Genealogy research by Mark Humphrys.
Genealogy research by Mark Humphrys.
William Carrique Ponsonby, born 1770,
He
mar 1stly, Jan-May 1794, to Elizabeth Gun
[born post-1765, descendant of Edward III].
Elizabeth was
widow of James Fuller Harnett.
Her children by him came to live at Crotto.
William's father died 1796.
He
inherited Crotto.
He must be "William Ponsonby" who
was High Sheriff of Co. Kerry
(like his father)
in 1797-98.
|
Major in the Kerry Militia:
He was appointed Captain in the Clanmaurice Corps of infantry (volunteer militia) in Co.Kerry in 1803. [1805 Army List] apparently shows him as Captain of the Clanmaurice Company. The Clanmaurice Company was probably absorbed in 1807 into the Kerry Militia (or Kerry Regiment, HQ at Tralee). He was appointed 15 May 1807 directly as Major to the Kerry Militia. (He does not appear in the Kerry Militia before then.) [1807 Army List] apparently shows him in the Kerry Militia. |
Arthur Wellesley
(later Duke of Wellington),
Chief Secretary for Ireland,
wrote to him in Dec 1807,
authorising Ponsonby to reward informers.
Wellesley
wrote to him in Jan 1808
about the possibility of a position for Ponsonby.
In Aug 1808 he was appointed to the office of
"Collector of Excise duties in Kerry".
See
item
in Freeman's Journal,
23 August 1808.
He is
listed as "Major" at 1809 reception.
His step-dau
Sara Harnett
married against his wishes c.1809.
His brother Richard died 1811,
and then
Richard's children
seem to have come to live with him at Crotto
rather than with their mother,
who remarried.
Elizabeth dies, 1812:
She died Cork, Fri 19 June 1812, age less than 47.
See
death notice
in Freemans Journal,
Tuesday,
June 30, 1812.
William
had issue by 1st wife:
Army officer:
Richard was army officer.
Lieutenant
in Kerry Militia from Apr 1810 to Aug 1814
[RIC officers],
(todo) see War Office, 13/2902-22.
He was
Ensign
from Sept 1814 to Aug 1816
[RIC officers].
This would apparently be a demotion.
Perhaps this was because he moved to a different regiment.
Death notice says he was formerly officer
in the 27th Regiment.
[RIC officers]
says he
became
Major,
but this seems to be confusion with his father
(it confuses his widow with his father's widow).
Policeman:
He was
later a senior policeman,
officer in Irish Constabulary.
Appointed 3rd class Sub Inspector 28 Jan 1823.
He is listed in
[RIC officers],
(todo) see RIC officers service register,
[LDS]
microfilm 2097,
p.034.
Chief Constable of Tullow, Co.Carlow.
[Patrick Carroll's Notebooks]
list him as Chief Constable of Tullow in 1829, living Tullow.
He mar Mary Anne ----.
Travelled with his career, did not live at Crotto.
His younger brother
Thomas inherited Crotto.
Sir John Benn-Walsh writing in 1834
says that Thomas' elder brother
"was disinherited by the father."
Death notice describes him as "County Inspector of Meath".
He died shortly before 8 May 1841, Navan, Co.Meath, age 45 yrs.
See Kerry Evening Post, 8 May 1841,
[NLI] microfilm,
(todo) try 14 June 1841.
[RIC officers]
says he died 1 Oct 1842, but this is not true.
[Deed, 1842]
says Thomas is the "heir at law" of his brother Richard (i.e. heir of Crotto).
Mary Anne is party to
[Deed, 1842].
William mar 2ndly, 1814, to Honoria Wren [born 1786 or 1788, descendant of Edward III].
|
Anti-tithe violence, 1821-22:
William was active in combating local anti-tithe violence and "Whiteboyism". See item in Freemans Journal, December 24, 1821. He wrote a number of letters to the authorities in 1822, reporting local outrages. In a letter of 10 Feb 1822 he describes disturbances by "insurgents", and says Co.Kerry is in a bad state, close to "actual rebellious warfare". He encloses a letter addressed to Crotto from "John Starlight", which appears to be a threat to him to comply with agitators' demands. He is listed as a Justice of the Peace as at June 1822 [Collins papers, 1]. |
William is listed at Crotto in
[Pigot's directory, 1824].
He is listed
at Crotto in
[Tithe Survey] 1825, lands of 142 acres.
His nieces
Louisa and Mary Ponsonby
were living with him at Crotto as at 1825,
when Louisa became pregnant outside marriage.
She left to go to her mother some time after this.
His niece
Mary Ponsonby
was still living with him at Crotto
in 1828.
William was living Crotto as at
[Deeds, 1829],
at which time Louisa has left Crotto and is now with her mother.
William Ponsonby, senior, JP, of Crotto, and William junior are
listed
in
a petition in
Chutes Western Herald,
17 February, 1831
and
21 February, 1831.
Two of his sons, George and
William junior, died in June-Aug 1831.
William died a few months later.
"William Carrigue Ponsonby" is listed
in House of Commons
Parliamentary papers, Volume 35, 1832,
as one of the Magistrates
in the Commission of the Peace
in Co.Kerry.
|
William dies, 1831:
He died at Crotto, 16 Dec 1831, age 61 yrs, or possibly 23 Dec. See obituary in Kerry Evening Post, Saturday, 24 December, 1831. It says he died "on Friday last", but it is unclear if this means Fri 23 Dec or (perhaps more likely) Fri 16 Dec. See lament for him and his two sons in Tralee Mercury, 4 January, 1832. "In six short months, the happy group dispersed, and three are clasped in the cold arms of Death." He is bur at Aghavallen church, near Ballylongford, Co.Kerry. [Letter, 1898] says that the Ponsonby tomb there is the tomb of "Major Ponsonby". His wife Honoria was later buried there. Note that she is from the Ballylongford area. Will proved 1 Sept 1832. |
His son
Thomas Carrique Ponsonby
inherited Crotto.
Honoria is party to
[Deed, 1842],
in which Thomas
is selling off Crotto and the Ponsonby estate.
She is listed in 1842 as of Tralee (has left Crotto).
[Slater's directory, 1846]
lists her at 7 Day Place, Tralee.
She was next door to
Rowland Blennerhassett
of 6 Day Place.
(In 1849 her dau married his son.)
Honoria dies, 1864:
She died
Wed 16 Nov 1864
[death notice],
[grave],
[NAI],
or possibly
14 Nov 1864
[GROI],
age 76 yrs
[GROI],
or 78 yrs
[grave],
NOT age 72 yrs.
She died at her daughter's house
Oakvilla, Tralee (NOT Kilflynn).
See death cert
from
[GROI].
See death notice, Cork Examiner, Sat 19 Nov 1864,
[NLI] microfilm.
Have
searched
Limerick Chronicle,
[LCL] microfilm,
15 to 26 Nov,
for death notice, not found.
She was
bur in the
Ponsonby tomb
at Aghavallen church, near Ballylongford.
See admin
granted 1865
[NAI].
William had issue by 2nd wife:
William Ponsonby, High Sheriff of Co. Kerry, and others
offer a reward for the conviction of the murderer of a soldier at Tralee on 21 Dec 1797.
Also offering rewards are
John Blennerhassett, Clerk, and
George Cashel and
John Blennerhassett and
George Cashel junior.
From Chute's Western Herald, 22 Dec 1797.
Printed on p.100
of
Historical Record of the 2nd (now 80th) or Royal Tyrone Fusilier Regiment of Militia
(1872).
William Ponsonby listed as Captain of the Clanmaurice Corps of infantry
in Co.Kerry.
From
p.92
of
List of the Volunteer and Yeomanry Corps of the United Kingdom, 1804.
William Ponsonby listed as Major in the
Kerry county Militia in
[1808 Almanac].
Note his in-law
Capt. Edward Fuller.
See full size
LHS and
RHS.
Diary of
Judge Robert Day
for April 1811
notes his dispute with his political rival William Ponsonby.
From [O'Carroll, 2004, pp.196-197].
CROTTO in
[Leet's Directory, 1814]
gets the alignment of the 4th column wrong.
Daniel O'Connell
tells a story of a Mr. S., who challenged him to a duel,
sending the challenge via William Ponsonby of Crotto.
From pp.113-114
of vol.2
of Personal recollections of the late Daniel O'Connell, M.P.
by William J. O'Neill Daunt (1848).
[NLI] Ir 92 o 138.
This section was quoted in a review of the book
in
The Patrician, vol.6 (1848),
pp.298-305,
[NLI] 92905 p 1 (offsite, order in advance).
Engraving of Crotto House published 1821.
Map of Ponsonby and Lindsay graves inside
Aghavallen church.
From
[Letter, 1898].
The above Ponsonby tomb is "a".
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