UC 929.2 F8871S 1127710 GENEALOGY COLLECTION \j ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01239 9322 HUMPHREY FRENCH. "TuK CJouu LuKU Mavuk." 1733-6. See 9-1 J. Lur.l Miiyur of J )ublin, 1732-3, M.P. for Dublin, pp. FroiitUpkrr—Froiii a Mczs.utiiil in pos>:c>i>'io/i <;/' tin lt( r. II. li. Siruirj/. THE FAMILIES French of Belturbet Nixon of Fermanagh -,^Cr ^N^ THEIR DESCENDANTS The Rev. HENRY BIDDALL SWANZY, M.A. iPRINTED FOR PRIVATE CIRCULATION.^ 1908. DUBLIN : PRIMTED BY ALEX. THOM & CO. LIMITED. PREFATORY NOTE. iiST'T'jf.O An attempt has been made in the following pages to put on record what can be discovered concerning the descendants of two Irish families which became allied in 1737 by the marriage of the Rev. Andrew Nixon with Mariaime French. The various families detailed on pp. 83-127, are descended from that marriage. The PubHc Record Office contains evidence of the existence of many other persons of the names of French and Nixon, who, from the localities in which they lived, were very probably of the same stock, but as no proof of their relationship has been forthcoming, as a rule they have not been mentioned in the book. It has been found necessary to condense the work as much as possible, and to leave out some biographical details which might have been inserted. I have tried in most instances to give chiefly those which come from unfamiliar sources. The evidence for the earlier generations in the 17th and 18th centuries is in almost every case clear and complete. In the very few instances where the exact connection of certain persons with the family has not been discovered, due mention has been made of the fact. For the details regarding the later generations I have to thank a host of correspondents. In some cases information could not be obtained. I have to acknowledge assistance derived from the genealogical works of Foster and Burke. It would be quite impossible to name all those who have helped me, but my thanks are specially due to Mrs. Blake, Mrs. Izod, Mrs. Oakes, Mrs. J. H. Pigot, Mrs. F. J. B. Priestley, Miss Saxby, Mrs. H. B. Stanford, Mr. G. D. Burtchaell, Dr. Crone, Major Crookshank, Dr. F. C. Crossle, Mr. P. Crossle, Major Gore Little, Mr. E. Higinbotham, Lieut. -Colonel G. H. Johnston, Mr. W. T. Kyle, Mr. 0. F. D. Nixon, Mr. W. Jackson Pigott, Mr. Henry F. Reynolds, Capt. Spedding, the Rev. W. B. Stanford, and Mr. Erskine West for information constantly and freely given. Some further assistance is acknowledged in the foot-notes. I am also indebted to Mrs. F. R. Carter, Mrs. Walton, Mr. T. Cosby Burrowes, and Mr. G. F. Mackarness for lending me printed histories of their families ; to Mr. Conway Dighton for kindly writing the account of his ancestor, Archdeacon Benning, in Appendix XL, to Major-General John Eccles Nixon, C.B., for numerous family notes, IV aud for liberal support ; to Sir Arthur Vicars, K.C.V.O., Ulster Bang of Arms, for permittiug me to inspect documents in his office ; to the officials in the Public Record Office, Trinity College Library, the National Library, and the Registry of Deeds for their unvarying courtesy ; to Miss Erskine, Miss Priestley, Miss Reynolds, Mrs. Swanzy (of Newry), Mr. J. H. F. Nixon and Sir Henry Swanzy for allowing me to reproduce pictures in their possession ; to Mr. J. R. Blake for the drawings in his well-known style of the arms of Nixon, Swanzy and Higinbotham as recorded in Ulster's Office ; to my friend Mr. T. Geo. H. Green for reading all the proofs, and for numerous suggestions and help in many ways ; and to Messrs. A. Thorn and Co. for the interest they have taken in the production of the book. I should be most grateful for any corrections or additions regarding those mentioned in this work, and for notes of any changes which may occur in the future. HENRY B. SWANZY. Ivy Lodge, Newry, Co. Down, December, 1907. CONTENTS. Page Prefatory Note, 111 Contents, V List of Illustrations . vii Sketch Pedigree of Nixon viii Sketch Pedigree of Swanzy ix Sketch Pedigree of French X PART I. French of Belturbet. Chapter I. Mathew French, Senior, . 1 II. Richard French and his descendants, " the Good Lord Mayor," . 7 III. Mathew French, Junior, and his descendants . 17 IV. Stanford of Carn. Daniel French, and his descendants 26 V. Families of Warburton, and Somerville, Lord Athlumney . .34 VI, Tisdall of Bawn, and Families of Voules, Marlay, and Manners, Duke of Rutland, . 38 PART II. The Family of Nixon. Chapter I. Early Nixons 43 II. Main Stem 46 III. Nixon of Mullaghduff 48 IV. The Eccles Nixon Branch 51 V. Nixon of Nixon Hall 66 VI. Nixon of Nixon Lodge, Swanzy of Avelreagh 83 VII. Enery of Bawnboy and Ballyconnell, and Nesbitt and Burrowes of Lismore, all in Co. Cavan 128 VIII. The Brinsley Nixon Branch 138 IX. Higinbotham of Nutfield 151 a-2 APPENDICES. Page Appendix I. Will of Thomas Nixon, 1738 . .167 II. Will of James Nixon, 1752 . 169 III. Will of the Kev. Adam Nixon, 1767 . 170 IV. Will of the Rev. Andrew Nixon, 1773 . 172 V. Ensign's Commission, Henry Swanzy, 1688-9 . 173 VI. Robert Meade and his descendants . 174 VII. Nixon of Cranleybeg .... 177 VIII. Notes on early Nixons in Cos. Fermanagh and Cavan . 182 IX. Swanzy of Cavan . 184 X. Erskine of Cavan . 187 XI. Conway Benning . 197 Index . 199 ILLUSTRATIONS. Humplirey Frencli, M.P., " The Good Lord Mayor " Frontispiece Harriett, wife of Thomas Reynolds, and dau. of Wm. Witherington ..... to face p. 21 Arms of Nixon ..... 43 Major-General Sir Eccles Nixon 51 Major John Nixon, 17th Regt. 51 Nixon Hall, Cleenish, Co. Fermanagh 68 The Rev. Andrew Nixon .... 83 Marianne, wife of the Rev. Andrew Nixon, and dau. of the Rev. Mathew French 83 Arms of Swanzy .... 99 . 103 Henry Swanzy . Anne, wife of Henry Swanzy, and dau. of the Rev. Andrew Nixon .... 104 Arms of Higinbotham 151 . 190 Archibald Erskine . 190 Colonel James Erskine, C.B. 1 Vlll 03 Cl • to 2 o 5 r< s '3 1— <I1 cS 2 H <> :3- o^d JS t-) CO d 03 O O CO & „ M C CO ;a& O W l-H O P=^ o O 2 HH 55 03 cs cj g ^ ^ CO ferj Ph Q Ph SO .00 W Q 35 !zi P- O O rii) is '^ a f^ 59 a Sr* a> O d ijj "« u p^ § O o P^ l-H PM W Q a^ J? P 'ST! O ^C IB «• 3 iS 3^ ^S H 3" Jl o S -2 lU =« 9r^ 6b pq s a s i^oi \DH pq O ^-iV — c- o P w 73 O > H ft « o f^ d O o o to c3 w o M ^cS a? — PART I. FRENCH OF BELTURBET. CHAPTER I. Mathew French, Senior. Early in the seventeenth century, Richard French, merchant, lived at Belturbet, Co. Cavan. His connection with the old family of the name in the West of Ireland is not clear, though the name Mathew which he gave to one of his sons, also appears in the families of French of Galway, and French of Cork.* Berry, in his Encydopoedia Heralika, states that the following arms were granted in Ireland to the family of French of Belturbet, " 26 July, 1682 : Per bend sinister, engrailed, or and sable, a lion rampant between two fleur-de-lis counter-charged. Crest a fleur-de-lis, or, : charged with a trefoil vert." No trace of this grant remains now in Ulster's Office, and Mathew French, in 1688, sealed his will with the arms of French of Galway. While living at Belturbet and acquiring position and property in Co. Cavan, the family carried on the hardware business in High Street, Dublin, for about a century, and it will be seen later (p. 17) that Mathew French, junior, suppUed the powder and ball used in the defence of Derry and Enniskillen during the Revolution. RICHARD FRENCH, of Belturbet, married twice. By his first wife he had a son : I. Robert French a legatee of his father in 1637, probably the Robert French who was living at Newtown, in the parish of Drumully, Co. Fermanagh during the rebellion of 1641. In his deposition, sworn 12 March, 1641/2, Randall Adams and WiUiam Hitchcocke, witnesses, (Cromwelhan Depositions, Co. Ferm., p. 46 6., T.C.D. Library) he stated Matthew French, gent., obtained, under the Act of Settlement, 4,242 acres m Co. Galway, and 970 acres in Co. Mayo, grant enrolled 16 April, 1667 ^^^^ since, at CUfthole in the Co. of " /D f, ^J""^ Galway, Mr. Matthew French (Public Gazetteer, 29 Oct., 1765). French, i^E^^^T born at Kinsale, Co. Cork, was Scholar T.C.D. 1695 B 4 1698 Fellow 1699, MA 1701, B.D. 1710. He was Reader or Curate of St. Werburgh s, Dublin, 1705-14, while holding his fellowship, and on 31 March presented 1711, 27 students of the CoUege to be confirmed by Archbishop King in St Patrick's Cathedral. He d. 12 March. 1714. Matthew French, and Jane, his wife, otherwise Badham. occur frequently *^e Chancery and Exchequer Bills 1l in connection with Co. Cork, at the end of the 17th century. Matthew French was appointed J.P. Co. Cork, 4 May, 1697. — — —— 2 that about 24 October, 1641 he was robbed of his goods. He and his wife were despoiled of all their possessons, and had to fly to Dublin.