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Ireland (Historical Counties) => Ireland => Tipperary => Topic started by: AdrianB38 on Sunday 08 January 17 17:19 GMT (UK)
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On 4 June 1863, John Andrew Jackson, JP, was murdered in the grounds of his home at Mount Pleasant, Killowney Little, Ballymackey CP, Co. Tipperary.
I am reliant for information about this on reports in the Nenagh Guardian and other newspapers accessed online, especially when FindMyPast has a freebie on Irish records. While the Nenagh Guardian noted that Jackson's money, watch and chain were missing, this was dismissed by them as an attempt to mislead as to the real object of the murder, which the paper considered to be a part of the violent agrarian movements. (It was judged significant enough to be reported in English newspapers, which I do have access to on FindMyPast).
The aftermath led to distinct ill-feeling - the police seemed to arrest anyone in the vicinity who might have had any linkage. I have a report in the papers of the inquest and know that John Madden, the victim's steward, was arrested on suspicion of the murder and detained for some 6w before being released. (Jackson's in-laws seem to have had it in for Madden as he was later sued by them for non-payment of rent, using the evidence of a suspiciously shambolic state of accounts).
I have not been able to find any indication about a murder trial, never mind a conviction.
Does anyone know / can anyone find anything about a trial or conviction for the murder?
Thanks
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Hi,
I logged into the Nenagh Guardian site and it has an archive section.
They have some pages about John Andrew Jackson, I am not a subscriber, sorry.
The house "Hermitage" was not that far from Mount Pleasant, I saw Hermitage being renovated about 4 years ago. Mount Pleasant was the Major's home.
Maggsie
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I searched the irishnewsarchives.com and the only references to John Andrew Jackson were the initial account of his murder and inquest 8 Jun 1863 Nenagh Guardian and a list of those offering a reward July 11 1863 Nenagh Guardian - no account of criminal proceedings. Also searched the Irish Times archive and the only account was a copy of that report from the Nenagh Guardian of Jun 8th.- it may be that no one was apprehended so no court case?
annclare
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Thanks folks - given that you've searched more than I was able to, I suspect that the case never did come to trial.
Just to add to what was alluded to above, John Andrew Jackson's father was Captain (later Major) George Jackson and the family's main home was at Mount Pleasant. Some time about the end of the 1840s, the Major moved out of Mount Pleasant, leaving JAJ (his eldest surviving son) to take over there. The Major moved to Rapla, not far off, where his younger son, George Herbert Jackson, took over the house after the Major's death.
Trying to track who occupied which house, when and leased from who, is not easy. The Landed Estates Database gives a good snapshot at certain dates but bits get missed of the story - after JAJ's murder, Mount Pleasant went up for lease but I think it later went back to being a Jackson house, so whether it was a sub-lease, I don't know. And most of these families are related to one another several times over....
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...The Landed Estates Database gives a good snapshot at certain dates but bits get missed of the story ...
Can you say specifically what this database is and give a link? Is it a national database?
Thanks
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Possibly this one for Connacht & Munster?
http://www.landedestates.ie/
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Possibly this one for Connacht & Munster?
That's it thanks. My caveat would be that like many university web-sites, if it goes down at a week-end, then there seems no on-call to deal with any serious problems so it might be several days before it returns. This has happened to me on this site - but have patience, it's always returned so far.
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Hi.
Just wondering if you made any progress with finding out what happened with the murder trial. I'd love to get some further information on it. Also how did you come to have interest in this case?
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An aside.....
March 25, 1844
Melancholy death - A letter dated Nenagh Wednesday says, "Intelligence
arrived this morning that the lady of Mr. Tuthill of Rapla, and the sister
of Judge Jackson, was found outside the house quite dead. She had fallen
out of an upper window of her husband's residence, situated about two miles
from Nenagh."
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... the lady of Mr. Tuthill of Rapla, and the sister of Judge Jackson, was found outside the house quite dead ... situated about two miles from Nenagh."
Yes, I think I found that in a newspaper search. So far as I know, that's a different lot of Jacksons, even though Rapla is common to that and "my" lot. The Major and John Andrew Jackson were both JPs, not judges, for one thing. And there's a website, "The Silver Bowl", which identifies her as "Anna Strettell JACKSON (1793-1844) of Cork" (See http://www.thesilverbowl.com/history/Jackson-Strettell.html (http://www.thesilverbowl.com/history/Jackson-Strettell.html)). I don't guarantee the identification - just that I can't match her to the Major's lot from that description.
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... the lady of Mr. Tuthill of Rapla, and the sister of Judge Jackson, was found outside the house quite dead ... situated about two miles from Nenagh."
Yes, I think I found that in a newspaper search. So far as I know, that's a different lot of Jacksons, even though Rapla is common to that and "my" lot. The Major and John Andrew Jackson were both JPs, not judges, for one thing. And there's a website, "The Silver Bowl", which identifies her as "Anna Strettell JACKSON (1793-1844) of Cork" (See http://www.thesilverbowl.com/history/Jackson-Strettell.html (http://www.thesilverbowl.com/history/Jackson-Strettell.html)). I don't guarantee the identification - just that I can't match her to the Major's lot from that description.
Yes, Sharon has done a lot of research on the Surname!
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... Just wondering if you made any progress with finding out what happened with the murder trial. ...
I've found nothing further but then I haven't looked either, partly because John Andrew Jackson is so far from my line.
... Also how did you come to have interest in this case?
Well, the Jacksons aren't my relatives, instead they are related to an old school friend (who turns out to be my 4th cousin - that's what happens when your mothers' both have connections to the same small village in Cheshire). In fact, I started helping him with his military stuff on that line, which included Major Jackson, and then, as often happens, simply got interested and did some more research, partly as a training exercise for myself to understand Irish Genealogy. In fact, John Andrew Jackson isn't even particularly related to him, as he descends from a younger half-brother via Rapla.
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... Yes, Sharon has done a lot of research on the Surname!
A heroic endeavour given that it's not exactly a rare name!
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family search
http://www.familysearch.org
probate 4.6.1863
Alicia Wilson (nee Smithwick) left under £5000
he married Alicia Smithwick in 1852
also take you to grave at Ballymackey
His father was Major George Jackson
not much about the death, you might have to ask the police.
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this article in the trove mention other men who might be involved
http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/60547483
Peters, Cummins, Kennedy
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... Peters, Cummins, Kennedy
Yes, there seems to have been, as far as I remember from the newspaper accounts that I found, something close to a panic by the police and "Round up anyone who might possibly have been involved" seems to have been the instruction. As I said, even the steward who discovered the body was later arrested (?) and held for some time, while the domestics were all questioned. The newspaper noted that none of the ordinary people came to the funeral. Small wonder in view of the way that they were treated.
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http://landedestates.nuigalway.ie/LandedEstates/jsp/estate-show.jsp?id=3464
reports that Mount Pleasant was advertised for sale in June 1870.
I wonder if that was when it was bought by the Ronaldson family.
Thos. Dowling Ronaldson of Mount Pleasant married Elizabeth Jane Scott of Ballyvillane in Ballymackey Church on 18 Aug 1891. They were living in Killowney Little with their two daughters in 1901.
In 1906, the Cox family advertised another house named Mount Pleasant for sale, this one in the townland of Clarefield in County Clare.
By 1911, the Ronaldsons had moved from one Mount Pleasant to the other, possibly attracted by the name.
The Tipperary Mount Pleasant no longer stands (per landedestates.ie), but the Clare Mount Pleasant is still an imposing ruin, with magnificent views over Scattery Island and the Shannon Estuary.
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Thos. Dowling Ronaldson of Mount Pleasant married Elizabeth Jane Scott of Ballyvillane in Ballymackey Church on 18 Aug 1891. They were living in Killowney Little with their two daughters in 1901.
Here's a link to the marriage...... 19th August 1891
https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/marriage_returns/marriages_1891/10677/5891477.pdf
1901 census
Residents of a house 3 in Killowney Little (Ballygibbon, Tipperary).
http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Tipperary/Ballygibbon/Killowney_Little/1700933/
https://www.townlands.ie/tipperary/upper-ormond/ballymackey/ballygibbon/killowney-little/
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...............
By 1911, the Ronaldsons had moved from one Mount Pleasant to the other, possibly attracted by the name.
.....but the Clare Mount Pleasant is still an imposing ruin..........
1911 census
Residents of a house 2 in Clarefield (St. Martins, Clare).
http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Clare/St__Martins/Clarefield/365473/
Mount Pleasant at Clarefield.
http://landedestates.nuigalway.ie/LandedEstates/jsp/property-show.jsp?id=1741
Clarefield townland
https://www.townlands.ie/clare/moyarta/moyarta/st-martins/clarefield/
KG
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http://landedestates.nuigalway.ie/LandedEstates/jsp/estate-show.jsp?id=3464
reports that Mount Pleasant was advertised for sale in June 1870.
I wonder if that was when it was bought by the Ronaldson family.
Thos. Dowling Ronaldson of Mount Pleasant married Elizabeth Jane Scott of Ballyvillane in Ballymackey Church on 18 Aug 1891. They were living in Killowney Little with their two daughters in 1901.
In 1906, the Cox family advertised another house named Mount Pleasant for sale, this one in the townland of Clarefield in County Clare.
By 1911, the Ronaldsons had moved from one Mount Pleasant to the other, possibly attracted by the name.
The Tipperary Mount Pleasant no longer stands (per landedestates.ie), but the Clare Mount Pleasant is still an imposing ruin, with magnificent views over Scattery Island and the Shannon Estuary.
I am happy to tell you that Mountpleasant house still stands. I know this because it has been the homeplace of my family since the 1940s. A Family of solicitors in Nenagh, the Hodgins' owned the house until it was sold to my great grandfather, John Dunne of Middlewalk in the 1940s. My grandfather Rody Dunne then lived there with his wife and raised a family and now his son continues to live there. So yes it still stands and what's more it is still lived in.
During the time of its previous residents the original house was extended to double the size. My grandfather found the house too large and that the extended section had too many issues and so the extended section (which faced the front) was knocked and used to fill the basement. So what still stands today is the original original building.
Hope this helps someone to discover more.
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The Jacksons are buried in Ballymackey
https://tipperarystudies.ie/digitisation-project/gravestone-inscriptions/
P J