Author Topic: Halpins of Wicklow, etc. - Part 4  (Read 71056 times)

Offline tompion

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Re: Halpins of Wicklow, etc. - Part 4
« Reply #27 on: Thursday 30 May 13 08:29 BST (UK) »
My mistake Bill, N.J. Halpin did indeed die at Palmerston Road and was formerly of 19 Northbrook Road. Brian

Offline BillW

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Re: Halpins of Wicklow, etc. - Part 4
« Reply #28 on: Thursday 30 May 13 09:09 BST (UK) »
Margaret Halpin, baptised at Wicklow in 1782 to parents John and Elizabeth Halfpenny, younger sister of William, George and James, outlived all of them and died aged 80 in 1862 and was buried in Wicklow churchyard.  Could she have had a stake in the Bridge Hotel?  She left an estate of under £600, executors her nephew Dr George Halbert Halpin and Abraham Rogers.  I wonder if she mentioned any interesting bequests.
The Rev Robert Crawford Halpin came down from Dublin to co-conduct his aunt’s funeral service.
Three interesting wills at this 1859 page: http://www.willcalendars.nationalarchives.ie/reels/cwa/005014882/005014882_00210.pdf.

Offline BillW

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Re: Halpins of Wicklow, etc. - Part 4
« Reply #29 on: Thursday 30 May 13 23:15 BST (UK) »
Eaton Cotter Halpin born 1817 was the eldest son of James and Ann Halpin, Bridge Hotel Wicklow.  He married March 1852 at Killiskey Wicklow Elizabeth Jones, daughter of Owen Jones, Beaumaris Anglesey Wales.  In the same year he is listed in Thom’s Directory practising as a solicitor at 7 Ormond Quay Dublin and Wicklow.  He seemed to have everything going for him, and for the Halpin family. Five years later aged 40 he is recorded as dying on 19 July 1857 at Mount Ashen Co Wicklow, buried in Wicklow churchyard.  Probate for a small estate was granted January 1859 to his widow Elizabeth of 8 Castle Street Beaumaris.
There were no records of them having children.  Elizabeth Halpin is found to have remarried 10 Nov 1859 in Beaumaris to John Ambrose, bookseller.  In the 1861 Census, Elizabeth 42 and John Ambrose are living in Beaumaris with no children.  The same applies in the 1871 census, where Elizabeth’s age is given as 55. We can rule out Eaton Cotter Halpin having left any living child.

Offline Shanachai

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Re: Halpins of Wicklow, etc. - Part 4
« Reply #30 on: Friday 31 May 13 00:32 BST (UK) »

Death of Mr. N J Halpin.

We regret to observe in this week's obituary the death of Mr. Nicholas John Halpin, who was for many years connected with her Majesty's Customs, Dublin.  He was greatly esteemed as an able and curteous official by all those with whom he was brought in contact.  He was the eldest son of the late Rev. N. J. Halpin, for many years editor of the Dublin Evening Mail, and brother of the late Charles Greham Halpin (Miles O'Reilly), whose life and works were lately reviewed in a leading Dublin paper.  In his private life Mr. Halpin had made a host of friends.

- Freeman's Journal,
Saturday, November 28 1891, and the Belfast Newsletter, Monday, November 30 1891.

I've been unable to locate the review mentioned above. 


Offline BillW

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Re: Halpins of Wicklow, etc. - Part 4
« Reply #31 on: Friday 31 May 13 00:35 BST (UK) »
It is interesting, thinking of the death and not inconsiderable estate of Margaret Halpin in 1862, that the estate of her sister-in-law Ann Halbert Halpin had become insolvent a few years earlier and nephew Frederick Halpin felt that he had to come to the rescue.  Whereupon only a few years after this, in 1859, before Margaret's death, Frederick died while young having chucked in his maritime career to carry on the hotel and left a very substantial estate to Margaret's then unmarried nieces Fanny and Louisa.  That family did very well out of Frederick and, indirectly after his death, out of his father George.  I observed when this first came to light thanks to Tavern that Ann's children and the wider family consisted of doctors, solicitors, sea captains and businessmen, and yet they left it to a more distant relative to bail them out.  I suspect hard-working George would have been turning in his grave.  Frederick only had the money to do this by his half brother George junior buying him out of his share of George's estate.

Then, about this time with George junior probably in debt to make this payment to Frederick, his own children were working as carpenters and clerks, venturing overseas looking for work.  The eldest son WO Halpin eventually emerged into prosperity but his siblings saw very little.

Offline Shanachai

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Re: Halpins of Wicklow, etc. - Part 4
« Reply #32 on: Friday 31 May 13 01:12 BST (UK) »

Rebecca Doherty was married to N J Halpin.  Here's a little background information on her family, sent to me this evening by A. Halpin:-

Michael Doherty, known as Michael Mór, was a landlord who lived in Glen House in the 1800s. He had a dispute with Fr. William O’Donnell, who fought at Waterloo, over a church gate collection and decided to change his religion. He is buried in Straid churchyard.  Doherty owned an estate of 113 acres.

The Burying Ground

of

Edward Doherty Esqr

of Glen House Co Donegal

Herein Buried

Michael Doherty

Died 1855

His Wife Rebecca

Died 1867

Their Son James Walker

Died 1860

Their Son Michael

Died 1893

Their Daughter

Ellen Irvine Died 1888

Her Son

John J Irvine M.D.

Died 1897

And Edward Doherty

Who Died 6th March 1918

Also His Son

James Walker Doherty

Who Died 1st February 1925

Aged 51 Years

(upright marble slab)

January 14 1843 

Marriages:

On the 11th inst., at Clonmany Church, by the Rev. M. O'Connor, the REV. GEORGE H. YOUNG, Rector of the parish of Clonmany, in this Diocese, to ISABELLA, eldest daughter of MICHAEL DOHERTY, ESQ., Glen House

November 18 1848 

On the 8th inst., at Clonmany Church, by the Rev. George Henry Young, NICHOLAS JOHN HALPIN, ESQ., of her Majesty's Customs, eldest son of the REV. N.J. HALPIN, of Dublin, to REBECCA, youngest daughter of MICHAEL DOHERTY, ESQ., of Glen House, county Donegal.

April 30 1858   

At Clonmany Church, on the 22nd inst., by the Rev. George H. Young, brother in law of the bride, ALEXANDER IRVINE, ESQ., M.D., youngest son of JOHN IRVINE, of Lisagore, in the county Fermanagh, to ELLEN, daughter of the late MICHAEL DOHERTY, ESQ., of Glen House, in the county of Donegal


Offline Shanachai

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Re: Halpins of Wicklow, etc. - Part 4
« Reply #33 on: Friday 31 May 13 14:26 BST (UK) »

I've been unable to find out anything about an artist by the name of Sydney Halpin.  I wonder if the name was a thinly disguised pseudonym? 

The Dictionary of Irish Architects contains the name Arthur Sydney Ormsby.  George Halpin snr, who is also named in the dictionary, was often listed alongside the Reverend William Gilbert Ormsby in deeds relating to the holdings of Thomas Crosthwaite.  All of those holdings were situated in and around the North Strand area.  It seems the Crosthwaites, who were a very wealthy family in the late 18th and 19th centuries, nominated George, the Reverend Ormsby, Joseph Hone (of the banking and artistic dynasty) and the Reverend Robert Halpin, as guardians of their sons' North Strand interests.*  Naturally, this suggests a tremendous degree of trust on the part of the Crosthwaites, a trust that was passed from Reverend Ormsby to William Oswald Halpin and John Hone - descendants of the original guardians - in 1874.  I won't dwell here on the implications of these connections because I intend to deal with them in a forthcoming post.  I simply want to draw your attention to the web of connections that can be spun from a new name. 

The Reverend William G Ormsby served mass for a while in Clontarf, which is where George Halpin and Thomas Crosthwaite were based on and off in the 1830s and 40s.  After a stint in Swords Reverend Ormsby ended up in Arklow, where he and Stopford Halpin became firm friends.  I think you can sense the outline here of the kind of strong social network that was typical of colonial communities right across the British empire.  In the case of the Halpins, Ormsbys, Crosthwaites and Hones those tight colonial links were maintained over the course three centuries, from the late 18th century to the early 20th century.  This created a sense of caste entitlement, and could devolve into fratricidal hatred if anyone from within the group broke ranks or did anything perceived to undermine the specific interests of the group, which I would argue is what happened in the case of my forebear - Robert Wellington Halpin.

George Halpin married Elizabeth Bourne in 1817.  His first wife, Isabelle, probably died in 1813.  The Bournes also had a large presence in Clontarf and held a lucrative monopoly in the delivery of mail throughout Ireland, which in those days was transported from town to town in coaches.  George and Elizabeth had the following children:

1. Frederick baptised 25 October 1818.
2. Arthur baptised 5th July 1820.
3. Charlotte baptised 13th January 1822.
4. John baptised 15th or 22nd June 1823.
5. Sidney baptised 12th September 1824 (Note: James Halpin of Wicklow had a "Sidney" two years later in 1826).  This information, and the note, were passed on to me in an email from Eamonn McGettigan, dated 1st December 2011.  I'm sure Bill has a more updated version of these details, but I mention them only to draw attention to "Sidney".  Was there at some point in the distant past a "Sydney" who in some way united the Ormsby and Halpin families?

Lastly, I found this: http://dhalpin.infoaction.org.uk/23-articles/dr-david-kelly/120-witness-statement-of-dr-david-sydney-halpin-frcs

Maybe we should contact Dr. Halpin.

*See indentured deed Halpin to Halpin, 1874 4 184.  I'll be posting more on this deed, and many like it, at a  later date.  And I'll use the information gleaned from them, along with that from other sources, to construct a strong circumstantial case for a blood tie linking the Wicklow Halpins to the Portarlington Halpins through George Halpin, thus making a good case for the reliability of the Halpin family lore, which maintained from the outset the existence of that link.

Offline Shanachai

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Re: Halpins of Wicklow, etc. - Part 4
« Reply #34 on: Monday 03 June 13 22:27 BST (UK) »

A brilliant link well worth following.  With the arrival of independence in 1922, southern Unionists - a group to which most of the Halpins belonged - quickly disappeared from public life.  Ireland's slide into war both at home and abroad can be followed here:-

http://www.rte.ie/centuryireland/

Offline Shanachai

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Re: Halpins of Wicklow, etc. - Part 4
« Reply #35 on: Friday 30 August 13 00:49 BST (UK) »
1.

I have a question I hope someone can help me with - when members were elected to Wicklow's Board of Commissioners in the early 1880's, they were required to take an oath of office before they could act as commissioners.  Does anyone know what that oath was?  Did it involve a pledge to serve the Queen, to recognise her and her ministers as Ireland's sovereign power, and Dublin Castle as their Administrative seat?  I'd say it did, but I can't be sure.

I ask because I'm interested in Joe McCarroll, a Tyrone man who arrived in Wicklow town in about 1870 and established himself as 'a shipping broker and agent of the Dublin and Wicklow Manure Company'. Joe was to go on to become one of Wicklow's 'most prominent land agitators' (Donnelly, 1999, p. 9*).  It seems he was first elected to the Board of Commissioners in August 1883, but didn't take the oath.  At that time, all commissioners were legally obliged to take the oath if they wanted to act as commissioners.  It simply wasn't enough to be elected per se.  To act without taking the oath was to risk a severe fine.  And anyone knowingly serving with a commissioner who had refused to take the oath, or who had simply neglected to take it within the requisite period, could also face a fine. 

On Thursday September 6 1883, a meeting of the Town Commissioners of Wicklow was held at the Town Hall "for the purpose of electing four commissioners to act as representatives of the Town Council on the Harbour Board."  Present were Joseph Smyth, the Chairman of the Board, A. Doolittle, W. Desaix, Dr J P Byrne, J Hamilton, Captain R. Halpin, Tynaston Edwards, J Flanagan and Joe McCarroll. 

Robert Wellington Halpin, the Commission's long-serving Town Clerk and Harbour Board Secretary, was at home on his death bed, gaunt, jaundiced, spitting blood and still grieving for his wife, Frances, who had died the previous March.  In his absence as Secretary to the Commissioners his son, Robert jnr, stood in.  The role should have gone to the young man who had been trained for it - Edwin Francis Halpin.  But Edwin had fled Wicklow after the scandal of the Marryat affair in 1876, and hadn't returned since.  For that reason the role went to Robert jnr, who acted on his father's advice. 

The election was held soon after seven o'clock in the evening, but Edwards and Flanagan had arrived too late to take part.  After taking his seat, Edwards asked if he could cast his vote anyway.  The Chairman (after much hesitation) said - As you were not here at seven, the hour named for the election, I cannot receive your vote.
At this point a number of commissioners expressed their dissatisfaction.
McCarroll, perhaps sensing that something was up, said - The Chairman is quite right. 
To which Captain Halpin replied - Who made you Chairman?

After some heated discussion Mr Smyth agreed to accept the votes of Flanagan and Edwards.  The resulting count was: Smyth 7, Carr 6, Flanagan 5, McCarroll 5, Doolittle 4.

Before the Chairman could announce the result, Mr Desaix stood up and asked if every member sitting at the board had taken the oath.

Mr Carroll, after much hesitation, was understood to say that he had not.

Mr Edwards rose to order - Mr McCarroll not having taken the oath was not at present a town commissioner, and had no right to speak or vote at the board.  We cannot recognise Mr McCarroll as a town commissioner, therefore since he is not in a position to be elected a harbour commissioner, his name should be struck out of the return.

Mr McCarroll - If Mr Edwards takes that view I will ask the chairman to administer the oath to me now.

Mr Halpin (secretary pro tem) said he had received a letter from Mr Burkitt, solicitor to the board, in reply to a query as to Mr McCarroll's eligibility to sit as a commissioner.  With the commissioners' permission, he would read it.

The Chairman (snappishly) - I am not going to allow you to speak unless you are called upon.

At this there were expressions of disapproval and cries for the letter to be read.