(593) Berridge of Ballynahinch Castle

Berridge of Ballynahinch 

The story of this family begins with Richard Berridge (1812-87). He was the son of an Irish officer in the 60th Foot called Florence McCarthy or McCarty (c.1782-1813), who is said to have been born in Co. Kerry. McCarthy was married at Hertford (Herts) in 1803 to Ann Berridge, but died in the West Indies in October 1813, when their only surviving son was an infant. The son was baptised as 'Richard Berridge MacCarty' in 1814, but subsequently adopted his mother's maiden name of Berridge. His early years are a complete blank, but by the time he was recorded on the 1851 census he was 'agent to a brewery' and living in a boarding house at 36 Bloomsbury Square in London, where the householder was Thomas Dove, brewery clerk, and the other occupants included Dove's daughter Laura and her new husband, Thomas Harries Wilson, a retired army officer. The brewery with which both Richard Berridge and Dove were associated was the Horseshoe Brewery in the Tottenham Court Road owned by Sir Henry Meux. Richard Berridge was made a partner in the firm in about 1852, and must have borne significant responsibility for its affairs, especially after Meux was declared insane in 1857. As a partner, he was entitled to a share of the profits of the firm, and he evidently accumulated a very large capital before his retirement in 1878; his income from the company in 1861 alone was £13,750. He was a respected member of the brewery trade, for in 1862 he was chosen to preside over a dinner for 1800 people at Cremorne Gardens to raise funds for the Licensed Victuallers School. His wealth and status as a leading brewer seem not, however, to have been allied with traditional Victorian moral values. In the late 1850s, he conducted an affair with Mrs. Mary Owen Forster, the wife of an officer in the Indian army who had returned to England in 1854 and took lodgings with the Doves in Bloomsbury Square. This liaison resulted in the birth of a child in 1858, which seems initially to have been successfully concealed by the mother, but by December 1862 Major Forster had brought an action for damages against Berridge for his conduct. Already by 1859, however, Berridge had transferred his affections to a friend of Mrs. Forster's; this may have been the Laura Wilson who was also a resident at Bloomsbury Square, and with whom he went on to have five children after she separated from her husband in 1861. He referred to her as his wife on several occasions, but in 1884 he cut her out of his will and this presumably marked their separation, although they were in fact buried together at Margate (Kent).

With his increasing wealth, Berridge moved to 18-19 Great Russell St., where he lived until his retirement in 1878, after which he moved to Putney (Surrey). He also acquired property in Kent and Somerset. He probably operated a second business, lending his large capital at interest. In 1871 he promised to provide a bridging loan to a consortium bidding to buy the Ballynahinch estate from the London Law Life Assurance Society, but at the last minute in 1872 he reneged on his promise and paid £230,000 to purchase the estate himself, leading to legal action by the consortium members. At a stroke he turned himself into the largest landowner in Ireland, although since most of the estate consisted of uncultivated moor and bog the income it generated was modest. Many in his position would have purchased a country estate, but why he chose such a remote and uneconomic property, especially as he remained an absentee owner, can only be guessed. Perhaps he was, consciously or otherwise, returning to his Irish roots and demonstrating how much he had improved his lot in life.

Screebe House, Co. Galway

When Richard Berridge died in 1887, he was succeeded by his only son, Richard Berridge (1870-1941), then a youth of seventeen. He sold most of the estate to the Congested Districts Board in 1894, married in 1905, and soon afterwards added an extra storey to the house at Ballynahinch as well as building two unusually large castellated lodges which are big enough to be small country houses in their own right. He also kept a shooting lodge at Screebe House (Co. Galway). His ties with England remained strong, and after he sold Ballynahinch in 1924 to the cricketing Maharajah, Ranjitsinjhi, it was to England that he returned, although he and later his children held onto Screebe House until the 1950s.

Ballynahinch Castle, Co. Galway

The present house is reputed to stand on the site of a small castle of the O'Flahertys, of which they were dispossessed in the Cromwellian period, when it was granted to the Martin family. The present house was apparently begun as an inn built by the Martins in the 1750s, when they were living at Dangan, and may have also been used by the family for shooting parties. It was still an inn in 1787, when the Rev. Daniel Beaufort visited and found the food less than adequate, but ten years later the Chevalier de La Tocnaye described it as the residence of Col. Martin. Since De La Tocnaye says "I have never in my life been in the house of a rich man who appeared to care so little for the things of this world as Col. Martin", the house may not have been much larger than the original inn at this time. He reports that Col. Martin had laid the foundations of a 'superb mansion' closer to the Ballynahinch lake (perhaps near the later stables, some distance north-west of the house), but had abandoned the work on grounds of cost. Expansion of the former inn into a country house seems to have taken place by 1813, by which time it had also acquired the designation castle. It was at this time probably a six-by-three bay rectangular block of two storeys with some nominally Gothic or Tudor detailing; a tourist guide of 1843 called it 'a plain structure' while a later edition of 1854 noted "the modern family mansion is a very plain structure in the center of the demesne, which is more remarkable from its situation... than from its intrinsic value as a residence".

In the early 19th century the estate belonged to Richard Martin (1754-1834), who despite owning 196,000 acres in Connemara (much of which was uncultivated moor and bog) spent more than he could afford on supporting his tenantry, and was obliged to go abroad to avoid his creditors. His heir, Thomas Barnewall Martin (1786-1847) pursued a similar path, and died of 'famine fever' after visiting indigent tenants in the workhouse during the Great Famine. His daughter made an unsuccessful attempt to sell the estate, after which the London Law Life Assurance Society, a major creditor, bought the property in 1852 through the Encumbered Estates Court. The house was turned into an hotel, and the company attempted to restore the fortunes of the estate  through improved management practices, but it was dependent on resident agents to manage the estate, and very little was achieved in the long term. In 1862 the Dublin Builder reported that a new Tudor Gothic hotel was to be built to the designs of Samuel U. Roberts, at a cost of £5,000. The modest cost suggests this was to be a remodelling of the existing house rather than a completely new building, and it is not known whether the work was carried out, but it is possible that some features of the present building date from this time.

Ballynahinch Castle: entrance front.

In 1871, a consortium led by a Mr Jervis was formed to buy the struggling estate from the Law Life company, and a sale was agreed. Bridging finance was to be provided by Richard Berridge, a partner in Meux's Brewery in London, but at the last minute he reneged on his commitment and purchased the estate himself for the princely sum of £230,000. Legal proceedings between the consortium and Berridge followed, but the Lord Chancellor sided with Berridge and he was declared the rightful purchaser. Once he gained possession of the estate in 1873, Berridge undertook a thorough refurbishment of the castle and added the two south-west bays of the castle and extensive additional service accommodation. New plasterwork decoration was designed by James Hogan & Sons of Dublin and executed in 1875. The changes enhanced the rateable value of the house from £40 to £110. Richard Berridge senior died in 1887 and in 1894 his son and successor built two gate lodges and estate buildings to the design of Thomas Hamilton of Galway, but sold much of the estate to the Congested Districts Board. 

Finally, in 1908, an additional storey was added to the house and the exterior was rendered, under the supervision of Lawrence A. McDonnell of Dublin; the client was reported to be Lt-Col. Jasper Martin, so the house may have been let at this time. It was at this point that the house largely assumed its present appearance. The north (entrance) front has five bays with a shallow porch underneath a crow-stepped gable on the second bay. The more complex south elevation is essentially of eight bays, although on the top floor there are only seven windows. The east side of the house is of three bays (treated as four on the top floor). A single-storey addition now wraps around the east and part of the south fronts. 

Ballynahinch Castle: south front before the addition of the single-storey extension.

Ballynahinch Castle: the south front today.

In 1924 the estate was leased, and later sold, to the prominent cricketer, 'Ranji' (Kumar shri Ranjitsinhji Vibhaji II (1872-1933), the Jam Sahib of Nawanagar), who spent a further £24,000 on improvements to the house and estate buildings, and planted 30,000 trees on the demesne. It was sold after his death but remained in private occupation until 1946, when it was purchased by the Irish Tourist Board and once more converted into an hotel. It has continued to function as a hotel and fishing resort ever since, under several owners. A further major programme of repairs and improvements under the architect Sam Stephenson was conducted in the early 21st century.

Descent: Richard Martin (1754-1834); to Thomas Barnewall Martin (1786-1847); to daughter, Mary Letitia Martin, who sold 1852 to the London Law Life Assurance Society; sold 1872 to Richard MacCarthy (later Berridge) (d. 1887); to son, Richard Berridge (1870-1941); leased c.1924 and later sold to Kumar shri Ranjitsinhji (1872-1933), the Jam Sahib of Nawanagar; sold after his death to Frederick C. McCormack (d. 1946) of Dublin; sold after his death to Irish Tourist Board; sold c.1952 to Noel Huggard of Ashford Castle Hotel; sold 1957 to Edward Ball, who brought in many friends as co-investors; on his retirement control passed to Raymond Mason...

Berridge family of Ballynahinch Castle

McCarthy (later Berridge), Richard (1812-87). Second, but only surviving, son of Capt. Florence McCarty alias McCarthy (1782-1813), an officer in the 60th Regiment, and his wife, Ann Berridge, born 15 July 1812 and baptised at St Paul, Deptford (Kent), 16 January 1814. An employee and later partner in Meux's Horseshoe Brewery, Tottenham Court Road, London (retired 1878). A Roman Catholic in religion. In 1862 he was co-respondent in the divorce case between Maj. William Forster and his wife, Mary Owen Hearsey (d. 1885), and was ordered to pay damages of £5,000; his relationship with Mary produced a daughter:

(X1.1) Marian Augusta Berridge (1858-1941), born 29 July 1858; married, 27 February 1877 at St Stephen, South Dulwich (Kent) (div. 1881 on the grounds of his adultery), Henry Dudley Elwes (1854-88); lived latterly at Canterbury (Kent); died at the Hospice de la Providence, La Tour de Peilz, Vevy, Montreux (Switzerland), 3 March 1941; will proved 16 February 1942 (estate £294).

He subsequently formed a relationship (sep. 1884) with Laura Isabella (1833-87), daughter of Thomas Dove, brewery clerk, and separated wife of Thomas Harries Wilson, gent., whom he regarded as his wife, by whom he had issue:

(X2.1) Felicia Berridge (1865-1936), born 14 May 1865 and baptised* at St Martin-in-the-Fields, Westminster (Middx), 19 February 1870; married, 6 June 1888 at St Peter, Eaton Square, Westminster, Thomas Mayhew (1860-1914) of Minster-in-Thanet and later of Hythe (Kent), son of Thomas Mayhew, farmer, and had issue two sons and one daughter; died 15 January 1936 and was buried at Spring Lane Cemetery, Hythe (Kent); will proved 24 March 1936 (estate £1,121);

(X2.2) Lilian Berridge (1866-1912), born 21 June 1866 and baptised* at St Martin-in-the-Fields, Westminster (Middx), 19 February 1870; married, 17 December 1887 at Hoof, Schauenburg, Kassel (Germany), Baron Werner Christian Carl Alexander von Dalwigk zu Hoof (1862-1928)**, son of Reinhardt Emil Friederich von Dalwigk zu Hoof (1830-97), and had issue one son; died 2 September 1912 at Bad Liebenstein (Germany); will proved 15 February 1913 (estate £954);

(X2.3) May Rose Berridge (1867-1949), born 1 May 1867 and baptised* at St Martin-in-the-Fields, Westminster (Middx), 19 February 1870; married, 6 June 1888 at St Peter, Eaton Square, Westminster, Edgar Whitworth Tidy (1864-1929), son of Harmon Edgar Tidy (1831-98), lawyer and moneylender, and had issue one son; died at Smarden (Kent), 17 March 1949; will proved 30 August 1949 (estate £15,613);

(X2.4) Richard Berridge (1870-1941) (q.v.);

(X2.5) Beatrice Marie Berridge (1874-1970), born 1 June 1874 and baptised at St Martin-in-the-Fields, Westminster, 21 September 1882; married 1st, 10 October 1895 at St Marylebone (Middx), Walter Egerton Chancellor (c.1861-1928), solicitor, son of Stephen Sackett Chancellor, gent., and had issue two sons; married 2nd, 17 January 1930, John Clayton Beadle (1873-1955); died aged 96 on 14 August 1970; will proved 22 March 1971 (estate £20,953).

He lived in Rochester (Kent) and London until his retirement in c.1878. He then bought a house at Putney (Surrey). He purchased Ballynahinch Castle (Co. Galway), with 192,000 acres in 1872, and remodelled the house c.1874, but never lived there. He also had property in east Kent and Somerset by 1883.

He died 20 September, and was buried with his former partner at Margate Cemetery, 24 September 1887, where he is commemorated by a monument. By his will, proved 13 October 1887 (effects £312,567), Berridge bequeathed £200,000 to be applied for the advancement and propagation of education in the economic and sanitary sciences in Great Britain. His former partner, 'Laura Berridge', died 28 June and was buried at Margate, 2 July 1887.

* The entry gives her surname as Wilson, presumably reflecting the legal marital status of his mother.

** Who was naturalised as a British citizen in 1901.

Berridge, Richard (1870-1941). Illegitimate only son of Richard MacCarthy (later Berridge) (1812-87) by his partner, Laura Isabella, daughter of Thomas Dove, brewery clerk, and separated wife of Thomas Harries Wilson, gent., born at Norwood (Surrey), 21 April 1870 and apparently baptised at St Martin-in-the-Fields, Westminster (Middx), 4 April 1872*. Educated at Queen's College, Oxford (matriculated 1888). JP and DL for Co. Galway; High Sheriff of Co. Galway, 1894-95.  An officer in Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve (Lt., 1915) during First World War. A Roman Catholic in religion. He married, 11 January 1905, Mary Eulalia (1880-1957), only daughter of Robert Whitman Lesley (1852-1936)** of Lesselyn Court, Haverford, Pennsylvania (USA), and had issue:

(1) Anne Thomson Berridge (1906-95), born 13 January 1906; married, 24 April 1941 at Our Lady of the Assumption, Warwick St., Westminster (Middx), Roger Soame Jenyns (1904-76) of Bottisham Hall (Cambs), Asst Keeper of Oriental Antiquities at British Museum, eldest son of Roger William Bulwer Jenyns (1858-1936), and had issue two sons; died 21 December 1995; will proved 26 June 1996;

(2) Lt-Col. Robert Lesley Berridge (1907-83), born 19 September 1907; educated at Downside, Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, and Trinity College, Cambridge (BA 1930); an officer in the Royal Engineers (2nd Lt., c.1930; Lt., 1930; Capt., 1938; Maj., 1944; retired as Lt-Col., 1948), who served in the Second World War and was taken prisoner by the Japanese; lived at Ashleam House, Monkstown (Co. Cork) and Screebe House, Maam Cross (Co. Galway) and later at Owenmore, Carrigaline (Co. Cork); married, 10 July 1934 at Westminster Cathedral, Cicely Dorothea (1910-2001), younger daughter of Christopher Guy Orme (d. 1929) of Owenmore (Co. Mayo), and had issue one son and one daughter; died 25 February 1983; will proved in Ireland, 14 December 1983 and in England, 21 February 1984 (estate in England, £35,941);

(3) Eulalia Beatrice Berridge (1910-88), born 4 January 1910; lived at Enniskerry (Co. Wicklow); died 18 January 1988; will proved in Ireland, 22 June 1988 (estate £355,956) and in England, 16 September 1988 (estate in England, £34,132);

(4) Dr Francis Richard (k/a Dick) Berridge (1910-78), born 21 December 1910; educated at Downside, Trinity College, Cambridge (BA 1931; BCh 1936; MB 1937; MA 1938) and St George's Hospital (MRCS, LRCP); MRCP, 1961; FRCP, 1968; consultant radiologist in Cambridge and Newmarket; editor of British Journal of Radiology, 1956-61; and author of numerous medical publications; afflicted with deafness from childhood; married, 6 July 1940, Margaret Virginia (1919-2003), radiographer, daughter of Samuel Wilfred Peter Daw (1879-1944) of Par (Cornw.), surgeon, and had issue one son and three daughters; retired to Wells-next-the-Sea (Norfk); died suddenly, 19 April 1978; will proved 13 July 1978 (estate £81,155);

(5) Brig. James Willcox Berridge (1918-2012), born 19 November 1918; educated at Downside and Peterhouse, Cambridge (BA 1939); an officer in the army (2nd Lt., 1939; Lt., 1946; Capt., 1946; Maj., 1951; Lt-Col., 1957; Col., 1962; retired as Brigadier, 1966), who served in the Second World War; and in Palestine, 1947 (mentioned in despatches); ADC to Governor-General of Canada, 1950-51; awarded MBE 1957; lived at Adamstown (Co. Wexford) and in Belgium; married, 4 October 1952, Baroness Prisca Isabelle Marie Josephe Huberte Ghislaine (1923-2007), sixth daughter of Baron Joseph van der Straten Waillet of Chateau de Waillet (Belgium), and had issue two sons and two daughters; died 25 May 2012 and was buried at the Church of the Sacred Heart, Newbawn (Co. Wexford).

He inherited Ballynahinch Castle from his father in 1887, but sold most of the estate to the Congested Districts Board in 1894. He leased and later sold the Castle to Kumar shri Ranjitsinhji (1872-1933), the Jam Sahib of Nawanagar from 1924.

He died at Stroods House, Uckfield (Sussex), 30 October 1941; his will was proved 28 May 1942 (estate £374). His widow died 19 June 1957; her will was proved 15 October 1957 (estate £82,590).

* The entry gives his forenames as Richard Berridge, and his parents' surname as Wilson, presumably reflecting the legal marital status of his mother.

** Mr Lesley established a trust fund of $100,000 for his grandchildren, which was apportioned equally between six of them in 1941.

Principal sources

Burke's Irish Family Records, 1976, p. 106; J.A.K. Dean, The gate lodges of Connaught: a gazetteer, 2019, pp. 20-21;

https://www.ballynahinch-castle.com/en/about-us/history/historical-reports

Location of archives

Berridge of Ballynahinch: deeds, legal and trust papers, 1878-1924 [London Metropolitan Archives, Acc. 1406]

Coat of arms

Azure, on a fesse between three dolphins naiant or as many anchors erect sable.

Can you help?

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

Revision and acknowledgements

This post was first published 26 December 2024.