901 to Mrs (Lena) Stephanie Cecil Aldworth (d. 1956), who sold c.1931/32...

The Aldworth family of Newmarket Court

Aldworth, William (d. 1585). Son of John Aldworth (fl.1547-65) of Garford (Berks) and his wife [surname unknown but possibly Parnell]. He married [forename unknown] Ragsdale and had issue:
(1) John Aldworth (fl 1608);
(2) Owen Aldworth (d. 1618) of Ramsden, (Oxon);

(3) Bazell Aldworth (fl. 1618);

(4) Richard Aldworth (d. 1608) (q.v.);

(5) Gregory Aldworth (fl. 1608);

(6) Joane Aldworth (fl 1608);  married Roger Wallin;
(7) Parnell Aldworth.

He died in 1585.
Aldworth, Richard (d. 1608).  Son of William Aldworth (d. c.1585) of Garford (Berks) and his wife [forename uncertain] Ragsdale, born before 1560. Verderer of Stow Wood Forest in Oxfordshire.  He married [forename unknown] Cowdry and had issue:
(1) William Aldworth (c.1570-c.1638) (q.v.);
(2) Sir Richard Aldworth (d. 1629), kt.; Provost-Marshal (later Vice-President) of Munster, 1610; Sheriff of Cork, 1610-11; knighted 22 April 1613; obtained grants of land for settlement at Short Castle (Cork) c.1610-15 and to establish the town of Newmarket (Cork), 1620; married Ellen Poer but died without issue, 21 June 1629; buried at Newmarket;
(3) Gregory Aldworth (fl. 1608);
(4) Margaret Aldworth (fl. 1608); married John Hayward and had issue a daughter.
He died in 1608 and his will was proved at Oxford. His wife predeceased him.

Aldworth, William (c.1570-c.1638).  Elder son of Richard Aldworth (d. 1608).  He married, 16 November 1595 at Steventon (Berks), Anne Stevens and had issue:
(1) Richard Aldworth (b. 1596; fl. 1638), baptised at Steventon (Berks), 10 August 1596; married, in Ireland, Anne Mervyn, but had no issue; inherited the Co. Cork estates of his uncle in 1629; living in 1638;
(2) William Aldworth (b. c.1598) (q.v.).
He died in about 1638.

Aldworth, William (b. c.1598). Younger son of William Aldworth (c.1570-c.1638) and his wife Anne Stevens. He married and had issue:
(1) Sir Richard Aldworth (1618-92), kt. (q.v.).
He inherited the Short Castle, Ballyhooley Castle and Newmarket estates in Co. Cork from his brother, Richard Aldworth, after 1638.
He was living in 1638 but his date of death is unknown.

Aldworth, Sir Richard (1618-92), kt., of Newmarket*.  Son of William Aldworth (b. c.1598), born 13 January 1618 at Newmarket. Freeman of Cork, 1666; High Sheriff of Co. Cork, 1665-66; knighted in 1668; possibly Captain of a regiment of foot, 1677. He married, 1656 (settlement 21 October), Martha (fl. 1689), younger daughter of Sir Robert Travers and widow of Capt. Robert Stannard (d. 1655) of Kilmallock, and had issue:
(1.1) Mary Aldworth (b. c.1658), born before 1660; married 1st, 5 June 1678, Simon (1660-84), son of Sir Simon Eaton, 1st bt. of Dunmoylin and Ballynaglough (Limerick); married 2nd, 16 October 1686, Maj. George Mathew (d. 1725), eldest son of Theobald Mathew of Thurles Castle (Tipperary) and had issue a daughter;
(1.2) Boyle Aldworth (c.1660-97) (q.v.).
He inherited the Newmarket and Ballyhooley estates from his father c.1638. During the wars of the 1640s his castles at Ballyhooley and Short Castle were slighted and probably rendered uninhabitable.
He died about 1692, aged 74. His wife died after 1689.
* He is not to be confused with the Richard Aldworth from Berkshire who was educated at Oxford and became Chief Secretary of Ireland in the 1690s.

Aldworth, Boyle (c.1660-97), of Newmarket.  Son of Sir Richard Aldworth (1618-92), kt. and his wife Martha, daughter of Sir Robert Travers, born about 1660.  Appointed Comptroller of Customs at Youghal (Cork), 1691; High Sheriff of Co. Cork, 1692.  He married 1st, 10 April 1687, Elizabeth, daughter of Rt. Rev. Ulysses Burgh, of Dromkeen (Kildare), bishop of Ardagh, and 2nd, 20 July 1691, Elizabeth, daughter of William Cullinford, a Commissioner of the Revenue, and had issue:
(1.1) A son, baptised 17 June 1689 at home in Kensington (Middx), perhaps the William Aldworth recorded as a son of Boyle, who died without issue;
(2.1) Richard Aldworth (1694-1776) (q.v.);
(2.2) Boyle Aldworth (1697-98), baptised at St. Antholin, Budge Row, London, 20 August 1697; buried at St. Antholin, Budge Row, London, 24 March 1697/8;
(2.3) Martha Aldworth; married George Stannard;
(2.4) Mary Aldworth.
He inherited the Newmarket and Ballyhooley estates from his father in about 1692.
He was drowned, 6 March 1697, on a voyage to England.  His widow married 2nd, 1700, John Raines, and 3rd, Mr. Butler.

Aldworth, Richard (1694-1776), of Newmarket Court. Elder son of Boyle Aldworth (c.1660-97) and his second wife, Elizabeth, daughter of William (or Richard) Culliford; born 1694.  High Sheriff of Co. Cork, 1724. MP for Lismore in the Irish Parliament, 1728-60.  He married, April 1713, Elizabeth St. Leger (d. 1772) (the only woman Freemason), daughter of 1st Viscount Doneraile, and had issue:
(1) Boyle Aldworth (c. 1714-87/88) (q.v.);
(2) St. Leger Aldworth (later St. Leger) (c.1715-87), 1st Baron and 1st Viscount Doneraile of the second creation; born about 1715; took the surname St. Leger in lieu of Aldworth on succeeding to the St. Leger estates at Doneraile Court and elsewhere, 1767; married, c.1753, Mary, daughter of Redmond Barry and had issue seven sons and seven daughters; died 15 May 1787 [further details will be provided in a future post on the St. Leger family];
(3) Eliza Aldworth (probably of this generation); married, 21 January 1742, William (d. 1785), son of Richard Allen of Greenfield (Cork) and had issue two sons and seven daughters.
He inherited the Newmarket Court estate from his father at the age of three in 1697 and built the present house in 1725.
He died 25 April 1776.  His wife died 25 April 1772.

Aldworth, Boyle (c.1714-87/88), of Newmarket Court. Elder son of Richard Aldworth (1694-1776) and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Arthur St. Leger, 1st Viscount Doneraile, born about 1714. Educated at Trinity College, Dublin (admitted, 1733).  Colonel of the Newmarket Rangers, 1782.  He married 1st, Jane, eldest daughter of Robert Oliver MP of Cloghanodfoy (Limerick) and 2nd, 2 March 1755, Martha, daughter and eventual co-heiress of Col. Christopher Rogers of Lota (Cork), and had issue:
(1.1) Richard Aldworth (c.1741-1824) (q.v.);
(1.2) Robert Aldworth; died without issue;
(1.3) Elizabeth Aldworth; married, 31 October 1770, John Flood of Flood Hall (Kilkenny) and had issue two sons and one daughter;
(1.4) Jane Aldworth; married 1775, Phineas Bury of Little Island (Cork) and had issue four sons and two daughters;
(1.5) Mary Aldworth (d. 1805); died without issue, 26 January 1805;
(1.6) Susan Aldworth (d. 1795); died without issue, March 1795;
(2.1) St. Leger Aldworth (d. 1823) of Old Sunday's Wells, Cork; died without issue, 12 November 1823;
(2.2) Christopher Aldworth (d. 1796); died without issue, 14 April 1796;
(2.3) Boyle Aldworth (b. c.1760); educated at Trinity College, Dublin (admitted 1777); died without issue;
(2.4) Robert Rogers Aldworth (1762-1836) (q.v.).
He inherited the Newmarket Court estate from his father in 1776.
He died 4 December 1787 (or possibly 7 December 1788).  

Aldworth, Richard (c.1741-1824), of Annes Grove, Rockmills Lodge and Newmarket Court.  Eldest son of Boyle Aldworth (c.1714-87/88) and his first wife, Jane, daughter of Robert Oliver MP, born about 1741.  MP for Doneraile in the Irish Parliament, 1768-74.  He married, 1 February 1770, Anne (d. 1827), daughter of Rt. Rev. John Ryder DD, Archbishop of Tuam and widow of Admiral Thomas Cotes, but had no issue.
He inherited the Newmarket Court estate from his father in 1778/88, when he had already been living for some years at Annes Grove and then Rockmills Lodge, which he built in 1776.
He died 4 April 1824, aged 83; his will was proved in the PCC, 3 June 1824.  His widow died 10 May 1827; her will was proved in the PCC, 3 September 1827.

Aldworth, Robert Rogers (1762-1836), of Sun Lodge and Newmarket Court. Youngest son of Boyle Aldworth (c.1714-87/88) and his second wife, Martha, daughter and co-heiress of Col. Christopher Rogers of Lota (Cork), born 11 January 1762.  He married, 11 March 1793, his cousin Elizabeth (1770-1842/8), daughter of Ven. John Oliver, Archdeacon of Ardagh and had issue:
(1) Richard Oliver Aldworth (1794-1887) (q.v.);
(2) Robert Boyle Aldworth (1799-1808); died young, 19 June 1808;
(3) Rev. John Oliver Aldworth (1800-78) (q.v.);
(4) Commander St. Leger Aldworth (1806-77) RN; born 4 September 1806; served in Royal Navy; JP for Co. Cork; married, 20 October 1836, Alicia Susan Deane (d. 1874), daughter of Charles Deane Oliver of Rockmills Lodge and had issue one son and two daughters; died 6 January 1877;
(5) Col. Robert Aldworth (1809-99), born 31 October 1809; educated at RMC Sandhurst; served as Captain in 94th Regiment, 1829-42; retired, 1842; served as Col. of North Cork Rifles, 1854-74; married, 25 April 1852, Olivia Catherine (c.1828-1925), daughter of Rev. James Morton, rector of Newmarket, and widow of George Wood of Edghill, Liverpool (Lancs) and had issue four sons and four daughters; lived in Cheltenham (Glos), 1874-85 and later at Dorking (Surrey); died 1 September 1899.
He lived at Sun Lodge alias Inchera, near Cork (an Oliver family property) and inherited Newmarket Court from his half-brother in 1824.
He died 28 January 1836.

Aldworth, Richard Oliver (1794-1887), of Upper Dromore, Mallow (Cork) and Newmarket Court.  Eldest son of Robert Rogers Aldworth (1762-1836) and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Ven. John Oliver, Archdeacon of Ardagh, born 2 February 1794. Educated at Brasenose College, Oxford (admitted 1812; BA 1816).  JP and DL for Co. Cork. High Sheriff of Co. Cork, 1832.  He married, 22 January 1824, Lady Letitia Hare (d. 1874), eldest daughter of Richard Hare MP, Viscount Ennismore, and granddaughter of 1st Earl of Listowel, and had issue:
(1) Col. Richard William Aldworth (1825-99) of Newmarket Court, born 31 January 1825; JP for Co. Cork, Kerry and Limerick; High Sheriff of Co. Cork, 1869; served in the 7th Fusiliers (Brevet Col.); fought at the Battle of Alma, 1854; Lt. Col. commanding North Cork Rifles; succeeded his father in the Newmarket Court estate, 1887; married, 30 July 1863 at Bandon (Co. Cork), Lady Mary Catherine Henrietta Bernard (1837-1920),eldest daughter of Francis Bernard (1810-77), 3rd Earl of Bandon, but died without issue, 4 February 1899;
(2) Maj. Robert Aldworth (1827-1907) of Newmarket Court and Westlake, West Coker (Somerset), born 11 June 1827; educated at Trinity College, Dublin (admitted 1845; BA 1849) and Queens Inn, Dublin (called to the bar, 1852); barrister; served in North Cork Militia (later Kings Royal Rifle Corps), (Major);  JP for Co. Cork and Somerset; succeeded his elder brother at Newmarket Court in 1899; married, 23 May 1867, Louisa Mary (d. 1903), eldest daughter and co-heiress of Maj-Gen. Henry Dunbar Tolley CB, but died without issue, 12 March 1907;
(3) Rev. William St. Leger Aldworth (1829-65), born 24 February 1829; rector of Eardisley (Salop); married, 16 June 1853, Mary Brown (d. 1904), daughter of William Stark Dougall of Scottscraig (Fife); died without issue, 29 December 1865;
(4) Rev. John Aldworth (1832-96), born 8 September 1832; vicar of West Barsham (Norfolk), 1857-73; married Hannah [surname unknown] and died without issue, 18 April 1896;
(5) Katherine Anne Aldworth (1834-1916), born 15 October 1834; died unmarried, 18 March 1916.
He inherited Newmarket Court from his father in 1836.  After his death it passed to his first two sons in turn, and then to his great-nephew, John Charles Oliver Aldworth.
He died 26 February 1887, aged 93.  His wife died 19 September 1874.

Aldworth, Rev. John (1800-78).  Third son of Robert Rogers Aldworth(1762-1836) and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Ven. John Oliver, Archdeacon of Ardagh, born 28 December 1800.  Educated at Trinity College, Dublin (admitted 1816); rector of Youghal (Cork), 1836 and Glanworth (Cork), 1847.  He married 1st, 5 May 1826, his cousin Anne (d. 1845), eldest daughter of Charles Deane Oliver of Spa Hill (Limerick) and Rockmills Lodge (Cork); married 2nd, 10 June 1847, Mary (d. 1864), eldest daughter of William Jackson of Youghal and Kinsale (Cork), and had issue:
(1.1) Elizabeth Anne Aldworth (b. & d. 1827), born 4 March and died in infancy, 22 March 1827;
(1.2) Charles Oliver Aldworth (1829-96) (q.v.);
(1.3) Elizabeth Catherine Aldworth (1831-1908), born 21 January 1831; married, 20 May 1871, Rev. Percival Walsh Jordan (d. 1904), vicar of Enstone and rector of Drayton (Oxon) and had issue; died 17 April 1908;
(1.4) Rev. Robert St. Leger Aldworth (1832-91), rector of Athnowen (Cork); married, 9 September 1871, Sarah Pratt (d. 1920), daughter of Noblett Dunscombe Parker MD of Carryrshame Lodge (Cork) but died without issue, 14 October 1891;
(1.5) Richard Fitzjohn Aldworth (1836-93), born 22 October 1836; Sub-Inspector with Royal Irish Constabulary; married 1st, 7 April 1869, Elizabeth Macgregor (d. 1889), daughter of William Hutton of Headview House, Lismore (Waterford) and had issue one son; married 2nd, 9 November 1891, (Maria) Louisa (who m.2, 20 September 1900, Charles (d. 1906). son of Richard McGillycuddy of The Reeks), daughter of Rev. E. Loftus FitzGerald, rector of Templemichael (Waterford); died 10 February 1893;
(1.6) Sarah Maria Aldworth (1838-1913), born 7 February 1838; died unmarried, 6 November 1913;
(1.7) St. Leger Hewitt Aldworth (1839-50); died young, 19 June 1850;
(1.8) Letitia Agnes Aldworth (1842-1912), born 10 December 1842; died unmarried, 17 October 1912.
He died 12 June 1878.  His first wife died 7 November 1845; his second wife died without issue, 12 December 1864.

Aldworth, Charles Oliver (1829-96), of Poulacurra and Tivoli House (Cork). Eldest son of Rev. John Aldworth (1800-78), rector of Youghal and Glanworth (Cork) and his first wife, Anne, daughter of Charles Deane Oliver of Spa Hill and Rockmills Lodge (Cork), born 3 August 1829.  Educated at Trinity College, Dublin (admitted 1846).  He married, 13 February 1868, Sarah William (d. 1916), daughter of William Crooke Ronayne of Cork and widow of Robert James Martin of Dublin, and had issue:
(1) Maj. John Charles Oliver Aldworth (1869-1926) of Newmarket Court (q.v.);
(2) William Ronayne Oliver Aldworth (1874-1954), born 23 March 1874; died unmarried, 11 January 1954; will proved 24 March 1954 (estate £3,112).
He inherited an estate at Ballybrack in Co. Cork, of which he sold 663 acres in 1871 and retained 830 acres.  He appears to have rented Tivoli House and Poulacurra at Glanmire.

Tivoli House, Cork: rebuilt after a fire in 1839 and rented by C.O. Aldworth

He died 7 November 1896; his will was proved 5 August 1897 (estate £1,023 in England). His widow died 25 September 1916; her will was proved 26 February 1917 (estate £5,907).

Aldworth, Maj. John Charles Oliver (1869-1926) of Mixbury Hall and Newmarket Court.  Elder son of Charles Oliver Aldworth (1829-96) and his wife Sarah, daughter of William Crooke Ronayne, born 2 December 1869. High Sheriff of Co. Cork, 1912; served as Lt. in 3rd battalion, Kings Shropshire Light Infantry, 1887-93 and Captain and hon. Major in 9th Kings Royal Rifle Corps, 1893-1908; served in South Africa during Boer War and until 1904; served in WW1 (Temporary Major, 1st Garrison Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles, 1915-18).  He married, 27 August 1901, (Lena) Stephanie Cecil (d. 1956), daughter and heiress of John Stephen Collins of Ardnalee (Cork), and had issue:
(1) Dorothy Agnes St. Leger Aldworth (1903-95), born 17 November 1903; married, 7 April 1934, Samuel William Prittie Perry (later Perry-Aldworth), eldest son of William Richard Victor Prittie Perry of Shanacloon, Castle Connell (Limerick) and had issue; died March 1995;
(2) Susan Stephanie Cecil Letitia Aldworth (1904-91) of Fairfield House, Thornbury (Glos), born 5 December 1904; married 1st, 21 April 1926 at Brackley (Northants), John Peter Fane de Salis (1897-1973) MC, younger son of Sir Cecil Fane de Salis KCB DL JP of Dawley Court, Uxbridge (Middx) and had issue two sons and one daughter; married 2nd, 1974, Capt. Gabriel John Meade-Waldo-Van (b. 1914), son of Rev. John Henry Freake Van; died 1991
(3) Mary Katherine Elizabeth Aldworth (1908-58), born 18 September 1908; married, 23 September 1939, Rupert Samuel Bruce Pearson DM BCh FRCP MRCS of Godalming (Surrey), elder son of George Bruce Pearson of Buckingham and had issue one daughter and an adopted son; died 11 January 1958;
(4) Maj. John Richard St. Leger Aldworth (1914-44), born 11 November 1914; educated at Rugby and St. John's College, Oxford (BA 1937); served in WW2 in Ulster Rifles (Major); married 9 September 1940 Margaret Jean (who m.2, 7 June 1952, William, son of William Jesse Bayliss of Beaurepaire, Montreal, Canada), youngest daughter of Edmond Giraud of Paris and Smyrna and had issue one son, brought up in Canada; killed in action in Normandy, June 1944.
His wife inherited Ardnalee (Cork), and the family lived there until he inherited Newmarket Court from his first cousin once removed in 1907.  Ardnalee was sold the same year, and the proceeds were reinvested in the purchase of Mixbury Hall (Oxon) perhaps initially as an English base.  Newmarket Court was sold in 1927, and Mixbury Hall c.1931/32.
He died 29 March 1926; his will was proved 1 July 1926 (estate £40,285).  His widow died at Fairfield House, Thornbury, 9 October 1956; her will was proved 12 February 1957 (estate £17,832).

Sources

Burke’s Landed Gentry of Ireland, 1912; Burke''s Irish Family Records, 1976; M. Bence-Jones, A guide to Irish country houses, 2nd edn, 1988, p. 225; http://www.corkpastandpresent.ie/places/northcork/grovewhitenotes/monanimyparishtoshandrum/gw4_177_193.pdf; http://landedestates.nuigalway.ie/LandedEstates/jsp/property-show.jsp?id=3313; information provided by the descendants of Susan de Salis.

Location of archives

No significant archive is known to survive.

Coat of arms

Argent, a fesse engrailed between six billets, gules.

Revision & Acknowledgements

This account was first published on 20 September 2013, and was revised 26 April, 31 May, 3-4 June 2015 and 5 October 2024. I am most grateful to Debbie Hodgson for assistance with this account.