The Roper Parkingtons and Chiswick

 

This is a fairly short post. The Roper Parkington Golden Wedding notice in 1923 told us where they were both living.

”  J. Roper-Parkington, J.P., of Melbourne House, Chiswick, to Marie Louise, daughter of the late A. Sims Silvester, Esq., of Stanhope Lodge. Chiswick,” 

As is clear on the map, they were living about  500m apart at either end of Turnham Green Terrace. Our Lady of Grace, where they got married is about the same distance again. Then, another 500m west is Heathfield Terrace where JRP life-long friend  Edward Tancred Agius was living, and where he brought his bride Maria Muscat to in 1873. There is an interesting age gap between the two men. JRP is thirty, and ETA just twenty, but the friendship lasted the rest of their lives, and they died within months of each other in 1924.  Both wives are closer in age, Maria Agius is eighteen, Marie Louise Roper Parkington is twenty four. Both couples have their first child within eighteen months of the Roper Parkington wedding, and have similarly aged children; although the RP’s stop at four unlike ETA and Maria who have a grand total of fifteen children.

Entertaining the poor people at Providence Row in April 1897

This has a slightly bittersweet feel to it. It took place eleven days before great grandpa’s death at home in Belsize Grove, with Uncle Frank deputising for him on the evening. But it does sound like a hilarious evening, for not entirely intended reasons. Mlle. Gratienne’s company are almost certainly worth more investigation. But give every impression of being a real life version of the cast of “Allo, Allo”. They were apparently a small touring reparatory company, living very much hand to mouth, and teetering on the edge of bankrupcy. Mlle. Gratienne was French, from an apparently prosperous background. Her family had owned a vineyard in Burgundy, but were ruined by the Franco-Prussian War. She still owned some property in Paris, and the quarterly rents subsidised the company. Her elderly mother travelled with the company, and acted as her dresser, and was referred to as “Madame” by the company . She played both male, and female parts, and did her own make-up which was “ghostly pale, with large chocolate brown half moon eyebrows”. The shortage of money meant they only performed plays out of copyright to avoid any royalty payment. All in all, the company sound as much of a laugh as the plays.

PROVIDENCE (Row) NIGHT REFUGE AND HOME, CRISPIN-STREET, E.—On Friday, April 23, the inmates of the above were provided with a special evening’s enjoyment in the shape of an entertainment by Mlle. Gratienne and her company. In the absence of the hon. manager, Mr. Alfred Purssell, through illness, Mr. F. W. Purssell presided and was supported by the Rev. M. Fitzpatrick, Mr. T. G. King, Mr. J. W. Gilbert (Secretary) and others. The programme consisted of three plays, the comedietta, £50,000, a comedy Only an Actress, and an interlude Poor Man, in which the characters were ably sustained by Messrs. Leslie Delwaide, Ernest Roberson and Arthur Goodsall, Miss Dora Garth, and Mlle. Gratienne. For three hours the poor people were kept in roars of laughter, and after each piece the performers were recalled and greeted with deafening applause. During the intervals between the plays, music was provided by Miss Octavia Kenmore, and Messrs. Gordon Hilmont and Claude Rivington. A vote of thanks on behalf of the Committee to the performers, who had so generously given their services, was carried with acclamation, and the inmates gave three hearty cheers for Mlle. Gratienne and her friends. The Sisters of Mercy afterwards distributed oranges and buns to the poor people.

The above text was found on p.29,1st May 1897 in “The Tablet: The International Catholic News Weekly.” Reproduced with kind permission of the Publisher. The Tablet can be found at http://www.thetablet.co.uk .

 

Requiem Mass for Italy September 1918

John Roper Parkington, and Uncle Manuel (Bidwell) are both in the congregation.

REQUIEM AT WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL.

The flag of Italy floating from every high point in London on Wednesday was a sign that the hearts of our people were beating in sympathy and with admiration for Italy, in her work and trials and losses in the war. It was a day marked by great gatherings and demonstrations, the first of which was appropriately a Solemn High Mass of Requiem at Westminster Cathedral for the repose of Italy’s sons who had fallen in the fighting on the Carso, the Asiago Plateau, and the Piave. ” Westminster Cathedral,” says the Times, ” lends itself to thoughts of Italy and of the noble dead. Its grand and simple lines and the bareness of its walls are in stern keeping with the solemnity of the hour, and the unwonted sunlight of the morning ,threw into strong relief the Italian baldachin and marble-lined sanctuary, suggestive of Italy’s own beautiful and finished achievements which stand out in the great fabric of her hopes.” Before the sanctuary a catafalque had been erected, covered by a pall on which lay the Italian colours, and around it stood a guard of ten Royal Carabinieri under the command of an officer.

Outside, in the precincts of the Cathedral, on the facade of which floated the Italian and British flags, stood crowds of people, whilst within a great multitude had gathered long before the hour appointed for the service. The congregation included many distinguished figures. Facing the catafalque on the left hand were seated the Duke of Connaught, representing the King; the Hon. Sir Sidney Greville, on behalf of the Prince of Wales; and Colonel Streatfeild for Queen Alexandra. On the right of the catafalque were the Lord Mayor of London, with his guest, Don Prospero Colonna, Prince of Sonnino, Syndic of Rome; the Sheriffs of the City of London, and the Mayor of Westminster, in their State robes. There was a large number of the Corps Diplomatique present, most of whom wore full uniform, and they were accommodated with seats immediately behind the Royal representatives. Prince Borghese, the Italian Charge d’Affaires, occupied the first seat on the right, and next to him were the French and Japanese Ambassadors. The Government was represented by the Lord Chancellor, Mr. Balfour, Mr. Bonar Law, and many others, and there were also present Mr. Asquith, Lord and Lady Edmund Talbot, the Duchess of Norfolk, Lady Mary Howard, Sir John and Lady Knill, and Sir Roper Parkington. The personnel of the Italian Embassy and the officials of the Italian Red Cross Society superintended the seating of the congregation, and the Royal representatives and other distinguished mourners were received as they arrived by Mgr. Howlett, Administrator of the Cathedral.

Cardinal Bourne

The Cardinal Archbishop presided at the Mass, which was sung by the Bishop of Cambysopolis, and gave the Absolutions at the close. Amongst the clergy present were Bishop Keatinge (chief Catholic Army Chaplain), Bishop Bidwell, and the Canons of the Metropolitan Chapter. The music was rendered by the Royal Carabinieri Band, which before the Mass played selections from Pergolesi’s ” Stabat Mater,” and the National Anthem as the Duke of Connaught, representing the King, passed up the nave to his appointed seat. During the Mass the beautiful Requiem of Francisco Anerio was sung by the choir, under the direction of Dr. Terry. Of this music the Daily Telegraph said on Thursday :—” There is surely little that for transcendent beauty can equal Anerio’s ‘ Mass of Requiem,’ and when this is sung, as it was yesterday, it creates an effect that is overwhelming in its poignancy, and by its simple yet magnificent grandeur, and, as it were, appropriateness. It is truly wonderful, for, even though the years roll on, staling so much that is mundane, this glorious music remains unsullied, untouched, unstaled.” Our contemporary also summed up its description of the scene and the function as being ” all inexpressibly beautiful.”

At the close the National Anthem of Italy was played by the Carabinieri.

The above text was found on p.22, 28th September 1918 in “The Tablet: The International Catholic News Weekly.” Reproduced with kind permission of the Publisher. The Tablet can be found at http://www.thetablet.co.uk .

Also death of Fr Raymond Stanfield and the Count of Torre-Diaz in the same issue

Thomas Stonor, 3rd Baron Camoys (1797–1881) and family

The Stonors are here largely on the basis that Edmund Stonor was a domestic chaplain to Leo XIII at the same time Mgr Henry O’Bryen was. The Stonors are an old recusant family. There are three obituaries, all published in the Tablet in the 1880’s. The first is Mgr Stonor’s elder brother Francis who died eight days before his father, followed by his father’s obituary, and then finally their mother’s

The Hon. Francis Stonor (1829-1881)

78 South Audley St

We also deeply regret to have to record the decease of the Hon. Francis Stonor, which took place suddenly, after a short illness of scarcely two days, on Monday afternoon, at his residence in South Audley-street [no. 78]. His death will create a painful void, not only in his own family, and not only among Catholics. In all matters affecting Catholic interests, Mr Stonor was always ready to show himself a loyal son of the Church, and in general society he was most deservedly popular. He was taken ill on Saturday night, and, though he was attended by several eminent physicians, the symptoms increased in gravity on Sunday, and after receiving all the last rites and consolations of religion from the hands of the Rev. F. Christie, S. J., he expired between 4 and 5 p.m. on Monday afternoon. The Hon Francis Stonor, Clerk in the House of Lords, was the second and eldest surviving son of Lord Camoys and his wife Frances, daughter of Mr. Peregrine Edward Towneley, of Towneley, Lancashire, and had only just entered upon his 52nd year, having been born on January 5, 1829. He married September 25, 1855, Eliza, second and youngest daughter of the late Sir Robert Peel, the great statesman. Their children are :—Francis Robert Stonor, born in December, 1856, two other sons, and an only daughter, Julia Caroline. Mrs. Stonor is Bedchamber Woman to the Princess of Wales. [ later Queen Alexandra] —R.I.P. [The above text was found on p.24, 15th January 1881 in “The Tablet: The International Catholic News Weekly.” Reproduced with kind permission of the Publisher. The Tablet can be found at http://www.thetablet.co.uk .]

Thomas Stonor, 3rd Baron Camoys (1797–1881)

Stonor Park, Oxfordshire

We regret to announce the death of Thomas Lord Camoys, in the peerage of England, which took place at Stonor, the family seat near Henley-on-Thames. For some time past his lordship had been in feeble health, arising from his advanced years, and was unable to attend his son’s funeral at Stonor on Saturday last. He expired at about ten o’clock on Tuesday morning, having previously received the Holy Sacraments and the final blessing of the Church. A correspondent informs us that when Lord Camoys was rising his attendant heard him fervently invoking our Blessed Lady. His lordship immediately grew very faint, and the Rev. W. Stone, the family chaplain, was summoned at once. Lord Camoys made a humble confession, and whilst Mass was being said was prepared for Holy Communion by his daughter, Lady Smythe. After Mass he received Holy Communion devoutly, and then seemed so much better that he dressed himself. The exertion was too much for his feeble strength, and there was but time to give the last blessing when he calmly expired without a struggle. His daughters the Hon. Catharine Stonor and Lady Smythe were the only ones of his family present. His son, Monsignor Stonor, and most of his family had left Stonor only the preceding evening, and were summoned at once, but were too late to be present when the melancholy event took place.

The deceased peer was the eldest of the two sons of Mr. Thomas Stonor, of Stonor, Oxon, by his wife Catharine, daughter of Mr. Henry Blundell, of Ince Blundell, Lancashire, and was born 22nd October, 1797, therefore he had recently entered on his 84th year. He married 25th July, 1821, Frances, daughter of the late Mr. Peregrine Edward Towneley, of Towneley Hall, Lancashire, by Charlotte Drummond, a member of the noble House of Strathallan, by whom he leaves surviving issue an only son, the Hon. and Right Rev. Monsignor Edmund Stonor, Domestic Prelate to his Holiness, and Canon of St. John Lateran, 

St John Lateran

and seven daughters (three of whom are nuns), including the Hon. Catharine Stonor, the Hon. Lady Smythe, the Hon. Mrs. Leopold Agar Ellis and the Hon. Mrs. Pereira. The deceased nobleman became Lord Camoys in September, 1839, her Majesty having been pleased to call out of abeyance the ancient barony, created by writ in 1383. The peerage had been in abeyance from the reign of Henry VI. His lordship had been for a long series of years one of her Majesty’s Lords in Waiting, having been attached to the Court in that capacity from 1846 to February, 1852; from January, 1853, to February, 1858; again from June, 1859, to July, 1866; and from December, 1868, to February, 1874. He was returned M.P. for Oxford in 1832, but was unseated on petition, and unsuccessfully contested the city in 1835 and the county in 1837. R.I.P.

Sir John Stonor in Dorchester Abbey, Oxfordshire.

By his lordship’s death his grandson, Mr. Francis Robert Stonor, eldest son of the late lamented Hon. Francis Stonor, who died somewhat suddenly on the 10th instant ( eight days before his father), born December 9, 1856, succeeds to the barony. The family has the reputation of being very ancient, and according to Shirley, an excellent authority, may certainly be traced to the 12th century as resident at Stonor. In the reign of Edward II. and Edward III. Sir John Stonor, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, whose tomb is preserved in the chancel of Dorchester church in Oxfordshire, was the representative and great advancer of the family. One of its members, the Right Rev. John Talbot Stonor, Bishop of Thespiae, i.p.i.,  [in partibus infidelium,  meaning “in the lands of the unbelievers”; i.e a titular bishop] was appointed Vicar Apostolic of the Midland district in 1716, and died in 1756, at the age of 79. [The above text was found on p.23, 22nd January 1881 in “The Tablet: The International Catholic News Weekly.” Reproduced with kind permission of the Publisher. The Tablet can be found at http://www.thetablet.co.uk .]

The Hon. Mrs Eliza Stonor  (1832-1883)

Sir Robert Peel 1788-1850

It is with regret that we record the death of the Hon. Mrs Stonor which took place at her residence, 78 South Audley-street, on the evening of Saturday the 14th inst. Her death was the result of injuries sustained in a carriage accident more than five years ago. The deceased lady was the youngest daughter of the late Right Honourable Sir Robert Peel, and on the 25th September 1855, married the late Hon. Francis Stonor, by whom she had issue the present Lord Camoys, the Hon.Henry Julian, [Sir Harry Stonor had the rather impressive distinction of managing to be a courtier to five successive monarchs. He was a Gentleman Usher to Queen Victoria, Edward VII, and George V and then an Extra Groom-in-Waiting to  Edward VIII and George VI.] , the Hon. Henry Alexander and the Hon. Julia Caroline Stonor. The deceased lady was appointed a lady in waiting to the Princess of Wales upon the formation of Her Royal Highness’s Household in 1863. The funeral took place on Wednesday at Pishill, Oxfordshire, a short distance from Stonor. Her Majesty the Queen and others of the Royal Family sent wreaths of flowers.

Pishill parish church

Attached to the wreath sent by the Prince and Princess of Wales were the words, “In token of affectionate and grateful remembrance, from Albert Edward and Alexandra ; April 18, 1883.“ [The above text was found on p.25, 21st April 1883 in “The Tablet: The International Catholic News Weekly.” Reproduced with kind permission of the Publisher. The Tablet can be found at http://www.thetablet.co.uk .]

Sir John Roper Parkington and Montenegro

For reasons that still remain unclear, John Roper Parkington was the Consul General for Montenegro in the United Kingdom.  Montenegro spent the best part of a decade at war from the First and Second Balkan Wars of 1912-1913,  through World War 1 when it was at war with the Central Powers [Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire], and then finally a civil war about whether to join Serbia. It became part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes in 1918. JRP was on the side of the Montenegrins favouring independence.

Claridge’s – Lobby

He did issue press releases, from time to time, regarding the situation in Montenegro. The following three are from the Tablet. At the time of all three, the Roper Parkingtons were living at Claridge’s.

AUSTRIANS AS BABY-KILLERS.

Sir J. Roper Parkington, Consul General for Montenegro, has received the following official telegram from Cetinje :

The Austrians have again been busy with wanton attacks on undefended towns. About half-past four on Thursday an aeroplane passed over Cattaro, and seven bombs were thrown on the market place at Podgoritza, killing or wounding seventy-two women and children. One poor woman gave birth to a dead child before she could be removed to hospital.

Podgoritza

These repeated attacks on women and children of entirely unfortified towns cause the most intense anger and indignation throughout Montenegro, as no military purpose whatever is served. The ravages of typhus and typhoid are spreading greatly, aggravated by some seventeen thousand refugees from Bosnia and Herzegovina recently driven across our borders by the Austrian troops.  [The above text was found on p.15, 17th April 1915 in “The Tablet: The International Catholic News Weekly.” Reproduced with kind permission of the Publisher. The Tablet can be found at http://www.thetablet.co.uk .]

 

SERBIAN TERROR IN MONTENEGRO.

Cetinje, Montenegro

Sir Roper Parkington, Consul General for Montenegro, has received the following official communique :— Montenegrin men and women, who refuse to testify their loyalty to the King of Serbia and to admit the justice of the seizure and annexation-of their country, are daily arrested and forced into Serbian prisons, notably at Podgoritza, Cettigne, Nikchitch and Kolachine. General Vechovitch, formerly Montenegrin War Minister, who led the guerilla warfare against Austria, has been arrested and taken before a tribunal at Belgrade accused of high treason. Martial law has been proclaimed throughout the country, and all those who decline to recognize the Serbian authority are condemned to death. The stores of the American mission have been burnt ; and reports from other Red Cross missions confirm the carnage and misery which reign supreme throughout this unfortunate country. It is reported in Montenegro that the British Government has addressed a serious remonstrance to the Serbian authorities. [The above text was found on p.10, 25th September 1920 in “The Tablet: The International Catholic News Weekly.” Reproduced with kind permission of the Publisher. The Tablet can be found at http://www.thetablet.co.uk .]

THE SITUATION IN MONTENEGRO.—Sir Roper Parkington, Consul General for Montenegro, has received the following official communiqué :—The news that the ” Montenegrin Army ” is being armed in Podgoritza, under the command of General Mitar Martinovitch, with the intention of attacking Albania is utterly false, because in Montenegro there is no army except the insurgents who are in the mountains, and who have been struggling against the terroristic Serbian army of occupation.

General Mitar Martinovitch (1870 -1954)

General Mitar Martinovitch is a Montenegrin renegade, in pay of the Serbians. The above news is intentionally circulated by the Serbian Minister of Foreign Affairs with the intention of impairing the friendship and destroying a proposed agreement between the Montenegrins and Albanians, for which both sides have lately been feeling the necessity. The Serbians want to turn the dissatisfaction which is felt, especially in Rome, against their expedition in Albania, onto the Montenegrin people, whom they wish to represent as the instigators of these attacks. [The above text was found on p.29, 16th October 1920 in “The Tablet: The International Catholic News Weekly.” Reproduced with kind permission of the Publisher. The Tablet can be found at http://www.thetablet.co.uk .]

 

Captain Windsor Cary-Elwes. 1839 – 1916

Windsor Cary-Elwes is Uncle Charlie’s father, and Aunt Dede’s [Edythe Roper Parkington] father in law.

CAPTAIN WINDSOR CARY-ELWES.

Brompton Oratory

We regret to record the death on Tuesday in last week of Capt. Windsor Cary-Elwes. Born in 1839 he joined the Scots Guards in 1856 and shortly after was received into the Church. [He was the first of his family to be received into the church in 1857]  He married in 1862, Augusta C. L. Law (who survives him), daughter, of the Hon. William Towry Law, by whom he had a family of four sons and two daughters. Of his sons the eldest, Dom Luke, O.S.B., is a monk at Fort Augustus ; the second, Cuthbert, is a Jesuit now on the mission in British Guiana. The Requiem was celebrated at the Brompton Oratory by the Very Rev. Canon Dudley Cary-Elwes,( a cousin) assisted by the Rev. H. S. Bowden. The interment, at which Father Driscoll, S.J. officiated, assisted by Dom Luke Cary-Elwes, was at Mortlake. Amongst those present were Mrs. Windsor Cary-Elwes,  Mr. and Mrs. Charles Cary-Elwes, Mr. Wilfrid Cary-Elwes (grandson), Mrs. Edward Chisholm (daughter), Miss Edith Elwes (sister), the Misses Law (sisters-in-law), Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Law, Mr. and the Hon. Mrs. Algernon Law, Major and Mrs. Adrian Law, (all brothers in law, and their wives)  Mr. Ernest Chapman, Theodosia Countess of Cottenham, the Hon. Mrs. A. Fraser, Mrs. Edward Walsh, Mr. Gervase Elwes, Mr. Rudolph Elwes, (cousins)  Sir Roper and Lady Parkington, (Charles Cary-Elwes’ parents in law)  Lieut. General G. Moncrieff, C.B., Col. McGuire and others. Amongst the many flowers sent was a lovely wreath from the officers of the Scots Guards.—R.I.P.

The above text was found on p.28, 22nd April 1916, in “The Tablet: The International Catholic News Weekly.” Reproduced with kind permission of the Publisher. The Tablet can be found at http://www.thetablet.co.uk .

Grevel House, Chipping Campden

CAPTAIN W. C. CARY-ELWES.

Captain Windsor Charles Cary-Elwes, late Scots Guards, of  Grevel House, Campden, Glos., who died on April 3, at 3 York Place, W., aged 76 years, has left unsettled estate of the value of £8,287 14s. 11d., the whole of which he leaves in trust for his wife and children.

The above text was found on p.26, 22nd July 1916, in “The Tablet: The International Catholic News Weekly.” Reproduced with kind permission of the Publisher. The Tablet can be found at http://www.thetablet.co.uk .

Cork Oath of Allegiance 1775

A List of several Papists who came before the Mayor of the City of Cork, took the Oath of Allegiance, with the Quality, Title, Place of Abode, and the Days on which the appeared:          16th August. 1775.

William Hally, Cork City, Gent.

William Curtin, Cork City, Merchant.

William Coppinger, Barry’s Court, Esq.

Herbert Baldwin, Cork City, Surgeon.

Stephen Coppinger, Cork City, Merchant.

John Fitzgerald, Cork City, Merchant.

Daniel Donovan, Little Island, Gent.

Nicholas Walsh, Cork City, Surgeon.

Richard Shepheard, Dougheloyne, Farmer.

John Moylan, Cork City, Merchant.

Andrew Drinan, Cork City, Merchant.

Timothy Scannell, Cooper, Cork City.

William O’Brien, Cork City, Doctor of Physic.

Patrick Donovan, Milltown, Gent.

Barth. Brady, Merchant. Cork City.

Henry Shea, Merchant.  Cork City.

Nicholas Hogan, Glover, Cork City.

John Callanan, Merchant. Cork City.

Jery Murphy, Merchant. Cork City.

Michael Mathews, Bookseller, Cork City.

William O’Brien, Publican,  Cork City.

James Meaghan, Publican, Cork City.

Thomas Roche, Merchant. Cork City.

James John Barrett, Cooper, Cork City.

William Coppinger, Merchant. Cork City.

John Callanan, Doctor of Physic. Cork City.

Silvester Ryan, Merchant, Cork City.

David Rochford, Gent, Cork City.

Cornelius Sullivan, Merchant, Cork City.

Daniel Tawmy, Publican, Cork City.

James Philip Trant, Gent, Cork City.

David Connell, Merchant, Cork City.

Charles Maguire, Linen Draper, Cork City.

Marcus Sullivan, Merchant. Cork City.

John King, Merchant, Cork City.

John Silk,Woolen Draper. Cork City.

Michael McDermott, Silversmith, Cork City.

Humphry Sullivan, Shopkeeper, Cork City.

William O’Brien, Shopkeeper, Cork City.

Charles O’Neill, Shopkeeper,  Cork City.

David Nagle, Merchant, Cork City.

John Newce, Shopkeeper, Cork City.

Florence Leary, Publican. Cork City.

Jery McCroghan, Merchant Taylor, Cork City.

Robert Ferguson, Surgeon. Cork City.

John Shea, Merchant. Cork City.

John Coppinger, Barry’s Court, Gent.

James Kelly, Merchant, Cork City.

Dominick Callanan, Apothecary, Cork City.

James O’Brien, Merchant, Cork City.

Patrick Crowley, Butter-Buyer, Cork City.

Daniel Daly, Shopkeeper, Cork City.

James Murphy, Butter-Buyer, Cork City.

Daniel Foley, Wollen Draper, Cork City.

Thomas Granahan, Woolen Draper, Cork City.

Michael Wolfe, Merchant. Cork City.

Henry Shea, Merchant. Cork City.

John Creagh, Jnr. Merchant. Cork City.

Robert Hickson, Merchant. Cork City.

Mathias Colbert, Surgeon, Cork City.

Walter Shea, Cooper, Cork City.

James Hogan, Shopkeeper, Cork City.

John Barry, Merchant. Cork City.

Joseph Goold, Cooper, Cork City.

Daniel Fanning, Cooper, Cork City.

Patrick O’Gunner?, Merchant. Cork City.

Francis Hore, Coach Maker, Cork City.

Michael Hore, Coach Maker, Cork City.

Owen McCarthy, Shop Keeper, Cork City.

William Brady, Shopkeeper, Cork City.

John McGrath, Merchant Taylor, Cork City.

David Fitzgerald, Merchant. Cork City.

Bartholomew Guynan, Merchant,  Cork City.

John Guynan, Merchant. Cork City.

Andrew White, Merchant. Cork City.

Terence O’Brien, Gent. Cork City.

William Shea, Merchant. Cork City.

Charles Mccarthy, Merchant, Cork City.

James Rourke, Cabinet Maker. Cork City.

John Tracey, Shop Keeper, Cork City.

Daniel Griffin, Tobacconist, Cork City.

James Hayes, Merchant. Cork City.

Philip Dynan, Joiner. Cork City.

Jeremiah Egan, Merchant. Cork City.

William Trant, Merchant. Cork City.

Daniel Coughlan, Shop Keeper, Cork City.

William Quinn, Shop Keeper, Cork City.

William Molloy, Shop Keeper, Cork City.

Robert French, Gent. Cork City.

Jeremiah Driscoll, Shop Keeper, Cork City.

Patrick Creagh, Merchant. Cork City.

Stephen Anster, Merchant. Cork City.

John Keane, Shop Keeper, Cork City.

Ignatius Trant, Merchant. Cork City.

Simon Donovan, Baker, Cork City.

Denis Desmond, Shop Keeper, Cork City.

Andrew Shea, Shop Keeper, Cork City.

John Hillary, Silversmith, Cork City.

Thomas White, Merchant, Cork City.

Philip Harding, Merchant, Cork City.

John Healy, Merchant. Cork City.

John Morrogh, Merchant. Cork City.

Edmond Barratt, Merchant, Cork City.

William Roche, Merchant. Cork City.

Owen Barman, Shop Keeper, Cork City.

John Doly, Butcher, Cork City.

Thomas Barrett, Shop Keeper, Cork City.

George Goold, Merchant, Cork City.

Henry Goold, Merchant. Cork City.

__________________________

Popish Clergy. Cork.

Hon. John Butler,

Revd. John Finn.

Revd. Dr. Michael Shinnigh.

Revd. Dr. Edmond Synan.

Revd. Timothy Callanan,

Revd. James Bourke.

Revd. Dr. James Hennessy.

Revd. James Michael McMahon.

Revd. Patrick Casey.

Revd. John Lyons.

Revd. Florence McCarthy.

Revd. Denis Murphy.

Revd. Dr. Garret Fahan.

Revd. Dr. Patrick Shortal.

Revd. Arthur O’Leary.

Revd. Thomas Spennick.

Revd. Dr. Daniel Neville.

I certify the foregoing to be a true list, Dated Cork, 30th Jan. 1776.?

William Butler, Mayor.

__________________________

Cork.

A list of persons who have taken the Oath before us.

Robert Ronayne, Gent,

Robert Gofs, or Goss, Merchant,

Both of Youghall in the County of Corke,

William Jackson, Mayor of Youghall,

Matthew Parker.

Youghall, Feb. 4th 1776.

Cork:  Oaths of Allegiance 1775. As researched by the Ireland Genealogy Project.

John Roper Parkington – fund-raising for St. Austin’s, Wimbledon Park.

ST. AUSTIN’S, WIMBLEDON : A GENEROUS OFFER.—A bazaar in aid of St. Austin’s, Wimbledon Park, for the new church, was opened on Wednesday, by Miss Hood, daughter of Sir Joseph Hood, Bart., M.P., at the Welcome Hall, Wimbledon. Colonel Sir Roper Parkington, who, unfortunately, was prevented by illness from attending, requested that his speech should be read, in which he said : ” Since I have taken a house in this parish I have been deeply interested in the building of the new church of St. Austin’s at Wimbledon Park. When I arrived I went to the present temporary church, but I found that there was no proper seating accommodation. I was convinced that a new church was much needed, and I promised Father Rector to give £500 [a present day value of almost £ 150,000] as soon as the new church was begun. At the request of Father O’Gorman, our district priest, I undertook to lay the foundation-stone of St. Austin’s. I was encouraged to do this because my old and much esteemed friend, Father Bernard Vaughan, promised to speak on the occasion. I regret that he has not lived to add this good work to a life of good work for God’s glory. I earnestly appeal to you, the Catholics of Wimbledon, to come generously forward to-day to assist in collecting such a sum of money as may enable Father Rector to start the building of St. Austin’s without delay. I am looking forward to the day when I shall be able to take sittings in the new church for myself and my wife, Lady Parkington, who, as a member of the altar society and sodality, has taken the greatest interest in the parish and in the building of our new church.”

The above text was found on p.30, 16th December 1922 in “The Tablet: The International Catholic News Weekly.” Reproduced with kind permission of the Publisher. The Tablet can be found at http://www.thetablet.co.uk .

Are John Rickman (1771-1840) and Thomas “Clio” Rickman (1761- 1834) related?

The cuttings about “Clio” Rickman, and John Rickman were in a book called” A Hundred Years of Enterprise, Centenary of the Clay Cross Company Ltd” privately printed in 1937.  There was a third piece of paper in the book which is a handwritten partial family tree,  tracing fourteen generations of Rickmans back [well technically eleven generations on the piece of paper, and the last three on the inside flyleaf]. It’s fascinating, and frustrating at the same time because it traces back a direct male line with references to the siblings as “4 others” and so on. But it’s an impressive piece of research for the 1960’s and stretches back to 1512.

The first generation is Richard Rickman in Wardleham, near Selbourne, Hampshire, with a wife called Isabel. They are listed as having at least two sons; John born in 1542, and William, five years later, in “about” 1547. William is the direct ancestor, and the notes against him are as follows “Born about 1547 at Wardleham. Removed to Stanton Prior, near Bath where his children were born, and where he purchased the manor, advowson, and other appurtenances.”

The following is from the opening chapter of the “Life and letters of John Rickman”  by Orlo Williams, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston and New York, 1912.    “From the genealogical researches made by John Rickman ‘s father, the Rev. Thomas Rickman, it appears that the family of Rickman, Rykeman, or Richman, originated in Somersetshire, for the arms or,[gold background] three piles azure,[blue wedge]  three bars gules,[red stripes] over all a stag trippant  [represented in the act of walking] ; with a crest, a stag’s head couped proper were originally granted to Rickman of Somersetshire. The family seems to have overflowed first into Dorsetshire, where John Ritcheman is known to have been rector of Porton in 1380, and members of the family represented Lyme in Parliament in the reigns of Henry iv. and Henry v. The Rickmans of Hampshire, from whom John Rickman more immediately sprang, had the same arms and a slightly different crest with the motto, ‘ Fortitude in Adversity.’ The earliest mention of the family is in the parish register of Wardleham, where the baptism of John Rickman, son of Richard Rickman and Isabel his wife, is recorded in 1542. A William Rickman who lived at Marchwood in Eling [ Marchwood is a village on the edge of Southampton water just east of the New Forest. Eling is the parish it is in] appears in 1556 among the subscribers to the defence of the country against the Spanish Armada. In 1623 a Richard Rickman was married at Eling to Elizabeth Stubbs, and their son William was baptised in 1627. The son of this William, James Rickman, was father of three sons, William, John, and James, the first of whom was born in 1701 at Milford. John Rickman, the subject of this book, was his grandson.”

Stanton Prior, Somerset.
Church of St Lawrence

It appears probable that John, and Clio are related, but with no disrespect to the Rev. Thomas Rickman there seem to be gaps between Richard Rickman in 1623, and the earlier Richard Rickman in 1542. We definitely claim the earlier Richard and Isabel Rickman as the parents of William Rickman who moved to Stanton Prior, where the family were for two generations of John Rickmans.  John Rickman Junior (1611-1680) moved to Hampshire to a house called “Inams” or “Inhams” in Great Hamwood, three miles from Alton, in the parish of Selbourne. His son, John Rickman III (1656- 1722) , was the first of the family to become a Quaker. He is “Clio” Rickman’s great grandfather.

It seems likely that the Richard Rickman, whose son was christened in 1542, was the elder brother of the William Rickman recorded at Marchwood in 1556. If so this would make John Rickman (1771-1840) and Thomas “Clio” Rickman (1761-1834) seventh cousins, but with radically different politics.

John Rickman 1771-1840 – The man who suggested the census

We’ve been clearing out cupboards, and this cutting from The Times from 11th May 1961 was in a book, in a tea chest full of papers, letters, and photographs. It’s a companion piece to the post about Thomas “Clio” Rickman from July that year. John Rickman is a very distant cousin, probably something like a seventh cousin seven times removed.  The details are here

MAN BEHIND THE SCENES FRIEND OF LAMB WHO SUGGESTED

AND CONDUCTED THE FIRST  CENSUS

BY ORLO WILLIAMS

John Rickman 1771 -1840

Characteristically, in death as in life, he has kept out of the headlines. I had waited to see whether he would be remembered when the census was being taken, but he was not. And yet he does deserve to be given his share of honour. I refer to John Rickman, As a quite unknown young man in 1796 he wrote an article on ” The Utility and Facility of a general Enumeration of the People of the British Empire”. This led to the founding of the fortunes of his remarkable back-room career. Abbot (who as a member of Parliament fought for the census) took Rickman on as his secretary and when, in 1802, he was elected Speaker the connexion continued. Rickman. was given a house in the precincts. He died, being then Clerk Assistant in 1841. [Entertainingly, given that Orlo Williams was Rickman’s biographer, the date in the article was wrong. John Rickman died on the 11th August 1840]

REVOLUTIONARY YOUNG MEN

There is a good deal to be said about Rickman’s purely parliamentary life. But for this story, some of which I discovered in the unpublished portions of Lord Colchester’s diaries, now in the Public Record Office, I must refer readers to my book on The Clerical Organization of the House of Commons, 1661-1850 (Clarendon Press, 1954). It is a much earlier work of mine. The Life and Letters of John Rickman (Constable, 1912), to which l must refer them for the full statement of Rickman’s connexion, which was lifelong, with the census and of his career, character and friendships (with Robert Southey, Lamb, Coleridge, George Dyer, Telford, Hazlitt, Crabb Robinson and the Burneys).

The correspondence between Rickman and Southey lasted from their first acquaintance, made in 1795, as revolutionary anti- governmental young men till 1839 when they were both Passionate Tories and Rickman had been assisting Southey in composing a series of dialogues never published to counteract what Rickman called ” Mobocracy “ and oppose the first Reform Bill.

It is in one of his early letters (December 27, 1800) that Rickman makes a definite statement regarding his connexion with the first Population Act and the first census. It comes at the end of the letter, which comments on many things~-Southey’s poem Thalaba, George Dyer’s- extraordinary. foibles and the high price of food. Finally Rickman, who was not yet in Abbot’s employ, wrote:- –

ENERGY AND JUDGMENT

“I have another occupation offered me…. At my suggestion, they have passed an Act of Parliament for ascertaining the population of Great. Britain, and as a compliment (of course) have proposed to me to superintend the execution of it…. I suspect all this attention-(it is more immediately -from G. Rose) is intended as a decent bribe: which I shall reject, by doing the business well, and taking no more remuneration, than I judge exactly adequate to the trouble. It is a task, of national benefit, and I should be fanciful to reject it because offered by rogues. As they well know me for their foe, I cannot suspect them of magnanimity enough to notice me with any good intention. At all events, I shall go strait forward ”

The House of Commons 1808

This passage illustrates two sides of Rickman’s character, his energy in undertaking any labour involving the public good and his peremptory judgments of all politicians whose policies he either rejected or despised. His letters to Southey are peppered with similar judgments. For instance, “Pitt had genius without acquired knowledge: whence his affectation of infallibility and all the woes of Europe “. Again: “Charley Fox eats his former opinions daily, and even ostentatiously, showing himself the worst man but the better Minister of a corrupt Government, where three people in four must be rogues and three deeds in four bad”; or, after a joyful account of the Regent’s rebuff to Grenville and Grey in 1811, ” the pangs of the M. Chronicle are delicious. Canting Villain ! “ and his description of Lord John Russell’s first speech on the Reform Bill: “the backing Speech of the Tricolor Donkey Lord was truly asinine.”

MASTERLY- ” ABSTRACT”

However, he was mistaken in his suspicions of a bribe in I800, for it was Abbot who suggested to Rose that Rickman should be offered the superintendence of the returns; and also un-foreseeing in supposing that it would be a short-term activity.  As events turned out he did the work of the Registrar-General’s Office of today on the censuses of 1801, 1811, 1821 and 1831. published a masterly “Abstract of Returns” in 1833,and in the last year of his life was working on returns of births, deaths ,and marriages from 1570 to 1750 to be prefaced to the census return of 1841.  Moreover, in that year, in a letter to the Home Office defending himself against an anonymous attack, he showed that, though he received on an average 500 guineas for each return, out of which he had to defray in advance all working expenses for clerks, &c., he was actually a financial loser. In fact, he had no recognition. from any Government for his statistical labours, though he was elected F.R.S. in 1815.

John Rickman abhorred publicity. and despised self-advertisement; ho sought no rewards but from his conscience. His name has not resounded through the ages. Yet to the army of Lamb-lovers he is immortal as a friend of Elia [Elia was Charles Lamb’s pen name in the London Magazine]. Lamb’s letter to Manning of November 3, 1800, describing his new acquisition of a ” pleasant hand”, his neighbour in Southampton Buildings, is famous; and it is balanced by a letter from Rickman to Southey a month later in which he remarks on his pleasant neighbour opposite, who “laughs as much is I wish, and makes even puns, without remorse of conscience”.

NEAR STARVATION

Equally famous is Lamb’s letter to Rickman of November, 1801, inimitably re- counting George Dyer’s visit to him when almost expiring from starvation. Rickman sent this letter from Ireland to Southey, ” a letter from Lamb of exquisite perhaps un- paralleled description “, and with it that rarity, a letter from Dyer himself to Southey describing his sickness and typically deploring his disability to assist that conceited, dilatory, hopeless but not un- gifted- creature George Burnett, Lamb’s “ George II “, whom Rickman tried vainly to employ and. to convict of his own stupidity. Then Coleridge, too, was Rickman’s friend and admirer. He wrote to him in 1804: ” All your habits of action and feeing, your whole code of self-government – would to God I could but imitate them as entirely as I approve of them! ” And in another letter of 1811 he made.some extremely interesting comments on Lamb’s too convivial habits, notably of “the unconquerable appetite. for spirit (that) comes in with the tobacco “ .These early friendships died, as did their objects: it is sad to record that Southey and Rickman made to one another cold and pitying comments on Lamb’s death in 1835.