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Dunlop of that Ilk
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Boyds of Danson House
Sir John Boyd
Part 1
Part 2
(New Info Nov 15, 2008)
Danson
House is a Georgian mansion (today a Grade 1 listed building) at
the centre of Danson
Park, to the west of Bexleyheath in the London Borough of
Bexley, south-east of London.
Originally called Danson Hill, the Palladian villa was designed by leading
architect Sir Robert Taylor (architect of the Bank of England), and
constructed c.1764-67 for sugar merchant and vice-chairman of the British
East India Company, Sir John Boyd. It stood in over 600 acres (2.4 km²) of
pleasure grounds and agricultural estate - over 200 acres (0.8 km²) of which
today form Danson Park, the largest public park in the London Borough of Bexley.
The landscape was designed and laid out by Nathaniel Richmond, assistant to
Capability Brown from 1761 to 1763. At its centre is a Large and picturesque
12 acre (49,000 m²) lake to the south of the house.
After Sir
John died in January 1800 (being buried in St Mary's churchyard, Lewisham),
his son, John Boyd demolished the imposing wings containing kitchens and
stables, and built the present stable block (design attributed to George
Dance the Younger). He sold the estate in 1807 to a retired army captain
John Johnston. In 1829, it passed to Johnston's son Hugh. Hugh's daughter
Sarah painted a number of watercolors of the interior in the 1860s with
exceptional detail. These water-colors have been invaluable in restoring the
interior. Hugh Johnston sold Danson to railway engineer Alfred Bean in 1863.
Bean was the driving force behind the Bexleyheath Railway Company and
chairman of Bexley Local Board, and envisaged transforming the 582 acre (2.4
km²) estate into a residential suburb. Outlying areas were gradually
developed but the central area of the estate remained in Bean's family after
his death in 1890 until it was acquired by Bexley Urban District Council for
£16,000 in 1924 on the death of his widow. The park was opened to the public
in 1925, while the house was used for civil defense purposes during World
War Two.
After
Boyd’s death in 1800 the house passed to his son, also called John, who
planned some redevelopment including relocating the stables away from the
main house. He tried to raise money by selling his father’s art collection
in 1800 but
was eventually forced to put the whole estate up for sale by auction in
1805.
Sir John
Boyd’s father, Augustus Boyd, had made his money from sugar plantations in
the Caribbean and was a director of the East India Company. His son, John,
was therefore able to lead the life of a gentleman. He read theology at
Oxford and later embarked on the Grand Tour of continental Europe. In the
early 1740s he settled in Lewisham and married his first wife, Mary
Bumpstead, by whom he had four children. In 1753 he acquired the 200 acre
lease on Danson,
the first of his land transactions on the estate. In 1762 he bought the site
of his future villa. His first wife died in 1763 but following the
inheritance of his father’s estate and his second marriage to Catherine
Chapone in 1766 he proceeded with the building of the new house.
When the
house was acquired by English Heritage in 1995, it was in a dangerously
dilapidated condition, having been uninhabited since 1923. It was
painstakingly restored in a lengthy £4.5m project by Purcell Miller Tritton
architects. Bexley Heritage Trust, a local heritage charity, has been
involved in partnership with English Heritage since 2000 and has completed
the interior furnishing and fitting-out of the house prior to reopening by
HM The Queen in Spring 2005, and it now manages the building as a publicly
accessible venue and visitor attraction (the Trust is also responsible for
Hall Place, east of Bexleyheath).
The house
is currently used for public functions and is opened to the public on
certain open days. The estate's stable block is now a public house, the
Danson Stables.
John Boyd Evans My great great
grandfather was Thomas Boyd, his son "John Thomas Evans Boyd" is my great
grandfather. He is the father of my grandmother. He never married my great
grandmother Mary Foley. Mary had two children, Charles and my grandmother
Eveline Evans. My great grandmother kept the name Evans not Boyd I guess for
reasons we will never know. Below is the information on my family sent to me
by a writer in Dublin who wrote a story on the Boyd family for a book.
I believe my family came from England however, perhaps via Scotland. My
great grand uncle James Boyd left Ireland for France and then to South
Carolina. I believe he did return to Ireland but not sure when Below is the
information sent to me. Hope to hear back from you as soon as you can
Yours truly,
Anna Fox
Dear Anna,
I will give you some details from 'Burke's Irish Families' in relation to
the Boyd family. If you give me a postal address I can send you a photocopy
of all the details. I am also using newspaper sources and wills.
James Boyd, founder of the family in New Ross, Co. Wexford was thought
to be the 2nd son of Sir John Boyd, 1st Baronet of Danson Hill, Kent,
married at St. Mary's Church, New Ross on 9th March 1789 to Elizabeth Cope
and had issue. His eldest son, John, was born on 27th February 1792 and he
married Hannah Hogan on 24th September 1813. He died in 1839 and had issue:
1. Eliza
2. John William, MD (practiced as a doctor in New Ross
3. James, MD of Kiltra House, Bannow, Co. Wexford who married Martha,
daughter of Bagenal Colcough of Tintern Abbey.
4. Thomas, Crown Solicitor, b. 1818,
married Frances (Fanny) Thorpe of Chilcomb Park, New Ross on 10th May 1852
at St. Anne's Church, Dawson Street, Dublin. His children were as follows:
1.Caroline Harriet Crosby (Carrie); 2. Harriet Matilda (Polly); 3. John
Thomas Evans (Boyd) b. c.1855; 4. Dorothea Elizabeth (Dora; Katherine
Frances (Kitty); and 5. Charles Daniel (Charlie) born 10th September 1859.
Evans, or Ruane (near Whitechurch) Co. Wexford, solicitor and yachtsman
married Mary Crawford, daughter of George Crawford, whose brother, George
Crawford MD married Dorothea Elizabeth Boyd. They had one son, Thomas
Crawford (Crawford), b. 26th August 1886. He lately lived at Bexhill-on-Sea,
Sussex, England - Thomas Crawford Boyd (CIE 1944, FRCSI, MRCPI, DPH, FRIC,
Col. IMS, Professor of Chemistry, Med. Coll. Calcutta, Educated at St.
Andrews, Tenby and Coleraine, Married 1915 Dora, younger daughter of Edward
Godsall of Yorkshire, died 9th November 1967. He left a daughter Margot who
married in 1941, David Jardine Paterson, JP of Balgray, Lockerbie,
Dumfrieshire, Scotland and they had three children.
Evans (Ruane) appears to have divorced his first wife, Mary Crawford because
she secondly married Rev. Greene, Dean of Lismore. Mary died c.1890.
When Evans died suddenly, from a stroke, on 26th December 1900, his second
wife was out hunting.
Obituary:
Mr. J.T. Evans Boyd, Solicitor, New Ross. The death took place on
St.Stephen's Day, under painful circumstances of Mr. J.T. Evans Boyd,
solicitor, New Ross, on Wednesday. The New Ross Harriers were out hunting in
the Annagh and Carrigcloney districts and amongst the number at the meet was
Mrs. Evans Boyd. Shortly after 12, Mr. Boyd and a friend started from New
Ross for a drive towards Carrigcloney with the intention of intercepting the
hunt and just as they had reached Chilcomb Mills he appears to have
sustained a paralytic seizure, and without any warning fell off the car. He
was conveyed back to New Ross in a semi-conscious state, and Doctors Walsh
and Hickey were called in attendance upon him. They found that the paralysis
was of a severe nature, that it affected the whole of his left side and
there was hardly any chance of his recovery. Mr. Boyd passed away at 10
o'clock that night at the age of 48 years [his headstone reads 45 years,
which I think is the more accurate, for 20 of which he had been solicitor.
The funeral takes place today (Saturday) when interment will take
place in the family burial ground, St. Mary's. Mr. Boyd was personally one
of the most popular gentlemen in New Ross, although professionally as a land
agent he was frequently in conflict with tenants during the land agitation.
Deceased was on the car with his father and younger brother on the Sunday of
the Chilcomb tragedy in 1880 when Mr. Boyd senior was fired on. The
assassins missed him, however, and killed Mr. Charles Boyd, deceased's
younger brother. The Wexford People, 29th December 1900.
The name of the second wife of Evans Boyd was Emily Martha. Do you know if
your great grandmother was called Emily Martha? There is no mention of any
other children at his funeral except Thomas Crawford and again at the
funeral of Thomas Boyd in 1904 Thomas Crawford, as well as the children of
Dorothea Elizabeth and Katherine Frances are mentioned but other children of
Evans Boyd are mentioned.
Anne, this will give you a flavour of the information I have on the Boyd
family. The descendents of James Boyd are still living in Kiltra and near
Taghmon in County Wexford.
Regards
Margaret Urwin
The Shanbogh Killing
Katharine Blake retells the tale of a murder in South Kilkenny in the 1800s
One such account, written by Margaret Urwin, gives a chilling account of
events in south Kilkenny on an August day in 1880.
Landlord Thomas Boyd and his two sons, Evans and Charles and nephew,
Gladwell, were travelling on their carriage, towards Boyd’s out-farm in the
townland of Shanbogh about a half a mile from their home at Chilcomb Lodge,
and less than two miles from New Ross. It was Thomas Boyd’s habit to travel
with some of his family to his out-farm every Sunday, unless it was raining.
Charles, who was about to turn 21, was home for the holidays from Trinity
College, where he was studying law. Gladwell, Thomas’s nephew, was visiting
from Kilkenny. The party of four were travelling along what was then the
Waterford Road when they reached the spot where the townlands of Shanbogh
and Annaghs meet.
At this spot a disguised and masked man leapt out of a hedge at the corner
of the field on the left-hand side of the road. At first, Thomas Boyd took
the dancing man for a mummer, as there was a tradition in this area of
mummers entertaining around harvest time. Ideas of entertainment soon
disappeared though, when the man was followed by two others who were dressed
from head to toe in white smocks and leggings, their faces covered by red
masks and on their heads, women’s white linen caps. They were carrying
rifles with fixed bayonets, later identified as breech-loading Enfield
rifles. The first men covered the right hand side of the car where Thomas
and Gladwell were seated, while the other two men confronted Evans and
Charles. One of the men stuck the bayoneted rifle in Evans’ face and when
Evans pushed it away, the trigger was pulled and a bullet grazed his leg and
burned his trousers. On hearing the shot, the other two men discharged their
rifles. Gladwell deflected the rifle aimed at Thomas by hitting it with his
whip resulting in Thomas receiving a minor wound to his shoulder. Charles,
did not fare so well. A bullet entered his left side just under his heart,
passed through his lung and exited to the right of his spine. This bullet
then penetrated his father’s back but the injury was not serious. All of
this happened in just a few seconds, after which, Thomas Boyd grabbed the
whip and drove away at top speed shouting “murderers”.
The attackers were not fast enough to keep upon with the carriage and gave
up the chase after a short distance. Gladwell, who had jumped from the
carriage, ran through the fields to Chilcomb Lodge, where Thomas Boyd’s
brothers, doctors John and James, were called for but were unable to save
Charles.
That evening, gentry from all around came to Chilcomb Lodge to offer their
sympathy to the family and on August 12, people from all classes turned out
for Charles’ funeral. The family’s standing was such that the murder was
mentioned in the House of Commons.
So why would anyone want to risk their own lives for the murder of Thomas
Boyd and his sons? As with any story of wrongdoing, there were eye-witness
accounts, supposition, rumour and counter-rumour.
Thomas Boyd had bought the townland of Shanbogh in the parish of Rosbercon
in 1872, having previously been a tenant on the land himself. Boyd had a
thriving solicitor’s practice in New Ross where many of his clients were
landlords whose tenants Boyd pursued for outstanding rents. Boyd was also
the crown prosecutor for Tipperary and sessional crown solicitor for
Kilkenny.
Having bought Shanbogh from the Warburton family, who had been financially
ruined by the Famine, Boyd found himself with 30 tenants. He had the land
revalued and raised the rents but five of the tenants refused to pay. One of
these was Margaret Forristal, from whom Bishop Laurence Forristal is
descended. Boyd removed Margaret Forristal and her family, paying her
compensation under the Land Act. Two brothers Richard and Michael Phelan,
their sister Anastasia Holden and John Shea also refused to pay. Anastasia
Holden, a widow lived close to Shanbogh crossroads with her two sons, John
and James and her daughter, Anastasia. Michael Phelan died in 1878 and his
son, James took over the 88-acre farm where he lived with his wife, Johanna
and his two brothers, John and Walter.
Immediately after the murder, Evans Boyd identified John and Walter Phelan
as two of the men involved in the attack. John and James were arrested,
along with ten others and the consequent magisterial inquiry was held over
three days in the last weeks of August in the grand jury room in Kilkenny.
Tensions were running high in the countryside and the Shanbogh Defence Fund,
set up in support of the men, received £40 from the Irish National Land
League. A number of witnesses and people who had been in the vicinity of the
crime, were removed to Dublin and held for their own protection following
attacks on them in Kilkenny and New Ross.
The case was set to be heard in Kilkenny in March 1881 but was moved to
Dublin and postponed until June.
During the trail of Walter Phelan, the jury heard witness account for
Walter’s whereabouts at the time of the murder and they also heard tales of
three strangers who had been seen in the locality the day before the murder.
In the end, the only evidence against Walter Phelan was Evans Boyd’s
identification of him and he was acquitted. It was then decided that the
case against John Phelan would not go ahead and both men were released on
July 1, 1881. Their physical health upon release was good, thanks to the
food brought by friends and family during their time in prison but Walter’s
mental health had suffered greatly. He was eventually admitted to Kilkenny
District Mental Asylum in 1883 where he lived until his death in 1944 at the
age of 87.
John Phelan lived with his brother James for the rest of his life.
Chilcomb Lodge was demolished at the end of the last century and the
descendants of the Boyds, the Phelans and the Holdens have all disappeared
from the area with the exception of the descendants of Johanna Phelan,
daughter of James and Johanna, who still farm at Shanbogh Crossroads today.
Hanging Crimes - When Ireland used the Gallows
Edited by Frank Sweeney
Published by Mercier Press, 2005
Courtesy of the Kilkenny People
May 20th 2005
Anna Fox
Congregational Support Administrator
Metropolitan United Church
56 Queen St. East
Toronto
M5C 2Z3
Hello,
Feb/ 2004
Thomas Boyd was The Crown Solicitor of Ireland, crowned by the The Prince of Wales. He was a rent collector and was born in or around 1845. He belonged to the Parish St. Mary's, in New Ross County, Wexford.
He died on December 26 1900 from a fall from his horse
- broke his neck - while fox hunting. There was a write up of his death in the Newspaper because of his position in Ireland.
His son
Charles who was killed at 21 by an ambush by those whose aim was to kill my great grandfather but sad to say his son was shot instead.
My great grandfather was married to Vanny Price of Dorset Street in Dublin, Ireland.
We have no family by this name and anything that could shed some light on this would be indeed wonderful.
Anna Fox
metunited@metunited.org
Part 2
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