I've decided to do a post about the Gales of Ashfield/Valleyfield on the Carlow/Laois border, simply because of a suspected early family link to these people. Our paternal great-grandmother was Rebecca Cuthbert, whose aunt, Maria Cuthbert/Culbert, married John Thomas Gale, the son of William Gale, both of these Gale family members being of Laois/Carlow.
John Thomas Gale and Maria Cuthbert/Culbert settled in Limerick city, and a current descendant of this line recently emailed me to let me know that they were told in the 1950s of a connection between their family and the Parnell family, although they are unclear about the exact link. Since my own family in Dublin had also been told in the 1940s about this supposed link to the Parnell family, then taking a closer look at the Ashfield Gales might be interesting.
I've done, therefore, a potted history of the Gales, which follows, much of this research having been done by American descendants of the Gale/Kearney families. I've been particularly interested in the children of Anthony Gale and Anne Delany of Ashfield, especially two of his sons, Captains Thomas and William Gale, who both settled at Valleyfield, the property immediately next to Ashfield Hall.
Having just spent a day in the Registry of Deeds in Dublin, it seems more and more likely that William Gale, the father of John Thomas Gale, was indeed the son of the blind Captain William Gale of Valleyfield, since Eliza Gale, the widow of the younger William Gale, was noted as the widow of William Gale of Valleyfield
when she died in Westland St., Limerick, on 25th September 1875.
http://alison-stewart.blogspot.ie/2012/09/maria-culbert-and-john-thomas-gale.html
http://alison-stewart.blogspot.ie/2012/09/the-family-of-john-thomas-gale-of-laois.html
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There is some connection between the Parnell family of Rathleague and the Delany/Gale family of Ashfield, Ballyroan, which accounts for the use of the Parnell name in later Gale generations. The abstract of a deed of 27th October 1784 states that the terms of the deed was for the three lives of Thomas Gale, Sir John Parnell (son of an older John Parnell) and Frances Delany, now Frances Moffitt.
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The first of the English Gale family to settle in Queen's County/Carlow was Anthony Gale who was married to a Miss Wandesford. Anthony Gale was a member of Oliver Cromwell's Roundheads during the Irish Rebellion in 1649 - 1652. Cromwell confiscated large tracts of land owned by Irish Catholics and awarded it to his supporters and soldiers, including Anthony Gale. The tracts were in Westmeath and Queen's Counties, the latter of which was the former Crotteneagle estate that later became known as Ashfield. Anthony first appeared in Ireland on the 1659 Census as a land holder in Crottentegle. He claimed his land "in right of an Adventurer as well as in right of a Soldier."
The son of Anthony Gale was Samuel Gale of Ashfield Hall, who married Alicia or Ellis Grace, the daughter of Oliver Grace of Shanganagh, later named Gracefield, an MP and Chief Remembrancer of the Exchequer of Ireland. Samuel and Alicia Grace Gale resided at Ashfield Hall but almost lost the estate as a consequence of Samuel's support of Catholic James II against the Jacobites during the Williamite War in Ireland. However, the Jacobites were defeated in the Battle of the Boyne in 1690 and Samuel retained the property, later inherited by his son Anthony.
Anthony Gale, the son of Samuel Gale and Alicia Grace, married Mary Vicars of Levally, daughter of William Vicars/Vigors, in 1732, these being the immediate ancestors of Peter Gale, the last of the Gales to inhabit Ashfield Hall in the 1850s. The second wife of Anthony Gale was Margaret Tench Driscoll. Peter Gale (1736 - Living 1780) was born to Anthony and Mary Vicars Gale of Ashfield Hall. He graduated from Trinity College and in 1758 married Mary Catherine Browne, the daughter of William Browne of Browne's Hill, Carlow. He inherited Ashfield Hall and was succeeded by his son Samuel Gale who married Susanna Brush, daughter of James Brush of Dublin, in Dunleckney, Carlow, on 9th January 1803. A James Brush, 1774-1812 , jeweller, watchmaker, and Madeira wine merchant, of 7, St. Andrew St., Dublin, was noted as the Treasurer of the Masonic Female Orphan School in the 1790s - he was possibly the son of James Brush of Co. Down, with a brother, George Brush who served his apprenticeship with the Dublin Goldsmith Robert Calderwood. Samuel Gale and Susanna Brush were the parents of Peter Gale (1803 - 1857) of Ashfield Hall, Laois, who married Anna Maria Harriet Lynch, the daughter of Captain Fleeson of the 6th Dragoon Guards and widow of Patrick Lynch of Ballycurrin Castle, Rocklands, Mayo - the wedding took place in St. George's, Hanover Square, London, on 20th June 1837. The marriage settlement was marked with deed 1837-14-19 which named Anna Maria Harriett Lynch of Talbot Street, Dublin, William Raymond Fitzmaurice of Carlow, John Fleeson of Cork City and Samuel Ryan of Great Britain Street, Dublin.This Peter Gale was the last of the Gale family to live at Ashfield in Laois. He also owned property in Carlow, but was forced by debt to sell up in the 1850's - an article dated 11/13/1851 in The Morning Chronicle at Dublin noted that Ashfield Hall, the estate of Peter Gale, had been divided into 12 lots and sold. Peter Gale died 28th September 1857 at age 54 and was buried in Monkstown Parish, Cork.
Another son of Samuel Gale and Alicia/Ellis Grace was Thomas Gale, whose wife was named Mabel and who lived at Sampson's Court, Queen's County, but who was also associated with the property named Bellbrook, which had previously been named Barnadunty.
Deed 605-751-413029, dated 27th February 1808, which detailed the marriage settlement made between the families of Anthony Gale and Eleanor Aldis or Oldis. The parties to the deed were Thomas Gale of Bellbrook; Francis Oldis of Mount Trafalgar, Kilkenny, who was the father of the bride; Henry Ellis of Rockbrook, Kilkenny; Lieutenant Anthony Gale of the 17th Regiment, 2nd son of the said Thomas Gale of Bellbrook; Elinor Aldis, 2nd daughter of Francis Aldis.
In October 1849, Charlotte Amelia, eldest surviving daughter of the late Captain Anthony Gale of 17th Regiment died in Carlow, of a rapid consuption.
The eldest son of Captain Thomas Gale of the 17th Regiment was Thomas Francis Gale (1810 - 1857) of Barrow View, Carlow, who married Emily/Amelia McKay on 21st May 1832. In the 1850s, Thomas Francis Gale was leasing land (206 acres) in Moyadd, Queen's County, from Peter Gale of Ashfield Hall.
The daughter of Thomas Francis Gale, Emily Gale, was born 22nd June 1833 at 3 Warrington Place, Dublin. A son, Robert Gale, was born at 7 Warrington Place on 28nd February 1836.
In 1847, Thomas Francis Gale was noted at 8 Warrington Place, Dublin; at 10 Warrington Place was Mrs. Captain Gale, presumably the widow of Captain Anthony Gale of the 17th, and mother of Thomas Francis Gale.
Thomas Francis Gale's second wife was Anna Fuller, only daughter of Adam Fuller, Esq. of Woodfield, Kings Co, on 8th June 1841 - she died June 14th 1854 at Barrow View House. The son of Thomas Francis Gale and Anna Fuller was Robert Peter Gale, born circa 1848 - on 20th June 1843, Robert Peter Gale was presented with a mug by Peter Gale, Esq. of Ashfield Hall.
Deed 1857-27-245 names Robert Peter Gale of Barrow View House, Graigue, Queen's County, and Emily Harriet Gale, spinster of the same place, wrangling about money with James Palmer of the Carlow Bank.
Thomas Francis' daughter, Emily Gale, married George Perceval Wilson, hotelier, son of George Wilson, in Dublin on 19th Oct 1857. George Perceval Wilson had been born to George and Margaret Wilson of Killeshin, Queen's County, on 11 December 1832. The numerous children of George Perceval Wilson and Emily Gale were Emily Frances Wilson, 22 July 1858, at Somerton House, Killeshin;Isabella Oliva Wilson, 11 March 1854, at at Somerton House, Killeshin; Alice Harriette Gale VICARS Wilson born 22 June 1861 at Barrow View, Carlow; Georgiana Mary Wilson at Barrow View, on 1 May 1863; Sophia FLEESON Wilson at Barrow View on 10 December 1865 ;George Gale Wilson born Barrow View, Carlow, 29 Apr 1864; Anna Maria Wilson on 1 April 1867 at Greenhill, Killeshin; Richard Francis Wilson at Greenhill Cottage, Killeshin, born 5th Jan 1870; Josephine Charlotte Wilson at Greenhill Cottage on 3 August 1873.
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Thomas Gale ( 1710-15 - 1780) of Sampson's Court, Queen's County, who married Mabel, had the Thomas Gale of Sampson's Court/Belbrook mentioned above.
Thomas and Mabel also had Anthony Gale who married Anne Delany, and whose American descendants have extensively published their research into this branch of the Gales online.
Anthony Gale and Anne Delany:
Anthony Gale , born circa 1761 although the exact date is unclear, the son of Thomas and Mabel Gale of Sampson's Court, Queen's County, married Anne Delany, the daughter of Malachi Delany.
(A John Gale was named in his Anthony's marriage settlement to Anne Delany. This John Gale of Ashfield Hall was named in deed 271-281-179721, registered 19th February 1770, whereby John Gale of Ashfield demised a house on the west side of Merrion Square, Dublin, to Robert Fitzgerald of Dublin, the house being next door to another also owned by the same John Gale. A later deed of 11th December 1787, (392-547-259935), seems to mention the same property on the west side of Merrion Square, this time being made over by a Grantham Gale, hosier of Dublin, and by Samuel Gale of Naas, Kildare, to Joseph Hone of Dublin.)
The children of Anthony Gale, who died insane, and Anne Delany were:
1) Lt. Col./Commandant Anthony Gale of the US., 4th Commandant of the US Marine Corps. Born 17th September 1782, he emigrated to Philadelphia in 1793. He joined the Marines and married, in 1801, Catherine Swope, daughter of Rev. Benedict Swope. At the end of 21 years of service, Anthony Gale was promoted to Lieut. Col. Commandant on 3rd March 1819. He was, however, given to heavy drinking and psychiatric instability, and was accordingly removed from office in 1820. It is worth noting that his own father had died insane.
A daughter was Emily Gale, who married, on 30th June 1830, William S. Campbell in Kentucky where the elderly Anthony Gale had settled.
A son of was named as Washington Gale; a second son was William A. Gale.
2) Parnell Gale, born 1772 to Anthony Gale and Anne Delany, who was the correct age to be the Parnell Gale who was the Mayor of Galway in 1817.
3) Captain William Gale of Valleyfield, Ballyroan, the son of Anthony Gale and Anne Delany. I accessed his military discharge papers on the Find My Past site. Born circa 1778 in Ballinakill, Queen's County, he was discharged on 18th May 1802, aged 24:
'His Majesty's 13th Regiment of Lt.Dragoons whereof General Fras. Craig is Colonel.
These are to certify that the bearer hereof, William Gale, Serjeant in Capt.Bennett's Troop of the aforesaid regiment, born in the Parish of Ballinakil (sic) in the County of the Queen - aged 24 years - and by Trade a farmer - hath served honestly and faithfully in the said Regiment two years and a half; having borne a commission of Ensign one year and a half in the Wallace Fencible Infantry - but by reason of a violent inflammatory terminating nearly with a loss of vision, occurring during a march from Norwich to Colchester - is hereby discharged and humbly recommended as a proper object of His Majesty's Royal Bounty of CHELSEA HOSPITAL....' (Ipswich Barracks, 18th May 1802.)
It seems that William Gale's son was the teacher and scripture reader, William Gale of Carlow, who married Eliza Baldwin in 1832, and whose son was the John Thomas Gale who married Maria Culbert in 1861.
Eliza Gale, née Baldwin, when she died, aged 68, in Limerick on 25th September 1875, was noted as the widow of William Gale of Valleyfield, Ballyroan, Laois.
A son of Captain William Gale of Valleyfield was Parnell Gale of Cork from whom the Cork Gales descend. Parnell Gale's son was the Under Sheriff of Cork, John Gale of Hollymount, Cork who had been born July 5th, 1854. John Gale married, on August 22nd, 1876, Mary Diana, daughter of the late Thomas Atkins, of Cork; John died on 3nd October 1916 with probate of his will to his son, the solicitor, Parnell Gale, who had been born in 1868. Another brother was Berkeley Gale, who had been born on 11th March 1851 in Cork.
(A Parnell Gale was buried in Deansgrange Cemetery: 'PARNELL GALE, died 19th May 1948 and his wife, EVELYN, died 26th March 1972.')
Another son of Captain William Gale of Valleyfield was Samuel P. Gale of Cork, then of the USA, who married a cousin, Mary Burchell.
A daughter of Captain William Gale was Grace Gale, born 1824, who married William Thompson, son of Robert Thompson, in Durrow, Queen's County, on 12th September 1849. A possible child of this marriage was a William Gale Thompson.
A daughter of Captain Gale of Valleyfield was married in Kingston, Ontario, on Aug 15, 1843 by Rev. John Machar - Jane Ann Gale, youngest daughter of the late Capt. Gale of Valleyfield, Queens County, married Andrew Drummond, eldest son of the late Robert Drummond. Andrew Drummond worked for the Commercial Bank in Toronto. Jane Ann Drummond died in Toronto in 1850.
4) John Gale, born to Anthony Gale and Anne Delany.
5) Jane Gale, born to Anthony Gale and Anne Delany - She married Patrick Glascott and had two daughters, Mary Glascott in 1796, and Frances Glascott in 1797.
6) Frances Gale, born to Anthony Gale and Anne Delany, who married John Kearney in 1800 - their children were Frances Kearney, born 1809, John Kearney, born 1811, Jane Kearney born 1813 and John Kearney, born 1822. The Kearney's emigrated to the US.
7) Malachi Gale, son of Anthony Gale and Anne Delany. Malachy Gale married Catherine Holland and his children were baptised in the Catholic Ballinakill Church - 1801 Anthony Gale; 1802 Hellen Gale; 1804 Margaret Gale; 1806 Catherine Gale; 1808 Parnell Gale; 1811 Malachi Gale. This family also emigrated to USA - aboard the 'Catherine', leaving Dublin on 14 July 1817 and arriving in Philadelphia on 24 September 1817.
8) Captain Thomas Gale of Valleyfield. Both Captain Thomas Gale and his older brother, Captain William Gale, were noted as being of Valleyfield.
The military records for Captain Thomas Gale are available to download free of charge on the UK National Archives Discovery site.
Born circa 1777, he had joined the 87th Regiment as an ensign, aged 30, in November 1807. He also served in the 12th Foot, and went on half pay in 1817. In 1818, it was noted that he had lived for the previous five years in France, and also occasionally in Ireland.
Helpfully, the record lists some of his children, two of whom had been born to his first, unknown, wife - Frances Gale, born 2nd September 1800, and Margaret Gale, born 5th November 1802. Daughter Frances Gale married William W. Fitzgerald of Ballyroan, Queen's County, on 30th October 1828. The Dublin Evening Mail confirmed that Frances was the eldest daughter of Captain Thomas Gale of Valleyfield.
Thomas Gale also had three children by his 2nd wife, Harriet Thomas, who he married in Dublin on 8th February 1808. James Gale was born on 5th November 1810, Harriet Gale in 1817 (this was nigh-on illegible), and Eliza Gale on 19th January 1820.
Although not mentioned in the miltary records of his father, possibly because he was no longer living at home when the record was compiled, the eldest son of Captain Thomas Gale of Valleyfield was Sharp Thomas Gale, later known as the simpler Sharp Gale, who was born in about 1796 and who emigrated to the US with other Gales. His obituary was published in the Philadelphia Inquirer on 21 February 1876:
“On the 15th inst., at the advanced age of 80 years, Thomas Sharp Gale, eldest son of the late Thomas Gale, of Valleyfield, Queen’s County Ireland. He was a nephew of the late Colonel Gale, United States Marine Corps, and cousin of the late Sharp Delany, first collector of the Port of Philadelphia under George Washington.'
Sharp Delany, 1739-1799, after whom Thomas Sharp Gale was named, was the son of Daniel Delany of Ballyfin, Queen’s County, and of Rachel Sharp, granddaughter of noted Dublin Quaker Anthony Sharp who also owned land called Roundwood near Mountmellick, Queen's Country. Anthony Sharp bought property in Philadelphia - Thomas Sharp Gale's cousin, Sharp Delany, was buried in St. Peter's, Philadelphia, when he died there, aged 60, on 13th May 1799. Also in the St. Peter's records were recorded the following deaths who may, or may not, be related:
Rachel, daughter of Sharp and Margaret Delany, who died 11th December 1767, also a second Rachel, daughter of Sharp Delany, who died 6th September, 1781. Dorothy Delany, daughter of Sharp Delany, who died 15th october 1788. Sharp, son of Sharp Delany, who died 31st July 1784. Frances Baldwin, daughter of Sharp, who died 5th July 1800. Thomas Delany who died 6th June 1806. Margaret Delany who died 20th May 1813. Ann Delany who died 6th September 1832 aged 56. Mary Delany who died 20th January 1846 aged 60.
Sharp Gale, the son of Captain Thomas Gale of Valleyfield, as noted in deed 1861-27-4, had power of attorney over Anthony Gale, presumably his uncle, Commandant Anthony Gale, who had also settled in Philadelphia and who struggled like his father with psychiatric issues. The 1861 deed was a land deal involving the Perrys, namely William Perry of Ballinagore, Westmeath, and Henry Robert Perry of Clara, King's/Offaly, who were both the executors of the will of the late Robert Perry of Rathdowney. The Perrys had been sold a share in property from Sharp Gale which had formerly been held by the late Anthony Gale of Sampson's Court, and which was afterwards held by Thomas Gale of Sampson's Court and by Thomas Gale of Barnadunty.
Another deed, 1868-9-232, named land previously owned by an Eliza Gale - ie: Woodpark, Rathdowney - but which was now owned by Robert Perry. The deed states that an Eleanor Gale married Robert Perry, and names the couple's children as Ellen Perry of Belmont, Anne Gale Perry of Belmont, Mary Walpole Perry of Belmont, Arthur Perry of Burgh Quay, James Perry of Belmont, King's Co., John Miller Perry of Rathdowney, Thomas Perry of Belmont, Henry Robert Perry of Belmont, and Robinson Gale Perry of belmont.
A second son of Captain Thomas Gale was Anthony Gale who is referred to as the eldest son of Captain Thomas Gale of Valleyfield - he was known to be the heir to Peter Gale. At some stage this Anthony Gale was thought to have left for America.
From The Freeman's Journal of 1841: 'In this city, David Armstrong Esq., of Baggot Street, to Harriet Maria, fourth daughter of the late Captain Gale of Valleyfield in the Queen's County.' (In the miltary records, she appeared as third on the list, so perhaps there was an extra older daughter floating about, or perhaps she was the daughter of Captain William Gale of Valleyfield, rather than the daughter of Captain Thomas Gale of Valleyfield.)
David and Harriet Maria Gale had emigrated to Canada before living in Chelsea, Massachusetts, where their eldest son Robert Gale Armstrong, died 8th March 1863, aged 19. They also had a son called Francis (named after his grandfather) -both were born in Canada. The 1850 USA census shows the family living in Ward 10 in Boston, in the county of Suffolk, State of Mass. with three sons - Robert, Francis and Samuel. By 1855, they've moved to Dorchester, Norfolk, Massachusetts.
David Armstrong, born circa 1825, was the son of the Longford builder, Francis Armstrong of Baggot Street and of Catherine Williams.
David's father, Francis Armstrong, builder of 55 Lower Baggot St. married, as his second wife, in 1860, Julia Ann Hornidge, daughter of Peter Hornidge. In the same year at 55 Baggot Street, Matilda Armstrong, daughter of Francis Armstrong, married John Croker Walsh of Waterford. Another daughter of this builder, Francis Armstrong, was Frances Elizabeth Armstrong, who married in 1857 William Whitsitt - the witnesses were other Armstrongs, David W. Armstrong and Robert W. Armstrong.
The second witness was another son of the Dublin builder, Francis Armstrong - Robert Williams Armstrong, an architect, who married Anne Langley Nairn in 1848. Robert Williams Armstrong was later a founding partner in the Belleek Pottery, Co. Fermanagh. Robert Williams Armstrong was born in 1824 to Francis Armstrong and Catherine Williams; his obituary in the Irish Times of 29th January 1884 is as follows:
“Death of Mr R.W.Armstrong. Architect. We much regret to report the death of the above-named gentleman, at Belleek, on Sunday last. For the promoters of home industries it will be interesting to know that to Mr Armstrong was due the success of the Belleek pottery now in vogue for about a quarter of a century in Fermanagh. The deceased gentleman was of Irish birth but went to London to practise his profession as architect. From the midst of a most promising career, he was induced by Mr Bloomfield, the landlord of Belleek, to come to this country to construct the pottery, and to add his artistic talents to the factory. Up to almost his last days, he was still engaged in his scientific researches. Dying at the comparatively early age of 59, he is much regretted by the neighbourhood at large.”
To return to Captain Thomas Gale of Valleyfield- although his first wife is unknown, his second is well documented - Harriet Thomas, who he married in Dublin on 8th February 1808.
From the Gentleman's Magazine of 1808: 'At Dublin, Thomas Gale. Esq., Captain of the 87th Regiment to Miss Thomas, daughter of the LATE Rev. Henry Thomas.'
I transcribed the following marriage settlement off the internet:
'Gale to Parnell and another.
To the Registrar Appointed by Act of Parliament for registering Deeds, Wills, etc. A Memorial of a Deed of Settlement dated the fifth day of February 1808 and made Between Thomas Gale, Esq., Ensign in his Majesty’s 87th Regiment of Foot of the first part, Harriot Thomas, Spinster daughter of the Reverend Henry Thomas, deceased, a minor under the age of 21 years And Robert Cooke of Robamis(?) in the Queens County, Esq., Guardian of the said Harriot Thomas of the Second part, Mathew Dillon Thomas of the City of Dublin, Esq., the only son and heir at law of the said Henry Thomas, Brother to the said Harriot of the third part And the said Robert Cooke and Parnell Gale of Birr in the Kings County, Esq., of the fourth part. Whereby after reciting among other things that a marriage was their (sic) intended to be Shortly had & Solemnized between the said Thomas Gale and Harriot Thomas. He the said Thomas Gale for the consideration therein mentioned did give, grant, sell, assign, release and confirm unto the said Robert Cooke and Parnell Gale All that and those the undivided moiety of the Town and Lands of Sampsons Court and Knockardegier with their and Every of their rights, members and appurtenances situate in the Queens County in as full a manner as the said Thomas Gale was entitled to the same by virtue of the Settlement recited upon the intermarriage of his father Anthony Gale with Miss Anne Delany. Also all those several pieces or parcells of Arable meadow & pasture Land with the Cabbins and Gardens thereon thereto belonging being part of the Lands Commonly Called and known by the name of Raggetstown as then called Valley Field situate near the town of Ballynakill and Containing of by Admeasurement (sic) 52 acres, 3 rods and 31 perches in as full a manner as the said Garden(?) & Meadow(?) Lands were demised by the Earl of Stanhope to the Said Thomas Gale. Also all that and those the several tracts of the Lands of Dearyfera(?) late in the possession of the Honorable Francis Hugh Massey both parts Containing 74 Acres or thereabouts in as full a manner as said Lands of Derryfery(?) has been demised or assigned by the said Thomas Hugh Massey to the said Thomas Gale also all that the lands of Clonohill now in the possession of Robert Stubber and Robert White, Esqs., in as full a manner as the said Thomas Gale is entitled to the same under the Right Honorable Lord Devesie(?) and situate in the Queens County aforesaid to Hold unto the said Robert Cooke and Parnell Gale or the survivor of these & the heirs, Executors, administrators & assigns of the survivors for and during the natural lives and life & other terms ? mentioned and contained in the ? ? or other Instruments under which the said Thomas Gale held the same And all such other life or lives or other terms as may thereafter be acquired therein Contained and the said deed of Settlement Contains other Clauses and Covenants. And the said Deed as ? Excon(?) thereof by the said Thomas Gale, Harriot Thomas and Mathew Dillon Thomas and this Memorial are (sic) witnessed by Thomas Shea of the City of Dublin, Gentleman & by James Whelan of said City ? ?.
Thomas Gale (seal) - 12th day of February 1808. '
The Family of Harriet Thomas, second wife of Capt. Thomas Gale:
Harriet Thomas's grandfather was Mathew Dillon of Leighlin Bridge, Co. Carlow, who married in Feb. 1758, her grandmother, Hellen Cook of Rossena, Queen's Co. Mathew Dillon died in March 1784, having had one child Elizabeth Dillon of Kilkenny City who married, on 21 July 1784, the Rev. Henry Thomas of Leighlin Bridge, Carlow. Elizabeth Dillon Thomas made her will in Dec. 1798, and was buried with her husband in a vault in St. Thomas's Church, Dublin.
The Dillons had settled in Leighlin, Co. Carlow, where a relative was noted as Francis Dillon in the first hald of the 19th century - a Francis Dillon died in April 1863 at Garryhill, Carlow, aged 102. He was the friend and relation of James Dillon, pawnbroker of Dublin, who died after making a will in 1819. The will stipulated that his trustees invest his money, the proceeds of which was to be divided equally between his two sons, James Dillon Junior, who left for South America where he died, childless, and Thomas St. John Dillon, and to provide a yearly stipend for his widow, Catherine Dillon, who died shortly after her husband. The will stipulated that Thomas, the second son, would only benefit from his father's will if he broke off all contact with the woman he'd been living with, Anne Robinson, who his father highly disapproved of. This Thomas agreed to do in writing - '...from this moment to the end of my existence, I will have no kind of communication with her...'
The will of James Dillon also stipulated that, if his sons were to die without issue, then the proceeds of his invested money were to go to his friend and relation, Francis Dillon of Carlow, and, when Francis Dillon, died, to go to Matthew Dillon Thomas, the son of his relation Elizabeth Dillon, otherwise Thomas. (ie: the wife of Rev. Henry Thomas, and mother of Harriet Thomas.) The trustees were also directed to divert some of the money to be donated to Carlow Infirmiary in order that a home be founded for infirm and reduced old men without regard to religious distinctions.
In 1821, Thomas St. John Dillon married Anne Robinson, who used an assumed name, claiming to be Mary Anne Madden, the only daughter of Andrew Madden of Dunleary. The trustees paid up accordingly. Thomas died in 1823, leaving everything to his widow, A. H. Dillon, who was proved to be Anne Hemsworth Robinson. She in her turn died in August 1825 and left all she had to John Robinson, a minor. The judge eventually found against John Robinson, agreeing with Francis Dillon and Matthew Dillon Thomas that Anne's husband, Thomas St. John Dillon, had indeed forfeited his claim to his father's money when he'd married Anne Robinson in 1821.
Harriet Thomas' grandmother, Hellen Cook of Rossena, Queen's Co., the wife of Matthew Dillon of Leighlin, was related to Robert Cooke, named as Harriet's guardian at the time of her marriage to Captain Thomas Gale in 1808. Rossena, seat of the Cook/Cooke family, is only about three miles east of Ashfield, seat of the Ashfield Gales.
In 1700, Rossena was the estate of William Cooke of Painestown, Carlow, and had been owned by the Cooke family for five generations prior to 1700. In 1710, George Cooke was leasing Rossena from William Cooke; in 1747, George Cooke, son of George, was leasing it from William Cooke's son, Thomas Cooke; in 1757, William Cooke, son of George, was leasing it from the same Thomas Cooke; in 1791, Robert Cooke, guardian of Harriet Thomas in 1808, was leasing Rossena from Valentine Brown, 1st Earl of Kenmare, who was the grandson of Thomas Cooke - Thomas Cooke had died leaving one daughter, Anne Cooke, who had married Thomas Brown, the father of the 1st Earl of Kenmare, who thereby inherited Rossena. Robert Cooke of Rossena died in 1818.
The daughter of William Cooke, tenant of Rossena in 1757, was Helen Cooke, who married John Bagot of Castle Bagot, Dublin - their daughter was Mrs. Sheffield Grace. This was the same Grace family as the family of Alicia or Ellis Grace who had married Samuel Gale of Ashfield Hall.
A John Cooke of Rossena was a solicitor of Harcourt Street, Dublin in 1870.
Harriet Thomas' parents, the Rev. Henry Thomas and Elizabeth Dillon had one son Mathew Dillon Thomas, and three daughters—Harriet, Hellen and Mary Dillon.
The son, Matthew D. Thomas, held land in Moone, Kildare, and also in Huntingtown, Kilkenny, and a corn store on Cornwall Quay, Carlow Town, as well as land in Killeen, Clonagh, and Coolanagh, Kilabban Parish, Queen's County.
In 1811, Matthew Dillon Thomas married, firstly, Miss Warren, the daughter of the late James Warren of Killeen, Queen's County. He married secondly, on 12 June 1844, Mary Deering who died 12 April 1867. Her will was proved in 1867 by her son Henry Deering Thomas of Moone. Matthew Dillon Thomas's will was dated 10 July 1851 and proved 25 Jan. 1856. They had one son Henry Deering Thomas, and one daughter Emma Josephine Thomas. Henry Deering Thomas of Moone, Kildare, retired major, died 1899, with probate to spinster, Emma Josephine Thomas of Kingstown who had been born in Queen's County in about 1855.
When Harriet Thomas' brother, Mathew Dillon Thomas of Killeshin, Carlow/Queens married Mary Deering of Mount Street, Dublin, in 1844, the witnesses were William Robert Rogers and Mary's brother, John Armstrong Deering. Both Mary and John Armstrong Deering were the children of the barrister, John Deering of Monuntjoy Square and Harriot Armstrong who had married in Dublin in 1805. Mary Deering was born to John and Harriot Deering in 1811. Lucius Henry Deering in 1818, Emma in 1819. Mary Thomas, née Deering, died on 12th April 1868 in Moone, Kildare.
Mary's father, John Deering, in the 1830s, had two addresses - 6 Mountjoy Square and also Derrybrusk, Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh.
In 1838, John Armstrong Deering was a witness, as was John Deering, as was Henry Ryan, at the wedding of Edward Ryan of 48 North Great Georges Street and of Margaret Deering.
Also in 1838, John Armstrong Deering was witness, with Henry Ryan, Thomas H. Porter and Richard Bourne, at the wedding of Thomas Nolan, of Chester but now of 48 North Great Georges Street, and of Ann Ryan of same address.
John Armstrong Deering, eldest son of John Deering and Harriet Armstrong, entered TCD, July 3, 1826, aged 17; he died in February 1850, aged 39, in Leeson Street, Dublin.
William Watkins Deering, also a son of John Deering, entered TCD July 4, 1831, aged 17. A clergyman, in 1869 he sold the family property in Fermanagh in the landed estates court. Elizabeth Adams (c.1823-88), m. 1841 Rev. William Watkins Deering (d. 1870) and had issue 4 sons and 4 daughters; one of the sons was Charles Lucius Henry Deering who married, in 1877 Anna Louisa Soden Cullen, the witnesses being Henry Augustus Dillon and Charles Henry Dillon. (The witnesses are interesting, but I'm unsure about a family link or not - although 'Dillon' is a family name here, thanks to Matthew Dillon of Leighlin Bridge, Carlow; the Henry Augustus Dillon, who acted as witnessin 1877 at the Deering/Cullen wedding, was the 13th Viscount Dillon of Costello-Gallen, Co. Sligo. )
'DEERING and CULLEN - Feb. 26th, at St. Mary's Church, Dublin, by the Rev. B. W. ADAMS, D.D., cousin to the bridegroom, assisted by the Rev. T. R. S. COLLINS, Charles L. H. Deering, Esq., Captain Royal Dublin Militia, and the late 28th Regiment, eldest son of the late Rev. W. W. Deering, M.A., and grandson of the late Charles S. Adams, J.P., of Shinan House, Shercock, to Anna Louise SODEN, youngest daughter of the late Francis Nesbitt Cullen, Esq., J.P., of Corry Lodge, co. Leitrim.'
Another son of John Deering and Harriet Armstrong was Colonel Rupert Barber Deering of the 99th Regiment; there was also a William H. Deering in 1841 at Derrybrusk - he died on 30 November 1967, with probate to Herbert Deering, farmer.
Lucius Henry Deering, son of John Deering and Harriet Armstrong, married Caroline Gildea, daughter of Anthony Gildea of Pembroke Place in 1845. A son, John Deering, was born in 1845 at 19 Lower Pembroke Street. A son, Lucius Henry Deering, was born at 48 Lower Leeson Street, in 1848. A descendant was named William Watkins Deering....Lucius proved the will of a possible relation, the unmarried Bridget Amstrong who died in 1883 at Thomastown Glebe, Rathangan, Kildare, and who had lived at 4 Goldsmith Terrace, Bray.
Emma Deering, the daughter of John Deering and Harriet Armstrong, married Joseph North of York Street, son of Roger North, in 1845 - wits were Susan H. Deering and Roger North.
Captain Thomas Gale of Valleyfield had died by 1834, as cited in deed 1834-8-216 which named Harriet Gale as the widow of Captain Thomas Gale of Valleyfield.
The children of Captain Thomas Gale and his second wife, Harriet Thomas, were named in deed 1838-23-217. They were James Gale, Harriet Gale and Elizabeth Gale, all of Athy, Co. Kildare.
9) Ryan Gale - a half-brother born to Anne Delany and a 2nd husband following death of Anthony Gale.
John Thomas Gale and Maria Cuthbert/Culbert settled in Limerick city, and a current descendant of this line recently emailed me to let me know that they were told in the 1950s of a connection between their family and the Parnell family, although they are unclear about the exact link. Since my own family in Dublin had also been told in the 1940s about this supposed link to the Parnell family, then taking a closer look at the Ashfield Gales might be interesting.
I've done, therefore, a potted history of the Gales, which follows, much of this research having been done by American descendants of the Gale/Kearney families. I've been particularly interested in the children of Anthony Gale and Anne Delany of Ashfield, especially two of his sons, Captains Thomas and William Gale, who both settled at Valleyfield, the property immediately next to Ashfield Hall.
Having just spent a day in the Registry of Deeds in Dublin, it seems more and more likely that William Gale, the father of John Thomas Gale, was indeed the son of the blind Captain William Gale of Valleyfield, since Eliza Gale, the widow of the younger William Gale, was noted as the widow of William Gale of Valleyfield
when she died in Westland St., Limerick, on 25th September 1875.
http://alison-stewart.blogspot.ie/2012/09/maria-culbert-and-john-thomas-gale.html
http://alison-stewart.blogspot.ie/2012/09/the-family-of-john-thomas-gale-of-laois.html
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There is some connection between the Parnell family of Rathleague and the Delany/Gale family of Ashfield, Ballyroan, which accounts for the use of the Parnell name in later Gale generations. The abstract of a deed of 27th October 1784 states that the terms of the deed was for the three lives of Thomas Gale, Sir John Parnell (son of an older John Parnell) and Frances Delany, now Frances Moffitt.
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The first of the English Gale family to settle in Queen's County/Carlow was Anthony Gale who was married to a Miss Wandesford. Anthony Gale was a member of Oliver Cromwell's Roundheads during the Irish Rebellion in 1649 - 1652. Cromwell confiscated large tracts of land owned by Irish Catholics and awarded it to his supporters and soldiers, including Anthony Gale. The tracts were in Westmeath and Queen's Counties, the latter of which was the former Crotteneagle estate that later became known as Ashfield. Anthony first appeared in Ireland on the 1659 Census as a land holder in Crottentegle. He claimed his land "in right of an Adventurer as well as in right of a Soldier."
The son of Anthony Gale was Samuel Gale of Ashfield Hall, who married Alicia or Ellis Grace, the daughter of Oliver Grace of Shanganagh, later named Gracefield, an MP and Chief Remembrancer of the Exchequer of Ireland. Samuel and Alicia Grace Gale resided at Ashfield Hall but almost lost the estate as a consequence of Samuel's support of Catholic James II against the Jacobites during the Williamite War in Ireland. However, the Jacobites were defeated in the Battle of the Boyne in 1690 and Samuel retained the property, later inherited by his son Anthony.
Anthony Gale, the son of Samuel Gale and Alicia Grace, married Mary Vicars of Levally, daughter of William Vicars/Vigors, in 1732, these being the immediate ancestors of Peter Gale, the last of the Gales to inhabit Ashfield Hall in the 1850s. The second wife of Anthony Gale was Margaret Tench Driscoll. Peter Gale (1736 - Living 1780) was born to Anthony and Mary Vicars Gale of Ashfield Hall. He graduated from Trinity College and in 1758 married Mary Catherine Browne, the daughter of William Browne of Browne's Hill, Carlow. He inherited Ashfield Hall and was succeeded by his son Samuel Gale who married Susanna Brush, daughter of James Brush of Dublin, in Dunleckney, Carlow, on 9th January 1803. A James Brush, 1774-1812 , jeweller, watchmaker, and Madeira wine merchant, of 7, St. Andrew St., Dublin, was noted as the Treasurer of the Masonic Female Orphan School in the 1790s - he was possibly the son of James Brush of Co. Down, with a brother, George Brush who served his apprenticeship with the Dublin Goldsmith Robert Calderwood. Samuel Gale and Susanna Brush were the parents of Peter Gale (1803 - 1857) of Ashfield Hall, Laois, who married Anna Maria Harriet Lynch, the daughter of Captain Fleeson of the 6th Dragoon Guards and widow of Patrick Lynch of Ballycurrin Castle, Rocklands, Mayo - the wedding took place in St. George's, Hanover Square, London, on 20th June 1837. The marriage settlement was marked with deed 1837-14-19 which named Anna Maria Harriett Lynch of Talbot Street, Dublin, William Raymond Fitzmaurice of Carlow, John Fleeson of Cork City and Samuel Ryan of Great Britain Street, Dublin.This Peter Gale was the last of the Gale family to live at Ashfield in Laois. He also owned property in Carlow, but was forced by debt to sell up in the 1850's - an article dated 11/13/1851 in The Morning Chronicle at Dublin noted that Ashfield Hall, the estate of Peter Gale, had been divided into 12 lots and sold. Peter Gale died 28th September 1857 at age 54 and was buried in Monkstown Parish, Cork.
Another son of Samuel Gale and Alicia/Ellis Grace was Thomas Gale, whose wife was named Mabel and who lived at Sampson's Court, Queen's County, but who was also associated with the property named Bellbrook, which had previously been named Barnadunty.
Deed 605-751-413029, dated 27th February 1808, which detailed the marriage settlement made between the families of Anthony Gale and Eleanor Aldis or Oldis. The parties to the deed were Thomas Gale of Bellbrook; Francis Oldis of Mount Trafalgar, Kilkenny, who was the father of the bride; Henry Ellis of Rockbrook, Kilkenny; Lieutenant Anthony Gale of the 17th Regiment, 2nd son of the said Thomas Gale of Bellbrook; Elinor Aldis, 2nd daughter of Francis Aldis.
Captain Anthony Gale of the 17th Regiment:
The sister of Captain Anthony Gale was known to be Charlotte Gale (1828 - 1849) who died in Killabin, Queen's, both being the children of Thomas Gale of Sampson's Court and of Bellbrook.In October 1849, Charlotte Amelia, eldest surviving daughter of the late Captain Anthony Gale of 17th Regiment died in Carlow, of a rapid consuption.
The eldest son of Captain Thomas Gale of the 17th Regiment was Thomas Francis Gale (1810 - 1857) of Barrow View, Carlow, who married Emily/Amelia McKay on 21st May 1832. In the 1850s, Thomas Francis Gale was leasing land (206 acres) in Moyadd, Queen's County, from Peter Gale of Ashfield Hall.
The daughter of Thomas Francis Gale, Emily Gale, was born 22nd June 1833 at 3 Warrington Place, Dublin. A son, Robert Gale, was born at 7 Warrington Place on 28nd February 1836.
In 1847, Thomas Francis Gale was noted at 8 Warrington Place, Dublin; at 10 Warrington Place was Mrs. Captain Gale, presumably the widow of Captain Anthony Gale of the 17th, and mother of Thomas Francis Gale.
Thomas Francis Gale's second wife was Anna Fuller, only daughter of Adam Fuller, Esq. of Woodfield, Kings Co, on 8th June 1841 - she died June 14th 1854 at Barrow View House. The son of Thomas Francis Gale and Anna Fuller was Robert Peter Gale, born circa 1848 - on 20th June 1843, Robert Peter Gale was presented with a mug by Peter Gale, Esq. of Ashfield Hall.
Deed 1857-27-245 names Robert Peter Gale of Barrow View House, Graigue, Queen's County, and Emily Harriet Gale, spinster of the same place, wrangling about money with James Palmer of the Carlow Bank.
Thomas Francis' daughter, Emily Gale, married George Perceval Wilson, hotelier, son of George Wilson, in Dublin on 19th Oct 1857. George Perceval Wilson had been born to George and Margaret Wilson of Killeshin, Queen's County, on 11 December 1832. The numerous children of George Perceval Wilson and Emily Gale were Emily Frances Wilson, 22 July 1858, at Somerton House, Killeshin;Isabella Oliva Wilson, 11 March 1854, at at Somerton House, Killeshin; Alice Harriette Gale VICARS Wilson born 22 June 1861 at Barrow View, Carlow; Georgiana Mary Wilson at Barrow View, on 1 May 1863; Sophia FLEESON Wilson at Barrow View on 10 December 1865 ;George Gale Wilson born Barrow View, Carlow, 29 Apr 1864; Anna Maria Wilson on 1 April 1867 at Greenhill, Killeshin; Richard Francis Wilson at Greenhill Cottage, Killeshin, born 5th Jan 1870; Josephine Charlotte Wilson at Greenhill Cottage on 3 August 1873.
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Thomas Gale ( 1710-15 - 1780) of Sampson's Court, Queen's County, who married Mabel, had the Thomas Gale of Sampson's Court/Belbrook mentioned above.
Thomas and Mabel also had Anthony Gale who married Anne Delany, and whose American descendants have extensively published their research into this branch of the Gales online.
Anthony Gale and Anne Delany:
Anthony Gale , born circa 1761 although the exact date is unclear, the son of Thomas and Mabel Gale of Sampson's Court, Queen's County, married Anne Delany, the daughter of Malachi Delany.
(A John Gale was named in his Anthony's marriage settlement to Anne Delany. This John Gale of Ashfield Hall was named in deed 271-281-179721, registered 19th February 1770, whereby John Gale of Ashfield demised a house on the west side of Merrion Square, Dublin, to Robert Fitzgerald of Dublin, the house being next door to another also owned by the same John Gale. A later deed of 11th December 1787, (392-547-259935), seems to mention the same property on the west side of Merrion Square, this time being made over by a Grantham Gale, hosier of Dublin, and by Samuel Gale of Naas, Kildare, to Joseph Hone of Dublin.)
Anne Delany's uncle, Martin Delany, married Anna Dorothy Fitzgerald and had a Stephen Fitzgerald who lived at Ballydavis, Queen's County. (In 1761, the death occurred of Dudley Fitzgerald of Ballydavis, near Maryborough, the treasurer of Queen's Co.; Dudley Fitzgerald was the guardian of a Pearse Hovenden - he married a Miss Delany in Ballyfin, Queen's; in 1794 a Mr. Fitzgerald was seated at Kilminchy, a mile from Maryborough, and next door was the Baldwin seat of Summerhill. A Robert Fitzgerald married Mrs. J. Baldwin, née Miss Roberts.)
The children of Anthony Gale, who died insane, and Anne Delany were:
1) Lt. Col./Commandant Anthony Gale of the US., 4th Commandant of the US Marine Corps. Born 17th September 1782, he emigrated to Philadelphia in 1793. He joined the Marines and married, in 1801, Catherine Swope, daughter of Rev. Benedict Swope. At the end of 21 years of service, Anthony Gale was promoted to Lieut. Col. Commandant on 3rd March 1819. He was, however, given to heavy drinking and psychiatric instability, and was accordingly removed from office in 1820. It is worth noting that his own father had died insane.
A daughter was Emily Gale, who married, on 30th June 1830, William S. Campbell in Kentucky where the elderly Anthony Gale had settled.
A son of was named as Washington Gale; a second son was William A. Gale.
2) Parnell Gale, born 1772 to Anthony Gale and Anne Delany, who was the correct age to be the Parnell Gale who was the Mayor of Galway in 1817.
3) Captain William Gale of Valleyfield, Ballyroan, the son of Anthony Gale and Anne Delany. I accessed his military discharge papers on the Find My Past site. Born circa 1778 in Ballinakill, Queen's County, he was discharged on 18th May 1802, aged 24:
'His Majesty's 13th Regiment of Lt.Dragoons whereof General Fras. Craig is Colonel.
These are to certify that the bearer hereof, William Gale, Serjeant in Capt.Bennett's Troop of the aforesaid regiment, born in the Parish of Ballinakil (sic) in the County of the Queen - aged 24 years - and by Trade a farmer - hath served honestly and faithfully in the said Regiment two years and a half; having borne a commission of Ensign one year and a half in the Wallace Fencible Infantry - but by reason of a violent inflammatory terminating nearly with a loss of vision, occurring during a march from Norwich to Colchester - is hereby discharged and humbly recommended as a proper object of His Majesty's Royal Bounty of CHELSEA HOSPITAL....' (Ipswich Barracks, 18th May 1802.)
It seems that William Gale's son was the teacher and scripture reader, William Gale of Carlow, who married Eliza Baldwin in 1832, and whose son was the John Thomas Gale who married Maria Culbert in 1861.
Eliza Gale, née Baldwin, when she died, aged 68, in Limerick on 25th September 1875, was noted as the widow of William Gale of Valleyfield, Ballyroan, Laois.
A son of Captain William Gale of Valleyfield was Parnell Gale of Cork from whom the Cork Gales descend. Parnell Gale's son was the Under Sheriff of Cork, John Gale of Hollymount, Cork who had been born July 5th, 1854. John Gale married, on August 22nd, 1876, Mary Diana, daughter of the late Thomas Atkins, of Cork; John died on 3nd October 1916 with probate of his will to his son, the solicitor, Parnell Gale, who had been born in 1868. Another brother was Berkeley Gale, who had been born on 11th March 1851 in Cork.
(A Parnell Gale was buried in Deansgrange Cemetery: 'PARNELL GALE, died 19th May 1948 and his wife, EVELYN, died 26th March 1972.')
Another son of Captain William Gale of Valleyfield was Samuel P. Gale of Cork, then of the USA, who married a cousin, Mary Burchell.
A daughter of Captain William Gale was Grace Gale, born 1824, who married William Thompson, son of Robert Thompson, in Durrow, Queen's County, on 12th September 1849. A possible child of this marriage was a William Gale Thompson.
A daughter of Captain Gale of Valleyfield was married in Kingston, Ontario, on Aug 15, 1843 by Rev. John Machar - Jane Ann Gale, youngest daughter of the late Capt. Gale of Valleyfield, Queens County, married Andrew Drummond, eldest son of the late Robert Drummond. Andrew Drummond worked for the Commercial Bank in Toronto. Jane Ann Drummond died in Toronto in 1850.
4) John Gale, born to Anthony Gale and Anne Delany.
5) Jane Gale, born to Anthony Gale and Anne Delany - She married Patrick Glascott and had two daughters, Mary Glascott in 1796, and Frances Glascott in 1797.
6) Frances Gale, born to Anthony Gale and Anne Delany, who married John Kearney in 1800 - their children were Frances Kearney, born 1809, John Kearney, born 1811, Jane Kearney born 1813 and John Kearney, born 1822. The Kearney's emigrated to the US.
7) Malachi Gale, son of Anthony Gale and Anne Delany. Malachy Gale married Catherine Holland and his children were baptised in the Catholic Ballinakill Church - 1801 Anthony Gale; 1802 Hellen Gale; 1804 Margaret Gale; 1806 Catherine Gale; 1808 Parnell Gale; 1811 Malachi Gale. This family also emigrated to USA - aboard the 'Catherine', leaving Dublin on 14 July 1817 and arriving in Philadelphia on 24 September 1817.
8) Captain Thomas Gale of Valleyfield. Both Captain Thomas Gale and his older brother, Captain William Gale, were noted as being of Valleyfield.
The military records for Captain Thomas Gale are available to download free of charge on the UK National Archives Discovery site.
Born circa 1777, he had joined the 87th Regiment as an ensign, aged 30, in November 1807. He also served in the 12th Foot, and went on half pay in 1817. In 1818, it was noted that he had lived for the previous five years in France, and also occasionally in Ireland.
Helpfully, the record lists some of his children, two of whom had been born to his first, unknown, wife - Frances Gale, born 2nd September 1800, and Margaret Gale, born 5th November 1802. Daughter Frances Gale married William W. Fitzgerald of Ballyroan, Queen's County, on 30th October 1828. The Dublin Evening Mail confirmed that Frances was the eldest daughter of Captain Thomas Gale of Valleyfield.
Thomas Gale also had three children by his 2nd wife, Harriet Thomas, who he married in Dublin on 8th February 1808. James Gale was born on 5th November 1810, Harriet Gale in 1817 (this was nigh-on illegible), and Eliza Gale on 19th January 1820.
Although not mentioned in the miltary records of his father, possibly because he was no longer living at home when the record was compiled, the eldest son of Captain Thomas Gale of Valleyfield was Sharp Thomas Gale, later known as the simpler Sharp Gale, who was born in about 1796 and who emigrated to the US with other Gales. His obituary was published in the Philadelphia Inquirer on 21 February 1876:
“On the 15th inst., at the advanced age of 80 years, Thomas Sharp Gale, eldest son of the late Thomas Gale, of Valleyfield, Queen’s County Ireland. He was a nephew of the late Colonel Gale, United States Marine Corps, and cousin of the late Sharp Delany, first collector of the Port of Philadelphia under George Washington.'
Sharp Delany, 1739-1799, after whom Thomas Sharp Gale was named, was the son of Daniel Delany of Ballyfin, Queen’s County, and of Rachel Sharp, granddaughter of noted Dublin Quaker Anthony Sharp who also owned land called Roundwood near Mountmellick, Queen's Country. Anthony Sharp bought property in Philadelphia - Thomas Sharp Gale's cousin, Sharp Delany, was buried in St. Peter's, Philadelphia, when he died there, aged 60, on 13th May 1799. Also in the St. Peter's records were recorded the following deaths who may, or may not, be related:
Rachel, daughter of Sharp and Margaret Delany, who died 11th December 1767, also a second Rachel, daughter of Sharp Delany, who died 6th September, 1781. Dorothy Delany, daughter of Sharp Delany, who died 15th october 1788. Sharp, son of Sharp Delany, who died 31st July 1784. Frances Baldwin, daughter of Sharp, who died 5th July 1800. Thomas Delany who died 6th June 1806. Margaret Delany who died 20th May 1813. Ann Delany who died 6th September 1832 aged 56. Mary Delany who died 20th January 1846 aged 60.
Sharp Gale, the son of Captain Thomas Gale of Valleyfield, as noted in deed 1861-27-4, had power of attorney over Anthony Gale, presumably his uncle, Commandant Anthony Gale, who had also settled in Philadelphia and who struggled like his father with psychiatric issues. The 1861 deed was a land deal involving the Perrys, namely William Perry of Ballinagore, Westmeath, and Henry Robert Perry of Clara, King's/Offaly, who were both the executors of the will of the late Robert Perry of Rathdowney. The Perrys had been sold a share in property from Sharp Gale which had formerly been held by the late Anthony Gale of Sampson's Court, and which was afterwards held by Thomas Gale of Sampson's Court and by Thomas Gale of Barnadunty.
Another deed, 1868-9-232, named land previously owned by an Eliza Gale - ie: Woodpark, Rathdowney - but which was now owned by Robert Perry. The deed states that an Eleanor Gale married Robert Perry, and names the couple's children as Ellen Perry of Belmont, Anne Gale Perry of Belmont, Mary Walpole Perry of Belmont, Arthur Perry of Burgh Quay, James Perry of Belmont, King's Co., John Miller Perry of Rathdowney, Thomas Perry of Belmont, Henry Robert Perry of Belmont, and Robinson Gale Perry of belmont.
A second son of Captain Thomas Gale was Anthony Gale who is referred to as the eldest son of Captain Thomas Gale of Valleyfield - he was known to be the heir to Peter Gale. At some stage this Anthony Gale was thought to have left for America.
From The Freeman's Journal of 1841: 'In this city, David Armstrong Esq., of Baggot Street, to Harriet Maria, fourth daughter of the late Captain Gale of Valleyfield in the Queen's County.' (In the miltary records, she appeared as third on the list, so perhaps there was an extra older daughter floating about, or perhaps she was the daughter of Captain William Gale of Valleyfield, rather than the daughter of Captain Thomas Gale of Valleyfield.)
David and Harriet Maria Gale had emigrated to Canada before living in Chelsea, Massachusetts, where their eldest son Robert Gale Armstrong, died 8th March 1863, aged 19. They also had a son called Francis (named after his grandfather) -both were born in Canada. The 1850 USA census shows the family living in Ward 10 in Boston, in the county of Suffolk, State of Mass. with three sons - Robert, Francis and Samuel. By 1855, they've moved to Dorchester, Norfolk, Massachusetts.
David Armstrong, born circa 1825, was the son of the Longford builder, Francis Armstrong of Baggot Street and of Catherine Williams.
David's father, Francis Armstrong, builder of 55 Lower Baggot St. married, as his second wife, in 1860, Julia Ann Hornidge, daughter of Peter Hornidge. In the same year at 55 Baggot Street, Matilda Armstrong, daughter of Francis Armstrong, married John Croker Walsh of Waterford. Another daughter of this builder, Francis Armstrong, was Frances Elizabeth Armstrong, who married in 1857 William Whitsitt - the witnesses were other Armstrongs, David W. Armstrong and Robert W. Armstrong.
The second witness was another son of the Dublin builder, Francis Armstrong - Robert Williams Armstrong, an architect, who married Anne Langley Nairn in 1848. Robert Williams Armstrong was later a founding partner in the Belleek Pottery, Co. Fermanagh. Robert Williams Armstrong was born in 1824 to Francis Armstrong and Catherine Williams; his obituary in the Irish Times of 29th January 1884 is as follows:
“Death of Mr R.W.Armstrong. Architect. We much regret to report the death of the above-named gentleman, at Belleek, on Sunday last. For the promoters of home industries it will be interesting to know that to Mr Armstrong was due the success of the Belleek pottery now in vogue for about a quarter of a century in Fermanagh. The deceased gentleman was of Irish birth but went to London to practise his profession as architect. From the midst of a most promising career, he was induced by Mr Bloomfield, the landlord of Belleek, to come to this country to construct the pottery, and to add his artistic talents to the factory. Up to almost his last days, he was still engaged in his scientific researches. Dying at the comparatively early age of 59, he is much regretted by the neighbourhood at large.”
To return to Captain Thomas Gale of Valleyfield- although his first wife is unknown, his second is well documented - Harriet Thomas, who he married in Dublin on 8th February 1808.
From the Gentleman's Magazine of 1808: 'At Dublin, Thomas Gale. Esq., Captain of the 87th Regiment to Miss Thomas, daughter of the LATE Rev. Henry Thomas.'
I transcribed the following marriage settlement off the internet:
'Gale to Parnell and another.
To the Registrar Appointed by Act of Parliament for registering Deeds, Wills, etc. A Memorial of a Deed of Settlement dated the fifth day of February 1808 and made Between Thomas Gale, Esq., Ensign in his Majesty’s 87th Regiment of Foot of the first part, Harriot Thomas, Spinster daughter of the Reverend Henry Thomas, deceased, a minor under the age of 21 years And Robert Cooke of Robamis(?) in the Queens County, Esq., Guardian of the said Harriot Thomas of the Second part, Mathew Dillon Thomas of the City of Dublin, Esq., the only son and heir at law of the said Henry Thomas, Brother to the said Harriot of the third part And the said Robert Cooke and Parnell Gale of Birr in the Kings County, Esq., of the fourth part. Whereby after reciting among other things that a marriage was their (sic) intended to be Shortly had & Solemnized between the said Thomas Gale and Harriot Thomas. He the said Thomas Gale for the consideration therein mentioned did give, grant, sell, assign, release and confirm unto the said Robert Cooke and Parnell Gale All that and those the undivided moiety of the Town and Lands of Sampsons Court and Knockardegier with their and Every of their rights, members and appurtenances situate in the Queens County in as full a manner as the said Thomas Gale was entitled to the same by virtue of the Settlement recited upon the intermarriage of his father Anthony Gale with Miss Anne Delany. Also all those several pieces or parcells of Arable meadow & pasture Land with the Cabbins and Gardens thereon thereto belonging being part of the Lands Commonly Called and known by the name of Raggetstown as then called Valley Field situate near the town of Ballynakill and Containing of by Admeasurement (sic) 52 acres, 3 rods and 31 perches in as full a manner as the said Garden(?) & Meadow(?) Lands were demised by the Earl of Stanhope to the Said Thomas Gale. Also all that and those the several tracts of the Lands of Dearyfera(?) late in the possession of the Honorable Francis Hugh Massey both parts Containing 74 Acres or thereabouts in as full a manner as said Lands of Derryfery(?) has been demised or assigned by the said Thomas Hugh Massey to the said Thomas Gale also all that the lands of Clonohill now in the possession of Robert Stubber and Robert White, Esqs., in as full a manner as the said Thomas Gale is entitled to the same under the Right Honorable Lord Devesie(?) and situate in the Queens County aforesaid to Hold unto the said Robert Cooke and Parnell Gale or the survivor of these & the heirs, Executors, administrators & assigns of the survivors for and during the natural lives and life & other terms ? mentioned and contained in the ? ? or other Instruments under which the said Thomas Gale held the same And all such other life or lives or other terms as may thereafter be acquired therein Contained and the said deed of Settlement Contains other Clauses and Covenants. And the said Deed as ? Excon(?) thereof by the said Thomas Gale, Harriot Thomas and Mathew Dillon Thomas and this Memorial are (sic) witnessed by Thomas Shea of the City of Dublin, Gentleman & by James Whelan of said City ? ?.
Thomas Gale (seal) - 12th day of February 1808. '
The Family of Harriet Thomas, second wife of Capt. Thomas Gale:
Harriet Thomas's grandfather was Mathew Dillon of Leighlin Bridge, Co. Carlow, who married in Feb. 1758, her grandmother, Hellen Cook of Rossena, Queen's Co. Mathew Dillon died in March 1784, having had one child Elizabeth Dillon of Kilkenny City who married, on 21 July 1784, the Rev. Henry Thomas of Leighlin Bridge, Carlow. Elizabeth Dillon Thomas made her will in Dec. 1798, and was buried with her husband in a vault in St. Thomas's Church, Dublin.
The Dillons had settled in Leighlin, Co. Carlow, where a relative was noted as Francis Dillon in the first hald of the 19th century - a Francis Dillon died in April 1863 at Garryhill, Carlow, aged 102. He was the friend and relation of James Dillon, pawnbroker of Dublin, who died after making a will in 1819. The will stipulated that his trustees invest his money, the proceeds of which was to be divided equally between his two sons, James Dillon Junior, who left for South America where he died, childless, and Thomas St. John Dillon, and to provide a yearly stipend for his widow, Catherine Dillon, who died shortly after her husband. The will stipulated that Thomas, the second son, would only benefit from his father's will if he broke off all contact with the woman he'd been living with, Anne Robinson, who his father highly disapproved of. This Thomas agreed to do in writing - '...from this moment to the end of my existence, I will have no kind of communication with her...'
The will of James Dillon also stipulated that, if his sons were to die without issue, then the proceeds of his invested money were to go to his friend and relation, Francis Dillon of Carlow, and, when Francis Dillon, died, to go to Matthew Dillon Thomas, the son of his relation Elizabeth Dillon, otherwise Thomas. (ie: the wife of Rev. Henry Thomas, and mother of Harriet Thomas.) The trustees were also directed to divert some of the money to be donated to Carlow Infirmiary in order that a home be founded for infirm and reduced old men without regard to religious distinctions.
In 1821, Thomas St. John Dillon married Anne Robinson, who used an assumed name, claiming to be Mary Anne Madden, the only daughter of Andrew Madden of Dunleary. The trustees paid up accordingly. Thomas died in 1823, leaving everything to his widow, A. H. Dillon, who was proved to be Anne Hemsworth Robinson. She in her turn died in August 1825 and left all she had to John Robinson, a minor. The judge eventually found against John Robinson, agreeing with Francis Dillon and Matthew Dillon Thomas that Anne's husband, Thomas St. John Dillon, had indeed forfeited his claim to his father's money when he'd married Anne Robinson in 1821.
Harriet Thomas' grandmother, Hellen Cook of Rossena, Queen's Co., the wife of Matthew Dillon of Leighlin, was related to Robert Cooke, named as Harriet's guardian at the time of her marriage to Captain Thomas Gale in 1808. Rossena, seat of the Cook/Cooke family, is only about three miles east of Ashfield, seat of the Ashfield Gales.
In 1700, Rossena was the estate of William Cooke of Painestown, Carlow, and had been owned by the Cooke family for five generations prior to 1700. In 1710, George Cooke was leasing Rossena from William Cooke; in 1747, George Cooke, son of George, was leasing it from William Cooke's son, Thomas Cooke; in 1757, William Cooke, son of George, was leasing it from the same Thomas Cooke; in 1791, Robert Cooke, guardian of Harriet Thomas in 1808, was leasing Rossena from Valentine Brown, 1st Earl of Kenmare, who was the grandson of Thomas Cooke - Thomas Cooke had died leaving one daughter, Anne Cooke, who had married Thomas Brown, the father of the 1st Earl of Kenmare, who thereby inherited Rossena. Robert Cooke of Rossena died in 1818.
The daughter of William Cooke, tenant of Rossena in 1757, was Helen Cooke, who married John Bagot of Castle Bagot, Dublin - their daughter was Mrs. Sheffield Grace. This was the same Grace family as the family of Alicia or Ellis Grace who had married Samuel Gale of Ashfield Hall.
A John Cooke of Rossena was a solicitor of Harcourt Street, Dublin in 1870.
Harriet Thomas' parents, the Rev. Henry Thomas and Elizabeth Dillon had one son Mathew Dillon Thomas, and three daughters—Harriet, Hellen and Mary Dillon.
The son, Matthew D. Thomas, held land in Moone, Kildare, and also in Huntingtown, Kilkenny, and a corn store on Cornwall Quay, Carlow Town, as well as land in Killeen, Clonagh, and Coolanagh, Kilabban Parish, Queen's County.
In 1811, Matthew Dillon Thomas married, firstly, Miss Warren, the daughter of the late James Warren of Killeen, Queen's County. He married secondly, on 12 June 1844, Mary Deering who died 12 April 1867. Her will was proved in 1867 by her son Henry Deering Thomas of Moone. Matthew Dillon Thomas's will was dated 10 July 1851 and proved 25 Jan. 1856. They had one son Henry Deering Thomas, and one daughter Emma Josephine Thomas. Henry Deering Thomas of Moone, Kildare, retired major, died 1899, with probate to spinster, Emma Josephine Thomas of Kingstown who had been born in Queen's County in about 1855.
When Harriet Thomas' brother, Mathew Dillon Thomas of Killeshin, Carlow/Queens married Mary Deering of Mount Street, Dublin, in 1844, the witnesses were William Robert Rogers and Mary's brother, John Armstrong Deering. Both Mary and John Armstrong Deering were the children of the barrister, John Deering of Monuntjoy Square and Harriot Armstrong who had married in Dublin in 1805. Mary Deering was born to John and Harriot Deering in 1811. Lucius Henry Deering in 1818, Emma in 1819. Mary Thomas, née Deering, died on 12th April 1868 in Moone, Kildare.
Mary's father, John Deering, in the 1830s, had two addresses - 6 Mountjoy Square and also Derrybrusk, Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh.
In 1838, John Armstrong Deering was a witness, as was John Deering, as was Henry Ryan, at the wedding of Edward Ryan of 48 North Great Georges Street and of Margaret Deering.
Also in 1838, John Armstrong Deering was witness, with Henry Ryan, Thomas H. Porter and Richard Bourne, at the wedding of Thomas Nolan, of Chester but now of 48 North Great Georges Street, and of Ann Ryan of same address.
John Armstrong Deering, eldest son of John Deering and Harriet Armstrong, entered TCD, July 3, 1826, aged 17; he died in February 1850, aged 39, in Leeson Street, Dublin.
William Watkins Deering, also a son of John Deering, entered TCD July 4, 1831, aged 17. A clergyman, in 1869 he sold the family property in Fermanagh in the landed estates court. Elizabeth Adams (c.1823-88), m. 1841 Rev. William Watkins Deering (d. 1870) and had issue 4 sons and 4 daughters; one of the sons was Charles Lucius Henry Deering who married, in 1877 Anna Louisa Soden Cullen, the witnesses being Henry Augustus Dillon and Charles Henry Dillon. (The witnesses are interesting, but I'm unsure about a family link or not - although 'Dillon' is a family name here, thanks to Matthew Dillon of Leighlin Bridge, Carlow; the Henry Augustus Dillon, who acted as witnessin 1877 at the Deering/Cullen wedding, was the 13th Viscount Dillon of Costello-Gallen, Co. Sligo. )
'DEERING and CULLEN - Feb. 26th, at St. Mary's Church, Dublin, by the Rev. B. W. ADAMS, D.D., cousin to the bridegroom, assisted by the Rev. T. R. S. COLLINS, Charles L. H. Deering, Esq., Captain Royal Dublin Militia, and the late 28th Regiment, eldest son of the late Rev. W. W. Deering, M.A., and grandson of the late Charles S. Adams, J.P., of Shinan House, Shercock, to Anna Louise SODEN, youngest daughter of the late Francis Nesbitt Cullen, Esq., J.P., of Corry Lodge, co. Leitrim.'
Another son of John Deering and Harriet Armstrong was Colonel Rupert Barber Deering of the 99th Regiment; there was also a William H. Deering in 1841 at Derrybrusk - he died on 30 November 1967, with probate to Herbert Deering, farmer.
Lucius Henry Deering, son of John Deering and Harriet Armstrong, married Caroline Gildea, daughter of Anthony Gildea of Pembroke Place in 1845. A son, John Deering, was born in 1845 at 19 Lower Pembroke Street. A son, Lucius Henry Deering, was born at 48 Lower Leeson Street, in 1848. A descendant was named William Watkins Deering....Lucius proved the will of a possible relation, the unmarried Bridget Amstrong who died in 1883 at Thomastown Glebe, Rathangan, Kildare, and who had lived at 4 Goldsmith Terrace, Bray.
Emma Deering, the daughter of John Deering and Harriet Armstrong, married Joseph North of York Street, son of Roger North, in 1845 - wits were Susan H. Deering and Roger North.
Captain Thomas Gale of Valleyfield had died by 1834, as cited in deed 1834-8-216 which named Harriet Gale as the widow of Captain Thomas Gale of Valleyfield.
The children of Captain Thomas Gale and his second wife, Harriet Thomas, were named in deed 1838-23-217. They were James Gale, Harriet Gale and Elizabeth Gale, all of Athy, Co. Kildare.
9) Ryan Gale - a half-brother born to Anne Delany and a 2nd husband following death of Anthony Gale.