Leabharlann Náisiúnta na hÉireann National Library of Ireland Collection List No. 53 Conyngham Papers (MSS 35,339-35,434) (Accession No. 1539) A collection of papers of the Conyngham family relating to their estates in counties Clare, Donegal and Meath from the mid-seventeenth century to the late 1920s. The collection also includes some papers of the associated families of Burton (county Clare) and McCausland (county Donegal). Compiled by Sarah Ward-Perkins, 2002 Conyngham Papers CONTENTS Introduction I ESTATE ADMINISTRATION I.i. General estate administration 1 1/i/1 Legal records 1 1/ii/2 Correspondence 12 1/iii/3 Rentals and accounts 16 1/iv/4 Miscellaneous items 19 I.ii. County Clare I/ii/1 Legal records 20 (a) Barony of Bunratty 20 (b) Barony of Ibricken 23 (c) Barony of Inchiquin 23 (d) Barony of Islands 25 (e) Barony of Moyarta 27 (f) Co Clare estates generally 30 I.ii.2. Estate correspondence and related items 38 I.ii.3. Rentals and Cash accounts Rentals (a) Co Clare estate in general 43 (b) Kilkee 45 (c) Co Clare bogs 47 (d) Interest received from Irish Land Commission sales 48 (e) Other rentals 49 Agent’s accounts (a) Co Clare estate in general 50 (b) Kilkee 52 (c) Other accounts 52 I.ii.4. Surveys and valuations 53 I.iii. Co Donegal I.iii.1. Legal records 55 (a) Barony of Banagh 55 (b) Barony of Boylagh 59 (c) Barony of Boylagh and Banagh 71 (d) Barony of Raphoe 72 (e) Co Donegal estates in general 90 I.iii.2. Estate correspondence and related items 100 I.iii.3. Rentals and Cash accounts 105 (a) Boylagh estate Rentals 106 Agent’s accounts 107 (b) Mountcharles estate 108 Rentals 108 Agent’s accounts 109 (c) Rosses estate Rentals 111 Agent’s accounts 112 (d) Stranorlar estate ii Conyngham Papers Rentals 113 Agent’s accounts 114 (e) Co Donegal estates in general Rentals 115 Agent’s accounts 115 I.iii.4. Surveys and maps 117 I.iv. Co Limerick I.iv.1. Legal records 118 I.iv.2. Rentals 120 I.iv.3. Maps 120 I.v. Co Londonderry I.v.I Legal records 121 I.vi. Co Meath I.vi.1. Legal records 122 (a) Slane 123 (b) Carrickdexter and Cruicetown 128 (c) Cullen 131 (d) Fennor 135 (e) Newrath and Davidstown 138 (f) Other places in the county 139 I.vi.2. Estate correspondence and related items 141 I.vi.3 Rentals and accounts (a) Rentals and accounts 143 (b) Rentals 144 (c) Accounts 145 (d) Workmen’s accounts 146 I.vi.4. Surveys and valuations 147 I.vii. England 147 I.vii.1. Legal records 147 I.vii.2. Correspondence and related items 153 I.vii.3. Particulars of estates 154 I.vii.4. Rentals and Accounts 154 I.viii. Wales I.viii.1. Legal records 155 II FAMILY II.i. Marriage and other settlements 157 (a) Conyngham family 157 (b) The Burtons and other families 158 II.ii. Testamentary records (a) Conyngham family 160 (b) Other families 161 II.iii. Correspondence and related items 163 II.iv. Accounts and income tax 164 II.v. Papers re Francis, 2nd Marquis deceased 166 II.vi. Papers re Henry, 4th Marquis deceased 166 I.v. Papers re Victor, 5th Marquis deceased 166 iii Conyngham Papers III RECORDS WITH NO OBVIOUS CONNECTION TO THE CONYNGHAM FAMILY III.i. Records relating to Frederick Thomas 168 III.ii. Records relating to the Cadbury Trust 169 III.iii. Other records 169 Index to persons and places 171 iv Conyngham Papers INTRODUCTION The family and estates The earliest records relating to the Conyngham estates date from Brigadier Henry Conyngham who flourished in the late seventeenth century. He was the eldest son of Sir Albert Conyngham, and in 1696 married Mary Lady Shelbourne. From this marriage the family acquired a considerable amount of land, including property in Kent. Brigadier Henry Conyngham died in 1705/6 and was succeeded by his eldest son William (recorded as Williams on the records). He died in 1738 and was succeeded by his brother Henry who married Ellen Merrit. He was raised to the peerage of Ireland by the title Baron Conyngham of Mountcharles in October 1753. Later he was created Viscount Conyngham in June 1756 and Earl and Baron Conyngham of Mountcharles in 1781. A sister of Henry married Francis Burton of Buncraggy, Co Clare. When Henry died without issue the estate was divided between two nephews – Francis Pierpoint Burton (who inherited the title and estates in Clare and England) and William Burton (who inherited the estates in Counties Donegal and Meath).1 They both took the name Conyngham (by royal licence). When William died in 1796 the estates were reunited under the title. Francis Pierpoint married Elizabeth Clements, sister of Robert 1st Earl of Leitrim, and died in 1787. He was succeeded by his eldest son Henry (who became 1st Marquis Conyngham).2 He was created Viscount Conyngham of Mountcharles in 1789, Viscount Mountcharles and Earl Conyngham in 1797. He was a representative peer. In 1816 he was created Viscount Slane, Earl Mountcharles and Marquis Conyngham in 1816; finally, he was created Baron Minster of Minster Abbey, Kent. He married Elizabeth Denison in 1794; and died in 1832. The 2nd Marquis Conyngham, son of Henry, was Francis Nathaniel born in 1797, married in 1824 and died in 1876. His son, George Henry (1825-1882) was 3rd Marquis Conyngham; His son, Henry Francis (1857-97) was 4th Marquis Conyngham; His son, Victor George Henry Francis (1883-1918, died unmarried) was 5th Marquis Conyngham; His brother, Frederick William Burton (1890-1974) was 6th Marquis Conyngham; His son, Frederick William Henry Francis (1924-) is 7th Marquis Conyngham; his eldest son, Henry Vivian Pierpoint is Earl of Mountcharles. Lord Mountcharles’ eldest son, Alexander Burton Conyngham is Viscount Slane. 1 For details of the career and work of William Conyngham see J. Kelly ‘William Burton Conyngham and the North West Fishery in the eighteenth century’ and C.E.F. Trench ‘William Burton Conyngham’ in Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries, 115 (1985). Also C.E.F. Trench ‘William Burton Conyngham: profound scholar and antiquary’ in Riocht na Midhe, 8 (1987). 2 For details of the career of the 1st Marquis Conyngham see Dictionary of National Biography. v Conyngham Papers In 1876 the Conynghams owned lands in co Donegal (122,300 acres), Co Clare (27,613 acres), Co Meath (7,060 acres) and Kent (9,737 acres). The address of the family at this date was Bifrons, Canterbury. The collection which amounts to seventy-three boxes of material was deposited in the National Library by Lord Mountcharles on loan in 1954 (Accession No. 1539). The records mainly date from the early eighteenth century to the 1920s. The collection is by no means complete; for example most of the correspondence dates from about 1818-25; there are rentals for the same period and then a gap to the late nineteenth century. While several of the Conynghams served as Members of Parliament and were in the army there are no related papers and there are very few family or personal papers. There are, however, a number of marriage settlements and some testamentary material Most of the collection relates to estate administration (legal records, estate correspondence, rentals and accounts etc). In Co Donegal there were four distinct estates (Boylagh, Mountcharles, the Rosses and Stranorlar), the Co Meath estate was centred around Slane and that in Co Clare around Kilkee. There are also a number of items relating to the Kent estate. The legal records (which include settlements, mortgages, leases, Irish Land Commission papers, and conveyances etc) are mainly in copy or draft form and in the case of the latter are sometimes amended (occasionally heavily). Most of the legal records were prepared by the family solicitors in London (John Benbow and later members of the firm). Some of the records are in the names of trustees of the various estates (who were sometimes related to the family). The correspondence is principally letters from the estate agents and the 1st Marquis to John Benbow, and deals almost exclusively with the day-to-day running of the estates. The collection includes early legal records relating to the Burton family in Co Clare and Co Limerick (dating to the mid-seventeenth century) and the McCausland family (who owned the manor of Stranorlar (dating to 1654); Hannah Conyngham married Rev Oliver McCausland in 1785. There are also a number of records relating to the manor of Limavady/Newtownlimavady (dating to the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries) and lands in Wales. There are a number of collections of Conyngham papers in other institutions, mainly records relating to their English property from 1592 in the East Kent Record Office.3 The collection has been arranged in three subgroups (I) Estate administration, (II) Family, and (III) Records with no obvious connection to the Conyngham family. The subgroup ‘Estate administration’ has been broken down into records relating to the estates in general and into the counties in which the family had land (and further broken down into the places within each county). In the case of each of these the records have 3 See National Register of Archives vi Conyngham Papers been divided into legal records, estate correspondence, rentals and accounts, and other records. In the subgroup ‘Family’ the records have been divided into a number of sections including marriage and other settlements, testamentary records, correspondence and accounts etc. Bibliography For details on the family in general consult Burke’s Peerage and Baronetcy (105th edition) See also footnotes Other records in the NLI relating to the Conyngham family.