An excerpt from "The Complete Peerage", giving the history of the English family of nobles that owned much of the Dingle Peninsula.

Excerpt from:
G.E.C., Geoffrey H. White, R.S. Lea, "The Complete Peerage, or a history of the House of Lords and all its members from the earliest times," St. Catherine Press, London, 1959; vol. XII, pp. 238-241.

VENTRY

BARONY [I.]

I. 1800.

1. Thomas Mullins, s. and h. of William Mullins,(238c) of Burnham, formerly Ballingolin, co. Kerry (d. 3 May 1761, aged 71), by Mary, da. of George Rowan, of Maghera, co. Derry, was b. 25 Oct. 1736; adm. Trin. Coll., Dublin, 28 May 1754. He was cr. a Baronet [I.], 7 Dec. 1797, and was cr., 31 July 1800,(238d) BARON VENTRY, of Ventry, co. Kerry [I.], taking his seat in the House of Lords [I.], 1 Aug. follg. He m., 5 Oct. 1755, Elizabeth, da. of Townsend Gunn, of Rattoo, co. Kerry, by Elizabeth, da. of John Blennerhassett,(239a) of Castle Conway, in that co. She, who was b. 14 Sep. 1736,(239b) d. 16 Jan. 1823, in her 87th year, at Burnham House, co. Kerry. He d. there 11 Jan. 1824, in his 88th year.

II. 1824.

2. William Townsend (Mullins), Baron Ventry [I.], 1st s. and h., was b. 25 Sep. 1761; adm. Trin. Coll., Dublin, 7 June 1779; M.P. [I.] for Dingle, Jan. to Dec. 1800. He m., 1stly, 12 July 1784, Sarah Anne, 5th and yst. da. of Sir Riggs Falkiner, 1st Bart. [I.], of Anne Mount, co. Cork, by his 1st wife, Mary, da. of Francis Barker, of Waterford. She d. s.p.m. in Nov. 1788. He m., 2ndly, 12 May 1790, Frances Elizabeth, only da. of Isaac Sage. This marriage was dissolved by Act of Parl. [I.] in Mar. 1796. He m., 3rdly, 10 Sep. 1797, Clara, 6th da. of Benjamin Jones. He d. s.p.m.s. 5 Oct. 1827 at his residence, Château de la Cocherie, near Boulogne.(239c) His widow m., in Apr. 1832, Peter FitzGibbon Henchy. She d. 17 Jan. 1837 in Dublin.

[Thomas Mullins, only s. and h. ap., by 3rd wife, b. 12 Aug.. 1798, d. unm. and v.p. 31 May 1817, aged 18.]

III. 1827.

3. Thomas Townsend Aremberg (Mullins, afterwards [1841] de Moleyns), Baron Ventry [I.], nephew and h. male, being only s. and h. of Townsend Mullins, by Christabella, da. of Solomon Dayrolles, of Henley Park, Surrey, which Townsend was 2nd s. of the 1st Baron, and d. 1799, aged 36. He was b. Jan. 1786; Lieut., 7th Regt. of Foot (R. Fus.), 5 Feb. 1807; Capt. 8 Aug. 1811; served with his regt. in the Peninsular War, being present at Busaco, 27 Sep. 1810, and Albuera, where he was severely wounded, 16 May 1811, and in the American War of 1814-15, when he was again wounded at the attack on New Orleans, 8 Jan. 1815; retired on half-pay, 11 Dec. 1817.(239d) By Royal lic., 16 Feb. 1841, he took the name of de Moleyns(240a) in lieu of that of Mullins(240b) for himself and the other descendants of his grandfather. He m., 18 Aug 1821, his cousin, Eliza Theodora, 2nd da. of Sir John Blake, 11th Bart. [I.], of Menlough, co. Galway, being 1st da. of his 2nd wife, Rose, da. of Edward Brice, by Theodora, da. of Thomas (Mullins), 1st Baron Ventry [I.]. He d. 18 Jan. 1868 at Burnham House afsd., in his 82nd year. His widow, d. 25 Oct. 1879 at Blennerville, co. Kerry, aged 77.

IV. 1868.

4. Dayrolles Blakeney (de Moleyns, afterwards [1874] Eveleigh-de Moleyns, and previously [1828-41] Mullins), Baron Ventry [I. 1800], also a Baronet [I. 1797], 1st s. and H., was b. 22 Jan. 1828; Lieut.-Col. comdg. 4th Mil. Battn. Royal Munster Fusiliers, 1854-85; Rep. Peer [I.], 10 July 1871. By Royal lic. [I.], 3 Nov. 1874, he took the name of Eveleigh(240c) before that of de Moleyns. A Conservative in politics. He m., 12 Sep. 1860, at Niddrie House, co. Midlothian, Harriet Elizabeth Frances, 1st da. of Andrew Wauchope, of Niddrie Marischal, by Frances Mary, da. of Henry Lloyd, of Farrenrory, co. Tipperary. She d. 13 Dec. 1906 at 12 Holles Str., Marylebone, and was bur. 17 Dec. at Niddrie Marischal afsd. He d. 8 Feb. 1914 at Burnham afsd. and was bur. there 11 Feb.

[Frederick Rossmore Wauchope Eveleigh-de Moleyns, s. and h., was b. 11 Dec. 1861 at Niddrie House; ed. at Harrow, 1876-79;(240d) joined the 4th Hussars, 1882; Capt. 1890; Commr. of Police in Mashonaland, 1896; served in the Mashonaland operations, 1896-97, being in general comd. of troops there, 1897; D.S.O. 1897; despatches twice; Brevet Lieut.-Col.; retired 1901. He d. unm. 22 Sep. 1923 at Brighton, aged 61, and was bur. 27 Sep. at Stapleford, near Melton Mowbray. Having suc. to the peerage after Jan. 1901, he is, as a peer, outside the scope of this work.(241a)]

Family Estates. - These, in 1883, consisted of 93,629 acres in co. Kerry, worth £17,067 a year. Principal Residence. - Burnham House, near Dingle, co. Kerry.

Footnotes:

(238c) This William was s. and h. of Frederick, who d. v.p. 3 Oct. 1695, by Martha, 1st da. of Thomas Blennerhassett, of Littur, co. Kerry, which Frederick was s. and h. of Col. Frederick William Mullins (a native of Burnham, in England [see p. 240, note "b" below], who first settled in Ireland, and was M.P. [I.] for Dingle, 1692-95, and for Tralee, 1695-99, and who d. 3 Nov. 1712), by Jane, da. and coh. of John Eveleigh, Dean of Ross. Some 200 years later (in 1874) the 4th Lord Ventry, their descendant in the 6th generation, assumed the name of Eveleigh in addition to his then patronymic of de Moleyns.

(238d) Ventry was the 9th of 16 Baronies [I.] cr. on that day. The patent was never enrolled, but was produced in the House of Lords [I.]. For the profuse creations and promotions in the Irish Peerage see ante, vol. iii, Appendix H.

(239a) For "The Blennerhassett Ped., 1580-1736," by Capt. John Blennerhassett and the many alliances of this family, see Hickson, Selections from Old Kerry Records, pp. 1-108.

(239b) Idem, p. 44.

(239c) On succeeding his father he presented a memorial to the Viceroy [I.], Feb. 1824, setting forth that he was anxious to change the title of Ventry to that of Lord Baron Burnham, of Burnham, co. Kerry, "inasmuch as it [Ventry] is obnoxious to a disagreeable and unpleasant interpretation in continental languages, and would expose memorialist to contempt and ridicule . . . when travelling abroad." See Complete Baronetage, vol. v, p. 439.

(239d) Groves, Hist. Rec. of the 7th or Royal Regt. of Fusiliers, p. 387.

(240a) This is one of the many instances of the transformation of names, "illustrating the manufacture of the imitation article in feudal nobility," cited by Round, Studies in Peerage and Family History, p. 17. For the use of the particle "de" in titles, as also its adoption in surnames of this period, see Idem, pp. 17-18; ante, vol. vi, Appendix A.

(240b) It is presumed that the noble house of Mullins then claimed descent from Sir John de Moleyns (d. 1360), of Stoke Poges, &c., Bucks, who was a benefactor of Burnham Abbey, in that co., of which he was granted the advowson in 1338 (ante, vol. ix, sub Moleyns). For the arms of this Sir John, differenced only by the addition of ermine spots, are now borne by Lord Ventry instead of the cross moline formerly borne by the family. According, however, to the Royal lic. of 1841, the grantee was "descended from a family long seated at Burnham, Norfolk, of which his immediate ancestor, Frederick William Mullins, or Milins, came to Ireland in the reign of Charles II . . . previously to the 16th century, the family name was uniformly [sic] spelled Molins, and more anciently de Moleyns or de Molins." In fact the parentage and ancestry of Frederick William abovenamed, of Burnham, in England, remain unknown.

(240c) See p. 238, note "c" above.

(240d) In 1879 he was in the Harrow Cricket XI and Football XI and, with M. C. Kemp, won the Public Schools Racquets.

(241a) He was suc. by his br. and h., Arthur William (Eveleigh-de Moleyns), 6th Baron Ventry [I.], b. 6 Apr. 1864; ed. at Uppingham, 1879-82. He m., 2 June 1897, Evelyn Murial Stuart, da. of Lansdowne Daubeney. He d. 6 July 1936 and was suc. by his 1st s. and h., Arthur Frederick Daubeney (Eveleigh-de Moleyns), 7th Baron Ventry [I.], b. 28 July 1898; ed. at Wellington Coll.; served in the 1st World War, 1916-18, as Lieut., Irish Guards, and in the R.A.F. (Airship Branch), being wounded; Hon. Air Commodore, no. 902 (Co. of London) (Balloon) Squadron, Auxiliary Air Force, 1938; served in the 2nd World War, 1939-45, as Flight Lieut., R.A.F. Vol. Reserve, in Balloon Cmd. and Intelligence; received King Haakon's Freedom Medal; has assumed the additional Christian name of Olav; a Certificated Aeronaut, who has built and flown (in 1951) his own airship. The h. presumptive to the Barony is (1956) his yr. br., Francis Alexander Innys Eveleigh-de Moleyns, b. 15. Nov. 1901.

Many thanks to Wayne Mansfield for providing this data.

This page created April 2000 for County Kerry, Ireland