The Story Of COMBER by Norman Nevin Written in about 1984 This edition printed 2008 0 P 1/3 INDEX P 3 FOREWORD P 4 THE STORY OF COMBER - WHENCE CAME THE NAME Rivers, Mills, Dams. P 5 IN THE BEGINNING Formation of the land, The Ice Age and after. P 6 THE FIRST PEOPLE Evidence of Nomadic people, Flint Axe Heads, etc. / Mid Stone Age. P 7 THE NEOLITHIC AGE (New Stone Age) The first farmers, Megalithic Tombs, (see P79 photo of Bronze Age Axes) P 8 THE BRONZE AGE Pottery and Bronze finds. (See P79 photo of Bronze axes) P 9 THE IRON AGE AND THE CELTS Scrabo Hill-Fort P 10 THE COMING OF CHRISTIANITY TO COMBER Monastery built on “Plain of Elom” - connection with R.C. Church. P 11 THE IRISH MONASTERY The story of St. Columbanus and the workings of a monastery. P 12 THE AUGUSTINIAN MONASTERY - THE CISTERCIAN ABBEY, THE NORMAN ENGLISH, JOHN de COURCY 1177 AD COMBER ABBEY BUILT P13/14 THE CISTERCIAN ABBEY IN COMBER The site / The use of river water/ The layout / The decay and plundering/ Burnt by O’Neill. P 15/17 THE COMING OF THE SCOTS Hamiltons and Montgomerys and Con O’Neill-The Hamiltons, 1606-1679 P18 / 19 THE EARL OF CLANBRASSIL THE END OF THE HAMILTONS P20/21 SIR HUGH MONTGOMERY THE MONTGOMERIES - The building of church in Comber Square, The building of “New Comber”. The layout of Comber starts, Cornmill. Mount Alexander Castle built, P22 THE TROUBLES OF THE SIXTEEN...FORTIES Presbyterian Minister appointed to Comber 1645 - Cromwell in Ireland. 1 P23/24 CROMWELL IN IRELAND (continued) – Montgomery defeated. HUGH - SECOND EARL OF MOUNT ALEXANDER - Dispute with Mr. Gordon, Presbyterian Minister - Sale of Estates - end of Montgomeries - Estates to de La Cherois and Crommelin P25/26 COMBER - THE VILLAGE The growth – Population 1764 to 1975 P27 FAIRS AND MARKETS The coming of the Railway - The Water and Sewage System. P28 INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE IN COMBER IN 1865 Hiring Fairs, Market Prices P 29/33 THE ANDREWS FAMILY (See also P32, 33, 34, 35 etc.) P 34 POST OFFICE established in Comber Description of Comber in 1744 by Harris - “Mound” Distillery- Development of Churches, Education, Trade and Farming. P 34/36 THE 1798 REBELLION (See P 79 - A photo of a 1798 rebellion PICK HEAD) P 36/37 INDUSTRY IN COMBER - Further information on the Andrews P 38 6/7 JAN 1839 ‘“THE NIGHT OF THE BIG WIND ” Windmill blown down damaging New Unitarian Church, both Distilleries and Flour Mill damaged. More details on the ANDREWS FAMILY. P 39 1850 RAILWAY TO COMBER AND NEWTOWNARDS THE BIG HOUSE IN THE SQUARE (ANDREWS) THE POTATO FAMINE 1845-6 P 40 Building of Grain Store 1860, Building of Flax Spinning Mill 1863 - further history of the ANDREWS FAMILY P 40/46 SIR ROBERT ROLLO GILLESPIE K.C.B. 1766-1814 THE GILLESPIE MONUMENT in The Square and the story of “BLACK BOB” P 47 EDMUND DE WIND - V.C. P 48 GEORGE JAMES BRUCE - D. S. 0. M. C. Record of Comber War involvement. – War Memorial. P 49 COMBER ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH ANN McQUILLAN - Spinner Extraordinary P 50 COMBER GAS COMPANY THE TANNERY AND STEAM TRACTION ENGINES P 51/52 THE DISTILLERIES P 52/53 JOHN MILLER J.P. 1796-1883 P 53/54 OPENING OF NEW CHURCH POSTPONED P 54/57 SCHOOLS IN COMBER A LETTER THAT LED TO THE SIEGE OF DERRY SCHOOLS ESTABLISHED IN NORTH DOWN BY THE SCOTS 2 P 57/60 THE CHARTER SCHOOLS Comber Parochial School 1813 SANITATION IN COMBER – A report by Lord Londonderry History of Parochial School, continued, P 57/60 COMBER NATIONAL SCHOOL P 60/62 SMYTH’S NATIONAL SCHOOL - Second Presbyterian Church, Comber. P 62/66 COMBER SPINNING MILL SCHOOL EVENING SCHOOL AT SPINNING_MILL P 67 TEACHERS IN THE SPINNING MILL SCHOOL – List of names and dates from 1894 - 1938 P68 OTHER SCHOOLS IN COMBER 1928 Londonderry-The Square/ St. Mary’s-Killinchy St. / Comber Primary 1st. Comber/ Spinning Mill/ Smyth’s 2nd. Comber, P 69 1625 Map of New Comber by Thos. Raven. P 70/76 THE STORY OF NENDRUM MONASTERY. P 77 PHOTOS . Axes and pick from rebellion 1798 FOREWORD: Norman Nevin MBE was not a native of Comber but much of Comber’s past was researched by him. He came originally from Newtownards, but settled and taught in Comber, developing a great love for the town. Over the years Norman Nevin became a well-known and popular figure here. In addition to his role as headmaster of Comber Primary school, he was Lieutenant Colonel of the Army Cadet Force and an Elder in First Comber Presbyterian Church. He never married, and it is said that he regarded the school as his family, maintaining an interest in his former pupils. He has been described as “a great man with high moral values and integrity. Norman was born on 3rd. May 1909 and died on 19th. February, 1996. - Just short of his eighty- seventh birthday. He left behind a wealth of information about Comber, which he meticulously studied over the years. He could often be seen about the town with a camera, recording people and events. He also wrote this story up to about 1984 and, probably, had it typed up by his school secretary but always refused to have it published. Unfortunately, the printed document was on A3 size paper which was too large for comfortable reading. The document was housed in Comber Library and was at one stage photo-copied and reduced in size to A4. This did not however make it any easier to read as the type was also reduced to a very small size. The writer decided, in 2007, to transpose the document into larger type on computer, keeping as far as possible to the original, and print it out. This is the result. Computer files of this document are available from the Library in Comber or from the writer. Erskine Willis January 2008 Note: The book “A Taste of old Comber” BY Len Ball and Des Rainey acknowledges the use of a lot of Nevin’s work and is an excellent book on Comber history. 3 THE STORY OF COMBER WHENCE CAME THE NAME? Comber is a village of some eight thousand inhabitants, situated on the North West shore of Strangford. Lough (formerly Loch Cuan ), on each side of the Comber River which is formed by the junction of two rivers — the Enler and the Glen. This junction is at a point behind the former Lower Distillery. It was in this sector between the two rivers that the Cistercians built their monastery in 1199 — 1220. The Cistercians always built beside a river, of which they made full use, even for sanitary arrangements. It is from this joining point that the name COMBER originated. As “Comar” is an Irish word which means the confluence or joining point of two rivers. About nine hundred years ago, people began to insert the letter B into Irish words and so COMAR became COMBER, but Comar was the usual pronunciation of the name, as very few could read. This was all, the more pronounced when Sir Hugh Montgomery and his Lowland Scots came to settle here in 1606. At the present time this dialect is more likely to be heard in Newtownards and the Ards Peninsula e.g. “Are ye goan tae the Comar Races?” “Naw am no goan this year.” The name has varied over the ages. In the Irish Tripartite, 890 A.D. it was DOMHNAC COMBUIR, in 1031 it was KILL COMBUIR, in 1121 it was COMAR and many years later it was CUMBER and later still COMBER. One of these rivers is the Enler, which comes from beyond Dundonald on the Holywood side and flows down the great valley, which lies between the Castlereagh Hills on one side and. the Holywood. Hills on the other The Enler is joined at the Clydesford Bridge at Ballystockart by a tributary, called at its source, the Gransha River, where it provided the power for the Gransha Mills and, later on its course it became the Ballystockart River and provided the power for the Knocknasham Mills at Ballystockart. Opposite Nurseryville, the Enler supplied the water for a mill race to run parallel with the railway, then to cross the Castle Lane at the present Albion Factory and supply power for the four water-wheels in the Andrews’ Flour Mill and Bleach Green. This was where the world—famous firm Isaac Andrews and Sons, Flour Millers of Belfast, originated. The other river came from Moss Brook, near Moneyreagh, (old name Moneygreer or Royal Bog) from which great quantities of peat were sent to Belfast and other places. The river was joined by another stream from Ballyalloly Lough, and passes down the side of the Ballygowan Road, providing the power for various old mills, both flax and corn. Just before it reaches the Thomas Andrews Junior Memorial Hall, part of it has been diverted by forming a mill race, which passes through the present Spinning Mill, but was originally to supply the present dams at Laurelbank, now a park and nature reserve for wildfowl. Originally these dams supplied the water for a mill race to the old Upper Corn Mill, which was on the site of the present Laureldale Hall. It was here that the Andrews family first started in business, when Thomas Andrews (1698 - l744) got a lease in 1722. This was in their possession until about 1900, when the site was cleared. From the mill it flowed under the Pound Bridge at the Technical School (Thompson’s Hall) and round the backs of the houses in Mill Street to join the Belfast Road mill race behind the Castle Buildings in Castle Lane and so on to the Flour Mill and Bleach Green, where there was the Square Dam.