The Blennerhassett problem - Things to do - Letitia Blennerhassett

Cashel at Tarbert 1806 Where was Letitia in 1806 to 1811? Was Letitia in Cork 1806 to 1811? George Cashel at Tarbert 1811 to 1828 Letters of around 1806 Land records NAI NLI Other Dublin Ireland NI UK

1806 deed 1806 reference in LDS George Cashel witness at Tarbert Regiments at Tarbert around 1806 DNA testing of Letitia Blennerhassett

Things to do - Letitia Blennerhassett

This was my "things to do" list for the now abandoned Theory of descent from Letitia Blennerhassett of Tarbert.

DNA says the Letitia theory is false, so I am not pursuing this list any more.
But I leave up this page since it may be helpful to other researchers.

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General

1. Law cases published. Search for "Reports of Cases Argued ... in Ireland" in:
   • archive.org
   • Google Books

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Google searches

Ponsonby Crotto Ponsonby Crotta Ponsonby Blennerhassett Rowland Ponsonby Blennerhassett

Ponsonby Cashel Letitia Ponsonby Cashel Richard Ponsonby Cashel Ponsonby Cashell Letitia Ponsonby Cashell Richard Ponsonby Cashell

Ponsonby Tarbert Letitia Ponsonby Tarbert Richard Ponsonby Tarbert

Cashel Tarbert "George Cashel" Tarbert "Cashel, George" Tarbert Cashell Tarbert "George Cashell" Tarbert "Cashell, George" Tarbert

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Find Mr. Cashel at Tarbert around 1806

The theory is that Letitia Blennerhassett met a Mr. Cashel in Tarbert around 1806.

There is no CASHEL living in Tarbert area around 1806. So who is he?

He might be from a temporary population, e.g. the Army base at Tarbert Island.

Or he might be from further away in Co.Kerry and visiting.

• Customs - Have searched for CASHEL in Customs records at NA.UK

• Church - No CASHEL in Vestry Minutes Book.

• Royal Navy

• British military
  • DONE CASHEL in [Army List, 1806]
  • Misc CASHEL in UK military

• Find British and Irish regiments stationed at Tarbert Island around 1806. Then can search these.

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Where was Letitia in 1806 to 1811?

If Letitia separated from Ponsonby in 1806, where did she live in 1806 to 1811? Where did she baptise the baby?

• Letitia was living in Tarbert, Co.Kerry.
• When she married 2ndly she was in Limerick.

• Where Letitia's siblings were:
  • Capt. Thomas Blennerhassett was in Tralee and then in Cork.
  • John Blennerhassett was in Dublin. House later in Monkstown par, Co.Dublin.
  • Elizabeth Blennerhassett and Capt. Edward Fuller were in Co.Kerry (Kenmare par, and Ardfert par) and in Cork (St.Mary's Shandon par).
  • Louisa Blennerhassett and Rev. Thomas Cole were in Cork. He was Curate of St.Anne's, Shandon, Cork, and Chaplain of the Foundling Hospital, Cork.
  • Capt. Goddard Blennerhassett was in the Navy.
  • Catherine Blennerhassett and Thomas Finn were in Dingle, Co.Kerry.

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Was Letitia in Cork 1806 to 1811?

• Letitia may have lived with her brother Capt. Thomas Blennerhassett in Cork in 1806 to 1811 period.

• Consider the following:
  • By the 1806 deed, Richard Ponsonby is paying Thomas Blennerhassett the yearly sum of £40. My theory is that this is for the maintenance of his disgraced wife Letitia. Thomas is the eldest brother. The father is dead.
  • If Thomas is being paid maintenance for his sister Letitia, it is likely that Letitia lives in the same town as Thomas. It would be a lot of trouble to get the money to her if she did not.
  • Maybe after her disgrace, Letitia went to live with her brother Thomas?
  • Maybe the money was paid to him, and not to her, in order to get him to take her in.

• Where did Thomas live?
  • He grew up in Tralee. He lived in Tralee at least 1792 until 1806.
  • In 1806 he moved to Cork. He lived in Cork at least 1806 to 1810.
  • His son Conway Blennerhassett was born 1808 in Cork.

• Does it mean something that Thomas moved from Tralee to Cork in 1806?
  • It would be difficult for a disgraced Letitia to live in Tralee, where she grew up, and people knew her.
  • Did Thomas deliberately move to Cork in 1806 to protect his sister?
  • Thomas named his own daughter Letitia, probably after 1809. So the scandal did not put him off naming his daughter after his sister. Maybe Letitia was living with him when his daughter was born. She might be godmother for the baptism. Either way, he must have been fond of his sister Letitia.

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Find George Cashel as a youth in Tarbert 1811 to 1828

School

• George Cashel in school records in Tarbert 1811 to 1826
• Reports From The Commissioners Of The Board Of Education In Ireland, 1809-12 (pub 1813)
• See [Gaughan, 1974, p.229 on].

• Protestant school in Glin?
• Protestant school in Ballylongford?

Erasmus Smith school, Tarbert

• Erasmus Smith school, Tarbert

• Erasmus Smith schools archive
  • Says about Tarbert school: Date of Sanction: 1785. Discontinued: 1894. Correspondence survives for: 1866-1894. Architectural Plans survive for: 1833.
  • (todo) See 1833 architectural plans for Tarbert school: Plans, elevation, letter from JP, specification & site plan in Erasmus Smith Archive.

• List of children at Erasmus Smith school, Tarbert, in 1809:
  • This is in Dr. Michael Quane Papers in NLI Ms.
  • Ms. 17,935 (5) has list of pupils at Tarbert, 1809.
  • List sent to Austin Cooper, Treasury, Dublin Castle.
  • See cover and p.1 and p.2.

• Could Leslie papers have a list of students at the Tarbert school?

Church

• George Cashel in Kilnaughtin Vestry Minutes Book 1815 to 1834.
  • DONE first pass of online version. PONSONBY, CASHEL not found.
  • Find original.
  • Original is NOT in [RCB].
  • Original is NOT in Limerick cathedral.

Early job

• Did he have a job in 1821 to 1828, before the police?
• Maybe in Customs?

• George Cashel in Customs records at NA.UK 1821 to 1828.
  • Tarbert is found under Limerick or Kilrush.
  • Division 9 within CUST. Irish Customs Board Records.
  • CUST 20. Irish Revenue Board and Irish Board of Custom: Salary Books and Establishments. 1682-1826.
  • CUST 110. Board of Excise: Irish Board and Establishment. Minutes and establishment lists.
    • Minutes and appointments 1824 to 1829 period. CUST 110/2.
  • CUST 111. Irish Revenue Police. 1830-1857.
  • CUST 113. Outport Records: Ireland. 1679-1849.
    • LIMERICK CUST 113/45 1828-1830 General Orders and correspondence
    • LIMERICK CUST 113/46 1826-1827 Entry book of correspondence, Collector to Dublin Board
    • TRALEE 1824 to 1826 in CUST 113/62 to CUST 113/66.
  • CUST 119. Board of Excise and successor: Miscellaneous Bundles
    • CUST 119/351. Irish Revenue Police. 1827-1850.
    • CUST 119/389. Establishment of the Irish Assessed Office: correspondence and lists of Officers. 1820-1824.

• Have seen these:
  • CUST 20/51. Establishment book. Oct 1820. Lists staff at Tarbert.
  • CUST 20/52. Establishment book. Oct 1826. Lists staff at Tarbert.
  • CUST 20/53. Establishment book. 1826. Lists staff at Tarbert.
  • CUST 20/54. Establishment book. 1817. Lists staff at Tarbert.
  • CUST 20/55. Establishment book. Tarbert section is close to a date of 1824. Lists staff at Tarbert.
  • CUST 20/160. Officers' appointments. 1815 - 1823. Can't find any section for Tarbert.
  • Minutes and appointments 1824 to 1829 period. CUST 110/3.
  • Minutes and appointments 1824 to 1829 period. CUST 110/4.
  • CUST 110/8. Excise Appointments. 1827-1833.

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Letters of around 1806

If there was a Blennerhassett scandal around 1806, almost any Co.Kerry family might mention it in gossip.

1. Letters of around 1806.

   
   

2. Sir Edward Leslie, Baronet, letters
   • Sir Edward Leslie, Baronet lived in England a lot, died 1818. His letters would have news of any scandal in Tarbert, especially (in 1811) involving the son of his old agent.
   • Sir Edward Leslie's dau Louisa Leslie mar 1807 to Lord Douglas Gordon-Hallyburton [son of Charles Gordon, 4th Earl of Aboyne and half-brother of George Gordon, 9th Marquess of Huntly]. Douglas' half-sister married William Beckford.
   • Search for Gordon-Hallyburton / Gordon / Aboyne / Huntly / Beckford papers.
   • Contact experts on the family.

   • The Earls of Aboyne (1908)
   • The records of Aboyne: 1230-1681 (1894)
   • National Records of Scotland
     • GD312. Gordon family, Marquesses of Huntly: Aboyne Castle: estate, legal, household and family papers. Date: 1633-1926.
     • GD181. Gordon family, Marquesses of Huntly: Aboyne Castle: family and estate papers. Date: 14th-19th cent.
   • West Sussex Record Office, Chichester
     • Goodwood Estate Archives
       • Gordon papers
   • Bodleian Library, University of Oxford.
     • Papers of William Beckford, 1772-1857.
       • GORDON (George) 9th Marquess of Huntly. Letters to W. Beckford, 1804-06. MS. Beckford c. 26, fols. 3-6.

   
   

3. William Ponsonby papers
   • His regiment was at Tarbert in 1808.

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Land records: LR and VO and NAI.VO

VO and NAI.VO

1. Track Lindsay properties in Tarbert
   • Church St, Tarbert, Co.Kerry
   • Bridewell St, Tarbert, Co.Kerry
   • Chapel St, Tarbert, Co.Kerry
   • Search Valuation Lists in [VO]
   • Search for all editions of [Griffiths Valuation]
   • [NAI.VO] Valuation Office records (pre-Griffiths). Search House Books etc.

LR

1. Go through known ones again. Images now online.

2. Find Memorial (not full deed) of 1778 separation - Is it phrased same way as 1806 memorial?

3. DONE first pass of BLENNERHASSETT in 1794-1815 (focused on Rev. John and Letitia branch)
4. DONE first pass of PONSONBY 1800-15 and 1822-39.
5. See complete PONSONBY index of 1800-1809:
   p.485 and p.486 and p.487 and p.488 in Grantor index N-Q 1800-1809

6. (todo) FULLER
7. (todo) FINN

8. Not relevant: Deed of 18 Oct 1802. Patrick Maher of Tarbert to Officers of Ordnance. Book 549, p.203, no. 363194. Page 111 (online numbering) in Deeds, etc., v. 549-550 1802-1803.

9. LINDSAY - have searched around 1806 and 1811
   • Have done first pass of 1813-99.
   • Irrelevant:
     • William Lindsay, 1814
     • William Lindsay, 1817
     • William Lindsay, 1818
     • William Lindsay, 1819
     • William Lindsay, 1820 (all)
     • William Lindsay, 1821 (all)
     • William Lindsay, 1823
     • William Lindsay, 1825 (all)
     • William Lindsay, 1828
     • William Lindsay, 1829
     • William Lindsay, 1831
     • James Lindsay, Tralee, 1855

10. Find 1804 deeds
11. Search for Ponsonby deed, 12 Nov 1795
12. Wider search of index for these names:
    • MILLER - have searched around 1838.
    • MONSELL - have searched around 1838.

LR - Search for more deeds for Thomas and John

• [1806 Deed] involved Letitia's brothers Capt. Thomas Blennerhassett and John Blennerhassett, "The Evergreen".
• Maybe 1806 deed was re-visited. e.g. When Richard Ponsonby died 1811 and there were no more payments.
• Search PONSONBY / BLENNERHASSETT / LINDSAY 1806-15.
• Have sort of done these searches. See above.

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NAI

NAI - CSORP

1. Did George Cashel write to Arthur Helps at Dublin Castle in 1839-41?
   • Could have looked for a job. Could be filed under HELPS.
   • DONE - Quick search of HELPS 1837-43. Searched for a category for Helps. Not found. (todo) Search Helps in entire index.

   
   

2. [CSORP] agrarian policing actions
   • See William Lindsay policing actions against agrarian insurgents in co-operation with Robert Leslie junior.
   • George Cashel, if stepson, would have been the oldest child at home, and a teen. He might have helped.
   • Found newspaper accounts of William Lindsay policing actions 1821-22.
   • Agrarian rebellion was 1821-24.
   • Indexes removed from shelf for cataloguing, but can be ordered.
   • Any sources other than CSORP?

3. [CSORP] other
   • William Ponsonby
   • Thomas Ponsonby
   • Attack on postmaster's house in Shanagolden

   
   

4. DONE - Have done the following CSORP searches.
   Online search allows full-text search.

   Search	Done	To do	Not relevant
   TARBERT	1818-1834
   LESLIE	1818-1834	R.Leslie, Co.Kerry, 1826, original ref: 13,440
   LINDSAY	1818-1834		LINDSAY, 1828, no.1477 LINDSAY, 1829, no.622
   MILLER (married Mary Ponsonby 1828)	1827-34 (Hard to search because of so many hits for William Miller, Inspector General for Munster.)		MILLER, 1827, no.2075

   • Apparently nothing on Belfast police

NAI - Other

1. Garvey and Blennerhassett pedigrees

2. List of children at Erasmus Smith school, Tarbert, in 1809 was sent to Dublin Castle. Are there any other lists?

3. DONE search of LINDSAY in Petty Sessions in North Co.Kerry
   • Ballylongford Petty Sessions records, 1855 on.
   • Tarbert Petty Sessions records, 1860 on.
   • These are digitised at findmypast.ie

4. Customs records
   • Have searched CUSTOMS in "Index of Official Papers" (up to 1831) (OP), RR card index. Match these references into the second index (behind counter).
   • Have done these, nothing found:
     • Salaries of customs officers, Irish Office, 23 Apr 1810, OP ii 299/6
     • Letters re: Vacancies for boatmen, Irish Office, Mar-May 1810, OP ii 299/12
     • Compensations to customs officers, Mar-Dec 1810, OP ii 299/24
     • Commissioners of customs, and Salaries of customs officers, 1810, OP ii 342-43
   • (todo) Search second index itself (may not be fully indexed in card index)
   • Irish coastguards

5. Court cases - See "High Court of Justice, 1699-1964", finding aid, RR
   • (todo) For this see finding aid p.215:
     • Chancery (inheritance) - 1851-53 case, Blennerhassett v. Monsell
   • Finding aid has nothing for these:
     • Chancery (inheritance) - 1827 case
     • Exchequer (debt) - Court of Exchequer, 1864 - Joseph Lindsay debt
     • Probate (will) - Court of Probate, 1865 - William Lindsay will
   • The Irish Jurist.
   • The Law Times.

6. Monsell family, M.6124, Misc. Subject Index.
7. Private Accessions, J.F. Fuller, 4 Jan 1923, 1/9.

8. [O'Kief]
   • done quick pass of LINDSAY, MILLER, PONSONBY
   • (todo) exhaustive search - big job

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NLI

NLI Ms

1. O'Hara papers
   • We are proposing that Richard Ponsonby, the nephew of Charles O'Hara (the younger) (MP for Sligo County 1801-22, died 1822), separated from his wife around 1806 after she had an affair. Quite possible that some O'Hara letter would mention it.

2. Rowan papers
   • Might be more Ponsonby papers.

3. [Denny, 1923] mentions a Ponsonby pedigree in the possession of Thomas Sadleir.
   • This must be the short William Ponsonby entry in Sadleir Pedigrees.
   • Nothing more found in these:
     • Letters of Thomas Ulick Sadleir, NLI GO MS 1000. See finding aid.
     • NLI Report on Private Collections, No. 31: Report on the Sadleir Papers. NLI GO RR.

NLI newspapers

1. search (no known article)
   1. Louisa case 1827 - try Chute's Western Herald
   2. William Miller arrested, jailed and dismissed 1830
   3. confirm Honoria Ponsonby death 1864
   4. deaths - funeral lists
   5. Court cases - See [NAI] section

2. Belfast funeral lists
   • Thomas Lindsay, Belfast, 1861
     • searched Belfast Morning News
     • searched Belfast Newsletter
     • searched Northern Whig
   • Thomas Lindsay's wife 1858
     • Belfast Morning News
     • Belfast Newsletter
     • Northern Whig (offsite - ring in advance)

NLI - other

1. [History of the Irish Parliament]
   • Richard Ponsonby the elder
   • Charles O'Hara elder and younger
   • James Carrique Ponsonby
   • Charles Coote, 1st Earl of Bellomont
   • Find source of Lord Bellomont story.

2. Sources for life of Charles Coote, 1st Earl of Bellomont.

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Other Dublin

1. GM
   • James MILLER - earlier career
   • William MILLER - earlier career - married into family 1828 - dismissed 1830
   • Richard PONSONBY - officer from 1823

   • Thomas LINDSAY - Monaghan maybe 1824, Belfast 1830

2. [RCB]
   • Finish going through Vestry Minutes Books, St.John's church, Tralee. Have read 1806 to 1812.

3. Ponsonby grant of arms in Dublin or London? (Might have genealogy.)
   • Note three coats of arms on Crotto House.

GROI

1. John B. Fuller
2. Garvey

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Ireland (outside Dublin)

Co.Kerry

1. [KCL]
   • LESLIE, TARBERT
   • Nothing on LINDSAY in card index.
   • Done PONSONBY in [Denny, 1923]. Nothing on LINDSAY.
   • Lislaughtin Abbey inscriptions.
   • DONE file on St.John's church, Tralee drawer
   • DONE Kilnaughtin cemetery inscriptions (Tarbert). Nothing found.
     Does this cover both old and new Kilnaughtin churches?

2. Tarbert
   • Large raised Gallagher tomb, Kilnaughtin Cemetery, old Kilnaughtin Church.

3. Aghavallen memorial inscriptions, [KGS]. Not in KCL.

Co.Limerick

1. Limerick
   • St.Munchin's - can't find Monsell grave in the map held by the Cathedral - could try other list of inscriptions at [LG]

2. [LCL]
   • Done MONSELL file in filing cabinet, Local section.
   • Done first pass of Limerick Gazette (looking for Letitia scandal) for all of 1806.

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NI

1. NI police museum
   • Thomas Lindsay

2. [PRO.NI]
   • O'Hara and Cooper papers.
   • Belfast Town Police records

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UK

1. Ponsonby in UK and Irish archives

2. Leslie in UK and Irish archives
   • Letters to Sir Edward Leslie, 1st Baronet, in England, could mention Letitia in 1806 (local scandal).
   • Where are Pierce Leslie Pielou's papers?

   
   

3. [NA.UK]
   • Did George Cashel write to Arthur Helps in London or Dublin in 1835-41?
     Could be filed under HELPS.

   • Customs records at NA.UK
     • DONE initial search for PONSONBY, LINDSAY, CASHEL in 1800 to 1813.

   
   

4. [BL]
   • William Ponsonby papers
   • Thomas Ponsonby letter
   • Leslie letters
   • Newspapers
     • Rev. John Blennerhassett death 1804 - Limerick Chronicle - Where is original? Microfilm garbled in LCL. 1804 missing in NLI.

5. [GRO.UK]
   • Bruce
   • Frederica Ponsonby death

   • Goddard
   • Mary
   • Sutton
   • Sutton

6. [COA]
   • Lindsay arms

7. British military
   • PONSONBY in military

8. [CUL]
   • Joseph Foster papers
     • Foster had good information on Letitia.
     • But DNB said his papers were dispersed.
     • There are some in CUL. But do not look relevant.