Halpin family of Wicklow - Part 1

[BillW]

Cont.
Captain Robert Charles Halpin

In the 1860's there was a great interest in telegraphy - the linking of Europe to America by telegraphic cable. Pioneered by Cyrus Fields all mainland Europe had been connected by telegraphy as had Europe to Britain and Britain to Ireland. A company was formed which took over the task of converting the Great Eastern into a cable layer and Halpin applied for and was given the post of First Engineer. The task facing the company was to lay a submarine cable from Valentia Island, County Kerry to Newfoundland. The cable, all 2600 miles of it was stored in the ship's two tanks and weighed 6000 tons.

One thousand eight hundred and sixty two miles from Valentia the cable broke and the "Great Eastern" had to return to Europe. Rumour has it that the price of shares on the stock exchange hit rock bottom and that Halpin purchased many in hope (or expectancy) of making a killing. In 1866 with Robert at the helm the ship returned to the exact spot and grappled up and repaired the broken cable. In July the "Great Eastern" arrived at Hearts Content, Newfoundland completing the connection between the two continents which has never been interrupted since. Halpin was now a pillar of society despite an enquiry in 1871 into his Civil War escapades which through the assistance of his brother Richard he managed to cloud successfully. Financially he was very well off and by the mid 1870's he had achieved everything there was to do at sea. He even produced a pamphlet called "Good Guidelines for Mariners", which advised against drunkenness and proposed that all seamen should undergo a medical examination prior to departure. The idea was to reduce early shipping disasters which he felt were often due to the after effects of the abuse of alcohol.

In 1876 Tinakilly House was built by Robert Halpin who was now chairman of the Wicklow Gas Company, a member of the Harbour board and a huge influence on the early days of Wicklow Regatta. He was persuaded against his better judgement to become involved with politics. Home Rule was the topic at the time and Halpin stood for the Unionist ticker and genuinely expected to win. The results were a great shock and disappointment to him. The winner was Sweetman who was the Anti-Parnell Home Rule Candidate. Halpin managed to defeat the outgoing Parnellite Home Rule candidate, Corbett.

Some years later in 1894 at the early age of 58, Robert Halpin passed away in Tinakilly House reportedly from gangrene caused by a slight accident which had occurred while cutting his toe-nails. Buried in the Church of Ireland graveyard on Church Hill, a debate soon arose as to how he should be commemorated in his home town. Eventually a tall granite obelisk was erected on a plot of land donated by Lord Fitzwilliam and since called Fitzwilliam Square. "Civi Emerito Civitas Genitrix" (meaning "The state is mother to the worthy citizen) is written on the monument. In Halpin's case it was.


Concluded

[Shanachai]

Bloody hell, Bill.  We must be reading from the same hymn sheet - no wonder, 'cause it's all music to my ears.

[BillW]

Ray

I was going to speculate that Richard Mathews Halpin, whose dates fit, could be the brother who managed to cloud difficulties in an inquiry into Robert's US Civil War escapades but (1) are you sure that Richard Mathews was Captain Robert's brother (Robert was the youngest of 13 children so there was room for many siblings), and (2) how did Richard manage this, what was his standing, was he a diplomat, or a lawyer, or well connected, ....?

Richard Mathews Halpin was about 10 years Captain Robert's senior, 2 years younger than Dr Stopford William Halpin.

And earlier in the life of Captain Robert is reference to: "The first officer and key navigator was another Irishman, Robert Halpin from Wicklow Town."  Presumably this is the 'relation' whom Captian Robert wanted aboard because of his suspicions of sabotage.
It is too early for this to be the Captain Robert George Halpin who died at Falmouth in 1906 aged 35.
We have a surfeit of Robert Halpins from Wicklow, just like in my Halpin line we have a surfeit of George Halpins.

I just thought to do a check on these boys' mother's name, Halbert.  Their father was James Halpin of the Bridge Tavern, also and/or later known as Halpin's, and mother Ann Halbert.
At the LDS FamilySearch Pilot Site we find:

George Halbert Halpin, deaths Rathdrum 4th qtr 1887 aged 66, estimated birth year 1821.
This surely has to be a son older than Stopford, perhaps their first.  And, from my point of view trying to find a connection of my George's back to Wicklow, here is the name George.  Was his father James Halpin a nephew or similar to my antecedent George Halpin, born (somewhere) about 1779?
When was Nicholas John born?

Sorry all for my ramblings.  I hope you can make some sense of it.

Bill

[BillW]

From the LDS FamilySearch Pilot Site:

Robert Halpin, died Rathdrum Wicklow 1883, calculated birth year 1816.

Robert George Halpin, born do., 1869

Robert George Halpin, born do., 1907

Robert Halpin, married Rathdown dist. Wicklow or Dublin, 1867

Frances Elizabeth Gilbert Halpin, born Rathdrum Wicklow, 1890

Richard Stopford Gilbert Halpin, born Rathdrum dist Wicklow, 1889

Richard "Stafford" Gilbert Halpin, marriage Rathdown dist. of Wicklow or Dublin, 1914

Aileen Grace Gilbert Halpin, born do., 1887

Stopford Richard Arthur Halpin, born do., 1895

William Law Bestall Halpin, born do., 1871

Bill.

[markenfield]

Bill, Your line of thinking   makes a lot of sense  , Somewhere in my past research I recall a list of people who served on the Great Eastern and I think there was at least 3 Halpins. The sabotage fears were at the cable laying section of the ship, I think they actually isolated this section with the modern equivalent of a security fence and recorded the people working in the enclosure and their times.
Kind regards

Kim

[BillW]

Captain Robert George Halpin was called to give evidence in a trial at the Old Bailey in 1906.  It concerned possible theft aboard an "auxilliary steam packet" The Pandora.  Halpin's testimony was brief:

ROBERT GEORGE HALPIN . I am a master mariner and up to October last I was captain of the Eastern Telegraph Co's. cable ship Britannia, and am now at home on sick leave in Ireland—in May, 1905, the ship was at Sierra Leone when the Pandora came into port there—I saw Mr. Kerry, who offered to sell me some provisions—I sent my chief steward to the yacht, who brought back some provisions and some tools—I saw a couple of small hatchets and a kind of draw knife, like a spokes have and a fretwork saw frame—all the tools were in a good condition and not rusty—one of them was wrapped up in brown paper, others had no wrappers on them—I believe the name of Marples was on the brown paper.

Cross-examined. Steel instruments soon rust from exposure to salt water.

Re-examined. If things are oiled and then put in tissue paper and brown paper they are less likely to rust.

Halpin died this same year at Falmouth.

Richard James Augustus Halpin, engineer, died at Sierra Leone 9 years later, in 1915.  He and Captain Robert George Halpin were contemporaries, born 1867 and 1869 respectively, but were they cousins?  Richard, son of  Richard Mathews Halpin, lived at Leitrim Lodge, Bachelors Walk, Wicklow, and Robert George's likely brother, Dr James Henry Halpin lived at 1 Wentworth Place, Wicklow, so they would, at the very least, have grown up together.

Could Robert George's father have been another son of James Halpin/Ann Halbert of the Bridge Tavern? 

How much of the local Church of Ireland records survive?

Bill.

[J.M. Flannery]

Hi,
To answer some of your questions
Jessie wd. 1912 was the widow of Capt Robert of Great Eastern fame.
Seaview Road, is only a fairly new road. Seaview House, was situated at the
bottom of Church Hill, just below the Church of Ireland and Graveyard.
I will try to send you a small section of this Ordanance Survey Sheet, hope it works. O.Survey Sheet no xxv 2. Surveyed 1895

See excavations.ie.
County List: County Wicklow Site List.
Wicklow. 1997:620
Wentworth House, Church street/Wentworth Place
T313940: 97EO118.

I have already sent on details of c 1901 of no 2 Wentworth Place for James Henry Halpin, after reading you wounderful information I now reliase The family living at b3 next door was the Herbert Family.
Maeve
c 1901 of no 2 Wentworth Place 62/63
Private Dwelling. 5 out offies = stable, coach house, harness rood, fowl house and 1 store. All family Church of Ireland,  all could read & write.
1. William H. Herbert,  head, age 61 yr. Lt. Col. of Infantry, Retired List, born Cork
2 Mary S Herbert, wife, age 65 yrs born Dublin
3 Kate O Herbert, sister age 53 yrs occ = nil, single, born Cork
& 3 servants, 1 Cook, domestic servant, 2 Parlour Maid, dom serv. both born Wicklow & 3 Groom & Gardiner, domestic servant, born Co Dublin.

I know there were 13 Halpin children. Here are the names of 9 of Capt. Roberts sisters & brothers , not in correct order.
George, Eaton, James, Thomas, Stopford, Louisa, Ann, Robert, was the youngest he was born 16th February 1836 and died 20th January 1894.

[Shanachai]

Nannie Caldow (?) Halpin, 2nd daughter of the late Dr. Stopford W. Halpin of Arklow, died 148 Rathgar Road, December 19, 1933.

Nicholas John Halpin was born in Portarlington, Queens Co. (Laois), in 1790.  If you flick back to pages 2 or 3 of this forum you will find a complete family tree (in two parts) detailing all of the essentials about the NJ Halpin branch of the broader Halpin family tree.  John Halpin (school teacher) -> William Henry Halpin
                                                                  |                                                  
                                                                  |----> NJ Halpin - WH Halpin - Charles Halpin
                                                                                      |
                                                                                      |-> Charles Grehan Halpin(e)

According to the House of Commons Parliamentary Papers, John Halpen Esq. (that's 'Halpin' - the name was spelt both ways at the time) was paid £1 2s 9d for an annual or one-year governorship of the Queen's County Infirmiry.

John Edmond Halpen, engraver, bookbinder, publisher and bookseller, married Rebecca Woodriff at St. Marylebone on 29th July 1794.  John had been sent to London by his father, Patrick (Paget - also a Dublin engraver), to study.  He was also encouraged by Charles Macklin to 'indulge his desire to appear on stage'...he took CM's advice and promptly made a fool of himself.  I've read a few of the reviews - they were not kind to him.  I believe he tried the stage a few times more before settling down in Dublin again, as a publisher of pamphlets, a bookseller and engraver.  Bill, you may recall something CARA drew our attention to some time ago - a marriage notice in the Hibernian - the exact date slips my mind, but it's posted above.  I said at the time that CARA's discovery of the notice was important, because it described John Halpen as a bookseller, and that he had married a Ms Sweetenham (is that right? note sp?) in Queens County.  I think this was his second marriage, his first being to Rebecca.  See The Times, Tuesday, Feb. 14 1797 for an account of the incident I mentioned to you before - him being hauled before Gratton's Parliament to account for a pamphlet he had published for private circulation, in which a prominant Tory politician was supposedly libelled.  His nephews (I believe they were his nephews) NJ Halpin and WH Halpin were to become libellous journalists in their own right, with William Henry doing jail time for it in 1829.
     At this time (1797 - 1805) there was a good deal of unrest in Ireland, and the British campaign to quell the disturbances cost 30,000 Irish lives.  William and James Halpin, who were distillers in Dublin and in partnership with a chap called Hannen, were heavily involved in the nationalist movement and, according to the report of a spy, about as untrustworthy (ie Anti-English) as they come, which makes me very proud of them.  They used their business premises in Petticoat Lane, Dublin, which was close to Kilmainham jail, as a base for an attempt to bust Robert Emmett out of prison.  The plan failed, Emmett was hung (but not before delivering perhaps the greatest ever speech from the dock by a condemned man in defence of the oppressed's right to wage war on their oppressors) and the Halpin brothers fled.  I was told about a 'French connection' when I was a boy, and I recently came across a list of prisoners held in France at the time (on behalf of the English, I think, which sounds very strange), which included the Halpin name.  But it's impossible to know for sure if the French captive is one of the fleeing Halpin brothers.  What happened next isn't clear, but the James Halpin, Bridge Inn Tavern owner in Wicklow, was - according to my great grandfather Edwin (James's grandnephew) - either the James Halpin Dublin distiller described above, or his son...no one in my family knows which.  James was anxious to maintain family ties with all of the separate family branches, and to illustrate those connections - at least along the male line - through his sons' names...this was not an unusual practice at all in those days.  One of the reasons I came on to RootsChat was to try to have the family lore corroborated or corrected, and I'd really like to hear from anyone who might help in this regard.

[Shanachai]

I came across some wills in the National Archives in Dublin, but at the time I only jotted down a few sketchy notes, however I'm pretty confident of the Richard M. - Cptn. Robert C. data...they were brothers.  Richard describes himself as a 'gentleman', which indicates that he was of independant means, but in practice I think he was a solicitor: Halpin, Richard M., (gentleman), Leitrim Lodge Bachelor's Walk, Wicklow - Wife Sarah - 3 daughters Fanny, Sara and Louisa.  Son Richard.  His brother Robert C Halpin of Tinnakilly House...and his nephew of Main St. Wicklow, Dr. James H. Halpin.

Sara Halpin (spinster) Leitrim Lodge...d. 3rd April 1915...leaves all to sisters.  Appoints Frances and Louisa as executors, signed in the presence of Kate Newsom and Aileen Halpin.

Halpin, Richard Frederick Bestall - Physician/surgeon, Arklow Co. Wicklow...d. 19th Oct. 1903, estate granted to Susanna Frances Halpin of Stokerville, Dalkey Co. Dublin (widow), lawful guardian of Aileen Grace Gilbert Halpin 16 yrs, Stopford Richard Gilbert Halpin 15 yrs, Frances Elisabeth Gilbert Halpin 13 yrs.

Halpin, Richard JA (Marine Engineer) Leitrim Lodge...d. 29th June 1915.  Administration of estate Frances Margaret Halpin, Spinster, sister of deceased.  Executors, his sisters Frances and Sarah.  Witnesses Francis B Gregg, MD, and William Newbold, Chemist.

Halpin, Frances E, Reenmore Arklow, wife of Richard EB Halpin (MD), appoints her father John Gilbert, her cousin the Rev. Thomas White Manning, sister-in-law Nannie Caldo(?) Halpin and sister Sidney Tomasina Gilbert.  Witnesses Rose Undrell (?) and Polly Gilbert....17th July 1897 Frances dies at Beaumont, Terenure Road, Dublin.

Margaret Frances G Halpin, died 6th June 1925 at 113 Chord Road, Drogheda.
Samuel Halpin, died 7th January 1918 at 113 Chord Road, Drogheda - note: Samuel was my Greatgrandfather's brother.  In about 1921 a Drogheda alderman by the name of Halpin, including a young Clontarf man by the name of Halpin, were executed by persons unknown for reasons unknown - the young man (along with his friend) was shot dead as he sat on the sea wall only yards away from the public baths I told you about, Bill - the now disused baths that I thought were called "Halpin's Pool".  At any rate, both men were shot because of William Halpin's H-squad activities in the North Strand...it was retaliation, but not necessarily by the Black and Tans.  This, at least, is how it was explained to us.  Till this day I don't think those families know why their relatives were murdered.  It was a terrible time - few historians dwell on it. 

As for the George Halpin, MD, of Wicklow - he worked in Wicklow all his life and, along with Robert Wellington Halpin and Stopford Halpin, was at times a Town Commissioner or involved with the Harbour Board.  I'm not 100%, but I believe he was Stopford's brother - I'll hunt down his obit.

Halpin, Stopford John, 4th son of the late Dr. and Mrs. Stopford W. Halpin, Arklow, d. Jan 22 1944 in a Nursing Home, Vancouver, B.C. - Irish Times, Thurs. 10 Feb. 1944.

George W. Halpin, d. 5th July 1922 at Buenos Aires, son of late R C Halpin, Chaplain to the forces, aged 73.  (Don't say a word, Bill - you neither, Kim).

I have often wondered if this is Edwin's brother, Robert - any help would be appreciated:
Alderman Robert Halpin of coventry, who died on Aug. 14 aged 80 (?), left unsettled estate of the gross value of £114, 247 , with net personalty £74,073.