Halpins of Wicklow, etc. - Part 4

[Shanachai]

Part Four.

From the early 18th century until the end, therefore, the Halpins, Faulkners, Dillons and Lamberts were closely related, and continuously linked in terms of their professional and political activities and sympathies.  In some instances they were related through marriage and blood. It is recorded that Faulkner's wife, for example, also claimed to be related to the Dillons.  If I could bring you forward in time to the 1850s, 60s, and 70s, you will recall that Wicklow's small circle of campaigning radicals consisted of R W Halpin, James Lambert and James Dillon.  If I had to guess as to why they were so close politically, I'd say one of the reasons was because they believed they were cousins, related to the Lamberts, Halpins and Dillons I describe above.

Finally, and most decisively for me: Robert Wellington Halpin's wife was a woman by the name of Frances Mabella Smith (1813 - 1883).  Her father was a ''Paper Stainer'' by the name of Samuel Smith, who ran a very successful business in Nassau Street, Dublin.  Samuel Smith's father and grandfather also went by the name of Samuel, and George Faulkner's nephew, whom he trained in the business of book publishing, book selling, and printing, was none other than Samuel Smith.  Smith lived with his uncle until the latter's death in the 1760s, and worked with him from his business in Parliament Street.  After Faulkner's death Samuel would go out on his own, eventually ending up in Nassau Street, where his son expanded the business in the early 1800s.  His granddaughter would marry the grandson, or great grandson, of the man I regard as Robert Wellington Halpin's great grandfather - Patrick Halpin Snr.  Patrick Halpin Snr, who owed his professional existence to the contracts he received from George Faulkner, must have dined regularly with Samuel at Faulkner's dinner table, where leaders of the Catholic and Protestant communities were often united over a fine meal and a generous supply of good wine.

From this point on there really can't be any sensible objection to Robert Wellington Halpin's claim that he was related to the rest of the Halpins mentioned in this thread.  He was right about the links between all of the other Halpin families, and should be regarded as a reliable source of information about the broader Halpin clan, even if his descendants were - for entirely understandable reasons - not as reliable as he was, at least in the early days of the Halpin forum.  More to the point, his claim that the Halpin family split apart over political differences arising out of the United Irish rebellion makes sense, when you consider his forebear's links to the Sheares brothers, who were at the heart of the rebel conspiracy. 

There is a great deal more to relate about this period in the Halpin tale, particularly in regard to a family of distillers and brewers working in Dublin during the 1790s.  James and Christopher Halpin were initially investigated by me as being likely sources for the legend of the Halpin link to prominent United Irish rebels, as they took care of the lands of the Teelings - another famous United Irish family - and were indirectly involved in an attempt to save Robert Emmett from the gallows in 1803.  But I dismissed them after tracing their family line down to the 20th century, where I discovered they were Catholics.  Given their links to the Teelings and the Catholic Association, I concluded that they had always been Catholics and put them aside.  But I've since realized that my initial conclusion was wrong, and that despite their descendants ending up Catholic in the 20th century, they themselves - Christopher and James - were in fact Protestant.  I'll need to return to these men shortly if I'm to exclude them from the Halpin tale once and for all.  But it's at least possible that in addition to the links between the Halpins and the Sheares brothers, they also had links to the Teelings. 

[Shanachai]

Part Five.

Bartholomew Teeling, for those of you who don't know, was hung after he was caught accompanying the Humbert expedition in 1798.  His declaration from the foot of the gallows remains a moving testimony to the sentiments that would inspire Robert Wellington Halpin, James Lambert, and others like them, to maintain the struggle throughout the 19th century:

The same Tribunal which has condemned me — Citizens, I do not speak to you here of the constitutional right of such a Tribunal, — has stamped me a traitor. If to have been active in endeavouring to put a stop to the blood-thirsty policy of an oppressive Government has been treason, I am guilty. If to have endeavoured to give my native country a place among the nations of the earth was treason, then I am guilty indeed. If to have been active in endeavouring to remove the fangs of oppression from the head of the devoted Irish peasant was treason, I am guilty.

Finally, if to have striven to make my fellow-men love each other was guilt, then I am guilty. You, my countrymen, may perhaps one day be able to tell whether these were the acts of a traitor or deserved death. My own heart tells me they were not and, conscious of my innocence, I would not change my present situation for that of the highest of my enemies.

To those anxious for proof, I will publish all of the deeds related to the information I've provided here (off the cuff) in a new blog I intend to commence before the month is out.  And I will correct an error I made in an earlier post relating to the connection between Robert James Halpin and James Everett, Wicklow's long-serving Labour TD.  Cheers for now - RH.

[BillW]

Ray, out of the blue today I received email notification that "a reply has been posted to a topic you are watching.."  It now appears that you have made a lot of posts and I had no idea.

This thread may not have become so moribund, as you rightly observe, if Rootschat had kept all followers regularly informed.  Why it chose at this time to notify me when it has failed to do so before remains a mystery.

Bill

[BillW]

Congratulations Ray on all your summaries.  I am particularly pleased that you seem to have found Mabella Smith's family.  I was completely unaware of that, and what an interesting family to have come from.  Could you send me details to add to my records?

Re Faulkner, at one time I made extensive researches into the Hone family, who had married into the Crosthwaite family, both of whom were members of the Dublin Society and board members of the Bank of Ireland.  The firm of Hone & Faulkner were solicitors for George Halpin's family up to the 1930s.

I was completely unaware of the names Lambert or Dillon, in Wicklow or Dublin, so that is all new to me and takes some digesting.

Re Charles Halpine's American obituary, I know that you are aware to regard it as but one possible version of his history.   But we must accept that it contains grains of fact.  It would be wonderful to be able to find evidenced of the Louth and other land claims.  What are your current conclusions about how Old Nick got to Portarlington and how he fits in?

Do you know anything more about Deborah Richardson?  WHH was widowed and nearly 50 when he married her but he lived a further 30 years.

All best, Bill

[Shanachai]

Hello Bill.  I am aware of the presence of Hone and Faulkiner, Solicitors, and of their connection to your forebears.  But I haven't looked into the possible links between ''Faulkiner'' and the surname of George Faulkner, Printer and Publisher in 18th century Dublin.  I was aware of a possible link, but I don't have the heart right now to sift through the dozens of Deeds that must exist in which the Faulkiners feature as Grantors or Grantees.  If I find the time, I'll see what I can do, but my focus is on shoring up the summaries I presented here yesterday.

The findings related to R W Halpin's wife, Frances, were a godsend, because they helped to solidify the otherwise circumstantial links between her husband and the rest of the Halpin clan.  Her's is not definitive proof of the blood tie I've always insisted on, but I ran a slightly more informative summary by Turtle recently, and it convinced him.  So I'm happy enough to push on, now, and flesh things out.  The exact details establishing the Smith link to Faulkner, and the information revealing the closeness of Lambert and Dillon to R W Halpin and Francis Wakefield, are forthcoming.  I've already sent you details of the deed in which Oliver and Patrick Halpin/Halfpenny are mentioned in relation to a sale of land in Wicklow (Bushy Park) in the mid-1830s.  That transaction included the name of Rev. Lambert Watson Hepenstall, who owned quite a bit of land in the Bushy Park area of Wicklow at that time. 

If you conduct a Google search of ''Hepenstall, the Walking Gallows'', you'll find references to Edward and a pretty graphic image of the man in the process of killing a captive.  He was Patrick Metcalf Halpin's first cousin, so you can imagine what the mood was like in the Halpin household when news reached it of Edward's antics.  When in Dublin, Hepenstall conducted most of his 'investigations' in a barracks located on Stephen's Green, a few hundred yards from Samuel Smith's business in Nassau Street.  The Barracks were supervised by John Beresford, who had links to George Halpin, and it was at the Custom House on Essex Quay, also supervised by Beresford, that George may have received the injuries that landed him in hospital in Kilmainham.  This indicates the extent to which all members of the Anglo-Irish community who were not part of or sympathetic to the Patriot cause were implicated in the terror. 

To return to the distillers and brewers I dismissed some time ago: James Halpin had a brother (it may have been his father) by the name of Richard.  I have a deed in which the name of Patrick Halpin crops up as the owner of a house within the grounds of James Halpin's distillery on Petticoat Lane.  I don't know if the Patrick mentioned in that deed is in fact Patrick Halpin Snr or Jnr, therefore the coincidence needs to be investigated further.  Nor do I know much about the Richard Halpin I find mentioned in relation to James.  Given the importance of those names to our story, and given the fact that I now know the owners of the distillery and brewery were Protestants, and not Catholics as earlier maintained, you can understand why I'm anxious to return to them ASAP.

As for the references to Louth contained in C G Halpine's obit, I think they deserve further scrutiny.  I certainly have found references in the deeds to transactions in regard to land and property in Louth, but I didn't follow them up, as I was focused on the Lamberts, Dillons and Smiths.  I'll have to return to that thread soon.  As for how everything ties in with Old Nick down in Portarlington, I simply don't know.  But education and Patronage would have had a great deal to do with it, given the historical period and what we know of Nic's professional activities.

I know nothing about Deborah Richardson.

[Shanachai]

One final point - I had assumed that John Edmond Halpin, actor, engraver and miniature painter, and son of Patrick Halpin Snr, was also the John Halpin I found who ran a bookshop and printing service in Sackville Street, Dublin, between 1790 and 1810 (the year of his death).  I have since found references to John Halpin, actor, that date after 1810, so my assumption that the two John's were one and the same was incorrect.  Sharing an address with John in Sackville Street were members of the banking family of the Allens, who had professional and marital links to the Hones, which is interesting.  Halpin took one of the Allen's sons as his apprentice.  Halpin's own son went by the name of Frederick Horatio Halpin, and he worked for the East India Company.  So the chances of him being one of 'our' Halpins is very high, I think.  If I had to guess (and it's only a hunch), I'd say there's a good chance that John Halpin of Sackville Street was descended from the John and William Halfpenny, architects and draftsmen, of the mid 18th century, and the family of Herald Painters we found references to in the Dublin Street Directories dating from the last 25 years of the 1700s.  We know that Patrick Halpin Snr and Jun sometimes went by the name Halfpenny, and we believe (correctly in my view) that the ancestors of the Halpins of Wicklow town were also Halfpennys, so there are some fruitful avenues to explore in the coming months.

At the risk of exhausting you with yet another discovery worth thinking about, consider this: at the time of the 1798 rebellion a couple of Halfpennys were murdered by rebels in the Wicklow area, precisely around the time Edward Hepenstall was terrorizing the populace.  And we also know that members of the Halpin's extended family collaborated in the murder of a Catholic priest in Wicklow town at around the same time.  Given that Hepenstall was Patrick Metcalf Halpin/Halfpenny's first cousin, and that the Protestant Halfpennys were numerous in Wicklow, we may be looking at a series of tit-for-tat killings related to the politics of the rebellion.

Cheers, R.

[Shanachai]

The following deed is the key document that opened up the Halpin tale for me.  Since it's crucial to the veracity of part of what I said yesterday, I thought it only fair I transfer in full the information it contains to this thread.  Where I'm unable to read something clearly, I stick square brackets around it.  Otherwise the punctuation is as I found it in the deed.

Halpin, Oliver/Lambert, Wicklow 1834 4 223:

Memo of Indented Deed of Release dated 17th February 1834 between Oliver Halpin, now residing in Ostend in the Kingdom of Belgium, Esquire, of the first part, and the Reverend Lambert Watson Hepenstall of Anamoe, County Wicklow, Ireland, of the second part, reciting indenture of lease dated about the 9th September 1737 and made between Charles Monck, then of [Charlyfield], County Wicklow, Esq., and Augusta his wife, of the one part, and John Lambert, then of [Kilkroney], Wicklow, Gent, of the other part, and reciting renewal dated 30th August 1764 between Henry Monck, as eldest son and heir at law of said Charles and Augusta Monck, then deceased, and Richard Lambert as Execor of said John Lambert, deceased, reciting deed of lease and release dated the 12th and 13th February 1747 made between William Monck of the city of London, Esq., of the first part, and said John Lambert of [Kilkroney] aforesaid, of the other part, and reciting an indenture of renewal of said last therein before recited indenture of lease made between Charles Monk (sic) therein named and the said Reverend Lambert Watson Hepenstall (party thereto) of the other part and reciting that said John Lambert desired by his will dated on or about the 18th December 1749 with his brother Richard Lambert all his real and freehold estates in trust as therein mentioned who duly proved same and obtained probate thereof, and that at the time of his death left five younger children, and reciting settlement dated 26th February 1770, made between Richard Lambert execor as aforesaid, Elizabeth Lambert, one of said younger children of the first part, Patrick Halpenny, then of the city of Dublin, Gentleman, of the second part, John Lambert and Richard Lambert the younger, then of Wicklow, in the county of Wicklow, Gent, of the third part, reciting that the said Patrick Halpenny had survived his said wife and died, leaving Oliver Halfpenny (party thereto), his eldest surviving son, who thereupon took the name of Halpen and became entitled as tenant (grati in tail) to the said portions of his mother in said lands of Kilmacanogue and Stillbawn under said recited deed of settlement, and that all the estates and interests in said lands of Kilmacanogue and Stillbawn under said therein before and herein recited leases and renewals thereof, save as to the portions thereof aforesaid vested in the said Oliver Halpin (party thereto) had become and was then legally vested in said Lambert Watson Hepenstall, party thereto, and reciting that said Lambert Watson Hepenstall (cestui que ...) for which same was then held, and during the lives of such other persons or person as should forever thereafter be added, at the price or sum of £1,200 Ster.,

[Shanachai]

Deed continued:

...said indenture witnessed that in pursuance and performance of the said agreement, and in consideration of the said sum of £1,200 of lawful money of Great Britain and Ireland by the said Lambert Watson Hepenstall to the said Oliver Halpin in hand, well and truly paid, at or immediately before the sealing and delivery of said presents, the receipt of which from the said Oliver Halpin did thereby acknowledge and of and from the same of every part thereof did acquit the said LWH for Ever, and his execors admins and assigns, he the said OH did grant bargain sell alien release and confirm unto said LWH (in his actual possession then being by deed of bargain and sale and ten shillings and statute therein mentioned and his heirs) All That and those the said one fifth undivided part of the said moiety of said lands of [Kilkroney] and all that and those one undivided fifth part of the said town and lands of Stillbawn or said Bushy Park, together also with one fifth part undivided of one other fifth part of the said town and lands of [Kilkroney] and Stillbawn or Bushy Park respectively, All said lands and premises situate lying and being in the Parish of Powerscourt and half Barony of Rathdown and County of Wicklow, as therein mentioned, together with all the rights members and appurtenances thereof respectively, and all the said estate right title interest inheritance use trust property profit claim and demand whatsoever...at law and in equity of him the said Oliver Halpin, into, out of, or upon the same lands and premises, and every part and parcel thereof with their and every of their appurtenances and all deeds evidences and writings relating or in any rise concerning the said portions of said lands and premises thereby granted and released or intended to be in the custody or power of the said Oliver Halpin, To Hold the said fifth part of said therein before mentioned lands with their appurtenances unto the said LWH his heirs and assigns for and during the life and lives of cestui qui vies therein being and the longest lives of them and forever thereafter to be added by virtue of the covenants of renewal subject nevertheless to the one fifth part and a fifth part of one other full fifth part of the yearly rents and fines for renewal and the covenants and agreements in law in recited indent of release mentioned – and though the said Oliver Halpin did thereby covenant that he then had full power and authority to execute said release, and had done no act whereby same could be incumbered revoked or made void, and a covenant for quiet and peaceable enjoyment, and a covenant to do at all times thereafter any act required by said LWH to more perfectly and absolutely grant release and assure said portions of said lands thereby granted and released...of which this is a Memorial – and this Memorial is respectively witnessed by Alexander Howison Graydon and Richard D’Amour (a British subject)...

[Shanachai]

Correction.

On page 19 of this thread, Reply #167, dated Wednesday 14th October 2015, I posted a comment that included the following lines:

''Joseph McCarroll, one of the county's most notable nationalist politicians in the last quarter of the 19th century, spoke with sincere appreciation of R W Halpin's services after the latter died in 1883, and James Everett, Wicklow's longest serving TD, referred to my great, great grandfather with genuine feeling when relatives of mine visited Wicklow in the 1950s.  Everett never met R W Halpin, but he heard a great deal about him from Joe McCarroll, and was taught by Robert James Halpin (1872 - 1960), who was R W Halpin's grandson.''

Everything within that extract is true, bar the claim that James Everett was taught by Robert James Halpin.  While that mistake should not have been made, I see no point in explaining how it was made.  The simple fact of the matter is that the post is mine, therefore the error is mine. 

From the outset I've regarded the Halpin forum as precisely that - a forum, where real time discussions are had about a common interest: the Halpin family.  The point of the forum (at least for me) was not simply to uncover the facts, but to demonstrate exactly how the process of uncovering the facts takes place.  Most of the contributors to our discussions are interested amateurs, not seasoned genealogists, and while reasonable efforts are made to avoid making errors, no one should expect to find the gospel written on every page.  A published book is the result of a long process of research, writing and rewriting, therefore a reader is entitled to assume the material he or she is reading is trustworthy.  Rootschat posts are not the result of a long process of research and rewriting.  They are on-the-move dispatches from research underway, and should be read as part of a work-in-progress rather than the finished product.  I've always tried to correct errors, but I regard it as dishonest to pretend I've never made any at all, and for that reason I refuse to go back to earlier posts and correct them without notification.  Amateurs err, as do professional writers.  As well as being a public record of the process involved in locating an ancestor and gradually discovering more and more about them, Rootschat is also a lesson in humility, and a tribute to the unglamorous virtue of perseverance.  The Halpin thread is a testament to the doggedness of its contributors, and should encourage others to plough on through the inevitable errors and long interruptions that invariably punctuate any genealogical undertaking.

That said, I'll try to explain not how I made the error in regard to James Everett, but why I was so keen to draw him into the tale in the first place.