Genealogy
and History of Two Berry Families of County Westmeath and King’s County,
Ireland
View at 1024 ×768 screen resolution
Thomas Berry (1737-1815) Arms of Thomas Berry (1737-1815) Sterling Berry (1771-1828)
3. Broadwood / Eglish Berry Family Tree
4. Clonehane / DoveGrove Berry Family Tree
5.
Eglish Castle, Eglish Church and the Berry
Burial Enclosure
6. Berry Arms
- Compiler’s Introduction – by Patrick Fleetwood Berry, Perth, Australia.
Welcome!
This
website, first posted in February 2006, deals with the genealogy of two
initially unrelated Anglo-Irish Berry families. Their history reflects that of
the Protestant Ascendancy class – accumulation of property, wealth and status,
followed by its loss under the Land Acts and migration from the new Ireland,
mainly to the British Colonies. It deals chiefly with the descendants of Thomas
Berry (c. 1670-c.1728) who settled in Co. Westmeath, Ireland and is the
earliest member of this Berry lineage for whom I have documentary evidence.
This family, originally based at Broadwood and later Eglish Castle, I have
termed the “Broadwood/Eglish Family”. The first record of the progenitor of the
other Berry family was in1659, when John Berry was registered in the census at
Clonhane, in King’s County. Clonhane later became known as Dovegrove and I
refer to this family as the “Clonehane/Dovegrove Family”. In 1759, Thomas Berry (1737-1815) of the
Broadwood/Eglish family married Frances Berry (1743-1807) of the
Clonehane/Dovegrove family. This (now combined) Berry family reached its
pinnacle of achievement with the acquisition in 1776 of a country house called Eglish
Castle, and extensive land holdings in the Barony of Eglish and elsewhere in
the vicinity. Eglish Castle and associated land was sold 100 years later by
Thomas’ grandson, Rev. William Berry (1850-1920) under the Irish Land Acts.
(For more on Eglish Castle see page 5).
Two Coachman’s maps from Taylor and
Skinner’s Maps of the Roads of Ireland
surveyed 1777, showing Eglish Castle and Church, residence of Barry (sic
) Esqr. (top left of map 86) and Duff grove (sic ), residence of Berry Esqr. (bottom left of map 87).
To
avoid undue repetition a complete descent is only given for the Broadwood/Eglish
family. For the Clonhane Family the descendants of Thomas Berry (1737-1815) and
Francis Berry (1744-1807) are excluded, thus avoiding overlap and repetition.
The Broadwood family genealogy and what I know about the Clonehane family is summarized
as manually constructed trees (which also show the intermarriages between the
families). Computer-generated summaries by generation of the descendants of
John Berry (?-1677; progenitor of the Clonhane/Dovegrove Family) and Thomas
Berry (c.1670-c.1728; progenitor of the Broadwood/Eglish Family) are also
presented. However, in the case of the Broadwood Family a large number of
branches resulted from the fact that the second Thomas Berry (1737-1815) had 16
children, 10 of whom left descendents. I have therefore dealt with the
descendants of these 10 children separately, as they gave rise to several major
family branches, some of which persist to the present.
My
interest in my family history stems from embarrassment as a child about my
second name ‘Fleetwood’. This embarrassment was not shared by my own children,
thanks to the pop band “Fleetwood Mac”, which apparently made it a ‘cool’ name
to have. Later I became intrigued as to its origins and pervasiveness as a name
amongst our family, with no satisfactory explanation proffered except a vague
family legend that ‘Fleetwood’ conferred evidence of our descent from Oliver
Cromwell. It turns out that this is a myth (no doubt avidly propagated by my
Ascendancy forebears)! We are actually descended from Thomas Fleetwood of
Kilbeggan, Co. Westmeath, whose ancestor was a Royalist uncle of Cromwell’s
Lord Deputy.
Most of the information presented is based on
the prodigious genealogical research of Dr Lorton Wilson (1879-1958), who
married Kathleen Emily Berry (and which presumably resulted in his particular
interest in her Irish Berry family). The bulk of the original Wilson
manuscripts are lodged in the library of the Irish Genealogical Research
Society (I.G.R.S.) London. Unfortunately I have not yet had the opportunity to
examine these personally and am indebted to Peter Manning of the I.G.R.S. for
kindly providing me with selected information from them. Other Wilson
information was accessed from the Public Records Office of Northern Ireland and
from a scroll owned by the Button family, which contains a handwritten Berry
family tree constructed by Lorton Wilson. This scroll, which probably
represents a summary of his manuscripts, consists of 15 joined sheets of paper
each measuring 68cm long by 43cm high and is over 10m long! Unless otherwise
stated, the source for the information presented here is the relevant Lorton
Wilson manuscript, or the scroll.
The
primary object of this project is to elicit input in the form of further
information, biographical material and comment, particularly from descendants
of these Berry families. I would ideally like to include for each individual at
least dates, country of residence and occupation. However, biographical
information would be welcome (and desirable for the sake of interest).
Information provided will not be posted without the provider’s consent. Correction
of errors would be welcomed – Lorton Wilson’s handwriting (and typewriting) is
not always legible. He used abbreviations liberally, particularly for military
ranks and affiliations, many of which are unknown to me. I have used a ? in
instances where I have not been able to decipher what he has written. However,
I will have made some errors in interpretation.
The
project is also intended to be a tangible tribute to Lorton Wilson, who’s prodigious genealogical research made it possible. The fact that he went to
considerable lengths to record his research and to ensure that it was lodged in
appropriate libraries in England and Ireland indicates that he wanted it to be
used by others. The internet enabled me to discover the existence of Lorton
Wilson and his work. It seemed appropriate therefore, not only to make my
compilation on Berry genealogy available on the www, but also to include a
biography on him. A short factual account of his life has already been given by
Giles Armstrong in his Hallows Genealogy website. It has been my intention to
obtain and add some more personal information about Lorton Wilson on this site.
This has been facilitated through contact with his descendants, James,
Christopher and Andrew Button and particularly his daughter, Ethne.
This website was last updated in June 2008. In March 2008
a new page entitled Eglish
Castle, Eglish Church and the Berry Burial Enclosure was added. In addition, the ‘missing’ descendants of Alfred Seymour Berry in Victoria,
Australia were added and some images included in the Sterling Berry page. Recently obtained DNA
results also were added to the Before
Ireland page, as well as
clarification about a will made in 1615. In June I added the Devon Berry Tree page, despite the fact
that it now seems less likely that my Irish Berry ancestors were descended from
the Berry family of Berrynarbor, Devon (see the Before Ireland page). (back).
I still
have had no contacts from any living descendants of the Clonhane/Dovegrove Berry family, or any additional information
about them. This is surprising because the names of the children of Rev. John Berry (b.1805 m. Louisa Sandys) are very
distinctive; e.g. Manners Berry, Thomas Dancer Berry (b.1848), George Hopton
Berry (b, 1845) and John Stratford Berry (m. 1. Wynn; 2. de Reny). Also, the
living Canadian descendants of Robert Berry have yet to be found. Again
distinctive names are involved; e.g. Fleetwood Becher Berry, John Groves Berry and Vernon Harrington Berry. I would
be grateful for any help or leads. (back)
Finally, I
wish to acknowledge the following people who have contributed information used
here:
The Button
family - Andrew, Ethne, Christopher and James Button, as well as Ann Anderson (née Button) for access to information, documentation
and images of portraits in their possession. The images of Thomas Berry and the
Berry arms are courtesy of Ann.
Cameron
Berry and Charles Berry for information on the Canadian branch of the family.
Gordon and
Theresa Berry for information on the New Zealand branch of the family, as well
as images of portraits and photographs in their possession. The image of
Sterling Berry is courtesy of Gordon and Theresa.
Robert B.
D. Hughes for additional information on the Homan-Mulock descendants.
Douglas
Berry and Bruce Trewin who contributed additional information on the
descendants of Marlborough Parsons Berry.
Nick
Reddan copied the Lorton Wilson manuscript on Robert Fleetwood Berry for me.
Christina
Sterling-Berry provided information on her family.
Julie
Jewell provided additional information on the Victorian descendants of William
Winslow Berry, as did Alison Thomson, Stanley Berry and David Berry.
Patricia
David (née Hetherington) kindly supplied
photographs of Eglish Castle. (back)
I can be
contacted on: padberry“at”bigpond.net.au
. [To be typed using the usual email symbol for “at”.] . (back)
Anon.
1881. ed. Frederic Thomas Colby. The Visitation of the County of Devon In the
Year 1564.
Anon.
ed. Joseph Jackson and Frederick Arthur Crisp: Visitation of Ireland.
Bewley, Sir Edmund T.
(1877-1921): An Irish branch of the Fleetwood family. The Genealogist xxiv :217-241
Bewley, Sir Edmund T. (Ed) 1908.
Some Royal Descents of The Families of Fleetwood, Berry, and Homan-Mulock.
15pp. Printed for private circulation by Ponsonby & Gibbs, University
Press, Dublin.
Church of Ireland. The representative
Church Body Library. Clerical Succession Lists of the Church of Ireland.
Claude Beddington, Mrs. 1929. All That I Have Met. 286pp. Published by
Cassell and Company Ltd.
Clergy of Dublin and Glendalough
Biographical Succession Lists by Canon J.B. Leslie and revised, edited and
updated by W.J.R. Wallace.
Crockford’s Clerical Directory
1898
Pey, Brian (ed) 2003. Eglish and Drumcullen A Parish in Firceall.
435pp. Published by Firceall Heritage Group.
Wilson,
L.A. Unpublished manuscripts lodged with the Irish Genealogical Research
Society, London and the Public Records Office, Northern Ireland. (To see lists
click here.)
Berry DNA Project
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~langolier/BerryDNA/dna_home.html
Hallowes Genealogy
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/gkarmstrong/lwilson.htm
Irish Genealogical Research
Society
Return to top here