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Ireland (Historical Counties) => Ireland => Wicklow => Topic started by: PhilipW on Wednesday 18 January 06 15:51 GMT (UK)
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In O'Harts Irish pedigrees I have discovered a family of
Wolverston of Cooldrass in Kiladreney churchyard.Hart also mentions that Capt. William Wolverston was great-grandson of Feagh O'Byrne but I have not been able to find anything else about them. I am researching
Wolverson in England and have come to a halt in 1736.
Please does anyone have any info on these Wolverstons of Cooldrass ?
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Yes, there was a William Wolverston of Stillorgan, a landowner, who also held land in Little Bray. William was the father of a James Wolverston.
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Hello Philip, I am also looking for Wolverston's in Ireland. William FitzGerald 1710-1770 living Co Kilkenny, Tipperary, Waterford was married three times, his 2nd wife was a Miss Volverston.
regards
Aoife
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Hello Philip,
I have'nt been looking into the Wolverston for a while, I am not sure if you are still interested in finding out more about the Wolverston's in Ireland. I have decided to tackle this over the next few weeks. I can now tell you that Capt. William Wolverston was the son of John Wolverston, who was the son of John Wolverston who married a daughter of Feagh O'Byrne. This John (William's grandfather) was the youngest son of James Wolverston of Stillorgan who amassed a huge fortune and his wife Margaret Archbold the daughter of Richard Archbold of Kilmacud. James Wolverston was the son of George Wolverston (Will 1608 and Eleanor Sarsfield the daugter of Patrick Sarsfield Esq of Tully. These Wolverston's were descended from the Wolferstons of Suffolk. I will let you know more or I can share the pedigrees I am building up, in say four weeks. I would love anything you have on the Wolverston, I have already collected quite alot and will be as I said gathering more in the next few weeks, in the GO, NLI, NAI and the Registry Office. If you are interested in what I have at the moment my email is (*)
regards
Aoife
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Hello Aoife,
I have discovered a daughter of Captain William Wolverson and his wife Marcella/Margery Geoghegan, Honora Wolverston, who married Bryan Stapleton of Bryan's Castle, Clare, gent., an attorney in the Court of Common Pleas. Bryan Stapleton died in 1733. I pieced the information together from deeds, Chancery and Exchequer records, historical journal items, etc.--I don't think her existence was known before this. (I descend from Bryan and Honora.) I would be very interested to know what you have found about the Wolverston family and to explain what I have found.
Julie
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Hi Julie
Here are some of the pedigrees I compiled, let me know what you think and do let me know if you see any mistakes
Aoife
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Hi, Aoife,
Thanks very much for responding so quickly and sharing the pdf. In the paragraph under Captain William Wolverston who married Marcella MacGeoghegan of Donore (p. 4 of 5), am I correct that it is talking not about Captain William Wolverston but about the O'Byrnes, including Phelim O'Byrne? That confused me a bit until I realized who it must be,
Looking forward to getting back to you with more information.
Julie
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Here is part of what I have to establish Honora Wolverston Stapleton as the daughter of Captain William Wolverston.
Honora's aunt was Honora Geoghegan O'Brien Mathew, d. 1735 in Ennis, Clare. Honora Geoghegan was the eldest daughter of Conly Geoghegan of Donore, Westmeath, and his wife Margaret O'Brien. Honora Geoghegan's first husband was Col. John O'Brien, the third son of Murrough O'Brien, first Earl of Inchiquin. John O'Brien died in 1708/9. In 1710 she married as he second husband Thomas Mathew of Annfield, Tipperary, who died before her. Honora Geoghegan's sister Joan Geoghegan married Lt. Col. Terence O'Dempsey, and their daughter Alicia O'Dempsey was the first wife of Thomas Mac Gorman of Inchiquin. Honora Geoghegan's sister Marcella Geoghegan married "Captain William Wolverton of the County of Westmeath," according to the same historical article. These relationships are discussed in "Inchiquin, County Clare" by George U. McNamara which appeared in the Journal of the Royal Society of Irish Antiquaries 31.4 (dec. 1901), pages 357-362.
A claimant to the title of Lord Inchiquin had to prove that Honora Mathew and her first husband, Col. John O'Brien, had no children, and for that reason a certified copy of Honora's will is reproduced word for word in the House of Lords "Case of Lucius, Lord Inchiquin, Claiming the Right to Vote at the Election of Representative Peers for Ireland" (1861), which can be found online in Google Books. In her will, Honora Geoghegan O'Brien Mathew leaves a good deal of money and possessions to her "beloved niece Honora Stapleton, widow of Bryan Stapleton, gent, of Ennis, County Clare," and to Honora Stapleton's four children, whom she identifies by name: William, John, Ellen, Honora.
The smoking gun: Exchequer Court of Equity Case dated 5 Feb 1733, William Bell vs. Honora Stapleton als Wolferston, Christopher O'Brien, Thomas Gorman, William Stapleton, John Stapleton, Ellen Stapleton, Honora Stapleton, and John Hickie and his wife Elizabeth.
So Honora Wolverston Stapleton was Honora Geoghegan O'Brien Mathew's niece because she was the daughter of Honora G O'B M's sister Marcella Geoghegan who married Captain William Wolferston.
I also have reason to believe that the two Captain William Wolverstons in your pedigree are the same, but I will save that for a separate post.
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The last half of my post appears to be crossed out--is there a length limit? Here it is, just in case:
"Captain William Wolverton of the County of Westmeath," according to the same historical article. These relationships are discussed in "Inchiquin, County Clare" by George U. McNamara which appeared in the Journal of the Royal Society of Irish Antiquaries 31.4 (dec. 1901), pages 357-362.
A claimant to the title of Lord Inchiquin had to prove that Honora Mathew and her first husband, Col. John O'Brien, had no children, and for that reason a certified copy of Honora's will is reproduced word for word in the House of Lords "Case of Lucius, Lord Inchiquin, Claiming the Right to Vote at the Election of Representative Peers for Ireland" (1861), which can be found online in Google Books. In her will, Honora Geoghegan O'Brien Mathew leaves a good deal of money and possessions to her "beloved niece Honora Stapleton, widow of Bryan Stapleton, gent, of Ennis, County Clare," and to Honora Stapleton's four children, whom she identifies by name: William, John, Ellen, Honora.
The smoking gun: Exchequer Court of Equity Case dated 5 Feb 1733, William Bell vs. Honora Stapleton als Wolferston, Christopher O'Brien, Thomas Gorman, William Stapleton, John Stapleton, Ellen Stapleton, Honora Stapleton, and John Hickie and his wife Elizabeth.
So Honora Wolverston Stapleton was Honora Geoghegan O'Brien Mathew's niece because she was the daughter of Honora G O'B M's sister Marcella Geoghegan who married Captain William Wolferston.
I also have reason to believe that the two Captain William Wolverstons in your pedigree are the same, but I will save that for a separate post.
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Also, the "Inchiquin, County Clare" article in Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland (1901) referenced above states (in the footnote on p. 362) that Judith Wolverston, the second wife of Thomas Mac Gorman, was the daughter of Captain William Wolverston of Westmeath and his wife Marcella Geoghegan (daughter of Conly Mac Geoghegan, sister of Honora Geoghegan O'Brien Mathew). The Geoghegans were from Westmeath, so it makes sense that Captain William Wolverston may have lived there at one time following his marriage. Sadly, those historians writing prior to 1922 had access to wills, marriage registers, etc. that burned in the Public Records Office fire, which are lost to us. So that makes two documented daughters for Captain William Wolverston and Marcella Geoghegan: Honora and Judith.
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Here is why I think Captain William Wolverston who was married to Marcella Geoghegan (father of Honora Wolverston Stapleton and Judith Wolverston Mac Gorman) could be the same man as Captain William Wolverston who died in 1731 and is buried in Kiladreney/Killadreenan Churchyard.
First, the full inscription on the Kiladreney/Kiladreenan tomb of Captain William Wolverston who died in 1731, his wife and several children, and some grandchildren was published in its entirety in the year 1892 in Irish Pedigrees; or the Origin and Stem of the Irish Nation, by John O'Hart. The full inscription read as follows: "This tombstone was erected by John Wolverston, of Cooldrass. Here lies the body of his Father, Captain William Wolverston, who died Jan. 19, 1731; and also his Mother, who died March 13, 1733; also two of their sons, Richard and William, and six of the said John's children, 3 boys and 3 girls. Here also lies the body of the above John Wolverston, who died 25 June, 1769. Aged 63 years." Notice that there is no wife "Alice"! That is an ERROR that arose when somebody tried many years later to transcribe ALL of the inscriptions in Killadreney/Kiladreenen Churchyard. On the by-then very weathered tombstone they misread "also his Mother" as "Alice his Mother." Also, the later transcriber could not even read the parts about sons Richard and William and the 6 sons of John--those parts must have been so weathered by then that they could not be made out at all.
You probably know that "Marcella" and "Margery" were the same name in Ireland then, with Marcella being the Latin version that would have been used in church registers, and Margery being the Anglicized form of the name. Thus it is very interesting that a tombstone slab for Margery Wolverston who died in 1733 turned up near the chapel built by Thomas Mac Gorman in Inchiquin. (Remember that the second wife of Thomas Mac Gorman was Judith Wolverston, daughter of Captain William Wolverston and Marcella Geoghegan.) The author of the "Inchiquin" article SPECULATES that this Margery Wolverston could have been a daughter of Captain William Wolverston, but given that her death year matches that of Captain William's wife and that Margery and Marcella are the same name, and also that the tombstone slab for Margery Wolverston appears to have been separated from the grave it once covered, I think it is quite possible that she was originally buried in her son-in-law Thomas Mac Gorman's chapel graveyard and that John Wolverston of Cooldross may have moved his mother (and possibly his father?) to the family tomb he erected in Kiladreney Graveyard years later. Here is what the Inchiquin article says about Margery's tomb slab:
"Outside the church, built against the east gable, and with its north wall on a line with the corresponding wall of the church, was some years ago a small mortuary Chapel, built in the year 1735 by Thomas Mac Gorman of Inchiquin as a burial-place for his family. Part of the wall was still standing in 1839, as can be learned from a letter of that date written by Eugene O'Curry, who calls it, incorrectly, a “sacristy,” and states that the stone with date was then fixed in the wall. It was deliberately pulled to pieces bit by bit and the stones taken to various parts of the churchyard to mark graves. Ultimately none of the structure was left but the mere foundations and two inscribed stones. From an examination which I made of these foundations a few years ago, I found that it was built somewhat out of square, the north wall being 17} feet, the east wall 17 feet, and the south wall 181 feet, outside measurement. Most of its area is now occupied by an enclosure containing the graves of the Macnamaras of Corofin, repaired in 1894-5. When the foundations were being laid for this enclosure, a tombstone was found at a considerable depth beneath the surface, on which was the following inscription :
HERE LYES YE BODY * OF MARGERY WOLVERSTON DYED * in 1733."
Margery Wolverston was a near relative (probably a daughter) of Captain William Wolverston of county Westmeath, and a member, 1 have no doubt, of that once important and influential family, the Wolverstons of Stillorgan."
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One more bit of evidence regarding Marcella/Margery Wolverston: See Court of Chancery lawsuit abstract dated 10 Nov 1696, Richard Burke vs. John Lodge, Bryan Geoghegan, Charles Geoghegan, Margery Wolverston als Geoghegan, Cornelius Coghlan, and Samuell Eyre. It is obvious that this is the same person as Marcella Geoghegan Wolverston.
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Hello Julie,
I am not sure if you are writing about this for an article or for your family. I liked the way you were speculating, I find that if you are speculating that should be acknowledged in the book/article you are writing. Firstly because it is interesting and secondly because with the state of records in Ireland you may never find the paper work to prove absolutely your conclusions, so that an open mind should be kept by all. There is always the chance that with the internet and new sources being made accessible, as well as that useful tool DNA, that sometime in the near future that elusive proof might just turn up. In the meantime I will go through my old papers and see if I can find more notes on the Wolverston's. It might be at the end of April as I have an exhibition coming up in the middle of April and I need to concentrate on that. In the meantime here are some notes, I pull together on the Suffolk Wolverstons
regards
Aoife FitzGerald
The file is too big so I will send it in two parts
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Here is the second part, good luck
Aoife