(251) Auchinleck (later Darling) of Crevenagh

Darling of Crevenagh

Auchinleck of Crevenagh

The first member of this family to make his way to Ulster was probably the Rev. James Auchinleck (d. 1685), who is said to have come from Scotland to be minister at Cleenish (Fermanagh), where he held the living from 1663 to 1685 [see the second comment at the end of this post for additional information about how the family first came to Ireland]. His son James Auchinleck (d. 1746) married Elizabeth, the daughter of Col. James Corry of Castle Coole (Fermanagh) and lived at Thomas Hill, later Thomastown, on the edge of the Castle Coole estate. He was succeeded there by his son, James Auchinleck (1704-52). He had a large family of nine sons and two daughters, and the two youngest sons went into the church. The genealogy below begins with the elder of these two, the Rev. Alexander Auchinleck (1749-1833), who was a Church of Ireland minister for seventy years, first as curate of Donacavey (Tyrone) and from 1804 as rector of Rossorry near Enniskillen (Fermanagh). He was also the first of the family whom we know to have been a Justice of the Peace. Two of his sons went into the church, and the younger of these, Rev. John Auchinleck (1796-1870) was the grandfather of Field Marshal Sir Claude Auchinleck (1884-1981), who played such a prominent part in the Second World War. The youngest of Rev. Alexander Auchinleck's sons, Daniel Eccles Auchinleck (1797-1849), became a solicitor and settled first in County Fermanagh and later at Omagh (Tyrone). He was for a time agent for his kinsman, the Earl of Belmore, but after moving to Omagh he came to hold a number of key positions in local administration, most notably as Clerk of the Peace for Co. Tyrone. By the 1830s he was in a position to build himself a fine house at Crevenagh on the outskirts of the town, which if it was suburban in location was a small country house in style and grandeur.

When Daniel Auchinleck died his children were all minors, and the estate passed into the control of his widow (d. 1888). His eldest son, Maj. Henry Auchinleck (1837-93) spent several years in the army before retiring in 1865 and taking on the management of the Crevenagh estate. He married the daughter of West India merchant from Liverpool and had one son and two daughters; his widow continued to live at Crevenagh until her death in 1920. The son and heir, Capt. Daniel George Harold Auchinleck (1877-1914) was a career soldier, who was killed in the first year of the First World War, and had no surviving children, so he bequeathed it to his widow, who continued to live at Crevenagh until her death in 1949. The estate then passed to Capt. Auchinleck's eldest nephew, Lt-Col. Ralph Reginald Auchinleck Darling (1897-1958), who moved to Northern Ireland after retiring from the army on ill health grounds in 1943. Crevenagh descended to his elder son, Gerald Ralph Auchinleck Darling (1921-96) who after wartime experience in the Navy combined a career at the bar with a continuing commitment to the Royal Navy Reserve. His legal practice specialised in the law of the sea and he ended his career as Leader of the Admiralty Bar and in the largely honorary post of Judge of the Admiralty Court of the Cinque Ports, to which he was appointed by the Queen Mother as Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports. His widow sold the Crevenagh estate in 2004 and their children both live in England.

Crevenagh, Omagh, Co. Tyrone

Crevanagh: the original block of c.1820 is in the foreground and the later wing to the left. Image: Stuart Blakley

A two storey three-by-three bay house, built about 1836 for Daniel Eccles Auchinleck, when it was noted that 'Mr Auchinleck ... contemplated building a house... [and] had already built his gate lodges and laid out and formed his garden'. The symmetrical entrance front has a polygonal single-storey porch in the centre but is otherwise entirely fenestrated with tripartite windows, which give an usual lightness to the rooms within. The side elevation also has tripartite windows on both floors in the central bay. The house was almost doubled in size by the addition of a slightly lower two storey range at the rear of the original building for Major Thomas Auchinleck after he came of age in 1858. The rear wing consists of an L-shaped two storey block with the narrow court between the return of the wing and the main block infilled by a single-storey extension containing the dining room. The end of the new wing, on the side elevation, has a single storey bow. 

Crevenagh: the entrance hall and staircase, photographed before the 2004 sale. Image: Stuart Blakley

The house has an unusually handsome interior, with a double-return staircase symmetrically placed on the axis of the hall, fine Grecian plasterwork in the principal rooms, and an Italian marble floor in the hall with scenes from the Seven Ages of Man. The mahogany doors are said to be made of timber from the family plantations in Demerara, which may have been those controlled by Daniel Auchinleck's brother-in-law, Richard Dane, who died in Demerara in 1842. The house is approached uphill by a curving driveway from a pepperpot lodge on the main road, and looks west and north over its own grounds.

Descent: built c.1820 for Daniel Eccles Auchinleck (1797-1849); to son, Maj. Thomas Auchinleck (1837-93); to son, Daniel George Harold Auchinleck (1877-1914); to widow, Charlotte Madeline Auchinleck (d. 1949); to nephew, Lt-Col. Ralph Reginald Auchinleck Darling (1897-1958); to son, Gerald Ralph Auchinleck (1921-96); to widow, Susan Ann Auchinleck (fl. 2014), who sold c.2004 to an investment syndicate...

Auchinleck family of Crevenagh

Auchinleck, Rev. Alexander (1749-1833). Eighth son of James Auchinleck (1704-52) and his wife Susanna, daughter of John Corry of Lisanock, born at Fintona (Tyrone), 1749. Educated at Trinity College, Dublin (admitted 1767; BA 1772). Curate of Donacavey, 1773-1804; Rector of Rossory (Fermanagh), 1804-33. JP for Co. Tyrone from 1788. He married, 1784, Jane (c.1764-1831), daughter of James Lowry Eccles of Shannock, near Clones, and had issue:
(1) Rev. James Eccles Auchinleck (1786-1829) of Castle Lodge and Mullans (Tyrone); educated at Trinity College, Dublin (admitted 1802; BA 1807). Curate of Inishmacsaint, 1810-14, Cleenish (Fermanagh) 1814-29 and Lisbellaw (Fermanagh), 1829-31; JP for Fermanagh and Tyrone; married, 1815, Caroline, daughter of Richard Fiddis of Tullycreevy House (Fermanagh) and had issue two sons and three daughters; died in the lifetime of his father, 2 October 1829;
(2) Anna Auchinleck (1787-1869); married, 12 August 1809, Richard Dane DL JP (1770-1842) of Killyhevlin (Fermanagh) and Daneville (Donegal), and had issue including four sons and three daughters who lived to maturity; died 17 December 1869; administration of goods granted 29 January 1870 (effects under £2,000);
(3) William Auchinleck (d. c.1807?); a cadet in the East India Co. army, 1805-07; died unmarried in India;
(4) Rev. John Auchinleck (1796-1870) (q.v.);
(5) Daniel Eccles Auchinleck (1797-1849) (q.v.);
He lived at Castle Lodge and Mullans (Tyrone).
He died 20 August 1833. His wife died 2 September 1831.

Auchinleck, Rev. John (1796-1870). Third son of Rev. Alexander Auchinleck (1749-1833) and his wife Jane, daughter of James Lowry Eccles of Shannock, near Clones, born 1796. Educated at Trinity College, Dublin (admitted 1812; BA 1817). Clerk in holy orders by 1820. Rector and vicar of Killesk and Dunbrody (Wexford), sometimes referred to as Ballyhack, 1830-61 (when he was deprived as he had no licence to hold it with Dunboyne); chaplain to the fort at Duncannon, 1830-34; and vicar of Dunboyne (Meath), 1833-70. JP for Tyrone and Fermanagh from 1820. He married, 1825, Catherine (c.1803-86), daughter of Rev. Thomas Johnston, rector of Boho, and had issue including:
(1) Sarah Juliana Auchinleck (1825-57); died unmarried in Dublin, 27 February 1857;
(2) Jane Catherine Auchinleck (c.1827-83); died unmarried at Drogheda (Louth), 8 July 1883; will proved 31 August 1883 (estate in Ireland £430 and in England £40);
(3) James Eccles Auchinleck (c.1830-52); died unmarried of consumption in Dublin, 8 October 1852;
(4) Frances Gordon (k/a Fanny) Auchinleck (c.1830-1922); died unmarried in Dublin, 26 February 1922; will proved 5 May 1933 (estate £24);
(5) John Claude Alexander Auchinleck (1835-92) (q.v.);
(6) Katherine (k/a Kate) Auchinleck (c.1839-1915); died unmarried at Dane Hill (Sussex), 30 September 1915; administration of goods granted 8 January 1916 (estate in England £2,031 and in Ireland £303).
(7) Col. William Henry Auchinleck (1841-1901), born 2 August 1840; educated at Trinity College, Dublin; an officer in the Army, 1862-95 (Cadet, 1860; Lt., 1862; Maj., 1882; Lt-Col., 1889; retired as Col., 1895); married, 28 June 1898, Constance Mildred Spilsbury (c.1876-1961) (who m2, 1912, John Lawrence and had further issue one daughter), youngest daughter of William Halford of London, and had issue one son; died 16 October 1901.
He lived at Dunboyne.
He died 20 or 26 June 1870; administration of his goods was granted to his eldest son, 25 July 1870 (effects under £1,500). His widow died 25 March 1886; her will was proved 23 February 1887 (effects £269).

Auchinleck, Col. John Claude Alexander (1835-92). Eldest son of Rev. John Auchinleck (1796-1870) and his wife Catherine, daughter of Rev. Thomas Johnston, of Boho, born 19 July 1835. Educated at Trinity College, Dublin. An officer in the Army from 1856 (T/Lt., 1856; Lt., 1857; Capt., 1867; Maj., 1876; Lt-Col., 1881 and Col., 1885; retired by 1891); he served in the Indian Mutiny, 1857-59, the Afghan War, 1878-80 and the Burma Expedition, 1885-86. A freemason from 1888. He married, 9 November 1874 at Eyrecourt (Galway), Mary Eleanor (d. 1937), second daughter of John Eyre DL JP of Eyrecourt Castle, and had issue:
(1) Field-Marshal Sir Claude John Eyre Auchinleck (1884-1981), kt. (q.v.);
(2) Armar Leslie Auchinleck (1887-1916), born 2 August 1887; educated at Wellington College; an officer in the Army (2nd Lt., 1910; Capt.); Assistant Resident Magistrate in northern Nigeria, c.1914; served in the First World War; died unmarried when he was killed in action on the Somme, 17 September 1916; administration of his goods granted to his mother, 16 February 1917 (estate £945);
(3) Cerise Eleanor Gordon Auchinleck (1888-1984), born 10 October and baptised at Cheshunt (Herts), 26 November 1888; married, 1915, Cecil George Hardwicke Jackson (d. 1944), son of William George Henry Jackson of Leamington (Warks) and had issue two sons; died aged 96, December 1984;
(4) Katherine Ruth Leighton Auchinleck (1891-1975), born 19 July 1891; married, 10 March 1923 in Bombay (India), Montagu Chenevix Baldwin (1884-1961), son of Maj. Frederick Chenevix Baldwin of Camberley (Surrey) and had issue one daughter; died 18 May 1975; will proved 18 July 1975 (estate £2,696).
He lived latterly at Langstone House, Havant (Hants).
He died 28 December 1892 and was buried at Warblington (Hants); will proved 1 February 1893 (effects £737). His widow died 12 March 1937; administration of her goods granted, 17 March 1938 (effects £97).

Field Marshal Sir Claude Auchinleck
(1884-1981) photographed by Cecil Beaton

Auchinleck, Field-Marshal Sir Claude John Eyre (1884-1981), kt. Elder son of Col. John Claude Alexander Auchinleck (d. 1892) and his wife Mary Eleanor, second daughter of John Eyre of Eyrecourt (Galway), born 21 June and baptised at Aldershot, 1 August 1884. Educated at Wellington and Royal Military College, Sandhurst. An officer in the army 1903-48 (2nd Lt., 1903; Lt., 1905; Capt., 1912; Maj., 1918; Lt-Col., 1929; Col., 1930; Maj-Gen., 1935; Lt-Gen., 1940; Gen., 1940; Field Marshal, 1946); served in First World War (mentioned in despatches). He commanded the 1st battn., 1st Punjab Regt, 1929-30; instructor at Staff College, Quetta, 1930-33; Commander, Peshawar Brig, India, 1933-36; Dep. Chief of General Staff, India, 1936-38; Commander, Meerut District, 1938; member of Expert Committee on Defence of India, 1938; served in Second World War as Commander in Chief, Northern Norway, 1940; Southern Command, 1940; India, 1941; Middle East, 1941-42; and India, 1943-47; Supreme Commander in India and Pakistan, 1947-48. ADC General to HM King George VI, 1941-46; member of Viceroy's Exec. Council, 1943-46. Colonel of Indian Grenadiers, 1939-47, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, 1941-47, and 1st Punjab Regt., 1947. Governor of Wellington College, 1947-59; President of London Federation of Boys Clubs, 1949-55; President of National Small-Bore Rifle Association, 1956; Vice-President of Forces Help; Chairman of Armed Forces Art Society, 1950-67. Chairman of Murrayfield Real Estate Co. and a Director of Grindlays Bank. He refused a peerage in 1946 lest it be thought associated with the partition of India, a policy which he thought dishonourable, but was appointed GCB (1945; CB 1934); GCIE (1940); CSI (1936); DSO (1917); OBE (1919), a Grand Officer of the Legion d'honneur, Chief Commander of the US Legion of Merit; Croix de Guerre (1918 and bar, 1949) and a member of several other foreign orders. He was awarded honorary degrees by Aberdeen (LLD, 1948) and St. Andrews (LLD, 1948). He married, 28 September 1921 at St Peter, Cranley Gardens, Kensington (Middx) (div. 1946), Jessie (1900-83), daughter of Alexander Stewart of Innerhadden, Kinlochrannoch (Perthshire), but had no issue.
After retiring from the army he lived briefly in Italy before moving to London. In 1960 he settled in Beccles (Suffolk) and lived there until 1967, when he emigrated to Morocco.
He died aged 96 at Marrakech (Morocco), 23 March 1981, and was buried in the Ben M'Sik European Cemetery, Casablanca; his will was proved 4 August 1981 (estate £54,624). His ex-wife married 2nd, 1946, Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Peirse KCB DSO AFC (1892-1970) (who was cited as co-respondent when Auchinleck divorced her), and died 27 October 1983; her will was proved 12 December 1983 (estate £185,036).

Auchinleck, Daniel Eccles (1797-1849). Fourth son of Rev. Alexander Auchinleck (1749-1833) and his wife Jane, daughter of James Lowry Eccles of Shannock, near Clones, born 1797. A solicitor; agent to the Earl of Belmore; Under-Sheriff of County Fermanagh, 1826-30; Clerk of the Peace for Co. Tyrone by 1834; Chairman of Armagh Poor Law Union, 1839; Director of the Ulster Bank branch, Omagh, 1845. He married, 16 December 1833 at Omagh, Elizabeth Dorothea (1809-88), younger daughter of Rev. Thomas Lindsay Stack JP, rector of Upper and Lower Badoney (Tyrone), and had issue:
(1) Alexander Thomas Auchinleck (b. & d. 1836), born 29 January 1836; died in infancy, April 1836;
(2) Maj. Thomas Auchinleck (1837-93) (q.v.);
(3) Margaret Jane Auchinleck (1839-1915), born 12 January 1839; married, 21 November 1859 at Omagh, Rt. Rev. Charles Maurice Stack DD JP (1825-1914), Bishop of Clogher, son of Rev. Edward Stack, and had issue four sons and one daughter; died 2 January 1915; will proved at Dublin, 23 February 1915 (effects in Ireland £9,131 and in England £5,676);
(4) Brig-Gen. William Lowry Auchinleck (1841-91); an officer in the army (Ensign, 1857; Lt., 1859; Capt., 1864; Maj., 1877; Lt-Col., 1880; Col., 1884; Brig-Gen., 1890); died at Umbullah (India), 13 February 1891; will proved 25 July 1891 (estate £59);
(5) A daughter (b. 1842); born 4 August 1842; probably died in infancy;
(6) Alexander Auchinleck (d. 1845); died in infancy, 6 January 1845;
(7) Anne Mary Auchinleck (1846-1902); married, 3 October 1872 at St Peter, Dublin, Col. Constantine Read (d. 1880) of Army Staff Corps; died in London, 19 February 1902; will proved 15 April 1902 (estate £5,902);
(8) Maj. Daniel Auchinleck (1847-86), born 4 March 1847; educated at Trinity College, Dublin; an officer in the Royal Scots Fusiliers (Ensign, c.1867; Lt., 1869; Capt., 1878; Maj., 1885); fought at Rustenberg, 1882, and was shot four times in the same engagement but survived, only to die from wounds in an engagement at Taintah (Burma), 15 September 1886; buried at Taintah.
He purchased land at Crevenagh and built the house there c.1836, when it was noted that 'Mr Auchinleck ... contemplated building a house... [and] had already built his gate lodges and laid out and formed his garden'.
He died 3 March 1849. His widow died at Omagh, 14 September 1888.

Auchinleck, Maj. Thomas (1837-93). Eldest son of Daniel Eccles Auchinleck (1797-1849) of Crevenagh and his wife Elizabeth Dorothea, daughter of Rev. Thomas Lindsay Stack JP, rector of Badony, born 16 January 1837. Educated at Portora and Trinity College, Dublin. Served as an officer in 11th Foot (Ensign, 1859; Lt., 1861; retired 1865) and Royal Tyrone Fusiliers (Capt., 1865; Maj.). JP and DL for Tyrone. High Sheriff of Co. Tyrone, 1872. He married, 29 September 1868 at Grassendale (Lancs), Jane (c.1838-1921), daughter of George Henry Loxdale of Grassendale, West Indies merchant, and had issue:
(1) Bessie Sarah Auchinleck (1870-1949), born 6 November 1870; married, 7 August 1907, Brig-Gen. Thomas Francis Bushe CMG JP (1859-1951), son of Rev. Thomas Francis Bushe, rector of Rathowen, but had no issue; died at Rathmullan (Donegal), 11 November 1949; will proved 6 April 1950 (estate £15,089 in England);
(2) Norah Lillian Loxdale Auchinleck (1872-1951), born at Geneva (Switzerland), 11 July or 18 September 1872; married, 29 July 1896, Ven. James George Darling MA (1867-1938), Archdeacon of Suffolk and had issue seven sons and two daughters, including Ralph Reginald Auchinleck Darling (1897-1958) (for whom see below), who inherited the Crevenagh estate in 1949; died 10 April 1951;
(3) Daniel George Harold Auchinleck (1877-1914) (q.v.).
He inherited Crevenagh from his father in 1849 and came of age in 1858.
He died 1 February 1893; will proved in Dublin 17 June 1893 (effects in Ireland, £2,462 and in England £286). His widow died 21 October 1921; her will was proved at Londonderry, 6 April 1922 (effects in Northern Ireland, £5,277 and in England £4,215).

D.G.H. Auchinleck (1877-1914)

Auchinleck, Daniel George Harold (1877-1914). Only son of Maj. Thomas Auchinleck (1837-93) of Crevenagh, and his wife Jane, daughter of George Henry Loxdale of Liverpool, born 18 September 1877. Educated at Winchester and Trinity College, Oxford. An officer in Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers (2nd Lt., 1898; Lt., 1900; Capt. 1904); adjutant to a militia regiment, 1904-08; served in Boer War and First World War, and was killed in action, 1914. He married, 28 October 1902 at St Ann, Dungannon (Tyrone), Charlotte Madoline (k/a Mado) (c.1883-1949), only daughter of Robert William Scott of Dungannon and had issue:
(1) Robert Patrick Auchinleck (b. & d. 1906); born and died, 17 March 1906.
He inherited Crevenagh from his father in 1893 and came of age in 1898. At his death without surviving issue the estate passed to his widow and on her death in 1949 to his nephew, Lt-Col. Ralph Reginald Auchinleck Darling (1897-1958) [see below].
He was killed in action at Ploegsteert (Belgium) during the Battle of Messines, 21 October 1914 and was buried in the Strand Military Cemetery nearby; will proved 26 January 1915 (effects £10,000). His widow died 12 December 1949; her will was proved 9 June 1950 (effects in Northern Ireland, £17,981; effects in England £19,738).

Darling family of Crevenagh

R.R.A. Darling (1897-1958)

Darling, Lt-Col. Ralph Reginald Auchinleck (1897-1958). Eldest son of the Ven. James George Darling (1867-1938), Archdeacon of Suffolk, and his wife Norah Lillian Loxdale, daughter of Maj. Thomas Auchinleck (1837-93) of Crevenagh, born 28 August 1897. Educated at Twyford School and Woodbridge. An officer in the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers and later the Royal Signals (2nd Lt., 1914; Lt., 1915; Capt., 1927; Maj., 1937; retired due to ill-health as Lt-Col., 1943); served in First and Second World Wars; and later as commander of a Home Guard Battalion in Northern Ireland, 1943-45. JP for Co. Tyrone, 1948. Hon. Secretary of the Tyrone County Club, 1947; Chairman of West Tyrone Hospital Management Committee, 1948-58; member of Derry & Raphoe Diocesan Council and 2nd Synod of Church of Ireland. He married 1st, 3 September 1919 (div.) at Moira, Freda Moira Bessie (1897-1982), daughter of Rev. Gerald Ivory King Moriarty of Ergenagh Rectory, Omagh (Tyrone) and 2nd, Nancie Mary Valentine (b. 1903), daughter of Jonas Lowcay King and widow of Maurice Victor Heyn (1894-1949), and had issue:
(1.1) Gerald Ralph Auchinleck Darling (1921-96) (q.v.);
(1.2) Terence Brian Moriarty Darling (1934-99), born 1 October 1934; educated at Wellington College; Operations Manager for William Cory & Son Ltd, ocean transport and trading group, from 1961; an officer in the RNVR (Sub-Lt., 1959; Lt., 1962; Lt-Cmdr., 1968; retired 1979); married, Oct-Dec 1961, Carolyn Mary, elder daughter of A.W. Ellis of Haywards Heath (Sussex), and had issue three sons; died 11 March 1999; will proved 24 May 1999;
(1.3) Moira Rosaleen Courtenay Darling (1925-2016), born 22 August 1925; educated at Atholl Crescent College of Domestic Science, Edinburgh (Dip. Inst. Mgt.); served in WRAC in Second World War; married, 1 August 1949 at St Columba, Omagh, Capt. the Rev. Antony Ewan Talbot Hobbs (1925-2010), vicar of Staplefield (Sussex) 1964-89, only son of Brig. John Mervyn Hobbs OBE MC of Perth, Western Australia, and had issue two sons and five daughters; died 23 February 2016; will proved 27 April 2016.
He inherited Crevenagh from his uncle's widow in 1949.
He died 31 May 1958; his will was proved 13 April 1959 (estate in Northern Ireland, £12,449 and £5,318 in England). His first wife married 2nd, 5 February 1958, Lt-Col. Frederick Montgomery Cunningham (b. 1910) of Dromara House (Down), son of Maj. Frederick Alexander Somerset Cunningham of Fort William Park, Belfast, and died 2 June 1982. His widow's date of death is unknown.

Darling, Gerald Ralph Auchinleck (1921-96). Elder son of Lt-Col. Ralph Reginald Auchinleck Darling (1897-1958) and his wife Freda Moira Bessie, daughter of Rev. Gerald Ivory King Moriarty of Ergenagh Rectory, Omagh, Tyrone, born 8 December 1921. He served in the Second World War with the RNVR, 1940-46 and later with RN Reserve to 1967 (ret. as Lt-Cmdr). Fighter pilot with 807 Seafire Squadron and later Test Pilot with Eastern Fleet and Chief Test Pilot for the British Pacific Fleet. Educated at Harrow, Hertford College, Oxford (BA 1948; MA 1951) and Middle Temple (called to bar, 1950; bencher, 1972; treasurer, 1991). Barrister-at-law at English bar from 1950 and at Northern Ireland bar from 1957 (hon. bencher, 1992); QC (Hong Kong), 1968. Member of the Panel of Lloyd's Arbitrators in Salvage Cases, 1967-78 and Appeal Administrator, 1978-91; Panel of Wreck Commissioners, 1967; Leader of the Admiralty Bar, 1978-85; Judge of the Admiralty Court of the Cinque Ports, 1979-96; Trustee of Royal Naval Museum, 1985-90. Freeman of the City of London, 1968. DL for Co. Tyrone, 1990; High Sheriff of Co. Tyrone, 1993-94. Awarded Lloyds' Silver Medal, 1991. He married, 11 September 1954, Susan Ann (b. 1931), only daughter of Brig. John Mervyn Hobbs OBE MC of Perth, Western Australia, and had issue:
(1) Fiona Moira Jean Darling (b. 1956), born 19 September 1956; educated at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford (MA); freelance writer, journalist and historian; married Brig. Edward John Torrens-Spence CBE (b. 1953), son of Capt. Michael Torrens-Spence RN, and had issue;
(2) Maj. Patrick James Auchinleck Darling (b. 1958) of Caradoc, Sellack (Herefs), born 30 October 1958; educated at Harrow, Edinburgh Univ. and Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester; an officer in the army, 1981-98 (2nd Lt., 1981; Lt., 1983; Capt., 1988; Maj., 1990); farmer of Caradoc estate since 1998; DL (from 2012) for Herefordshire; High Sheriff of Herefordshire, 2014-15; formerly Master of South Herefordshire Hunt; Site Director of Herefordshire Country Fair, 1999-date; Chairman of River Wye Preservation Trust, 2016-date; married 1st, 1984 (div.) Amanda Carolyn (b. 1960), daughter of the Hon. Richard Nicholas Crossley (who m2, 1992, Edward P.U. Mead (b. 1960), and had further issue) and had issue one daughter; married 2nd, Anne Lucinda (1957-2004), daughter of John Richard Greenwood, and had issue one daughter; married 3rd, 2015,  Diana Susan (k/a Dido) (b. 1954), daughter of the Hon. Norman Galbraith, of East Lothian and formerly wife of Andrew Guy Windham (b. 1949).
He inherited Crevenagh from his father in 1958. After his death it passed to his widow who sold it in 2004.
He died in Londonderry, 13 September 1996. His widow was living in 2014.


Sources
Burke's Irish Family Records, 1976, pp. 329-31; Newry Examiner, 23 March 1836; J.B. Leslie, Clogher Clergy and Parishes, 1929, pp. 132, 136, 242; A. Rowan, the buildings of Ireland: North-West Ulster, 1979, p. 449; J.B. Leslie & W.J.R. Wallace, Clergy of Meath and Kildare, 2009, p. 304; http://lordbelmontinnorthernireland.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/crevenagh-house.html; https://lvbmag.wordpress.com/2015/05/15/the-darlings-crevenagh-house-tyrone/

Location of archives
Auchinleck family of Crevenagh: deeds and rentals, c.1830-1900 [Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, D674]
Auchinleck, Field-Marshal Sir Claude (1884-1981): correspondence and papers, 1919-71 [John Rylands University Library, Manchester, AUC]

Coat of arms
Auchinleck family: Argent, a cross counter-embattled sable, in the first quarter a bugle horn azure, stringed and embellished or, and in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th quarters an estoile gules.
Darling family: Azure, a fesse between in chief a lymphad in said pennon and flags flying and in base a lion passant or.

Can you help?
Here are a few notes about information and images which would help to improve the account above. If you can help with any of these or with other additions or corrections, please use the contact form in the sidebar to get in touch.

• Can anyone report on the current condition of Crevenagh House: whether it is tenanted, or empty; well-maintained or abandoned?
• Can anyone provide further portraits or photographs of those whose names appear in bold above?

Revision and acknowledgements
This post was first published 19 February 2017 and was updated 20 February 2018.