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Continued from previous page
Pat Purcell Papers. Part 2 -
"Not We From Kings But Kings From Us".
Pat
Purcell Papers.
Letter, Genealogical enquiry, Dated,
May, 1931.
From: J. Hallam [ ? ],
Threadneedle Street, City of London, England.
To:
Pat Purcell,
Town
Hall, Carlow, Ireland.
Part
two of a FAMILY CHRONICLE.
(Continued,
abbreviated extracts edited by Michael Purcell.
Further
information on the Hely-Hutchinsons mentioned herein and the famous,
busybody, philanthropist, playwright, and religious writer, Hannah More
may be sourced via Google.
Having given
the foregoing account of my paternal relatives, I must proceed to that
of my maternal ones.
My mother
was the only daughter of a Carlow gentleman of the name of Whelan, who
by his first marriage had a son who married my father's sister Ann
Steuart, whose children, of whom, I shall speak presently, were thus
doubly connected with myself, as in the case of the Butlers of
Broonville.
My
grandfather Whelan must I think have been dead at the time of my birth
in 1792 or soon after, as I have no remembrance of him, but my earliest
childish reminiscences are connected with my venerable grandmother, Anna
Maria Whelan, formerly Nickson, who always lived with us till her death,
which took place at the advanced age of eighty-five.
She was one
of a very large family, her sisters being of the classic number of the
muses, and as they all but one married and had families, my connection
is necessarily a very large one ; indeed my daughters sometimes jokingly
say it must extend over half Ireland.
I have said
that this is to be the family chronicle, so I am bound to give the names
of my great aunts, and of some of their descendants. Their name was
Nickson, (1) Elizabeth, (2) Rachel, (3) Christiana, (4) Anna Maria, (my
grandmother, Mrs Whelan), (5) Lydia, (6) Hester, (7) Mary, (8) Letitia,
(9) Harriet, (10) Francis.
My eldest
great aunt, Elizabeth, married Mr. Bunbury, a gentleman of landed
property in the County of Carlow. (of whom more anon). She had but one
child, a son, Harry Bunbury, whom I remember as an agreeable oddity; he
died unmarried (2) Rachel married the Reverend Christopher Harvey, D.D.,
of Kyle, in the County Wexford.
She had one
son, the late William Harvey, and two daughters, Mrs Freke (mother of
the present Lord Carberry, and of the Honourable Mrs Charles Bernard ),
and Mrs Randall, whose only child is now Mrs Hastings Parker.
My great
aunt Rachel Harvey lived to the age of ninety-one. She used to pay an
annual visit to Steuart's Lodge, where her coming was always a matter of
rejoicing, and her daughters were two of the most fascinating creatures
I ever knew.
(3) My great
aunt Christina was named after her great aunt and godmother, Mrs
Hutchinson, the wife of her great uncle, Richard Hutchinson, a gentleman
of large property, and the possessor of Knocklofty, near Clonmell,
County Tipperary.
She,
Christina, was adopted by the Hutchinsons, as they had no children, and
became their heiress. She married a barrister of the name of Hely, who
added the name of Hutchinson to his own name when he succeeded to the
estates. He was afterwards Provost of Trinity College, and Secretary of
State. He was offered a peerage, which he declined for himself but
accepted for his wife, who thus became Baroness of Donoughmore.
The title
was raised to that of Earl, in the person of her eldest son,
Richard, and
he dying unmarried, her second son, John Hely-Hutchinson, became Earl of
Donoughmore. Previous to his accession to his brother's earldom he had
received the title of Lord Hutchinson for his services in Egypt, where
he commanded the army after the death of Sir Ralph Abercrombie, and
achieved those brilliant victories which wrested Egypt from the French.
I have seen two beautiful boxes
given by the Sultan to two brothers of Lord Hutchinson, who had been
sent to an Embassy to Constantinople; one was a blood stone with a
crescent of diamonds on the lid, the other of purple enamel with a star
of diamonds ; they were lined with gold.
This second
Earl of Donoughmore was succeeded by his nephew, also named John, who
had first distinguished himself in the retreat of Corunna, and
afterwards acted a conspicuous part in aiding the escape of General
Lavalette.
John was a
personal acquaintance of mine, as after his return from Spain he came to
visit my mother, who was a favourite cousin of the Hutchinsons.
This John
was father of the present Earl ( 1862 ).
My great
aunt, Christina, the first Lady Donoughmore, besides the two earls I
have mentioned here, had three sons, viz., Abraham, Christopher and
Lorenzo. And also three daughters, Honourable Mary, married to a Mr.
Smith, Honourable Margaret, and Prudence. The two latter died unmarried.
They were
great friends of Hannah More, and in order to enjoy her society took a
place near Barley Wood, where during their latter years they always
resided.
My fourth
great aunt (5) Lydia married John Nunn, Esquire, ...........(to be
continued).............
[Note added
by Michael Purcell, 2012 -
I have
posted some of the letters / enquiries, dating from 1920s to 1980s that
were sent to Pat Purcell during his lifetime.
The above
extracts were edited and abbreviated by me, now on page 22 of 52 pages]
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