Lady Ellisha Mathew

[ChrisPage]

I'm not confused I know Lady Ellisha is from the Llandaff peerage.

When I decided to trace my fathers family I thought the story was a bit far fetched too and it wasn't until I saw the name of one of the sons mentioned in the will of Lady Ellisha that I thought maybe it might be worth researching the family.
 
It seems strange that there are now three of us researching the same family for a connection and I know the spelling of my surname is different yet again.











 


   







 

 
   

[nerys-wales]

Dafydd ap Mathew (David Mathew) son of Mathew ab Leaun of LLandaff Court, Glamorgan. His descendant (George Mathew) married Elisabeth Poyntz, from an old Gloucestershire family.

Elisabeth Poyntz was originally married to the Duke of Ormond (Viscount of Thurles, Tipperary). When the Duke died, Elisabeth married George Mathew of Llandaff and he moved to her estates in Tipperary.

Back then lands were not bought but given by the Crown, and George Mathew was given Thomastown, Tipperary, upon which he built Thomastown Castle.

George and Elisabeth moved into Thomastown Castle where they raised a family.

Their descendant, Francis Mathew (1st earl of Llandaff) married Ellisha Smyth of Tinney Park, Wicklow and they had five children,  Francis (2nd Earl of Llandaff) George, Montaqu and Ellisha 2.

Ellisha 1 (Lady Ellisha) died giving birth to Ellisha 2, leaving Francis (1st Earl) widowed with five children.

Francis then married Catherine Skiffington, daughter of the Earl of Massereen but she died without issue in (children) 1796. His third wife (name unknown) was a sister to the Countess of Barrymore.

His son Francis (2nd Earl of Llandaff) married Gertrude Cecilia, daughter of John la Touch of Kildare and they had no children. His brothers, George and Montaqu, never married. The three brothers, Francis, George and Montaqu were known about London as the three Mr Wiggins after a farce of that name then playing at the Haymarket. The three brothers also invented the beaver hat. All three died without issue leaving the Thomastown estate to their sister Ellisha, and the Mathew line and title became extinct.

Ellisha Mathew married James Wade from an equestrian family and they set up a stud farm at Thomastown which still exists today. Their descendants include Tommy Wade, international showjumper in the 1960s winning several cups including the 1963 King George Cup. Another descendant is Ellisha Spencer (mentioned by Rymer) from the Wade family but married into the Spencer family.

The first Spencers (brothers, John and Geoffrey) arrived in Ireland as soldiers in the Cromwellian army. Oliver Cromwell divided the Barony of Killure between John and Geoffrey and their descendants still own the lands today.

[cmathews]

Thank you very much for all of this detail, it is extremely interesting and ties up with what I currently know, but with a few extra goodies.

Having said this, I am especially interested in your comment about Elisha (2nd)

Ellisha Mathew married James Wade from an equestrian family and they set up a stud farm at Thomastown which still exists today.

Can I ask where this can be confirmed ?  I have looked for ages but never found anything like this link to Ellisha being married.  If true (and I have no reason to believe otherwise) it means the current information I have about the parents of Rev. Robert Mathews looks completely wrong - as you intimated earlier.

[wyseass]

I think nerys-wales must be talking about a different Ellisha Mathew.  There is no doubt in my mind that Lady Ellisha died unmarried.  All anouncements and any letters about her in any of the newspapers of the time say that she died unmarried and without an heir, leaving the estate to her first cousin Count Chabot.
Lady Ellisha was known as "Lady Elizabeth Mathew" and considering how the families of that era tended to re-use first names so much, there probably was another Ellisha in the family.

[nerys-wales]

There were several branches of the Mathew family (Radyr, Thurles, Thomastown and Annesfield) stemming from Llandaff, Glamorgan, so I could be talking about a different Lady Ellisha. The Thomastown male line became extinct in the 1830s but the Annesfield male line continued on, where to, I do not know and cannot trace. But the Annesfield house and grounds are up for sale at an estate agents in Mayfare, London (12, Lees Place). I am not a descendant of the Mathew family myself, just love researching old Welsh families and this one is particularly interesting because they are descent from an ancient Welsh prince who died in 1006.

[cmathews]

I found this reference to the marriage of the eldest daughter of  Rev. Robert Matthews Ballymena in 1857 at http://www.irishinnyc.freeservers.com/photo.html

August 11 at Ballymena, William HENRY, Esq., sub-inspector of constabulary, Ballyshannon, to Kate, eldest daughter of the late Rev. Robert MATTHEWS, of Ballymena.
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I have information handed down through various family members trying to trace ths lot, that the Rev. Robert had 2 sons and a daughter, but we never knew the name of the daughter.  I am interested to see that the reference is to the eldest daughter.  Does this just mean she was the eldest child, or that she was the eldest of more than one daughter ?  If it is the latter then this does not tie in with the details I have.

anyway, thought it might be of interest.

[aghadowey]

'Eldest daughter' means that she was either the eldest daughter with younger sisters or that she was the eldest surviving (in 1857) daughter.

[GilesUK]

  Lots of interest in this family but its Mathew not Mathews so if your name is Mathews then you are not a descendant from the Earls of Llandaff, family seat: Thomastown Castle, Tipperary.

Elisabeth Poyntz of Iron Acton, Glos. married the Duke of Ormond, Thurles, Tipperary in the early 1600s but he died aged 25 leaving Elisabeth a young widow with no children.

Elisabeth then married George Mathew from Llandaff, Wales and he moved to his wife's estates at Thurles. George was later given the whole area of Thomastown, Tipperary where he build Thomastown Castle. The Mathew descendants continued to live at Thomastown until they became extinct in the 1800s on the death of Francis (Earl of Llandaff) and his brothers George and Montaqu. Francis was married but they had no children. George and Montaqu never married so end of the Mathew line, save for Lady Elisha who inherited Thomastown and married James Wade. The Wades were very much horsey people so Thomastown became a stud and it is still owned by the Wade family today.

[GilesUK]

May I suggest looking up the Poyntz family of Iron Acton, Glos (www.actoncourt.com) open to the public between 16 June and 23 August. Lady Elisha Mathew was a desendant of Elisabeth Poyntz.