Although I know nothing of the Wrake/Hill/Matson families I can help on the Reaks/Dublin angle as Henry Tritton Reaks was the younger brother of my great-grandfather John Reaks, who was a Sergeant in the Rifle Brigade, a veteran of the Peninsular War and Waterloo, who was discharged in Dublin in 1824 where he remained until his death in 1852. Prior to 1824 the Reaks family had no connection with Dublin or Ireland.
The first record of John in Dublin (apart from the records of baptisms etc of his children between 1827 and 1835) is his appearance in Pettigrew and Oulton's (P&O) Directories for 1834,1835 and 1836 when he is recorded as the principal occupant of 30 Lower Exchange Street, a three-storey tenement comprising a shop with two rooms above and having no rear which gives an indication of his probable financial status. Therefore it is surprising to find that by her Will dated 19th June 1834, Henry's mother (nee Elizabeth Tritton) made provision for the repayment (out of her estate if necessary) of a loan of £50 (approx £5/6,000 in 2013) made at her request to the clearly affluent Henry by the probably impoverished John. This suggests that Henry may have been in Dublin as early as 1834 as if he was in England she would have surely lent the money to him herself.
Notwithstanding the 1839 entry in Pigot (which appears to be merely historical) it is certain that Henry and his family were in Dublin prior to 1839 as in there are the following P&O entries for him:
1839 - Resident at Turnham Green House, Serpentine Avenue, Sandymount ( a wealthy Dublin suburb) and running a Seminary for Young Gentlemen in Sandymount.
1841 - Still resident at Turnham Green House, Serpentine Avenue, but no entry for the School (presumably now a gentleman of independent means).
1843 - Resident at nearby Seafort Avenue
1844 - Resident at 1 Bath Avenue, still in the same affluent area.
Apparently he died in Dublin sometime between 1843 and 1845 and the residential address and Selina's marriage to a banker indicate that (despite the loan in 1834) Henry remained well-to-do, this being borne out by the later Thom's Dublin Directories for the period from 1846 to 1857 which place a Mrs Reaks ( surely Sophia Amelia, not John's widow) in the category of 'gentry' resident at Maria Villa, Rathgar Avenue, Rathgar, another desirable suburban address. As Sophia Amelia died in 1853 the later entries are probably historical only.
There is considerable evidence of a strong attachment between the two brothers and this, together with the fact that John virtually disappears from the records after Henry's arrival in Dublin raises the possibility that the two families may have lived together during the period, Henry and later his Widow, being recorded as the principal resident.
Henry's son, Alfred Miffin Reaks, described as an Army Contractor with offices in Dublin Castle (and for a short time a partner in the firm of Clare and Reaks, wine and spirit merchants) remained in Dublin until his death in 1873 and obviously carved out a successful career for himself, being resident from 1866 or earlier until his death at 68 Tritonville Road, Sandymount. After his death, his widow, Emma, continued to live at 68 Tritonville Road until her death in 1897.
