Although not as grand as the current house, this was the only 2-storey house in the whole parish of Desertoghill when the Ordnance Survey wrote their memoir in 1837. John Church (1755-1818) inherited the property when his father George ( a great grandson of the original George Church) died in 1777. He was a barrister and created the family trust which owned the property until it was split up under the land acts around 1900. His brother Stephen married John's sister in law, Alicia Orr, and the murder victim was their grandson. When Stephen Jr was agent, the family trust was vested in James Church, the first cousin of Stephen's father. John had built a new main house on other property owned by the family at Myroe outside Limavady. This house was built in 1786, after which Grove House was occupied by other family members rather than the "owner". When Stephen lived there he was actually the "owner" of a neighbouring farm called Tullycreggan where his grandfather had lived. Alicia Hartley Bloxham was the name of James's wife.
Stephen's wife was apparently Elizabeth Morrow but I have no documentary proof of this.
AK2
