Halpins of Wicklow - Part 3

[BillW]

Married.  On the 3d instant, at Portarlington, mr. Hill, to miss Halpin, of said place [Finns Leinster Journal Wed Sept 9, 1789, p2] [Courtesy www.irishnewsarchive.com]

Comparing the date of this 1789 marriage, William Henry Halpin was born c.1760 and married 1787 to Marianne Crosthwaite.  From the Burke’s entry, we are told that WHH had one sister, Susanna, who seems to have not married because she had a will in her own name that was proved after her death 1834, executor William H Halpin of North Cumberland St.  [4/237/34]

I may have posted here before that Portarlington local historian, Ronnie Mathews, writes of a connection between the Nicholas Halpins and a locally prominent Hill family.  (He writes of Old Nick being connected with student entries to TCD from 1789 and including “James Hill son of Portarlington’s Major Thomas Hill and brother of architect Thomas Hill in 1801”.  (I don’t know how much credence to give this since the architect Thomas Hill and family seem to be from Cork.)

Mathews goes on to report that: “One of the Hills was also married to Mary Anne daughter of the above Nicholas Halpin, and they had three children, whose names were Nicholas Thomas (Hill), William Halpin (Hill) and Mary Anne Hill.”  (Again, I have been unable to find any such evidence – perhaps it comes from estate books to which Mathews has access.  He elsewhere mixes up the Halpin generations.)

So, did Old Nick and Anne du Bois have at least one other daughter, Mary Anne Halpin, who is not in the Burke’s record, and if so, Nicholas Thomas Hill, William Halpin Hill and Mary Anne Hill all would have been first cousins of Rev Nicholas John Halpin, William Henry Halpin the newspaperman, Dr Charles Halpin and of Frederick James Halpin, schoolmaster of Kingstown.

I put this on the record but view it sceptically without more firm evidence.  It would be good to be able to go over Ronnie Mathews sources with him.

[BillW]

Ray, sorry to advise a small point.  The Robert Halpin who may have been a tide surveyor and thought to have been a possible father of Robert Wellington Halpin and who was reported (by me) as dying in 1855 having been on a handsome pension of £250 pa - this turns out to have been Richard Halpin of Howth, not Robert.  From the Cork Examiner.   May 9, 1855, page 2.  April 30, Richard Halpin, of Howth, co. Dublin, late surveyor in her majesty's customs.

[joytun]

I am not involved in the research of the Halpin Family, but I take photos of Headstones and contribute to IGP Archives.  I was recently asked to take a clearer picture of the inscription on the Memorial at Wicklow, and when I called there yesterday I found that it has been restored.  Looking really nice now.   
I have also found further Halpin inscriptions within the family burial enclosure.
I am also wondering if there was a William Halpin who died 1762 aged 55.
If anyone would like copies of my photos (yet to be edited) please get in touch.  They will, of course, be on IGP Archives in due course.
Joyce

[BillW]

Everyone, Joyce and her comrade Yvonne Russell, have been doing unstinting and invaluable work, which has to be a labour of love, photographing and annotating headstones, principally around Counties Dublin and Wicklow, for now I think.  Their work is recorded at the free IGP website.  Their Co Wicklow work can be visited at http://www.igp-web.com/igparchives/ire/wicklow/photos/tombstones/markers.htm and search from there for the transcriptions.
Joyce, if you turn back at this current thread to pp 19-20, you can see that Tavern turned up the parish register entry for William Halpin (Hapny) who died in 1762 and how we have discussed his potential connections with the family.
Is there anyone reading who might assist Joyce to gain access within the Halpin enclosure to enable more accurate photography, now that it is as pristine as it is likely to get?  Please contact Joyce or me directly so it can be done this summer.  Apparently stones have been righted that were unable to be viewed previously.

[powerwicklow]

Hi Joyce and Bill.

Firstly Joyce I am sorry I missed you on your last visit to the graveyard on Church Hill. I am never too far away. I would have met you there on a couple of previous occasions when you were down photographing and I think I would have found some old maps at the time that were relevant.

About two years ago the local historical society brought ancestors of the Captain to visit at the graveyard and the memorial was in a poor state at the time. It was very hard to read the transcriptions and for a monument that gets so many visitors it needed a face lift. I was privelaged to get the task of cleaning the monument which was a slow and time consuming job. Toothbrushes, nailbrushes and toothpicks were the tools of the day. The job is complete apart from some lead lettering that is missing. These will be replaced I am sure if finances permit.

The railed area to the south of the Halpin Monument which contains the three Halpin headstones that are lying flat was cleaned up previously and the railings have been repainted and the same headstones are easily accessable. It was in cleaning up this area we became aware of the Hapny headstone which had lay undetected for years. In between the railed area and the Captain Halpin monument is the Kennedy grave where Captain Halpins sister is buried. This headstone is also qiute dirty but can be read, but if it was to be cleaned it would look quite out of place in such an old graveyard.

As one enters the graveyard , on the Left hand side of the path is the Brownrigg Vault. There was a small amount of vandalism to the vault a few years back which was repaired and at the same time the monument that sits above the vault was cleaned and restored. Did Brownrigg marry or bury the Captain ?

Because of their proximity to the edge of the graveyard where ground has subsided before there are two headstones that had fallen face down and have now been lifted and can be read. This would not normally be the case as the graveyard is left to progress naturally unless there ia a danger. The names on these headstones are Sprent and Byrne.

As regards photographing in the graveyard I can organise any help that is needed if either one of you make contact with me.

John.

[joytun]

Hi Bill and John

Thanks for your messages.  First of all I must congratulate you John on the wonderful work you have done on the Halpin Memorials.    I was out on Friday with my daughter taking photos in the gardens at Hunters Hotel.  We had some time to spare before having lunch, so we went to the churchyard at Wicklow in order to take a closeup of the inscription on the headstone you have restored.  This was a request from a contact living in Canada.   Of course, we didn't know of your work - so a lovely surprise.  When there I took a quick look at the enclosure and again found that another inscription could be read, and one that will take time to read.  I also found the Hapny headstone.   We were only there for a very short time, so didn't look you up.   However, I would love to go down again some morning, so will arrange to do so when you will be around.

And Bill, thanks for pointing me to the chat about Wlm. Hapny.   It occurred to me that it might well have been an earlier form of the Halpin surname.

Joyce

[BillW]

Joyce, way back in 2009, at thread http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,270348.msg2491878.html#msg2491878
on P2 of the original thread of this long discussion, Ray Halpin put on record the obituary of his ancestor Robert Wellington Halpin where is written: The funeral took place yesterday, in the family grave in Wicklow churchyard, and was attended by almost all the townspeople, and by many from the outlying districts.
He died on 2nd October 1883.  His wife, Frances Mabella Halpin had died February the same year.
We know many graves just disappear and this may be one of them but just bringing this to yours and John's particular attention.
I feel that this would have been a headstone of some quality.  Until less than a century ago, their grandson and his family were living nearby in Rathdrum where both he and his wife were national schoolteachers.

[BillW]

Going back to our beginnings as per the previous post.
Ray quotes some records quoted in Parliamentary Papers of which two now stand out, not to mention finding George's marriage to Elizabeth Bourne.
Halpin, William Henry and Anne Crosthwaite - 1787 - Nature of record, M.L. (Marriage Licence).  So, contrary to the handwritten Burke's submission and possibly re-emphasising its fallibility, was Miss Crosthwaite's name Anne, rather than Marianne, the name given to their daughter.  And secondly....
Halpin, John, gentleman - 1737 - Nature of record, I (?).  Ray's query mark means, what does "I" stand for?  Intestate, possibly.
So, who was John Halpin, gentleman, dying about 1737?  Possibly a retired naval gentleman?   Remember that the Wicklow Halpins' father seems to have been John Halfpenny.  I wonder if the document to which this refers survives.

[BillW]

On another tack, pun intended, there is this part of a quotation regarding the death at sea of Henry G Halpin, son of Richard Mathews Halpin -
 It may be mentioned that this is the first death by drowning which has occurred in the Halpin family, although, some years ago, four brothers of that family were at sea at the same time and, of course, exposed to the constant dangers of a sea-faring life. - The Wicklow Newsletter, March 25th 1883.
If this is to be taken literally, I previously had 3 captains among the brothers – Thomas, Richard and Robert Charles.  Do we include the brother John Augustus Halpin 1832-64 who is recorded as dying in Bermuda?  Nothing else is known about him.  Or, does the story stretch to include their cousin, George’s son Frederick?  It could not include Dr George Halbert Halpin’s son, Robert George Halpin who, although a ship’s captain dying in Falmouth, his death occurred 23 years after this article.
Including these last two, the family not only produced, by my count, 13 doctors but also 6 sea captains.  And were there the one or two naval ancestors, or are they mythical?