TH E ORIGINAND EARLY H I STORY T H E FA M IL Y O F PO E O R PO E T WO HUN DRED COP I ES O F THIS WORK H A V E B E EN R I E D O F I IS IS P NT , WH CH TH T H E O RIGINA ND EA RL Y H IST O RY TH E FAM ILY OF POE OR POE WITH FUL L PEDI GREES OF TH E I RI SH BRANCH OF TH E FAM I LY A ND A D I S C U I O N O F T H E T R UE A NCE S T R Y O F E D GA R A L L A N P E S S O , T H E A M E R I CA N P O E T S IR EDM UND T H O M A S BEWL EY M . A . , L L . D . , " “ ” f u b lan T h Fam il f M u o k n th er W rk s A u thor of T h e B ewleys o C m er d, e y o l c , a d o o . D UB L I N PRINTE D FO R T H E A UTHOR BY P B G BBS A T T H E U V E S E SS O NSO N Y I , NI R ITY PR EUT -CO ONE W AM H UTCH L I . L L I LL I ESONPOE C B D. L . , . , , ( this little mock I S D E D I C A T E D A S A M A R K O F E S T E E M A ND R E G A R D B Y m s S I N C E R E F R I E N D T H E A UT H O R P R E F A C E GE N EA LOGICA L problems have a great attraction for the genealogist . In the case of the family o f Poe or P o e f two problems of interest and di ficulty presented themselves , V IZ I ( ) the parentage and ancestry of William , Thomas , and A nthony Poe, who settled in Ireland early in the seventeenth 2 E A Poe century ; and ( ) the true ancestry of dgar llan , the A merican poet ; and it is submitted that correct solutions of o f both them will be found in the following pages . - I In starting on this two fold quest, was certainly free from any preconceived ideas, and , indeed , from any preliminary A s knowledge . to the parentage and early ancestry of the P o e settlers , no tradition had been handed down in the family A as to the locality from which William , Thomas , or nthony P o e had come ; and if they brought any documents with them from their former home, these must have been lost or destroyed o f 1 6 1 so far back as the Rebellion 4 . The legend o f the o f l German origin the fami y , it will be seen , is a comparatively modern invention , and has no real foundation . ’ Finding a statement in Burke s Landed Gentry of Ireland , that the Poe family was at one time settled in Yorkshire, I began my searches in that quarter , but they were without A o f success . mongst the vast number wills proved in the one o f Consistorial Court of York , there is not any testator bearing the name of Poe : the name is not met with in any o f the Visitations o r County Histories of Y orkshire ; and a query viii PREFA C E ' Y orkskz re Not of mine as to the Poe family , published in es an d u ri es . ! e , did not elicit any reply The only connexion with the county that I was then able to discover was the residence o f for a time of James Poe, son Dr . Leonard Poe, at S windon - Hall , in the Parish of Kirkby Overblow . E A s William Poe was described as of S t . dmund Bury E . S ff ir Bury S t . dmunds), Co u olk , in the will of S Henry “ 2 th 1 6 6 Mervyn , dated 9 May, 4 (published in Miscellanea ” e t H e raldic a 2 n d Genealogica , vol . i , series , page I next S f turned my attention to uf olk , but could not find any further : trace of the family in that county It afterwards appeared , f indeed , that it was only in his capacity of an o ficer in the A Parliamentary rmy that William Poe was quartered there . O n going through the numerous Reports o f the Historical w Manuscripts Commission , ho ever , I came upon a document which ultimately turned out to be of great importance, viz . , a f S list of the O ficers of herwood Forest, in Nottinghamshire, of M 1 1 S S . o f about the year 59 , now amongst the of the Duke . S ir Rutland , at Belvoir Castle In this John Byron (father o f the first Lord Byron) appeared as the Warden o r Keeper of - . S the Forest , and Richard Poe as Under keeper earches in the Public Record Office , London , and elsewhere soon showed that there were numerous members of the family of Poe living in Nottinghamshire in the seventeenth century ; and when it S appeared from the published tate Papers that William Poe, of Manor Poe, Co . Fermanagh , was able to give the Common wealth authorities important information respecting the private o f S ir affairs John Byron , Lord Byron , of Newstead , Notts o f - S ir (son the above mentioned John), it became pretty clear to me that he must have been one of the Nottinghamshire Poes . It was not , however, until more than a year afterwards , when having a search made amongst the Prerogative Court i n P an Wills , now the robate Registry at York , for the will (if y) PRE FA CE ix . Poe of James Poe, son of Dr Leonard , that the will turned up o f A o f o f nthony Poe, Papplewick , Notts , the father William , A P o e Thomas , and nthony , and thus definitely settled the o f question their parentage. The early ancestry of Edgar A llan Poe appeared for a long time to be an insoluble puzzle. I , not unnaturally , expected that some connexion would be found between the Poes of Dring , County Cavan , from whom the poet was descended , and I It the other rish Poes . will be seen , however , from the details given in the chapter dealing specially with this subject , that the true ancestry turned out to be different from what I had was anticipated , and that the solution arrived at in a very exceptional manner . O n Poe reading the chapter relating to William , many persons may feel surprised that so much private family history could be gathered from the Public Records and a few o f them may appreciate the great interest and pleasure experienced in hunting for information o n a given subject in the Public c o n Records , and putting the items together afterwards in a n ec t ed narrative form . When I started on my work , absolutely Po e a nothing was known about William , s ve the bare fact that f “ ’ he had been a Cromwellian O ficer . In Burke s Landed Gentry there were, no doubt, statements that he had served at the S iege of Limerick , and had been rewarded for his military services by a grant of lands in Ireland , which had been after wards confirmed by William I II ; but these statements were o f . erroneous , and had not a particle foundation The events o f his life recorded in this little volume have been ascertained I R from Chancery nquisitions , Ireland ; Patent olls and Fiants , o f Ireland ; Communia Rolls , Ireland ; Bills in the Court Chancery in E ngland ; Bills in the Court of Chancery in I re o n E S o f E land , and the quity ide the Court of xchequer, E Ireland ; Wills in the Probate Registry in ngland , and in the PRE FA C E Public Record Office, Dublin ; Feet of Fines , Ireland ; the S published Calendars of tate Papers , Ireland ; the published S E Calendars of tate Papers (Domestic) , ngland ; the Reports o f M the Historical Manuscripts Commission as to the Coke S S . , M M S S . S S . o f the House of Lords , and the of the Duke Man A . E s chester and of G . Lowndes , q. ; the published Calendars o f the Proceedings o f the Committee for A dvance of Money ; ’ S t . I and the Parish Register of Giles , Cripplegate, London . t need hardly be stated that for every printed volume or manu in script record which information was found , scores were consulted with no useful result ; and that for other portions o f this work my researches had to take a much wider range . I n pursuing my inquiries I found a kindly disposition to help - C . B . in all quarters . To Lieut . Colonel William Hutcheson Poe, , ’ of Heywood , ! ueen s County, my special thanks are due . But for his encouragement and aid this little book might never have been published . S everal members of the family have helped to correct or supplement the recent portions of the pedigrees .