To all who are researching William Kertland. I have done extensive research on this family as my wife is descended from his brother. I can give you extensive information on the whole family.
The Kertlands start appearing in 1678 in Walsall Staffordshire and in 1708 one Robert Kertland was born in Walsall but moved to Birmingham where he married Ann Smith in 1744. They had a daughter Ann born in 1752 and a son Joseph born in 1750.
Ann married John Conway and moved to Ireland. Joseph Kertland married Elizabeth Neal in 1774 in Birmingham and had two children we are interested in, William born in 1775 and Joseph jr born in 1792 both in Birmingham.
Shortly after 1792 Joseph sr and Elizabeth move their family to 177 abbey Street Dublin before moving to No 1 Ormonde Quay. Joseph Senior continued to live here with his wife operating as a manufacturing chemist up in until his death in 1822 aged 71. William Kertland was working with his father Joseph in the same business and took on the business after his death. the younger son Joseph Kertland jr was residing in Sackville Street operating as a chemist and perfumer with his wife Mary Bill who he married in 1824 back Birmingham. Elizabeth the widow of Joseph sr died in 1831 and was living with her younger son Joseph when she died.
Joseph jr died in 1837 aged 45 and was succeeded in the business by his son George Bill Kertland until he returned to Birmingham with his wife Anne Hall around 1854. Their son George Minte Kertland became a well known Jewellery designer in London.
William Kertland continued in Dublin until his death in 1846 and was a quite remarkable man. A protestant who fought for Catholic Emancipation and who was actually elected the chair of the Dublin Catholic Society! A founder of the Dublin mendicity, a poet and playwright, an opera composer, a political activist and a manufacturing chemist. Apparently he was beloved by those who knew him and he was a rare man indeed. He married Ellen Graham in 1812 the daughter of Peter Graham and Lucy Murray an influential society family of the time.
their children included the following:
• William Joseph Kertland became a minister in the Church of Ireland.
• Richard Jones Kertland was a commercial traveller in fine arts who died young after falling from his carriage in Birmingham
• Mark A Montserrat Kertland – became a civil engineer in England
• Edwin Henry Kertland became a civil engineer in Canada
• Sarah Georgina Kertland married into the Molesworth and Nassau families who are both commemorated to this day in street names in Dublin.
• James Carlisle Kertland ended up in Toondle West Bengal in India
Edwin Henry Kertland
Edwin Henry Kertland was the son of William Kertland; born in Dublin in January 1826 he emigrated to Canada in 1848 at the relatively young age of 22. First of all qualifiying as a surveyor, he then went on in 1864 to pass his medical exams and spent 2 years with the Northern Army in the USA as a physician. He later became the manager of an investment company.
Douglas Edwin Kertland
Douglas Edwin Kertland was the grandson of Edwin and the great grandson of William and was born in 1887 in Toronto in Canada.
In 1908 he rowed in the Canadian Rowing Team at the London Olympics. He was a coxswain in the eights which won a bronze medal in the rowing competition of those games.
However in his professional life he was a highly successful civil engineer. Douglas Kertland received his architectural training in England. He returned to Canada to work with the architect John Lyle, but by 1926 he had established his own practice in Toronto. Kertland's architectural work included office buildings, hospitals, banks and residential buildings. One of his most famous projects was the Automotive Building at the Canadian National Exhibition, for which he won a design competition.
It is obvious that the Kertland family that resided in Dublin for the first half of the 19th Century were an enterprising team who made a significant contribution to that city on so many fronts; economically, socially, politically and culturally. They were at the forefront of Society and played a leading role in the cause of Catholic Emancipation even though they were themselves Protestants.
However, the more I read about William Kertland the more I admire him as a man of high principles and of true values. The diversity of his contribution to Society was breathtaking and the way he stood firm to his beliefs even to his own detriment was beyond admirable. I like William and I think in his life we see the sort of character and virtues that we should all seek to emulate.
If I can be of any more help please let me know.
