Wednesday 30 December 2020

(441) Bateman of Oak Park, Altavilla and Bertholey House

Bateman of Oak Park
This family traces its origins to the mid 17th century, when Major Rowland Bateman (with whom the genealogy below begins) came to Ireland as an officer in Col. Jerome Sankey's regiment. His father, recorded as Henry Bateman, may have been a scion of the Batemans of Tolson Hall (Westmld), as the uncommon forename Rowland was used several times in that family. Rowland Bateman was rewarded for his service with a grant of confiscated lands near Tralee in Co. Kerry in 1654. This estate, known initially as Killeen and later as Woodlawn or Oak Park, remained the principal seat of his family until the 19th century. Rowland, who must have been a young man during the Civil Wars as he was still alive in 1697, continued to be active in public affairs in Co. Kerry for many years. He was a collector of customs, High Sheriff in 1669, and a Grand Juror as late as 1679. In 1672, when he was Under-Sheriff for the county, he wrote a letter to the Commissioners of the Revenue which vividly conveys the difficulty of collecting money due to the Crown 'without the assistance of soldiers' in the face of armed resistance: several of those who had helped him distrain on goods in the past had since been beaten up or even mortally wounded. 

Rowland and his wife had at least two sons (the Rowland Bateman who was High Sheriff of Co. Kerry in 1712-13 may have been another) and two daughters. Although his date of death is not known, he seems to be last recorded in a property deed of 1697. It is possible that his elder son, Francis Bateman, inherited soon afterwards, and that he was responsible for building a new house at Killeen, since one source dates this to 1697. However, Francis died without issue in 1707, and the estate then passed to his brother John Bateman (d. 1719). His first marriage was also childless, but his second produced at least four sons - all of whom became landowners in south-west Ireland - and two daughters. He died fairly young and his heir, Rowland Bateman (1705-53), was only a teenager when he inherited the estate. He became a JP for Co. Kerry and in 1727 he married Elizabeth Colthurst (d. 1781) and produced a large family of four sons and seven daughters. His eldest son, and the heir to Oak Park, was Rowland Bateman (c.1737-1803), who is the first of the family about whose career much is known. He served as High Sheriff soon after coming of age, in 1758-59, and in 1761 he began a political career, sitting as MP for Tralee, 1761-68, and later for Co. Kerry, 1776-83, in the Irish Parliament. He was evidently a keen supporter of the volunteer movement, and in the 1770s and 1780s he commanded the Kerry Legion Cavalry and was Lt-Col. of the First Munster Regiment of Foot. His activities took him to Dublin a good deal, and he had a house there in Merrion Square. He became a member of the Royal Dublin Society in 1766 and died there in 1803. He was succeeded at Oak Park by his only surviving son, Rowland Bateman (c.1764-1813), who was less active in public affairs, although he did sign a pro-Union petition from County Kerry. He died just ten years after his father, when his son and heir, John Bateman (1792-1863), had just come of age. He was High Sheriff of Co. Kerry in 1819-20, and was active in local politics as an opponent of Daniel O'Connell. In the 1820s he rebuilt or remodelled the family seat at Oak Park, and either because he spent more on this or his political career than he could afford, or because he was caught out by the agricultural crisis of the 1840s, he got into financial difficulties. In 1850-51 he was obliged to sell a large part of his property, including Oak Park, through the Incumbered Estates Court, and although he reserved a smaller house on the estate called Dirreen Lodge from the sale, this was also sold through the Court in 1859. His only surviving son, Rowland Bateman (1826-57) had by then been killed at the Siege of Lucknow, so he had no male heir. The new owners of the Oak Park estate built a new house on a different site within the park, and most of the Batemans house had been pulled down by the time John's death in 1863 brought this branch of the family to an end.

Two other branches of the family became landed gentry in their own right. The youngest son of John Bateman (d. 1719) was John Bateman (c.1718-92). His share of the family patrimony was an outlying property at Rathfeale (Co. Limerick). He married in 1745 and perhaps applied his wife's dowry to building a rather sophisticated new house there in 1746-49, which he named Altavilla; his architect was very probably Francis Bindon, a gentleman amateur architect whose estate was also in Co. Limerick. By the time the house was finished his first wife had died, but he married again in 1756 and this time produced three sons, of whom the eldest, John Bateman (c.1757-1829) succeeded to the estate. He was educated at Kings Inns as a barrister, but does not seem to have practised. He married Mary Bourke (d. 1831) of Anglingham (Co. Galway), who brought him a large estate in that county, although he did not secure undisputed possession of it until the conclusion of a Chancery case in 1828 (when it was said that the dispute had been running for 120 years!). By then, John, who was High Sheriff of Limerick in 1819-20 and also active in the militia, had run up considerable debts, amounting to some £18,000. His creditors had put in receivers, whose inefficiency and sticky fingers meant that although the nominal annual value of the estate was easily sufficient to pay down the debt, they amount they collected merely serviced it, if that. When John's son, Thomas Gerald Bateman (b. 1789) inherited, he found that the creditors had also got their hands on part of the Galway property and he saw the risk that the whole estate might end up in the hands of receivers who would continue to milk the estate indefinitely and never clear the principal. To try and prevent this happening, he entered upon a fraudulent scheme to nominally place some of the remaining Galway lands in his sister's name while retaining the use of them; the discovery of this ruse led to a series of court cases which compounded his difficulties, and he was eventually obliged to sell all of his property, including Altavilla, between 1839 and 1841. He was still alive in 1845 but disappears into complete obscurity thereafter, and not even his date of death is known. Altavilla was acquired by the Griffin family in 1839 and continued to be occupied by the family or their tenants until 1941, when it was burnt out. The ruins stood for some thirty years until the 2nd Lord Daresbury restored the house c.1970, although he omitted to the top storey; it remains in private ownership today.

The third branch of the family begins with the second son of Rowland Bateman (1705-53), Colthurst Bateman (c.1740-1821), who inherited a portion of the family's property around Listowel (Co. Kerry) and built a new house, which he called Bedford House, a little to the north of the town. This was a small gentry house, apparently built around the time of his marriage in 1779. In his later years, he settled in Bristol, and Bedford House seems to have been sold soon after his death in 1821. By the mid 19th century it had become a farmhouse, and it is not clear whether the present building on the site is the same one or not.  His two surviving sons were educated at Trinity College, Dublin, and while the younger, Rowland Bateman (c.1782-1854) went into the church in the time-honoured way, he became a Church of England clergyman with a living in Dorset until his retirement in 1838. His first wife was English, but his second wife took him back to Co. Kerry, where he settled at Kilcarra Lodge, which remained the property of his children until the 1880s. Colthurst's elder son and namesake, Colthurst Bateman (1780-1859) married in 1809, Jane Sarah (1784-1857), the only daughter and sole heiress of John Kemeys Gardener-Kemeys (d. 1830), whose family had owned the Bertholey estate in Monmouthshire since the early 17th century. When he and his wife came into the property in 1830, the building of a new house had been begun but never finished, and their first action was to complete it, possibly to the designs of G.V. Maddox of Monmouth. His wife also brought him two plantations in Jamaica, and in 1835 he received compensation for the freeing of their 270 slaves there. Although Bedford House had been sold, he retained substantial estates in Ireland, apparently centred on Magh House (later Edenburn House), and as the agricultural crisis there deepened in the 1830s and 1840s he made substantial rent abatements to assist his tenants. This reduced his income but unfortunately he did not reduce his expenditure to match and he was declared insolvent and briefly fled to Boulogne to escape his creditors. Bertholey was advertised for sale in 1847 but some other property held by his wife's trustees was sold instead, allowing Betholey to remain in the family, although Colthurst never lived there again himself.

Colthurst and his wife had seven sons and two daughters, but they cannot be called a lucky family. His eldest son, John Bateman (1814-94) inherited the estates on his father's death in 1859 but was declared a lunatic the following year and was confined in asylums until his death in 1894; his property was vested in trustees including his brother Robert (1819-76), who seems to have come back from Australia to manage the estate, and who moved into Bertholey House. The second son, George Colthurst Bateman (1815-52) went out to Jamaica, presumably to manage the plantations there, but died unexpectedly while spending a few weeks in New York. The third and fifth sons, Rowland Bateman (1816-39) and Reginald Bateman (1820-92) joined the Navy, but Rowland died of dysentry in the Persian Gulf and Reginald left the Navy in mysterious circumstances in 1854 and lived simply in Bristol thereafter. The youngest son, Frederick Bateman (1825-47), accompanied his parents into exile in Boulogne and was killed when his gun exploded while he was shooting rabbits outside the town.

The fourth son, Robert Bateman (1819-76), had no expectation of inheriting property in Britain or Ireland, and emigrated to Australia in about 1840. He seems to have gone first to Tasmania, where he married in 1844, before moving on to what became Melbourne, Victoria. He had three sons and a daughter, born at different places around New South Wales and Victoria, suggesting he may have moved around quite a lot. At some point between 1855 and 1860 he returned to Britain, and although in 1861 he was living in Islington (Middx), by 1862 he had moved into Bertholey House, where his youngest child was born in 1862. After he died, his widow Mary - who had been born in Tasmania - stayed at Bertholey for a few years, but in 1879 she went back to Australia with such of her children as were still at home, and Bertholey was let until John Bateman's death in 1894, when it was sold. Mary Bateman died in Australia in 1888 and her second son, Robert William Bateman (1850-90) died soon afterwards. Her youngest son moved again to South Africa, where he married in 1882 and died in 1905. Her two daughters (the younger of whom had married in Australia), both returned to Britain, but the younger one subsequently moved to California with her husband and family. This household is a remarkable demonstration of the complex impact of the British Empire on the Victorian gentry.

Robert Bateman's eldest son, Frederick Reginald Bateman (1848-1923) was born in New South Wales but brought up at Bertholey House, which he inherited in 1894 but promptly sold. He made a farming and hunting life in County Kerry, where he leased a number of properties before retiring at the end of his life to a cottage he had retained on the Bertholey estate. He married a kinswoman and had two daughters (one of whom also died in a mental hospital, like his uncle) but no sons, so on his death the Bedford House/Bertholey House branch of the family also came to an end. The 19th century block of Bertholey House burned down in an accidental fire in 1905 and stood as a slowly-decaying ruin for nearly a century before being restored by the present owner. It is a curious coincidence that two of the houses associated with the Bateman family should have burned accidentally, and that both of them should have been restored after a long interval without their top floors!

Oak Park, Tralee, Co. Kerry

The lands of Killeen (later Oak Park or Woodlawn) were granted to Rowland Bateman after the Cromwellian wars, and formed the core around which the family built a substantial landholding in Co. Kerry and Co. Limerick. Nothing definite is known about the late 17th century house which the family built (one source says in 1697) on the estate, as it was rebuilt or extensively remodelled in the 1820s for John Bateman (1792-1863). However, the two-storey, seven-by-three bay block with a hipped roof which resulted looks as though it may perpetuate the general lines of its predecessor. Even this house seems to be known only from a 19th century engraving (which is not very accurate), and from a single faded photograph. The windows on the entrance front were grouped 2-3-2, and there was a large central porch, probably with Doric pilasters. After 1841, John Bateman built three lodges on the estate, one of which survives, albeit in a derelict condition.

Oak Park, Tralee: the house as rebuilt or remodelled in the 1820s for John Bateman.

In 1849 John Bateman sold the house and part of his estate to Maurice Sandes, who was a younger son of the Sandes family of Sallow Glen, and had made money as a lawyer in India. Soon afterwards, Sandes commissioned the building of a new house on a site to the north of the Georgian building from William Atkins of Cork, construction of which began in 1857. 

Oak Park, Tralee: the new house built for Maurice Sandes after 1857, which stood on a different site to its predecessor.

Atkins designed a Ruskinian Gothic house built of polychromatic brick - said to have been specially imported from England - with liberal stone dressings of Irish grey limestone. The new building was much the same size as its predecessor, being also of two storeys and of six bays, with a slightly projecting centre. The porte-cochรจre is at one end of the house, and is carried on sturdy square stone pillars, with arches which combine trefoil and ogee forms. Next to it is an elaborate Gothic canted bay window, with colonnettes defining the angles, and on the main front are two further square bays of stone. Inside the house, the hall has an arcade screening the staircase with arches similar to those of the porch, here carried on Gothic columns with polished marble shafts.

Oak Park, Tralee: the hall and staircase of the Victorian house.

After the High Victorian house was finished, the Georgian house was pulled down, although its stables and outbuildings survive and a modest new house has now been built next to them. The Victorian house became the home of the novitiate of the Presentation Order in 1927 and about thirty years later was sold for use as offices, which it remains today.

Descent: granted 1654 to Rowland Bateman (fl. 1697); to son, Francis Bateman (d. 1707); to brother, John Bateman (d. 1719); to son, Rowland Bateman (1705-53); to son, Rowland Bateman (c.1737-1803); to son, Rowland Bateman (c.1765-1813); to son, John Bateman (1792-1865), who sold 1849 to Maurice Fitzgerald Sandes (1805-79);... Falkiner Sandes (fl. 1906); sold 1922 to Presentation Order; sold c.1957 to Tralee Urban District Council...

Altavilla, Lismakeery, Co. Limerick

Altavilla (Co. Limerick): the house as remodelled c.1970, when it was reduced to two storeys.

A handsome six-bay house of stone, with a two-bay breakfront centre, which was built for John Bateman (d. 1792) in 1746-49, perhaps to the designs of the amateur architect Francis Bindon (d. 1765), as has been suggested with some confidence by the Knight of Glin and Mark Bence-Jones. The house was originally of three storeys but is now of two. The south-facing front, originally the entrance front, is extremely plain, being almost devoid of detailing, except for the finely carved tripartite limestone doorcase, which incorporates the windows on either side of the front door. There is also a carving of a running fox crowning the parapet over the front door, but this may be a 20th century additionThe rear elevation (now the entrance side) shows greater movement, as it has quadrant walls joining the main block of the house to what remains of detached two-storey flanking wings. The side walls of the house to east and west are rendered. The general arrangement of the plan can be shown to owe something to the plan of Vanbrugh's Castle Howard, with wings arranged around two informal courtyards. At Altavilla, the wings were composed of an irregular collection of buildings, and only parts of the structures now remain; more on the west than on the east. 

The house was sold by the Bateman family in about 1835 and changed hands several times in the next few years. It was acquired in 1839 by Peter Griffin of Corgrieff, who in about 1840 was said to be undertaking repairs. The house was usually let after 1917, when it contained four reception rooms and four principal bedrooms, but was burnt with all its contents in an accidental fire in 1941. and left as a ruin for many years, so no historic interiors survive. It was restored for Lord Daresbury between 1966 and 1973, except for the top floor, which was removed in the reconstruction.

Descent: built for John Bateman (c.1718-92); to son, John Bateman (c.1757-1829); to son, Thomas Gerald Bateman (b. 1789), who sold 1839 to Nicholas Murphy; sold 1839 to Peter Griffin (d. 1854); to son?, Samuel Griffin; to son?, Peter Gerald Griffin (d. 1896); to son, Maj. Peter Gerald Griffin (1878-1921); to sons John Ponsonby Griffin and Peter Ronald Ponsonby Griffin (1911-57); sold 1966 to Edward Greenall (1902-90), 2nd Baron Daresbury; sold after his death, 1990; sold again 1993...

Bertholey House, Llantrissant, Monmouthshire

The house stands in an elevated position in the rolling countryside above the river Usk. Its origins go back to the house built here in 1616 by Edward Kemeys M.P. (d. 1622), who moved here from Kemeys House (Mon.). Parts of his house remain at the rear of the later house. In about 1795 the last of his descendants, John Kemeys Gardner-Kemeys (d. 1830), is said to have started building a new house, although in 1803 the house was still described as 'an antiquated mansion'. Whatever he achieved, most of the main block seems to have been constructed after his death, when the house passed to his daughter, Jane Sarah, and her husband, Colthurst Bateman (1780-1859). 

Bertholey House: an engraving of the house made when it was offered for sale in 1847. Image: Tom Lloyd.

They completed the house 'with great improvements', possibly to the designs of George Vaughan Maddox of Monmouth, who had been a pupil of Soane (although if so it would be by far his most important work), creating one of the most impressive neo-classical houses in the county. The new three-storey house was a large seven-by-five bay building of brick with rendered fronts, tacked on to the west side of the old house, which was retained as a service wing. The west front, facing the view, had five narrow bays in the centre and broader, slightly-projecting end bays, the ground floor windows of which were set in arched recesses. In the centre was a semi-circular Ionic porch with an open verandah above. The north and south fronts were both of five bays, with the three bays on the east side being occupied by a broad full-height bow. Inside, at the rear the house had an elliptical top-lit staircase. 

The house was finally sold by the Batemans in 1895, and in 1905 the early 19th century block burned down in a catastrophic fire which left the external walls standing to their full height but gutted the interior. The 17th century part of the house was largely unaffected, and continued to be occupied as a farmhouse throughout the 20th century. In 1950 the semicircular porch was demolished as unsafe, and later much of the west wall collapsed, leaving just the end bays standing. 

Bertholey House: the 19th century block in ruins in 1997. Image: Paul White.

The existence of the older part of the house in an occupied state kept the vandals at bay, but it seemed as though the 19th century block must inevitably gradually collapse as the elements took their toll. In a dramatic reversal of fortune, however, the house was reconstructed to the original designs, but without the top floor, from 1999 onwards for Brian Francis Bird (b. 1938), chairman of the Bird Group. The 17th century part of the house has again reverted to being a service block, and the extensive outbuildings to the north-east of the house have been refurbished and repurposed.

Bertholey House: the 19th century as restored after 1999, without its top storey.

Alongside the building of a new house in the early 19th century, J.K. Gardner-Kemeys and his successors also laid out a small park around the house. Already in 1803 the old house was set amid 'hanging groves, and dark mantling woods'. The park-making involved laying out a curving drive approaching the house from the west, off the Llantrisant-Caerleon road, but this was cut through by the construction of the A449 dual carriageway in the late 20th century, and the house is now approached from the east. The park consisted largely of manicured open pastureland, with a fenced pleasure ground around the house, and a walled garden set well away from the house to the north-east. An area of woodland (Garden Wood) is approached by a short tunnel from the pleasure grounds, and had an ornamental walk through it by 1847, but was developed as a wild garden with further walks and ponds, probably after the house was acquired in 1895 by Philip Morel. All these features survived in 1990, albeit derelict and unmanaged, and have been partially restored.  

Descent: Edward Kemeys MP (d. 1623); to son, Edward Kemeys (d. 1658); to son, Edward Kemeys (d. 1682); to son, Edward Kemeys (d. 1710); to son, Edward Kemeys (d. 1736); to brother, Reginald Kemeys (d. 1742); to daughter, Jane (1728-98), wife of John Gardner (d. 1793); to son, John Kemeys Gardner-Kemeys (1757-1830); to daughter, Jane Sarah (d. 1857), wife of Colthurst Bateman (1780-1859); to son, John Bateman (1814-94); sold 1895 to Philip Morel; burnt 1905; sold 1949... reconstructed from 1999 for Brian Francis Bird (b. 1938). The house was occupied from 1861-76 by Robert Bateman (1819-76) and then by his widow, but was let from 1879 (initially to John Cory).

Bateman family of Oak Park


Bateman, Maj. Rowland (fl. 1697). Son of Henry Bateman  and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of John Wasbye. An officer in Jerome Sankey's regiment of horse during the Cromwellian wars. High Sheriff of Co. Kerry, 1669 and also under-sheriff in 1672; Collector of Customs at Tralee; listed as a Grand Juror, 1679. He married Charity Wilson, and had issue:
(1) Francis Bateman (d. 1707); probably inherited the Killeen estate from his father, but died without issue, 1707;
(2) John Bateman (d. 1719) (q.v.);
(3) Belinda Bateman (fl. 1734); married Richard Yielding (d. 1714) of Tralee, merchant, and had issue two sons and one daughter; living in 1734;
(4) Margaret Bateman; married [forename unknown] Morris.
He received a grant of the Killeen estate (later Oakpark) at Tralee in about 1654.
He was living in 1697 but his date of death is unknown. His wife's date of death is unknown.

Bateman, John (d. 1719). Second son of Maj. Rowland Bateman (fl. 1669) and his wife Charity Wilson. He married 1st, Frances, daughter of William Trenchard of Mount Trenchard (Co. Limerick), and 2nd, Anne (fl. 1719), second daughter of Col. the Rt. Hon. George Evans of Carass (Co. Limerick), and had issue:
(2.1) Rowland Bateman (1705-53) (q.v.);
(2.2) George Bateman (1711-92), of Dromaltin Castle, Castle Island (Co. Kerry), born 1711; married Sarah, daughter of Anthony Stoughton of Rattoo (Co. Kerry), and had issue two sons and two daughters; said to have died in 1792;
(2.3) Thomas Bateman (d. 1756), of Mount Catherine (Co. Cork); married 1st, 1735, Jane Delahoyde of Cork, and 2nd, 22 January 1740, Alice (who m2, [forename unknown] McCarthy), second daughter of Thomas Sadleir of Sopwell Hall (Co. Tipperary), by whom he had issue one son (Francis Sadler Bateman (c.1748-1830), of Mount Prospect, Killarney (Co. Kerry)); died 1756;
(2.4) John Bateman (c.1718-92) (q.v.);
(2.5) Mary Bateman; married Francis Morris;
(2.6) Frances Bateman (d. 1763); married, 1729 (licence), as his second wife, Rev. Thomas Lloyd (c.1684-1745) of Towerhill & Fantstown Castle (co Limerick), precentor of Limerick Cathedral, and had issue one son; died 26 November 1763.
He probably inherited the Killeen/Oakpark estate from his elder brother in 1707.
He died in about 1719; his will was proved 1719. His first wife's date of death is unknown. His widow was living in 1719 but her date of death is unknown.

Bateman, Rowland (1705-53). Eldest son of John Bateman (d. 1719) and his second wife, Anne, daughter of Col. the Rt. Hon. George Evans of Carass (Co. Limerick), born January 1705. JP for Co. Kerry. He married, 1727 (licence; but settlement, 26 April 1739), Elizabeth (d. 1781), eldest daughter of Col. Nicholas Colthurst of Ballyally (Co. Cork), and had issue:
(1) Elizabeth Bateman (b. c.1728), born about 1728; married, 1748, Anthony Stoughton (d. 1780) of Rattoo Abbey (Co. Kerry) and had isssue two sons and five daughters;
(2) Anne Bateman (c.1729-1813), born about 1729; married, 1757, Francis Crosbie (c.1719-1807) of Rusheen (Co. Kildare), but had no issue; died in January 1813;
(3) Penelope Bateman (c.1731-89), born about 1731; married, c.1756, as his second wife, Richard Smyth (c.1706-68) of Ballinatray (Co. Waterford), and had issue four sons and two daughters; died September 1789;
(4) Mary (k/a Molly) Bateman (c.1734-90); married (with a dowry of £3,000), 6 January 1755, Sir Thomas FitzGerald (d. 1781), 22nd Knight of Glin, and had issue two sons and six daughters; her portrait is at Glin Castle; said to have died in 1790;
(5) Rowland Bateman (c.1737-1803) (q.v.);
(6) Sarah Bateman (c.1739-79?), born about 1742; married, 4 May 1771 at Lower Shandon (Co. Cork), Rev. John Barry DD (c.1727-94) of Cork, Dean of Elphin, 1778-94 (who m2, 1781, Susan Swan and had issue one son), younger son of Sir Edward Barry, 1st bt., but had no issue; probably the Sarah Barry buried at St Finbar's Cathedral, Cork, 31 March 1779;
(7) Colthurst Bateman (c.1740-1821) [for whom see below, Bateman of Bedford House and Bertholey House];
(8) Frances Bateman (b. c.1742); married, by 1760, Pierce Crosbie (fl. 1797) of Ballyheigue (Co. Kerry), and had issue two sons and several daughters;
(9) John Bateman (c.1745-1806), born about 1745; JP for Co. Kerry; married, 8 October 1770, Olivia (c.1731-1820), Countess of Rosse, daughter and co-heiress of Hugh Edwards and widow of Richard Parsons (c.1718-64), 2nd Earl of Rosse, but had no issue; died 24 February 1806;
(10) George Bateman (c.1746-88); youngest son, mentioned in his father and mother's wills; died at Rosetown (Co. Kildare), 28 December 1788; will proved 11 February 1789;
(11) Jane Bateman (c.1748-1826); married, 21 March 1770 at Shandon, Richard Dunscombe (c.1723-94) of Co. Cork, and had issue one daughter; died 18 June 1826.
He inherited the Killeen/Oakpark estate from his father in 1719 and came of age in 1726.
He died 26 March 1753; his will was proved 17 July 1753. His widow died in Cork in December 1781; her will was proved 19 August 1782.

Bateman, Rowland (c.1737-1803). Eldest son of Rowland Bateman (1705-53) and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Nicholas Colthurst of Ballyhaly (Co. Cork), born about 1737. JP for Co. Kerry; High Sheriff of Co. Kerry, 1758-59. MP for Tralee, 1761-68 and for Kerry, 1776-83. An officer in the Kerry Legion Cavalry (Maj. commanding, by 1779) and First Munster Provincial Regiment of Foot (Lt-Col, 1783). A member of the Royal Dublin Society, 1766-1803. He married, 1758 (settlement 27 September 1759), Letitia (1743-97), daughter and co-heir of Sir Thomas Denny, kt. of Tralee Castle, and had issue:
(1.1) Rowland Bateman (b. 1760), born 1760; died in infancy;
(1.2) Agnes Bateman (1763-91), born 13 April and baptised at St James, Piccadilly, Westminster (Middx), 8 May 1763; married, 1785, Richard Chute of Chute Hall (Co. Kerry), and had issue; died July 1791;
(1.3) Rowland Bateman (c.1764-1813) (q.v.);
(1.4) Thomas Bateman (1767-83), born 1767; died unmarried, June 1783;
(1.5) Elizabeth Bateman (c.1768-1836), born about 1768; married, 1785, her cousin, Col. James Crosbie MP (c.1760-1836) of Ballyheigue (Co. Kerry), and had issue four sons and two daughters; died at Ballyheigue Castle, 20 August 1836.
He inherited the Killeen/Oakpark estate from his father in 1754.
He was buried at St Peter, Dublin, 25 April 1803; his will was proved in Dublin, 1803. His wife died in about 1797; her will was proved in 1797.

Bateman, Rowland (c.1764-1813). Elder son of Rowland Bateman (fl. 1758) and his wife Letitia, daughter and co-heir of Sir Thomas Denny, bt., born about 1764. Educated at Trinity College, Dublin (admitted 1781). He signed the pro-Union petition from Co. Kerry. He married, September 1790 at Tralee, his first cousin, Arabella (c.1764-1848), second daughter of Sir Barry Denny, 1st bt., and had issue:
(1) Jane Bateman (c.1791-92); died in infancy, 26 January 1792;
(2) John Bateman (1792-1863) (q.v.);
(3) Letitia Bateman (c.1795-1866); married, 8 September 1831, Emanuel Hutchinson Orpen (1782-1863) of Mount Tallant (Co. Kerry), a distinguished genealogist, but had no issue; died 15 January 1866;
(4) William Bateman (1797-1845), born in Dublin, 1 May 1797; educated at Trinity College, Dublin (admitted 1815); an officer in the Co. Kerry militia (Capt.); distributor of stamps and game certificates for Co. Kerry; Poor Law Guardian; Chairman of Tralee Town Commissioners; died unmarried, 12 October 1845;
(5) Thomas Bateman (1802-20), born 26 August 1802; educated at Trinity College, Dublin (admitted 1819); died unmarried, 1820.
He inherited the Killeen/Oakpark estate from his father and also owned a leasehold house in Merrion Sq., Dublin which was auctioned in 1803 following his death.
He died at Oak Park, 2 May 1813; his will was proved in Dublin, 1813. His widow was buried at Tralee, 29 October 1848.

Bateman, John (1792-1863). Eldest son of Rowland Bateman (b. c.1765) and his wife Arabella, daughter of Sir Barry Denny, born 1792. Educated at Trinity College, Dublin (admitted 1810). An officer in the Kerry militia (Capt.), c.1814-16; JP for Co. Kerry from 1820; High Sheriff of Co. Kerry, 1819-20; elected a burgess of Tralee, 1833 and MP for Tralee, 1837, but unseated on appeal, 1838. He married 1st, 25 September 1824 at St Marylebone (Middx), Frances (c.1799-1858), daughter of Nathaniel Bland of Randall's Park (Surrey), and 2nd, 23 July 1861 at St Pancras (Middx), Emma Augusta (1822-87), daughter of John Harris, gent., of East Croydon and widow of Robert Napoleon Cox (1822-56), and had issue:
(1.1) Annie Isabella Bateman (c.1824-1907), born about 1824; married, 27 October 1863 at Booterstown (Co.  Dublin), John Pemberton (c.1814-69) and had issue one son; died 24 January 1907;
(1.2) Elizabeth Bateman (c.1825-98), born about 1825; married, 24 September 1845 at Booterstown (Co. Dublin), Rev. Thomas O'Regan (c.1822-1900), vicar of Donnington Wood (Shrops.), 1850-1900, and had issue one son and four daughters; died at Wallington (Surrey), 25 January 1898; will proved 12 March 1898 (estate £nil);
(1.3) Rowland Bateman (1826-57), born 16 May and baptised at Tralee, 2 June 1826; educated at Christ Church, Oxford (matriculated 1844); JP for Co. Kerry, 1847; in 1850 he was gazetted to an ensigncy of the 36th Regiment but was unable to take the post up because of the state of his financial affairs; it was said that he had been obliged to sell his books, plate and valuables, and was rumoured to be 'in some menial capacity in London'; shortly afterwards another report stated that he had converted to Roman Catholicism; after the sale of the family estate he succeeded in joining the army (Ensign, 1852; Lt. 1855), but he died unmarried when he was killed in action at Lucknow, 26 September 1857; will proved 15 March 1858 (effects under £100);
(1.4) A son (b. & d. 1827); born 29 September 1827 but lived only six hours and died the same day;
(1.5) Jane Bateman (c.1828-1907), born about 1828; married, 20 February 1865 at Booterstown (Co. Dublin), John Stokes (1809-67) of Kingstown, superintendent of the Dublin & Kingstown Railway Terminus, son of William Stokes, but had no issue; died in Dublin, 12 February 1907.
He inherited Oak Park from his father in 1813 and rebuilt or remodelled it in the 1820s, but sold it through the Incumbered Estates Court in 1850-51, realising £60,870. He reserved from the sale a house called Dirreen Cottage or Lodge at Castleisland (Co. Kerry), which was sold in 1859. He lived latterly at Leslie Park Rd., Croydon (Surrey).
He died at Leslie Park Road, 1 October, and was buried at Croydon Common Cemetery, 7 October 1863. His first wife died suddenly in late February 1858. His widow died 15 February 1887.

Bateman of Altavilla


Bateman, John (c.1718-92). Fourth son of John Bateman (d. 1719) and his second wife, Anne, daughter of Col. the Rt. Hon. George Evans of Carass (Co. Limerick), born about 1718. High Sheriff of Co. Limerick, 1749. He married 1st, 1745, Elizabeth (d. 1748), elder daughter of Thomas Sadleir of Sopwell Hall (Co. Tipperary), and 2nd, 29 January 1756, Grace (b. c.1720), daughter of Henry Brooke MP of Colebrooke (Co. Fermanagh), and had issue:
(1.1) Catherine Bateman (b. c.1747; fl. 1773), born about 1747; living in 1773 but her date of death is unknown;
(2.1) John Bateman (c.1757-1829) (q.v.);
(2.2) Rev. Henry Bateman (c.1758-1821), of Mount Henry (Co. Limerick); educated at Trinity College, Dublin (admitted 1775; BA 1780); JP for Co. Limerick; curate of Shanagolden (Co. Limerick), 1791-1808; rector of Abbeyfeale (Co. Limerick), 1808-21; married, 1 April 1811 at St Peter, Dublin, Matilda (1779?-1836) (who m2, November 1824, at St George, Hanover Sq., London, William Carroll Hourigan of Nenagh (Co. Tipperary)), eldest daughter of Capt. Cooke of Dublin, and had issue one son (who died young from the effects of an overdose of laudanum administered by his mother); died at Newcastle (Co. Limerick), 20 November 1821; will proved in Dublin, 1822;
(2.3) Letitia Grace Bateman (c.1760-93); married, 2 or 26 June 1778 at Limerick, Gerald Blennerhassett (1757-1806) of Riddlestown Park (Co. Limerick), and had issue two sons and one daughter; died 4 May 1793;
(2.4) George Brooke Bateman (c.1762-1809), educated at Trinity College, Dublin (admitted 1777) and Kings Inn, Dublin (admitted 1780; called 1788), barrister-at-law; an officer in the First Munster Provincial Regiment of Foot (Lt., 1783); died unmarried, 1809; will proved in Dublin, 1809;
(2.5) Susannah Bateman (d. 1795); died unmarried at Palmerstown, October 1795.
He built Altavilla at Lismakeery (Co. Limerick) in 1746-49.
He died at Riddlestown (Co. Limerick) in March 1792. His first wife died in 1748; administration of her goods was granted to her husband, 17 November 1748. His second wife's date of death is unknown.

Bateman, John (c.1757-1829). Eldest son of John Bateman (c.1718-92) and his second wife, Grace, daughter of Henry Brooke MP of Colebrooke (Co. Fermanagh), born about 1757. Educated at Kings Inns, Dublin (admitted 1775; called 1780). Barrister-at-law. JP for Co. Limerick; High Sheriff of Co. Limerick, 1819. An officer in the Riddlestown Huzzars (Maj.), 1781 and later the Co. Limerick militia (Capt. by 1793). He married, 6 November 1782 at Anglingham (Co. Galway), Mary (d. 1831), daughter and heiress of Thomas Bourke of Anglingham, and had issue:
(1) Frances Bateman (1783-1840?), probably the eldest daughter born August 1783 in Dublin; married, by 1833, John Fitzgerald (fl. 1841); possibly the woman of this name who died 3 January 1840;
(2) Thomas Gerald Bateman (b. 1789) (q.v.);
(3) Mary Burke Bateman (c.1790-1831), born about 1790; married, May 1806, Garrett O'Moore (1784-1833), and had issue eight sons and three daughters; died at Cloghan Castle (Co. Offaly), January 1831;
(4) Bridget Bateman (c.1793-1858), third daughter; died unmarried, 10 February 1858; will proved at Limerick, 6 March 1858 (effects under £200);
(5) Georgina Bateman (d. 1839), fourth daughter; died unmarried in Dublin, 14 April 1839; will proved in Dublin, 1839;
(6) Elizabeth Bateman (fl. 1833); living in 1833.
He inherited Altavilla from his father in 1792. In 1828 he was successful in a legal dispute which had been running for 120 years, as a result of which 'he has been put in undisputed possession of a very large unencumbered estate in the county... and town of Galway'.
He died 4 June 1829. His widow died in June 1831.

Bateman, Thomas Gerald (b. 1789; fl. 1845). Only son of John Bateman (c.1757-1829) and his wife Mary, daughter and heiress of Thomas Bourke of Anglingham (Co. Galway), born June or July 1789. As a consequence of taking over his father's debts he owed about £18,000 in the early 1830s and was hard pressed by his creditors. Despite these debts, he was a liberal supporter of the building of a new Roman Catholic chapel at Coolcappa (Co. Limerick). He seems to have tried to preserve his Galway property from the hands of his creditors by a fraudulent scheme, which resulted in several expensive court cases, and he was eventually obliged to sell all his property. He married Julia [surname unknown] and had issue including:
(1) Letitia Bateman; married, 30 July 1870 at St Silas, Liverpool, Arthur F. Charles Clifford, commercial clerk, son of John Clifford, wax bleacher.
He inherited Altavilla from his father in 1829, but sold it in 1839. He also inherited property at Anglingham and elsewhere in Co. Galway from his father and in 1831 from his mother, and this was sold in 1840-41.
He was living in 1845. His wife's date of death is unknown.

Bateman family of Bedford House and Bertholey House


Bateman, Colthurst (c.1740-1821). Second son of Rowland Bateman (1705-53) of Oakpark (Co. Kerry) and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Nicholas Colthurst of Ballyhaly (Co. Cork), born about 1740. Educated at Trinity College, Dublin (admitted 1758). JP for Co. Kerry. He married, 22 September 1779 at Carrigtwohill (Co. Cork), Jane (d. 1841), daughter of Robert Dobson of Anngrove (Co. Cork), and had issue:
(1) Colthurst Bateman (1780-1859) (q.v.);
(2) Dorothea Bateman (c.1781-1863), born about 1781; married 1st, 1804 (licence 2 March), George Augustus Simpson (c.1777-1811) and had issue two sons and two daughters; married 2nd, 8 or 18 January 1820 in Bath, Admiral John Maitland (1771-1836), and married 3rd, 7 May 1842 at St George, Hanover Sq., London, Chev. Joseph Calza (d. 1861) of Rome (Italy), Capt. of Cavalry in the Roman service; died 22 August 1863;
(3) Rev. Rowland Bateman (c.1782-1854), of Killcarra Lodge (Co. Kerry) and Abbeyfeale (Co. Limerick), born about 1782; educated at Trinity College, Dublin (matriculated 1801; BA 1804); ordained priest, 1811; rector of Silton (Dorset), 1815-38; married 1st, 29 March 1826 at St Andrew, Clifton, Bristol (Glos), Frances Catherine, eldest daughter of Robert Mitford and niece of Bertram Mitford of Mitford Castle (Northbld), and had issue one son and one daughter; married 2nd, 26 March 1840 at Duagh (Co. Kerry), Elizabeth, daughter of Maurice Fitzmaurice of Duagh House near Listowel, and widow of James Eidington (d. 1838) of Gargunnock House (Stirlings.), and had further issue three sons and three daughters; died of cholera at Killcara Lodge near Listowel, 6 May 1854; will proved in Dublin, 1854;
(4) Elizabeth Bateman (c.1783-1870), born about 1783; married 1st, 11 or 14 November 1813 in St John, Calcutta (India), James Archibald Simpson (d. 1821); married 2nd, 2 February 1825 at Clifton, Daniel Staunton (d. by 1847) of Bristol; died in Clifton, 4 March 1870; will proved 18 March 1870 (effects under £6,000);
(5) Jane Bateman (b. c.1786), born about 1786; married, 6 April 1808 at St Swithin, Walcot, Bath (Som.), Capt. Robert Ragueneau Dobson (1786-1860) of Drummore (Co. Donegal), and had issue one son and one daughter (who married Thomas Bateman (1823-1910), for whom see below);
(6) Anne Bateman (c.1789-1852), born in Ireland about 1789; married, 28 February 1807 in Calcutta (India), Patrick Maitland (c.1770-1821) of Calcutta and Kilmaron Castle (Fife) and had issue two sons (from whom descended the Earls of Lauderdale) and one daughter; died in Cheltenham, 25 October 1852;
(7) John Bateman (1790-1819), born 18 October 1790; an officer in the 13th Bengal Native Infantry (Ensign, 1808; Lt., 1814); died unmarried of typhus fever at Almora, United Provinces (India), 22 July 1819; will proved 14 August 1819.
He built Bedford House, Tralee, perhaps at the time of his marriage, but lived latterly at a house in Clifton, Bristol (Glos).
He died aged 81 on 6 May and was buried at St Andrew, Clifton, Bristol, 14 May 1821. His widow died at her house in Bennett St., Bath (Som.), 23 March 1841.

Bateman, Colthurst (1780-1859). Eldest son of Colthurst Bateman (c.1740-1821) and his wife, Jane, daughter of Robert Dobson of Anngrove (Co. Cork), born 2 October 1780. JP for Monmouthshire; High Sheriff of Monmouthshire, 1839-40. A Conservative in politics. In 1835 he received compensation for the freeing of 270 slaves on his wife's plantations in Jamaica. In 1830, he voluntarily remitted 15% of his tenants' rents in view of 'the pressure of the times', and in the 1840s, during the Potato Famine, he made further rent abatements on his estate in Co. Kerry. Perhaps partly as a result of this generosity, he became financially embarrassed and was declared an insolvent debtor, and briefly fled his creditors to Boulogne (France), 1847. He married, 2 November 1809 at Queens Square Chapel, Bath (Som.), Jane Sarah (1784-1857), daughter and heiress of John Kemeys Gardner-Kemeys of Bertholey House (Mon.), and had issue:
(1) Jane Bateman (1812-95), baptised at Monmouth, 26 June 1812; married, 9 August 1836 at Clifton (Glos), John Gwalter Palairet BA (Cantab) of Sherborne (Dorset), son of John Gwalter Palairet, barrister-at-law, and had issue; died at Woodham, Avonside near Christchurch (New Zealand), 9 August 1895; administration of goods granted 9 November 1899 (effects in England, £800);
(2) John Bateman (1814-94) (q.v.);
(3) George Colthurst Bateman (1815-52), baptised at Backwell (Som.), 20 August 1815; lived latterly in Jamaica, but died unmarried in New York (USA), 6 February 1852; administration of goods granted 16 November 1859 (effects under £2,000);
(4) Rowland Bateman (1816-39), baptised at Backwell (Som.), 16 November 1816; an officer in the Royal Navy (Lt., 1837); he was unmarried and without issue; he died of dysentry while serving as mate on HMS Wellesley in the Persian Gulf, 3 April 1839, and was buried on Karrack Island (now Khรขrg Island, Iran); he is commemorated by a memorial tablet in Llantrissant church; administration of his goods granted 7 May 1839 (effects under £800);
(5) Sarah Bateman (1818-68), baptised at Backwell (Som.), 18 February 1818; married, 10 February 1846 at St Michael, Bristol, Charles John Kelson (1824-60), apothecary (who became bankrupt in 1853) and later surgeon, son of Joseph James Kelson of Bristol, surgeon, but had no issue; died at Clifton, Bristol, 5 March 1868; will proved 2 April 1868 (effects under £1,500);
(6) Robert Bateman (1819-76) (q.v.);
(7) Reginald Bateman (1820-92), born December 1820 and baptised at Flax Bourton (Som.), 10 July 1822; an officer in the Royal Navy from 1839 (mate, 1846; Lt. 1847; his name was removed from the Navy List in 1854 but the reason for this is unclear); he died unmarried at Clifton, Bristol, 25 December 1892; his will was proved 24 January 1893 (effects £30,336);
(8) Thomas Bateman (1823-1901), born 2 March and baptised at Flax Bourton, 14 September 1823; married, 15 July 1857 at St Mary, Cheltenham (Glos), Jane Georgina (c.1810-92), daughter of Capt. Robert Ragueneau Dobson and widow of Rev. Edward Aubrey of Stoke Damerel (Devon); died 10 December 1901; administration of goods granted 15 February 1902 (estate £6,683);
(9) Frederick Bateman (1825-47), born April 1825 and baptised at Flax Bourton, 4 May 1826; died unmarried when his gun exploded while he was shooting rabbits at Boulogne (France), 12 October 1847; he is commemorated by a 10ft obelisk at Condette, near Hardelot, Pas de Calais, inscribed “Ce monument est รฉrigรฉ en commรฉmoration de la mort de Frederic, fils bien-aimรฉ de Colhurst Bateman, Esq, de Bertholey House Monmouthshire. A la fleur de l’รขge, il quitta sa demeure le 12 octobre 1847. Hรฉlas, il n’y devait plus revenir. Une explosion inattendue de son fusil lui fit sauter la cervelle et il tomba inanimรฉ dans le lieu-mรชme ou s’รฉlรจve ce monument. Ses parents chagrinรฉs se virent privรฉs d’un fils de 22 ans, fils tendrement aimรฉ qui rรฉunissait les qualitรฉs les plus estimables et รฉtait chรฉri de ses nombreux amis”; administration of his goods was granted 10 December 1861 (effects under £1,500).
He inherited Bedford House from his father in 1821 but apparently sold it soon afterwards, although he still owned lands on the estate in 1853. He lived in or near Bath until in 1830 he inherited Bertholey House (Mon.) and interests in two Jamaican plantations in right of his wife. He completed the mansion which her father had begun to construct at Bertholey, but after he became insolvent, he auctioned the contents of the house and soon afterwards retired to Stanley Villa, Weston, Bath (Som.). In 1847 the Bertholey estate was advertised for sale by auction, but no sale evidently took place and other lands controlled by the trustees of his marriage settlement were evidently sold instead to settle his affairs.
He died in his sleep of a stroke at the house of his daughter Jane in Sherborne (Dorset), 2 August, and was buried at Bath Abbey Cemetery, 10 August 1859; his will was proved 6 October 1859 (effects under £10,000). His wife died 27 January and was buried in Bath Abbey Cemetery, 2 February 1857; her will was proved in the PCC, 19 February 1857.

Bateman, John (1814-94). Eldest son of Colthurst Bateman (1780-1859) and his wife Jane Sarah, daughter and heiress of John Kemeys Gardner-Kemeys of Bertholey House (Mon.), baptised at Backwell (Som.), 21 February 1814. He became mentally ill, and was committed to Bailbrook asylum, Bath, in 1860, when his affairs were placed in the hands of a committee in lunacy including his younger brother Robert. He was unmarried and without issue.
He inherited the Bertholey estate from his father in 1859, but his brother Robert occupied the house by 1862, and after his death it passed to his Robert's son, Frederick Reginald Bateman.
He died in Bailbrook asylum, Bath (Som.), 7 February and was buried in Bath Abbey Cemetery, 12 February 1894; administration of his goods was granted to his brother Thomas, 2 April 1894 (effects £1,237).

Bateman, Robert (1819-76). Fourth son of Colthurst Bateman (1780-1859) and his wife Jane Sarah, daughter and heiress of John Kemeys Gardner-Kemeys of Bertholey House (Mon.), born 18 July 1819 and baptised at Flax Bourton (Som.), 10 July 1822. He emigrated to Australia in about 1840 but at some point in the 1850s he returned to Britain, where he became a JP for Monmouthshire, 1865. He married, 21 August 1844 in Hobart, Tasmania (Australia), Mary Wilson (c.1825-88), and had issue:
(1) Frederick Reginald Bateman (1848-1923) (q.v.);
(2) Robert William Bateman (1850-90), born 25 July 1850 and baptised at St Peter, Eastern Hill, Melbourne (Australia), 21 March 1851; married, 1880 at Menindee, New South Wales (Australia), Lucy Baldwin Buick (1854-1933) and had issue one son and one daughter; died 7 June 1890 and was buried at St Kilda Cemetery, Port Philip City, Victoria (Australia);
(3) Frances Mary Bateman (c.1852-1919), born at Murray River, Victoria (Australia), about 1852; married, 25 September 1895 at Coleford (Glos), as his second wife, William Hier Evans (1851-1941) of Roath, Cardiff (Glam.) and later of Bath (Som.), farmer, son of John Evans, but had no issue; died 1 December 1919 and was buried in Bath Abbey cemetery (Som.); will proved 21 February 1920 (estate £8,935);
(4) John Kemeys Bateman (1855-1905), born 18 May and baptised at Murrumbidgee, New South Wales (Australia), 16 October 1855; married, 2 September 1882 at St Mary, Barklay, Griqualand West (South Africa), Laura Kinnaird, youngest daughter of William Henry Oakley of Bettws Newydd, Usk (Mon.);
(5) Jane Angelica Bateman (1862-1919), born at Bertholey House, 11 March 1862; emigrated to Australia with her mother and sister, 1885; married, 1889 in Victoria (Australia), Frank Montague Jephcott (b. 1865), mechanical engineer, and had issue two sons; returned to England by 1891; emigrated to America where she became a naturalised citizen in 1905; died in Los Angeles, California, 14 May 1919; will proved 1 October 1919 (effects in England, £1,857).
He lived in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia) and then at Stanley Villa, Weston, Bath (Som.), but by 1862 was occupying Bartholey House. His widow gave up Bertholey in 1879 and returned to Australia in 1885. The house was thereafter occupied by tenants until his brother's death in 1894, when it was sold.
He died 8 April and was buried at Llantrisant, 12 April 1876; his will was proved 6 May 1876 (estate under £3,000). His widow died at Toorak, Victoria (Australia), 1 January 1888, and was buried at St Kilda Cemetery, Port Philip City, Victoria (Australia).

Bateman, Frederick Reginald (1848-1923). Eldest son of Robert Bateman (b. c.1820) and his wife, born at Murray River, Victoria (Australia), 1848. JP for Co. Kerry and Tralee; High Sheriff of Co. Kerry, 1897. He was a keen hunting man, and at his death was one of the oldest active members of the Llangibby Hunt in Monmouthshire. He married, 1874, Elizabeth Bateman (c.1854-1926?), and had issue:
(1) Dora Coningsby Bateman (1878-1954), born 27 August 1878; married, 23 January 1901, Henry Reay Yorke (1875-1941) of Holly Croft, Brompton-by-Sawdon (Yorks NR), son of Thomas Edward Yorke, and had issue five sons; died 29 May 1954 and was buried at Brompton-by-Sawdon; will proved 28 August 1954 (estate £23,040);
(2) Frances Frederica Kemeys Bateman (1880-1941), born 16 February 1880; married, 18 December 1919 at Baggotrath (Co. Dublin), Robert James Conway Blennerhassett Eagar (c.1874-1920) of Glenbeigh (Co. Kerry), son of Rev. Robert Eagar, but had no issue; died at Barnwood House Mental Hospital, 20 June 1941; administration of goods granted to her sister, 10 December 1941 (estate £4,802).
He inherited the Bartholey estate from his uncle in 1894, but sold it in 1895. By 1893 he was living at Chute Hall; in 1910 at Rossbeigh, Glenbeigh and in 1923 at Tycoch, Llanbadoc, Usk (Mon.).
He died 13 March and was buried at Llantrisant (Mon.), 17 March 1923; administration of his goods was granted 5 May 1923 and 17 December 1926 (estate £2,101). His widow may be the woman of this name who died in Charlton Kings (Glos), 2 August 1926, and whose will was proved 30 October 1926 (estate £4,117).

Principal sources

Burke's Landed Gentry, 1850, vol. 1, pp. 68-69; Burke's Landed Gentry of Ireland, 1912, pp. 32-33; Western Mail, 16 March 1905; Knight of Glin, 'A Baroque Palladian in Ireland', Country Life, 28 September 1967, p. 737; J. Newman, The buildings of Wales: Gwent/Monmouthshire, 2000, p. 360; J.A.K. Dean, The gate lodges of Munster: a gazetteer, 2018, pp. 139, 150, 156;  http://orapweb.rcahms.gov.uk/coflein//C/CPG262.pdf

Location of archives

Bateman family of Oak Park and Bedford House: estate papers, 17th cent. [National Archives of Ireland]

Coat of arms

Or, on a chevron between three escallops gules, an ostrich feather argent.

Can you help?

  • Can anyone provide a drawing or early photograph of Bedford House near Listowel showing the house as first built?
  • Can anyone provide a view of Bertholey House before the fire of 1905?
  • I should be most grateful if anyone can provide photographs or portraits of people whose names appear in bold above, and who are not already illustrated.
  • Any additions or corrections to the text above will be gratefully received and incorporated. As always when writing about Irish families I am particularly aware of the lack of detail in my genealogy, due to my limited access to the sources, and the poor survival of the sources themselves. I am always particularly pleased to hear from descendants of the family who can supply information from their own research for inclusion.

Revision and acknowledgements

This post was first published 30 December 2020 and updated 1-5 January 2021, 27 July 2021 and 6 July 2022. I am grateful to Tom Lloyd for his assistance with Bertholey House.

Tuesday 15 December 2020

(440) Bate of Kelsterton Hall


Bate of Kelsterton
Thomas Bate (1769-1833) is said to have been born in Leeds but evidently moved from that city to south-west Lancashire in the late 18th century. He is recorded on his marriage as a cooper, but his brewery business is said to have been established in 1793, and he evidently prospered sufficiently to allow him to buy a substantial estate around Kelsterton and Northop (Flints) in 1816. The estate included a 'mansion house' which had been the residence of the previous owner, John Edwards, a former High Sheriff of Flintshire, but the fact that the sale particulars are silent about its charms and size suggests that it was small and old-fashioned. Having acquired the estate, Bate transferred his brewery to Kelsterton, where new premises were built in 1818, and either at the same time or later he built the present house on the opposite side of the road. The house and brewery descended in turn to his son, Edward Bate (1805-76) and grandson, Thomas Bate (1849-1910). The latter converted the brewery business into a limited company in 1890 and sold it to the Chester Northgate Brewery Co. (of which he became a director) in 1899. The brewery at Kelsterton later closed and some of the stone from the building was used to construct a vestry at Connah's Quay church in 1933. Thomas also made alterations and additions to the house at Kelsterton, perhaps funded by capital released from the brewery business.

Thomas Bate had two sons. The elder, Roger Whitley Bate (1882-1901) volunteered for the Royal Welsh Fusiliers during the Boer War, and was killed in an incident near Boshof (South Africa). The younger, Thomas Bate (1889-1917) spent four years travelling in Australia and North America between 1908 and 1912, during which time his father died. When he returned to England he did not immediately take control of the estate as it was administered by a trustee until he reached the age of 25. Just a month later, on 4 August, the First World War began and Thomas joined the Royal Welsh Fusiliers on the same day. Unfortunately, he too was killed in 1917, and the Kelsterton estate passed to his sister Gwendoline (1879-1967) and her husband, John William Charlton (1873-1945), a Liverpool corn factor.
Plas Bellin, Northop

They occupied the house for a few years but sold it in the 1920s and moved to the rather smaller Plas Bellin at Northop, where their family remained until the 1970s, when the house was acquired by the National Coal Board.  By 1985 the house was derelict, but it was then leased (and later sold) to the charity 'Save the Family' which secured the funds to restore it as accommodation for vulnerable homeless families. It continues to serve this purpose today. 




Kelsterton Hall, Connah's Quay, Flintshire


Kelsterton Hall: the house of c.1820 was altered, perhaps in the 1890s, when the single-storey corridor was built on the front
and additions were made at the rear.
A two-storey house of pale pink brick, built about 1820 for Thomas Bate (1769-1835) on the site of an earlier 'mansion house' about which nothing seems to be known. The entrance front has a four-bay centre between slightly projecting one-bay wings, while the rear originally had a series of four low-pitched gables. Later in the 19th century, a single-storey corridor with a glazed roof was built between the wings on the front, with five windows and a front door awkwardly crammed into the four bays. Presumably at the same time, a darker red brick service wing was added at the rear and the interior was much refitted with panelling, a new staircase with a balustrade formed of a panel of twisted balusters, and heavy stone chimneypieces. In the 1960s and 1970s the house was used as a hostel for young men, and fell into disrepair. It is now once again in private ownership, but period features are now largely confined to the hall and staircase, and the dining room, following further extensive remodelling in the late 20th and 21st centuries. 

Descent: John Edwards (d. 1816); sold 1816 to Thomas Bate (1769-1833); to son, Edward Bate (1805-76); to son, Thomas Bate (1849-1910); to son, Thomas Bate (1889-1917); to sister, Gwendoline Mary Owen Bate (b. 1870), wife of John William Charlton (d. 1945); leased or sold to Ralph Currey Dawson (d. 1935) and then Mr & Mrs Harry Nicholls (fl. 1939-53)...

Bate family of Kelsterton Hall


Bate, Thomas (1769-1833). Son of Thomas Bate (d. 1795) of Leeds (Yorks WR) and his wife Anne, daughter of John Dawson, born 28 March 1769. A cooper and later a brewer in Prescot (Lancs) from 1793 and proprietor of the Kelsterton Brewery from 1818. He married, 15 March 1797 at Rainford (Lancs), Mary (1775-1861), daughter of Ralph Cooke of Prescot (Lancs), and had issue:
(1) Anne Bate (1801-53), born 17 February and baptised at St. Helens (Lancs), 19 February 1801; married, 7 July 1830 at Northop, William Medley (1801-73) of Liverpool, woollen draper (who m2, 26 April 1855 at St Catherine, Liverpool, Elizabeth Luccock (1808-87), daughter of Thomas Griffith), son of Guy Medley, and had issue three sons and one daughter; died 10 October and was buried in Liverpool Cemetery, 13 October 1853;
(2) Edward Bate (1805-76) (q.v.);
(3) Mary Bate (b. 1809), born 25 June and baptised at St Helens, 6 August 1809; married, 8 September 1840 at Connah's Quay, Ven. Edward Smart (c.1816-89), rector of Henllan (Denbighs) and archdeacon of St Asaph, son of Edward Smart of Llanwfrog (Denbighs.); living in 1889 but death not traced.
He acquired the Kelsterton estate (Flints) in 1816 from the executors of John Edwards, and probably rebuilt the house soon afterwards.
He died 25 May and was buried at Everton Nonconformist Burial Ground, Liverpool, 28 May 1833. His widow died 16 March and was buried at Henllan, 22 March 1861.

Bate, Edward (1805-76). Only son of Thomas Bate (1769-1833) and his wife Mary, daughter of Ralph Cooke of Prescot (Lancs), born 5 April and baptised at St Helens (Lancs), 1 May 1805. Proprietor of Kelsterton Brewery, 1833-76; JP for Flintshire. He married, 12 September 1845, Martha (1814-92), only daughter and eventually sole heiress of Rev. Edward Whitley, vicar of Berse Drelincourt (Denbighs) and rector of Bodfari, and had issue:
(1) Mary Jane Bate (1848-1928), born 11 May 1848; married, 4 May 1893 at Guilsfield (Montgomerys.), Edward Dallas Annesley (1855-1927) of Oxford, fifth son of Arthur Annesley of Lee (Kent) and Haseley (Warks), but had no issue; died 19 August 1928; will proved 7 November 1928 (estate £3,702);
(2) Thomas Bate (1849-1910) (q.v.);
(3) Anna Maria Bate (1852-1913), born 23 September and baptised at Connah's Quay, 25 November 1852; married, 23 December 1879 at Connah's Quay, John Alexander Sinclair-Maclagan (1834-1911) of Glenqueich (Angus), but had no issue; died 29 June 1913; will confirmed 29 August 1913 (estate £6,623);
(4) Emily Martha Bate (1855-1947), born 20 July and baptised at Connah's Quay, 12 October 1855; married, 18 October 1881 at Gresford (Denbighs), Canon James Sculthorpe Lewis (c.1848-1925), vicar of Guilsfield and later of Ruabon (Denbighs), only son of Rev. Evan Lewis of Whittington (Shrops.), and had issue five sons and one daughter; died aged 91 on 18 March 1947; will proved 29 October 1947 (estate £9,312).
He inherited Kelsterton Hall from his father in 1833.
He died intestate, 25 June and was buried at Connah's Quay, 29 June 1876; administration of his goods was granted to his son, 4 September 1876 (effects under £16,000). His widow died in Chester, 28 April 1892; her will was proved 30 May 1892 (effects £1,710).

Bate, Thomas (1849-1910). Only son of Edward Bate (1805-76) and his wife Martha, only daughter and eventual heiress of Rev. Edward Whitley, vicar of Berse Drelincourt and Minera (Denbighs), born 13 November 1849 and baptised at Northop (Flints), 15 January 1850. Educated at Queen’s College, Magdalen Hall and Hertford College, Oxford (mat. 1868; BA 1873; MA 1875), and Inner Temple (admitted. 1874). An officer in the Denbighshire Hussars (Lt., 1882); JP and DL for Flintshire; High Sheriff of Flintshire, 1887-88. Proprietor of the Kelsterton Brewery Co, 1876-90, and later chairman of the Kelsterton Brewery Ltd., 1890-99,  and a director of the Chester Northgate Brewery Co., 1899-1910. He married, 11 July 1878 at Blessington (Co. Wicklow), Perenna (1858-1920), fourth daughter of William Owen of Blessington, and had issue:
(1) Gwendoline Mary Owen Bate (1879-1967) (q.v.);
(2) Dorothy Bate (1880-1938), born 17 September and baptised at Connah's Quay, 16 October 1880; married, 24 April 1907 at Yazor (Herefs), Vivian Burchall Latham Helme (1882-1960) of The Old House, Wormelow (Herefs) (who m2, 1934, Winifred F. Jenney), second son of Harold Helme of Broadfield Court and King's Thorne (Herefs), but had no issue; divorced on grounds of her adultery with Frederick H. Nixey, 1934, and lived subsequently at Lambourn (Berks); died 2 February 1938; administration of goods granted to her elder sister, 25 April 1938 (estate £6,217);
(3) Roger Whitley Bate (1882-1901), born 12 October and baptised at Connah's Quay, 13 November 1882; educated at Eton; served with 3rd battn, Royal Welsh Fusiliers (2nd Lt., 1899) in Boer War and was killed at Rustpan, near Boshof (South Africa), 7 December 1901; administration of his goods granted to his father, 26 May 1902 (effects £551);
(4) Gladys Annie Bate (1884-1978), born 21 January and baptised at Connah's Quay, 26 February 1884; Roman Catholic convert who in 1939 was an unpaid assistant and catechist in Capel Curig (Caernarvons.); died aged 94 at Nazareth House, Wrexham (Denbighs.), 23 April 1978, and was buried at Bridell (Pembs.), 28 April 1978; her burial at Bridell suggests she may have been a nun in the Carmelite convent there for a time;
(5) Marjorie Perenna Bate (1888-1966), born 8 January and baptised at Connah's Quay, 16 February 1888; married, 1 March 1932 at Connah's Quay, Cmdr. Hubert George Morgan Hill RN (1888-1961), son of Vice-Adm. George William Hill of Stoney Stretton Hall, Yockleton (Shrops.); died 9 June 1966; will proved 13 September 1966 (estate £15,283);
(6) Thomas Bate (1889-1917) (q.v.);
(7) Pauline Janet Whitley Bate (1899-1979), born 25 January 1899; married, 21 November 1934, Stewart Edward Benson (1912-2004); died 20 November 1979; will proved 12 February 1980 (estate £45,160).
He inherited Kelsterton Hall from his father in 1876 and probably remodelled it in the 1890s.
He died 13 December and was buried at Connah's Quay, 16 December 1910; his will was proved 28 March 1911 (estate £75,633). His widow died in London, 11 February, and was buried at Connah's Quay, 14 February 1920; her will was proved 30 March 1920 (estate £11,236).

Bate, Thomas (1889-1917). Second, but only surviving son of Thomas Bate (1849-1910) and his wife Perenna, daughter of William Owen of Blessington (Co. Wicklow), born 1 July and baptised at Connah's Quay, 4 August 1889. Educated at Shrewsbury School. He travelled in Australia, the USA and Canada, 1908-12, and was thus away at the time of his father's death. An officer in the 5th battalion, Royal Welsh Fusiliers (2nd Lt., 1913; Lt., 1914), who was mentioned in despatches, 1917. He was unmarried and without issue.
He inherited Kelsterton Hall from his father in 1910, but it was administered by his uncle, Thomas Owen, as trustee, until he came of age at 25 in 1914. After his death the estate passed to his eldest sister, Gwendoline.
He was killed in action at Gaza (Palestine), 26 March 1917.

Bate, Gwendoline Mary Owen (1879-1967). Eldest daughter of Thomas Bate (1849-1910) and his wife Perenna, daughter of William Owen of Blessington (Co. Wicklow), born 17 June and baptised at Connah's Quay, 29 July 1879. She married, 9 January 1906 at Connah's Quay, John William Charlton (1873-1945), corn merchant and chairman of the Chester Northgate Brewery Co., eldest son of John Charlton of Huntingdon (Dumfries.), and had issue:
(1) Maj. John Roger Owen Charlton (1908-42); educated at Shrewsbury School; a director of Charlton & Bagshaw of Liverpool, corn merchants, and later of the Chester Northgate Brewery Co.; an officer in 5th (Territorial) Battn, Royal Welsh Fusiliers (2nd Lt., 1928; Lt., c.1930; Capt., 1938; Acting Maj. by 1940) who served with the Royal Horse Artillery in the Second World War; awarded MC, 1940; died on active service at Tobruk (Libya), 29 May 1942; will proved 9 February 1943 (estate £18,853);
(2) Perenna Isabel Charlton (1909-90), born 20 September and baptised at Connah's Quay, 28 October 1909; married 1st, Apr-Jun 1942 (div. 1946), Anthony Stewart Linney (1914-84) and 2nd, Apr-Jun 1951, William David Douglas Evans (1910-94), and had issue one daughter; died 12 August 1990; will proved 29 October 1990 (estate £147,787);
(3) Thomas Patrick Charlton (1911-91), of Horseley Farm, Bruton (Som.); corn broker; served in Second World War as an officer in the Cheshire Yeomanry and 10th Royal Hussars (Capt.); married, January 1944 at Ashton Hayes (Ches.), Evelyn Mary (1909-2004), daughter of Maj. Philip Durning Holt of Bulkeley (Ches.); died 30 January 1991; will proved 24 May 1991 (estate £775,410);
(4) John Eugene Charlton (1914-2010), baptised at Connah's Quay, 20 February 1914; served in Second World War with Royal Artillery (Maj.); married, 21 September 1946 at Chester Cathedral, Betty Crook (b. 1925) of New Pale Lodge, Manley (Ches.), and had issue one son and two daughters; died 20 December 2010; will proved 18 February 2011;
(5) twin, Gwendoline Nancy Charlton (1918-2009), baptised at Northop (Flints), 3 August 1918; married, 14 June 1956 at the Savoy Chapel, London, John Oswald Colin Beazley (1921-2015), joint master of the Cheshire Beagles Hunt, son of Capt. J.R. Beazley, and had issue two sons; died 16 or 21 July 2009; will proved 4 December 2009;
(6) twin, Michael James Charlton (1918-22), baptised at Northop (Flints), 3 August 1918; died 14 February 1922; administration of goods granted to his father, 26 April 1922 (effects £454);
(7) Mary Dorothy Charlton (1921-79); married, 25 August 1951 at Northop, John Richard Baldwyn Williams-Ellis (1923-89) of Carrigfelen, Portmadoc (Caernarvons.), son of Lt-Col. Martyn Ivor Williams-Ellis of Wern, Portmadoc, and had issue one son and two daughters; died at Backnamullagh House, Dromore (Co. Down), 2 July 1979;
(8) Angela Charlton (b. 1923), born Oct-Dec 1923; married, July-Sept 1953, Roger George Elton (1929-2014) (who m2, Jul-Sept 1970, Christine J. Stevenson), but had no issue.
She inherited Kelsterton Hall from his brother in 1917, but let or sold it and lived subsequently at Plas Bellin, Northop (Flints.). She lived latterly at Lake House, Knowsley Park, Prescot (Lancs).
She died 26 June 1967; her will was proved 5 March 1968 (estate £8,956). Her husband died 28 July 1945; his will was proved 6 November 1945 (estate £76,578).


Principal sources

Burke's Landed Gentry, 1925, p. 96; J.J. Howard & F.A. Crisp, The visitation of England & Wales, vol. 4, 1896, pp. 173-74; E. Hubbard, The buildings of Wales: Clwyd, 1986, p. 340;

Location of archives

No significant accumulation is known to survive.

Coat of arms

Sable, on a fesse cottised argent, between four dexter hands couped at the wrist, three in chief and one in base, bendwise or, an arrow fessewise proper.

Can you help?

  • Does anyone know more about the late 20th century ownership of Kelsterton Hall?
  • I should be most grateful if anyone can provide photographs or portraits of people whose names appear in bold above, and who are not already illustrated.
  • Any additions or corrections to the account given above will be gratefully received and incorporated. I am always particularly pleased to hear from members of the family who can supply recent personal information for inclusion.

Revision and acknowledgements

This post was first published 15 December 2020.