Halpins of Wicklow, etc. - Part 4

[BillW]

For the record, relating to above locations, the RCB Library lists that it has the following registers (http://ireland.anglican.org/cmsfiles/pdf/AboutUs/library/parregs.pdf):

Ballymore Eustace:  Baptisms 1838-1879; Marriages 1840-1956; Burials 1832-1879
Blessington:  Baptisms 1695-1860; Marriages 1683-1953; Burials 1683-1878
Hollywood:  Marriages 1845-1942
Tipperkevin:  Marriages 1846-1867

[BillW]

P.204.  Number 328.  Halbert, Thomas, the elder, town and county of Wicklow, 2 July 1803.  Full ⅓  p. 28 March 1806.  [I think this means probate granted 28/3/1806]
To my nephew all my estates in Co. Wicklow and elsewhere, subject to bequests to my nephew and two nieces, children of my late brother James Halbert, to provide for them until they reach twenty one years of age.
Witnesses: Rev. Mathew Johnson, clerk, and Wm. Goodison, Esq., both of town of Wicklow, and Martin Doyle, Collawiney [? Coolawinnia] (sic), Co. Wicklow, nurseryman.
Memorial witnessed by:  said Wm. Goodison and Wm. McDermott, city of Dublin, attorney.
574, 458, 391337
George Halbert (seal) in said will named.

[From “Registry of Deeds Dublin abstracts of wills vol. iii 1785-1832, E. Ellis and PB Eustace 1984" at http://www.irishmanuscripts.ie/digital/Registry%20Of%20Deeds%20Abstracts%20Of%20Wills%20Vol%20III%201785-1832/, accessed via a digitisation project by the Irish Manuscripts Commission at http://www.irishmanuscripts.ie/servlet/Controller?action=digitisation_backlist]

George Halbert is not in the "said will named”, so I presume that George is the “my nephew” to whom the estate is left.  A James Halbert was the father of Ann Halbert born 1797, wife of James Halpin, and so more than probably she was one of the two nieces.  Coolawinna, with various spellings, to the north of Wicklow Town, has been mentioned in prior postings, to do with the Revell family from memory.  Ann Halbert's mother, James' wife, was Mary Revell.

I have speculatively reviewed my conception of this family and attach a tentative tree and invite comments or corrections.  For some reason Thomas the elder left all his estate to his nephew George and none except limited bequests to his other nephew, Thomas, and his nieces.  We know from previous findings that Thomas, George and Hester were siblings.  Mid 1800s Thomas had a fine small estate at Kilmullin near Newtown Mount Kennedy.  Hester had a lease on 80 acres at Ballinabarny near Rathnew, possibly a vineyard.

In an ebook found at Google:  A List of the Officers of the Militia.....  For Co Wicklow under Coolkenna Infantry is Captain John Revell 12 Dec 1799 and the only officers listed for the Wicklow Infantry are Captain Thomas Halbert 3rd Jan 1817; 1st Lieut Richard Cotter; 2nd Lieut George Halbert both 8 Mar 1817.  No Halpin named in the entire book.

[BillW]

Title John Galloway, Dublin: report by George Halpin on repairs to steeple of church of Kilbeggan, County Westmeath   
Reference CSO/RP/1822/1552
Date 9 Apr 1822-16 Apr 1822
Creator Chief Secretary's Office
 
Scope and Content Letter from John Galloway, secretary, Commissioners of Consolidated Fund, Board Room, 37 Sackville [O'Connell] Street, Dublin, to William H Gregory, Under Secretary of Ireland, Dublin Castle, enclosing copy of report by George Halpin, engineer, on repairs to steeple of church of Kilbeggan, County Westmeath, work which he regards as defective and ‘should be taken down, properly jointed and reset’: expresses approval of new wall around churchyard and other repairs and finds funds lent for the purpose were appropriately accounted for.
Extent 2 items; 5pp
[From: http://www.nationalarchives.ie/search-the-archives/, search Kilbeggan and steeple.]

[BillW]

[From the same source.]
Title Ballast Office, Dublin: plan for erection of two lighthouses on Skellig Rocks, off Valentia Island, County Kerry   
Reference CSO/RP/1820/224
Date 6 Jan 1820- 13 Nov 1820
Creator Chief Secretary's Office
 
Scope and Content File of material relating to plan of Ballast Office, Dublin, for erection of two lighthouses on Skellig Rocks, off Valentia Island, County Kerry. Includes copy letter from James Court, Trinity House, London, England, to John Cossart, Ballast Office, Dublin, indicating acceptance by Elder Brethren of Corporation, of plan proposed by George Halpin, inspector of Irish light houses, for positioning of lighthouses on Skellig Rocks, 4 November 1820; also includes copy letter from Halpin, for transmission to Trinity Board, London, making report on establishment of sea warning structures, designed to a ‘be faithful leading Light for Vessels bound North or South and keep them clear of all danger’, 5 October 1820; also includes copy letter from Halpin to Cossart advocating feasibility of erection two lighthouses rather than one, on the site in question, 24 August 1820.
Extent 9 items; 13pp

[kenneth cooke]

Thanks for the tip Bill (your reply No 65). I looked up 'Sweny' at the National Archives and found one interesting item. I had assumed that Mark Halpen Sweny (1783-1865) left Ireland as a boy to join the Royal Navy and never returned. But it seems that Sweny did return to Ireland for a short time before settling in England.
Letter from Mark H Sweny, lieutenant, Royal Navy, Rathmines, Dublin, to Charles Grant, Chief Secretary, Dublin Castle, requesting appointment to post of surveyor or local inspector of fisheries; includes letter from Sweny to Earl Talbot, Lord Lieutenant, Dublin Castle, applying for position and to state that he served in the battle of Trafalgar, ‘lost both thumbs and a finger and was selected to fill the situation of first Lieutenant of the Northumberland when that ship carried Bonaparte to St Helena’ (1815). From Nat Archives Ireland, April/May 1820.
I take it that his application was rejected, as he turns up in England in 1822. Sweny is mentioned in ‘Diaries of a Lady of Quality’ (1797-1844) by Miss Frances Williams  Wynn, who had met him at a ball in Hastings in 1822.

[kenneth cooke]

In my previous post, it sounds as though he lost his thumbs and finger at Trafalgar, but in fact we don't know the details. For those interested, I have just posted more complete details of his life on the Rootschat topic "Sweny of Dublin", Posts #82 & 83.
Ken

[BillW]

From the Dictionary of Irish Architects (http://www.dia.ie/architects/view/2340/HALPIN%2C+GEORGE+%5B1%5D), is the following wording from Footnote 3:
 "According to the inscription on his gravestone in Mount Jerome Cemetery, he was 75 at the time of his death (information from O'Donoghue); Bill Long, Bright Light, White Water (1993), 60, quotes a report of his death in The Dublin Evening Post of 11 July 1854, which states that 'Mr Halpin was, we believe, in his 80th year'. Presumably the age on his gravestone is the correct one, although it would mean that Halpin was only 21 when he was appointed to the Ballast Board post."
I have been to this page previously but not noted the mention of age 80, which certainly is interesting.  I have found many instances of newspaper reporters taking liberties in their haste, recording information daily of hundreds of people they know nothing of.
Against this, and in support of the younger age, was the age given of George when he was discharged injured from Beresford's yeomanry in 1800 aged 22.  It should be speculated that this may have been his age at the date of the accident, 28 Sep 1799, but equally it could have been his age at discharge in 1800 (date not seen).

[BillW]

George Halpin was from 1800/01 Inspector of Works employed by the Ballast Board.  Belatedly I attempted to find where he worked from.  It seems he was a superb organiser and ran a well-oiled machine.  He'd have needed draftsmen, clerks, accountants, paymaster, deputies, etc.  I have found the following.

From de Courcy’s “The Liffey in Dublin”, p.89.

Under the heading “Corporation for Preserving and Improving the Port of Dublin”, he writes:  “…The  bill was enacted in 1786 and under its terms [the Corporation] was established.  This body became known for convenience as the Ballast Board.

“[It] forthwith took over the Ballast Office house in Essex Street, renaming it as the Ballast Office of the Port of Dublin.  The Board later moved to Lower Sackville Street and then in 1801 to Westmoreland Street, where it occupied the building known widely in the 19th and 20th centuries as the Ballast Office.”

Mr Frank Pelly, Consultant Curator to the Commissioners of Irish Lights, confirms that this was where Halpin's official quarters would have been, although he believes that Halpin also fashioned offices for himself next to his residence at the old North Wall Light.

I have these two links relating to the Ballast offices in Westmoreland Street.
http://homepage.eircom.net/~Irishshipping/Ballast%20Office.htm
http://archiseek.com/2013/1800-dolier-westmoreland-dublin/#.Uyt-2WeKCUl

[Shanachai]

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/

Census of Ireland 1901/1911 and Census fragments and substitutes,
1821-51.