Family Motto
BORNE WITH DISTINCTION
Pages | |
FOREWORD. | 5-6 |
GRANGE. The name and its origin, with a summary of the family’s early days. | 7-22 |
GENERATIONS OF THE ULSTER BRANCH | 25-105 |
GENERATIONS OF THE LEINSTER BRANCH | 147-165 |
SOUTHERN ENGLAND | 169-180 |
U.S.A. | 183-191 |
THE CANNON FAMILY. Origin of the name and how the family settled in the Sixmile Valley. | 108-143 |
R. T. GRANGE (1896)
who compiled this history.
It is now many years since I first felt the urge to peer into the misty past and try, with my
somewhat limited ability, to uncover at least a little of the early history of the Grange
family in Ireland which hitherto has been as a closed book to recent successive generations.
Often, as in my youth, when I listened to my parents and older relatives discuss amongst
themselves the habits of earlier generations and their way of life in bygone days, there always
seemed to well up within me a strong desire to gather together every scrap of information I
could, and then when opportunity permitted, weave together into a definite pattern these broken
and straggling threads of the family’s activities which up to now have been wreathed in
obscurity.
Altogether it has taken well over thirty years to accumulate the various bits and pieces which
go to make up the history of the Northern Branch. Commenced first in a somewhat haphazard manner,
all scraps of information which I was fortunate enough to glean from various sources were
carefully filed away, to await the time when I could link all together and so for the first
time present a complete story of this farming family.
In the preparation of the pen-picture, the utmost care has been taken to ensure that every item
recorded has been confirmed and is absolutely authentic, for when engaged in such a task as
this, involving as it does, the assembling of dates and so forth of a very early period,
inevitibly there arises the snag of a gap appearing in the continuity, and with it the
temptation to theorize or let the imagination run riot.
However one is only warranted in making use of the actual written word, and when such an
occasion did arise, happily this impulse was curbed and further patient and diligent search
brought in its train the rich reward of the missing link.
It was not until 1956 that a really intensive and more methodical search was commenced and this
was brough about by a request from Elizabeth Pearl (Betty), wife of James Stuart Grange of
Vancouver, Washington, U.S.A. who sought information regarding her husband’s family.
I immediately had a questionnaire sent to every Grange whom I knew and who might have in his or
her possession some useful and constructive information.
I am happy to say that everyone thus approached readily responded to the appeal and their
contributions have helped in no small measure to successfully build up the Family Tree.
Altogether over six hundred registers of Churches both North and South, have been carefully
scrutinized for any possible clues, old family Bibles scanned, while an endless flow of
requests were dispatched to Registrars of Births, Marriages and Deaths for information of
dates, or for further search to be made when a clue presented itself,often from some
unexpected source.
The destruction of many Wills and Deeds in Dublin at the height of the Sinn Fein troubles in
1922 seriously hampered the investigations. County Antrim in particular suffering severely in
this respect, and up in flames went most of the Grange records. However by dint of patience and
steady perseverance, one obstacle after another was surmounted, and what, for many years seemed
to me to be a well-nigh impossible task, that of piecing together this centuries-old jig-saw
puzzle, has at last been successfully accomplished.
And yet not quite, for there still remain a few knotty problems which for the time being at any
rate unfortunately defy all attempts to unravel them.
The late Rochfort Grange who was responsible for collecting the material which goes to build up
the history of the Southern Branch had by comparison a much more simple task, for he had the
good fortune to commence his search as far back as 1918 when all records were intact at the Law
Courts. He was still engaged in this praiseworthy endeavour at the time of his death in 1943.
And that he was a zealous worker is evident by the countless documents he had accumulated
during the course of his labours.
The more important items of this material came into my possession through the courtesy of his
widow, Margaret J. Grange, who fortunately retained them after his death and who very
generously placed them at my disposal during a visit to her home in Dublin.
She had been a very active help-mate to her late husband during the course of his research
activities and is herself a fount of knowledge as regards the early days of the Southern
Granges.
One interesting find of the search has been a copy of the Family Crest, which I have found
possible to re-produce. It has been taken from a most interesting Family Tree in the possession
of Mrs Grange of Dublin. It dates from the year 1322 and traces the descent of the Rochfort of
Belvedere family, one of whom, Mary Rochfort, niece of an Earl of Belvedere, married Richard
Chappell Grange in 1764. On either side of the recorded marriages are the Crests of each union,
making it a most colourful and attractive (as well as historical) “Tree”. From 1764 onwards it
records the marriages of the later Granges who descended from Richard Chappell until that of
the late Rochfort Grange and his wife, Margaret J. Cregan of Armagh, Northern Ireland. This Mrs
Grange, incidentally, is supposed to be the last surviving Grange living in Southern Ireland.
Well, in the chapters which follow, can be read the result of my labours. Not very imposing
perhaps when considering the expanse of time the subject covers or the number of years involved
in the search. To some, even, it may seem uninteresting, colourless and drab.
I, however, am more than satisfied with what has been accomplished.
To satisfy my own personal curiosity and with no thought whatever at that time of having the
outcome put into print, I set out with the primary object of ascertaining from whence we came,
who and what our ancestors and forebears were. And in this, I think, I can justly claim to have
achieved a fair measure of success. In fact it far exceeds my optimistic expectations from when
I first set forth on this voyage of discovery.
As for myself I have found it a most congenial and interesting pastime and it has helped to
while away what otherwise would have been many a lonely hour in the depths of a winter’s night.
1966 | R.T.G. |
GRANGE - A tithe-free district in the Barony of Shillelogher, County of Kilkenny and Province of Leinster.
GRANGE - A parish comprising about 2828 acres in the County of Limerick, Province of Munster. The land is very good and is rich meadow principally in large dairy farms. The river Deel, over which passes a curious old bridge, flows through the parish.
GRANGE - A parish or district in the County of Limerick and Province of Munster, three miles from Bruff on the road to Limerick, comprises 1224 acres very good dairy land. In the district of Bruff there are three Druidical Circles, one of which is 44 yards in diameter and consists of 65 upright stones, principally of limestone, sandstone and clay-slate, but the largest which is thirteen feet high, seven feet broad and four feet thick is formed of breccia. The second Circle is 49 yards in diameter and consists of 72 smaller stones, while the third, which consists of 15 large shapeless rocks, is 17 yards in diameter.
GRANGE or GRANGEMONK - Also called Monksgrange, is a parish in Queen’s County and Province of Leinster, 4 miles from Carlow on the river Barrow comprises 841 acres.
GRANGE - A parish of some 2700 acres in County Waterford and Province of Munster, 5 miles from Youghal on the river Lickey and near the coast, off which is Goat Island.
GRANGE of DOAGH - This ancient grange or parish includes the townland of Coggrey and part of the townland of Ballyclare, in the County of Antrim, Province of Ulster. Its Church, St. Mary’s, in Church Lane in the village of Doagh, was built in 1251 and is now in ruins. It seems to have always remained a separate parish with a curate supplied from the Abbey of Muckamore, about two miles distant. After the Abbey was dissolved it was joined to the parish of Kilbride.
ANDREW, born in the year 1661, is the first Grange of whom there is any authentic information
in the North of Ireland. He was married but the maiden name of his wife is not known.
He had at least one brother, Robert, and as Andrew was in possession of the home
farm at Templepatrick, it would seem as if Robert was the younger man and may have farmed
the land which the family owned at Kilmakee, a townland which lies close to Templepatrick.
(See note on Second Generation).
Andrew was also the owner of a tract of land near Carrickfergus, the boundaries of which town
in those days extended as far as Sernid, Little Ballymena and Bruslee, and the farm may have
been located in one of these areas, all of which lie in close proximity to Templepatrick.
His name is on a “List of Freemen of Carrickfergus” prior to 1716, being entitled to claim
privilege or right by virtue of possessing land within boundaries of the Corporation. This was
one of the ancient claims to the Freedom.
Andrew died in 1732, his will being proved in the same year.
There were two sons of the marriage :-
Arthur
John
JOHN, son of Andrew(1661). The date of his birth is not known. He was
married, but no trace of his wife’s maiden name can be found. He occupied Carrickfergus lands
and after his death his widow continued to live on the farm. The records show her to be still
in possession as late as 1775.
ARTHUR - Son of Andrew(1661), he was born in 1691. He was married but
again no trace of his wife’s maiden name can be found. He was probably the elder of the two
sons for he fell heir to the Templepatrick farm on the death of his father. He died in 1768
aged 77 years. He had one son :-
William
Note - There is a record of an Arthur Grange farming at Kilmakee during this period and
it is quite possible that he was the son of Robert, brother of Andrew. He died in
1766, letters for the administration of his estate being granted in the same year.
WILLIAM, son of Arthur(1691), was born in 1722 and took unto himself for a
wife, Sarah Gray who was born in Dublin. They were married in Dublin in 1741 and
thereafter lived at the home farm at Templepatrick which William took over on the death
of his father.
There is no record of William’s demise.
There was one son of the marriage :-
Richard
RICHARD, son of William(1722) was born in 1745 and married Jane
Stevenson of Carrickfergus. It was through this marriage that the Christian name of Hugh
was introduced into the Grange family, it being a Stevenson family name.
For a time Richard worked the farm at Derrieghy, later taking over the Templepatrick
lands from his father, working both until the time of his death which took place in 1812.
There was one son of the marriage :-
Robert
Note - It was about this period that the family began to seriously neglect the lands which lay
in the Carrickfergus, Derriaghy and Kilmakee areas.
ROBERT, son of Richard(1745) and Jane Stevenson, was born in 1777
and married Mary Reid of Doagh. He died in the year 1844 aged 67 years, by which time
the family were dispossessed of all their old farmlands in the Templepatrick and other areas.
His wife Mary survived him by twenty years. She was born in 1781 and died at Doagh on
1st May, 1864 at the ripe old age of 83.
Robert and Mary had two sons :-
James Reid
Hugh
Note - It was Robert who purchased the Thornditch farm.
JAMES REID. All that can be traced of this son of Robert(1777) is that he
was born in 1802 and that he married Margaret -----? in 1829 and that of the marriage a
daughter named Jane was born on 29th July, 1830. She was baptized in St. Patrick’s
Church in the Parish of Templepatrick on 15th August the same year. No trace of James’ death
can be found in the records after 1865, but as his mother, Mary, and his wife,
Margaret, lived together until the death of the former he probably died sometime before
1864 when the registering of deaths became compulsory.
HUGH - Son of Robert (1777) and Mary Reid, he was born in 1805 and
married Elizabeth ------?. Before the final break-up of the old farms, Robert his
father had purchased a farm of over one hundred acres at Thornditch, mid-way between Doagh and
Ballyclare, each village being only one mile distant from the farm, and put Hugh in
possession. According to the records he was in occupation in 1836. He did little to stem the
flood of disaster that was steadily engulfing the family’s acres, - rather was he inclined to
continue in the ways of his forefathers, neglecting the land and devoting too much of his time
to hunting, horse-racing and greyhound coursing. He had the wisdom, however, to purchase a farm
adjoining that of Thornditch and in this he placed a son, Robert (1832). It stretched
along both banks of the Sixmile river and was known as Castle Farm.
Hugh and Elizabeth had a family of five, three sons and two daughters :-
James
Elizabeth
Robert
William
Jane
JAMES - son of Hugh (1805). He was born in 1826 and married Agnes
Graham, aged 21, in Templepatrick Presbyterian Church on 2nd January 1846. She was the
daughter of John Graham, a farmer living at Ballyhartfield near Doagh. Robert,
brother of the bride, was best man while Elizabeth, James’ sister, was bridesmaid.
No further particulars of James can be traced in this district. It is remarkable that
although James was the eldest member of the family, William fell heir to the
Thornditch farm and Robert the second son was place in Castle farm. As this was the
period of the potato famine in Ireland when so many people (about two millions) left the
country for other lands, principally the U.S.A., it may have been that James and
Agnes emigrated.
There is no record of any family.
ELIZABETH - Daughter of Hugh (1805), she was born in 1829 and in 1858
married Samuel Young of Antrim, in Antrim Old Presbyterian Church.
There were two children of the marriage :-
William John
Hugh
ROBERT, - son of Hugh (1805), was born in 1832 and married Jane Baxter
, daughter of John, a farmer of Silversprings, Templepatrick, the marriage taking
place in Muckamore Presbyterian Church on 27th March, 1852. A short time after his marriage,
Hugh(1805) his father, bought the young couple Castle farm, land which lay alongside
that of Thornditch farm and ran down both banks of the Sixmile river. Although the records have
been searched from the year 1864 (when it became compulsory to register all deaths) until near
the end of the century, no trace of his death can be found. It would seem, therefore, that he
died between the years 1861 (when his last child, James, was born) and 1864. Jane
his widow, continued to work the farm herself after his death. Robert her eldest son, is
recorded as having stated that his mother used to drive the horse and cart herself when
delivering the farm produce to the Belfast markets taking with her all the children, well
wrapped up in warm clothing.
In those days farmers were on the road at 3 o’clock in the morning and she must have been a
very brave woman indeed to have taken upon herself such a task, for at that period the road
from Ballyclare to Belfast was infested by highwaymen. Two of these were the O’Haughey
brothers of Broughshane, one of whom was later hanged.
Robert
William Hugh
John
James
Daughter.(Died in infancy. Name not known)
WILLIAM, - son of Hugh (1805) was born in 1834 and married Margaret
Reid who was born on 1st August, 1836. She was the daughter of Walter, a prosperous
farmer living in the Doagh district. The ceremony took place in Ballyclare Non-Subscribing
Presbyterian Church on 6th March, 1857.
William took over the heavily morgaged Thornditch farm from his father and had the
unhappy experience of being responsible for the compulsory sale of the property to meet the
demands of the many creditors and so brought to an end the farming activities of the section of
the family - a not very outstanding honour to which one would desire to lay claim.
He retired to the home of his unmarried daughter Elizabeth, who lived in Ballyclare, and
there spent the remainder of his days contemplating what might have been had he given more time
and thought to the management of his farm instead of following the uncertain fortunes of horses
and dogs.
He died in the early years of the present century and was buried in Templepatrick old graveyard.
William and Margaret had a very large family indeed, eleven in all - six daughters
and five sons, all of whom had to make their own way in the world as best they could for there
was nothing left of the proceeds of the sale to assist them in their efforts to commence life
afresh.
Mary
Elizabeth
Robert
John
William
Jane
Isabella
Hugh
Margaret
James
Rachael Rebecca
JANE. - Daughter of Hugh (1805), she was born in 1837 and in 1857 married
Thomas Hilditch in Ballyclare Unitarian Church. No further details of this marriage are
available.
WILLIAM JOHN, eldest son of Elizabeth (1829) and Samuel Young was
born in 1858 and baptized in Ballyclare Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church.
HUGH, - second son of Elizabeth (1829) was born in 1860 and was baptized
in the same Church as his brother.
The above is the only information available concerning this family.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DAUGHTER - of Robert (1832). She died in infancy and her Christian name is
not known.
ROBERT, - son of Robert (1832) and Jane Baxter. He was born at
Thornditch in 1853 and took over the management of Castle farm from his mother about 1874 when
he reached the age of 21. In 1883 he married Agnes Hume, daughter of John, a
farmer of Ballyboley, a townland about four miles from Ballyclare. About the time of his
marriage he disposed of the farm and moved to Belfast where he went into the haulage business.
Three sons and two daughters were born to Robert and Agnes - all at Belfast :-
William Hume
Margaret Ann Coburn
Robert
John
Jane
Agnes, Robert’s wife, died in Belfast about 1895-6.
MARY GARDNER WILSON (1860) at the age of 4 years. Second wife of ROBERT GRANGE
(1853)
On the 6th June, 1900, Robert, who was still living in Belfast and engaged in the same
business, married Mary Gardiner Wilson of Lisburn, at Malone Presbyterian Church,
Belfast.
About 1904 he removed to Ballyclare and taking over premises in Main Street, plied his haulage
trade between the village, Belfast and Larne. He also had a number of jaunting cars which he
used for work in the outlying districts. He remained in Ballyclare for only a brief period,
for the urge to farm once again came upon him, and buying “Ashdale” farm in the Ballyboley
district, he spent the remaining years of his life there, ploughing, planting and harvesting.
In appearance he had many of the characteristics of the Grange family, being a fairly tall
well-built man with a roundish full face and ruddy complexion, and like many of his forebears
had a fiery temper but this seldom lasted long. Like them also, he was extremely fond of horses
but here the similarity ended, for he neither gambled or drank. He was a skilful and
conscientious farmer and time was of no import when it meant obtaining the best results from
his land.
Love of the horse took him all over Ireland for he was considered to be one of the finest
judges of horseflesh in the country. In this respect the mantle of his forefathers descended
fully upon his broad shoulders during the years of World War I when the British Government
appointed him as Agent for the purchase and supply of horses for the Army. In this capacity he
travelled throughout the length and breadth of Ireland attending fairs everywhere, buying up
animals which he deemed as suitable for the requirements of the mounted Regiments. His
travelling though was more comfortable than in the days of yore.
Robert will probably go down in the chronicles of the Granges as the last member of the
family to have undertaken this age-old appointment under the British Government for now that
the mechanical age has arrived in our midst probably never again will a Grange be found in this
familiar role of olden days.
Robert died at Ballyboley on 4th February, 1939.
He and Mary Wilson had one daughter and one son, both born in Belfast :-
Mary Gardiner
George Wilson
WILLIAM HUGH. - Son of Robert (1832), he was born at Thornditch in 1855 and
was twice married. His first wife was Mary Jane, daughter of William A. McMillen
who owned a farm at Irish Hill near Straid, about three or four miles from Ballyclare.
William Hugh ignored the traditional call of the land and bought licensed premises in
the Square, Ballyclare. As a sideline to this business he kept a string of horses and jaunting
cars, this being the only means of short-distance travel between the village and the outlying
districts at that time. (The first railway came into service in 1877 connecting the village
with the Port of Larne). This combined business made him quite a wealthy man, and in later life
augmented his income by investing a considerable amount of capital in land and house property.
He and Mary Jane were married in 1880 and had one daughter and one son :-
Esther
William Hugh
Mary Jane enjoyed only a few short years of married bliss before she died, and in 1892
William Hugh again married, this time to Sarah Rogers, daughter of John,
a farmer in the Bryantang district near Straid.
A son and a daughter were born of this marriage.
John
Sarah
William Hugh died in 1910 aged 55 years and was buried in Ballyclare New Cemetery.
JOHN. - Son of Robert (1832), he was born at Thornditch in 1858 and like
his two brothers Robert and William Hugh was also twice married, his first wife
being Annie Marshall of Glenwherry, a townland lying about mid-way between Ballyclare
and Ballymena. The ceremony was held in Glenwherry Presbyterian Church on 14th October, 1887.
He then purchased licensed premises in the Square, Ballyclare, only a few yards from the home
of his brother, William Hugh. In addition to this he owned a farm and stone quarries at
the Craig Hill, both being on the outskirts of the village, the quarries enabling him to
contract for the upkeep of the highways in the district. He also owned a number of horses and
jaunting cars for public service, but his sole interest in life lay in the racing or trotting
ponies, he himself driving these beautifully built animals all over Ireland.
Of this first marriage three daughters were born.
Jane
Anne
Esther
After the death of his first wife he married Elizabeth Love and of this union three
sons and one daughter were born :-
John
Robert
James
Gertrude
JAMES. - Son of Robert (1832) and Jane Baxter, he was born at
Thornditch on 4th July in the year 1861. He married Jane Marshall at Glenwherry
Presbyterian Church on 14th December, 1887. She was a sister of Annie Marshall who had
married his brother John in October of the same year. Thus two brothers married two
sisters.
Jane had inherited licensed premises in the Duncairn district of Belfast and while
residing there after their marriage, James, who had within him all the Grange passion
for horses, kept a string of both horses and trotting ponies which he, like his brother John
, drove in races in various parts of the country. (Pony trotting, incidentally, had become
one of the public’s most popular sports in Ireland during the closing years of the last century
and the beginning of the present).
When Judge Fitsimmons presided at the Courts of Assize in those days it was James
who always provided the coach and team of horses to convey him on his rounds.
And as the turn-out with its six mounted constables as outriders trotted smartly along the
streets on its journey to the Courthouse, it made a colourful and impressive display.
James’ sojourn in Belfast, though, was not altogether a happy one for he intensely
disliked being associated with the sale of alcohol. In fact he flatly refused to have anything
to do with the business and continually exhorted his wife to dispose of the premises. This he
ultimately persuaded her to do and they moved to a farm which they purchased in the Ballysnod
district near Larne. He died here in 1938 and was buried in Larne Cemetery.
Of the marriage three sons and three daughters are born :-
Robert
Hugh
Jean
Anne
Cassie
William J
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MARY. - Daughter of William (1834) and Margaret Reid, she was born
at Thornditch on 13th December, 1857 and died on 12th May, 1912. She married Robert Boyd
a police officer of the Royal Irish Constabulary and of the marriage two children were born :-
Robert
Sarah
ELIZABETH, - daughter of William (1834), was born at Thornditch on 12th
September, 1859 and died unmarried on 8th July, 1939. It was she with whom her father lived
when the Thornditch farm was sold. Her two brothers Hugh and James, neither of
whom married, also lived with her.
ROBERT, - son of William (1834). He was born at Thornditch on 31st May,
1861 and married Edith Millar, daughter of a Belfast man who had emigrated to the U.S.A.
and had married shortly after settling in that country.
On her husband’s death the mother decided to journey to the Old Country and commence life
afresh, taking with her the two girls of the marriage. However, after remaining here for a time
she found life not as she had expected and hoped for and returned to the U.S.A., Edith’s
sister accompanying her on the journey back.
ROBERT GRANGE (1861) and his daughter, AGNES
Unlike his brothers who had found employment in the North of Ireland Paper Mills, Ballyclare,
Robert remained on the farm for a period assisting the new owner for he spurned the idea
of being enclosed by four walls after a life in the open fields. He then moved to Belfast where
for a number of years he was employed by a large firm of hauliers named Ferris.
Robert was a tall well-built, genial type of man full of energy and resourcefulness,
attributes which soon placed him in a responsible position with the firm.
Always, however, there was a call of the soil in his blood, a yearning to possess a farm of his
own and early in the present century he purchased a farm at Glengormley, mid-way between Belfast
and Ballyclare, and settled down to the hereditary pursuit of farming.
In this he was successful and for the first time for many years was happy and contented and in
a short space of time had prospered sufficiently to add an adjoining farm to his property and
so doubling his acreage.
Edith pre-deceased her husband by about fourteen years, casting aside this life’s burdens
on 18th April, 1924, and was buried in the old family burying ground within the Castle walls at
Templepatrick.
She was a slimly built woman with a quiet pleasant voice, very friendly and good-natured and
much beloved by all her friends. Robert and Edith had four children, two sons and
two daughters :-
William
Robert
Agnes
Edith Adaline
Some years after Edith’s death Robert married Jane Kerr, there being no
issue of this second marriage. Robert himself died on 8th December, 1938 and was buried
at Templepatrick being the last of the Granges to be placed in this last resting place of his
forefathers.
MARTHA, Wife of JOHN GRANGE(1863)
JOHN. - Fourth child of William (1834), he was born at Thornditch on 20th
July, 1863 and married Martha McAuley, daughter of Robert, a farmer of Sleive
True, a townland or district in the neighbourhood of Carrickfergus. Robert McAuley also
owned a spirit grocery business in Carrickfergus, but the family always lived at the farm.
Martha was a student teacher at the time of her marriage.
On leaving the Thornditch farm John found employment in the North of England Paper Mill
Company, Ballyclare, where he earned a high reputation as a skilful craftsman in the paper
industry.
In the meantime Robert McAuley had sold both his farm at Sleive True and his business at
Carrickfergus and bought fully licensed premises in Main Street, Ballyclare. John
eventually gave up his employment in the Paper Mill and bought this business from his
father-in-law, managing it himself until the time of his death which occurred on 5th May, 1914.
He was interred in the family burying ground at Templepatrick.
John and Martha had a family of ten children five sons and five daughters :-
Elizabeth
John
Robert
William
Sarah
Joseph Hunter
Margaret Reid
Martha
Hugh
Lily
WILLIAM, - who bore his father’s name was the fifth child of William (1834)
and Margaret Reid. He was born at Thornditch on 12th October, 1865. He also was forced
to seek employment in the Paper Mill at Ballyclare, where, like his brother John, he was
to become extremely proficient in the art of paper-making. His skill enabled him to become a
machine-man at the very early age of 19, a responsibility usually reserved for men of more
mature years.
As a craftsman he had few equals in the trade and travelled extensively throughout the British
Isles, working at one time or another in almost every Paper Mill in Great Britain and Ireland.
On at least two occasions, in Exeter and a works in Kent, he held the position of Under Manager.
Unfortunately, he, like so many of his ancestors was only too susceptible to the allurements of
“the Cup that Cheers” and on many occasions this regrettable failing prevented him from
embracing opportunities which presented themselves as potential gateways towards a successful
career in the paper-making industry.
He married Janet, daughter of Thomas and Janet Cannon. The latter’s parents,
James and Margaret Johnston, owned a farm at Ballynarcy, Ballynure, roughly about
two miles from Ballyclare, while Thomas Cannon’s father, John, owned property at
Ballycorr, about one mile from our village.
Thomas Cannon himself was a younger son and seeing no future for him on the farm at home,
ran away at an early age and enlisted in a Foot Regiment of the British Army. Altogether he
served twenty two years with his Regiment, fifteen of these being on foreign stations. After his
discharge from the Army he married Janet Johnston.
Janet was born on 13th April 1866. She was married at the age of 21 and, according to some
elderly local residents many years ago, was considered to be the prettiest girl in the village
at the time of her wedding.
She was a pleasant type of woman, built on somewhat slender lines. She possessed a quiet sense
of humour and was gifted with an abundance of both courage and patience, all of which she
required to overcome the many difficulties and disappointments which beset her throughout the
long course of her married life.
William died on 12th October, 1938 and was buried in Ballyclare New Cemetery. Janet
survived him by seventeen years, passing away on 4th May, 1955 and was interred in the same
cemetery as her husband.
William and Janet brought into the world a family of nine, seven sons and two
daughters :-
John
William
Margaret Jane
Robert Thomas
James
Agnes Reid
Hugh
Walter Reid
Johnathan Reid
JANE, - daughter of William (1834). Born at Thornditch on 20th November, 1867,
she died on 1st February, 1872 at the early age of five years.
ISABELLA - Daughter of William (1834), she was born at Thornditch on 5th
January, 1869 and married James Marshall Laird, an engineer. She died at Belfast on 28th
July, 1900 aged 31 years, just after the birth of her son, Joseph. He was the only
child of the marriage
HUGH, - son of William (1834). Born at Thornditch on 24th January, 1873,
he was a tall man, about six feet three inches in height and was the liveliest and jolliest of
this big family. He never married and lived with his sister Elizabeth until the time of
his death which took place on 8th December, 1912. He was interred in Templepatrick graveyard.
He had always been employed by the North of Ireland Paper Mill Company.
MARGARET - was the ninth child of William (1834) and Margaret Reid.
She was born at Thornditch on 29th July, 1875 and married John Brownlee, an engineer,
who after working for several firms in Belfast, emigrated to the U.S.A. in the early 1920’s
where the family joined him in 1925 settling in Kearney, New Jersey.
John and his son William, also an engineer, both served aboard the vessels of the
United States Fruit Company.
John died sometime in the 1930’s but Margaret was still enjoying good health in
1963 although well advanced in years.
Of the marriage there were two daughters and one son :-
William
Agnes
Etta
JAMES. - Son of William (1834), he was born at Thornditch on 24th April, 1878.
Like his brother Hugh, he was employed by the North of Ireland Paper Mill in Ballyclare
and never married, living with his sister Elizabeth.
Unlike Hugh though, he was a very quiet, thoughtful type of man, and whereas Hugh
was a very tall, well-built man, he was small in stature.
Never of a very robust nature he died at the age of 26, - about 1904, and was laid to rest in
the old family burying ground at Templepatrick.
RACHAEL REBECCA - Daughter of William (1834) and Margaret Reid and
the last child of a very big family, she was born at Thornditch on 24th March, 1883 and died in
infancy, - on 2nd October of the same year.
WILLIAM HUME, son of Robert (1853) and Agnes Hume (1st. Marriage)
was born at Belfast on 1st October, 1884. In 1906 he emigrated to the U.S.A. where he married
an American-born girl (name not known). He died in the 1950’s.
Three daughters were born of this union :-
Harriet
Agnes
Margaret
MARGARET ANN COBURN. - Daughter of Robert (1853) and Agnes Hume (1st
marriage), she was born at Belfast on 14th October, 1886.
She emigrated to the U.S.A. about 1910 and there married an American who died a few years after
the marriage. She again married, her second husband, George Mastron, also being an
American by birth. They lived at Quincy, Mass., where Margaret died on 18th February,
1961. Her husband was still alive in 1962.
There were no children of either marriage.
ROBERT, - son of Robert (1853) and Agnes Hume (1st marriage). He
was born at Belfast in 1888. He also emigrated to the U.S.A. where he met and married a Belfast
girl named Florence Irvine and of the union two sons and one daughter were born :-
Robert
Irvine
Agnes
Robert, the father, died in the 1950’s. His widow, Florence, was living in Boston
in 1962.
JOHN, - son of Robert (1853) and Agnes Hume was born at Belfast on
29th October, 1890. Better known to his friends and associates as “Jack”, he inherited “Ashdale”
farm at Lower Ballyboley, near Ballyclare. A keen and industrious farmer, he successfully
laboured this land until 1939, when he disposed of it to his sister Jane and then moved
into a smaller one in the same district. This he worked until the late 1950’s when he retired
from active farming. He was the last of the Granges to till the soil in Ulster.
Jack was married twice, first to Mary Stewart of Lisnalinchey, near Ballyclare,
the ceremony being held in Ballyeaston Presbyterian Church. Mary died in 1944 and Jack
then took unto himself for a second wife, Jane Ross, also of Lisnalinchey.
When Jack called a halt to his farming activities he and Jane retreated to a
bungalow which is sited only a few hundred yards from the Ballykinney Presbyterian Church where
they still live.
There are no children of either marriage.
JANE, - daughter of Robert (1853) and Agnes Hume, she was born at
Belfast on 25th October, 1894. She married Alexander Baxter of Upper Ballyboley. She and
her husband took over the home farm from Jack when he moved to the smaller one.
Of the marriage there are two children, a son and a daughter :-
Robert Alexander
Mary Grange
MARY GARDINER. - Daughter of Robert (1853) and Mary Gardiner Wilson of
Lisburn (2nd marriage), she was born at Belfast on 7th February, 1902. She was educated at a
semi-private school in Ballyclare, known locally for many years as Miss Aitken’s School, it
being founded by that lady about the beginning of the present century. It was the end house of
the three-storey block of buildings on the North side of the Square, the houses at that time
being referred to as “Shannon’s Row.”
In the very early days of the village this site was occupied by a collection of mud and wattle
habitations, round in shape and with thatched roofs. They were, in fact, a type of “clochan” or
“caban” and were build as temporary homes by a tribe of wandering nomads hailing from the
South-west of Ireland and who had settled in the village for a short space of time before
continuing their onward trek to some other part of the country. The unusual shape of the homes
soon led to the villagers dubbing the site “The Bee-hive”, - a name still heard even today when
older people refer to that part of the Square.
Lack of accommodation for an increasing number of pupils compelled Miss Aitken to take
over new premises at the junction of the Rashee - Ballyeaston roads but before many years had
come and gone, the floor-space was once again found to be inadequate to meet the demands of
rapidly increasing numbers and the school now known as the Ballyclare High School was built to
meet the educational needs of the continually expanding younger section of our community.
Mary Gardiner, better known to her host of friends as Maysie, moved to Belfast when her
mother died in 1939 taking with her all the family documents and papers, these, unfortunately,
being destroyed when her home was demolished by a bomb during the German air-raid of 1941.
She still resides in Belfast and holds the post of secretary to a commercial firm in that city.
GEORGE WILSON. - Son of Robert (1853) and Mary Gardiner Wilson (2nd
marriage), he was born at Belfast on 6th September, 1903.
Educated first at Larne Grammar School, he then entered The Queen’s University, Belfast, where
he graduated as a B. Sc. in Engineering.
Possessed of a wander-lust, George first made his way to Toronto, Canada, and remained
there for several years before returning home, then to London to take up and engineering post
there. At London on 4th June, 1938, he married Phyllis Rentoul Warke of Londonderry.
Only a few years were to pass before he was once more on the move, this time journeying to
Brazil, having obtained the important post of Engineer-in-charge of a new underground telephone
system there which the Government were installing throughout the country.
Like all the Granges before him he possesses a deep affection for the horse and often rode in
Point-to-point races in various parts of Ireland.
Once, in the 1930’s, whilst living at Ballyboley, George persuaded the British
Broadcasting Corporation to produce a Christmas show by the Ballyboley Christmas Rhymers, a
party of young farmers who each year roamed the countryside during the weeks prior to Christmas
to provide Christmas cheer for the old and needy at the festive season.
George himself arranged and compered the programme which was broadcast from “Fairview”,
a residence on the outskirts of Ballyclare, for generations the home of the Ross family, one of
the oldest familes in Ballyclare.
Situated as it is in the midst of thick woodland, “Fairview” provided the ideal setting for
such Christmas fare, with its old-world humour and gaiety.
George’s term of employment with the Brazilian Government expired about 1963 when he
returned to Ballyclare and retiring from business in the same year, he lived in the Square for
a short time prior to removing to the Glengormley district of Belfast.
Of the marriage of George and Phyllis there are two daughters :-
Ann Jenopher Wilson
Mary Lynd
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ESTHER, - daughter of William Hugh (1855) and Mary Jane McMillan (1st
marriage). She was born at Ballyclare in 1881 and in 1905 married Samuel Stevenson of
Ballyclare in Ballyclare Presbyterian Church. He farmed extensively and in addition to his
interest in agriculture, owned a victualling or butcher’s business in the village.
Esther died in 1916. There were two children of the marriage, a son and a daughter :-
William
Sarah
WILLIAM HUGH. - Son of William Hugh (1855) and Mary Jane McMillan (1st
marriage), he was born at Ballyclare in 1883 and married Rebecca Wilson.
On the death of his father he inherited the licensed premises and all other property including
the horses.He was a man well over six feet in height and weighed about eighteen stones. He was
the most cheerful and jovial of men and one might say, lived an almost carefree life and
altogether was a most likeable person. He was a fine horseman and his happiest moments were
when working with a high-spirited animal.
William Hugh died in 1939 aged 56 years and was interred in Ballyclare New Cemetery.
There were two sons and a daughter of the marriage :-
William Hugh
John Wilson
Ruby
JOHN. - Son of William Hugh (1855) and Sarah Rogers (2nd marriage), he
was born at Ballyclare about 1894 and never married. Having received a generous inheritance
from his father, John never at any time displayed any inclination to train for a
profession, being content to lead a leisurely life free from the cares and worries of labour.
He had several hobbies on which he spent most of his time with football his favourite pastime
and this led to his untimely death at an early age, dying suddenly after receiving an injury
during a game in Belfast about the middle 1920’s.
SARAH, - daughter of William Hugh (1855) and Sarah Rogers (2nd
marriage). She was born at Ballyclare about 1896 and married James Agnew, a motor
mechanic, of Belfast. After Sarah’s death, which took place in the 1940’s, James
Agnew moved to an adjoining district where he took over an undertaking business.
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JANE, - daughter of John (1858) and Annie Marshall (1st marriage).
Emigrated to the U.S.A. where she married J. Herbert of Brookline, Mass.
ANNE, - daughter of John (1858) and Annie Marshall (1st marriage).
She emigrated to the U.S.A. where she died in October, 1960.
ESTHER. - Daughter of John (1858) and Annie Marshall (1st marriage),
she emigrated to Canada where she was still living in 1962.
JOHN. - Son of John (1858) and Elizabeth Love (2nd marriage), he
was born at Ballyclare on 7th April, 1904. On 8th April, 1926, he married Mary Irwin of
Pound House, Ballyalbana, Ballyclare. Of the marriage there were seven children, four sons and
three daughters :-
Mary
Sara Elizabeth
John Irwin
William James
Edward
Ruby Aideen
Robert Samuel Houston
For many years John was on the staff of the Ulster Transport Authority and also was the
owner of a small farm at Ballalbana. He died in 1960.
ROBERT, - son of John (1858) and Elizabeth Love (2nd marriage),
was born at Ballyclare on 28th January 1910.
He enlisted in the Royal Ulster Rifles on 31st January, 1927, and served with this regiment in
India and The Sudan. He was a regimental marksman with rifle and machine-gun for several years
and was a regular player on the regimental football team. He was discharged on 30th January,
1934, having served his allotted term of seven years.
With signs of an approaching war with Germany on the horizon he re-joined the Army on 20th
March, 1939, enlisting in the Royal Engineers. He rapidly won promotion, reaching the rank of
Sergeant within the space of twelve months. Prior to the outbreak of the Second World War he
served in the areas of East and South Africa. He was then posted to the 51st Highland
(Territorial) Division and was with this famous Scottish force when it landed in France in the
early days of the war and took part in the several battles in which it was engaged during the
retreat to Dunkirk. At Dunkirk his exemplary conduct on the beaches during the evacuation
procedures earned him a mention in despatches.
In the course of the re-organization necessary after Dunkirk, his company was posted to the 1st.
Guards Brigade and he was promoted to Company Sergeant-major. His company landed on the
Normandy beaches with the Guards in 1944 and saw service with this elite Regiment during its
many encounters with the Germans as it battled its way forward through France and Belgium and
finally into Germany. He was discharged on Christmas Day 1945, after having almost completed a
further seven years in the Army.
After his first discharge from the Army in 1934, he had settled in England and
married Elsie Frances Strickland of Gravesend and of the marriage there is one son,
Robert Gordon.
Elsie died on 18th June, 1943 and Robert later married a Mrs Tack whose maiden
name prior to her first marriage was Dorothy Margaret Mallows. She was born at George
Green, Slough, on 25th August, 1920.
JAMES. - Son of John(1858) and Elizabeth Love (2nd marriage), he
was born at Ballyclare on 5th June, 1911 and for many years has been on the staff of the Ulster
Transport Authority. On 2nd June, 1936 he married Agnes Reid of Ballyclare, at
Ballyclare Presbyterian Church. There is no issue of the marriage.
GERTRUDE. - Daughter of John (1858) and Elizabeth Love (2nd
marriage), she was born at Ballyclare and married Wilson Proctor of Ballyclare.
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ROBERT. - Son and first child of James (1861) and Jane Marshall his
wife. Born at Belfast in 1888, he married Elizabeth Lilly, there being two children of
the union:-
James
Elizabeth
HUGH, - second son of James (1861) and Jane Marshall was born at
Belfast in the year 1890 and married M. Graham who was born in 1883.
Hugh was in the service of the Sun Laundry, Larne, for many years. He died in 1944 and was
interred in Larne Cemetery. Of this marriage five children were born, two sons and three
daughters :-
James
Gawn
Sarah
Jean
Margaret
JEAN. - Daughter of James (1861) and Jane Marshall. She was born at
Ballysnod, near Larne, in 1894 and in July 1917 married James McDonald of Randalstown at
Raloo Presbyterian Church. She died on 31st May, 1951, her husband having pre-deceased her by
eleven years, (1940). There were six children of the marriage:-
Jean
Robert
Thomas
Kathleen
Edith
Clara
ANNE, - daughter of James (1861) and Jane Marshall she was born at
Ballysnodd, near Larne, in 1896.
CASSIE, - daughter of James (1861) and Jane Marshall she was born
at Ballysnodd in 1900 and married John Girvan of Larne at 1st. Larne Presbyterian Church
on 4th June, 1925. John Girvan died on 30th January, 1951. There is one daughter of the
marriage :-
Dorothy
WILLIAM JAMES. - Sixth and last child of James (1861) was born at Larne in
1905 and married Clara Roscoe of Newcastle, Co. Down, on 1st. September, 1930. There are
two daughters of the marriage.
Elizabeth Jean
Sheila
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WILLIAM GRANGE (1888)
WILLIAM. - Son of Robert(1861) and Edith Millar, he was born at
Belfast in the year 1888 and became a compositor in the printing trade in that city, most of
his service being spent with the newspaper firm of W. & G. Baird. He married Grace Ann Bell
of Dundonald, a suburb of Belfast, and the couple made their home in this district after the
marriage. William died here in 1965, Grace surviving her husband by only one year,
passing away in 1966. Both were buried in Dundonald Cemetery. Two daughters and one son were
born of the marriage:-
Kathleen
Edith Adaline
Thomas
AGNES, - daughter of Robert (1861). She was born at Belfast in 1901 and married
James McCalmont of the Glengormley district. She died in 1930 and was interred in the
Mallusk burying ground. Agnes and James (who married again shortly after her
death) had one son and one daughter :-
William
Isa
ROBERT. - Son of Robert (1861) and Edith Millar, he was born at Belfast
in 1904 and assisted his father on the farms at Glengormley. On the death of his father,
Robert and his brother-in-law William James McBride continued to farm the land
for a number of years. Indifferent health dogged Robert for a considerable time and this
ultimately compelled him to dispose of both farms and he retired from the land to lead a less
active life. He never married and at the present time lives at Glengormley, near Belfast.
EDITH ADALINE. - Daughter and last child of Robert (1861) and Edith
Millar, she was born at Belfast in 1907 and married William James McBride who lived
in the Glengormley district. After their marriage they lived on one of the farms at Glengormley
and when her father died Adaline and her husband assisted Robert to manage and
till the land until it was eventually disposed of. There are three sons of the marriage :-
Wilbert
Cecil
Ian
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ELIZABETH. - Daughter and eldest child of John (1863) and Martha McAuley.
She was born at Ballyclare in the year 1889 and died in 1905 at the early age of 16 years.
JOHN. - Son of John (1863), he was born at Ballyclare on 28th November,
1894. He was employed in Belfast at the outbreak of the First World War and immediately enlisted
in the 14th. Battalion Royal Irish Rifles, 36th. (Ulster) Division. This was a battalion that
had been recruited from members of the Young Citizen Volunteers, Ulster Volunteer Force and
which had been raised in Belfast to assist in opposing (by force of arms) the threat by the
British Government to force the Home Rule Bill on the inhabitants of Ulster despite their strong
objection to this form of government. The 14th. Rifles had the privilege of wearing a shamrock
and crown as a cap badge instead of the official regimental badge - a harp and crown. They also
wore on their epaulettes the letters Y.C.V. instead of R.I.R.
John served with the 14th. Rifles until February, 1918, when, due to extremely heavy
casualties in the Division it was disbanded and the absorbed by the 12th. Battalion Royal Irish
Rifles which had close ties with Ballyclare. He took part in the battles of the Somme, Messines,
Third Ypres, Cambrai, St. Quentin, Rosieres, The Advance in Flanders (1918), Fourth Ypres and
Courtrai, - a formidable list of engagements indeed and he was fortunate enough to come through
them all unscathed.
Discharged at the end of the war, he returned to Belfast and was employed by several firms
before becoming permanently engaged by Shortt & Harland the aircraft manufacturers. In October
1925 he married Sarah, daughter of William Jones of Belfast, at Knock Presbyterian
Church, Belfast and of the marriage two sons and two daughters were born :-
John
William
Agnes
Martha
JOSEPH HUNTER. - Son of John (1863), he was born at Ballyclare on 26th.
November, 1896 and at Liverpool in 1918, married Madge Corrigan of Dublin. He was an
electrician and after spending the greater part of his working days in Liverpool he moved to
Peel, Isle of Man, where he now lives in retirement. Madge, his wife, died in 1966.
There is no family.
MARGARET REID. - Daughter of John (1863) and Martha McAuley, she
was born at Ballyclare on 28th. December, 1898 and bears the name of her grandmother,
Margaret Reid. On 16th. July, 1920 she married William McCrea Spence at Willowfield
Parish Church.
He was the son of William Spence and Mary McCrea of Ballyclare
and was born at Ballyclare on 28th January, 1888. On the outbreak of the Great War in 1914 he
was on the clerical staff of Kirkpatrick Bros., Ballyclare and immediately enlisted in the 12th.
Battalion Royal Irish Rifles, 36th. (Ulster) Division. He had a flair for clerical work and was
a calligraphist of the highest standard. It was not surprising therefore that he was almost
immediately posted to the Headquarters Staff of the Division as the personal clerk to Lieut.-Colonel
(later Sir) Wilfred B. Spender, General Staff Officer Grade 2. and was at once raised to
the rank of Staff-sergeant. Colonel Spender was heard to remark on several occasions that
“Spence easily outstripped any other clerk that he previously had to prepare his work”.
He landed in France with the Division in 1915 and while there Colonel Spender arranged
for him to be posted to a Cadet Company in North Wales with a view to taking up commissioned
rank but the iron discipline required in the training of a future officer proved to be too
demanding and irksome for one who was strongly inclined towards being a “law unto himself” so
he sought and obtained permission to revert to his former rank. He was then posted to the
Headquarters Staff of the 6th. Cavalry Division then stationed in Egypt and remained with it
until he was demobilized in 1919.
On his return to civilian life he rejoined the staff of Kirkpatrick Bros. and in a few month’s
time was appointed manager of Inver Bleach and Dye Works, Larne, a branch of Kirkpatrick Bros.
and with his natural drive and good business sense he, in a comparitively short space of time,
had these obscure works transformed into a first-class go-ahead concern. He was still managing
Inver when he was suddenly stricken with an illness which lasted for only a few days and he
died on 25th. November, 1935. He was buried in Larne Cemetery. His widow, Margaret Reid,
still resides in Larne. Of the marriage there were three sons :-
William John
Robert Thomas
Hugh Alexander Stewart
MARTHA, - daughter of John (1863) was born at Ballyclare on 22nd November,
1900. She emigrated to Three Rivers, Quebec, Canada, in 1922 and there, in Three Rivers United
Church, married Alexander Stewart, a former Ballyclare man who had emigrated to Canada
about 1912 and who was employed by the Wayagamack Paper Mill Company. Before settling in Canada
he had been employed by the North of Ireland Paper Mill Company in Ballyclare. In his youth he
had been a prominent local sportsman and was one of the founders of a famous Ballyclare football
club, - Ollardale. Of the marriage two sons and one daughter were born :-
John Alexander
William Douglas
Margaret Eleanor
HUGH. - Son of John (1863), he was born at Ballyclare in August, 1908. He
emigrated to Canada and settled in Three Rivers, Quebec, where he still resides and is employed
by the Wayagamack Paper Mill Company. He married a French-Canadian girl of Three Rivers,
Marguerite Madden and there are two sons and one daughter of the marriage :-
Hugh
Francis
Margaret
ELIZABETH (LILY). - Daughter and last child of John (1863) and Martha
McAuley, she was born at Ballyclare in 1911 and resides in Belfast. Unmarried.
ROBERT, WILLIAM, SARAH. - These three children of John (1863) and Martha
McAuley died in infancy.
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JOHN. - Eldest child of William (1865) and Janet Cannon, he was born
at Ballyclare on 23rd December, 1888. In 1915 he married Mary, daughter of Samuel
Beggs and Jane Robinson, his wife, of Ballyclare. The Robinson family owned a farm
at Glenoe, near Larne. On the completion of his education he joined the clerical staff of
Kirkpatrick Bros., a textile works in Ballyclare and remained with this firm unril 1924 when he
and his wife and daughter emigrated to Canada and settled in Three Rivers, Quebec. Here he
became a member of the clerical staff of the Wayagamack Paper Mill Co. and remained in their
employment until he retired in 1950. In his youth he was a noted all-round sportsman taking a
prominent part in all kinds of sport - athletics, cycling, football, cricket and boxing,
winning many awards and medals in the course of his activities in the world of sport.
John and Mary continue to reside at Three Rivers. They had one daughter :-
Gladys
WILLIAM, - second son of William (1865) was born at Ballyclare on 9th July
1891. A quiet, studious type of man, he held an important clerical post with the local textile
firm of Kirkpatrick Bros., a position he occupied until the time of his death which occurred on
30th September, 1926. He was unmarried and was buried in Ballyclare New Cemetery.
MARGARET JANE, - daughter of William (1865). She was born at Ballyclare on
3rd. December, 1893 and died in infancy, - on 19th October, 1895, aged one year and ten months.
She was buried in the old graveyard at Templepatrick.
ROBERT THOMAS - was the fourth member of the family of William (1865) and
Janet Cannon and was born at Ballyclare on 20th April, 1896. Like his brothers John
and William, he also was a member of Kirkpatrick Brothers’ staff.
Of an adventurous
disposition he was closely associated with the Ulster Volunteer Force and played an active part
in the gun-running episode on the night of April 24th 1914, when about 40,000 rifles and bayonets,
together with three million rounds of ammunition were illegally landed at Larne Harbour. These
were to be used by the Volunteers to resist the attempt by the British Government to bring Ulster
under a Dublin Parliament against the wishes of the Northern inhabitants.
On the outbreak of the Great War in 1914 he immediately volunteered for service abroad and
enlisted in the Royal Engineers of the 36th. (Ulster) Division - a Division, incidentally, that
was to become famed throughout the British Expeditionary Force for its skill, courage and
endurance in battle against the best troops of the German Army. He landed at Havre, France,
with the Division in 1915 and moved into the Somme area for training. During the first two weeks
of the Somme offensive, which opened on 1st July, 1916, he was attached to two batteries of
French Field Artillery which assisted in covering the Ulster Division on the first two days and
later the 49th, a Yorkshire Division. Before leaving the 49th he was commended by the Commander
of the French guns for his conduct on several occasions while repairing broken communications
when under heavy enemy fire.
Meanwhile the Ulster Division, having been almost decimated in its
immortal charge on the 1st had been sent to Flanders to re-group and here Robert rejoined
it from the Somme. Almost immediately he was promoted from the rank of Sapper to that of Sergeant
and posted to the 173rd Brigade Royal Field Artillery, a Brigade of the Ulster Division’s own
artillery that had been raised in the West Ham area of London. While serving with this Brigade
in Belgium in 1917 during the Third Battle of Ypres he was awarded the Military Medal for Bravery
in the Field. The announcement appeared in the “London Gazette” of 28th January, 1918, under
the following pre-amble :-
His Majesty the King has been graciously pleased to approve the award of the Military Medal for bravery in the Field to the undermentioned N.C.O. :- 57811 Serjeant Robert Grange, 36th (Ulster) Divisional Signal Company, Royal Engineers.As an explanatory note on the first few lines of the Citation it would be advisable, perhaps, seeing that we live in an age of almost complete mechanization, to point out that each pair of horses in the team had a rider in the saddle of the near animal.
In the Ypres Salient on the afternoon of July 30th 1917, Serjeant Grange volunteered to gallop a six-horse team and limber laden with urgent supplies to the entrance of a communication trench leading to the front-line system of tenches. Most of the route was under direct enemy observation but the audacity and daring of the exploit took the Germans completely by surprise and part of the journey was covered before the enemy could train their guns on the target. Despite an intense concentration of gun-fire the surprise dash was completely successful.
Throughout the following day Serjeant Grange, in face of continuous artillery and machine gun fire maintained unbroken communication between the batteries of his Brigade and the forward advancing troops, enabling the infantry to have immediate artillery support to destroy enemy points of resistance which were holding up the attack.
When a German counter-attack developed in the afternoon he set a splendid example by his courage and leadership while assisting a detachment of West Lancashire troops to repulse an attempt to re-take an important trench lost by the enemy earlier in the day.
Margaret Murray Spence
For many years he was a leading figure in the Masonic Order being a member of one of the many
branches in the surrounding district and in 1949 was installed Grand Third Principal of the
District Royal Arch Chapter of Antrim. In 1960 he became a Life Governor of the Masonic Royal
School in Dublin.
On the 1st February, 1924, he married Margaret Murray Spence, daughter of William
Spence, a station-master in the employ of the Northern Counties Railway Coy., and Mary
McCrea, his wife, of Ballyclare. The marriage took place in the Ballyclare Presbyterian
Church, the officiating clergyman being Rev. W. J. Guy MacBeth.
William Spence was a member of a Welsh family that had in earlier years settled in Ulster.
Margaret was born at Belfast on 28th November 1896, died on 16th December, 1952 and was
interred in Ballyclare New Cemetery. In her youthful days she was a slimly-built, fair-haired
woman of medium height and known affectionately to her wide circle of friends as Madge. She had
a cheery word and a friendly smile for everyone, and with her ready wit and vivacious spirits
always at bubbling-over point was ever set to offer instant repartee to any sally that might be
forthcoming her way. One of her greatest loves in life was music and gifted with a rich contralto
voice was a member of several local choirs. She was a sister of William McCrea Spence
who married Margaret Reid Grange. Of Bob and Madge’s marriage there is one
son :-
Robert John
JAMES, - son of William (1865). He was born at Ballyclare on 18th August, 1898.
A man of about six feet two inches in height, he was in the employ of the textile firm of
Kirkpatrick Bros., Ballyclare until he retired in 1964 after about fifty years’ service.
He removed to Bangor, County Down, about this date where the family still resides.
In 1923 he married Martha Robinson of Ballyclare and one son and two daughters were born
of the marriage :-
John
Jean
Jamesina
AGNES REID. - Daughter of William (1865), she was born at Ballyclare on 9th
June, 1902. From the completion of her education until a short time prior to her death she was
on the staff of the Ballyclare Post Office. Unmarried, she died on 24th August, 1939 and was
burried in Ballyclare New Cemetery.
HUGH, - son of William (1865). He was born at Ballyclare on 23rd May,
1906 and married Margaret Agnes, daughter of William Hugh Hollinger and Jane
Graham, his wife.
Both the Hollinger and Graham families are of farming stock, residing in the townland of Glenwherry.
The Hollingers are of a German descent, the family having lived for centuries in WALDSHUT, a
Black Forest town on the Upper Rhine. They were a warrior race whose battles led some of them
in due course to Holland, where they eventually settled and became absorbed into the Dutch way
of life.
About 1589 a member of this Dutch group, Ruprecht (or Robert) by name, accompanied Queen
Anne, Consort of James 1st, to England as part of her escort or bodyguard. She was
the daughter of King Frederick the Second of Denmark.
Ruprecht became naturalized and assumed the English Christian name of Robert and served
under King Charles 1st between the years 1625-49.
Three brothers of this Hollinger family in England crossed over to Ireland with King William
IIIrd’s army in 1688 and in 1690 one of them was granted a large tract of land in the
townland of Grange, County Antrim (between Ahoghill and Portglenone), in recognition of his
services to William in the course of the fighting. For many years this land was known as
the Hollinger Estate. When the secret society of the United Irishmen was formed for the purpose
of freeing Ireland from the English yoke, all the Hollinger family with the exception of one,
who was deeply religious and against the use of force, joined this body and took part in the
1798 Rebellion in an attempt to overthrow the English forces.
After the defeat of the rebels at Antrim on June 7th, the Hollingers had to flee the country,
many of them going to the U.S.A. and Canada, their lands being confiscated and distributed amongst
families who had remained loyal to the English Government.
In later years one of the family settled in the Glenwherry district where his descendants are
still engaged in tilling the land. In more recent years a John Hollinger made his way back to
the old estate at Grange and succeeded in purchasing one of the original farms which, at the
age of 60, he was still labouring in 1953.
For many years Hugh Grange was in charge of a department in the local textile firm of
Kirkpatrick Bros. but when it was forced to close down in the present year (1966) he was
transferred to the Inver Bleach and Dye Works Larne, a branch of the parent body in Lancashire.
There is one son of the marriage :-
Noel
WALTER REID. - Son of William (1865) and eighth child of the marriage, he was
born at Ballyclare on 12th. May, 1910. ABout six feet three inches in height, he joined the
Royal Ulster Constabulary in 1934 and except for a very brief period of about nine months (when
he was posted to County Fermanagh on being promoted to the rank of Sergeant), all his service
was spent in the city of Belfast. He was a Station Sergeant of a barracks on the Antrim Road
when he retired in 1964, after having completed a total of thirty years’ service with the Force.
In July 1938, he married Catherine Kennedy of Cookstown who was on the nursing staff of
a Belfast Hospital. Both are keen anglers and spend most of their leisure hours trampling along the banks of our tumbling, gurgling burns with rod and line in quest of the elusive inhabitants of the murky brown waters as they dart hither and thither in their ceaseless search for some dainty morsel of food. Or, with visions of a majestic salmon gracing the dining-room table, following the course of some big meandering river as it slowly winds its way through the beautiful Ulster countryside.
There is no family.
JONATHAN REID - was the last child of William (1865) and Janet Cannon.
He was born at Ballyclare on 30th May, 1913. Never blessed with good health from early childhood
he was never called upon to take up any kind of employment. He died on 4th October, 1940. aged
27 years and was buried in Ballyclare New Cemetery.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
JOSEPH, son of Isabella Grange(1868) and James Marshall Laird was
born at Belfast on 16th July, 1898. His mother having died just shortly after his birth, he was
placed in the care of Isabella’s sister, Elizabeth of Ballyclare. He was employed
by the North of Ireland Paper Mill Coy., Ballyclare, until he enlisted in the British Army in
1916 at the age of eighteen. He served in the 7th Battalion Seaforth High-landers (a Scottish
kilted Regiment) in France and Flanders until 1919, when he contracted pneumonia and died in
University War Hospital Southampton on 13th March of that year. He was 21 years of age.
WILLIAM, son of Margaret Grange(1875) and William Brownlee, was born
at Belfast about 1895 and emigrated to the U.S.A. in 1925 with other members of the family. A
marine engineer, he served aboard the vessels of the U.S.A. Fruit Company. He is unmarried and
lives with his mother and sister Agnes in Kearny, New Jersey.
AGNES, daughter of Margaret Grange(1875) and William Brownlee, was born
at Belfast about 1897. She is unmarried and lives in Kearny with her mother.
ETTA, daughter of Margaret Grange(1875) and William Brownlee, was
born at Belfast about 1901 and settled in Kearny with the other members of the family. Here she
married S.J. Sebery, an American, and they reside at Newark, New Jersey. They have one
son, John (Jack), who married an American girl of German extraction. Jack, who
holds a post in a bank, served two years in Germany with the U.S.A. armed forces towards the
end of the 1939-45 War.
GLADYS. - Daughter of John Grange (1888) and Mary Beggs, his wife.
She was born at Ballyclare in 1916 and accompanied her parents to Canada when they emigrated in
1924. Speaking French fluently, she was employed as a stenographer by a French-Canadian firm in
Three Rivers until the time of her death in 1953. She was unmarried.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WILLIAM, son of Esther Grange (1881) and her husband, Samuel Stevenson,
was born at Ballyclare about 1906 and took over the flesher’s business at the death of his
father. He married May Jefferson of Belfast.
SARAH, daughter of Esther Grange (1881) and her husband, Samuel Stevenson,
known to her wide circle of friends as “Cis”, is unmarried and resides at Ballyclare.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
KATHLEEN, - daughter of William Robert (1888) and Grace Ann Bell his
wife, was born at Belfast on 18th December, 1914 and married Alexander Dyet, manager of
a coal mine in Irvine, Ayrshire, Scotland. The family reside at Prestwick.
There were four children of the marriage, one son and three daughters :-
Grace
Gavin
Ann
Adaline
Alexander Dyet, the father, at the present time is at Oxford College where he is engaged
in selecting suitable candidates for executive posts for the National Coal Board.
ADALINE. - Daughter of William (1888) she was born at Belfast on 23rd.
April, 1916. A spinster, she resided with her parents at Dundonald, near Belfast.
THOMAS. - Son of William (1888) he was born on 26th September, 1918, at
Dundonald, a suburb of Belfast in County Down. Employed as a joiner by McLoughlan & Harvey the
building and contracting firm of Belfast, it was his intention to become a surveyor, and with
this object in view he studied for a period at the Belfast College of Technology where he won a
scholarship in the Building Trade. Unfortunately before this ambition could be realized the
grim spectre of Death intervened and at the early age of 25, he passed from this earthly abode
to His Father’s Home above.
He was a young man who, from the early age of fifteen until his untimely death, had ungrudgingly
and earnestly devoted much of his time to the affairs of his Church, particularly so in the realm
of Sabbath School activities. It is recorded of him by a friend that on the day prior to his
passing to the Great Beyond, he, knowing full well that he had now almost reached the end of his
pilgrimage here below, found the strength and courage to sing to his friends gathered round his
bedside, that beautiful hymn :-
When my life’s work is endedThomas died in 1943.
And I cross the swelling tide.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ROBERT JOHN. - Son of Robert T. Grange (1896) and Margaret Murray Spence,
his wife, he was born at Ballyclare on 13th July, 1928. Better known to his widespread circle of
friends as Jack, he was educated first at Ballyclare High School and then proceeded to
The Queen’s University, Belfast, where he graduated as a B.Sc. in Engineering. Whilst at Queen’s
he served with the Signals Section of the University Officers’ Training Corps (Territorial Army)
and held the rank of Corporal when he resigned at the conclusion of his studies and his term of
service had expired.
Robert J. Grange (1928) with Margaret H. and daughter,
Angela
On leaving Queen’s he joined the Staff of the Northern Ireland Electricity Board as a Technical
Engineer, since when he has been continuously in the service of this body. On 15th October, 1957,
he married Margaret Helen, daughter of Robert F. Thompson of Belfast, and his
wife Agnes Campbell. Three clergymen officiated at the wedding ceremony viz. Rev. E.M.
Borland of Rosemary Presbyterian Church, Belfast, (where the ceremony was held); Rev. H.
Quinn of Grange, County Antrim and who was an uncle of the bride, and Rev. Harold R.
Allen of Ballyclare Presbyterian Church.
Margaret was educated at Victoria College, Belfast.
R.F. Thompson came from a farming family who for many generations had tilled the soil in
the Broughshane district of Ballymena in the County of Antrim.
He was an official in the Ministry of Agriculture in the Northern Ireland Government but before
the Six Counties enjoyed the privilege of organizing its own domestic affairs in 1922, he had
been with the old Department of Agriculture in the Imperial Government from 1919.
He was a recognized authority on the production and marketing of eggs and during the greater
part of his career he was closely associated with the Government’s campaign to improve the
quality and standard of eggs in Northern Ireland. In 1923-4 he was one of a committee of three
appointed by the Northern Ireland Government to advise farmers as to how this could be best
achieved and frequently gave talks and lectures at meetings of producers and was also a regular
speaker on the radio on the subject. At the time of his death (in 1958), he was senior officer
in the Eggs and Poultry Marketing Board.
R.F. Thompson was a quiet, courteous, and the most unassuming of men whose twinkling eyes,
beaming smile won for him numerous friends in the course of his business. He travelled extensively,
his duties taking him to all parts of Ireland and the United Kingdom, - and even as far afield
as the Continent. He was a man who keenly identified himself with all kinds of outdoor sport
but at no time was he happier than when tramping over hill or bogland with gun in hand in the
depths of winter, or, at the other extreme, on a bowling green on a warm summer’s day. He was
an enthusiastic member of Cavehill Bowling Club of Belfast.
Jack, after spending several years in various Provincial towns was eventually appointed District
Engineer for the Cookstown area in County Tyrone and he and Margaret now reside in Cookstown.
There is one child of the marriage, a daughter :-
Angela Margaret
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HUGH, - son of Hugh Grange (1908) and Marguerite Madden, his wife, was
born in 1942.
FRANCIS, - son of Hugh (1908) was born in 1944.
MARGARET, - daughter of Hugh (1908) was born in 1948. All three children
of this marriage were born at Three Rivers, Quebec, Canada.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
JOHN, - son of James Grange (1898) and Martha Robinson, his wife.
He was born at Ballyclare on 27th May, 1920 and married Ruth Smyth of Bangor, County Down, at
Queen’s Parade Methodist Church, Bangor, on 5th April 1945. Ruth was born at Bangor on 27th
July, 1923. John is on the staff of the Ulster Transport Authority. There is one child of the
marriage, a daughter :-
Arlene
JEAN. - Daughter of James (1898), she was born at Ballyclare on 12th December,
1927 and married Charles McAuley of Ballyclare. There is one daughter of the marriage :-
Martha Grange
Jean died on 2nd April, 1946, just a few weeks after the birth of her only child and was
buried in Rashee Cemetery.
JAMESINA (INA) - Daughter of James (1898) was born at Ballyclare on 7th
November, 1930. She married John Kenneth Burgess of Carrickfergus, a marine engineer, at
Ballyeaston Presbyterian Church in April, 1962. There are two daughters of the marriage and the
family reside at Carrickfergus.
Joan Amanda
Yvonne Elizabeth
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOEL. Son of Hugh Grange (1906) and Margaret Agnes (Meta) Hollinger,
his wife, he was born at Ballyclare on Christmas Day, 1936. On 12th September, 1963, he
married Margaret Elizabeth, daughter of William Scott and his wife, Charlotte
McDowell of Lisburn, the ceremony taking place in Hillhall Presbyterian Church, Lisburn.
Margaret, who was in the nursing profession, was an S.R.N. and S.C.M. and at the time of
her marriage was a Ward Sister on the staff of the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast. There are
two sons of the marriage:-
Jeffrey
Michael David
An engineer, Noel served his apprenticeship to the practical side of the trade in the
works of Kirkpatrick Bros. Ballyclare and studied at the Belfast College of Technology.
After holding the position of Supervisor in several Ulster firms, he and Margaret
decided to emigrate and accepting the offer of a responsible post with an engineering firm in
Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada, they and their first child, Jeffrey, left old Ireland behind
them in 1965 and set out to make a new home in the West. After spending about a year with this
Company Noel then moved to a similar firm in La Fletche, also in Quebec, where their
second son was born and where the family at present reside.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WILLIAM HUGH. - Son of William Hugh Grange (1883) and Rebecca Wilson
his wife, he was born at Ballyclare and was by profession a marine engineer. He was drowned at
sea in 1942 when his ship was torpedoed and sunk by a German submarine off the coast of
Newfoundland.
JOHN WILSON (JACK). - Second son of William Hugh (1883), he was born at
Ballyclare and on his father’s death in 1939 took over the licensed premises in Ballyclare
which he still controls.
One Sunday afternoon in 1941 during the Second World War he was
involved in an unusual car incident. Driving the family home after a week-end visit to their
bungalow on the Antrim coast, they had just reached the Park on the Ballynure Road when he
espied the huge wire hawser of a barrage balloon (which had broken from its mooring at Belfast)
dragging along the road in a most alarming manner. Jumping hastily from the car they had just
reached the safety of the roadside when the hawser wrapped itself round the abandoned vehicle
and dragged it for a distance along the road, finally leaving it stranded twenty feet up a
nearby tree. Having thus capably carried out its good turn for the day, the balloon careered
merrily on its way to the coast where it was shot down by a fighter plane.
RUBY. - Daughter of William Hugh (1883), she was born at Ballyclare. A
spinster, she lives with her brother Jack at Ballyclare.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HARRIET. - Daughter of William Hume Grange (1884) and his American born wife
(name not known). The only information available is that she died some years ago.
AGNES. - Daughter of William Hume Grange (1884), she was born in U.S.A.
and married an American.
MARGARET. - Daughter of William Hume Grange (1884), she was born in the
U.S.A. The only information obtained concerning her was that she was in the nursing profession
and was a Ward Sister in a New York hospital.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
JAMES. - Son of Hugh Grange (1890) and M. Graham, his wife, he was
born at Larne in 1910 and married Ruth Gourley of Larne, who was born in 1911. James,
on the completion of his education, joined the clerical staff of the Inver Bleach and Dye Works,
Larne, which at that time were managed by William Spence and on the latter’s death was
appointed as his successor. A keen and far-seeing business-man, he successfully piloted the
works through a most difficult and trying period during and after the Second World War.
Never sparing himself, he applied all his natural and purposeful drive to the business and
today, to such an extent has trade increased that it has become necessary to dismantle a
laundry which he had established in part of the works and use the floorspace for additional
textle machinery to cope with the ever expanding trade. He is now Managing Director of the firm.
There is one son of the mariage :-
Hugh
GAWN. - Son of Hugh Grange (1890), he was born at Larne in 1914 and married
Norah Law of Belfast, in Knockbreda Church. He joined the Royal Ulster Constabulary in
1936. Of the marriage there are four sons :-
David
James
Stephen
Frederick
SARAH.- Daughter of Hugh (1890), she was born at Larne in 1916.
JEAN. - Daughter of Hugh (1890), she was born at Larne in 1918.
MARGARET. - Daughter and the last child of Hugh Grange (1890) and M.
Graham his wife, she was born at Larne in 1925. She holds the post of Secretary to the
Inver Bleach and Dye Works, Larne.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
IRVINE,ROBERT,AGNES. Two sons and one daughter of Robert Grange
(1888) and Florence Irvine his wife. The only information to hand is that all three
were born in the U.S.A.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ANN JENEPHER WILSON. - The first child and daughter of George Wilson Grange (1903)
and Phyllis Rantoul Warke his wife, she was born at St. Margaret-on-Thames, London, on
30th May, 1940. She was educated at Ashleigh House, Belfast and afterwards studied Art at
Trinity College, Dublin. She is at The Queen’s University, Belfast, at the present time engaged
in further special studies in librarian work.
MARY LYND. - Daughter of George Wilson Grange (1903), she was born on
23rd October, 1941, also at St. Margaret-on-Thames, London. She was educated at Ashleigh House,
Belfast and then proceeded to King’s College Hospital, London, as a Student Nurse. After
qualifying, she returned to Belfast and is a Staff Nurse in the Royal Maternity Hospital.
Lynd, like her father, is fond of horses and loves to ride when time and opportunity
permit.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WILLIAM, JOHN, MARTHA and AGNES. - Two sons and two
daughters of John (1894) and Sarah Jones his wife. There is no further
information available concerning this family.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WILLIAM JOHN, Son of Margaret Reid Grange (1898) and William McCrea
Spence he was born at Belfast on 8th April, 1921. On the outbreak of war in 1939 he was an apprentice student in the Inver Bleach and Dye
Works, Larne, studying the textile industry, intending to make this his career.
He enlisted in the Royal Air Force as a wireless operator
and machine-gunner and in a comparatively short time was promoted to the rank of Sergeant. He
took part in over twenty operational flights over German territory. His air-crew was one of the
famous “Pathfinders” - planes which went ahead of the main raiding force to pin-point by coloured
flares the important strategic objectives to be destroyed, and remaining overhead during the
attack to direct the incoming planes to their various targets. His plane was on this duty during
the last of the huge 1,000 bomber raids over Hamburg on the night of 30th July, 1943 when it was
shot down. Only one of the crew, the navigator, survived the crash. William John, or Jack,
as he was known to his friends), is buried in Hamburg Military Cemetery.
He was engaged to be
married to an English girl just prior to the fatal flight. Jack was an ideal type of young man
and with his engaging manner and wonderfully cheerful disposition he won for himself
innumerable friends.
ROBERT THOMAS, Second son of Margaret Reid Grange (1898) and William
McCrea Spence, he was born at Larne on 12th January, 1923. His education at Larne Grammar
School was interrupted by the death of his father in 1935 and for a brief period was an
apprentice student at the Inver Bleach and Dye Works, Larne. He then obtained a Government post
in the Ministry of Food and was appointed Assistant Food Executive Officer for the Larne
district.
Shortly after his brother Jack was shot down he enlisted in the Army and was
posted to the Royal Army Pay Corps. A well-built man over six feet in height, he soon reached
commissioned rank. - First Lieutenant. Most of his service was spent abroad, with a short spell
in Africa then a lengthy period on Mauritius Island in the Indian Ocean. He was Paymaster on
the latter station until he was demobilized in 1947.
He rejoined the Ministry of Food on his
return home and for a period was Food Executive Officer for the Bangor area in County Down.
In 1949 he transferred his services to the Northern Ireland Hospitals Authority and at the
unusually early age of 26, was appointed Secretary for the East Antrim Hospitals Management
Committee which controls all the hospitals in the East Antrim area. Here he had plenty of scope
to utilize to the full the excellent organizing abilities he possesses, and the efficiency and
drive with which he carried out his multifarious duties soon brought him recognition and his
due reward when the Hospitals Authority appointed him Deputy Secretary to the Royal Victoria
Hospital, Belfast. On leaving Larne to take up his new appointment, many were the glowing
tributes paid to his organizing abilities. The Chairman of the East Antrim Hospitals Management
Committee said, -- “by his ability, a service has been built up in this area which is second
to none in the entire Authority”. While an Ulster Member of Parliament added his tribute by
saying, -- “he has sown seeds of a great future harvest of hospital work in the East Antrim
Group”. In this new post he had ample opportunity to exploit to the full his extraordinary
creative gifts and travelled extensively throughout Britain, the Continent, North America and
the Middle East to obtain information about the planning and administration of recently built
hospitals. The experience and knowledge thus gained has proved to be invaluable for the future
development and improvement of hospital work in Northern Ireland. In October 1962, at the age
of 39, he succeeded Brigadier T.W. Davidson as Group Secretary of the eight hospitals
known as the Royal group of Hospitals. On St. Patrick’s Day, (17th March), 1950, he married
Min Kane of Larne, at Ballynure Presbyterian Church and of the marriage there are two
daughters :-
Catherine Elizabeth
Patricia Margaret McCrea
HUGH ALEXANDER STEWART, Third son of Margaret Reid Grange (1898) and William
McCrea Spence, he was born at Larne on 3rd March, 1926 and was educated at the Masonic
Boys’ School, Dublin. A marine engineer by profession, he spent a number of years at sea before
becoming domiciled in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, where he became a supervisor with a
Westinghouse Engineering Company. In 1953 he married Josephine Mitchell of Millbrook,
Larne, who had joined him in Canada after he had settled there. There is no family.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DOROTHY. - Daughter of Cassie Grange (1900) and John Girvan, she was
born at Draperstown on 12th January, 1920 and married S. McKinney of Larne at Whitehead
Methodist Church on 13th October, 1949. There are two children of this marriage - one daughter
and one son :-
Maureen
John
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ROBERT ALEXANDER. - Son of Jane Grange (1894) and Alexander Baxter,
he was born at Ballybracken on 30th October, 1927 and, at Ballynure Presbyterian Church on 4th
June, 1959, married Gertrude McAlister of Ballylaggan, (near Ballynure).
MARY GRANGE, - daughter of Jane Grange (1894) and Alexander Baxter,
was born at Ballybracken on 20th January, 1938. She married David A. Blair of
Magheramorne (near Larne) on 17th August, 1960, at Ballylinney Presbyterian Church.
There is one daughter of the marriage :-
Alexandria
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MARY. Daughter of John (1904) and Mary Irwin his wife, was born at
Ballyalbans, near Ballyclare. She is married and resides at Ballymena.
JOHN IRWIN. Son of John (1904), he emigrated to Canada. Is married and
lives in Toronto.
SARAH ELIZABETH, WILLIAM JAMES and EDWARD (EDWIN) - One
daughter and two sons of John (1904) and Mary Irwin, his wife. All three are
married and live in Larne.
RUBY AIDEEN, daughter of John (1904). Educated at Larne Technical School,
she entered the Women’s Royal Naval Service in February, 1962. While serving with the W.R.N.S.
she became engaged to an Englishman named William Paddock who was serving as a radar
operator on board H.M.S. Hardy.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ELIZABETH Jean, - daughter of William James Grange (1905) and Clara Roscoe
his wife. She was born at Larne on 29th October, 1936, and married Robert J.B. Wilson of
Kells, Co. Antrim, at Guestville United Church Toronto, Canada. Of the marriage there are two
sons and one daughter :-
Brian Robert
Daphne Elizabeth
Graham Alexander
SHEILA Margaret. - Daughter of William James Grange (1905) and Clara Roscoe
his wife. She was born at Larne on 2nd June, 1931.
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JOHN ALEXANDER, son of Martha Grange (1900) and Alexander Stewart, He
was born at Three Rivers, Quebec, Canada, in 1926. He graduated as a B. Sc. in engineering and
is now Works Engineer in the Ontario Paper Mill Company.
WILLIAM DOUGLAS, son of Martha Grange (1900) and Alexander Stewart,
was born at Three Rivers, Quebec, Canada, in 1929. He studied at Mount Achison University, New
Brunswick. No further information.
MARGARET ELEANOR, daughter of Martha Grange (1900) and Alexander
Stewart, She was born at Three Rivers, Quebec, Canada, in 1932. Is a schoolteacher.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
JEAN, daughter of Jean Grange (1894) and James McDonald.
She married William McCavabran and there is one daughter :-
Carol
ROBERT, son of Jean Grange (1894) and James McDonald,
married M. Lennon.
THOMAS, son of Jean Grange (1894) and James McDonald.
He married M. Glover, of which union there are three children :-
Gwendoline
Ian
Glover
KATHLEEN, daughter of Jean Grange (1894) and James McDonald.
She married William McCourt. There are three daughters of the marriage :-
Jennifer
Kay
Irene
EDITH, daughter of Jean Grange (1894) and James McDonald.
She married J. Ramsey.
CLARA, daughter of Jean Grange (1894) and James McDonald.
She married J. Duff and of the marriage there are two sons :-
Stephen
Jeffrey
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ROBERT GORDON. - Son of Robert (1910) and Elsie Frances Strickland his
wife (1st marriage.) He was born at North Kent Hospital, Gravesend, on 6th September, 1938.
Having decided upon the stage as a career he is now studying in London with this object in view.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
William and Isa, two children of Agnes Grange (1900) and
James McCalmont, of whom there is no further information.
GRACE, daughter of Kathleen Grange (1914) and Alexander Dyet
was born at Irvine, Ayrshire, Scotland, on 18th November, 1937 and married Cowan Lindsay.
There is one daughter of the marriage, born on 1st January, 1960, :-
Kathleen
GAVIN, son of Kathleen Grange (1914) and Alexander Dyet, was born at
Irvine on 24th January, 1941. He was studying at Kilmarnock College with the intention of
becoming the manager of a coal-mine when he was fatally injured in a pit accident.
ANNE, daughter of Kathleen Grange (1914) and Alexander Dyet, was
born at Littlemill, Ayrshire, on 6th August, 1947.
ADALINE. - Daughter of Kathleen Grange (1914) and Alexander Dyet,
she was born at Dalmellington, Ayrshire, on 15th March, 1952.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ARLENE, Daughter of John Grange (1920) and Ruth Smyth his wife. She
was born at Bangor on 8th January, 1948 and in January 1967 married David Robert Herron
Dunbar, of Hollywood, County Down.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HUGH, - son of James (1910) and Ruth Gourley his wife, he was born at
Larne in 1943.He received his early education at Larne Grammar School and then proceeded to
Trinity College, Dublin, to study Law and where he had a Bachelor of Arts Degree conferred
upon him in 1966. Hugh is still studying at Trinity.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MARTHA GRANGE, - daughter of Jean Grange (1927) and Charles McAuley, she
was born at Ballyclare on 6th March, 1946. Some years after her mother’s death she was legally
adopted by her grandparents and the surname McAuley cancelled.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ANGELA MARGARET. - Daughter of Robert John Grange (1928) and his wife,
Margaret Helen Thompson. She was born at South Tyrone Hospital, Dungannon, County Tyrone,
on 18th October, 1965.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DAVID. - Son of Gawn Grange (1914) and Nora Law his wife. He was born
in 1942.
JAMES, - second son of Gawn (1914) was born in 1944.
STEPHEN, - third son of Gawn (1914) was born in 1950.
FREDERICK, - fourth child of Gawn Grange (1914) and Norah Law his
wife, was born in 1954.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
JEFFREY, - son of Noel (1936) and Margaret Elizabeth Scott his wife.
He was born at Bangor, County Down, in 1964.
MICHAEL DAVID - second son of Noel (1936) was born at Queen Elizabeth
Hospital, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, on 17th January, 1967.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
JOAN AMANDA, daughter of Jamesina Grange (1930) and John Kenneth
Burgess, was born at Carrickfergus on 25th November, 1963.
YVONNE ELIZABETH, daughter of Jamesina Grange (1930) and John
Kenneth Burgess, was born at Carrickfergus on 10th November, 1965.
A farm at Ballymoyle, a townland in the Barony of Arklow and which was an Anglicised version of
Ballynagilioge, (itself another name for the upper portions of the present-day Sallymount), was
the birthplace of Edmund Grange, the first member of the Southern branch of the Grange
family in Ireland of whom any information can be gleaned from the Irish records.
He was born in 1624 and in all likelihood was the eldest son and had inherited the Ballynagilloge
farm at his father’s death. No information is available as to his parents’ names - his father’s
Christian name or his mother’s maiden name. Edmund himself was married to Jane --?
(the maiden name of his wife is not recorded) and of the marriage six sons and one daughter were
born :-
George
Edmund
Francis
Thomas
Matthew
John
Elizabeth
Edmund died in 1692 and in his will he bequeathed £100 to his wife, Jane, £60 each
to George, Edmund and Thomas, £30 to Francis, while Elizabeth his
married daughter received £40. Matthew and John were appointed executors and
received as their portion of the estate, the lands owned by their father It is interesting to
note that in addition to signing the will with his usual signature, Edmund also placed
his “Mark” & on the document, - a practice commonly carried out by members of the Masonic Order
in earlier days. For his funeral he allocated £20.
GEORGE, EDMUND, FRANCIS. Three sons of Edmund (1624). No further
information can be found in the records regarding these three brothers.
THOMAS. - Son of Edmund (1624), he was born in 1660. He was married but
there is no record of his wife’s Christian or maiden names. After his marriage he resided at
Killowen, Co. Wexford, where he had a farm and where he died towards the end of April, 1743.
Of the marriage there was one daughter :-
Mary
He must have been a man well advanced in years when he married, for Mary had not reached
the age of eighteen at the time of his death and she was placed in the care of his sister
Elizabeth who had married John Burroughs of Ballycooge. Mary was to receive
the sum of four-score pounds when she reached the age of eighteen, while his farm was left to
his nephew, William Burroughs, son of Elizabeth.
MATTHEW. - Son of Edmund (1624), he was born about 1670 and married
Elizabeth --?. He owned land at Ballynacorbeg and died in 1736. Of the marriage there
were three sons and four daughters :-
Edmund
Matthew
John
Jane
Elizabeth
Mary
Hannah
In his will, Matthew left his lands to his son Edmund and amongst his bequests to
others of his family, he left £60 to each of his sons Matthew and John and £60 to
his son-in-law William Tindall who was married to Hannah. He nominated Matthew
and John as his executors but they refused to act and renounced their authority in favour
of William Tindall. In one of his transactions, Matthew let part of the townland
of Ballynacarbeg, some 88 acres, for 30 years, for the yearly rent of £35-10-4, together with
44lbs of good sweet butter on every 1st November, and a further 20 shillings for every acre
broken up or ploughed.
JOHN, - son of Edmund (1624). He was born in 1665 and lived at Ballynagilloge
with his wife Jane --? who was born in 1673. In 1716, John, for the sum of £200
leased from Right Hon. Richard, Lord Viscount Rosse, (later Earl of Rosse) 133
acres of land, to be held for ever at the yearly rent of £10. John and Jane had
three sons and one daughter:-
Edmund
Thomas
John
Frances
At his death, which took place on 27th July, 1725, at the age of 60, John left all his
lands to his eldest son, Edmund, £200 to John and a small sum to his married
daughter, Frances. A renewal of land to Edmund in 1726 shows that Thomas
had pre-deceased his father by several years. John’s wife, Jane, died on 18th
January, 1749, aged 76 years and both husband and wife are buried in the old Churchyard at
Ennereilly.
ELIZABETH Daughter of Edmund (1624), she married John Burroughs and
they had one son :-
William
EDMUND, - eldest son of Matthew (1670) and Elizabeth --? was born
in 1693 and married Anne --?. They lived at Ballynacarrige, Co. Wicklow, on a farm.
Edmund died in 1731 aged 38 and was buried in Dunganstown Churchyard. Of the marriage
there were three sons and one daughter :-
William
Thomas
Edmund
Jane
Edmund was still being educated at the time of his father’s death.
MATTHEW. - Second son of Matthew (1670). No further details are available.
JOHN. - Third son of Matthew (1670) was born about 1698 and married
Jane --?. John owned a farm at Castletimon, Co. Wicklow. He died in 1764 and of
the marriage three daughters and one son were born :-
Matthew
Elizabeth
Hannah
Jane
JANE, - daughter of Matthew (1670) married John Wickham. No further
particulars known.
ELIZABETH. - Daughter of Matthew (1670). She married Alexander Gardiner
and they had one daughter:-
Jane
MARY, - daughter of Matthew (1670), married --? Hatton. No other
particulars.
HANNAH. - Daughter of Matthew (1670), married William Tindall and
there was one son of the marriage :-
Matthew
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
EDMUND. - Eldest son of John (1665) was born in 1698. In 1735 he married
Sarah, daughter of Captain Richard Cope and his wife Elizabeth who was the
sister of Rev. Thomas Whaley of Syddon, County Meath, who settled all his lands, together
with £400 in cash, on Elizabeth’s daughter Martha. Martha married Rev. Frederick
Ussher whose lineage can be traced back to 1460 when an Arland Ussher was Sheriff of
Dublin.
Edmund died at Sallymount, near Dublin, on 14th August, 1746, aged 48 and was buried in
Ennereilly Churchyard. Except for £300 bequeathed to his brother John, he left his wife
Sarah all his fortune, also land in the County of Longford that had come into his
possession through his marriage with her. There was only one child of the marriage, a son,
Richard Chappell, who was only about ten years of age at the time of his father’s death
and Edmund appointed Sarah as his guardian until he attained the age of 21 when
he was to inherit all the lands his father possessed in the County of Wicklow.
THOMAS. - Son of John (1665). No records are available regarding his
history other than that he had pre-deceased his father by several years.
JOHN. - Third son of John (1665). He died at Rabaval, County Wicklow in
1790. In his will he directed that his body be interred in the family burial ground at
Ennerielly. Apparently he never married and after bequests had been made to various other
persons, he left the remainder of his estate to Richard Annesly of Rabaville, County
Wicklow, “he being married to my relation, Elizabeth Grange”.
FRANCES. - Only daughter of John (1665), she was born in 1706 and married
John Sisson, second son of Robert Sisson. Robert Sisson had married a Mary
Grange in 1713.
WILLIAM, THOMAS. --- Two sons of Edmund (1693) and Anne --? No
details of these brothers can be found in the records.
EDMUND. - Son of Edmund (1693), he was born about 1730 and married
Elizabeth Jones in Dublin in 1762.
JANE, - a daughter of Edmund (1693). She married Richard Sadler
in 1762.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HANNAH, MATTHEW, ELIZABETH. Two daughters and one son of John (1698) and
Jane --? There are no records from which any information can be obtained concerning
these three members of this family.
JANE, -- daughter of John (1698). She married Richard Rider.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
RICHARD CHAPPELL. --Only son of Edmund (1698) and Sarah Cope was born
in 1736. Educated at Trinity College, Dublin, he graduated as a B.A. in 1761 and M.A. in 1765.
In 1764 he married Mary, daughter of Hon. William Rochfort, (brother of the First
Earl of Belvedere) and Henrietta Ramsey. Henrietta was the daughter of Colonel J.
Ramsey and Lady Mary Osborne, (widow of Sir Nicholas Osborne, 5th Baronet).
Lady Mary herself was the daughter of Rt. Rev. Thomas Smyth, D.D., Bishop of
Limerick. It was through this marriage of Richard Chappell and Mary Rochfort that
the name “Rochfort” was introduced into the Grange family as a Christian name. Richard Chappell
died at Camden Street, Dublin, in 1779. Of the marriage there were four sons and two daughters :-
Edmund
John
Richard George
Rochfort
Sarah
Belinda
EDMUND. --Eldest son of Richard Chappell (1736) and Mary Rochfort was
born in 1766. He was married but it has not been possible to trace the maiden name of his wife.
There was one son of the marriage:-
Edmund Belvedere
This very scanty information is all that can be gleaned from the records.
JOHN. -- Son of Richard Chappell (1736). The year of his birth (1768) is
all that can be traced.
RICHARD GEORGE, - son of Richard Chappell (1736), he was born in 1771 and
married Lydia Grosvenor. He made the Army his career and served with the Madras cavalry
in the Indian Army. At this period the Indian Army was maintained solely by the Honourable East
India Company to protect their interests against the warring Indian Princes. It did not come
under the direct authority of the British Government until after the Indian Mutiny in 1858. It
was composed of native troops, all, or nearly all, the senior Non-commissioned Officers being
white and commanded by British Officers.
Richard George rose to the rank of Major and when he retired he acted as Recruiting
Officer in the Dublin area for the East India Company until the time of his death.
Husband and wife were buried in Clontarf Old Churchyard. There were three sons of the marriage :-
Richard George
Robert
Edmund
ROCHFORT, - born in 1773.
SARAH, - born in 1775.
BELINDA, - born in 1778.
One son and two daughters of Richard Chappell (1736). There is no other information
regarding these members of this family.
EDMUND BELVEDERE. - Son of Edmund (1766), he was born in 1790 and married
Frances Margaret Waddell who was born on 21st November, 1805. She was the daughter of
Robert Waddell, J.P., of Islanderry, County Down and Jane Maitland of Newry.
An interesting manuscript shows that the lineage of this Waddell family dates back to the
eleventh century when a Walter de Flanders came over with the Conqueror and as Feudal
Lord, held considerable estates in Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire. One of
these estates, Walhull in Bedfordshire, was assumed as the family name. The name changed to
Woodhull during the reign of Henry V, subsequently to Woodall and finally to Waddell in the
14th century.
Edmund Belvedere graduated as a B.A. at Trinity College, Dublin and became a Chaplain in
the British Army, retiring with the rank of Major. There were several sons and daughters of the
marriage to whom Major Richard George Grange, cousin of their father, bequeathed £1,000
out of his estate, to be divided equally amongst them. Of this family it has been possible to
trace only one :-
Rochfort
In later years after retiring from the Army this Edmund Belvedere acted as Land Steward
for the Islanderry estate of the Waddell family.
RICHARD GEORGE. -- Son of Richard George (1771) and Lydia Grosvenor,
he was born in 1804 and studied at Trinity College, Dublin. Deciding upon a military career he
obtained a commission in the Indian Army and when he retired from the Bengal Lancers he had
reached the rank of Major. He was unmarried and when he retired from the Active List, lived at
Gt. Portland Street, London. He died in 1861 and was buried in All Saints Cemetery, Kendall
Green, London. His estate was valued at just under £7,000 and in addition to the £1,000 he had
bequeathed to the children of Edmund Belvedere, he left £1,000 “to his friend Lady
Mary Scott”.
ROBERT. -- Son of Richard George (1771), he was born in 1806. He also
studied at Trinity College, Dublin and like his brother Richard George, entered the
Indian Army, also in the Bengal Lancers.
EDMUND, -- son of Richard George (1771) was born in 1807 and entering
Trinity College, Dublin in 1823 at the age of 16, he graduated as a B.A. in 1830.
Nothing further is known of him.
Rochfort Grange and Dorcas Harriet
ROCHFORT. -- Son of Edmund Belvedere (1790) and Frances Margaret
Waddell, he was born in 1843. At Belfast on 20th July, 1875, he married Dorcas Harriet,
daughter of Frederick Harry Lewis and his wife Mary Ann. Dorcas Harriet was
born at Nettlefield, Belfast, on 1st June, 1846.
In a remarkable Family Tree that has been compiled in a very competent and explanatory manner
and which was in the possession of Mrs Margaret J. Grange of Dublin, the Lewis family
can be traced back to a CADWALADER, King of the Britons, (or somewhere about the ninth
century). Amongst the names that are recorded are RODERICK MARR, surnamed the Great King
of All Wales and Powys; CADELL, Prince of South Wales, died 946; EINION, died 982,
slain in Rebellion by his own men; TUDOR, The Great Lord of South Wales, slain in battle,
992, --- and so on, until about 1350 when the name Lewis (as it is known today) has become
evolved with the passage of time.
A branch of this old Welsh family settled near Belfast over 300 years ago.
One early member, James, born in 1717, was Sovereign of Belfast in 1774 and again in
1777. Frederick H. Lewis, father of Dorcas Harriet was the grandson of this
James Lewis. Frederick himself was the Mayor of Belfast in 1854 and 1869. He had a large
family, thirteen children in all.
Rochfort and Dorcas Harriet lived at Blackrock County Dublin, where Dorcas
died in 1888 and Rochfort in 1890. They had one son and four daughters :-
Katherine
Marion Frances
Lydia Margaret
Rochfort
Dorcas Harriet
KATHERINE, born on 8th May, 1876.
MARION FRANCES, born 22nd February, 1878.
LYDIA MARGARET, born on 17th March, 1880 and died on 25th April, 1881. -- Three
daughters of Rochfort and Dorcas about whom nothing further is known.
ROCHFORT. - Son of Rochfort (1843) was born on 31st January, 1882.
He was in Australia when war was declared in 1914 engaged in the sugar-planting trade, and when
that country joined Britain in the conflict, he enlisted in the Australian Army. After serving
in the East for a period he landed in France early in 1915 with the first contingent of Anzacs
to reach that theatre of war and in subsequent fighting was severely gassed, rendering him unfit
for further service in the armed forces.
He then obtained a post in the Civil Service with the British Government. He was posted to the
Ministry of Agriculture in Dublin where he remained until the Northern Ireland Government took
over control of the Six Counties in 1922. He then travelled North to continue his association
with his colleagues at Stormont.
Rochfort was a man who was most precise and painstaking in whatever duty he undertook to
perform and this characteristic was much in evidence during the long years he had spent in
research work in connection with the history of the Grange family and in the end had amassed a
very considerable collection of valuable documents a number of which were sent to relatives in
Canada after his death and some retained by his widow Margaret.
About 1923 he married Margaret J. Cregan of Armagh, Northern Ireland, who herself
possesses a vast store of knowledge of the Grange family in the South. Rochfort and his
wife lived at Bangor, the seaside resort on the County Down coast, where he died in 1943.
Shortly after his death Margaret moved South to Dublin where she still resides. There is
no family.
The earliest reference to the Arms used by the Belfast Corporation is contained in
the “Town Book of Belfast” by Robert M. Young under the date 1640, - “To Maces, Armes
and the Towne Seal for the Towne, £26” The Seal referred to is in silver and came into the
possession of the Lewis family, probably during Frederick Harry’s term of office. It
eventually found its way into the home of Rochfort Grange, who about 1940, presented it
to the Belfast Museum for safe custody.
DORCAS HARRIET. - Daughter of Rochfort (1843), she was born at Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, on 23rd February, 1886. Most of the later years of her life were spent in Northern
Ireland, first in the Antrim Road district of Belfast and finally Groomsport a small seaside
resort in County Down, only a short distance from Bangor where her brother Rochfort lived.
She died in 1955. Unmarried.
This section dealing with the Grange family in England has been compiled from an old manuscript
that had been in the possession of Rochfort Grange and marked “Part 2”.
So with Part I missing, (which could have been the Family Tree of the Irish Granges), there are
no authentic records available to show from which Branch this English colony stemmed. The
Christian names readily suggest Southern Ireland as the source of its origin.
The earliest recorded name in Part 2 is Edmund, who was born about 1783-4 and who
married a Diana Coates. He had entered the Church but whether his ministerial duties were
civil or military, is not known. There were five children of the marriage :-
Edmund
George John
Charles Walter
Charlotte Diana
Maynard
EDMUND. - Son of Edmund and Diana Coates, he was born in 1808.
He made his career in the British Army as a professional soldier and held the rank of Colonel
at the time of his retirement. It is not known to whom he was married but there was one son :-
Edmund
GEORGE JOHN, - second son of Edmund and Diana Coates was born in
1810 and married Mary Dawson. Like his brother Edmund, he obtained a commission
in the British Army and had reached the rank of Lieut. Colonel when he retired. With his family,
or at least part of it, he emigrated to Canada where he became Sheriff of Wellington County from
1840-76 and at one time was President of the Guelph and Galt railway. He died in 1876, his wife
Mary pre-deceasing him by two years. Of the marriage there were ten children, five sons
and five daughters :-
Ellen Diana
Mary Charlotte
Maynard Eliza
Edmund
Francis
George Stuart
Harriet
Charles Delaval
Emma
Edward Alexander Andrew
CHARLES WALTER. - Third son of Edmund and Diana Coates was born in 1812
and died in 1887. He had reached the rank of Major in the British Army when he retired from the
Active List. He married Helena Kingswill and they had two sons and one daughter :-
William D’Oyly
Charles Ernest
Helena
CHARLOTTE DIANA. - Daughter of Edmund and Diana Coates, she was born
in 1811 and died in 1832. She married Colonel William Cooper Rochfort and they had two
daughters :-
D’Oyly Tullah
Diana Cordelia
MAYNARD, - daughter of Edmund and Diana Coates was born about 1814 and
married Sir Archibald Bogle. They had one son and one daughter :-
Andrew
Maynard Eliza Charlotte Rochfort
EDMUND, son of Edmund and ---? was born in 1840 and died in 1912. There
are no other details.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MARY CHARLOTTE, - daughter of George John (1810) was born in 1833 and married
John Hamilton Connolly. They had three sons :-
Robert George Walter
Charles Addison
William Loring
ELLEN DIANA. - Daughter of George John (1810) and Mary Dawson, she was
born in 1831 and died in 1860. At the age of 19 she married Judge J. J. Kingswill and
they had one son and one daughter :-
Charles
Constance Mary
MAYNARD ELIZA. - Daughter of George John (1810) was born in 1835 and died in
1864. She Married Charles O’Dell and they had one son and one daughter :-
George John
Florence
EDMUND, - son of George John (1810). He was born in 1838 and died when only
twelve years of age.
FRANCIS. - Son of George John (1810), he was born in the year 1840 and
was twice married. His first wife was Agnes Webster and of the marriage there were two
sons:-
George John
Charles Dawson
He secondly married Emily Maxwell and of this marriage one son and one daughter were
born :-
Edward
Ellen Diana
Francis died in 1897.
GEORGE STUART. - Son of George John (1810). He was born in 1842 and died
in 1882. He married Kate Roff and they had a family of three sons :-
Edward
William
George John
HARRIET, - daughter of George John (1810). She died young and no dates of
birth or death can be traced.
EMMA. - Daughter of George John (1810). She was born in 1843 and wed
Henry Peterson. They had four sons and one daughter :-
William
Douglas
Rochfort Clayton
George John
Emma(who died in 1884).
CHARLES DELAVAL, -son of George John (1810) was born in 1845 and died in
1875. No other details.
EDWARD ALEXANDER ANDREW. - Son and last child of George John Grange (1810)
and Mary Dawson, he was born in London in the year 1848. He accompanied his father to
Canada and there married Bessie Webster, daughter of Colonel James Webster of
Guelph, and Registrar of Wellington County. After receiving his early education by private
tuition and in private schools he graduated from Ontario Veterinary College in 1873. He was a
lecturer in the College from 1875-82, and from 1883-97 was Professor of Veterinary Science at
Michigan Agricultural College. He became Principal of Detroit Veterinary College in 1897. From
1899 he conducted veterinary research work in New York State, after which he was appointed
Principal of the Ontario Veterinary College. In 1908 he obtained the Degree of M. Sc.
He frequently contributed articles to veterinary science journals and was regarded as a special authority on the biological side of the science.
He was a member of the numerous veterinary and other scientific societies and held honorary membership in the ALPHA PDI Society of Cornell University and the New York Alumni Association of the same College.
He died in Ontario in 1925. He and Bessie Webster had two sons and one daughter :-
James Webster
Edward Rochfort
Maynard
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WILLIAM D’OYLY, - son of Charles Walter Grange (1812) and Helena Kingswill
was born in 1853 and married Lucy Burness. They had a family of three sons and one
daughter :-
George Rochfort
Charles D’Oyly
James B.
Harriet Lucy Kingswill
CHARLES ERNEST, HELENA. - Son and daughter of Charles Walter (1812) and
Helena Kingswill about whom nothing further is known.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D’OYLY TULLAH, DIANA CORDELIA. - Two daughters of Charlotte Diana Grange (1811)
and Wm. Cooper Rochfort. D’Oyly married but there is no record of her husband’s name and
there are no details available regarding Diana.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ANDREW, MAYNARD ELIZA CHARLOTTE ROCHFORT. - Son and daughter of Maynard Grange
(1814) and Sir Archibald Bogle. No details were obtainable regarding Andrew.
Maynard married Morden Carthew-Yorston and they had three sons and two daughters :-
Archibald
Charles
Morden
Margaret
Andrew
CHARLES, - son of Ellen Diana Grange (1831) and Judge J. J. Kingswill
was born in the year 1851. Adopting the Royal Navy as a career, he held the rank of Admiral
when he retired. A knighthood was conferred on him whilst in the Service.
He married Constance Beardmore and they had two sons and one daughter :-
Walter
Grange
Diana
CONSTANCE MARY, - daughter of Ellen Diana Grange (1831). She married John Gault.
No other information relating to this marriage.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ROBERT GEORGE WALTER, - eldest son of Mary Charlotte Grange (1833) and
John Hamilton Connolly. He was born in 1857 and married Agnes Stewart.
CHARLES ADDISON. - Second son of Mary Charlotte Grange (1833) was born in 1859
and died in 1896. Nothing further is known of him.
WILLIAM LORING. - Third son of Mary Charlotte Grange (1833) was born in
1862. He married Helen Sutherland Hogg and they had two daughters and two sons :-
Kate Grace
Helen Sutherland
John Loring
Robert Rochfort
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GEORGE JOHN, FLORENCE. - Son and daughter of Maynard Eliza Grange (1835) and
Charles O’Dell. Nothing is known of George John. Florence married but the name of
her husband cannot be traced.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHARLES DAWSON, GEORGE JOHN. - Two sons of Francis Grange (1840) and Agnes
Webster (1st marriage). George John was born in 1872 but nothing further is known of
him. Charles was born in 1873 and married Maud Brittain.
EDWARD, ELLEN DIANA. - A son and daughter of Francis (1840) and Emily
Maxwell by the second marriage. This is the only information recorded.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
EDWARD, - son of George Stuart Grange (1842) and Kate Roff was married,
but there is no record of his wife’s maiden name. Of the marriage there were two daughters :-
Madeline
Grace
WILLIAM, GEORGE JOHN. - Two sons of George Stuart (1842) about whom nothing
further is known.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WILLIAM DAWSON, DOUGLAS, ROCHFORT CLAYTON, GEORGE JOHN, EMMA. - Four sons and one
daughter of Emma Grange (1843) and Henry Peterson. This is the only information
recorded.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
JAMES WEBSTER. - Eldest son of Edward Alexander A. Grange (1848) and Bessie
Webster. He was born in Canada in 1889 and died in 1910.
EDWARD ROCHFORT. - Second son of Edward Alexander Andrew (1848) was born in
Canada in 1892. He served in the Canadian Air Force during the 1914-18 War and saw action in
France as a Flight Commander. At the end of hostilities he remained in the Canadian Air Force
on Administrative work. He lived in Ontario.
MAYNARD. - Daughter of Edward Alexander Andrew Grange (1848) and Bessie
Webster, she was born in Canada in 1895. Is unmarried and resides in Ontario.
ROBERT GRANGE 1819-1903
ROBERT, born in Ireland in the year 1819, emigrated to the U.S.A. probably between
the years 1848-53. It is not known in what part of Ireland he was born, North or South. In later
life he is reputed to have stated that in religion he was a Presbyterian and that he had been
born near Dublin. As the Granges in Southern Ireland were all Anglicans, it could well have
been that Robert, finding himself in an area where in all probability Presbyterianisn
predominated, elected to join that Church and continue to worship the God of his fathers there.
He married Alicia Rhames who was born in Ireland in 1830 and was the daughter of John
Rhames. The Rhames family were Quakers and although strongly entrenched in the Dublin area,
some of them are known to have been domiciled in the North. Robert, according to his own
statement, was married to Alicia in Ireland, and due to strong family objections to the
union, they left the homeland and journeyed to the U.S.A. where they settled in Watertown, a
town in the State of Wisconsin.
No record of this marriage can be found in any of the existing Church registers in Ireland.
Robert and Alicia had at least one son :-
Robert Ashenhurst
This name “Ashenhurst” used as a second Christian name for the son provides an indication that
the South had been Robert’s early home, for there is a record in the Dublin Registry
Office of a marriage ceremony having taken place in that city in the year 1760 between a
Matthew Grange and Martha Ashenhurst.
The ancestral home of the Ashenhurst family is at Newtownstewart in County Tyrone, Northern
Ireland, and one, Ralph, entered Trinity College, Dublin. On the completion of his studies
there he then married and settled in that city.
There are Ashenhursts still living at Newtownstewart, thus the possibility of an Ulster kinship
between the two families in earlier days cannot altogether be excluded.
It is not known if Robert, on his arrival in the U.S.A., followed the traditional
calling of his fathers, farming, or branched out in an entirely new line of business.
He died on 4th November, 1903, At the fine age of 84 years, and Alicia, his faithful
partner for over half-a-century, followed him Home almost exactly one year later, She died on
14th November, 1904.
ROBERT ASHENHURST. - Son of Robert Grange (1819) and Alicia Rhames,
his wife, he was born at Watertown, Wisconsin, on 23rd October, 1854. On 17th January, 1883 he
married Ella Rachael Stuart who was born at Elanderau, South Dakota, on 1st December,
1864. She was the daughter of John K. Stuart and his wife Esther Henry.
John K. Stuart was born at Pennsylvania on 23rd March, 1831 and died on 9th June, 1907.
Esther, his wife, was born in Ireland on 21st March 1832 and died on 21st October, 1907.
Esther’s Irish parents were James Henry and Sarah Richmond his wife.
Robert Ashenhurst Grange died on the 14th December, 1933, his wife Ella pre-deceasing
him by TWO about years - 2nd October, 1931. Robert Ashenhurst and Ella had at least one son :-
Ross Stuart
ROSS STUART. - Son of Robert Ashenhurst Grange (1854) and Ella Rachael
Stuart his wife, he was born at Doland, South Dakota, on 15th October, 1885. On 23rd
December, 1914, he married Anna De Sart who was born at Lester, Iowa, on 10th May, 1891.
For the greater part of his life Ross was on the staff of a railway company and was
employed on the Milwaukee line at the time of his death in 1953. His widow, Anna,
resides with a member of the family. Of this marriage nine children were born,
five daughters and four sons :-
Esther Lorraine
James Stuart
Mary Doris
Ella Jean
Richard Dennis
Cathryn Anne
William De Sart
Ross Sherman
Beth Allen
ESTHER LORRAINE, - eldest daughter and first child of Ross Stuart Grange (1885)
and Anna De Sart his wife, was born in North Dakota in November, 1915. She was formerly
married to Henry Brenton Stapleton who was engaged in the insurance business in Vancouver
and of this union one son was born :-
Ross Brenton
She later married Gordon Myland, a County attorney and they reside at Brookings, South
Dakota. Earlier Lorraine had graduated in elementary education at the University of
Dakota.
JAMES STUART. - Son and second child of Ross Stuart (1885) was born in
North Dakota on 23rd September, 1917. When the United States entered the Second World War in
1941 he enlisted in a Paratroop Regiment and was posted to Europe on active service in 1944,
being assigned to “G” Company on the 502nd. Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st. Infantry
Division, which had as its shoulder badge the “Screaming Eagle”. After serving in Europe for a
period with this Division he was posted in 1945 to “G” Company of the Parachute Infantry
Regiment, 82nd. (All American) Division (shoulder badge A.A.) and when hostilities ceased
towards the end of that year, he was demobilized, having attained the commissioned rank of
First Lieutenant.
Picking up again the broken threads of civilian life after his release from the Army, he entered
the service of an aluminium plant in Vancouver and was on the clerical staff of these works for
a number of years. He then obtained a post in the Revenue Department of the U.S. Government,
which office he still retains. On 30th December, 1946, he married Elizabeth Pearl (Betty)
Hall of Salt Lake City, whose family claim English descent. She was born on 17th June, 1925
and was a nurse in a U.S. Army Hospital when she first met her future husband. Of the marriage
there are five children, two daughters and three sons :-
Mary Anne
Nancy Kathleen
John Robert
Jeffrey James
Thomas Daniel
MARY DORIS, - daughter of Ross Stuart (1885) was born in South Dakota in the
year 1919. Twice married, she is now a school-teacher on the staff of Fairview School at Salem,
Oregon. There are no children of either marriage.
ELLA JEAN, - daughter of Ross Stuart (1885). She was born in South Dakota
in 1921 and married Richard Urquhart. The family resides at Portland, Oregon, about seven
miles from Vancouver where Richard is an accountant in the Crown Zellerbach Paper
Manufacturing Coy. Of the marriage there are four children, one son and three daughters :-
John
Mary Christine
Kathryn Ann
Jane
RICHARD DENNIS. - Second son and fifth child of Ross Stuart Grange (1885) and
Anna his wife, he was born in South Dakota in 1923. He married Marge Steinke and
is employed by the Associated Oil Company. There are four children of the marriage :-
Jill
Jan
Lorry
Liza
CATHRYN ANNE. - Daughter of Ross Stuart (1885). She was born in 1924 and
married Roy Miles who is a Mortician. They live at Mobridge, South Dakota and have ]
three children :-
Abby Jane
Scott
Jennifer
WILLIAM DE SART. - Son of Ross Stuart Grange (1885) was born in 1927 and
married Mary Matthews. He is an optician and they reside at Grand Island, Nebraska.
There are four children of the marriage :-
Jack
Mary Beth
James
Thomas
ROSS SHERMAN. - Son of Ross Stuart (1885) was born in 1928 and married
Dorothy Clark. They live in Chicago, Illinois, where Ross is employed by Western
Electric, a branch of the Telephone Company. There are three children of the marriage :-
Greg
Holly
Ross
BETH ELLEN. - Daughter of Ross Stuart Grange (1885) and Anna De Sart
his wife. She was born in 1934 and married Roy Juigenson who is on the staff of the
personnel office of the Kaiser Aluminium Company. They reside at Spokane, Washington and there
is one daughter of the marriage :-
Anne Marie
ROSS BRENTON. - Son of Henry Brenton Stapleton and Esther Lorraine
Grange (1915), 1st marriage. He graduated with honours from the University of Washington
in 1962 prior to entering a medical school.
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MARY ANNE. - Daughter and eldest child of James Stuart Grange (1917) and his
wife, Elizabeth Pearl Hall. She was born in Vancouver, Washington, on 20th August, 1948,
and on 22nd July, 1967, married Maurice LeRoy Twitchell Merrill at Idaho Falls Temple.
She is studying at the Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.
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