Showing posts with label Limerick. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Limerick. Show all posts

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.

Wednesday, 25 March 2020

(410) Barrington of Glenstal Castle, baronets

Barrington of Glenstal Castle
This family were established in Limerick as clockmakers and later copper founders and pewterers by 1691. Samuel Barrington (d. 1693), clockmaker, was buried in Limerick Cathedral, where he is commemorated by a monument erected by his son, Benjamin Barrington, who was sheriff of Limerick city in 1714. The strong tradition in the family is that Samuel's father, Francis Barrington (d. 1683), the first member of the family to be buried in Limerick, was a younger son of the Barringtons of Hatfield Broad Oak and came to Ireland as a Colonel in Oliver Cromwell's army (Cromwell being a first cousin of the Hatfield Barringtons). That sounds plausible enough, but unfortunately there seems to be no record of a Francis Barrington in the Cromwellian forces. Sir Francis Barrington (c.1561-1628) of Hatfield did have a son, Francis, but he was a Turkey merchant in London who died in 1660, and his son, also Francis, lived in Aleppo as agent for his father's business and probably predeceased him. So this direct connection to the Hatfield baronets seems, at best, highly unlikely. In 1863, H.J. Hore suggested an alternative connection, through a Captain George Barrington, said to be scion of the Hatfield Barringtons, who is recorded in 1599 as having been granted lands at Coulinaght (Co. Leix). He was probably the father of Alexander Barrington (d. 1635) of Timoge, who in turn was the father of a Francis Barrington, who was an MP in the Irish Parliament and is probably to be identified with the man buried at Limerick in 1683. Again, however, the evidence for a link to the Hatfield family is weak, since no George Barrington is recorded in the relevant generations of their pedigree, and the assertion of a connection relies upon one statement in the Carew papers.

We are on firmer ground with Samuel Barrington's descendants, who remained in Limerick for four generations. His son Benjamin Barrington was an alderman of the city and its sheriff in 1714, and seems to have died about 1733, when his will was proved. His son was another Benjamin Barrington (1697-c.1769), who married Ann Waltho (1700-52) in 1724 and had four sons and three daughters. Ann's mother had been born a Croker, and Benjamin named his eldest son Croker Barrington (1727-71), but although he married he had no issue. The family line was therefore continued by Benjamin's second son, Matthew Barrington, who was baptised in Limerick in 1728 and who Burke's Peerage and Baronetage says died in 1765, leaving an only surviving son, Joseph Barrington (1764-1846), with whom the genealogy below begins.

In the 1790s, Joseph was described as a pewterer, but he was successful enough in business to send three of his sons to study at Trinity College, Dublin and the Kings Inns in Dublin, where they qualified as lawyers. By 1818, when he was aged just thirty, the eldest son, Matthew Barrington (1788-1861) was in a position to lease lands from Lord Carbery, and it was probably always his intention to build a new country house on this property. At this time, his official appointments gave him a regular income which may have been as much as £15,000 a year, so he could afford to build on a generous scale. Knowing of the family tradition of a close link with the Barringtons of Hatfield Broad Oak, he may have hoped that in the event of the death of Sir Fitzherbert Barrington, the 10th baronet of Hatfield, without known heirs (which happened in 1832), his father would be able to claim that title. When this proved not to be the case, he decided instead to lobby for a new grant.
Barrington's Hospital, Limerick, designed by Frederick Darley
and built in 1829-31.
Through his legal work, he was well connected in government circles and he was probably assured of a generally sympathetic response to such a request, but he evidently decided that a piece of prominent philanthropy would help his case, and he therefore put up the majority of the money to build and endow a new hospital in Limerick with his father and brothers. The gift was made in 1829 and Barringtons Hospital opened in 1831: later the same year the desired new baronetcy was conferred (at Matthew's special request) on his father.


Although schemes for a new house at Glenstal were under consideration by 1822, nothing was done until about 1836 when a design by William Bardwell was chosen and construction of Glenstal Castle began. All the designs that were considered for the house were in the romantic castle style, and Matthew clearly saw himself as the rightful inheritor of the ancient lineage of the Barringtons, and wanted to project an appropriately baronial image to the world. When he allowed his architect to sign his work with a prominent inscription round one of the towers, 'Bardwell Me Fecit 1839', the figure 8 was deliberately made narrow and spindly so that at first sight the date reads 1139! 

In 1840 Matthew Barrington purchased the freehold of his lands from Lord Carbery, securing his title, although this led to many years of expensive litigation with Carbery, who thought he had got a raw deal. Sir Joseph Barrington died in 1846 and Matthew became the 2nd baronet. His income in later years was more uncertain, being dependent on fees and profits from the railway company speculations that occupied most of his time, and construction work at Glenstal was twice interrupted by a shortage of funds, and was indeed never completed to the original scheme. When he died in 1861, Sir Matthew was succeeded in turn by his two sons, Sir William Hartigan Barrington (1815-72), 3rd bt. and Sir Croker Barrington (1817-90), 4th bt. Sir Croker was a very busy solicitor in Dublin and it is not at all clear that he ever really lived at Glenstal Castle: before he inherited he had a modest house on the estate at Clonkeen, which he may have continued to use in preference to the castle.

Whatever the attractions of feudal lordship had been to Sir Matthew, the Barringtons had always been liberal landlords (Sir Matthew was a friend of Daniel O'Connell) and during the famine time they had treated their tenants more generously than most. Sir Charles Burton Barrington (1848-1943), 5th bt., who inherited in 1890, evidently felt comfortable living at Glenstal, but in 1921 the realities of the Irish struggle for independence came to the gates of Glenstal in the most tragic way when his only daughter was caught up in the IRA ambush of a senior policeman with whom she was travelling, and both were killed. Not surprisingly, Sir Charles responded by moving to England with his family. He offered Glenstal to the Free State government as an official residence for a future president of Ireland, but after serious consideration it was rejected as being too far from Dublin. In 1927 he sold the house to Monsignor James Ryan, who donated it to the Benedictine order, which converted the house into an abbey and school, which has added some further buildings around the site. The family baronetcy passed in turn to Sir Charles's two sons, but since neither of them had surviving male issue, in 2003 it was inherited by a distant cousin living in Canada, who descends from a younger son of the 1st baronet.


Glenstal Castle, Co. Limerick


The house was built for Sir Matthew Barrington, 2nd bt., who bought part of the Limerick estate of Lord Carbery in 1818, and soon afterwards built Barrington's Bridge to link the area to Limerick. During the 1830s, he sought proposals for a castle-style house from the Pain brothers in Limerick, William O'Hara in Dublin, and even Decimus Burton, but rejected their proposals, which were derived from the castle-style houses of John Nash and Sir Jeffrey Wyatville (especially his alterations to Windsor Castle). It seems likely that Barrington wanted something more innovative, or at least more striking. In the end he turned to a minor English architect, William Bardwell (1795-1890) who had been a pupil of George Wyatt and George Maddox before studying in Paris for two years. It is not known how Bardwell came to Barrington's attention, but it was perhaps through his unsuccessful but widely publicised entry for the Palace of Westminster competition in 1835, which was intended to embody all the different styles of medieval architecture from Norman to Tudor. The neo-Norman elements of the design offered the novelty Barrington had felt was missing in the earlier Gothic proposals. The concept evolved through several designs in 1836 but was based on English rather than Irish precedents and is very reminiscent of Thomas Hopper's neo-Norman houses: Penrhyn Castle of 1821-37 in north Wales and Gosford Castle (Co. Armagh)

Glenstal Castle: a perspective drawing of the house proposed by William Bardwell, viewed from the east. Image: Glenstal Abbey

Glenstal Castle: perspective drawing of the house proposed by William Badwell, viewed from the south-west. Image: Glenstal Abbey

The building was designed to be approached from the east, from where it would appear to be quadrangular, although in fact it consists of only two ranges. It is the stage-set for a medieval pageant, designed to suggest a knightly lineage that the Barringtons did not, in fact, possess. Construction seems to have begun in 1837 and the round tower was finished in 1839, but thereafter work proceeded fitfully, with interruptions caused by shortage of funds and legal distractions. Bardwell visited the site in 1840 but was in England most of the time, and supervision was delegated to the clerk of works and the craftsmen on site. The first stoppage occurred in 1840 or 1841, and in 1843 Bardwell provided a new specification and estimate for a somewhat simplified scheme. Work resumed in 1846 or 1847 under the supervision of William Dargan of Dublin, who was probably known to Barrington through his work as a railway contractor. Work stopped again in 1849, leaving the shell of the picture gallery and the drawing room on the south front and the entrance hall behind finished, but with the keep hardly started. In 1853, Barrington made a final effort to complete the castle, paying off Bardwell and turning to Joshua Hargrave of Cork, who proceeded with a limited version of Bardwell's scheme: the planned octagon tower at the western end of the south-west front, and the range linking this to the keep, were omitted, and the plan of the keep was altered to include a dining room.

Glenstal Castle: the south front of the house today. Image: John Armagh.
At first, much of the carved stonework was cut in England by W.T. Kelsey of Brompton (Middx), and send across to Ireland by sea, but in the later phases, local craftsmen from the Limerick area were used and the work became more clearly influenced by Ireland's Romanesque heritage: the change may have been urged by Lord Dunraven, a patriotic antiquarian who was both a business acquaintance of Sir Matthew Barrington and a fellow Limerick resident. The front door is flanked by figures of Henry II and Queen Eleanor, who were such a warring couple that one wonders if they were chosen in ignorance: the Queen holds a scroll on which is inscribed the Irish welcome, Cead mile failte. Some of the doorways inside are copied from identifiable Irish Romanesque sources, such as Killaloe Cathedral and Clonmacnoise. The staircase and the gallery to which it leads are in dark oak, elaborately carved with Celtic motifs, leaves and animals by trainees in a wood-carving school run by the daughters of the house, and dated as late as 1888. 

The Barrington family were liberal landlords (Sir Matthew was a friend of Daniel O'Connell) and were noted for their efforts to provide employment and reduce or cancel rents during the famine years. Although they seem to have been generally popular in the Limerick area, tragedy struck in 1921 when Sir Charles only daughter, Winifred, was killed with a local police inspector in an IRA ambush close to Glenstal: he was the target, she was 'collateral damage' in the chilling modern phrase. Sir Charles clearly decided that the family could not stay in Ireland and he bought a much smaller house near Southampton to which the family decamped in about 1925. He offered Glenstal to the Irish Free State government as an official residence for a future President of Ireland, but not unreasonably this was turned down as being too far from Dublin. The house was sold instead to Monsignor James Ryan for a nominal £2,000, and he gifted it to a Benedictine community at Maredsous in Belgium which wished to open an Irish daughter house. The first monks arrived in 1927 and opened a school as well as starting a monastic community, which was elevated to abbatial rank in 1957. The house continues to fulfil these purposes and is now known as Glenstal Abbey.

Descent: Sir Joseph Barrington (1764-1846), 1st bt.; to son, Sir Matthew Barrington (1788-1861), 2nd bt.; to son, Sir William Hartigan Barrington (1815-72), 3rd bt.; to brother, Sir Croker Barrington (1817-90), 4th bt.; to son, Sir Charles Burton Barrington (1848-1943), 5th bt., who sold 1927 to Monsignor James Ryan, who gave it to the Benedictine order.


Barrington family of Glenstal Castle, baronets



Sir Joseph Barrington, 1st bt.
Barrington, Sir Joseph (1764-1846), 1st bt. Only son of Matthew Barrington (1728-65) and his wife Jane, daughter of John Canter of Ballyvard, born 21 February 1764. He was a coppersmith and pewterer in Limerick by 1797, and seems to have later moved into property development, constructing Barrington's Quay and reclaiming land nearby for housing.  Founder, with his four surviving sons, of the Barrington Hospital in Limerick, which was built at a cost of some £4,000 in 1829-31. The project seems to have been substantially funded by his son Matthew, and in addition to its philanthropic purpose, was part of Matthew's campaign to secure a baronetcy for Joseph, which was rewarded when he was created a baronet, 30 September 1831. He married, 7 August 1787 at St Mary's R.C. Church, Limerick, Mary (d. 1829), daughter of Daniel Baggott of Limerick, bootseller, and had issue:
(1) Sir Matthew Barrington (1788-1861), 2nd bt. (q.v.);
(2) Michael Barrington (b. c.1790), born about 1790; died young;
(3) Daniel Barrington (1792-1842), born 14 October 1792; educated at Limerick and Kings Inns (admitted 1814); Clerk of the Crown in Limerick; married, 22 October 1829, Anne (d. 1892), daughter of Richard Williams of Drumcondra Castle (Co. Dublin) and had issue two sons (from the elder of whom the present baronet is descended) and two daughters; died 5 February 1842;
(4) Honoria Barrington (c.1795-1828), born about 1795; married, 23 July 1827 at St Michael, Limerick, Thomas Lloyd of Limerick; died in childbirth at Limerick, 16 July 1828;
(5) Croker Barrington (1797-1844), born 29 April and baptised at St John, Limerick, 30 April 1797; an officer in the Royal Navy (Midshipman by 1816; Lt., 1825); built Woodville House (later Tivoli) near Barrington's Quay, 1838, at a cost of £1,300; married, November 1840 at St Anne, Dublin, Margaret Emly (d. 1841), daughter of Henry Westropp Ross Lewin of Fort Fergus (Co. Clare) and had issue one son; died at Kilkee, 22 September 1844;
(6) Benjamin Barrington (b. c.1800), born about 1800; died in infancy;
(7) Benjamin Barrington (b. c.1802), born about 1802; died young;
(8) Joseph Barrington (1803-33), born 4 December 1803; died unmarried in Limerick about 3 October 1833;
(9) Samuel Barrington (1806-63), born 6 February and baptised at St John, Limerick, 23 February 1806; educated at Trinity College, Dublin (matriculated 1822; BA 1827; MA 1832) and Kings Inns, Dublin (admitted 1824; called 1828); barrister-at-law; died unmarried, 5 January 1863; administration of goods granted 21 March 1863 (effects under £1500);
(10) Jane Martha Barrington (1808-90), born 7 May and baptised at St John, Limerick, 17 May 1808; married, 10 February 1838 at St Peter, Dublin, Rev. George Edward Deacon (c.1809-86), Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Oxford and later vicar of Leek (Staffs), and had issue six sons; died 15 May 1890 and was buried at Leek; administration of goods granted 3 June 1890 (effects in England, £4,547; and in Ireland, £44);
(11) Mary Anne Barrington (1810-29), baptised at St John Limerick, 23 December 1810; died unmarried, 1829.
He lived in Limerick.
Sir Joseph died 10 January 1846 and was presumably buried in the family vault in Limerick Cathedral. His wife was buried there, 1 November 1829.

Barrington, Sir Matthew (1788-1861), 2nd bt. Eldest son of Sir Joseph Barrington (1764-1846), 1st bt. and his wife Mary, daughter of Daniel Baggott of Limerick, born 21 May and baptised at St Mary's R.C. church, Limerick, 27 May 1788. Educated at Limerick and Kings Inns, Dublin (admitted 1804). Solicitor in Limerick and Dublin; Crown Solicitor in Limerick, 1814-38 and for the Munster circuit, 1832-61; legal and parliamentary adviser to the Great Southern Railway and other railway companies. He succeeded his father as 2nd baronet, 10 January 1846. He was a Whig in politics and had an influential circle of friends, including Daniel O'Connell, and was noted as a humane landlord, who during the famine years cancelled some rents and arrears altogether. He married, 1 January 1814 at St George, Dublin, Charlotte (1796-1858), daughter of William Hartigan of Dublin, physician and professor of anatomy at Trinity College, Dublin, and had issue:
(1) Marian (alias Mary Anne) Barrington (1814-58), born about November 1814; married, 2 September 1841 at Wicklow, Thomas Williams (1810-90), stockbroker (who m2, 29 May 1860 at Ambleside (Westmld), Georgiana (c.1824-81), daughter of T.O. Lees of Monkstown (Co. Dublin), and widow of James Percival Graves), son of Richard Williams of Drumcondra Castle, but had no issue; died 30 April 1858;
(2) Sir William Hartigan Barrington (1815-72), 3rd bt. (q.v.);
(3) Sir Croker Barrington (1817-90), 4th bt. (q.v.);
(4) Elizabeth Ellen Barrington (1818-29), baptised at St Peter, Dublin, 5 August 1818; died young, 28 February 1829;
(5) Charlotte Hartney Barrington (c.1820-61), born about 1820; married, 24 June 1847 at Powerscourt (Co. Wicklow) Henry Barry (c.1808-1900), barrister, of Dublin, son of Robert Barry, and had issue three sons; died at Limerick, 19 January 1861;
(6) Jessy Barrington (c.1821-88), born about 1821; died unmarried, 31 May 1888;
(7) Olivia Barrington (1823-76), baptised at St Peter, Dublin, 17 April 1823; married, 1853, Rt Hon. George Augustus Chichester May (1815-92), Attorney-General for Ireland and later Lord Chief Justice for Ireland, son of Rev. Edward May, and had issue ten children; died 13/15 May 1876;
(8) Josephine Barrington (1826-68), baptised in Dublin, 20 August 1826; married, 17 August 1859 at Abington (Co. Limerick), Hewitt Poole Jellett QC (c.1825-1911), serjeant-at-laws; died 1 February 1868;
(9) Henrietta Victorine Barrington (1833-99), born 8 November 1833 and baptised at St Peter, Dublin, 4 January 1834; married, 15 January 1857 at St Peter, Dublin, William Richard Le Fanu (1816-94), railway engineer, of Summer Hill, Enniskerry (Co. Wicklow), son of Thomas Philip Le Fanu, Dean of Emly, and brother of Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, the author of ghost stories, and had issue eight sons and two daughters; died 29 July 1899.
Sir Matthew bought the estate on which Glenstal Castle was built in 1818 and commenced construction in 1837. Work continued intermittently until his death.
Sir Matthew died 31 March 1861 and was buried in the family vault in St Mary's Cathedral, Limerick; his elder son was granted administration of his goods, 15 July 1861 (effects under £4,000). His wife died 18 November 1858 and was buried in the same place.

Barrington, Sir William Hartigan (1815-72), 3rd bt. Elder son of Sir Matthew Barrington (1788-1861), 2nd bt., and his wife Charlotte, daughter of William Hartigan of Dublin, born 4 October and baptised at St Peter, Dublin, 14 October 1815. Educated at Trinity College, Cambridge (matriculated 1834; BA 1841) and Middle Temple (admitted 1834). JP for Co. Limerick and Co. Tipperary from 1841 and DL for Co. Limerick from 1848; High Sheriff of Co. Limerick, 1846-47. He succeeded his father as 3rd bt., 1 April 1861. He married, 14 March 1859 at St Peter, Dublin, Elizabeth Olivia (1834-1907), second daughter of Henry Darley of Wingfield (Co. Wicklow), and had issue:
(1) Charlotte Jessy Barrington (1866-1951), born in Dublin, 22 August 1866; married, 4 June 1901 at Abington (Co. Limerick), Rev. George Digby Scott (1865-1950), rector of Bray (Co. Wicklow) and Chancellor of Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, son of James George Scott, archdeacon of Dublin, and had issue four daughters; died 12 August 1951;
(2) Maria Louisa Olivia Barrington (1868-1947), of Clonshavoy, Lisnagry (Co. Limerick), born 22 August 1868; died unmarried, 19 August 1947; will proved 26 November 1947 (estate £4,940).
Sir William inherited Glenstal Castle from his father in 1861.
Sir William died 14 April 1872; his will was proved 7 June 1872 (effects under £7,000). His widow died 17 May 1907; her will was proved 9 August 1907 (estate £7,265).

Barrington, Sir Croker (1817-90), 4th bt. Younger son of Sir Matthew Barrington (1788-1861), 2nd bt., and his wife Charlotte, daughter of William Hartigan of Dublin, born 12 July and baptised at St Peter, Dublin, 22 July 1817. Educated at Trinity College, Dublin (admitted 1834) and Kings Inns, Dublin (admitted 1833); admitted a solicitor, 1838. He was in partnership with his father in the firm of Barrington, Son & Jeffers (later Barrington & Sons) of Dublin, and acted for the Great Southern and Western Railway Company, the County Limerick Grand Jury, and the Earls of Limerick and Dunraven; he was appointed Clerk of the Crown for the Munster circuit, 1846. DL for Co. Limerick. He succeeded his elder brother as 4th baronet, 14 April 1872. He was a freemason from 1878. He married, 12 April 1845 at St Peter, Dublin, Anna Felicia (1822-73), eldest daughter of John Beatty West MP, and had issue:
(1) Caroline Felicia Barrington (1846-1915), born in Dublin, 29 April 1846; married, 11 July 1870 at Grangegorman (Co. Dublin), William Young Donnelly (1844-88), land agent and secretary to the Lord Chief Justice of Ireland, son of William Donnelly, barrister-at-law, of Auburn House, Malahide (Co. Dublin), and had issue two sons and one daughter; died 17 February 1915; administration of goods granted 28 June 1915 (estate £3,912);
(2) Sir Charles Burton Barrington (1848-1943), 5th bt. (q.v.);
(3) Olivia Maria Barrington (1849-1921), born 26 December 1849 and baptised at St Stephen, Dublin, 6 February 1850; married, 13 June 1871 at St Stephen, Dublin, Rev. Lewen Burton Weldon (1840-1914), rector of Holy Trinity, Weymouth (Dorset), 1890-1914, youngest son of Sir Anthony Weldon, 4th bt. of Kilmorony (Co. Kildare), and had issue two sons and three daughters; died 15 April 1921; will proved 16 June 1921 (effects £917);
(4) Croker Barrington (1851-1926), born 1851; educated at Rugby and Trinity College, Dublin (BA 1874) and Kings Inns, Dublin (called 1876); barrister-at-law; admitted a solicitor, 1883, and was in partnership with his father; built the Red House at Barrington's Bridge, but lived latterly at Exmouth (Devon); married, 7 October 1890, Florence Jane (d. 1935), youngest daughter of John Bayly of Debsborough (Co. Tipperary) and had issue two sons and two daughters; died 24 June 1926; administration of his goods was granted 18 November 1926 (estate £7,752);
(5) Mercy Barrington (1853-1931), born 19 November 1853; married, 10 August 1884 at Abington (Limerick), The Hon. George Wright, a judge of the High Court in Ireland, second son of T.R. Wright of Fern Hill (Co. Cork), and had issue one son and three daughters; died 20 November 1931; administration of goods granted 21 March 1932 (estate £183);
(6) William Matthew Barrington (1855-83), born 23 July 1855; educated at Trinity College, Dublin (BA 1877); admitted a solicitor, 1878; died at Lyon (France), 10 June 1883;
(7) Jessy Frances Barrington (1857-1929), born 7 June and baptised at St Stephen, Dublin, 8 July 1857; married, 29 January 1889 at Abington (Limerick), George Henry Pentland (1849-1932) of Black Hall, Drogheda (Co. Louth), barrister-at-law, son of George Henry Pentland, and had issue one son and one daughter; moved to England in about 1923 and was buried at Shalford (Surrey), 9 November 1929;
(8) John Beatty Barrington (1859-1926), born 18 July and baptised at St Stephen, Dublin, 26 August 1859; educated at Charterhouse and Trinity College, Dublin (BA 1882); land agent in Limerick, who acted for his father and later his brother, and also for the Earl of Limerick; JP for Co. & City of Limerick and Co. Tipperary; High Sheriff of Co. Limerick, 1912; a member of Limerick County Council; served in First World War with Anglo-Gallic Ambulance Corps, 1915-19 (Legion d'honneur; Croix de Guerre) and was subsequently President of the Limerick branch of the British Legion; married, 2 August 1887 at Nenagh (Co. Tipperary), Catherine Charlotte (1865-1937), eldest daughter of John Bayly of Debsborough (Co. Tipperary) and had issue one son and two daughters; died in Dublin, 16 December 1926; will proved 7 April 1927 (estate £12,955);
(9) Anna Josephine Barrington (1861-1947), born in Dublin, 4 August, and baptised at St Stephen, Dublin, 18 October 1861; married, 3 June 1891, John Naper George Pollock (1861-1905) of Mountainstown (Co. Meath), and had issue one son; also adopted a daughter; lived later at Portavo, Donaghadee (Co. Down); died 2 July 1947; will proved 8 February 1949 (estate in Northern Ireland £2,581 and in England £2,181);
(10) Rose Henrietta Barrington (1866-72), born in Dublin, 1 April, and baptised at St Stephen, Dublin, 24 May 1866; died young, 17 July 1872.
Sir Croker inherited Glenstal Castle from his father in 1872. In 1876 he held 9,400 acres in Co. Limerick. He lived chiefly in Dublin, where his town house was at 6 Fitzwilliam Square North.
Sir Croker died at Glenstal, 4 July 1890, and was buried at Mount Jerome Cemetery, Dublin; his will was proved 4 September 1890 (estate £14,560). His wife died 7 June 1873.

Barrington, Sir Charles Burton (1848-1943), 5th bt. Eldest son of Sir Croker Barrington (1817-90), 4th bt., and his wife Anne Felicia, eldest daughter of John Beatty West MP, born 6 February 1848. Educated at St Columba's College, Rathfarnham, Rugby School, 1864-66, and Trinity College, Dublin (matriculated 1867; BA 1870 MA 1877). He had a lifelong love for, and engagement with, sport, and was an accomplished rower and rugby player. He is credited with being 'the father of Irish rugby', since, with R.M. Wall of Trinity College, Dublin, he adapted the rules of rugby union established at Rugby School for the Irish game and captained the 1st XV of Trinity College, 1867-70. As an oarsman, he rowed for Trinity over several years, and he and his brothers William, Croker, and John represented Dublin University Boat Club victoriously at the Philadelphia International Centennial Regatta in 1876; he was one of the founders of Limerick Boat Club, 1870, and was said still to row occasionally (but only in fine weather) in Hampshire in his 90s. He was DL and JP for Co. Limerick, High Sheriff of Co. Limerick, 1879, and was appointed Hon. Col. of Limerick City Artillery, Southern Division in 1901. In 1915, aged 67, he drove a field ambulance in France, for which he was awarded an MBE, 1919. A Unionist in politics, he was involved in peace efforts during the Irish independence struggle. He was a freemason and was Provincial Grand Master of North Munster. He succeeded his father as 5th baronet, 4 July 1890. He married, 14 February 1895 at All Saints, Margaret St., London, Mary Rose (1868-1943), youngest daughter of Sir Henry Hickman Bacon, 11th bt., and had issue:
(1) Winifred Frances Barrington (1897-1921), born 5 July 1897; died unmarried when she was killed in an IRA ambush of a Royal Irish Constabulary inspector with whom she was travelling, 14 May 1921;
(2) Sir Charles Bacon (k/a Pat) Barrington (1902-80), 6th bt., born 6 June 1902; educated at Eton; nurseryman and company director; succeeded his father as 6th baronet, 12 August 1943; lived at Barrihurst, Cranleigh (Surrey); married, 7 August 1930, Constance Doris (1902-92), daughter of Ernest James Elkington of London, and had issue two daughters; died 30 November 1980; will proved 10 February 1980 (estate £226,132);
(3) Sir Alexander Fitzwilliam Croker (k/a Fitz) Barrington (1909-2003), 7th bt., born 19 November 1909; educated at Shrewsbury School and Christ Church, Oxford; company director, 1932-39; served in Second World War with Intelligence Corps, 1939-42 (PoW, 1942-45); manager in the publishing industry, 1946-72; succeeded his elder brother as 7th baronet, 1980; died unmarried aged 93 on 6 February 2003; will proved 11 September 2003; on his death the family baronetcy passed to a descendant of the second son of the 1st baronet, living in Canada.
Sir Charles inherited Glenstal Castle from his father in 1890. Following the murder of his daughter, he moved his family to Fairthorne Manor, Botley, which was sold to the YMCA in 1946. He offered Glenstal Castle to the Irish Free State Government as an official residence for a future President of Ireland, but after serious consideration the offer was rejected, and the house was sold for a nominal £2,000 to Monsignor James Ryan, who donated it to the Benedictine community at Maredsous (Belgium), which wished to found an Irish daughter house.
Sir Charles died aged 95 on 12 August 1943; administration of his goods was granted to his elder son, 3 December 1943 (estate £15,980). His wife died 1 March 1943 and was buried at Botley (Hants); her will was proved 25 June 1943 (estate £49,983).


Principal sources


Burke's Peerage & Baronetage, 2003, pp. 276-77; H. Janssens de Varebeke, 'The Barringtons of Limerick',  North Munster Antiquarian Journal, Vol. VIII, 1956, No. 3; M. Tierney & J. Cornforth, 'Glenstal Castle, Co. Limerick', Country Life, 3 October 1974, pp. 934-37; M.D. McGarry, 'Creating a noble past: the design of Glenstal Castle, 1836-61', Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, 2006, pp. 39-49


Location of archives


Barrington of Glenstal Castle, baronets: some papers are understood to be preserved in the library of Glenstal Abbey.


Coat of arms


Argent, three chevronels gules, a label of three points vert, a canton of the second, charged with a trefoil, slipped or.


Can you help?
  • 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.
  • As always, any additions or corrections to the account given above will be gratefully received and incorporated.


Revision and acknowledgements


This post was first published 25 March 2020.