Jackson Wray [1824-1855]

In 1823 Hugh Boyd Wray married Anne, the eldest child and only daughter of Francis Biddulph and Mary Steele. Their only son, Jackson Wray, was born on the 22^nd of March, 1824, in Borris-in-Ossory, Queen’s County. He was named after his grandfather, Jackson Wray. The name Jackson came from the Jackson family of Coleraine, one of whom, Jane Jackson, had earlier married into the Wray family.

Jackson ‘Joe’ joined the Army, and fought in the Crimean War.  A portrait of Jackson in full uniform is in private possession. Jackson kept a journal in the first 15 weeks of 1955, while he was serving in the Crimea with the Connaught Rangers. It contains details of the conditions in the lines during the siege of Sebastopol. The journal was published in The War Correspondent, the official Journal of the Crimean War Research Society.[1]

On February 19^th, 1855 Jackson wrote to his father Hugh from the Camp before Sebastopol:

We are all quiet still, yesterday I went to see our new [works] at Inkerman, those made by the French are magnificent, the work is so far superior to ours, they work and guard them for us, but we supply the Guns and Gunners, as soon as the Fire opens. On nearing the most advanced Battery we passed some six or seven of the dead Russians who fell at Inkerman, the bodies are quite black, but clothed and accoutred just as they fell, except their Boots, those articles are always stripped the moment the fight is over. Some of the large Mortars 13 inch shells are in the advanced Battery and will astonish the Russian Ships, that lay in the harbour.

Well my dearest Father, I have to thank you for another nice Parcel which came to Balaclava on Saturday with our Draft.  The clothing could not be better and the Telescope is an excellent one, I shall now be able to watch “Monsieur La Russe” more closely, the Tooth Brushes and Powder are also safe. Please God the Telescope will be brought Home yet [as] a match to the poor old Waterloo one[2], [I] shall have  an Inscription on it when please God I do get Home, “Received this Present from my fond Father on the 17^th Feby, when Encamped on the Heights before Sebastopol.”[3]

Capt. Jackson Wray of the 88th Foot (Connaught Rangers) was killed in action, in the assault on the Quarries. 7^th June 1855.

There is a Memorial in the Second Brigade, Light Division, cemetery overlooking Sebastopol

 "Sacred to the memory of Major Bayley, Captain Corbett, Captain Wray, and Lieut Webb of the 88th Connaught Rangers who fell while assaulting the Quarries on the night of the 7th June 1855."

In spite of recent searches by a member of the Biddulph family his burial place at Sebastopol has never been found.

Anne Wray died in November 1872 and is buried in Deansgrange Cemetery, County Dublin. Her husband Hugh died the following year.

The death of their son, Jackson Wray, is commemorated on the same gravestone in Deansgrange Cemetery, but he is not buried there.

There is a second Memorial to Jackson Wray in St Stephen’s Church of Ireland, Mount Street Crescent, Dublin.[4]

CRIMEA

ALMA INKERMAN

Sacred to the memory of the late CAPTAIN JACKSON WRAY

Of the 88^th Regt The Connaught Rangers

Who fell before Sevastopol,

On the night of the 7^{th of} June 1855,

After storming and while holding,

The Russian advanced works,

Well known as the Quarries.

This tablet is erected by his mourning

And deeply affected parents

HUGH BOYD WRAY and ANNE WRAY

As a record of their heartfelt sorrow

For a dearly loved and only child

And a memorial of all he was to them

As a fond and dutiful son:

And of the worth, youth, courage and unaffected piety

By which he was distinguished as a friend,

A gentleman, a soldier and a Christian.

We mourn for one whose honoured name will stand

Foremost amid the valiant of our land

Yet better far we know to him ‘twas given,

To be the soldier of his Lord in heaven.

“They shall be mine” saith the Lord of Hosts,

“In that day when I make up my jewels.”

Malachi III-17.

---

[1] The Crimean War Research Society, http://cwrs.russianwar.co.uk/

[2] Hugh Wray, Jackson’s father, fought at Waterloo.

[3] Transcribed by Peter Colquhoun.

[4] http://www.irishwarmemorials.ie

Anne Biddulph [1801 – abt. 1872]

Anne Biddulph was the eldest child of Francis Biddulph [1770 - 1826] of Mount Oliver, Queen’s County and Mary Steele [1779 - ] of Kyle, Queen’s County. She had one sister, Elizabeth, and  three brothers. Her eldest brother Nicholas Biddulph inherited Fortal, in 1824. Her younger brothers, Richard and Francis Biddulph, both emigrated to Canada.

In 1823 she married Lieutenant Hugh Boyd Wray [1795 – 1873], 40^th Regiment of Foot.

MARRIED Lieutenant H. B. Wray, half-pay: 40th Regiment of Foot, to Anne, eldest daughter of Francis Biddulph, Esq. of Mount Oliver, Queen's County.  [Finns Leinster Journal 1771-1828 Wednesday, June 11, 1823]

Hugh Boyd Wray had fought at the battle of Waterloo and his name can be found in Dalton’s Waterloo Roll Call[1]. He retired in 1817 and  subsequently joined the RIC.

 ‘Miss Sibthorpe remembered hearing that Hugh Boyd Wray served as Chief Constable for the King's County, and she had seen his truncheon...[2]’

According to Jim Herlihy in his book The Royal Irish Constabulary Officers[3] Hugh Boyd Wray was tried and acquitted of murder at Kilkenny Assizes, August 1822, after which he was transferred to Queen’s County.

Hugh Boyd Wray retired from the Police Force in 1838 after 17 years. In 1838 he was presented with Plate when he left Birr and an Address which included the following tribute.

‘the acknowledged excellence , efficiency, and superior discipline of the Police force of this County, we feel bound to say, is mainly to be attributed to the activity and zeal  with which you have uniformly performed your duties.[4]’

He expresses his gratitude to the Viscount de Vesci and the Magistrates of the Queen’s County, for their ‘highly complimentary and flattering address’ and for 'the very handsome present of Plate which accompanies it…Your splendid Gift, I shall cherish as a lasting Memorial… and I shall hand it down to my son, with a Father’s request that he may as such value it’.

Hugh and Anne had one son, Jackson Wray, born in 1824, in Borris-in-Ossory, County Laois. He died in the Crimean War at Sebastopol in 1855.

Anne died in November 1872 and is buried in Deansgrange Cemetery, County Dublin. Her husband Hugh died the following year.

Wray - On the 23rd inst., [1873]at his residence, No. 4 Clifton-place, Monkstown, Dublin, in his 78th year, Captain H.B. Wray. He served as Lieutenant in the 40th Regiment in the Peninsular War, also at Waterloo. After a long illness he died in the Lord, much respected and lamented. Funeral will leave at 10 o'clock on to-morrow (Thursday) morning for Dean's Grange Cemetery.

The death of Jackson Wray is also commemorated on the same gravestone in Deansgrange Cemetery, but he is not buried there.

The grave in Deansgrange Cemetery, Kill o' the Grange, Co. Dublin, can be found by going through the main gates up to the turning circle, then turning left, close to Memorial Chapel, and on the left. The photograph of the grave was taken when the cemetery was new, before the main gates were relocated. The inscriptions are difficult to read:

VITTORIA   PYRENEES   WATERLOO

Hugh Boyd Wray late Captain 40th Regiment died 23 February 1873 aged 77 years

and Anne his wife Died 29 November 1872 aged 7? Years JUSTE ET VRAI

(and on the other side)

ALMA   INKERMAN   SEVASTOPOL

Jackson Wray... Regiment ...ed at Sevastopol...Hugh Boyd Wray...

 date

---

[1] Dalton’s Waterloo Roll Call.

[2] The Wrays of Donegal, London and Antrim, by Charlotte Violet Trench. OUP, 1945.

[3] Jim Herlihy, Royal Irish Constabulary Officers, Four Courts Press, 2005, 2016.

[4] Leinster Express, 9^th March 1839.

Eliza Biddulph [1766- ]

Eliza Biddulph was the eldest daughter of Francis Biddulph, of Vicarstown, Queen’s County,  and Eliza Harrison, of Leeds. Her mother was described, at the time of her marriage to Francis Biddulph, in the Leeds Intelligencer of 19^th February 1765  as ‘a most agreeable young lady with a handsome fortune.’

Eliza Biddulph married Richard Grattan of Drummin, County Kildare, on 19th February 1788 in St. Mark’s Church, Dublin. Richard Grattan was the son of the Reverend William Grattan of Drummin and his wife Catherine Sherlock.

Dublin 21st February. Richard Gratton, of Drummin, co. Kildare, Esq, to Miss Biddulph, eldest daughter of Francis Biddulph, of Vicarstown, Queen's County, Esq.[Ramsey's Waterford Chronicle]

Richard and Eliza  had sixteen children:

Thomas William, born 19^th October 1788, died before 1828.

Richard Grattan, born 29^th January 1790 in Queen’s County.

Eliza Catherine, born 8^th January 1791, died by 1828.

Frank, born 13^th December 1791.

William, born 17^th November 1792, died by 1828.

Catherine, born 17^th b June 1794.

Eleanor, born 12^th December 1795.

Thomas Grattan, born 27^th September 1796 in Dublin.

Frances, born 19^th December 1797, died by 1828.

Harriet Grattan, born 16^th September 1799 in Dublin, died by 1828.

John Grattan, born 22^nd October 1800 in Dublin.

Henry Grattan, born 22^nd January1803, Dublin.

Edward, born 22^nd February 1804.

Frances [Fanny] Grattan who was born 15^th June 1805. She married William Willis in Limerick in 1826, and died in Dublin in 1866, aged 61. Deaths. Willis, May 27, at her house, 1 Sandford Avenue, Dublin, Frances, widow of the Rev. William Willis, M.D., formerly of Charleville, County Cork, and daughter of the late Richard Grattan, Esq., J.P., Drummin House, County Kildare.[1]

Anne Grattan, who was born 3^rd November 1806 in Dublin. She was married in St. George’s Church, Dublin on 12th September 1850, to George Cooke.

Nicholas Grattan was born 23^rd March 1808.

---

[1] The Belfast Newsletter, 1866, May 29.

Eliza Grattan’s date of death and her burial place are unknown. Possibly she is buried in Carbery graveyard, close to the Colley mausoleum.

Annie Adela Waller Biddulph [1847-1926]

Annie Adela Waller Biddulph, the eldest daughter of Francis Marsh Biddulph of Rathrobin, King’s County, and Lucy Bickerstaffe, was born on the 25^th March 1847.

She married John Willcocks, of Chapelizod, Dublin, on the 24^th April 1867. He was a retired Captain of the 3rd Middlesex Militia.

Their first daughter, Lucy Annie Willcocks was born in King’s County on the 22^nd of February 1868. She married Lionel Lockington Harty in Chapelizod in 1894. The wedding presents are described in a press cutting as being ‘numerous and very handsome.’ Mr. H.L. Harty gave them a piano and a brass lamp. Mrs Bickerstaff a white ostrich feather fan with a mother o’ pearl handle. There was a silver coffee pot, sugar basin and soup ladle, a Worcester china dessert service,  a set of silver dessert spoons from John Willcocks,  a carriage rug, Austrian china vases from Annie’s sisters Wilmot and Florence,  a Queen Anne silver teapot,  an inlaid marble clock, etchings of Irish scenery,  handsome table linen, and much more besides. The Rev. A. Dancer Purefoy, who officiated, presented the couple with a family Bible and prayer book. Mrs Purefoy gave them a Japanese tea table. From the servants came an antique silver mustard pot, flower vases, handsome silver punch ladles and a plush workbox, and a glass centrepiece mounted on mirror.

In 1901 Lionel and Lucie Harty lived at Balrobin, Barronstown, County Louth with their two daughters, Eileen R, aged 5, and Kathleen A, aged 3. By 1911 they have a son, Lockington, aged 8.

Marian Emma Willcocks was born on the 1^st of August 1869 in King’s County. She married Frederick Francis Ledwich, barrister at law, in 1891 in Chapelizod. In 1911 the couple are living in Ballitore, County Kildare, with their only daughter Violet Annie Biddulph, aged 18. Frederick was not practising as barrister, but ‘derived his income chiefly from dividends and annuity from land’.

Wilmot Willcocks was born on the 12^th of November 1870 in Charleville Street, Tullamore. She married Stafford Mouritz Cox, Physician and Surgeon, in 1897, in Chapelizod. By 1901 Stafford Cox is a widower, living in Roden Place, Dundalk, County Louth. Wilmot died in 1899 aged only 29.

The only son of Annie and John Willcocks was born in Dublin on the 14^th April 1872, and christened John. John Willcox, son of John Willcox and Annie died on the 7^th of March 1919 in Dublin. He was 46 years old.

Florence Caroline Willcocks was born in 1877. She married Benjamin Ivan Tilly in 1897. In 1901 they are living on St. Laurence’s Road, Clontarf, Dublin. Benjamin Ivan Tilly is the Registrar of the Metropolitan School of Art of the Science and Art Institutions, Dublin.  In 1911 they live at Belmont Terrace, North Circular Road, Glasnevin, Dublin.. Three children have been born to them, with only one surviving, who is not named in the Census return. Florence died in 1925.

Annie’s husband John Willcocks died in Dublin in 1882.

Annie was married again in St Barnabas’ Church, North Dublin in 1898, to John Ouseley Bonsall Murphy of Riversdale, Palmerstown, County Dublin. John Ouseley Murphy was born in Queen’s County, a widower, and an accountant. In the 1901 Census they were living in St. Laurence, Palmerstown, Dublin, with her son John Willcocks, an annuitant, possibly money left to him by his father, and her stepson, John Cullinan Murphy, son of John Ouseley Murphy, aged 26, a student of Medicine.

Annie Adela Waller Biddulph died in 1926 and is believed to be buried in Chapelizod, Dublin, in the Willcocks plot.

Mary Biddulph [nee Marsh] [abt 1773-1861], Carrickbrennan graveyard, Monkstown, County Dublin

Sacred to the memory of Mary Biddulph widow of Francis Biddulph Esq. of . . . King's Co. late Registrar of the Court of Equity in Ireland. She . . . August 1861
aged 86 years. Their daughter Mary Biddulph . . .  1865 aged . . . certain hope... of their daughter Caroline Biddulph who died 28th  May 1874 aged 55 years.

Nicholas Marsh Biddulph [1805-1900]

Nicholas Marsh Biddulph was born on the 20^{th of} December 1805, the second son and seventh child of Francis Biddulph and Mary Marsh of Vicarstown, Queen's County. He was one of fourteen children, thirteen of whom survived. He married Elizabeth Maria Steele on the 25^th September 1824 in Gretna Green, Scotland. Both were recorded as being from Donnybrook, Dublin. Their first daughter, Margaret Anne, was born in Elm Villa, Irishtown, Dublin, on the 8^th of October 1826. A second daughter, Elizabeth, was also born in Dublin in 1831. Anna [1833-1912] was born in Galway. Adelaide too was born in Ireland in 1840.

Nicholas became a Lieutenant in the Irish Revenue Police. Known as the ‘Potheen Hussars,’ the Irish Revenue Police were mostly employed in the detection of illicit liquor stills. Their uniform was distinctive. As an officer Nicholas would have worn a blue frock coat and grey trousers, and probably cut a dashing figure. In 1835 he was in Crossmolina, but at some time in the late 1830s he seems to have left Ireland, as his eldest son, William, was born in 1838 in Marthen, Wales. A second son, christened Wellington James, was born in England in 1841. His youngest daughter, Rosalie, was born in 1845, in Somerset.

In the 1841 Census the family are found living in Gore Hedge, Frome, Somerset. Nicholas has independent means.

In the 1851 Census Nicholas is no longer with his family, and does not appear in the Census, but Elizabeth still describes herself as a wife, and not a widow. Elizabeth died in St. George, Southwark, in 1852. Two of their daughters, Margaret Anne, and Anna, married and emigrated to America.

Adelaide Biddulph, on her marriage to John Brooks on the 20^th of May 1861 in St. Mary’s, Lambeth, describes her father Nicholas Biddulph in the marriage register as deceased.

Some accounts state that Nicholas Biddulph lived until 1900. If the source of this information is Burke’s Landed Gentry of Great Britain and Ireland, there is some room for doubt as Burke’s can be inaccurate. However, there is a death recorded in Dublin of a Nicholas Biddulph in 1899 of advanced years. Had Nicholas returned to Ireland leaving his family in England?

Richard Clarke [abt. 1878 - 1916]

Richard Clarke was the son of William Clarke of Timoney Lodge, Corbally, and Rebecca Harvey. He was also the brother of Rebecca Clarke, who married William Nicholas Biddulph in 1889.

Richard Clarke joined the Royal Irish Constabulary in 1896. His service record from the Royal Irish Constabulary shows a broken service as he appears to have resigned twice in order to join Military Units. He first resigned in January 1900 and served with the "Imperial Yeomanry" in South Africa, before being reappointed to the RIC in October 1901. He did not remain long however, but resigned in March 1902 to join the ‘Irish Horse.’ He was, it would seem, a restless soul.

He was killed in action in 1916.

Clarke, Richard.

Rank, sergeant, Royal Canadian Horse Artillery [formerly Royal Irish Constabulary]; killed in action, October 20, 1916. [Ireland, Casualties of World War 1].

He is buried in Carnoy Military Cemetery.

In Memory of Gunner R. Clarke 5635,”A” Bty., Royal Canadian Horse Artillery who died on 20 October 1916.

Remembered with Honour.

His death is also commemorated in Ardcroney graveyard in Congor, County Tipperary. Ardcroney Church is no longer there having been removed in its entirety to Bunratty Folk Park, County Clare, but the graveyard remains.

Congor graveyard [Ardcroney Church]

In loving memory of William Clarke, Crowl, who died 20th Jan 1919, aged 89 years.

Also his wife Rebecca who died 23rd Jan 1925 aged 88 yrs.

And their son Richard who fell in France, 20th October 1916.

Isabel Louisa Dundas (nee Head) grave Deansgrange Cemetery County Dublin

Anna Septima Mac Laine (nee Head) grave Deansgrange Cemetery County Dublin

In loving memory

of 

Perceval Langtry MacLaine

who died 19th (?) December 1932

and of his mother

Anna Septima MacLaine

who died 12th June 1955

Georgina Head grave Deansgrange Cemetery County Dublin

In loving memory

Georgiana Head

daughter of (Lt. Col.) W Head

Derrylahan Park

Died at St. John's House of Rest

In her 103rd year

16 March 1868 27(?) February 1971

Nicholas Biddulph Congor House Letter 1840

This letter to Nicholas Biddulph at Congor House, 1840, appears to be from his brother-in-law William Digges La Touche. Francis, referred to at the end of the letter, is his eldest son and only child from his first marriage to Catherine Lucas.

Frances Henrietta Head and Unnamed Boy. Head Family Photographs.

 Frances Henrietta Head, died 18 July 1876, aged 12. Described by Amy Biddulph as "Fanny Head" in the family photograph album.

Unnamed Boy. Head  Family Photographs.

John Henry Head [1866-1912]

Elizabeth Biddulph [1799-1893] grave, Deansgrange, County Dublin

Sacred to the Memory of Elizabeth Biddulph eldest daughter of Francis Harrison Biddulph, Esq., of Rathrobbin, King's Co., late Registrar of the Court of Equity Exchequer in Ireland. She died the 10th of June 1893 aged 95 years. In sure and certain hope trusting only in the Saviour's merits.
Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord [illegible].
Grave at 12-I2-South in Deansgrange Cemetery, Deansgrange, County Dublin.

Elizabeth was the second daughter of Francis Harrison Biddulph Francis Harrison Biddulph [1774-1827]  of Vicarstown, Registrar of the Court of Exchequer and his wife Mary Marsh, and not the eldest as inscribed on her gravestone. Her older sister, Anne, was born in 1798, but died more than twenty years before her, which may go some way toward explaining  the error.

 

Ardcroney Church, Bunratty Folk Park

Private Collection

Annie Biddulph Memorial Window, Ardcroney Church, Bunratty.

Private Collection

Anne Biddulph [abt. 1843-1901], Birr, County Offaly

Anne Biddulph was the daughter of Nicholas Biddulph of Congor House, Borrisokane, County Tipperary and Fortal, King’s County. Her mother was Nicholas’ second wife Isabella La Touche, daughter of James Digges La Touche, of Sans Souci, Dublin. An item in the Nenagh Guardian of February 19^th, 1873, gives us a little insight into her life.

Late Concert at Nenagh: ...Through some inadvertence we omitted the names of Miss Anne and Miss Grace Biddulph, who sang at the Concert and are members of the Choral society.
Anne Biddulph died of uremia and cerebral haemorrhage on the 21^st of September 1901 at Birrview, Crinkill. Her brother William was present at her death. She was 58 years old and unmarried. She appears to have lived in Birr all her life. She is buried in Congor graveyard which once surrounded Ardcroney Church.

In memory of Mary Biddulph who died 1^st January 1914. Also her sister Annie who died 21^st September 1901. Birr View, Birr. ‘I am the Resurrection and the Life.’

There is  a memorial window to Annie Biddulph in Ardcroney Church.

Sacred to the memory of Annie Biddulph died September 21, 1901.

But the church itself is no longer at Ardcroney. It was moved lock, stock, and barrel, to Bunratty Folk Park. The following account of the removal of the church appeared in the Independent.[1]

Tierney is best known for dismantling a Protestant church in Ardcroney, Co Tipperary, and re-erecting it at the Bunratty Folk Park a living, working museum dedicated to capturing what life was like in 19th-century rural Ireland. Tierney says all elements of the church were carefully removed, including the cast-iron windows, the roof slates and all the interior woodwork. Even samples of the delicate stencil work on the interior walls were removed and copied. The stone from the church was moved on special pallets and stored at Bunratty for later reconstruction. In 1997 planning permission was sought from Clare County Council. Once secured, Shaffery Associates, a Dublin-based architectural firm who specialise in the restoration of historic buildings, was appointed to oversee the reconstruction of the church. The painstaking job of reconstructing the building took one year to complete and a FAS group from Roscrea, Co Tipperary, assisted in the sourcing of furniture and fittings. Now the church, which was originally built in 1824, is an integral part of the Folk Park.

---

[1] http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/moving-house-stone-by-stone-26156646.htm

William Edward Head [1864-1945]

Charles Octavius Head [1869-1952]

Michael Ravenscroft Head [1880-1950]

Anna Septima Head

Isabella Elizabeth Biddulph [1840-1911]

Derrylahan Park, Riverstown, County Tipperary.

Isabella Elizabeth Biddulph [1840-1911]

Isabella Elizabeth Biddulph was born on the 21^st of February 1840, the eldest daughter of Nicholas Biddulph of Congor House, Borrisokane, County Tipperary and Fortal, King’s County. Her mother was Nicholas’ second wife Isabella La Touche, daughter of James Digges La Touche, of Sans Souci, Dublin.

She married William Henry Head of Modreeny House, Cloughjordan, County Tipperary, in 1860.

Marriage in High Life - On Tuesday morning, William Henry Head. Esq., J.P., D.L. of Modreeny House, Cloughjordan, led to the hymeneal altar the lovely and accomplished daughter of Nicholas Biddulph, Esq., J.P. of Conger House. The ceremony was performed in the Church of Conger, by the Very Rev. Dean Head, assisted by the Rev. Mr. Falkiner, incumbent of the parish. After partaking of a dejeuner, which was given to a select company by the bride's father, the happy couple started for Bray, where they intend spending the honeymoon.

They had twelve children.

1.  Elizabeth Phoebe Head. She married George Bennett in 1882. He was a Church of England Minister, formerly Presbyterian. They had three children.

2. William Edward Head, born at Riverstown on the 8^th of April 1864. William married twice. His first wife was Mary Katherine Johns. They were married in Larne, County Antrim, in 1886.  In 1904 he married Dora Clarke. He died in 1945 and is buried in Modreeny graveyard.

In loving memory of William Edward Head, late Capt., R. A., Mount View, Rathvilly, Co. Carlow, dearly loved husband of Dora Head and eldest son of the late William Henry Head, Derrylahan Park. Birr, died 5^th June 1945 aged 81 years. Also his beloved wife Dora died 11^th Aug 1952 aged 73 years. ‘Call me not dead, my soul to Christ has fled and soon both soul and body joined shall be.’ [Parish of Modreeny St. Kieran’s C. of I. graveyard, Barony of Lower Ormond].
3. Catherine Mary Head, born at Riverstown on the 22nd of August 1865. She died on the 10th of July 1873.

4.  John Henry Head was born at Riverstown on the 1^st of November 1866. He studied Medicine at Trinity College Dublin, and died in Cloughjordan, County Tipperary, in 1912.

5.  Charles Octavius Head was born on the 30^th of May 1869. He married Alice Margaret Threlfall in Chester in 1908. They had three children. Charles died in Shrewsbury in 1952.

6.  Michael Ravenscroft Head was born on the 12^th of May 1880. He became a Lieutenant Colonel in the British Army. He died on the 22^nd of April 1950 in Devonshire.

7.  Georgiana Head was born on the 16^th of March 1868.

8. Isabella Louisa Head was born in Riverstown on the 23^rd of June 1870. She married George William Dundas. She died in 1960 and is buried in Deansgrange Cemetery, County Dublin.

9. Anna Septima Head was born in Riverstown on the 1^st of April 1873. She married George Langtry MacLaine in 1899. She died in 1955.

10. Frances Henrietta Head, died 18 July 1876, aged 12.
11. An unnamed boy also appears in the family photograph album.
12. Maria Isabel Head, died 18 October 1875.

Isabella died in 1911, of abscess of the gall-bladder and exhaustion. 

The late Mrs Isabella E. Head, Hillbrook, Birr, left personal estate valued at £7,345 14s. The testatrix left £400 each to her daughters Elizabeth Isabella and Anna Head; £300 to her daughter Georgiana; £200 to her son Dr. John Head, M.D., £100 to her son Dr. John Head, M.D.; £100 to her son Major Charles Octavius Head, R.H.A., and he residue of her estate to her son Michael Head. [Irish Independent, Mon March 04, 1912].

Derrylahan Park, Riverstown, where the Head family lived, was designed by Sir Thomas Newenham Dean, who also designed Portumna Castle, and was built in 1862. A description of the house appeared in the Freeman’s Journal in February, 1901. The Estate was in the Chancery Court and for sale after the death of William Head.

The house is built of cut stone, and in the Elizabethan style, and is fitted with mahogany doors, marble mantelpieces, and all the latest improvements.

It contains on the ground floor four reception rooms, housekeeper’s room, cloakroom, servants’ hall, kitchen, pantries etc. On the first floor, twelve bedrooms, two dressing rooms, bathroom (with hot and cold water), and two w.c.s.

In 1921 Derrylahan Park was destroyed by fire.

Another Mansion Burned. Derrylahan Park reduced to Ashes. Col. Head “Too friendly with the English." [The King's County Chronicle. Thursday Jul 7th, 1921].

The front page of the newspaper carried a picture of Derrylahan Park.

Riverstown, County Tipperary

William Nicholas Biddulph [1848-1915]

William Nicholas Biddulph was born in 1848, the second son of Nicholas Biddulph of Congor House, Borrisokane, County Tipperary and Fortal, King’s County. His mother was Nicholas’ second wife Isabella La Touche, daughter of James Digges La Touche, of Sans Souci, Dublin.  He was educated at Trinity College, Dublin (MA), and became a Clerk in Holy Orders. He married Rebecca Clarke, the daughter of William Clarke of Fimoney Lodge, Corbally, County Tipperary, on the 29^th November 1889. They had ten children.

1.  William Nicholas John Biddulph. Born 24th December 1890. He married Kathleen Louisa Taylor in 1945. He died in Canada in 1958 and is buried in Young Cemetery

Saskatchewan, Canada.

2.   Robert Richard Biddulph [1892-1959]. He was educated in Dublin. He married Gladys Maude Sherring in 1927. He died in Taunton, Devon in 1959.

3.   James George Alexander Biddulph [1894-1939]. He married Dorothy Clark in 1924.

4.   Isabella Gertrude Ann ‘Daisy’ Biddulph [1895-]. She married Robert King Flewett in 1937.

5.   Caroline Rebecca Regina Victoria ‘Queenie’ Biddulph [1897-]. She married Cyril du Cros in St. John’s Church, Sandymount, in 1925.

6.   Georgina Elizabeth Biddulph [1899-1914]. Died aged 15.

7.   Dora Mary Eleanor Biddulph [1902-]. She married Timothy McCrohan in 1928.

8.   Grace Kathleen Marrion Biddulph [1904- 1998].

9.   Aileen Maude Beatrice Biddulph [1906- 1976].

10. Violet Sarah Margaret Patricia Biddulph [1909-1974].

William Nicholas Biddulph died of pneumonia and heart failure at 4 Florence Villas, Park Avenue, Dublin, on the 16^th of January 1915. His daughter Daisy registered his death. He was 67 years old. His youngest daughter, Violet, was six.

Robert Waller Biddulph and Caroline Julliet Studdert

Robert Waller Biddulph [1845 - 1915]

Robert Waller Biddulph was born on the 19^th March 1845, the third son of Nicholas Biddulph of Congor House, Borrisokane, County Tipperary and Fortal, King’s County. His mother was Nicholas’ second wife Isabella La Touche, daughter of James Digges La Touche, of Sans Souci, Dublin.

He married Caroline Julliet Studdert on the 13^th May, 1876. She was the daughter of Francis Paterson Studdert, Rector of Borrisokane, and of St. Patrick’s, Limerick.

Marriages. Biddulph and Studdert. On the 13th May, at St. Patrick's Church, Limerick, by the Lord Bishop of Limerick, cousin of the bride, assisted by the Rev. W. N. Biddulph, M.A., Bob Waller Biddulph, Esq., M.B., R. N.. second son of Nicholas Biddulph Esq., J.P., of Congor House, Co. Tipperary, to Caroline Julliet, only surviving daughter of the Rev., J.P. Studdert, A.M., Rector of St. Patrick’s, Limerick.[Nenagh Guardian, May 17, 1876]

They had two children.

Their daughter Caroline Isobel Biddulph was born in Bermuda in 1877. She married her first husband, George Augustus Herbert Hackett Brereton, of Clongowna, Rathcabbin, County Tipperary, in Ardcroney Church on the 8^th  of December 1915, apparently after the death of both of her parents, though Robert Waller Biddulph appears in the marriage records for both Caroline and Robert as retired and not deceased.  George Brereton died on the 20^th of April 1920. She then married William J. Lovett Ashton on the 22^nd of November 1922. She died in 1935.

 ASHTON - October 8th 1935, Caroline Isabella, of Clongowna, Birr, King's County, beloved wife of Captain W.J. Lovett Ashton, and daughter of the late Fleet-Surgeon R.W. Biddulph, R.N. Funeral arrangements later. English papers please copy. (The Irish Times, Tuesday October 8, 1935).

Their son Robert Nicholas William Waller Biddulph was born in 1883. He married Gertrude Dorothy Piper in 28 November 1912 in Woking, Surrey.

Like his father and uncle he too was a Surgeon in the Royal Navy, and became Surgeon Lieutenant Commander. He died in 1956 in Gosport, Hampshire, and is buried in Haslar Royal Naval Cemetery.

Robert Waller Biddulph was appointed Fleet Surgeon in the Royal Navy.

Staff Surgeon Biddulph  – by a memorandum of the Admiralty, dated 21^st inst., Surgeon Robert Waller Biddulph, B.A., A.M.B., son of Nicholas Biddulph Esq., J.P. Congor House, Borrisokane, has been promoted to the rank of Staff Surgeon in her Majesty’s Fleet, with seniority of 8^th inst. [Nenagh Guardian, Wed., Oct 27, 1880].

 He retired in 1893. His records are available to view in The National Archives, Kew, London. He died on the 22^nd of January 1915 in Surbiton, Surrey. His wife Caroline Julliet Biddulph died 6^th April 1915 in Surrey.