THE FAMILY OF COLONEL ROBERT PHAIRE OF ROSTELAN, COUNTY CORK.
Perhaps the most accurate information I have yet encountered concerning the life and times of the above named "Regicide" was published over four issues of the Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society, between 1924 and 1927. It was written by William H. WELPLY, and was entitled "Colonel Robert PHAIRE, 'Regicide.' His Ancestry, History and Descendants," and up-dated the set of earlier papers he had published in Notes and Queries, Volume 12, (1923), 123-5 and 143-6.
I feel it important enough, and of sufficient scholarly clout, that it should once again see the light of day. Of great significance is the fact the WELPLY had access to a multitude of original sources then deposited in the Public Record Office, Dublin, and housed in the Four Courts Building. Most of these irreplaceable documents were destroyed in fires started by artillery bombardments in 1922, one round of salvoes by British artillery, and the later round by Irish Free State artillery, both designed to winkle out remnants of I.R.A. operatives using it as a hiding place.
These abstracts, of documents so lost, now have the de-facto status of primary sources, and are highlighted in red.
Therefore I reproduce it herewith:
JOURNAL, CORK HISTORICAL AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY, VOLUME 29, 1924, PAGE 76.
By kind permission of the Editor of Notes and Queries, use has been made of the articles on this subject published by the present writer in that journal on February 17th, 1823, and in subsequent numbers, additions being made from the original manuscripts, since discovered, in the possession of Sir Arthur PHAYRE, of Oxford, and from other sources.
The name of "PHAIRE" is variously spelled and, in its differing forma, is widely diffused. In the form of "FAIR" it is a Scottish name, found in Ulster, also in Cork, in Mayo, and in other counties of Ireland. It occurs, too, in the forms of:- FARE, FAYER, FER, FERE, FERRE, PHAER, PHAIER, PHAYRE, PHERE, PHEYRE, and last and strangest, PHIDIER of PHIEIER. Emanuel PHIDIER (or PHIEIER), afterwards described as Emanuel PHAYER, is overseer of the will, and son-in-law, of George PRIDEAUX of Sutcombe, Devon (P.C.C., 1021 Grey, 1 May 1649, probate 2 April 1651). In the form of "FERE" the name presumably has derivation from "fere" - a companion, e.g. "my trusty fere." In England too the name is widely spread, and, so far as is known, over a much longer period than in Ireland. We find Guido FERRE of the Manor of Ilketeleshale, 14 Edward I; Guydo FERRE, Junr, 20 and 30 Edward I; Guido FERRE and Alianora his wife, 1 Edward II; Dame Alianore FERRE, widow, in a subsequent law-suit about the Manor of Benhall, Saxmundham, Suffolk {'A Calendar of the Feet of Fines for Suffolk,' Walter RYE); and the same Dame Alianora FERR holding the right of pre-emption in the house of Hugh de MARNY, Rector of Norton, near the town of St Edmund, on the Ides of August, 1334 (Calendar Wills of the Court of Husting, i, 401). In 'N. and Q.' 5 S. viii. 47, it is asserted that Colonel Robert PHAIRE,the subject of this essay, bore the same Arms as Sir Guy FERE or Benhall. In the Suffolk Green Books, being the Return for Subsidy granted in 1523 and of the Hearth Tax in 1674, respectively, we find William FAYER, Henry FER (FERRE), John FER, Robert FER, and William FER in the former year, and in the latter year the name of FAYER occurs twice, and PHARE (William of Bury St Edmund's) once.
The Parish Registers of Stoke-by-Clare, Suffolk, 1538-1613, give us: Mary and William PHARE (1566-67), Alice FARE (1568), Susan and William FAYERS (1570), Joan and William FAYRE (1575), William FAYER (1580), the widow PHAYERS (1587), and Robert FAYER (1635).
We find Walter FAYRE of St Mary Alderbury, 8 May 1618 ('Harleian Registers,' vol. v. 158); Elizabeth PHERE, widow, of St James's Clerkenwell, 7 October 1643 (ib, vol. xvii); Sara FFAYRE, 1603, August 24 ("Register of Shere, Surrey'); Robert FAYRE ('Visitations of Norfolk,' Harl Soc vol. xxxii, 229); John FAIRE of London, Apothecary (ibid, vol. xxxvii); Susannah and Humphrey FAIRE, St Denis Backchurch, London, 16 July 1635 ('Harleian Registers,' iii. 104); Thomas FAIRE, 13 April 1666, of St James's Clerkenwell (id, xii, 123); Jazchre (?Zachary) FARE of Pittsey, Essex (id, xxiii, 262); Johanna FAYER, 2 December 1564, of St Sepulchre's, London (id, xxiii, 29); Richard FARE of Evesham (id, xxi, 22); John FARE, John FAYRE, John FAYRE (index Library - Northampton and Rutland Wills, 1545-48, pp. 161, 207, 238); Philip FAIRE (1562), John Maria FAIRE (1551), John FAYREY (1541), Elizabeth FAYRE (1555), Henry FARE (1618) and many others (P.C.C. Wills); Margaret FARE (Gloucestershire Wills); Thomas FAIRE (1716, Bristol Wills).
It has been suggested that the name PHAIRE is of foreign origin, in support of which may be quoted: 'List of Strangers, 1567-8. At John JOHNSON hys house, Dowch, not Denizens, Arnold FAYRE' (Genealogical Mag. i. 239).
In 1376 the Wiltshire Inquisitions reveal a Thomas FAIRE at Daunton. Thomas PHAER (1510-1560, the translator of Virgil, is said to have been the son of Thomas PHAER of Norwich, but it is worthy of note that in his 'The Regiment of Life,' printed at London in 113, the name is spelled "PHAIRE" [fn 1 - the name is spelled "PHAYRE" in Barnabe GOOGE's 'Eglogs,' 1563]. In 1577 we find (Hatfield Mss) a Willaim PHARE the correspondent of Lord BURGHLEY. Luke PHAERE is the vicar at Abbotts Bickington, Devon [fn 2 - illegible in my copy], in 1616, where he was succeeded in 1631 by Thomas PHARE.
Reference to the volumes of Devonshire Wills (Index Library) discloses the following:-
1670 PHAIRE, Emanuel, Sutcombe, Admon.
1671 PHAIRE, Samuel, Werrington, Admon.
1672 PHAIRE, George, Clerk, St Kaine, Will.
1674 PHAIRE, Thomas, Sutcombe, C.
1677 PHAYRE, Thomas, Sutcombe, Will.
FOSTER's 'Alumni Oxonisensis' gives:-
1. PHAYRE, George (PHAIRE) of Yorks, paup. schol., Magdalen Coll., matric. 1610, June 22nd, aged 17.
2. PHAYRE, John (PHAER), son of George of St Keyne, Cornwall, sacerdos, Gloucester Hall, matric. 1633, November 16, aged 19.
3. PHAYRE, Luke (PHAIRE), of Yorks, sacerdos, Lincoln College, matric. 1697, October 23, aged 17.
4. PHAYRE, Miles (PHAYRE), of County Lancaster, pleb., Brasenose Coll., matric. entry under date 1578, July 20, B.A. 30 January 1582-3, M.A. 10 July 1585, Rector of Sutcombe, Devon.
5. PHAYRE, Thomas (PHAER), 20, B. Med, 25 March 1599.
6. PHAYRE, William (PHAIER), son of Miles of Sutcombe, Devon, sacerdos, Wadham Coll., matric 3 Nob 1626, aged 19.
7. PHAIRE, Robert, son of Robert of Cork, Ireland, Arm., Wadham Coll., matric 22 October 1718, aged 17.
In the records of the siege of Kinsale, 1601 (P.R.O. Dublin) we find 18 pence a day paid to one William FFARE for 103 days. He seems to have been a contractor for the construction of earth-works.
A David FAIER is found as an Ensign in the Army in Ireland circa 1630, but nothing further is known of his history.
From 'N. and Q.' 6 S. iv. 371, we glean the following:-
Emanuel PHAIRE, A.B., was ordained deacon 23 December 1604, and Priest 24 December 1604, both by William, Bishop of Oxford. He was Vicar of Kilshanig in 1812, held the Curacy of Moone (sic) Abbey in 1634, was plundered by the rebels in 1641, and lost Church livings worth £50 per annum. MSS T.C.D., f. 2, 18.
This statement is only approximately correct. Emanuel PHAIRE appears in 'Regal Visitations' of 1615 and 1633 (P.R.O. Dublin) as Vicar of Kilshannig and of Castlemagner and Curate of other parishes: Clonmeen, Subulter, Kilmacleny. In 1641 he was Curate also of Mourne Abbey Parish.
Other references in the Irish Records to the Rev Emanuel PHAIRE are few. We find him mentioned in the Manuscript Depositions in Trinity College under dates 3 May 1642 and 25 May 1642, as having been in debt to Henry KINESTON and Thomas BETTESWORTH, respectively, both of the town of Mallow. It is probable that he, like many other English settlers, left Ireland at this time, and that the Emanuel PHIDIER or PHAYER referred to above as son-in-law of George PRIDEAUX of Sutcombe, Devon, was his son or nephew. This latter Emanuel died in 1670, intestate and childless, and administration of his effects was granted (October 1670) to Thomas PHAYRE of Sutcombe, Samuel PHAYRE of Werrington, and John HOCKING of Frithelstock, all in Devon, his kinsmen. In 1675, lawsuits arose between these persons and one Anstice CRABB, widow of the Rev Nathaniel CRABB, vicar of Sutcombe, regarding the property of the said Emanuel PHAYRE, yeoman, Anstice CRABB claiming that she had become Emanuel's wife 9 days before he died (Chancery Proceedings before 1714, Mitford, bundle 296, No 6, and Keynardson, bundle 63, no 44).
The supposition that the PHAIREs hailed from Devonshire receives remarkable support from a volume of manuscripts, mostly originals, in the possession of Sir Arthur PHAYRE of Oxford. On 22 June 1662, it was ordered by His Majesty's Council that Colonel Robert PHAIRE should be released from custody, and should give sufficient security to appear at Dublin on 24 August 1662, there to render himself to the Lord Lieutenant, James, Duke of ORMONDE, but, through no fault of his own, he failed to keep his appointment, as the following document shows:-
"By the Lord Lieutenant Generall of Ireland.
"Ormonde.
"Whereas Collonell Robert PHAIRE engaged his parole in England to render himselfe to us on the 24th day of August last, wch in regard of crosse winds and his detainment in Devonshire hindered him in poynte of time. e doe accept of the tender of his person this day, and doe, hereby grant him liberty to repaire to his family on his former engagement untill our further Orders. And in the mean time ye said Collonell is to follow his lawful occasions within this Kingdome without any lett of hindance whatsoever of wch all persons concerned are to take speciall notice. Given at Our house at Dunmore the 17th day of October, 1662.
"(Sgd) G. LANE."
PHAIRE had been kept for two years in London, at times prisoner in the Tower, and at times on parole in the residence of his father-in-law in Petty France, Westminster. It is significant that on his release he travels home by Devonshire, and if strict historical exactitude is to be ascribed to BARING-GOULD's 'Early Reminiscences,' we have the exact locality from which the family of PHAIRE emanated. Mr BARING-GOULD writes (pp.3, 4, and 14): "My father took a house in Bratten Clovelly parish" (Devon)... "The parish was one of much interest. It had formerly been parcelled up among several gentle families bearing arms... HILLs and PHAYREs... The house we inhabited had been a residence of the PHAYRE family, or a branch of it. This family had its cradle in Bratton, where it possessed considerable estates." [Fn - In correspondence a few months before his death the Rev S. BARING-GOULD admitted to the author that his statement a to the cradle of the PHAIRE family is untenable, and he promised to have it amended in a second edition of his book].
It is very possible, too, that this English clergyman was induced to come to Ireland by Sir John JEPHSON, who had acquired much landed property in County Cork, and who had the presentation to several church livings in that county. At a later period we find the Rev Rous CLAPTON, B.D., of Oxford, presented to the living of Doneraile by Mrs Alicia JEPHSON, wife of Major-General William JEPHSON, Sir John's son and heir (Chancery Bill, Clapton v Temple, 30 May 1661).
But a very significant fact concerning the advent in Ireland of the Rev Emanuel PHAIRE seems to be disclosed in the JEPHSON pedigree compiled by T.W. BELCHER, M.D., Dublin, 1866. From it we learn that a sister, Catherine, of Sir John JEPHSON (who died 16 May 1638) married John JEWELL, and we find Colonel Robert PHAIRE bequeathing a shilling a day for life to his cousin, Ensign John JEWELL. Emanuel PHAIRE was then most probably a connexion of the JEPHSONs, and hence his tenure of several church livings in the neighbourhood of Mallow, the headquarters of that family. Hence also, perhaps, Robert PHAIRE's rapid rise in the Commonwealth Army.
The Manuscript Depositions relating to the Rebellion of 1641, preserved in Trinity College, Dublin, have long been the subject of acrimonious debate. Their trustworthiness has been fiercely impugned. Mr LECKY treated them as of no account. Miss HICKSON patiently transcribed many of them which are printed in her "Ireland in the Seventeenth Century." Lord Ernest HAMILTON [fn - obscured] would fain attach a high value to them. Writers of the anti-British school of thought plainly regard them as mendacious exaggerations. We have no wish to enter into the merits of the controversy, being content to hold the view that any document of the year 1642 can scarcely fail to have an historical value if it be subjected to adequate historical criticism. In the mass of documents referred to are two of great importance to our present inquiry, the second of which, so far as is known, has never previously been printed or quoted. We beg leave to reproduce them in full.
(a) MS. F. 2. 18 (fio. 60).
Emanuell FFAIRE, late of Livalide in the parish of Kilshannig and Barony of Duhalla and within the County of Cork, Clk., duely sworn and examined, deposeth, and saith,
That on or about Candlemas last he was robbed and forcibly despoiled of his goods and chattels to the several values following, Viz:-
Emanuell PHAYER.
Jurat coram nobis
23 May, 1642.
Tho. BETCHWORTH.
Phil. BISSE.
Ric. WILLIAMSON.
(b), MS. F. 2. 18. (fio. 275).
Robert FAIER of Killvallidie in the parish of Kilshanny in the barony of Dowhalla within the County of Corck (a brittish protestant) duely sworne and examined upon oath before us by virtue of His Maty. Commission to us and others directed, deposeth and saith.
That on or about Candlemas last he lost and hath binn robbed and forcably dispoiled of hos goods, chattels and debts to the several values following:- Of his cows to the value of fifteen pounds ten shillings sterling; of his hay to the value of thirty shillings; of his debts which he accounted good debts before the beginning of this rebellion the some of fower and twenty pounds ster. [£24]; debts due from Edmond KOCK of Ballilegane in the barony of Fermoy within the said county, Gent, and in regard the sd KOCH is out in actuall rebellion the deponent conceaves he is not likely to gett satisfaction from him; he further saith that he was expelled and driven away from his said farme where he left in corne in ground to the value of five pounds ten shillings which he conceaves to be lost unless there be peace settled in this kingdom. He likewise saith that he was dispossessed of a parcell of land wherein he had a lease of three years to com part of the land of Quartertown in the said county worth him 50s. per annum above the landlord's rent which he valueth to be worth £9; the totall of his losses amounts to £51 10s; he was robbed by means of Thomas McCROGHER of Killvalide, yeoman, tenant to Cahir O'CALLAHAN of Droming in the countie aforesaid; and further he deposeth not.
Robert PHAIER.
Jur coram nobis
24 May, 1642.
Tho BETTERSWORTH.
Phil. BISSE.
Rich. WILLIAMSON.
On the 15th October, 1657, Colonel Robert PHAIRE wrote a letter from "Rostelane in the County of Cork" to Henry CROMWELL. The original is in the British Museum (Lansdowne MSs. 281, f.220), and it is plain that the writer of this letter is identical with the "Robt PHAIER" who signed the deposition on 24th May 1642 [fn - Comparison may also be made with a holograph letter of Colonel PHAIRE to Sir John HEATH, dated 13 July 1667. This letter is now in possession of the Society of Genealogists.]
It is therefore beyond a doubt that Colonel Robert PHAIRE was a Duhallow man, and almost certainly the son of Rev Emanuel PHAIRE, Vicar of Kilshannig.
JOURNAL, CORK HISTORICAL AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY, VOLUME 30, 1925, PAGE 20.
When the rebellion broke out in Munster (November 1641), William JEPHSON, afterwards Major-General William JEPHSON and CROMWELL's envoy to Sweden, being in residence at Mallow, promptly raised a troop of horse which, we conjecture, Robert PHAIRE, then about 22 years of age, joined [fn - His age is deduced from a Deposition (indecipherable words) in Cork, 1654, quoted in CANFIELD's Council Book of the Corporation of Cork, pp. 1164-5; also Gents Mag., 1863].
His military progress was rapid, for on 17 Sept 1646, a commission, on the recommendation of Sir Hardress WALLER, was made out to him as Lieutenant-Colonel (C.S.P. - Irish Series). We cannot be certain that before 1648 he saw service in England. He was an officer with Inchiquin in Ireland until Inchiquin, changing sides once more, abandoned the Parliamentary cause, but failed to secure the adhesion of Sir William FENTON, Colonel PHAIRE, Major (afterwards Sir) Nicholas PURDON, and others, who thereupon became prisoners, and, with Lord BROGHILL's children, were exchanged against Inchiquin's son, a prisoner in the hands of the Roundheads (C.S.O. - Irish series), who was conveyed to Ireland in the "Assurance" (Captain William PENN) on which Inchiquin's late prisoners were received and taken back to England. Reaching London, he seems to have gained the confidence of CROMWELL, for he was one of the three Colonels to whom was addressed the warrant [fn - Threescore of the Commissioners set their hands and seals to it, directing it to Colonel HACKER, HUNCKS and Col. PHAIRE, or either of them - LUDLOW's Memoirs, p.121] for the execution of Charles I., and he formed one of "...that wicked guard of halberdiers" (to whom ORRERY alluded twelve years afterwards) that surrounded the king on that fateful day in January 1649, when Charles faced death "...with a courage that half redeemed his fame." It is an interesting coincidence that Thomas HERBERT, afterwards Sir Tomas HERBERT of Tintern, accompanied a luckless monarch to the scaffold as his last attendant, and that, nine years later, PHAIRE married HERBERT's daughter Elizabeth at St Werburgh's Church, Dublin [fn - C.S.P.], a marriage fraught with import to the fortunes of PHAIRE.
In company with the famous seaman, BLAKE, Colonel PHAIRE returned to Ireland in 1649, in command of the Kentish Regiment ("Cromwelliana," folio 1810), and was an active helper of CROMWELL during the latter's Irish campaign, though he does not appear to have been present at the taking of Drogheda, Wexford, or Clonmel. In WHITELOCKE's "Memoirs" we learn of the escape of the notorious WOGAN from his prison in Cork (1649), PHAIRE's Marshall having been corrupted by him, of PHAIRE's appointment as Governor of Cork, of his pursuit and slaughter of some of the enemy, and of his capture of the Castle of Kilmorry with 82 prisoners besides officers.
The Calendars of State Papers has frequent mention of him also. He became a Justice of the Peace for County Cork in 1654. But the excellent series of some sixty manuscript volumes (now alas! all gone in the destruction of the Four Courts, Dublin) entitled "Commonwealth Books" teem with allusions to him. Certain official payments were made through him; in October 1655 he was instructed to sell all the brass and iron guns that came from the forge of Tallow; in February 1655-56, Lord Chief Justice PYNE was instructed to confer with him regarding the administration of justice in County Cork; in September 1659, an order was issued to him to prevent the destruction of woods in the barony of Muskerry and other parts of County Cork; the names of some of his officers emerge too - Captains RUDDOCK, Alexander BARRINGTON, COAKELEY, WAKEHAM, GAILE; the four ploughlands of Rostellan, County Cork, were leased to him by order of the Council in February 1653-54, and permission was given him to cut 100 timber trees at the usual rates in any of the woods belonging to the Commonwealth for the building of a dwelling house and out-offices at Rostelan. Here then he fixed his abode, and here the much harassed Timothy STAMPE,coming from England and landing at the Port of Cork, stayed from September to November 1664 as PHAIRE's guest [fn - From the inscription on the Monumental Cross to Sir Thomas HERBERT, St Crux, York].
The Egmont MSs, too, contain several references to Colonel PHAIRE, whose importance in County Cork during the period of the Commonwealth can scarcely be over-estimated. No record reveals nay trace of harshness or tyranny in PHAIRE's character. He seems to have earned the confidence and esteem of his neighbours of every creed; e.g., we find Cahir O'CALLAGHAN, a Catholic gentleman of Curra, County Cork, entrusting £100 to his safe keeping (Prerogative Will of Cahir O'CALLAGHAN, pr 13 July 1680).
The Egmont MSs, however, contain one reference to PHAIRE which has more than a passing interest; it is a letter written 29 July 1653, by Colonel John JONES to PHAIRE, in which the writer protests against "...the countenance and favour" shown by the latter to Mr ROYLE who "...is come back to Cork." The letter mentions PHAIREs' "...wife and little babes." Incidentally it may be explained that ROYLE, a preacher in Cork, had married one Margaret SENEY, her former husband SENEY being reported alive in London. On 10 March 1652-53, PHAIRE had been directed to send ROYLE and his "...pretended" wife to Dublin for further examination [fn - "The Puritans in Ireland," Rev St John D. SEYMOUR, B.D., and Commonwealth Book A.90].
This is one of the few references to PHAIRE's first wife which we have met with, and it is plain that he had not been married for long - since 1649 probably. But the name of this lady has never been certainly determined.
It has been surmised that she was a relative of George GAMBLE, a Quaker and a Merchant of Cork. It has also been surmised that she was a sister or a daughter of Onesipherus HOUGHTON, of Ballingarry, County Cork. Indeed, in the pedigree of PHAIRE to be found in the Office of Arms, Dublin Castle, her name is given as HOUGHTON, but no decisive evidence can be adduced on the point. PHAIRE's eldest surviving son and heir was baptized Onesipherus, and that fact seems to be the strongest known evidence in favour of a HOUGHTON marriage.
His grand-daughter Henrietta PHAIRE married - - - DRAPER, and HOUGHTON-DRAPER marriages are recorded [fn - Roger HOUGHTON to Rachel DRAPER, of Kinsale, (Cork, M.L.B., 1698); an earlier Roger HOUGHTON was Collector of the Port of Baltimore, County Cork, 1656 (Commonwealth Book A 20)]. We know that much inter-marriage of kindred went on in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and we think therefore that these facts may have a certain significance. On the other hand, if it be true that Colonel PHAIRE's first wife was buried at Gloucester - a statement attributed to the late Mr CRAWLEY-BOVEY - then some connection with the GAMBLEs is not improbable, since the Particular family in question seems to have had its origins in or near Gloucestershire, migrating thence to Kinsale and Cork [fn - At the time of Domesday, one GAMEL held lands at Gamlestown, now Gamston, near Nottingham, and GAMBLE is still found as a surname in that town (Gloucestershire Notes and Queries, v., 121.n.)]. The name Onesipherus occurs in the GAMBLE family, too, but only after George GAMBLE mentioned above, married, as his 2nd wife, a daughter of Colonel PHAIRE [fn - Richard LANE's will, 1662, mentions his son-in-law George GAMBLE; we have the Cork, M.L.B., 1662, of George GAMBLE and Elizabeth SACHWELL; and we have the marriage of George GAMBLE and Mary PHAIRE]. This curious name appears twice in the New Testament. BARDSLEY in "Curiosities of Puritan Nomencalture" gives three instances of it, viz:- (1) Onesipherus LUFFE, on a halfpenny token, 1686; (2) Onesipherus ALBIN, 1692, C.S.P.; and (3) Onesipherus DIXEY. It appears at least four times in the pedigree of PHAIRE and at least twice in that of GAMBLE (descendants of the GAMBLE-PHAIRE marriage). We read also (c. 1689) of "Anesepherus" HOUGHTON of Ballingarry, County Cork, and there is a Cloyne M.L.B., 17 January 1667, of Onesipherus HOUGHTON, of Ballingarry County Cork, and Mary EVANS of Kinsale.
We do not know the date of death of PHAIRE's first wife, but we do know that he married again in 1658, Elizabeth, the daughter of Thomas HERBERT, a Yorkshireman of good education who had travelled in Persia and in Europe in his youth, the personal attendant of Charles I, 1645-49, to whom Charles presented a first folio (1623) copy of Shakespeare now in the Library of Windsor Castle, and also a large silver watch. Charles's cloak worn on the day of his execution fell to HERBERT, too, as a perquisite (see "Dict. Nat. Biography" and Article in "Yorkshire Journal" by Robert DAVIES, F.S.A.). At the Restoration, HERBERT received a Baronetcy, and was subsequently known to history as Sir Thomas HERBERT of Tinterne, Monmouth, where he had estates. It is important that this Thomas HERBERT should not be confounded with Colonel Thomas HERBERT, Clerk to the Council in Ireland, 1654-60 (knighted 26 July 1658 at Dublin Castle by Henry CROMWELL - fn SHAW's "Book of Knights"), a Monmouthshire man also, and probably a relative of the Baronet [fn - "You may send to Colonel HERBERT, whose house lieth in Monmouth" - CROMWELL to Thomas SAUNDERS at Breaknock, 17 June 1648]. HERBERT's will, signed 20 December 1679, and proved 31 March 1682, bequeathed to his son-in-law Robert PHAIRE, Esquire, and Elizabeth his wife, £300.
It would be idle to speculate as to how Robert PHAIRE made the acquaintance of Elizabeth HERBERT. She may have been a visitor at the house of her relative in Dublin and his wife Lucy, and we know that PHAIRE was well acquainted with Colonel Thomas HERBERT. At all events it may reasonably be inferred that her marriage took place from Colonel Thomas HERBERT's house.
As a reward for his services in Ireland, lands in County Cork and in County Wexford were allotted to PHAIRE [fn - C.S.P.]. At one time it was intended to assign him lands in County Kildare also [fn - Commonwealth Book, A.15 (P.R.O., Dublin)]. To him and his officers, Majors BARINGTON, WALLIS, and DENNISON, and Captain GALE, fell the lands of Monart, etc, in the Barony of Scarawalsh, County Wexford, i.e. near Enniscorthy. In 1656 came hither Timothy STAMPE of Enworthy [fn - Chancery Bill, STAMPE v HEATH, 10 May 1671, and C.S.P.], also of the Middle Temple, to report for the Earl of Strafford, who had property hard by, as to the prospect of founding an English colony at Enniscorthy and of being able to work successfully an iron mine and smelting furnace there. No doubt the facilities for water transport afforded by the river Slaney, which flows by Enniscorthy into the sea at Wexford, were an important factor in the project. STAMPE's report was favourable, and a company was thereupon formed in London, the chief partners being John (afterwards Sir John) CUTLER, Edward (afterwards Sir Edward) HEATH of Cottesmore, Robert (afterwards Sir Robert) CLAYTON, subsequently M.P. and Governor of the Bank of England, Thomas YATE, D.D., subsequently Principal of Brasenose College, Didier FOUCHANT of Covent Garden, Apothecary, Bethiah ABBOTT, and John CHAPMAN. Smelting began, the iron being apparently a surface deposit and easily mined, but it was soon found that the woods of Monart close by must be purchased for the successful prosecution of the scheme.
Accordingly, in 1657, Colonel PHAIRE being then in London, perhaps to press his suit for the hand of Elizabeth HERBERT, met Dr Tomas YATE by appointment and an agreement for purchase was concluded, 8 July 1657 [fn - Chancery Bill, YATE v STAMPE, 26 April 1672]. Dr YATE being unable to travel into Ireland in order to take over possession, Timothy STAMPE was despatched for this purpose and soon overtook PHAIRE at Gloucester, the first meeting of STAMPE and PHAIRE, whence they took their further journey together [fn - An interesting letter (Lansdowne MSs, 821) from PHAIRE to Henry CROMWELL, 13 October 1675, was written from Rostelane immediately on his return; he had outstayed his leave in England, and he wrote to excuse himself... (indecipherable words)]. The company found, however, that their resources did not suffice for complete purchase, and they induced PHAIRE and the other owners to accept shares in lieu of part of the price agreed upon. By 1730, the family of PHAIRE had become sole owners of the works, out of which one of them is said to have made £17,000. The history of this company, its numerous lawsuits, the complaints of the English shareholders as to their losses, its import of iron ore from Lancashire when the Wexford supply got scanty, and the private Act of Parliament passed for the partition of the property, might well form the subject of a special article. Suffice it to say that from the first the family of PHAIRE perceived the importance of the acquisition it had made.
With the Restoration came the eclipse of Colonel Robert PHAIRE as a public man in Ireland. He was arrested in Cork in May 1660, sent under a guard of fifty troopers to Dublin, and hence to London, where he was lodged in the Tower, 13 June 1660 (Tower of London - Records of Constable's Office), but, unlike Sir Hardress WALLER, Colonel HACKER, Colonel Daniel AXTELL and many others, he was never actually put upon his trial as a regicide. It had fallen to HACKER's lot to convey to Charles the actual summons to the scaffold, and HACKER was executed - one of the ten who suffered the extreme penalty. HUNCKS turned King's evidence and was pardoned. The latter, in his testimony against AXTELL (1660, Oct. 16), stated: "That morning he (AXTELL) came into the door of the room where Colonel PHAYRE, Colonel HACKER, CROMWELL, and myself were" ... AXTELL appealed to the Court to take the evidence of PHAIRE and HACKER, whereupon the Lord Chief Baron made answer: "Colonel HACKER is in the prison behind you, Colonel PHAIRE is in the Tower." The appeal was refused.
The records of the Tower of London - Constable's Office - enable us to trace very closely the course of PHAIRE's imprisonment. PHAIRE was sent prisoner from Cork to Dublin in the guard of fifty troopers on May 29, 1660 [fn - EDWARD's "Cork Remembrancer" and SMITH's "HISTORY of Cork. SMITH, however, gives the date as May 18, 1660], the day on which Charles II was proclaimed King in Cork, and he, Colonel HUNCKS, Captain William HOWLETT, and Mt John COOKE, under the conduct and guard of Captain Hugh CLOTWORTHY, arrived in London and, by order of the Court at Whitehall, 13 June 1660, were committed to the Tower [fn - (indecipherable)], On 28 February 1661-62, the Court gave order that PHAIRE be permitted to leave the Tower and remain in the dwelling of Sir Thomas HERBERT in Petty France, now York Street, Westminster, for a period of three months for the sake of his health [fn - indecipherable], a period that was extended by two months on 6 June 1662. On 22 June 1662, the Court at Hampton Court ordered that PHAIRE should be given sufficient security to appear at Dublin on 24 August 1662, there to render himself to the Lord Lieutenant, James, Duke of Ormonde. By the same order he was discharged from prison [fn - likewise indecipherable]. On 1 July 1662, he wrote out the following "engagement":
"I Collonell Robert PHAIRE doe hereby promise and engage my word unto his Grace Duke of Ormonde, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. to render myselfe to His Grace at Dublin upon ye 24day of Aug. next (if God permitt). And in the meantime shall not attempt or act anything contrary to ye duty of a faithful subject to ye disturbance of ye peace and quiet of His Ma'ties Dominions; witness my hand this 1st day of July, 1662.
"Robert PHAIR."
The influence to which this fortunate issue of his imprisonment is to be ascribed is a point which has excited much discussion. One feels prompted to give the credit for it to Sir Thomas HERBERT, PHAIRE's father-in-law, bur SMITH (Vol.I, pp.205-6) writes:- "By the interest of Lord CLANCARTY (whose life he is said to have saved, as he was going to be executed, by a party who made him prisoner, and did not know him) he obtained his pardon and returned to Cork," SMITH continues: "He was again concerned in the fanatic plot, ann. 1666, for seizing the Castle of Dublin, and other garrisons in Ireland, which was discovered by the first earl of Orrery, and Captain OLIVER, to the Duke of Ormonde, he management of that business in this country being committed to Colonel PHAIRE. However, there being a peace soon after, between England, Holland and France, the plot was dropped, and the projectors of it allowed to go unmolested by the Government. He died peacefully, near Cork, and was buried in the anabaptist burying-yard of that city."
These statements of Dr SMITH gave much offence to the PHAIRE family. Onesipherus PHAIRE, of Grange, Ovens, County Cork, had apparently been approached by SMITH for information about his great-grandfather, Colonel PHAIRE, and as Colonel PHAIRE's son, Alexander Herbert PHAIRE, was still alive at St John's, Enniscorthy, Onesipherus applied to him. Here is his reply:
"To Mr One. PHAIRE at Grange, near Cork. St John's, Oct. 2oth, 1742.
"I rec'd my good friends letter of the 22nd inst on the 28th and direct this answer (for expedition) by way of GORAN. On the coming in of King Charles my father was exempted with about 27 more. The List of which the King shewed to the then Marquis of Ormonde, who told the King that he ought not to be in that list, because he was a fair Enemy, and by whose interest with CROMWELL, there was an annuity settled on his wife, Part of wch was usefull to His Majesty during his exile; and many other kind things he did for his Friends and interests; om wch the King took the pen and ink and struck him out of the List, with his own hand; and immediately sent for him to the Tower, and told him if he would take the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy, he should have his Freedom and Pardon; my father say'd he would take the Oath of Allegiance and keep it religiously, But he could not take the other because he thought Christ was the head of the Protestant Church; at wch the Duke of York turn'd aside and say'd to those around him - Would my Brother have Coll PHAIRE swear that he is Head of the Church of Christ - I will swear by God he is not!; which set the King and company a laughing. Then the King asked my father who would be bound for him; he answered he knew nobody. Then Ormond said he would be bound for him, body for body; on wch his pardon was made out. And Ormond oblig'd my father to ride with firearms; But he would never persuade him to wear a Sword afterwards. By all this, it appears to me that he was neither attainted nor convicted by a jury. There are many other circumstances that are too long to acquaint you with this way. The Post hastens me t conclude with true affection to all your Fireside (My Dr Heart)
"Yo'r very affect & humble servt,
"A.H. PHAIRE."
.jpg)
A BUSINESS VENTURE - THE ENNISCORTHY IRON-WORKS.
Robert PHAIRE was back in London, where on 8 July 1657 he met by appointment with Thomas YATE (later Principal of Brasenose College, Oxford) and secured agreement for a company, comprising YATE, John CUTLER, Edward HEATH, Robert CLAYTON (later Governor of the Bank of England), Didier FOURCHANT, Bethiah ABBOTT and John CHAPMAN, to establish and operate an iron-ore mine and a smelting furnace at Enniscorthy, County Wexford; as PHAIRE was returning to Ireland, he was overtaken at Gloucester by Timothy STAMPE, who had been appointed Agent for the company, and together they completed the journey; STAMPE inspected the Enniscorthy site, and advised his principals that they had insufficient funds for complete purchase, and induced PHAIRE and other owners to accept shares in the company as part payment; from this starting point, the PHAIRE family had, by 1730, become the sole owners of the works.
On 15 October 1657, Colonel PHAIRE wrote from Rostelane, County Cork, to Henry CROMWELL, and the original letter (British Museum, Lansdowne Manuscripts, 281, folio 220) has the signature, "Rob't PHAIER," which is deemed, by those who have seen both, to have been identical to the signature on the 1642 deposition concerning the despoiling of Kilvalide.
And which, if correct, also suggests that we have the spelling of the name wrong!
During the Cromwellian inter-regnum, there was shown a considerable degree of religious tolerance towards non-established sects, in particular the Quakers, and new forms of diverse sects arose. PHAIRE was observed attending Quaker meetings in Cork, as mentioned by Maj-Gen Henry CROMWELL in his letter dated at Dublin on 6 February 1655[-56]:
"Our most considerable enemy now in our view are the quakers, who begin to growe in some reputation in the county of Corke: their meetings are being attended frequently by Col. PHAIRE, Major WALLIS and most of the chief officers thereabout. Some of our souldiers have bin perverted by them, and amongst the rest, his highness cornet of his iron troop is a professed quaker and hath writte to mein their stile. Major HODDER, Governor of Kinsale, is I feare going their way: he keeps one of them to preache to his souldiers.I think their principles and practices are not very consistent with civil government, much less so with the discipline of an army. Some think they have noe designe, but I am not of that opinion. Their counterfeit simplicitie renders them the more dangerous."
[Cited by W.W. C---K in Notes and Queries, 6th Series, 5 November 1881, page 371.]
CROMWELL clearly spoke his mind - but he would have known that it was not beyond PHAIRE's responsibilities as Governor of Cork was to keep an eye on groups like the Quakers, and attending meetings would have been an integral part of that surveillance - although we now know that PHAIRE was at least sympathetic to their causes.
Indeed, some believed that PHAIRE had become one of that Society of Friends; however, the records kept by the Quakers were both detailed and extensive, and none of the surviving records mention him as being a member. He did, however, join the Muggletonians (see further below).
THE RESTORATION - SECOND ARREST AND IMPRISONMENT.
Upon the Restoration, Colonel PHAIRE was arrested in Cork, and on 29 May 1660 was escorted to Dublin by 50 troops, of whom it has been said that they offered PHAIRE a chance to escape, but that he chose to proceed voluntarily with them, and to his judgement.
From Dublin, PHAIRE, together with Colonel HUNKS, Captain William HOWLETT and Counsellor John COOKE, under the guard of Captain Hugh CLOTWORTHY, was conducted through Chester to London, and there, by Order of the Council, dated 13 June 1660, committed to the Tower.
But Robert was not put on his trial as a Regicide; and on 28 February 1662 he was paroled for 3 months for the recovery of his health into the care of his second and recently acquired father-in-law, Sir Thomas HERBERT (he had been rewarded by the new King with a Baronetcy for his dutiful service to his late father, the executed King, as a Groom of the Privy Chamber), then residing in Petty France (later York Street) in Westminster; on 6 June 1662 his parole was extended by another 2 months; and then, on 22 June, the Council at Hampton Court ordered that he be released on his own surety to appear in Dublin on 24 August 1662, there to render himself to the Lord Lieutenant, James BUTLER, the Duke of Ormonde.
Before being paroled and released, PHAIRE's name was removed from the list of Regicides, on the recommendation of the Duke of Ormonde, and apparently by the hand of the King himself; but when he was brought before the King's Council, he was requested to provide evidence against the other Regicides, which he is said to have declined, resulting him being returned to the Tower; and then again, for a second time; finally, after Ormonde offered to be bound for him, he was requested to take the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy, after which his pardon would be made out; he said he would take the first and keep it religiously, but could not take the second, as he believed that only Christ could be the head of his church; fortunately for PHAIRE, the King's brother, the Duke of York, cracked hardy over this last response, evidently declaring: "Would my brother have Colonel PHAIRE swear that he is the head of the Church of Christ - I swear by God he is not!"; and when the King apprehended the cause of the ensuing laughter, saw the humour in it, and gave PHAIRE his pardon.
This event, recorded by the Colonel's son Alexander Herbert PHAIRE in a letter dated 1742, would have undoubtedly precipitated the Council's release order of 22 June 1662.
It is highly likely that Thomas HERBERT's family grew up at Court - Grooms of the Privy Chamber were on full-time duty, and were lodged, with their families, in the Palace grounds; and so it is likely that Charles (II) and his brother were acquainted with Elizabeth HERBERT during their childhood, and perhaps well acquainted if she, like her predecessors, was regarded as one of the "Maids of Honour" (such as Queen Elizabeth had to entertain her Court before the rule of King James I and VI, Charles II's grandfather). A very handy wife for PHAIRE to have recently acquired!
HIS PAROLE, PARDON, AND RETURN TO IRELAND.
But PHAIRE was late for his Dublin appointment with his surety, the Lord Lieutenant, the Duke of Ormonde. He cited being held up in County Devon, on the journey over - which has been interpreted to indicate a perhaps likely relationship to the PHAYRE family which had continued connections in that County.
Thereafter, PHAIRE was restored to his estates in the counties Cork and Wexford, kept the peace, and so had quiet enjoyment of them; and although suggestions were made of his implication in a disturbance in June 1663, no evidence was forthcoming, and he continued to live unmolested by the authorities, despite his being "...a marked man."
One of his detractors was Roger BOYLE (the 3rd son of Richard BOYLE, 1st Earl of Cork), the former Baron of Broghill (1628), and later the Earl of Orrery (1660), who arrested PHAIRE in 1663, committed him to imprisonment in the King's Citadel in Limerick, and reported the fact to the His Majesty. It had earlier been alleged, perhaps by BOYLE himself, that PHAIRE had stacked juries in property cases heard during the inter-regnum by Justice and Regicide John COOKE (with whom PHAIRE had remained on very good terms), and which were often adjudicated to BOYLE's disadvantage.
PHAIRE was again accused of plotting against the government in Munster in 1666, but again he escaped censure and without penalty, it is said by the intervention of Lord Clancarty [Notes and Queries, 5th Series, XII, 18 October 1879, pages 311-2].
In late 1669, William PENN Junior, the future founder of Pennsylvania, visited Ireland to sort out property arrangements (leases, etc) in Munster for his father, William PENN Senior, the former Cromwellian Admiral who had transported PHAIRE on the prisoner exchange over to Bristol in 1648; and while he was at it, PENN Junior also took his opportunities to plead for persecuted Quakers in the Kingdom.
PENN's diary of his visit ["My Irish Journal" - viewable on the www.ucc.ie web-site] makes many mentions of Colonel PHAIRE (without the E), and some of his relations, as follows:
24 November 1669 - Thomas GOOKIN, Colonel PHAIR and Priest ROULES dined here [in Dublin].
25 November 1669 - ...from thence to Colonel PHAIR's lodgings where I met Sir St John BRODERICK, where we discussed PHAIR's matters...
26 November 1669 - ...Colonel PHAIR came to see me...
27 November 1669 - Sir Amos MEREDITH, Colonel PHAIR, Lt-Col WALKER dined with me at my lodging [still in Dublin].
PENN left Dublin on 30 November and travelled via Rathcool, Carlow, Clonmel and Tallow, arriving at Cork on 6 December.
6 December 1669 - I left Colonel BENT's and went to see Colonel PHAIR's wife...
12 December 1669 - ...went to see Colonel PHAIR's wife...
20 December 1669 - We went to Colonel PHAIR's. We supped there; lay at Colonel PHAIR's.
23 December 1669 - Went about admeasuring P. WALKHAM's land... So to Colonel PHAIR's, who has come home.
25 December 1669 - ... and I went to Cork by Colonel PHAIR's, where first we dined.
11 January 1669-70 - Colonel PHAIR came to see me; we went to GALE's.
18 January 1669-70 - Colonel PHAIR and SAPH and their wives...GALE and John PHAIR came to see me...
19 January 1669-70 - I went to Colonel PHAIR's with Capt GALE; lay there.
20 January 1669-70 - Colonel PHAIR and I went to Garrett FITZGERALD's of Lisquinlan to view Clonmain.
21 January 1669-70 - I went and Colonel WALLIS to Colonel PHAIR's about the reference... To Colonel PHAIR's servant 1s.
1 February 1669-70 - Major FARMER and Major WOODLEY came to Capt BENT's; I spoke to them, from thence we went to Cork, Capt BOLES being with us. We met Colonel PHAIR, his wife and several of his family.
2 February 1669-70 - From Cork we went to Kinsale. I was at the Fort, was visited by GOOKIN and others. George WEBBER and George GAMBLE came to see me about the burying place, bought of Jo. GALWAY.
11 February 1669-70 - George GAMBLE and I came to Colonel PHAIR's, and so to Capt BENT's, where we dined.
17 February 1669-70 - Capt (sic) PHAIR and I ended PRIGG's and GALE's business.
7 March 1669-70 - Retired to Colonel PHAIR's, supped there, then to Colonel BENT's.
27 April 1670 - Valentine GREATRAKES, Colonel PHAIR, etc, dined here. Capt ROUS and Capt WAKEHAM...
25 May 1670 - Capt GALE had his lease finished. Colonel PHAIR came and his wife to see us.
HIS RELIGIOUS AFFILIATIONS.
PHAIRE was sympathetic to PENN and his Quaker cause, and he is mentioned but once by Thomas WIGHT in his "History of the Rise and Progress of the People called Quakers in Ireland from the Year 1653 to 1700," at page 109, as Col. FARE, and having interceded, with Sir W. KING and Lady BROWNE, in the release from prison of a Quaker named Barbara BLANGDON [as cited by W.W. C---K in Notes and Queries, 6th Series, Volume IV, 5 November 1881, page 371].
However, there is no documentary evidence of his ever having been a member of the Society of Friends, and their records are sufficiently comprehensive for us to presume that he never did join them formally (see above).
But he is recorded as having become a member of a much smaller "sect" known as the Muggletonians.
This detail can be found the writings of the founder of the sect, Ludowicke MUGGLETON ["Acts of Witnesses," 1699, Volume IV, page 3 - as cited by V.H.I.L.I.C.I.V. in Notes and Queries, 6th Series, Volume IV, 26 November 1881, page 431], as follows:
"Also there was one Robert PHARE, he was Governor of the City of Corke in Ireland, he was inclineable to be a Quaker; but after he saw me, and had read our Writings, he became a true Believer of this Commission of the Spirit, and so did the Lady his Wife; she became the chief Champion in this faith of all the Women in that nation. Also he had Four Sons and Daughters that were true Believers. He was the cause of many Persons of Value in that Kingdom of Ireland that truly did Believe, as one Captain MOSS and his wife, and Doctor MOSS his son; and Captain GAILL, and Major DENSON, and Mr George GAMBLE, and Mr ROGERS, Merchant."
His first encounter with MUGGLETON may have occurred as early as 1662 in London - PHAIRE's second wife Elizabeth HERBERT, "...the Lady his wife," is said to have met MUGGLETON in 1662 at her father's house in London, and thereupon joined the Muggletonians. It would be interesting to know if PHAIRE was then still in the Tower, and whether he was already a member; or joined after his release, perhaps after Elizabeth was already a member?
On 9 August 1675, Ludovicke MUGGLETON, wrote from Postern, London, to "...his loving friend" Colonel Robert PHAIRE in Ireland, and wishing to be remembered to "...his son-in-law George GAMBLE and your dear daughter his wife, and to Dr MOSS..."
Several of MUGGLETON's letters to PHAIRE were delivered in person by Valentine GREATRAKES, the celebrated "Stroaker"; he cured PHAIRE of "...an acute fever in a few minutes" by stroking, as described by PHAIRE's son Alexander Herbert in his letter of 29 February 1743-44:
"My father, who had the least implicit faith of any man, was in a violent fever, and Mr GREATRAKES turned it away in two minutes. He had another time a terrible ague [fn] which when a fit struck him Mr GREATRAKES cured in a minute, by holding him by the wrists, and he never had a fit after. Mr GREATRAKES also cured a sister of mine of the King's Evil by stroking."
"Footnote - In his letter to Robert BOYLE, Mr GREATRAKES describes his visit to Colonel PHAIRE of Cahirmoney, County Cork, on Thursday 6 April 1665, when he took away his ague by stroking."
[British Museum, Dr BIRCH's Collection, Add MSs No 4291, pages 311-12. As cited by WELPLY.]
HIS DEATH, BURIAL AND WILL.
Robert PHAIRE was recorded as having died at Grange in the autumn of 1682, aged 63, "...peaceably near Cork and was buried in the Anabaptist burying yard of that city" [SMITH's "History of Cork," Volume i, page 206].
There is some indication that he may have died on 19 September 1683, aged 62, as the result of a stroke - a letter written by Paul CUDMORE, PHAIRE's Solicitor, who had just travelled from Dublin to PHAIRE's house in Cork, wrote that PHAIRE "...was ill at the time and died soon after having been for some days before his death speechless" [unsourced quote by Barbara PHAYRE, "Cromwell's Legacy," page 30].
PHAIRE's son Alexander Herbert wrote in 1750, after SMITH's "History" had been published - "As to the place of burial he assigns my Father, It was not thot. of 50 years after his death, being built about 20 years ago."
As far as I am aware, no evidence of his grave has ever been located.
PHAIRE signed his will on 13 September 1682; he made a codicil for which the date has not survived, but given that he died on 19 September, the codicil may have been made later on the day he signed it; and it was proved on 13 November in the same year. WELPLY made an abstract of it before it was destroyed in the Four Courts fires in 1922, as follows:
"PRER. WILL of Colonel Robert PHAIRE: sgd 13 September 1682.
"PROBATE granted to Onesipherus PHAIRE 13 November 1682.
"I, Robert PHAIRE of Grange, County Cork, Barony of Barretts.
"ITEM: To my wife Elizabeth £1,000 to be first paid hereout of the money payable on my account out of the ironworks and lands etc in County Wexford, Barony of Scarawalsh. Also I give and bequeath to her my farm of Grange where now I live, with Killhumery, Clasheganiff and the Glebe, and the issues and profits thereof for so many years as she shall live, and after her decease I devise said lands to my son Onesipherus PHAIRE. Also I give unto my said wife and my son Onesipherus all my stock to be equally divided between them; all my gold plate, jewells, household goods, to my wife.
"ITEM: To my son Onesipherus the inheritance of my lands of Dromore and my wood thereunto belonging and also my leased lands in the Barony of Barretts via Ballygronans in the present possession of my cousin Robert PEARCE, and East and West Fergus and Claramore in the Barony of Duhallow, and also all the lands which I hold by lease from Alderman Erasmus SMITH in the County and Town of Tipperary; my son Onesipherus allowing to my cousin Ensign William JEWELL one shilling a day for life.
"ITEM: To my son-in-law Richard FARMER £1,000 to be equally divided betwixt his children by my dau Eliz FARMER.
"ITEM: Daus Frances, Lucy, Elizabeth, sons Thomas, Alexander, [WELPLY did place this comma here] Herbert, John, £1,000 each. To my dau Mary GAMBLE ['s] husband George GAMBLE £1,000 similarly for her children. All these portions to be paid out of the issues and profits of the ironworks etc in County Wexford. £30 to cousin Robert PEARSE. £100 to cousin Mary WALKHAM one year after the day of her marriage. £20 to Nathl ROLES. £5 p.a. for life to Dorothy, wife of Wm LADY, ditto to Nurse STACY. After payment of all legacies, residue of benefit of ironworks to go one moiety to Onesipherus PHAIRE and the other moiety to wife and all my children.
"WITS: Robert PEIRCE, Wm (RENAST ?), Abm MORRIS, Geo GAMBLE.
"In a CODICIL: £100 to George GAMBLE Jr, £20 to Charity and £20 to Jane GAMBLE, children of George GAMBLE Senior by his first wife, and £125 each to Mary GAMBLE and Elizabeth FARMER. The GAMBLE legacies to be conditioned on George GAMBLE securing unto his wife the house and lands he now lives on being half the plowland of Monagourney. Abraham MORRIS to be an overseer and to have £10. £20 to 'my cos. Ruth HUBARD.'
"WITS: Robert PEIRCE, Jos ENOCK."
["O'Kief, Coshe Mang, Slieve Lougher and Upper Blackwater in Ireland," Compiled by Albert Eugene O'CASEY, Alabama, 1968, Volume XIV, page 659. See further will abstracts at the end of this blog.]
HIS FIRST MARRIAGE.
Robert PHAIRE made two marriages. The identity of his first wife is not known, and details of the marriage have not been found.
Family folklore has suggested that she may have been a GAMBLE, but as this is based on a presumption that she was buried in Gloucester, and that that is where the GAMBLE family is believed to have originated, the grounds for this speculation do not appear to be too substantial.
Another line of speculation suggests she was a daughter, or a sister, of Onesipherus HOUGHTON of Ballingarry, County Cork. That PHAIRE gave the name Onesipherus to his son and heir suggests it may have been from his mother's side, but in the absence of any evidence for that, it perhaps instead came from the family of his wife and Onesipherus's mother; and WELPLY has argued that as the name Onesipherus did not appear in the GAMBLE family until after Mary PHAIRE became George GAMBLE's second wife, then it is unlikely to have come from that family connection.
The marriage would probably have taken place about 1648-50, as there is mention by Colonel John JONES, in a letter dated 29 July 1653, of PHAIRE's "...wife and her babies" [see WELPLY, 1925, above].
Perhaps the most accurate information I have yet encountered concerning the life and times of the above named "Regicide" was published over four issues of the Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society, between 1924 and 1927. It was written by William H. WELPLY, and was entitled "Colonel Robert PHAIRE, 'Regicide.' His Ancestry, History and Descendants," and up-dated the set of earlier papers he had published in Notes and Queries, Volume 12, (1923), 123-5 and 143-6.
I feel it important enough, and of sufficient scholarly clout, that it should once again see the light of day. Of great significance is the fact the WELPLY had access to a multitude of original sources then deposited in the Public Record Office, Dublin, and housed in the Four Courts Building. Most of these irreplaceable documents were destroyed in fires started by artillery bombardments in 1922, one round of salvoes by British artillery, and the later round by Irish Free State artillery, both designed to winkle out remnants of I.R.A. operatives using it as a hiding place.
These abstracts, of documents so lost, now have the de-facto status of primary sources, and are highlighted in red.
Therefore I reproduce it herewith:
___________________________________
JOURNAL, CORK HISTORICAL AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY, VOLUME 29, 1924, PAGE 76.
Colonel Robert PHAIRE, "Regicide."
His Ancestry, History, and Descendants.
By W. H. WELPLY, B.A.
The name of "PHAIRE" is variously spelled and, in its differing forma, is widely diffused. In the form of "FAIR" it is a Scottish name, found in Ulster, also in Cork, in Mayo, and in other counties of Ireland. It occurs, too, in the forms of:- FARE, FAYER, FER, FERE, FERRE, PHAER, PHAIER, PHAYRE, PHERE, PHEYRE, and last and strangest, PHIDIER of PHIEIER. Emanuel PHIDIER (or PHIEIER), afterwards described as Emanuel PHAYER, is overseer of the will, and son-in-law, of George PRIDEAUX of Sutcombe, Devon (P.C.C., 1021 Grey, 1 May 1649, probate 2 April 1651). In the form of "FERE" the name presumably has derivation from "fere" - a companion, e.g. "my trusty fere." In England too the name is widely spread, and, so far as is known, over a much longer period than in Ireland. We find Guido FERRE of the Manor of Ilketeleshale, 14 Edward I; Guydo FERRE, Junr, 20 and 30 Edward I; Guido FERRE and Alianora his wife, 1 Edward II; Dame Alianore FERRE, widow, in a subsequent law-suit about the Manor of Benhall, Saxmundham, Suffolk {'A Calendar of the Feet of Fines for Suffolk,' Walter RYE); and the same Dame Alianora FERR holding the right of pre-emption in the house of Hugh de MARNY, Rector of Norton, near the town of St Edmund, on the Ides of August, 1334 (Calendar Wills of the Court of Husting, i, 401). In 'N. and Q.' 5 S. viii. 47, it is asserted that Colonel Robert PHAIRE,the subject of this essay, bore the same Arms as Sir Guy FERE or Benhall. In the Suffolk Green Books, being the Return for Subsidy granted in 1523 and of the Hearth Tax in 1674, respectively, we find William FAYER, Henry FER (FERRE), John FER, Robert FER, and William FER in the former year, and in the latter year the name of FAYER occurs twice, and PHARE (William of Bury St Edmund's) once.
The Parish Registers of Stoke-by-Clare, Suffolk, 1538-1613, give us: Mary and William PHARE (1566-67), Alice FARE (1568), Susan and William FAYERS (1570), Joan and William FAYRE (1575), William FAYER (1580), the widow PHAYERS (1587), and Robert FAYER (1635).
We find Walter FAYRE of St Mary Alderbury, 8 May 1618 ('Harleian Registers,' vol. v. 158); Elizabeth PHERE, widow, of St James's Clerkenwell, 7 October 1643 (ib, vol. xvii); Sara FFAYRE, 1603, August 24 ("Register of Shere, Surrey'); Robert FAYRE ('Visitations of Norfolk,' Harl Soc vol. xxxii, 229); John FAIRE of London, Apothecary (ibid, vol. xxxvii); Susannah and Humphrey FAIRE, St Denis Backchurch, London, 16 July 1635 ('Harleian Registers,' iii. 104); Thomas FAIRE, 13 April 1666, of St James's Clerkenwell (id, xii, 123); Jazchre (?Zachary) FARE of Pittsey, Essex (id, xxiii, 262); Johanna FAYER, 2 December 1564, of St Sepulchre's, London (id, xxiii, 29); Richard FARE of Evesham (id, xxi, 22); John FARE, John FAYRE, John FAYRE (index Library - Northampton and Rutland Wills, 1545-48, pp. 161, 207, 238); Philip FAIRE (1562), John Maria FAIRE (1551), John FAYREY (1541), Elizabeth FAYRE (1555), Henry FARE (1618) and many others (P.C.C. Wills); Margaret FARE (Gloucestershire Wills); Thomas FAIRE (1716, Bristol Wills).
It has been suggested that the name PHAIRE is of foreign origin, in support of which may be quoted: 'List of Strangers, 1567-8. At John JOHNSON hys house, Dowch, not Denizens, Arnold FAYRE' (Genealogical Mag. i. 239).
In 1376 the Wiltshire Inquisitions reveal a Thomas FAIRE at Daunton. Thomas PHAER (1510-1560, the translator of Virgil, is said to have been the son of Thomas PHAER of Norwich, but it is worthy of note that in his 'The Regiment of Life,' printed at London in 113, the name is spelled "PHAIRE" [fn 1 - the name is spelled "PHAYRE" in Barnabe GOOGE's 'Eglogs,' 1563]. In 1577 we find (Hatfield Mss) a Willaim PHARE the correspondent of Lord BURGHLEY. Luke PHAERE is the vicar at Abbotts Bickington, Devon [fn 2 - illegible in my copy], in 1616, where he was succeeded in 1631 by Thomas PHARE.
Reference to the volumes of Devonshire Wills (Index Library) discloses the following:-
1670 PHAIRE, Emanuel, Sutcombe, Admon.
1671 PHAIRE, Samuel, Werrington, Admon.
1672 PHAIRE, George, Clerk, St Kaine, Will.
1674 PHAIRE, Thomas, Sutcombe, C.
1677 PHAYRE, Thomas, Sutcombe, Will.
FOSTER's 'Alumni Oxonisensis' gives:-
1. PHAYRE, George (PHAIRE) of Yorks, paup. schol., Magdalen Coll., matric. 1610, June 22nd, aged 17.
2. PHAYRE, John (PHAER), son of George of St Keyne, Cornwall, sacerdos, Gloucester Hall, matric. 1633, November 16, aged 19.
3. PHAYRE, Luke (PHAIRE), of Yorks, sacerdos, Lincoln College, matric. 1697, October 23, aged 17.
4. PHAYRE, Miles (PHAYRE), of County Lancaster, pleb., Brasenose Coll., matric. entry under date 1578, July 20, B.A. 30 January 1582-3, M.A. 10 July 1585, Rector of Sutcombe, Devon.
5. PHAYRE, Thomas (PHAER), 20, B. Med, 25 March 1599.
6. PHAYRE, William (PHAIER), son of Miles of Sutcombe, Devon, sacerdos, Wadham Coll., matric 3 Nob 1626, aged 19.
7. PHAIRE, Robert, son of Robert of Cork, Ireland, Arm., Wadham Coll., matric 22 October 1718, aged 17.
In the records of the siege of Kinsale, 1601 (P.R.O. Dublin) we find 18 pence a day paid to one William FFARE for 103 days. He seems to have been a contractor for the construction of earth-works.
A David FAIER is found as an Ensign in the Army in Ireland circa 1630, but nothing further is known of his history.
From 'N. and Q.' 6 S. iv. 371, we glean the following:-
Emanuel PHAIRE, A.B., was ordained deacon 23 December 1604, and Priest 24 December 1604, both by William, Bishop of Oxford. He was Vicar of Kilshanig in 1812, held the Curacy of Moone (sic) Abbey in 1634, was plundered by the rebels in 1641, and lost Church livings worth £50 per annum. MSS T.C.D., f. 2, 18.
This statement is only approximately correct. Emanuel PHAIRE appears in 'Regal Visitations' of 1615 and 1633 (P.R.O. Dublin) as Vicar of Kilshannig and of Castlemagner and Curate of other parishes: Clonmeen, Subulter, Kilmacleny. In 1641 he was Curate also of Mourne Abbey Parish.
Other references in the Irish Records to the Rev Emanuel PHAIRE are few. We find him mentioned in the Manuscript Depositions in Trinity College under dates 3 May 1642 and 25 May 1642, as having been in debt to Henry KINESTON and Thomas BETTESWORTH, respectively, both of the town of Mallow. It is probable that he, like many other English settlers, left Ireland at this time, and that the Emanuel PHIDIER or PHAYER referred to above as son-in-law of George PRIDEAUX of Sutcombe, Devon, was his son or nephew. This latter Emanuel died in 1670, intestate and childless, and administration of his effects was granted (October 1670) to Thomas PHAYRE of Sutcombe, Samuel PHAYRE of Werrington, and John HOCKING of Frithelstock, all in Devon, his kinsmen. In 1675, lawsuits arose between these persons and one Anstice CRABB, widow of the Rev Nathaniel CRABB, vicar of Sutcombe, regarding the property of the said Emanuel PHAYRE, yeoman, Anstice CRABB claiming that she had become Emanuel's wife 9 days before he died (Chancery Proceedings before 1714, Mitford, bundle 296, No 6, and Keynardson, bundle 63, no 44).
The supposition that the PHAIREs hailed from Devonshire receives remarkable support from a volume of manuscripts, mostly originals, in the possession of Sir Arthur PHAYRE of Oxford. On 22 June 1662, it was ordered by His Majesty's Council that Colonel Robert PHAIRE should be released from custody, and should give sufficient security to appear at Dublin on 24 August 1662, there to render himself to the Lord Lieutenant, James, Duke of ORMONDE, but, through no fault of his own, he failed to keep his appointment, as the following document shows:-
"By the Lord Lieutenant Generall of Ireland.
"Ormonde.
"Whereas Collonell Robert PHAIRE engaged his parole in England to render himselfe to us on the 24th day of August last, wch in regard of crosse winds and his detainment in Devonshire hindered him in poynte of time. e doe accept of the tender of his person this day, and doe, hereby grant him liberty to repaire to his family on his former engagement untill our further Orders. And in the mean time ye said Collonell is to follow his lawful occasions within this Kingdome without any lett of hindance whatsoever of wch all persons concerned are to take speciall notice. Given at Our house at Dunmore the 17th day of October, 1662.
"(Sgd) G. LANE."
PHAIRE had been kept for two years in London, at times prisoner in the Tower, and at times on parole in the residence of his father-in-law in Petty France, Westminster. It is significant that on his release he travels home by Devonshire, and if strict historical exactitude is to be ascribed to BARING-GOULD's 'Early Reminiscences,' we have the exact locality from which the family of PHAIRE emanated. Mr BARING-GOULD writes (pp.3, 4, and 14): "My father took a house in Bratten Clovelly parish" (Devon)... "The parish was one of much interest. It had formerly been parcelled up among several gentle families bearing arms... HILLs and PHAYREs... The house we inhabited had been a residence of the PHAYRE family, or a branch of it. This family had its cradle in Bratton, where it possessed considerable estates." [Fn - In correspondence a few months before his death the Rev S. BARING-GOULD admitted to the author that his statement a to the cradle of the PHAIRE family is untenable, and he promised to have it amended in a second edition of his book].
It is very possible, too, that this English clergyman was induced to come to Ireland by Sir John JEPHSON, who had acquired much landed property in County Cork, and who had the presentation to several church livings in that county. At a later period we find the Rev Rous CLAPTON, B.D., of Oxford, presented to the living of Doneraile by Mrs Alicia JEPHSON, wife of Major-General William JEPHSON, Sir John's son and heir (Chancery Bill, Clapton v Temple, 30 May 1661).
But a very significant fact concerning the advent in Ireland of the Rev Emanuel PHAIRE seems to be disclosed in the JEPHSON pedigree compiled by T.W. BELCHER, M.D., Dublin, 1866. From it we learn that a sister, Catherine, of Sir John JEPHSON (who died 16 May 1638) married John JEWELL, and we find Colonel Robert PHAIRE bequeathing a shilling a day for life to his cousin, Ensign John JEWELL. Emanuel PHAIRE was then most probably a connexion of the JEPHSONs, and hence his tenure of several church livings in the neighbourhood of Mallow, the headquarters of that family. Hence also, perhaps, Robert PHAIRE's rapid rise in the Commonwealth Army.
The Manuscript Depositions relating to the Rebellion of 1641, preserved in Trinity College, Dublin, have long been the subject of acrimonious debate. Their trustworthiness has been fiercely impugned. Mr LECKY treated them as of no account. Miss HICKSON patiently transcribed many of them which are printed in her "Ireland in the Seventeenth Century." Lord Ernest HAMILTON [fn - obscured] would fain attach a high value to them. Writers of the anti-British school of thought plainly regard them as mendacious exaggerations. We have no wish to enter into the merits of the controversy, being content to hold the view that any document of the year 1642 can scarcely fail to have an historical value if it be subjected to adequate historical criticism. In the mass of documents referred to are two of great importance to our present inquiry, the second of which, so far as is known, has never previously been printed or quoted. We beg leave to reproduce them in full.
(a) MS. F. 2. 18 (fio. 60).
Emanuell FFAIRE, late of Livalide in the parish of Kilshannig and Barony of Duhalla and within the County of Cork, Clk., duely sworn and examined, deposeth, and saith,
That on or about Candlemas last he was robbed and forcibly despoiled of his goods and chattels to the several values following, Viz:-
Of his cows and yearlings to the value of £12 sterling. Of his hay to the value of 20s. Of his household stuff to the value of £10. He further said that by means of this rebellion he was dispossessed of his farm of Kilvalid aforesaid, wherein he had a lease of 12 years to come, being improved communibus annis above the landlord's rent of five pounds per annum which he valueth to be worth to bee sold £40 sterling.
Of another farm, part of the land of Quartertown wherein he had a lease of 3 years to come worth to this deponent above the landlord's rent 6 per annum which he valueth to be worth before this rebellion £18 sterling. He likewise saith that he was dispossessed of his farm of a parcel of land of Kilvalid aforesaid worth to this deponent above the landlord's rent 20s. per annum having a lease therein for of 12 years to come which he valueth to be worth £6 sterling. The total of his losses amounts to £87 besides the loss of his Church livings of Kilshanny, Clonine, Rathskine, and Kilmackliny in the said county worth communibus annis £50 per annum which he conceives to be lost for the year unless peace be settled in Ireland; and further he deposeth not.Emanuell PHAYER.
Jurat coram nobis
23 May, 1642.
Tho. BETCHWORTH.
Phil. BISSE.
Ric. WILLIAMSON.
(b), MS. F. 2. 18. (fio. 275).
Robert FAIER of Killvallidie in the parish of Kilshanny in the barony of Dowhalla within the County of Corck (a brittish protestant) duely sworne and examined upon oath before us by virtue of His Maty. Commission to us and others directed, deposeth and saith.
That on or about Candlemas last he lost and hath binn robbed and forcably dispoiled of hos goods, chattels and debts to the several values following:- Of his cows to the value of fifteen pounds ten shillings sterling; of his hay to the value of thirty shillings; of his debts which he accounted good debts before the beginning of this rebellion the some of fower and twenty pounds ster. [£24]; debts due from Edmond KOCK of Ballilegane in the barony of Fermoy within the said county, Gent, and in regard the sd KOCH is out in actuall rebellion the deponent conceaves he is not likely to gett satisfaction from him; he further saith that he was expelled and driven away from his said farme where he left in corne in ground to the value of five pounds ten shillings which he conceaves to be lost unless there be peace settled in this kingdom. He likewise saith that he was dispossessed of a parcell of land wherein he had a lease of three years to com part of the land of Quartertown in the said county worth him 50s. per annum above the landlord's rent which he valueth to be worth £9; the totall of his losses amounts to £51 10s; he was robbed by means of Thomas McCROGHER of Killvalide, yeoman, tenant to Cahir O'CALLAHAN of Droming in the countie aforesaid; and further he deposeth not.
Robert PHAIER.
Jur coram nobis
24 May, 1642.
Tho BETTERSWORTH.
Phil. BISSE.
Rich. WILLIAMSON.
On the 15th October, 1657, Colonel Robert PHAIRE wrote a letter from "Rostelane in the County of Cork" to Henry CROMWELL. The original is in the British Museum (Lansdowne MSs. 281, f.220), and it is plain that the writer of this letter is identical with the "Robt PHAIER" who signed the deposition on 24th May 1642 [fn - Comparison may also be made with a holograph letter of Colonel PHAIRE to Sir John HEATH, dated 13 July 1667. This letter is now in possession of the Society of Genealogists.]
It is therefore beyond a doubt that Colonel Robert PHAIRE was a Duhallow man, and almost certainly the son of Rev Emanuel PHAIRE, Vicar of Kilshannig.
(To be continued).
____________________________________________________________
Colonel Robert PHAIRE, "Regicide."
His Ancestry, History, and Descendants.
By W. H. WELPLY, B.A.
(Continued.)
(Continued.)
His military progress was rapid, for on 17 Sept 1646, a commission, on the recommendation of Sir Hardress WALLER, was made out to him as Lieutenant-Colonel (C.S.P. - Irish Series). We cannot be certain that before 1648 he saw service in England. He was an officer with Inchiquin in Ireland until Inchiquin, changing sides once more, abandoned the Parliamentary cause, but failed to secure the adhesion of Sir William FENTON, Colonel PHAIRE, Major (afterwards Sir) Nicholas PURDON, and others, who thereupon became prisoners, and, with Lord BROGHILL's children, were exchanged against Inchiquin's son, a prisoner in the hands of the Roundheads (C.S.O. - Irish series), who was conveyed to Ireland in the "Assurance" (Captain William PENN) on which Inchiquin's late prisoners were received and taken back to England. Reaching London, he seems to have gained the confidence of CROMWELL, for he was one of the three Colonels to whom was addressed the warrant [fn - Threescore of the Commissioners set their hands and seals to it, directing it to Colonel HACKER, HUNCKS and Col. PHAIRE, or either of them - LUDLOW's Memoirs, p.121] for the execution of Charles I., and he formed one of "...that wicked guard of halberdiers" (to whom ORRERY alluded twelve years afterwards) that surrounded the king on that fateful day in January 1649, when Charles faced death "...with a courage that half redeemed his fame." It is an interesting coincidence that Thomas HERBERT, afterwards Sir Tomas HERBERT of Tintern, accompanied a luckless monarch to the scaffold as his last attendant, and that, nine years later, PHAIRE married HERBERT's daughter Elizabeth at St Werburgh's Church, Dublin [fn - C.S.P.], a marriage fraught with import to the fortunes of PHAIRE.
In company with the famous seaman, BLAKE, Colonel PHAIRE returned to Ireland in 1649, in command of the Kentish Regiment ("Cromwelliana," folio 1810), and was an active helper of CROMWELL during the latter's Irish campaign, though he does not appear to have been present at the taking of Drogheda, Wexford, or Clonmel. In WHITELOCKE's "Memoirs" we learn of the escape of the notorious WOGAN from his prison in Cork (1649), PHAIRE's Marshall having been corrupted by him, of PHAIRE's appointment as Governor of Cork, of his pursuit and slaughter of some of the enemy, and of his capture of the Castle of Kilmorry with 82 prisoners besides officers.
The Calendars of State Papers has frequent mention of him also. He became a Justice of the Peace for County Cork in 1654. But the excellent series of some sixty manuscript volumes (now alas! all gone in the destruction of the Four Courts, Dublin) entitled "Commonwealth Books" teem with allusions to him. Certain official payments were made through him; in October 1655 he was instructed to sell all the brass and iron guns that came from the forge of Tallow; in February 1655-56, Lord Chief Justice PYNE was instructed to confer with him regarding the administration of justice in County Cork; in September 1659, an order was issued to him to prevent the destruction of woods in the barony of Muskerry and other parts of County Cork; the names of some of his officers emerge too - Captains RUDDOCK, Alexander BARRINGTON, COAKELEY, WAKEHAM, GAILE; the four ploughlands of Rostellan, County Cork, were leased to him by order of the Council in February 1653-54, and permission was given him to cut 100 timber trees at the usual rates in any of the woods belonging to the Commonwealth for the building of a dwelling house and out-offices at Rostelan. Here then he fixed his abode, and here the much harassed Timothy STAMPE,coming from England and landing at the Port of Cork, stayed from September to November 1664 as PHAIRE's guest [fn - From the inscription on the Monumental Cross to Sir Thomas HERBERT, St Crux, York].
The Egmont MSs, too, contain several references to Colonel PHAIRE, whose importance in County Cork during the period of the Commonwealth can scarcely be over-estimated. No record reveals nay trace of harshness or tyranny in PHAIRE's character. He seems to have earned the confidence and esteem of his neighbours of every creed; e.g., we find Cahir O'CALLAGHAN, a Catholic gentleman of Curra, County Cork, entrusting £100 to his safe keeping (Prerogative Will of Cahir O'CALLAGHAN, pr 13 July 1680).
The Egmont MSs, however, contain one reference to PHAIRE which has more than a passing interest; it is a letter written 29 July 1653, by Colonel John JONES to PHAIRE, in which the writer protests against "...the countenance and favour" shown by the latter to Mr ROYLE who "...is come back to Cork." The letter mentions PHAIREs' "...wife and little babes." Incidentally it may be explained that ROYLE, a preacher in Cork, had married one Margaret SENEY, her former husband SENEY being reported alive in London. On 10 March 1652-53, PHAIRE had been directed to send ROYLE and his "...pretended" wife to Dublin for further examination [fn - "The Puritans in Ireland," Rev St John D. SEYMOUR, B.D., and Commonwealth Book A.90].
This is one of the few references to PHAIRE's first wife which we have met with, and it is plain that he had not been married for long - since 1649 probably. But the name of this lady has never been certainly determined.
It has been surmised that she was a relative of George GAMBLE, a Quaker and a Merchant of Cork. It has also been surmised that she was a sister or a daughter of Onesipherus HOUGHTON, of Ballingarry, County Cork. Indeed, in the pedigree of PHAIRE to be found in the Office of Arms, Dublin Castle, her name is given as HOUGHTON, but no decisive evidence can be adduced on the point. PHAIRE's eldest surviving son and heir was baptized Onesipherus, and that fact seems to be the strongest known evidence in favour of a HOUGHTON marriage.
His grand-daughter Henrietta PHAIRE married - - - DRAPER, and HOUGHTON-DRAPER marriages are recorded [fn - Roger HOUGHTON to Rachel DRAPER, of Kinsale, (Cork, M.L.B., 1698); an earlier Roger HOUGHTON was Collector of the Port of Baltimore, County Cork, 1656 (Commonwealth Book A 20)]. We know that much inter-marriage of kindred went on in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and we think therefore that these facts may have a certain significance. On the other hand, if it be true that Colonel PHAIRE's first wife was buried at Gloucester - a statement attributed to the late Mr CRAWLEY-BOVEY - then some connection with the GAMBLEs is not improbable, since the Particular family in question seems to have had its origins in or near Gloucestershire, migrating thence to Kinsale and Cork [fn - At the time of Domesday, one GAMEL held lands at Gamlestown, now Gamston, near Nottingham, and GAMBLE is still found as a surname in that town (Gloucestershire Notes and Queries, v., 121.n.)]. The name Onesipherus occurs in the GAMBLE family, too, but only after George GAMBLE mentioned above, married, as his 2nd wife, a daughter of Colonel PHAIRE [fn - Richard LANE's will, 1662, mentions his son-in-law George GAMBLE; we have the Cork, M.L.B., 1662, of George GAMBLE and Elizabeth SACHWELL; and we have the marriage of George GAMBLE and Mary PHAIRE]. This curious name appears twice in the New Testament. BARDSLEY in "Curiosities of Puritan Nomencalture" gives three instances of it, viz:- (1) Onesipherus LUFFE, on a halfpenny token, 1686; (2) Onesipherus ALBIN, 1692, C.S.P.; and (3) Onesipherus DIXEY. It appears at least four times in the pedigree of PHAIRE and at least twice in that of GAMBLE (descendants of the GAMBLE-PHAIRE marriage). We read also (c. 1689) of "Anesepherus" HOUGHTON of Ballingarry, County Cork, and there is a Cloyne M.L.B., 17 January 1667, of Onesipherus HOUGHTON, of Ballingarry County Cork, and Mary EVANS of Kinsale.
We do not know the date of death of PHAIRE's first wife, but we do know that he married again in 1658, Elizabeth, the daughter of Thomas HERBERT, a Yorkshireman of good education who had travelled in Persia and in Europe in his youth, the personal attendant of Charles I, 1645-49, to whom Charles presented a first folio (1623) copy of Shakespeare now in the Library of Windsor Castle, and also a large silver watch. Charles's cloak worn on the day of his execution fell to HERBERT, too, as a perquisite (see "Dict. Nat. Biography" and Article in "Yorkshire Journal" by Robert DAVIES, F.S.A.). At the Restoration, HERBERT received a Baronetcy, and was subsequently known to history as Sir Thomas HERBERT of Tinterne, Monmouth, where he had estates. It is important that this Thomas HERBERT should not be confounded with Colonel Thomas HERBERT, Clerk to the Council in Ireland, 1654-60 (knighted 26 July 1658 at Dublin Castle by Henry CROMWELL - fn SHAW's "Book of Knights"), a Monmouthshire man also, and probably a relative of the Baronet [fn - "You may send to Colonel HERBERT, whose house lieth in Monmouth" - CROMWELL to Thomas SAUNDERS at Breaknock, 17 June 1648]. HERBERT's will, signed 20 December 1679, and proved 31 March 1682, bequeathed to his son-in-law Robert PHAIRE, Esquire, and Elizabeth his wife, £300.
It would be idle to speculate as to how Robert PHAIRE made the acquaintance of Elizabeth HERBERT. She may have been a visitor at the house of her relative in Dublin and his wife Lucy, and we know that PHAIRE was well acquainted with Colonel Thomas HERBERT. At all events it may reasonably be inferred that her marriage took place from Colonel Thomas HERBERT's house.
As a reward for his services in Ireland, lands in County Cork and in County Wexford were allotted to PHAIRE [fn - C.S.P.]. At one time it was intended to assign him lands in County Kildare also [fn - Commonwealth Book, A.15 (P.R.O., Dublin)]. To him and his officers, Majors BARINGTON, WALLIS, and DENNISON, and Captain GALE, fell the lands of Monart, etc, in the Barony of Scarawalsh, County Wexford, i.e. near Enniscorthy. In 1656 came hither Timothy STAMPE of Enworthy [fn - Chancery Bill, STAMPE v HEATH, 10 May 1671, and C.S.P.], also of the Middle Temple, to report for the Earl of Strafford, who had property hard by, as to the prospect of founding an English colony at Enniscorthy and of being able to work successfully an iron mine and smelting furnace there. No doubt the facilities for water transport afforded by the river Slaney, which flows by Enniscorthy into the sea at Wexford, were an important factor in the project. STAMPE's report was favourable, and a company was thereupon formed in London, the chief partners being John (afterwards Sir John) CUTLER, Edward (afterwards Sir Edward) HEATH of Cottesmore, Robert (afterwards Sir Robert) CLAYTON, subsequently M.P. and Governor of the Bank of England, Thomas YATE, D.D., subsequently Principal of Brasenose College, Didier FOUCHANT of Covent Garden, Apothecary, Bethiah ABBOTT, and John CHAPMAN. Smelting began, the iron being apparently a surface deposit and easily mined, but it was soon found that the woods of Monart close by must be purchased for the successful prosecution of the scheme.
Accordingly, in 1657, Colonel PHAIRE being then in London, perhaps to press his suit for the hand of Elizabeth HERBERT, met Dr Tomas YATE by appointment and an agreement for purchase was concluded, 8 July 1657 [fn - Chancery Bill, YATE v STAMPE, 26 April 1672]. Dr YATE being unable to travel into Ireland in order to take over possession, Timothy STAMPE was despatched for this purpose and soon overtook PHAIRE at Gloucester, the first meeting of STAMPE and PHAIRE, whence they took their further journey together [fn - An interesting letter (Lansdowne MSs, 821) from PHAIRE to Henry CROMWELL, 13 October 1675, was written from Rostelane immediately on his return; he had outstayed his leave in England, and he wrote to excuse himself... (indecipherable words)]. The company found, however, that their resources did not suffice for complete purchase, and they induced PHAIRE and the other owners to accept shares in lieu of part of the price agreed upon. By 1730, the family of PHAIRE had become sole owners of the works, out of which one of them is said to have made £17,000. The history of this company, its numerous lawsuits, the complaints of the English shareholders as to their losses, its import of iron ore from Lancashire when the Wexford supply got scanty, and the private Act of Parliament passed for the partition of the property, might well form the subject of a special article. Suffice it to say that from the first the family of PHAIRE perceived the importance of the acquisition it had made.
With the Restoration came the eclipse of Colonel Robert PHAIRE as a public man in Ireland. He was arrested in Cork in May 1660, sent under a guard of fifty troopers to Dublin, and hence to London, where he was lodged in the Tower, 13 June 1660 (Tower of London - Records of Constable's Office), but, unlike Sir Hardress WALLER, Colonel HACKER, Colonel Daniel AXTELL and many others, he was never actually put upon his trial as a regicide. It had fallen to HACKER's lot to convey to Charles the actual summons to the scaffold, and HACKER was executed - one of the ten who suffered the extreme penalty. HUNCKS turned King's evidence and was pardoned. The latter, in his testimony against AXTELL (1660, Oct. 16), stated: "That morning he (AXTELL) came into the door of the room where Colonel PHAYRE, Colonel HACKER, CROMWELL, and myself were" ... AXTELL appealed to the Court to take the evidence of PHAIRE and HACKER, whereupon the Lord Chief Baron made answer: "Colonel HACKER is in the prison behind you, Colonel PHAIRE is in the Tower." The appeal was refused.
The records of the Tower of London - Constable's Office - enable us to trace very closely the course of PHAIRE's imprisonment. PHAIRE was sent prisoner from Cork to Dublin in the guard of fifty troopers on May 29, 1660 [fn - EDWARD's "Cork Remembrancer" and SMITH's "HISTORY of Cork. SMITH, however, gives the date as May 18, 1660], the day on which Charles II was proclaimed King in Cork, and he, Colonel HUNCKS, Captain William HOWLETT, and Mt John COOKE, under the conduct and guard of Captain Hugh CLOTWORTHY, arrived in London and, by order of the Court at Whitehall, 13 June 1660, were committed to the Tower [fn - (indecipherable)], On 28 February 1661-62, the Court gave order that PHAIRE be permitted to leave the Tower and remain in the dwelling of Sir Thomas HERBERT in Petty France, now York Street, Westminster, for a period of three months for the sake of his health [fn - indecipherable], a period that was extended by two months on 6 June 1662. On 22 June 1662, the Court at Hampton Court ordered that PHAIRE should be given sufficient security to appear at Dublin on 24 August 1662, there to render himself to the Lord Lieutenant, James, Duke of Ormonde. By the same order he was discharged from prison [fn - likewise indecipherable]. On 1 July 1662, he wrote out the following "engagement":
"I Collonell Robert PHAIRE doe hereby promise and engage my word unto his Grace Duke of Ormonde, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. to render myselfe to His Grace at Dublin upon ye 24day of Aug. next (if God permitt). And in the meantime shall not attempt or act anything contrary to ye duty of a faithful subject to ye disturbance of ye peace and quiet of His Ma'ties Dominions; witness my hand this 1st day of July, 1662.
"Robert PHAIR."
The influence to which this fortunate issue of his imprisonment is to be ascribed is a point which has excited much discussion. One feels prompted to give the credit for it to Sir Thomas HERBERT, PHAIRE's father-in-law, bur SMITH (Vol.I, pp.205-6) writes:- "By the interest of Lord CLANCARTY (whose life he is said to have saved, as he was going to be executed, by a party who made him prisoner, and did not know him) he obtained his pardon and returned to Cork," SMITH continues: "He was again concerned in the fanatic plot, ann. 1666, for seizing the Castle of Dublin, and other garrisons in Ireland, which was discovered by the first earl of Orrery, and Captain OLIVER, to the Duke of Ormonde, he management of that business in this country being committed to Colonel PHAIRE. However, there being a peace soon after, between England, Holland and France, the plot was dropped, and the projectors of it allowed to go unmolested by the Government. He died peacefully, near Cork, and was buried in the anabaptist burying-yard of that city."
These statements of Dr SMITH gave much offence to the PHAIRE family. Onesipherus PHAIRE, of Grange, Ovens, County Cork, had apparently been approached by SMITH for information about his great-grandfather, Colonel PHAIRE, and as Colonel PHAIRE's son, Alexander Herbert PHAIRE, was still alive at St John's, Enniscorthy, Onesipherus applied to him. Here is his reply:
"To Mr One. PHAIRE at Grange, near Cork. St John's, Oct. 2oth, 1742.
"I rec'd my good friends letter of the 22nd inst on the 28th and direct this answer (for expedition) by way of GORAN. On the coming in of King Charles my father was exempted with about 27 more. The List of which the King shewed to the then Marquis of Ormonde, who told the King that he ought not to be in that list, because he was a fair Enemy, and by whose interest with CROMWELL, there was an annuity settled on his wife, Part of wch was usefull to His Majesty during his exile; and many other kind things he did for his Friends and interests; om wch the King took the pen and ink and struck him out of the List, with his own hand; and immediately sent for him to the Tower, and told him if he would take the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy, he should have his Freedom and Pardon; my father say'd he would take the Oath of Allegiance and keep it religiously, But he could not take the other because he thought Christ was the head of the Protestant Church; at wch the Duke of York turn'd aside and say'd to those around him - Would my Brother have Coll PHAIRE swear that he is Head of the Church of Christ - I will swear by God he is not!; which set the King and company a laughing. Then the King asked my father who would be bound for him; he answered he knew nobody. Then Ormond said he would be bound for him, body for body; on wch his pardon was made out. And Ormond oblig'd my father to ride with firearms; But he would never persuade him to wear a Sword afterwards. By all this, it appears to me that he was neither attainted nor convicted by a jury. There are many other circumstances that are too long to acquaint you with this way. The Post hastens me t conclude with true affection to all your Fireside (My Dr Heart)
"Yo'r very affect & humble servt,
"A.H. PHAIRE."
(To be continued.)
JOURNAL, CORK HISTORICAL AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY, VOLUME 31, 1926, PAGE 31.
____________________________________________________________
Colonel Robert PHAIRE, "Regicide."
His Ancestry, History, and Descendants.
By W. H. WELPLY, B.A.
(Continued.)
(Continued.)
Then in 1749 SMITH's "History of Cork" with the above-quoted mention of Colonel PHAIRE, whereupon Onesipherus PHAIRE wrote again to his great-uncle, who replied as follows:-
"Enniscorthy, Mch 11th, 1750.
"Mr Dr Cousin,
"I rec'd yo'r last Post. I pitty the Historian for his Forg'd remarks, w'ch was owing to his false intelligence, w'ch is very wide from the truth. My Father was carried Prisoner to the Tower. The Troopers that guarded him offer'd to go off with him, but he thank'd them and refus'd it. He never saw nor heard of Ld Muskerry (CLANCARTHY afterwards) all the while he was in confinement at the Tower. But a stranger came to see him there, whose Face he did not know, nor never saw afterwards, nor could never find out his name; but he told my Father that he sav'd him from being hang'd by Captain COAKLEY at Mallow and that he transported him to Spaine, and was then a man of Good Interest at Court, w'ch he would heartily make use of for his service.
"But it was the Duke of Ormonde that was his true friend. For when the King shew'd him the Act of Oblivion, out of which there were a certain number exempted, and the Duke observing my father's name among them, said he ought not to be there, for tho' he was active against him, yet he was a Fair enemy, and His Majesty's friends were more oblig'd to him than All the rest of that Interest; and by his means principally with CROMWELL he got £2,000 per annum settled on his wife; half of w'ch was usefull to him in his Exile; on w'ch he Rased out his name with his own hand, and sent for him, and told him he must impeach some and take the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy, and then his pardon should be made out; my Father said he could not impeach anybody, on w'ch he was returned to ye Tower; he was twice more sent for, and still would impeach none; But the Duke of York having many about him said jocularly: What? Would they have Coll PHAIRE swear that my Brother is the Head of the Church of Christ. I swear by G-- he is not; w'ch caused a great laughter. And the King being tolde the cause thereof, it put him into a good humour, and upon his asking my Father why he would not take the Oaths; he answer'd that of Allegiance he would take and keep Religiously, But he thought that none but Christ could be head of his own Church - Then the King asked him who he had to be bound for him, my Father answer's nobody; and the D. of Ormonde being by, said he would be bound for him, Body for body; so he got his Pardon, But he never wore a sword after; But the Duke commanded and oblig'd him to Ride with Fire Armes, w'ch he and his serv'ts ever did afterwards.
"There was a Plot afterwards pretended, w'ch they could make nothing of, and Lord Orrery suspected my Father; but the D. of Ormonde knew my Father better, and was so far from giving any Credit to it, y't he told my Father, That he knew he was building, and advised him to make Flankers, in Order to make it a Garrison, and said he foresaw trouble coming on; and he would send him Ordnance and Ammunition, and Auhority to use them, For his Protection. For he was a Master of the Ordnance. If there had been any such Plot, 'tis silly to think. The Rebells would been excused on acc't of a Peace being concluded between England, Holland & France; But they would have hang'd every one of them (as they deserv'd) considering the Duke of Zyork's interest at Court, who had no mercy in his Nature for such.
"The Commission you mention was directed to HUNCKS, HACKER and my Father, but he did not like it, therefore kept out of the way.
"I know not who Sam'l BAKER was that subscribs my Father's Loving Brother, there was an intimacy between Capt BAKER of Killegrohan and my Father, for his Lands was joyn'd in BAKER's Patent.
"After all, I think it best to take no notice of this affair, For a man will Chronicle a lye 'tis his own fault.
I have troubled you sufficiently, so shall conclude, with words, of course, my Dear Friend.
"Yo'rs very affectionately,
"A.H. PHAIRE."
This is a strange story of the unknown visitor to Colonel PHAIRE in he Tower, and , stranger still, some of the visitors statements tally with the known fact of the life of Donagh McCARTHY, 2nd Viscount Muskerry, whose wife was Eleanor BUTLER, Ormonde's sister. This Donagh was General in Munster of the Irish Forces of Charles I, was defeated by LUDLOW and forced to surrender Ross Castle, 27 June 1652. It does not appear to be proved that he incurred the danger of summary execution, but in August 1652, he went to Spain. Here is his letter to Colonel PHAIRE:
"Sr,
"I am now bound away for Spaine to make my capitulation with the King... if God be pleased to bless me, and that the King and I agree, I hope to be back by Michaelmas with necessaries to rayse and transport my men att one leavie; Sr, you were pleased to tell me that you would stand my friend in all my just and reasonable pretentions; I shall not challenge that engagement further att this time, than to let you know that I have left a wife and children for whom I shall desyre yo're favor, that they may be protected from injury, and receive justice in what they may reasonably propose, for w'ch you will oblige me to acknowledg myself.
"Yo'r most thankfull hu'ble servant,
"Muskrye.
"7 August 1652."
On Muskerry's return from Spain he was put upon trial, 1 December 1653, as accessory to the murder of several Englishmen near Cork. This trial is set out in Miss HICKSON's "Ireland in the Seventeenth Century," Vol 11. It seems to have been protracted, because on 8 February 1653-54, Muskerry wrote to Colonel PHAIRE asking him "...to accept of such examinations as my witnesses will freely tender you upon their voluntary oathes, and to certify so much under yo'r hand." The High Court had adjourned "to a day uncertayne,: the witnesses had been "dismissed homewards until new summons," and Muskerry feared that the death, sickness, or resolution of any (of them) "to goe beyond sea" in the interval might be detrimental to his chance of acquittal. He therefore appeals to Colonel PHAIRE since "you are a friend to justice." Muskerry (now Clancarty) died in 1665. In 1672 we find a letter from his widow to Colonel PHAIRE, in which she speaks of "...the experience I have had of your aureties and charitie."
In 1663 (date uncertain) is a remarkable letter from Lady Clancarty Blarney to her brother, Ormonde:
"Brother,
"I saw a letter from my Lord President to Coll: PHAIRE warning him by Command from yo. to withdraw himself out of thys Province. I found the gentleman most obedient and resign'd to thys command notwithstanding the many inconveniences it must have brought upon him besides yt of wandring in thys hard season of ye yeare. The greate compassion he had for my Lord and me in ye time of owre misery, & the assistance he gave us towards our deliverance obliges me to accompany him to Dublin with thys letter, & humbly pray hee may finde favour by my means as I have formerly don by his.
"I am,
"Yr most affectionate sister & humble servant,
"H. E. Clancartie.
"For the Duke of Ormonde... his grace... these."
It is evident that PHAIRE rendered some signal service in time of need to Lord Muskerry and his wife, and it is also evident that for this reason the Duke of Ormonde stood by him when his fortunes were at ebb.
It is significant, too, that Mr Arthur ANNESLEY, the eldest son of Francis Lord Viscount Valentia, was present at the Court of 13 June 1660, and the same person, now Earl of Anglesey, on 22 June 1662. "Colonel PHAIRE, upon the Restoration, being apprehensive he was likely to continue under His Majesty's displeasure and apprehensive also of the resumption of Oliver CROMWELL's grants, did in October 1660, in order to screen his estate, convey... lands to the Right Hon. Arthur ANNESLEY... afterwards created Earl of Anglesey" [fn - Answer of Onesipherus PHAIRE, 20 June 1750, to Chancey Bill: Annesley v. Phaire, 28 July 1749 (P.R.O., Dublin)].
We do not know the basis of the friendship that subsisted between the families of ANNESLEY and PHAIRE. Before his death in 1682 Colonel PHAIRE had ceased to reside in the house he built at Rostellan. and had taken on lease the house and lands at Grange, near Ovens, about seven miles west of Cork City. Here the PHAIREs, or their relatives, resided until near the end of the eighteenth century. Grange was the property of the Earl of Anglesey, as was also Claraghnore near Millstreet.
A dispute and litigation arose in after years concerning the lands of Claraghmore, the lawsuit being revived as late as 1760. The families were neighbours in County Wexford, the ANNESLEYs at Camolin and the PHAIREs at Enniscorthy. A century later than the events we have been narrating, they became connected by marriage [fn - Robert PHAIRE to Miss Richarda ANNESLEY (Gent. Mag., 1761)]. In 1715 Captain Robert PHAIRE was the guest of Lord Altham at Dunmaine, County Wexford (see "The Annesley Case," p.92, edited by Andrew LANG).
PHAIRE's troubles were by no means ended by his return to Ireland. Orrery (once Lord Broghill, his comrade in arms) writing to the King, 26 June 1663, says:
"I am very confident that Colonel PHAIER, a halberdier at the horridest of murders and his officers would be privy to wickedness carried on in these parts by LUDLOW... though PHAIER himself was not at their meetings, yet knowing him to be a creature of LUDLOW... I have also secured PHAIER in Your Majesty's citadel at Limerick." [fn - indecipherable].
But on 31 July 1663, Ormonde issued an order for his release. The original of this order is in the possession of Sir Arthur PHAYRE.
That PHAIRE was a marked man is evident from LUDLOW's account of the assassination in Geneva (1664) of John LISLE in mistake for PHAIRE, who was erroneously believed to be with LUDLOW and other refugees in Switzerland [fn - LUDLOW's "Memoirs," ii, 487 (Clarendon Press, 1894)].
On 21 February 1665, John JEPHSON, writing to Ormonde from Cork, says:
"Heere has bin in towne Coll. PHAIRE this three days... I was unwillinge to take any notice of his beeinge here myselfe that he might not take notice of any jealousie, but desire your Lds'ps directions" [fn - Add MSS. 37207, f. 6.].
Orrery's letter quoted above has reference, we think, to the conspiracy in Ireland, 1663, which ended in the execution of Colonels Alexander JEPHSON, M.P. for Trim. and Edward WARREN, and Captain THOMPSON [fn - BAGWELL's "Ireland under the Stuarts," iii, 3-39].
PHAIRE is alleged to have been involved in the conspiracy in question, but no proof of this is forthcoming. He was undoubtedly a strong Commonwealth man - LUDLOW says so. Moreover his religious opinions had undergone a great change. In 1655 Henry CROMWELL in a letter [fn - State Papers - Henry CROMWELL to THURLOE, 6 February 1655] alludes to PHAIRE as frequenting Quaker's meetings, but though he probably did so, the records of the Society of Friends contain no evidence tat he became an actual follower of George FOX. About 1660, however, he became a disciple of the celebrated prophet Ludovick MUGGLETON, a Londoner, son of a farrier, bred to be a tailor. We have no desire to enter into a disquisition on MUGGLETON's system of belief; he was an agnostic as regards all theology, but he claimed to have a divine mission, and he founded a sect (1657) which survived until 1846. Many references to PHAIRE and his relatives and friends are to be found in MUGGLETON's "Spiritual Epistles," 1653-1691 (Alex'r DELAMAINE, 3nd Ed'n, 1820). Letters to Joseph MOSS, M.D., to Elizabeth FLAGGETTER, to George GAMBLE, to Mary GAMBLE (PHAIRE's daughter), to Major John DENNISON, to Colonel PHAIRE and to Elizabeth PHAYRE his widow, to Elizabeth FARMER (PHAIRE's daughter), and to Mare WAKEHAM (PHAIRE's cousin) occur among these epistles.
Mary GAMBLE wrote to the "Prophet," who replied, 6 March 1684: "You have read our own writings which your father and mother-in-law [fn - i.e., step-mother] brought into that land." In 1687, August 29, he wrote again to Mary GAMBLE "concerning a sister of yours that is now afflicted, as you say, by very wicked... thoughts." On 6 February 1680, he wrote of Colonel PHAIRE:
"I have had great experience of your steadfast faith in the true God and in this Commission of the Spirit ever since you first heard of it, even above twenty years."
To Elizabeth FARMER, 29 June 1686, he wrote:
"You are one of the faith, you are Mary GAMBLE's sister, and daughter of Col. Robert PHAIRE."
On the same date he wrote to Elizabeth PHAIRE (nee HERBERT), now a widow:
"I have looked upon you as one of God's elect in the day when I first saw you when your husband first brought me to your father's house... which is near 24 years since."
And to Mary WAKEHAM, 15 August 1688:
"You have a desire to come to London to see me."
Henceforward to his death in the autumn of 1682 Colonel Robert PHAIRE mixed not at all in public affairs, although his private activities in the management of his property in Cork, in Tipperary and in Wexford were great. His partnership in the iron works at Enniscorthy involved him in many lawsuits. In October 1667, he leased from the celebrated Erasmus SMITH, a parcel of lands, 1,962 acres in all, for a term of 61 years, at a rent of £242 per annum [fn - Lawsuit, Palatine Court, of County Tipperary: PHAIRE v Erasmus SMITH, 7 March 1705]. These lands lay around the present town of Tipperary.
Colonel PHAIRE had many children, of whom three buy his first and six by his second wife survived him, and we know that two sons pre-deceased him John and Robert (Robin) [fn - The authority for a son John of the first marriage is Chancery Bill: WEBBER v PHAIRE, 31 May 1679; and for a son Robert, Chancery Bill: CUDAMORE v PHAIRE, 6 June 1685]. The construction of a correct pedigree of his family is rendered difficult by the fact that he called two of his sons John, and two of his daughters Elizabeth.
His will is an interesting document. It was signed on 13 September 1682, and administration was granted to his eldest son on 13 November 1682 [fn - P.R.O., Dublin]. To his wife he left £1,000 with the farm at Grange and the adjoining lands for her lifetime; to his eldest son Onesipherus, the lands of Dromore, Ballygromans, East and West Fergus, and Claraghmore in County Cork, the lands leased from Erasmus SMITH in County Tipperary, and (subject to certain legacies) a moiety of the Wexford property, the other moiety being left to his wife and other children, share and share alike. To each of his other eight children he bequeathed £1,000, in the case of six of them to be paid out of the rion works, woods, and lands in County Wexford. The will also devises legacies to relatives:- "to my cousin Ensign William JEWELL one shilling a day for life"; to my cousin Robert PEARCE £80"; "to my cousin Mary WALKHAM, £100, one year after the day of her marriage"; "to my cousin Ruth HUBBARD, £20." The exact relationship of Colonel PHAIRE to these different persons has not been made clear. JEWELL was almost undoubtedly a Devonshire man. Bishop JEWELL was of that county. William JEWELL of Ireland lived at Ballynelard, County Tipperary, on lands leased from Erasmus SMITH by Colonel PHAIRE. We have his will (1705) and that of his widow Anne (1706).
Mary WALKHAM (WAKEHAM) may have been a daughter of Richard WALKHAM (WAKEHAM) who in 1657 married Catherine, daughter of Major Nicholas PYNE of Mogeely, County Cork, Colonel PHAIRE being a trustee of the marriage settlement [fn - Chancery Bill: PYNE v PHAIRE, 13 June 1670].
Robert PEARCE (PIERCE) [fn - A Major Robert PEIRCE was one of the 1649 Officers (Adjudications in favour of the {1649} officers, P.R.O., DUBLIN)] resided at Ballygromans, Ovens, County Cork. He and his descendants were intimately associated with much of the business of the PHAIRE family. The identity of Ruth HUBBARD has not been ascertained.
It may be well to state here that a family of PHAYRE, some of whom followed the trade of tiler or slater, resided at, or near, Killmalock, County Limerick, but that no indication of relationship between them and the family of Colonel PHAIRE has ever been discovered.
The Marriage License Bonds (Cork) of two of these were in the Public Record Office, Dublin:
(1) Joseph PHAYRE, of Kilmallock, tiler, to Mary GILBERT of St Peter's, Cork, 27 January 1753.
(2) John PHAYER, of Bruff, County Limerick, slater, of St Peter's, Cork, to Margaret CONDON, 29 January 1753.
In view of what is to follow it is well to note the name of Margaret CONDON of the second marriage license bond above. It is not COURTENAY or any name resembling COURTENAY. We have the will of this John PHAIRE, "slater," signed 8 July 1761, proved 18 December 1761, in which his wife Margaret is mentioned. One of his executors is Richard GARDINER of Cork, a surety of his M.L.B., and a witness to the will is John CONDON, the other surety: Colonel PHAIRE's second son of the name of John had probably died before 1761, his wife's name was Mary WHITBY, whose will was signed 17 April 1762, and proved 24 January 1763. They were married in 1699. An effort has been made to exchange John PHAYRE the slater for John PHAIRE the son of Colonel PHAIRE, and to turn a slater's wife's name into Margaret COURTENAY, and much spurious genealogy has been founded upon this illegitimate transmutation, as we shall show hereafter.
"Enniscorthy, Mch 11th, 1750.
"Mr Dr Cousin,
"I rec'd yo'r last Post. I pitty the Historian for his Forg'd remarks, w'ch was owing to his false intelligence, w'ch is very wide from the truth. My Father was carried Prisoner to the Tower. The Troopers that guarded him offer'd to go off with him, but he thank'd them and refus'd it. He never saw nor heard of Ld Muskerry (CLANCARTHY afterwards) all the while he was in confinement at the Tower. But a stranger came to see him there, whose Face he did not know, nor never saw afterwards, nor could never find out his name; but he told my Father that he sav'd him from being hang'd by Captain COAKLEY at Mallow and that he transported him to Spaine, and was then a man of Good Interest at Court, w'ch he would heartily make use of for his service.
"But it was the Duke of Ormonde that was his true friend. For when the King shew'd him the Act of Oblivion, out of which there were a certain number exempted, and the Duke observing my father's name among them, said he ought not to be there, for tho' he was active against him, yet he was a Fair enemy, and His Majesty's friends were more oblig'd to him than All the rest of that Interest; and by his means principally with CROMWELL he got £2,000 per annum settled on his wife; half of w'ch was usefull to him in his Exile; on w'ch he Rased out his name with his own hand, and sent for him, and told him he must impeach some and take the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy, and then his pardon should be made out; my Father said he could not impeach anybody, on w'ch he was returned to ye Tower; he was twice more sent for, and still would impeach none; But the Duke of York having many about him said jocularly: What? Would they have Coll PHAIRE swear that my Brother is the Head of the Church of Christ. I swear by G-- he is not; w'ch caused a great laughter. And the King being tolde the cause thereof, it put him into a good humour, and upon his asking my Father why he would not take the Oaths; he answer'd that of Allegiance he would take and keep Religiously, But he thought that none but Christ could be head of his own Church - Then the King asked him who he had to be bound for him, my Father answer's nobody; and the D. of Ormonde being by, said he would be bound for him, Body for body; so he got his Pardon, But he never wore a sword after; But the Duke commanded and oblig'd him to Ride with Fire Armes, w'ch he and his serv'ts ever did afterwards.
"There was a Plot afterwards pretended, w'ch they could make nothing of, and Lord Orrery suspected my Father; but the D. of Ormonde knew my Father better, and was so far from giving any Credit to it, y't he told my Father, That he knew he was building, and advised him to make Flankers, in Order to make it a Garrison, and said he foresaw trouble coming on; and he would send him Ordnance and Ammunition, and Auhority to use them, For his Protection. For he was a Master of the Ordnance. If there had been any such Plot, 'tis silly to think. The Rebells would been excused on acc't of a Peace being concluded between England, Holland & France; But they would have hang'd every one of them (as they deserv'd) considering the Duke of Zyork's interest at Court, who had no mercy in his Nature for such.
"The Commission you mention was directed to HUNCKS, HACKER and my Father, but he did not like it, therefore kept out of the way.
"I know not who Sam'l BAKER was that subscribs my Father's Loving Brother, there was an intimacy between Capt BAKER of Killegrohan and my Father, for his Lands was joyn'd in BAKER's Patent.
"After all, I think it best to take no notice of this affair, For a man will Chronicle a lye 'tis his own fault.
I have troubled you sufficiently, so shall conclude, with words, of course, my Dear Friend.
"Yo'rs very affectionately,
"A.H. PHAIRE."
This is a strange story of the unknown visitor to Colonel PHAIRE in he Tower, and , stranger still, some of the visitors statements tally with the known fact of the life of Donagh McCARTHY, 2nd Viscount Muskerry, whose wife was Eleanor BUTLER, Ormonde's sister. This Donagh was General in Munster of the Irish Forces of Charles I, was defeated by LUDLOW and forced to surrender Ross Castle, 27 June 1652. It does not appear to be proved that he incurred the danger of summary execution, but in August 1652, he went to Spain. Here is his letter to Colonel PHAIRE:
"Sr,
"I am now bound away for Spaine to make my capitulation with the King... if God be pleased to bless me, and that the King and I agree, I hope to be back by Michaelmas with necessaries to rayse and transport my men att one leavie; Sr, you were pleased to tell me that you would stand my friend in all my just and reasonable pretentions; I shall not challenge that engagement further att this time, than to let you know that I have left a wife and children for whom I shall desyre yo're favor, that they may be protected from injury, and receive justice in what they may reasonably propose, for w'ch you will oblige me to acknowledg myself.
"Yo'r most thankfull hu'ble servant,
"Muskrye.
"7 August 1652."
On Muskerry's return from Spain he was put upon trial, 1 December 1653, as accessory to the murder of several Englishmen near Cork. This trial is set out in Miss HICKSON's "Ireland in the Seventeenth Century," Vol 11. It seems to have been protracted, because on 8 February 1653-54, Muskerry wrote to Colonel PHAIRE asking him "...to accept of such examinations as my witnesses will freely tender you upon their voluntary oathes, and to certify so much under yo'r hand." The High Court had adjourned "to a day uncertayne,: the witnesses had been "dismissed homewards until new summons," and Muskerry feared that the death, sickness, or resolution of any (of them) "to goe beyond sea" in the interval might be detrimental to his chance of acquittal. He therefore appeals to Colonel PHAIRE since "you are a friend to justice." Muskerry (now Clancarty) died in 1665. In 1672 we find a letter from his widow to Colonel PHAIRE, in which she speaks of "...the experience I have had of your aureties and charitie."
In 1663 (date uncertain) is a remarkable letter from Lady Clancarty Blarney to her brother, Ormonde:
"Brother,
"I saw a letter from my Lord President to Coll: PHAIRE warning him by Command from yo. to withdraw himself out of thys Province. I found the gentleman most obedient and resign'd to thys command notwithstanding the many inconveniences it must have brought upon him besides yt of wandring in thys hard season of ye yeare. The greate compassion he had for my Lord and me in ye time of owre misery, & the assistance he gave us towards our deliverance obliges me to accompany him to Dublin with thys letter, & humbly pray hee may finde favour by my means as I have formerly don by his.
"I am,
"Yr most affectionate sister & humble servant,
"H. E. Clancartie.
"For the Duke of Ormonde... his grace... these."
It is evident that PHAIRE rendered some signal service in time of need to Lord Muskerry and his wife, and it is also evident that for this reason the Duke of Ormonde stood by him when his fortunes were at ebb.
It is significant, too, that Mr Arthur ANNESLEY, the eldest son of Francis Lord Viscount Valentia, was present at the Court of 13 June 1660, and the same person, now Earl of Anglesey, on 22 June 1662. "Colonel PHAIRE, upon the Restoration, being apprehensive he was likely to continue under His Majesty's displeasure and apprehensive also of the resumption of Oliver CROMWELL's grants, did in October 1660, in order to screen his estate, convey... lands to the Right Hon. Arthur ANNESLEY... afterwards created Earl of Anglesey" [fn - Answer of Onesipherus PHAIRE, 20 June 1750, to Chancey Bill: Annesley v. Phaire, 28 July 1749 (P.R.O., Dublin)].
We do not know the basis of the friendship that subsisted between the families of ANNESLEY and PHAIRE. Before his death in 1682 Colonel PHAIRE had ceased to reside in the house he built at Rostellan. and had taken on lease the house and lands at Grange, near Ovens, about seven miles west of Cork City. Here the PHAIREs, or their relatives, resided until near the end of the eighteenth century. Grange was the property of the Earl of Anglesey, as was also Claraghnore near Millstreet.
A dispute and litigation arose in after years concerning the lands of Claraghmore, the lawsuit being revived as late as 1760. The families were neighbours in County Wexford, the ANNESLEYs at Camolin and the PHAIREs at Enniscorthy. A century later than the events we have been narrating, they became connected by marriage [fn - Robert PHAIRE to Miss Richarda ANNESLEY (Gent. Mag., 1761)]. In 1715 Captain Robert PHAIRE was the guest of Lord Altham at Dunmaine, County Wexford (see "The Annesley Case," p.92, edited by Andrew LANG).
PHAIRE's troubles were by no means ended by his return to Ireland. Orrery (once Lord Broghill, his comrade in arms) writing to the King, 26 June 1663, says:
"I am very confident that Colonel PHAIER, a halberdier at the horridest of murders and his officers would be privy to wickedness carried on in these parts by LUDLOW... though PHAIER himself was not at their meetings, yet knowing him to be a creature of LUDLOW... I have also secured PHAIER in Your Majesty's citadel at Limerick." [fn - indecipherable].
But on 31 July 1663, Ormonde issued an order for his release. The original of this order is in the possession of Sir Arthur PHAYRE.
That PHAIRE was a marked man is evident from LUDLOW's account of the assassination in Geneva (1664) of John LISLE in mistake for PHAIRE, who was erroneously believed to be with LUDLOW and other refugees in Switzerland [fn - LUDLOW's "Memoirs," ii, 487 (Clarendon Press, 1894)].
On 21 February 1665, John JEPHSON, writing to Ormonde from Cork, says:
"Heere has bin in towne Coll. PHAIRE this three days... I was unwillinge to take any notice of his beeinge here myselfe that he might not take notice of any jealousie, but desire your Lds'ps directions" [fn - Add MSS. 37207, f. 6.].
Orrery's letter quoted above has reference, we think, to the conspiracy in Ireland, 1663, which ended in the execution of Colonels Alexander JEPHSON, M.P. for Trim. and Edward WARREN, and Captain THOMPSON [fn - BAGWELL's "Ireland under the Stuarts," iii, 3-39].
PHAIRE is alleged to have been involved in the conspiracy in question, but no proof of this is forthcoming. He was undoubtedly a strong Commonwealth man - LUDLOW says so. Moreover his religious opinions had undergone a great change. In 1655 Henry CROMWELL in a letter [fn - State Papers - Henry CROMWELL to THURLOE, 6 February 1655] alludes to PHAIRE as frequenting Quaker's meetings, but though he probably did so, the records of the Society of Friends contain no evidence tat he became an actual follower of George FOX. About 1660, however, he became a disciple of the celebrated prophet Ludovick MUGGLETON, a Londoner, son of a farrier, bred to be a tailor. We have no desire to enter into a disquisition on MUGGLETON's system of belief; he was an agnostic as regards all theology, but he claimed to have a divine mission, and he founded a sect (1657) which survived until 1846. Many references to PHAIRE and his relatives and friends are to be found in MUGGLETON's "Spiritual Epistles," 1653-1691 (Alex'r DELAMAINE, 3nd Ed'n, 1820). Letters to Joseph MOSS, M.D., to Elizabeth FLAGGETTER, to George GAMBLE, to Mary GAMBLE (PHAIRE's daughter), to Major John DENNISON, to Colonel PHAIRE and to Elizabeth PHAYRE his widow, to Elizabeth FARMER (PHAIRE's daughter), and to Mare WAKEHAM (PHAIRE's cousin) occur among these epistles.
Mary GAMBLE wrote to the "Prophet," who replied, 6 March 1684: "You have read our own writings which your father and mother-in-law [fn - i.e., step-mother] brought into that land." In 1687, August 29, he wrote again to Mary GAMBLE "concerning a sister of yours that is now afflicted, as you say, by very wicked... thoughts." On 6 February 1680, he wrote of Colonel PHAIRE:
"I have had great experience of your steadfast faith in the true God and in this Commission of the Spirit ever since you first heard of it, even above twenty years."
To Elizabeth FARMER, 29 June 1686, he wrote:
"You are one of the faith, you are Mary GAMBLE's sister, and daughter of Col. Robert PHAIRE."
On the same date he wrote to Elizabeth PHAIRE (nee HERBERT), now a widow:
"I have looked upon you as one of God's elect in the day when I first saw you when your husband first brought me to your father's house... which is near 24 years since."
And to Mary WAKEHAM, 15 August 1688:
"You have a desire to come to London to see me."
Henceforward to his death in the autumn of 1682 Colonel Robert PHAIRE mixed not at all in public affairs, although his private activities in the management of his property in Cork, in Tipperary and in Wexford were great. His partnership in the iron works at Enniscorthy involved him in many lawsuits. In October 1667, he leased from the celebrated Erasmus SMITH, a parcel of lands, 1,962 acres in all, for a term of 61 years, at a rent of £242 per annum [fn - Lawsuit, Palatine Court, of County Tipperary: PHAIRE v Erasmus SMITH, 7 March 1705]. These lands lay around the present town of Tipperary.
Colonel PHAIRE had many children, of whom three buy his first and six by his second wife survived him, and we know that two sons pre-deceased him John and Robert (Robin) [fn - The authority for a son John of the first marriage is Chancery Bill: WEBBER v PHAIRE, 31 May 1679; and for a son Robert, Chancery Bill: CUDAMORE v PHAIRE, 6 June 1685]. The construction of a correct pedigree of his family is rendered difficult by the fact that he called two of his sons John, and two of his daughters Elizabeth.
His will is an interesting document. It was signed on 13 September 1682, and administration was granted to his eldest son on 13 November 1682 [fn - P.R.O., Dublin]. To his wife he left £1,000 with the farm at Grange and the adjoining lands for her lifetime; to his eldest son Onesipherus, the lands of Dromore, Ballygromans, East and West Fergus, and Claraghmore in County Cork, the lands leased from Erasmus SMITH in County Tipperary, and (subject to certain legacies) a moiety of the Wexford property, the other moiety being left to his wife and other children, share and share alike. To each of his other eight children he bequeathed £1,000, in the case of six of them to be paid out of the rion works, woods, and lands in County Wexford. The will also devises legacies to relatives:- "to my cousin Ensign William JEWELL one shilling a day for life"; to my cousin Robert PEARCE £80"; "to my cousin Mary WALKHAM, £100, one year after the day of her marriage"; "to my cousin Ruth HUBBARD, £20." The exact relationship of Colonel PHAIRE to these different persons has not been made clear. JEWELL was almost undoubtedly a Devonshire man. Bishop JEWELL was of that county. William JEWELL of Ireland lived at Ballynelard, County Tipperary, on lands leased from Erasmus SMITH by Colonel PHAIRE. We have his will (1705) and that of his widow Anne (1706).
Mary WALKHAM (WAKEHAM) may have been a daughter of Richard WALKHAM (WAKEHAM) who in 1657 married Catherine, daughter of Major Nicholas PYNE of Mogeely, County Cork, Colonel PHAIRE being a trustee of the marriage settlement [fn - Chancery Bill: PYNE v PHAIRE, 13 June 1670].
Robert PEARCE (PIERCE) [fn - A Major Robert PEIRCE was one of the 1649 Officers (Adjudications in favour of the {1649} officers, P.R.O., DUBLIN)] resided at Ballygromans, Ovens, County Cork. He and his descendants were intimately associated with much of the business of the PHAIRE family. The identity of Ruth HUBBARD has not been ascertained.
It may be well to state here that a family of PHAYRE, some of whom followed the trade of tiler or slater, resided at, or near, Killmalock, County Limerick, but that no indication of relationship between them and the family of Colonel PHAIRE has ever been discovered.
The Marriage License Bonds (Cork) of two of these were in the Public Record Office, Dublin:
(1) Joseph PHAYRE, of Kilmallock, tiler, to Mary GILBERT of St Peter's, Cork, 27 January 1753.
(2) John PHAYER, of Bruff, County Limerick, slater, of St Peter's, Cork, to Margaret CONDON, 29 January 1753.
In view of what is to follow it is well to note the name of Margaret CONDON of the second marriage license bond above. It is not COURTENAY or any name resembling COURTENAY. We have the will of this John PHAIRE, "slater," signed 8 July 1761, proved 18 December 1761, in which his wife Margaret is mentioned. One of his executors is Richard GARDINER of Cork, a surety of his M.L.B., and a witness to the will is John CONDON, the other surety: Colonel PHAIRE's second son of the name of John had probably died before 1761, his wife's name was Mary WHITBY, whose will was signed 17 April 1762, and proved 24 January 1763. They were married in 1699. An effort has been made to exchange John PHAYRE the slater for John PHAIRE the son of Colonel PHAIRE, and to turn a slater's wife's name into Margaret COURTENAY, and much spurious genealogy has been founded upon this illegitimate transmutation, as we shall show hereafter.
(To be continued.)
JOURNAL, CORK HISTORICAL AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY, VOLUME 32, 1927, PAGE 24.
____________________________________________________________
Colonel Robert PHAIRE, "Regicide."
His Ancestry, History, and Descendants.
By W. H. WELPLY, B.A.
(Concluded.)
(Concluded.)
We have now to give an account of some of the children and descendants of Colonel PHAIR.
His eldest son, Onesipherus, seems to have lived a very uneventful life, engaged mainly in the business of his estates and iron-works. He did not leave Ireland, as so many persons did, in 1689, but seems to have passed through the trials of that time with considerable material loss, because in a letter dated 20 March 1746-47, Alexander Herbert PHAIRE states that:-
"In King James's time the Lord Kilmalock took possession f Grange and turned my mother and everyone in the house out, but let her continue in the house afterwards. To whom she paid the rent, during the troublesome times. She several times was plundered of every beast she had, but Dogs, Catts, Ratts or Mice. They even took away the ticken of the beds, and left the feathers in the Rooms. These things are what I remember, and perfectly know to be true."
He made no attempt to take part in public affairs, and his age at death could hardly have been more than fifty-three years. From references to him in wills of the period it is inferred that he had a kindly and winning disposition. John SMITH of Clonemare (will pr 16 June 1671) bequeathed to Onesipherus PHAIRE "...out of my respect unto Collonell my trunke covered with sile skin and laid with tenn plates," and Joseph MOSSE of Affane, M.D., (will pr 21 May 1677) left all his property to Onesipherus PHAIRE, whom he appointed sole executor.
We have already quoted the testamentary injunction of Richard WAKEHAM (will signed 20 May 1710) that he is to be buried "...as near as can be to the body of my beloved friend Onesipherus PHAIRE." Affection that endured so vividly for eight years after the death of one of the two men friends must have been very deep.
Of John PHAIRE , the second son, we catch one fleeting glimpse (Chancery Bill: WEBBER v PHAIRE, 31 May 1679). George WEBBER of Cork died in 1674 and made John PHAIRE, son of Colonel Robert PHAIRE, his executor, displacing Edward WEBBER, his brother, from that function. To John PHAIRE he also left £200, and all this he is alleged to have done by the persuasion of George GAMBLE. John PHAIRE died intestate in 1677, and his father took out administration of his effects. The lawsuit is against Colonel Robert PHAIRE. On the whole, I think it may be inferred that this son died unmarried.
Thomas PHAIRE, the eldest son of the second marriage, could not have been born before 1659, so that he lived only to the age of 57. He was lieutenant in a regiment of foot on the establishment of the Kingdom of Ireland, which was commanded in 1709 by Christopher, Lord Baron SLANE , but in that year having served in the regiment from the time of its first raising, he resigned his lieutenancy in favour of his eldest son Robert [fn - P.R.O., Dublin - Record Tower, Carton 255, Document 8303].
Alexander Herbert PHAIRE, second son of the second marriage, lived to a considerable age . He must have been born about 1675, perhaps some years earlier, and he died at the house of Onesipherus GAMBLE, his nephew, at Templeshannon, Enniscorthy, between June 1751 and March 1752-53. His will was signed 7 June 1751, and proved 5 March 1752-53. He had acquired a modest share in the iron-works, and had resided for several years with his nephew, who seems to have loved to induce relatives to live with him. Alexander Herbert PHAIRE collected and preserved some letters of Colonel Robert PHAIRE. The writer of the article on the latter in the Dict. Nat. Biography had access to these papers, which were then in the possession of a member of the DONOVAN family. From them we learn that the Colonel was cured of a fit of ague by his friend, Valentine GREATRAKES of Affane, County Waterford, known as "The Stroker."
The present writer has made efforts to ascertain the whereabouts of these papers now, but without success.
The only mention of a son Robert (Robin) is contained in the Chancery Bill: CUDMORE v PHAIRE, 6 June 1685. Paul CUDMORE, solicitor to the late Colonel PHAIRE, cites a letter from the Colonel to tell him "...he was then sending his son Robin to the grave who died two days before," and in her reply to this suit, the widow Elizabeth PHAIRE says (13 November 1685) that "...she cannot remember the precise time of her son Robert's death, but believes it may be a year before that of his father."
John PHAIRE, the youngest son, has a factitious interest for us by reason of the attempts made by the late John Chessell BUCKLER, F.S.A., Surrey Herald Extraordinary, and his son Charles Alban BUCKLER, to connect themselves genealogically with Colonel Robert PHAIRE through his son John. These attempts led to the production of many beautifully illustrated manuscripts now to be found in the British Museum, their destination being Add. MSs 37123 (ff. 62-64, 172-174), 37126 (ff. 158, 174, 178-9, etc).
Here is the starting point of all this futile but beautiful genealogical industry.
" John PHAIRE, youngest son (w. dated 8 July 1761, pr 18 December 1761 - Dublin Records) = Margaret, dau of COURTENAY of Cork. [Issue]:-
"Richard PHAIRE or FAIR, R.N., b 1739, ob 1805 = Ellen CREECH of Baltimore (County Cork), died Skibbereen, 1820. [Issue]:-
"Thomas FAIR = Esther WOOLIS. [Issue]:-
"a daughter = John Chessell BUCKLER."
These manuscripts further state that from Richard FAIR and Ellen CREECH above descend also Rev R.H. FAIR of Winchester, and Charles Bass FAIR of Capetown.
And upon all of this a grant of the PHAIRE Arms was made by the Ulster King at Arms in 1896 to Robert Herbert FAIR and Charles Bass FAIR. Now, to begin with, no PHAIRE married a COURTENAY. John PHAIRE, parish of Athnowen, in which Grange was situated, youngest son of Colonel PHAIRE, married (1699) Mary WHITBY, parish of St Mary, Shandon, spinster, his sureties being his nephew John FARMER of Ardra, and Roger HUSE, inn-keeper ... [indec words]& [fn - indec]. John PHAYER of Bruff, County Limerick, slater, married (1753) Margaret CONDON, parish of St Peter's, Cork, the sureties being John CONDON of Cork, cordwainer, and Richard GARDINER of the same, clothier [fn - Cork, M.L.B.].
This John PHAYER, described above as John "PHAIRE," died in 1761. His will was to be found (P.R.O., Dublin). In it he is styled "slater," he has two sons, his executor is Richard GARDINER, and a witness is John CONDON. No mention of any member, or relative, of Colonel PHAIRE's family is made, and it is absolutely beyond doubt that this slater was not Colonel PHAIRE's son. The slater's sons are not named in his will.
John PHAIRE, Colonel PHAIRE's son, left no will that can be traced. He lived for a time at Donegall Island, near Skibbereen [fn 44 - Registry of Deeds, Dublin, 21, 455, 12117], County Cork, was lieutenant in a troop of horse, and was resident in Cork City in 1749 [fn - ditto, 143, 65, 95592].
In July 1754, he was resident at Templeshannon, Enniscorthy [fn - Ditto, 190, 210, 126465]. Onesipherus PHAIRE of Templeshannon, bequeathed (will signed 2 September 1757, pr 28 November 1757) 10 to John PHAIRE of Templeshannon, "...together with all bonds and notes heretofore passed or perfected by him to me provided that he at the same time grants a full discharge of all debts, dues, demands and challenges that he may now have or ever had unto me or my heirs." And Mary PHAIRE, who also lived at Templeshannon (will signed 17 April 1762, pr 24 January 1763), makes no mention of her husband, who must therefore have died between 1757 and 1762.
John PHAIRE fell upon evil days. His health was much deranged in 1741, as we learn from a letter written at St John's, Enniscorthy, 4 October 1741, by Alexander Herbert PHAIRE to his nephew Robert PHAIRE at Grange near Cork: - "My brother Jack is so troublesome to Wat GREEN and his wife in his disorder (tho they think he is almost gon) they threaten to bring him here and leave him at the door." Mention is made in the same letter to John PHAIRE's son, elsewhere described as "young Jack PHAIRE." Alexander Herbert PHAIRE bequeathed his brother John (will pr 5 March 1753) £10 a year "...towards his support, and £5 at his decease to bury him."
Two letters of John PHAIRE are to be found in the five volumes of CAULFIELD MSs, T.C.D. One is dated 29 August 1724, but the year in which the other was written cannot be deciphered. They were both written from places in County Cork, but they do not throw light on any of the vexed questions of this essay. Before his widow's death, his sons Robert and Onesipherus appear to have left Ireland, and their whereabouts was unknown in April 1762. His daughter Henrietta married a Mr DRAPER, and he had a grand-daughter Anne PHAIRE (probably a child of John PHAIRE who married in 1727 Alice PEIRCE - Cork M.L.B.).
In the parish registers of Kinsale, County Cork, appear a number of births and burials of the children of one John PHAIRE (FAIR, FFAIRE, PHAIRES) ranging from 1703 to 1710, and again from 1731 to 1742. It is obvious that the first and second series cannot concern the same John PHAIRE. We shall therefore confine ourselves to the first series. An attempt has been made to attribute the paternity of Ann (1703), Richard (1704), Susan (1705), John (1706), --- (1708), Elizabeth (1710) PHAIR to the John PHAIRE of our investigation, but it is curious that the names of Robert, Onespiherus and Henrietta, known to be his children, do not appear in these registers.
The fact is there is not a tittle of evidence to show that John PHAIR (FAIR) of Kinsale was identical with, or in any way related to, the John PHAIRE of our inquiry, who never resided in Kinsale.
A much simpler explanation of this wilful confusion is forthcoming. On 13 September 1707, John FARE was Constable of Fryer's Street, Kinsale, and on 30 September 1728, "John FAIR, the son of a freeman, was sworn a freeman and paid 10s." (CAULFIELD's "Council Book of the Corporation of Kinsale," pp. 209 and 230). Here is the paternity of Richard FAIR the grandfather of the late John Chessell BUCKLER. The name of FAIR existed in Kinsale since 1601, but the FAIRs of that town have no connection with the family of Colonel Robert PHAIRE
Alicia PURDON, daughter of Bartholomew PURDON and Alicia JEPHSON, married Thomas PHAIRE in 1692 (Cork M.L.B.), he being in his thirty-third and she probably in her twenty-eighth year. Her parents married in 1664 (Cork M.L.B.). She survived her husband many years. We find her brother Bartholomew PURDON bequeathing her (13 May 1737) "...5s 5d per week to be paid every Monday morning," and her son Thomas (1747) bequeathing to her £10 a year. She was a woman of masterful disposition and strong common sense.
The wild and spendthrift ways of her eldest son Robert found no favour in her sight, and he seems to have lost her affection, but for her other children she laboured and planned unceasingly, carrying on "...for many years the trade or mystery of malting" [fn - indec] in the City of Cork, "...and by that means procuring a comfortable and happy subsistence" for herself and her family.
Onespherous GAMBLE, son of George GAMBLE and Mary PHAIRE, played a very large part in the history of the PHAIRE family and their relatives. He married his first cousin Elizabeth, daughter of Onesipherus PHAIRE, and widow of Major Edward ROGERS, who died in 1717.
Onesipherus GAMBLE had no children. He acquired much property in Cork, and a considerable share in the ironworks at Enniscorthy, where he finally went to reside at the Manor of St John, practising there much kindly hospitality.
He gathered about him his brother John GAMBLE, who died there in January 1750-51; his uncle Alexander Herbert PHAIRE, who died there in 1752; his uncle John PHAIRE and Aunt Mary PHAIRE, the latter dying there in 1762; his brother-in-law and first cousin Aldworth PHAIRE; and his niece Elizabeth (PEIRCE) now twice widowed. She had married first Samuel HENDERSON who died in South Carolina, where she met her 2nd husband, Bernard LASSERRE, who also died there. Then she came home with her only child, Edith HENDERSON, home to Cork, to reside with her (then) unmarried sister Sarah PEIRCE. Mrs LASSERRE's sister Sarah and her daughter Edith came also to live at the Manor of St John. Onesipherus GAMBLE was growing old (he was born 13 December 1680); his wife had probably died; Lucy SKELTON, her companion, had secretly married his brother John, 13 April 1745, and on 14 May 1754 had taken Robert HILL for her second husband, and left St John's [fn - indec]. It was necessary to bring in other relatives, and young people if possible. Mrs LASSERRE, her sister Sarah, and her daughter Edith are invited (1757). We have a letter of invitation written to Edith HENDERSON:-
"I need not inform you that you'll be all welcome here... the house is standing still, notwithstanding ye many storms... I've killed ye last bullock for ye season till grass beef come in... ye oysters soon going out of season but great plenty of 'em. My Aunt PHAIRE is to get up today. She has been so ill that her life was despaired of. Mr BENNETT since I received yours has not been here. Lord Rusborough has... Bring Trashey Sally with you, its for her good. I am."
"To Edith HENDERSON, nigh South Gate, Cork."
Dying 29 March 1762, Onesipherus GAMBLE left a large part of his estate to Mrs LASSERRE, her daughter Edith, and her sister Sarah PEIRCE, whereupon arose a fierce and long-contested litigation, the will in consequence being admitted to probate only in 1769. The suit was revived in 1783. It is interesting to record that much of the Cork property on Onesipherus GAMBLE became again the subject of litigation in 1828, and that in the course of the latter suit title deeds were produced in Cork ranging in date from January 1597 to March 1774 [fn - indec].
The original litigation about Onesipherus GAMBLE's property was set on foot by John GAMBLE, son of his brother John. The elder John GAMBLE had gone in his youth to the island of Antigua, where members of his family were people of much wealth and influence. There he had made a fortune. He returned to Cork about 1727, and on 13 December 1728, he married Anna BROWNE (Marr Cert dated 1730, 4m, 36 9 - P.R.O., Dublin), a person in humble circumstances. Two children were born of this marriage, a daughter Anne, who married in 1749 an inn-keeper named Thomas CUTTLE, and a son John. The marriage was held to be illegal, because it was performed by a Roman Catholic clergyman, said to have been the titular Bishop of Ross, and a lawsuit regarding it was heard in 1731 or 1732 in the Consistorial Court of Cork and Ross, and, on appeal, in the Court of the Archbishop of Cashel. It was during the litigation referred to above that the alleged judgement was given against Anna BROWNE in the Archbishop's Court, in 1733, that John GAMBLE Junior was therefore illegitimate, and consequently barred from heirship-at-law to his uncle's property. On John GAMBLE's side it was alleged that he had been verbally and in writing recognised as heir-at-law to his uncle, and that the will in favour of Mrs LASSERRE, Edith HENDERSON and Sarah PEIRCE had been obtained by undue influence, and that the decree invalidating the marriage of his father and mother had been obtained by collusion of the partied. John GAMBLE junior failed in his lawsuit.
Onesipherus GAMBLE's grand-niece, Edith HENDERSON, married her cousin Henry PEIRCE, and died without issue, 5 March 1805, at Innishannon, near Bandon, County Cork
We now come to the extraordinary history of Robert PHAIRE, known as Robert PHAIRE of Dunmaine, eldest son of Thomas PHAIRE of Mountpleasant, who, on 12 September 1709, obtained a commission, signed by the Lord Lieutenant Lord WHARTON, as Lieutenant in Lord Slane's Regiment, in succession to his father, Lieut Thomas PHAIRE [fn - indec]. The regiment was ordered for service in Spain, January 1710-11, and had already been embarked for a fortnight waiting for favourable weather, when young PHAIRE was told by the Lieut-Colonel in actual command that his commission was superseded by one Henry TOMPKINS, and was ordered to quit the post. PHAIRE went for redress to the Lords Justices in Dublin, but meanwhile the Regiment had proceeded to Spain. Subsequently, by April 1717, he made the curious discovery that TOMPKINS's commission was to supersede not Robert but Thomas PHAIRE, and he "...humbly conceives Mr Henry TOMPKINS's commission wrong in justice and in fact." The War Office of 1710-11 had blundered!
PHAIRE now submitted all the papers in the case before Lord Longford, who, 28 April 1717, certified his belief that the allegations were correct, and also that he had never heard of anything laid to PHAIRE's charge of misbehaviour of want of inclination for service for which he could deserve to be dismissed of lose his commission.
The Government presumably felt that something was due to PHAIRE for this precipitate action of the Lieut-Colonel, and so in 1717 he was appointed riding officer of the coast of Waterford from Tramore to Monk Church, and he went to live as paying guest at the house of Stephen WORTHEVALE, a gentleman of Cornish extraction, agent in County Waterford to Lord Doneraile [fn - indec]. WORTHEVALE had been agent to John OTTERINGTON, of Waterford, Lady Doneraile's grandfather.. PHAIRE married Mary WORTHEVALE, the only daughter f this family, he became a J.P. for the County and High Sheriff in 1722, and he kept a "pack of doggs." Mary PHAIRE nee WORTHEVALE died in 1724, and we have record of three children of this marriage, viz"- Stephen, Robert and Ann (Nancy), but their names do not appear after 1730 in any PHAIRE documents. It is just possible, however, that after the debacle to Robert PHAIRE that they may have lived with the WORTHEVALEs and have been the ancestors of the PHAIREs of Waterford, of a long subsequent date.
Robert PHAIRE, now a widower, paid his addresses in 1726 to Elizabeth GROGAN nee WHITE, widow with 5 children of Cornelius GROGAN, and daughter of John WHITE of Ballyellis, County Wexford, her mother having been a daughter of Sir Humphrey JARVIS of Dublin. He married Elizabeth GROGAN in that year, 29 Sept, and had already taken up residence at Dunmaine, where he seems to have pursued a very extravagant and spendthrift course of living. In September 1734, five children having then been born of this marriage, Elizabeth PHAIRE left her husband, who was shortly after arrested at Red Cross, in County Wicklow, on his way to Dublin, by his brother-in-law John Jervis WHITE and Edward CHAMNEY, on a charge of bigamy, lodged in Wicklow gaol, tried on 29 August 1735, convicted, and sentenced to seven year's transportation to His Majesty's Plantations in America.
An appeal was made, certain irregularities of procedure were alleged, as well as undue influence on the part of the High Sheriff of Wicklow over the jury, a majority of whom were said to have been fro acquittal; conspiracy was also alleged. PHAIRE was pardoned, but he was a ruined man. His wife refused to live with him longer, and she thenceforward resumed the name of GROGAN; he had squandered his possessions, a grant of 22 15s was made to him out of the Concordatum, 24 May 1742, and he was given a Commission in "the new levies." We next find him adjutant in Colonel Edward TRELAWNEY's regiment of foot to the garrison stationed at Rattan Island, in the Bay of Honduras, 25 December 1743 (Commission Book, vol.21, p.34, W.O. 25-21, P.R.O., London).
This island was evacuated by British troops, 26 December 1749, but the curtain falls on the career of Robert PHAIRE on 25 December 1743. He was no longer young, was probably fifty years of age when he arrived at Rattan where his age and course of life did not conduce to longevity, the climate being tropical. Yet we are told that in 1796 at all events, Rattan enjoyed "...a situation of remarkable health, with excellent water, and a fertile soil producing in spontaneous abundance many of the necessities of life" (History of the British West Indies, by Bryan EDWARDS, iv, 74). Of the five children of this unhappy marriage only one, Elizabeth, survived to full age, and it is touching to read her letter, 6 April 1802, to John Know GROGAN: "This picture is my great-grandmother, Lady JARVIS, which I gave in keeping to your father after my mother's death, requesting your mother to wear it as neither would accept it as a present from me" (BETHAM MSs, Add MSs 23689).
Elizabeth GROGAN nee WHITE died in 1754. She was born 5 August 1702, and when in 1726 she married Robert PHAIRE, she had already borne five children. Women often married very young in the early part of he eighteenth century.
Herbert PHAIRE, second son of Thomas of Mountpleasant, was born in 1697 (fn - Answer to Chancery Bill: WOLSELEY v PHAIRE, 10 June 1728), and he obtained employment in the revenue, apparently about 1717, in succession to his eldest brother Robert (fn - Exchequer Bill: PHAIRE v PHAIRE, 14 May 1720). Subsequently he took up the business of vintner in Cork, in which he seems to have conjoined his brother-in-law Richard CHINNERY.
In CAULFIELD's "Council Book of the Corporation of Cork" we find such entries as follows:- "5 December 1726. That Mr Herbert PHAIRE's two bills for two entertainments on 1 August and 29 October, one for £30 3s 9d, the other for £28 17s 2d, be paid"; "15 November 1727... payment of £51 15s 8d to Mr Herbert PHAYRE, the expense the day of the King's coronation," and other entries of the same tenor, including this:- "30 April 1739. That Rich'd CHINNERY's bill for an entertainment at Blackrock Castle, 9 August, £17 4s 2d, be paid."
It will interest members of the Masonic Order to learn that in 1729 John Lord Kingston was installed Provincial Grand Master of Munster at the house of Brother Herbert PHAIRE in Cork (fn - Extracts from "Masonic Notes," by F.C. CROSALE, M.B., Vol III, p.339), who in 1749 was Senior Warden of Lodge No 1, Cork (GOULD's "History of Freemasons", vol. iii). About 1733 PHAIRE transferred his business, or part of it, to Dublin. We read as follows:- "1733. Christmas. PHAIRE Herbert, coquus gr. espl." Roll of Freemen of the City of Dublin, vol. iii, edited by Gertrude THRIFT (P.R.O., Dublin). It may be noted that, in the various guilds, cooks and vintners formed one class: hence the "coquus" above. The name of Herbert PHAIRE's wife is unknown, nor do we have any information as to his children. His wife, Mary "FAIRE," was buried in St Andrew's Churchyard, Dublin, 15 November 1845, and the registers of the same parish contain the baptisms of Jane PHAIR and George William FAIR, children of John PHAIR (FAIR), 19 December 1761 and 24 June 1764 respectively.
This John PHAIR (FAIR) may have been Herbert's son, but we do not know. He is presumably one of the parties to a Deed 223, 206, 147952: 18 September 1761 (Registry of Deeds, Dublin): Memorial of a Deed of Lease between John PHAIRE, gent, and John SHEARER of Marylebone Lane in the suburbs of the City of Dublin, linen weaver. And probably he is also the plaintiff in the Chancery suit, 8 April 1771: John PHAIR v Edward GAMBLE (fn - indec.). John PHAIR is described in this suit as "...of the City of Dublin, dealer."
We have some records of Herbert PHAIRE's life in Dublin. On 9 December 1735, "...a meeting of the Munster Gentlemen" was announced in Pue's Occurrences for "...Monday next at the Stationers' Hall on Cork Hill... The entertainment to be provided by Mr Herbert PHAIRE." On 13 April 1736, "...a meeting of the creditors of James and John HAMILTON, Esq, was called at Mr Herbert PHAIRE's in Castle Street on Monday next" (ibid). In this year, Herbert PHAIRE went to London (fn - Chancery Bill: McDONNELL v PHAIRE, 5 February 1742) where he stayed for a short time. When Hugh DICKSON, Recorder of Cork, died in 1738, he owed Herbert PHAYRE £300 (fn - Exchequer Bill: DOYLE v Archbishop of Tuam, 30 January 1740). In 1751 we find him surety at the baptism in St Peter's Church, Cork, of Noblet Herbert, son of Thomas and Ann BARRON, and in the Cork Evening Post, 8 May 1760, we read: "To be let and entered on immediately the House on the North Strand in which Mr Herbert PHAIRE formerly lived in with a garden most pleasantly situated." It seems a reasonable inference that this son of Thomas PHAIRE returned to live in Cork, and ended his days there.
He may have started the manufacture of paper at Brook Lodge, Glanmire, Cork, which was carried on for many years by the family of PHAIRE. In connection with the foregoing advertisement it is significant that the Cork Evening Post, 3 December 1759, announced the death "...in an advanced age at his house of Brook Lodge near this city, Mr Andrew O'MULLANE." We read in the Dublin Gazette and in FITZGERALD's "Cork Remembrancer":- "16 February 1771. Mr PHAIR's Paper-Mill and a great quantity of paper burned at Brook Lodge." In the Hibernian Journal, 9 April 1772, we read of an attack on Mr Edward PHAIR going to his father's at Brook Lodge, and again in the Dublin Gazette (1) 27-29 April 1775. "Mr Robert PHAIR of Brook Lodge, near Corke, to Miss SEYWARD of Mallow"; and (2) 11-14 November 1775, "Mr James CASEY to Miss PHAIR." The christian name of Robert alone stamps the husband of Miss SEYWARD as a descendant of Colonel Robert PHAIRE..
We have entered into so much detail concerning Herbert PHAIRE because an American family of the name claims descent from him, but with no certainty. No documents that have yet been disclosed give the names of his wife and children, and it cannot be too firmly emphasized that guess-work is a very slender prop to a genealogical tree, though family tradition counts for something. A process of exclusion almost inevitably leads to the belief that Herbert PHAIRE must have been the ancestor of the PHAIREs of Brook Lodge. His uncle John PHAIRE left no sons living in Ireland; his brother Onesipherus had an only son but no grandsons; and his brother Thomas died unmarried. The only possible ancestor, therefore, of the PHAIREs of Brook Lodge are Robert PHAIRE of Dunmaine and Herbert PHAIRE.
The pedigree of two distinguished descendants of Colonel Robert PHAIRE may here be given:-
"I. Polly Anne PHAIRE = (1753) Henry NIXON - see PHAIRE Pedigree above. [Issue:]
"Wilhelmina Frances (only child) = (1783) Francis HELY HUTCHINSON.
"From this NIXON=HELY HUTCHINSON marriage descends in direct line the present Earl of Donaghmore."
"II. The late Professor Edward DOWDEN, of Trinity College, Dublin, was also a descendant of Colonel Robert PHAIRE. Thus:-
"Colonel Robert PHAIRE = (1) - - - [Issue:]
" Mary PHAIRE = George GAMBLE of Cork. [Issue:]
"Edith GAMBLE = (1695) James PEIRCE of Corran, County Cork. Will pr 1719. [Issue:]
"Ann PEIRCE = (1727) Thomas ROYCROFT. [Issue:]
"Miriam ROYCROFT = (1756) Richard DOWDEN of Bandon. [Issue:]
"Richard DOWDEN, born about 1769, d 3 April 1823 = (2 June 1792) Ann SKEYS of Cork, died August 1812. [Issue:]
"John Wheeler DOWDEN, b 20 October 1799 = (May 1826) Alicia BENNETT, died 3 March 1869. [Issue:]
"Edward DOWDEN, youngest son, born 3 May 1843. Author of Shakespeare's Mind and Art, Life of Shelley, Poems, &c, Professor of English Literature, T.C.D. = (23 October 1866) Mary CLERKE, a son & two daughters.
Note - Part of the above pedigree is derived from the DOWDEN family tree, which Miss Hilda DOWDEN, younger daughter of the late Professor Edward DOWDEN, very kindly placed at the writer's service.
With a single exception documents or copies of documents exist in support of all the foregoing genealogical and other statements. The writer has abstracts of those original documents which were destroyed in the Public Record Office, Dublin. The exception is that no document is now extant to show that St Leger CHINNERY, sometime head master of the Bandon Grammar School was son of the Richard CHINNERY who married Elizabeth PHAIRE. That statement is based upon family tradition, all statements in support of it having been dispersed and lost in process of time. Perhaps the strongest proof that can be adduced on the point is that the Rev Richard St Leger CHINNERY, a practicing barrister before he took Holy Orders, had one of his daughters baptized "Elizabeth Phaire" (fn - The authority for the name of this daughter of the Rev Ricard St.L. CHINNERY is in the Registry of Deeds, Dublin, New Book, 24, 281, in which the names of his three daughters are set out, viz: Charlotte, Frances, and Elizabeth PHAIRE). His widow told her only son, who still survives, of this descent which, in the circumstances, seems to be sufficient evidence."
Of John PHAIRE , the second son, we catch one fleeting glimpse (Chancery Bill: WEBBER v PHAIRE, 31 May 1679). George WEBBER of Cork died in 1674 and made John PHAIRE, son of Colonel Robert PHAIRE, his executor, displacing Edward WEBBER, his brother, from that function. To John PHAIRE he also left £200, and all this he is alleged to have done by the persuasion of George GAMBLE. John PHAIRE died intestate in 1677, and his father took out administration of his effects. The lawsuit is against Colonel Robert PHAIRE. On the whole, I think it may be inferred that this son died unmarried.
Thomas PHAIRE, the eldest son of the second marriage, could not have been born before 1659, so that he lived only to the age of 57. He was lieutenant in a regiment of foot on the establishment of the Kingdom of Ireland, which was commanded in 1709 by Christopher, Lord Baron SLANE , but in that year having served in the regiment from the time of its first raising, he resigned his lieutenancy in favour of his eldest son Robert [fn - P.R.O., Dublin - Record Tower, Carton 255, Document 8303].
Alexander Herbert PHAIRE, second son of the second marriage, lived to a considerable age . He must have been born about 1675, perhaps some years earlier, and he died at the house of Onesipherus GAMBLE, his nephew, at Templeshannon, Enniscorthy, between June 1751 and March 1752-53. His will was signed 7 June 1751, and proved 5 March 1752-53. He had acquired a modest share in the iron-works, and had resided for several years with his nephew, who seems to have loved to induce relatives to live with him. Alexander Herbert PHAIRE collected and preserved some letters of Colonel Robert PHAIRE. The writer of the article on the latter in the Dict. Nat. Biography had access to these papers, which were then in the possession of a member of the DONOVAN family. From them we learn that the Colonel was cured of a fit of ague by his friend, Valentine GREATRAKES of Affane, County Waterford, known as "The Stroker."
The present writer has made efforts to ascertain the whereabouts of these papers now, but without success.
The only mention of a son Robert (Robin) is contained in the Chancery Bill: CUDMORE v PHAIRE, 6 June 1685. Paul CUDMORE, solicitor to the late Colonel PHAIRE, cites a letter from the Colonel to tell him "...he was then sending his son Robin to the grave who died two days before," and in her reply to this suit, the widow Elizabeth PHAIRE says (13 November 1685) that "...she cannot remember the precise time of her son Robert's death, but believes it may be a year before that of his father."
John PHAIRE, the youngest son, has a factitious interest for us by reason of the attempts made by the late John Chessell BUCKLER, F.S.A., Surrey Herald Extraordinary, and his son Charles Alban BUCKLER, to connect themselves genealogically with Colonel Robert PHAIRE through his son John. These attempts led to the production of many beautifully illustrated manuscripts now to be found in the British Museum, their destination being Add. MSs 37123 (ff. 62-64, 172-174), 37126 (ff. 158, 174, 178-9, etc).
Here is the starting point of all this futile but beautiful genealogical industry.
" John PHAIRE, youngest son (w. dated 8 July 1761, pr 18 December 1761 - Dublin Records) = Margaret, dau of COURTENAY of Cork. [Issue]:-
"Richard PHAIRE or FAIR, R.N., b 1739, ob 1805 = Ellen CREECH of Baltimore (County Cork), died Skibbereen, 1820. [Issue]:-
"Thomas FAIR = Esther WOOLIS. [Issue]:-
"a daughter = John Chessell BUCKLER."
These manuscripts further state that from Richard FAIR and Ellen CREECH above descend also Rev R.H. FAIR of Winchester, and Charles Bass FAIR of Capetown.
And upon all of this a grant of the PHAIRE Arms was made by the Ulster King at Arms in 1896 to Robert Herbert FAIR and Charles Bass FAIR. Now, to begin with, no PHAIRE married a COURTENAY. John PHAIRE, parish of Athnowen, in which Grange was situated, youngest son of Colonel PHAIRE, married (1699) Mary WHITBY, parish of St Mary, Shandon, spinster, his sureties being his nephew John FARMER of Ardra, and Roger HUSE, inn-keeper ... [indec words]& [fn - indec]. John PHAYER of Bruff, County Limerick, slater, married (1753) Margaret CONDON, parish of St Peter's, Cork, the sureties being John CONDON of Cork, cordwainer, and Richard GARDINER of the same, clothier [fn - Cork, M.L.B.].
This John PHAYER, described above as John "PHAIRE," died in 1761. His will was to be found (P.R.O., Dublin). In it he is styled "slater," he has two sons, his executor is Richard GARDINER, and a witness is John CONDON. No mention of any member, or relative, of Colonel PHAIRE's family is made, and it is absolutely beyond doubt that this slater was not Colonel PHAIRE's son. The slater's sons are not named in his will.
John PHAIRE, Colonel PHAIRE's son, left no will that can be traced. He lived for a time at Donegall Island, near Skibbereen [fn 44 - Registry of Deeds, Dublin, 21, 455, 12117], County Cork, was lieutenant in a troop of horse, and was resident in Cork City in 1749 [fn - ditto, 143, 65, 95592].
In July 1754, he was resident at Templeshannon, Enniscorthy [fn - Ditto, 190, 210, 126465]. Onesipherus PHAIRE of Templeshannon, bequeathed (will signed 2 September 1757, pr 28 November 1757) 10 to John PHAIRE of Templeshannon, "...together with all bonds and notes heretofore passed or perfected by him to me provided that he at the same time grants a full discharge of all debts, dues, demands and challenges that he may now have or ever had unto me or my heirs." And Mary PHAIRE, who also lived at Templeshannon (will signed 17 April 1762, pr 24 January 1763), makes no mention of her husband, who must therefore have died between 1757 and 1762.
John PHAIRE fell upon evil days. His health was much deranged in 1741, as we learn from a letter written at St John's, Enniscorthy, 4 October 1741, by Alexander Herbert PHAIRE to his nephew Robert PHAIRE at Grange near Cork: - "My brother Jack is so troublesome to Wat GREEN and his wife in his disorder (tho they think he is almost gon) they threaten to bring him here and leave him at the door." Mention is made in the same letter to John PHAIRE's son, elsewhere described as "young Jack PHAIRE." Alexander Herbert PHAIRE bequeathed his brother John (will pr 5 March 1753) £10 a year "...towards his support, and £5 at his decease to bury him."
Two letters of John PHAIRE are to be found in the five volumes of CAULFIELD MSs, T.C.D. One is dated 29 August 1724, but the year in which the other was written cannot be deciphered. They were both written from places in County Cork, but they do not throw light on any of the vexed questions of this essay. Before his widow's death, his sons Robert and Onesipherus appear to have left Ireland, and their whereabouts was unknown in April 1762. His daughter Henrietta married a Mr DRAPER, and he had a grand-daughter Anne PHAIRE (probably a child of John PHAIRE who married in 1727 Alice PEIRCE - Cork M.L.B.).
In the parish registers of Kinsale, County Cork, appear a number of births and burials of the children of one John PHAIRE (FAIR, FFAIRE, PHAIRES) ranging from 1703 to 1710, and again from 1731 to 1742. It is obvious that the first and second series cannot concern the same John PHAIRE. We shall therefore confine ourselves to the first series. An attempt has been made to attribute the paternity of Ann (1703), Richard (1704), Susan (1705), John (1706), --- (1708), Elizabeth (1710) PHAIR to the John PHAIRE of our investigation, but it is curious that the names of Robert, Onespiherus and Henrietta, known to be his children, do not appear in these registers.
The fact is there is not a tittle of evidence to show that John PHAIR (FAIR) of Kinsale was identical with, or in any way related to, the John PHAIRE of our inquiry, who never resided in Kinsale.
A much simpler explanation of this wilful confusion is forthcoming. On 13 September 1707, John FARE was Constable of Fryer's Street, Kinsale, and on 30 September 1728, "John FAIR, the son of a freeman, was sworn a freeman and paid 10s." (CAULFIELD's "Council Book of the Corporation of Kinsale," pp. 209 and 230). Here is the paternity of Richard FAIR the grandfather of the late John Chessell BUCKLER. The name of FAIR existed in Kinsale since 1601, but the FAIRs of that town have no connection with the family of Colonel Robert PHAIRE
Alicia PURDON, daughter of Bartholomew PURDON and Alicia JEPHSON, married Thomas PHAIRE in 1692 (Cork M.L.B.), he being in his thirty-third and she probably in her twenty-eighth year. Her parents married in 1664 (Cork M.L.B.). She survived her husband many years. We find her brother Bartholomew PURDON bequeathing her (13 May 1737) "...5s 5d per week to be paid every Monday morning," and her son Thomas (1747) bequeathing to her £10 a year. She was a woman of masterful disposition and strong common sense.
The wild and spendthrift ways of her eldest son Robert found no favour in her sight, and he seems to have lost her affection, but for her other children she laboured and planned unceasingly, carrying on "...for many years the trade or mystery of malting" [fn - indec] in the City of Cork, "...and by that means procuring a comfortable and happy subsistence" for herself and her family.
Onespherous GAMBLE, son of George GAMBLE and Mary PHAIRE, played a very large part in the history of the PHAIRE family and their relatives. He married his first cousin Elizabeth, daughter of Onesipherus PHAIRE, and widow of Major Edward ROGERS, who died in 1717.
Onesipherus GAMBLE had no children. He acquired much property in Cork, and a considerable share in the ironworks at Enniscorthy, where he finally went to reside at the Manor of St John, practising there much kindly hospitality.
He gathered about him his brother John GAMBLE, who died there in January 1750-51; his uncle Alexander Herbert PHAIRE, who died there in 1752; his uncle John PHAIRE and Aunt Mary PHAIRE, the latter dying there in 1762; his brother-in-law and first cousin Aldworth PHAIRE; and his niece Elizabeth (PEIRCE) now twice widowed. She had married first Samuel HENDERSON who died in South Carolina, where she met her 2nd husband, Bernard LASSERRE, who also died there. Then she came home with her only child, Edith HENDERSON, home to Cork, to reside with her (then) unmarried sister Sarah PEIRCE. Mrs LASSERRE's sister Sarah and her daughter Edith came also to live at the Manor of St John. Onesipherus GAMBLE was growing old (he was born 13 December 1680); his wife had probably died; Lucy SKELTON, her companion, had secretly married his brother John, 13 April 1745, and on 14 May 1754 had taken Robert HILL for her second husband, and left St John's [fn - indec]. It was necessary to bring in other relatives, and young people if possible. Mrs LASSERRE, her sister Sarah, and her daughter Edith are invited (1757). We have a letter of invitation written to Edith HENDERSON:-
"I need not inform you that you'll be all welcome here... the house is standing still, notwithstanding ye many storms... I've killed ye last bullock for ye season till grass beef come in... ye oysters soon going out of season but great plenty of 'em. My Aunt PHAIRE is to get up today. She has been so ill that her life was despaired of. Mr BENNETT since I received yours has not been here. Lord Rusborough has... Bring Trashey Sally with you, its for her good. I am."
"To Edith HENDERSON, nigh South Gate, Cork."
Dying 29 March 1762, Onesipherus GAMBLE left a large part of his estate to Mrs LASSERRE, her daughter Edith, and her sister Sarah PEIRCE, whereupon arose a fierce and long-contested litigation, the will in consequence being admitted to probate only in 1769. The suit was revived in 1783. It is interesting to record that much of the Cork property on Onesipherus GAMBLE became again the subject of litigation in 1828, and that in the course of the latter suit title deeds were produced in Cork ranging in date from January 1597 to March 1774 [fn - indec].
The original litigation about Onesipherus GAMBLE's property was set on foot by John GAMBLE, son of his brother John. The elder John GAMBLE had gone in his youth to the island of Antigua, where members of his family were people of much wealth and influence. There he had made a fortune. He returned to Cork about 1727, and on 13 December 1728, he married Anna BROWNE (Marr Cert dated 1730, 4m, 36 9 - P.R.O., Dublin), a person in humble circumstances. Two children were born of this marriage, a daughter Anne, who married in 1749 an inn-keeper named Thomas CUTTLE, and a son John. The marriage was held to be illegal, because it was performed by a Roman Catholic clergyman, said to have been the titular Bishop of Ross, and a lawsuit regarding it was heard in 1731 or 1732 in the Consistorial Court of Cork and Ross, and, on appeal, in the Court of the Archbishop of Cashel. It was during the litigation referred to above that the alleged judgement was given against Anna BROWNE in the Archbishop's Court, in 1733, that John GAMBLE Junior was therefore illegitimate, and consequently barred from heirship-at-law to his uncle's property. On John GAMBLE's side it was alleged that he had been verbally and in writing recognised as heir-at-law to his uncle, and that the will in favour of Mrs LASSERRE, Edith HENDERSON and Sarah PEIRCE had been obtained by undue influence, and that the decree invalidating the marriage of his father and mother had been obtained by collusion of the partied. John GAMBLE junior failed in his lawsuit.
Onesipherus GAMBLE's grand-niece, Edith HENDERSON, married her cousin Henry PEIRCE, and died without issue, 5 March 1805, at Innishannon, near Bandon, County Cork
We now come to the extraordinary history of Robert PHAIRE, known as Robert PHAIRE of Dunmaine, eldest son of Thomas PHAIRE of Mountpleasant, who, on 12 September 1709, obtained a commission, signed by the Lord Lieutenant Lord WHARTON, as Lieutenant in Lord Slane's Regiment, in succession to his father, Lieut Thomas PHAIRE [fn - indec]. The regiment was ordered for service in Spain, January 1710-11, and had already been embarked for a fortnight waiting for favourable weather, when young PHAIRE was told by the Lieut-Colonel in actual command that his commission was superseded by one Henry TOMPKINS, and was ordered to quit the post. PHAIRE went for redress to the Lords Justices in Dublin, but meanwhile the Regiment had proceeded to Spain. Subsequently, by April 1717, he made the curious discovery that TOMPKINS's commission was to supersede not Robert but Thomas PHAIRE, and he "...humbly conceives Mr Henry TOMPKINS's commission wrong in justice and in fact." The War Office of 1710-11 had blundered!
PHAIRE now submitted all the papers in the case before Lord Longford, who, 28 April 1717, certified his belief that the allegations were correct, and also that he had never heard of anything laid to PHAIRE's charge of misbehaviour of want of inclination for service for which he could deserve to be dismissed of lose his commission.
The Government presumably felt that something was due to PHAIRE for this precipitate action of the Lieut-Colonel, and so in 1717 he was appointed riding officer of the coast of Waterford from Tramore to Monk Church, and he went to live as paying guest at the house of Stephen WORTHEVALE, a gentleman of Cornish extraction, agent in County Waterford to Lord Doneraile [fn - indec]. WORTHEVALE had been agent to John OTTERINGTON, of Waterford, Lady Doneraile's grandfather.. PHAIRE married Mary WORTHEVALE, the only daughter f this family, he became a J.P. for the County and High Sheriff in 1722, and he kept a "pack of doggs." Mary PHAIRE nee WORTHEVALE died in 1724, and we have record of three children of this marriage, viz"- Stephen, Robert and Ann (Nancy), but their names do not appear after 1730 in any PHAIRE documents. It is just possible, however, that after the debacle to Robert PHAIRE that they may have lived with the WORTHEVALEs and have been the ancestors of the PHAIREs of Waterford, of a long subsequent date.
Robert PHAIRE, now a widower, paid his addresses in 1726 to Elizabeth GROGAN nee WHITE, widow with 5 children of Cornelius GROGAN, and daughter of John WHITE of Ballyellis, County Wexford, her mother having been a daughter of Sir Humphrey JARVIS of Dublin. He married Elizabeth GROGAN in that year, 29 Sept, and had already taken up residence at Dunmaine, where he seems to have pursued a very extravagant and spendthrift course of living. In September 1734, five children having then been born of this marriage, Elizabeth PHAIRE left her husband, who was shortly after arrested at Red Cross, in County Wicklow, on his way to Dublin, by his brother-in-law John Jervis WHITE and Edward CHAMNEY, on a charge of bigamy, lodged in Wicklow gaol, tried on 29 August 1735, convicted, and sentenced to seven year's transportation to His Majesty's Plantations in America.
An appeal was made, certain irregularities of procedure were alleged, as well as undue influence on the part of the High Sheriff of Wicklow over the jury, a majority of whom were said to have been fro acquittal; conspiracy was also alleged. PHAIRE was pardoned, but he was a ruined man. His wife refused to live with him longer, and she thenceforward resumed the name of GROGAN; he had squandered his possessions, a grant of 22 15s was made to him out of the Concordatum, 24 May 1742, and he was given a Commission in "the new levies." We next find him adjutant in Colonel Edward TRELAWNEY's regiment of foot to the garrison stationed at Rattan Island, in the Bay of Honduras, 25 December 1743 (Commission Book, vol.21, p.34, W.O. 25-21, P.R.O., London).
This island was evacuated by British troops, 26 December 1749, but the curtain falls on the career of Robert PHAIRE on 25 December 1743. He was no longer young, was probably fifty years of age when he arrived at Rattan where his age and course of life did not conduce to longevity, the climate being tropical. Yet we are told that in 1796 at all events, Rattan enjoyed "...a situation of remarkable health, with excellent water, and a fertile soil producing in spontaneous abundance many of the necessities of life" (History of the British West Indies, by Bryan EDWARDS, iv, 74). Of the five children of this unhappy marriage only one, Elizabeth, survived to full age, and it is touching to read her letter, 6 April 1802, to John Know GROGAN: "This picture is my great-grandmother, Lady JARVIS, which I gave in keeping to your father after my mother's death, requesting your mother to wear it as neither would accept it as a present from me" (BETHAM MSs, Add MSs 23689).
Elizabeth GROGAN nee WHITE died in 1754. She was born 5 August 1702, and when in 1726 she married Robert PHAIRE, she had already borne five children. Women often married very young in the early part of he eighteenth century.
Herbert PHAIRE, second son of Thomas of Mountpleasant, was born in 1697 (fn - Answer to Chancery Bill: WOLSELEY v PHAIRE, 10 June 1728), and he obtained employment in the revenue, apparently about 1717, in succession to his eldest brother Robert (fn - Exchequer Bill: PHAIRE v PHAIRE, 14 May 1720). Subsequently he took up the business of vintner in Cork, in which he seems to have conjoined his brother-in-law Richard CHINNERY.
In CAULFIELD's "Council Book of the Corporation of Cork" we find such entries as follows:- "5 December 1726. That Mr Herbert PHAIRE's two bills for two entertainments on 1 August and 29 October, one for £30 3s 9d, the other for £28 17s 2d, be paid"; "15 November 1727... payment of £51 15s 8d to Mr Herbert PHAYRE, the expense the day of the King's coronation," and other entries of the same tenor, including this:- "30 April 1739. That Rich'd CHINNERY's bill for an entertainment at Blackrock Castle, 9 August, £17 4s 2d, be paid."
It will interest members of the Masonic Order to learn that in 1729 John Lord Kingston was installed Provincial Grand Master of Munster at the house of Brother Herbert PHAIRE in Cork (fn - Extracts from "Masonic Notes," by F.C. CROSALE, M.B., Vol III, p.339), who in 1749 was Senior Warden of Lodge No 1, Cork (GOULD's "History of Freemasons", vol. iii). About 1733 PHAIRE transferred his business, or part of it, to Dublin. We read as follows:- "1733. Christmas. PHAIRE Herbert, coquus gr. espl." Roll of Freemen of the City of Dublin, vol. iii, edited by Gertrude THRIFT (P.R.O., Dublin). It may be noted that, in the various guilds, cooks and vintners formed one class: hence the "coquus" above. The name of Herbert PHAIRE's wife is unknown, nor do we have any information as to his children. His wife, Mary "FAIRE," was buried in St Andrew's Churchyard, Dublin, 15 November 1845, and the registers of the same parish contain the baptisms of Jane PHAIR and George William FAIR, children of John PHAIR (FAIR), 19 December 1761 and 24 June 1764 respectively.
This John PHAIR (FAIR) may have been Herbert's son, but we do not know. He is presumably one of the parties to a Deed 223, 206, 147952: 18 September 1761 (Registry of Deeds, Dublin): Memorial of a Deed of Lease between John PHAIRE, gent, and John SHEARER of Marylebone Lane in the suburbs of the City of Dublin, linen weaver. And probably he is also the plaintiff in the Chancery suit, 8 April 1771: John PHAIR v Edward GAMBLE (fn - indec.). John PHAIR is described in this suit as "...of the City of Dublin, dealer."
We have some records of Herbert PHAIRE's life in Dublin. On 9 December 1735, "...a meeting of the Munster Gentlemen" was announced in Pue's Occurrences for "...Monday next at the Stationers' Hall on Cork Hill... The entertainment to be provided by Mr Herbert PHAIRE." On 13 April 1736, "...a meeting of the creditors of James and John HAMILTON, Esq, was called at Mr Herbert PHAIRE's in Castle Street on Monday next" (ibid). In this year, Herbert PHAIRE went to London (fn - Chancery Bill: McDONNELL v PHAIRE, 5 February 1742) where he stayed for a short time. When Hugh DICKSON, Recorder of Cork, died in 1738, he owed Herbert PHAYRE £300 (fn - Exchequer Bill: DOYLE v Archbishop of Tuam, 30 January 1740). In 1751 we find him surety at the baptism in St Peter's Church, Cork, of Noblet Herbert, son of Thomas and Ann BARRON, and in the Cork Evening Post, 8 May 1760, we read: "To be let and entered on immediately the House on the North Strand in which Mr Herbert PHAIRE formerly lived in with a garden most pleasantly situated." It seems a reasonable inference that this son of Thomas PHAIRE returned to live in Cork, and ended his days there.
He may have started the manufacture of paper at Brook Lodge, Glanmire, Cork, which was carried on for many years by the family of PHAIRE. In connection with the foregoing advertisement it is significant that the Cork Evening Post, 3 December 1759, announced the death "...in an advanced age at his house of Brook Lodge near this city, Mr Andrew O'MULLANE." We read in the Dublin Gazette and in FITZGERALD's "Cork Remembrancer":- "16 February 1771. Mr PHAIR's Paper-Mill and a great quantity of paper burned at Brook Lodge." In the Hibernian Journal, 9 April 1772, we read of an attack on Mr Edward PHAIR going to his father's at Brook Lodge, and again in the Dublin Gazette (1) 27-29 April 1775. "Mr Robert PHAIR of Brook Lodge, near Corke, to Miss SEYWARD of Mallow"; and (2) 11-14 November 1775, "Mr James CASEY to Miss PHAIR." The christian name of Robert alone stamps the husband of Miss SEYWARD as a descendant of Colonel Robert PHAIRE..
We have entered into so much detail concerning Herbert PHAIRE because an American family of the name claims descent from him, but with no certainty. No documents that have yet been disclosed give the names of his wife and children, and it cannot be too firmly emphasized that guess-work is a very slender prop to a genealogical tree, though family tradition counts for something. A process of exclusion almost inevitably leads to the belief that Herbert PHAIRE must have been the ancestor of the PHAIREs of Brook Lodge. His uncle John PHAIRE left no sons living in Ireland; his brother Onesipherus had an only son but no grandsons; and his brother Thomas died unmarried. The only possible ancestor, therefore, of the PHAIREs of Brook Lodge are Robert PHAIRE of Dunmaine and Herbert PHAIRE.
The pedigree of two distinguished descendants of Colonel Robert PHAIRE may here be given:-
"I. Polly Anne PHAIRE = (1753) Henry NIXON - see PHAIRE Pedigree above. [Issue:]
"Wilhelmina Frances (only child) = (1783) Francis HELY HUTCHINSON.
"From this NIXON=HELY HUTCHINSON marriage descends in direct line the present Earl of Donaghmore."
"II. The late Professor Edward DOWDEN, of Trinity College, Dublin, was also a descendant of Colonel Robert PHAIRE. Thus:-
"Colonel Robert PHAIRE = (1) - - - [Issue:]
" Mary PHAIRE = George GAMBLE of Cork. [Issue:]
"Edith GAMBLE = (1695) James PEIRCE of Corran, County Cork. Will pr 1719. [Issue:]
"Ann PEIRCE = (1727) Thomas ROYCROFT. [Issue:]
"Miriam ROYCROFT = (1756) Richard DOWDEN of Bandon. [Issue:]
"Richard DOWDEN, born about 1769, d 3 April 1823 = (2 June 1792) Ann SKEYS of Cork, died August 1812. [Issue:]
"John Wheeler DOWDEN, b 20 October 1799 = (May 1826) Alicia BENNETT, died 3 March 1869. [Issue:]
"Edward DOWDEN, youngest son, born 3 May 1843. Author of Shakespeare's Mind and Art, Life of Shelley, Poems, &c, Professor of English Literature, T.C.D. = (23 October 1866) Mary CLERKE, a son & two daughters.
Note - Part of the above pedigree is derived from the DOWDEN family tree, which Miss Hilda DOWDEN, younger daughter of the late Professor Edward DOWDEN, very kindly placed at the writer's service.
With a single exception documents or copies of documents exist in support of all the foregoing genealogical and other statements. The writer has abstracts of those original documents which were destroyed in the Public Record Office, Dublin. The exception is that no document is now extant to show that St Leger CHINNERY, sometime head master of the Bandon Grammar School was son of the Richard CHINNERY who married Elizabeth PHAIRE. That statement is based upon family tradition, all statements in support of it having been dispersed and lost in process of time. Perhaps the strongest proof that can be adduced on the point is that the Rev Richard St Leger CHINNERY, a practicing barrister before he took Holy Orders, had one of his daughters baptized "Elizabeth Phaire" (fn - The authority for the name of this daughter of the Rev Ricard St.L. CHINNERY is in the Registry of Deeds, Dublin, New Book, 24, 281, in which the names of his three daughters are set out, viz: Charlotte, Frances, and Elizabeth PHAIRE). His widow told her only son, who still survives, of this descent which, in the circumstances, seems to be sufficient evidence."
________________________________________________________________________________
THE PEDIGREE OF THE FAMILY OF COLONEL ROBERT PHAIRE, REGICIDE.
And so to the major item for this blog-page, very largely sourced from WELPLY's excellent article of 1924-27 (see below).
.jpg)
Arms - "Gules, a Fer de moulin Argent, a baston Azure."
[Same Arms as Sir Guy FERRE of Benhall, Suffolk, Edward II Roll - see Joseph FOSTER's "Some Feudal Coats of Arms" from which the above illustration is reproduced.]
Or instead "Gules, a cross recerclée Argent, a baston Azure" [SEGAR and HARLEIAN Rolls].
HIS POSSIBLE ANCESTRAL FAMILY.
Or instead "Gules, a cross recerclée Argent, a baston Azure" [SEGAR and HARLEIAN Rolls].
HIS POSSIBLE ANCESTRAL FAMILY.
Sir Richard PHAIRE, of Stokesley, Yorkshire; married with issue:
1. John PHAIRE, baptised at Stokesley, 26 August 1576; probably married, with issue:
a. Richard PHAIRE, baptised at Stokesley, 18 September 1601.
b. Elizabeth PHAYRE, bapt ditto, 15 January 1604.
c. Jane PHAIRE, bapt ditto, 21 January 1606.
d. Phillip PHAIRE, bapt ditto, 21 February 1608.
e. Els PHAIRE, bapt ditto, 26 May 1611.
f. Emanuel PHAIRE, bapt Stokesley, 4 September 1619; probably married twice, with issue.
2. Emanuel PHAIRE, baptised at Stokesley, 3 June 1559. Possibly the Rev gentleman who went to Ireland. See [A] below.
3. Anne PHAIRE, baptised ditto, 19 August 1581.
4. Fauncis PHAIRE, baptised ditto, 12 January 1584.
5. Elisabeth PHAIRE, baptised ditto, 26 March 1586.
------------------------------------
Rev Luke PHEYRE, born Yorkshire, about 1590, Vicar of Abbots Bickington, 1616; father of William PHARE who succeeded him at Abbots Bickington in 1631. Possibly related to the above.
------------------------------------
Emanuel PHAIR, yeoman of Sutcombe, Devon, was named as a witness (with Samuel PHAIER and Thomas PHAIR or PAYNE?) to the will, signed 1 May 1649, of his father-in-law, George PRIDEAUX of Sutcombe, Devon (proved P.C.C., 2 April 1651), and named as alternate Executor in the event that his son might refuse to so act (the son was named as Executor in the Probate Grant). This Emanuel was probably baptized at Sutcombe, 19 January 1600, son of Miles PHAIER (adm Brasenose Coll, Oxon, 20 July 1578, aged 20, born Lancashire; M.A. 1585; Rector of Sutcombe, 1596). Emanuel died intestate in 1670, and administration of his effects was granted to his kinsmen, Thomas PHAYRE of Sutcombe (his will 1677), Samuel PHAYRE of Werrington (his will 1671) and John HOCKING of Frithelstock (his wife was Ann PHAYRE), all in Devon.
This family was possibly related to the next.
HIS PROBABLE FATHER, IN HOLY ORDERS.
HIS PROBABLE FATHER, IN HOLY ORDERS.
[A] Emanuel PHAIRE (or PHERE, PHAYER, etc), possibly born at Stokesley, Yorks, 1579; A.B., ordained Deacon by William, Bishop of Oxford, 23 December 1604, and Priested by the Bishop next day; Vicar of Kilshannig, County Cork, 1612 until 1641; already in Ireland, 8 January 1612, when he attested to "...the delivery to John TRAVERS, Registrar, of Cork, of the books of wills, etc, by Ellin GOULDE"; mentioned in 1615 - "Kilshannig residens, Rectoria impropriata. Cormack Donogh CARTY, firmarius. Vicarius Emanuel PHAIRE. Val. 4 li p.a. Ecclesia et cancella ruinatur" - and in 1634, Vicar, "...val. 12 li p.a."; Vicar also of Clonmeen and Roskeen, 1615, and Curate of Kilbrin and Castlemagner (under Vicar Peter BETTESWORTH, who was also subulter), 1615, all Impropriate Rectories in the gift of John JEPHSON, Miles, the church at Clonmeen being in good repair, the one at Roskeen being in ruins; P. of Kilmacleny, 1633, although recorded at "Kilmaclenine, Emanuel PHAIR, A.B., val. 10 li p.a." in 1621, and admitted there 6 June 1621 by Letters Patent of King James dated 9 March, and installed 18 June; of Mourne Abbey, 1634 and 1641.
Emanuel made his deposition concerning the plundering by the rebels "...at Candlemas last" of his estates at Kilvalid, parish of Kilshannig, on 23 May 1642, claiming losses of £87 (including cows and yearlings, £12; hay, 20s; household stuff, £10; assessed improved value on remaining 12 years of the lease of Kilvalid Farm, £40; ditto on lease of another farm at Quarterstown, £18); this is the last mention yet found in records for Emanuel PHAIRE.
Emanuel PHAIRE was married, and it has been speculated that his wife was a JEWELL, as their son Colonel Robert PHAIRE mentioned in his will a cousin William JEWELL; and it appears that Sir John JEPHSON, of Froyle, Hants, and of Castle Mallow, County Cork, who had the gift of the ecclesiastical livings in Ireland enjoyed by Emanuel PHAIRE before the Rebellion, had a sister, Catherine JEPHSON, who was married to a John JEWELL; which presumed brother-in-law of a brother-in-law relationship might account for Emanuel being enticed to go over to Ireland when he did.
However, Alison TROWELL has recently contacted me, and her research in Devon records indicates that an Emanuel PHAIRE was married to Jean PRIDEAUX, a daughter of George PRIDEAUX of Devon, and was an executor of his father-in-law's will. But it would appear that this Emanuel PHAYRE was probably not the Reverend one (see above).
However, Alison TROWELL has recently contacted me, and her research in Devon records indicates that an Emanuel PHAIRE was married to Jean PRIDEAUX, a daughter of George PRIDEAUX of Devon, and was an executor of his father-in-law's will. But it would appear that this Emanuel PHAYRE was probably not the Reverend one (see above).
Emanuel PHAIRE and his wife had issue, perhaps among others, a son Robert PHAIRE. See [B] next.
Some researchers have suggested that there was another son, un-named; this is, of course, quite possible, and might account for the origins of other Irish PHAIRE families -although the lack of any mention by Colonel Robert of PHAIRE nephews or nieces in his will does rather tend to rule this possibility out.
HIS EARLY DAYS AND A REBELLION.
Some researchers have suggested that there was another son, un-named; this is, of course, quite possible, and might account for the origins of other Irish PHAIRE families -although the lack of any mention by Colonel Robert of PHAIRE nephews or nieces in his will does rather tend to rule this possibility out.
HIS EARLY DAYS AND A REBELLION.
[B] Robert PHAIRE, born County Cork, about 1618-19; not much is known of him before the start of the Rebellion in November 1641, when he would have been aged about 22, and probably as yet unmarried; on the day after his father, he too deposed before the Commissioners that his property at Kilvalid had also been despoiled, to the value of £51 10s (including cows, £15 10s; hay, 30s; outstanding debts due from Edmund ROCHE, one of the rebels, £24; corn in ground, 5 10s; and improved value of leasehold at Quarterstown, £9).
During the early stages of the Rebellion, until the first Cessation of Arms negotiated in September 1643, it appears that Robert saw Army service, possibly with William JEPHSON, and probably under the command of Murrough O'BRIEN, the Earl of Inchiquin; but whether he went to England with Inchiquin, to serve King Charles in his battles against Parliamentary forces, is unknown; if he did, and then returned to Ireland with Inchiquin in 1644, then it is not impossible that he may have made his first marriage, for which we have no record, in England - although he would have had very little time for wooing her.
FIRST ARREST: A PRISONER EXCHANGE INTO ENGLAND.
PHAIRE was commissioned Lieutenant-Colonel, 17 September 1646, evidently on the recommendation of Sir Hardress WALLER; but when Inchiquin changed sides again, Robert remained loyal to the Parliamentary cause; whereupon he was arrested and "...imprisoned in several castles," February 1648, and with several colleagues (Sir William FENTON and Major Nicholas PURDON), became the subject of a prisoner exchange by which Inchiquin obtained the release and return to Ireland of his own son. The exchange was completed by the return voyage of the ship Assurance, under command of the Roundhead Admiral, William PENN Senior (father of the Quaker founder of Pennsylvania), who took a Dutch prize (14 guns) on the return voyage to Bristol, in December 1648, and which brought Robert PHAIRE back to England; and very shortly to the attention of Oliver CROMWELL himself.
For, in January 1649, Robert was one of three Colonels to whom was addressed the warrant for the death of King Charles, the other two being Francis HACKER and Hercules HUNKS; but PHAIRE and HUNCKS both declined to sign the orders to the executioner, which alleged "refusal" to do so may have contributed to their lenient treatment after the Restoration.
HIS MILITARY RETURN INTO IRELAND.
Still on good terms with CROMWELL, Colonel PHAIRE raised a regiment "...of Kent" and, as part of CROMWELL's Army, he took the regiment to Ireland in August 1649, assisting at the Siege of Drogheda in September 1649; and he was in New Ross, November 1649, when CROMWELL sent him to Cork, receiving the capitulation of the Youghal garrison on the way. The Earl of Inchiquin, in Cork with his army, had previously reverted his loyalty back to the Royalists, but many of his officers were unhappy, some deserting to the Parliament, and others threatening to follow suit. CROMWELL, aware of the usefulness of this eventuality, had already been communicating with them through PHAYRE - which made him the natural choice to folloe it through, assisting Lord BROGHILL in the process..
During the early stages of the Rebellion, until the first Cessation of Arms negotiated in September 1643, it appears that Robert saw Army service, possibly with William JEPHSON, and probably under the command of Murrough O'BRIEN, the Earl of Inchiquin; but whether he went to England with Inchiquin, to serve King Charles in his battles against Parliamentary forces, is unknown; if he did, and then returned to Ireland with Inchiquin in 1644, then it is not impossible that he may have made his first marriage, for which we have no record, in England - although he would have had very little time for wooing her.
FIRST ARREST: A PRISONER EXCHANGE INTO ENGLAND.
PHAIRE was commissioned Lieutenant-Colonel, 17 September 1646, evidently on the recommendation of Sir Hardress WALLER; but when Inchiquin changed sides again, Robert remained loyal to the Parliamentary cause; whereupon he was arrested and "...imprisoned in several castles," February 1648, and with several colleagues (Sir William FENTON and Major Nicholas PURDON), became the subject of a prisoner exchange by which Inchiquin obtained the release and return to Ireland of his own son. The exchange was completed by the return voyage of the ship Assurance, under command of the Roundhead Admiral, William PENN Senior (father of the Quaker founder of Pennsylvania), who took a Dutch prize (14 guns) on the return voyage to Bristol, in December 1648, and which brought Robert PHAIRE back to England; and very shortly to the attention of Oliver CROMWELL himself.
For, in January 1649, Robert was one of three Colonels to whom was addressed the warrant for the death of King Charles, the other two being Francis HACKER and Hercules HUNKS; but PHAIRE and HUNCKS both declined to sign the orders to the executioner, which alleged "refusal" to do so may have contributed to their lenient treatment after the Restoration.
HIS MILITARY RETURN INTO IRELAND.
Still on good terms with CROMWELL, Colonel PHAIRE raised a regiment "...of Kent" and, as part of CROMWELL's Army, he took the regiment to Ireland in August 1649, assisting at the Siege of Drogheda in September 1649; and he was in New Ross, November 1649, when CROMWELL sent him to Cork, receiving the capitulation of the Youghal garrison on the way. The Earl of Inchiquin, in Cork with his army, had previously reverted his loyalty back to the Royalists, but many of his officers were unhappy, some deserting to the Parliament, and others threatening to follow suit. CROMWELL, aware of the usefulness of this eventuality, had already been communicating with them through PHAYRE - which made him the natural choice to folloe it through, assisting Lord BROGHILL in the process..
Shortly after, in 1650, CROMWELL appointed him Governor of Cork, and to a commission (together with Lord BROGHILL, his old prisoner exchange colleague Sir William FENTON, and Admirals BLAKE and DEANE) for settling the affairs of Munster; and in 1654, PHAIRE was made a Justice of the Peace for County Cork, as we shall see from an item which recounted his earlier activities, as follows:
"24 March 1654 - Coll Robert PHAIR, now Governor of Cork, aged thirty-five, about the latter end of August 1649, presently after the landing of Lord Lieutenant CROMWELL, knew divers prisoners of his old acquaintance who were in the Lord Inchiquin's army, and taken at the route before Dublin, which he knew to be honest hearted towards the English interest; and some of these stayed, by his advice, in Inchiquin's army on purpose to serve such interest; and therefore this exam't made it his request to L'd-Lieutenant CROMWELL and Lord IRETON, that such of the prisoners as he should choose might have paroles to come down to Munster to procure their ransom and exchange, which was only a disguise for their employment thither in County Cork, and had instructions to several well-effected persons to inform them of the Lord-Lieut's design to redeem the English inhab's of said county and parts adjacent from the bondage that Inchiquin had brought them under - said persons to return within a month to give an account of their proceedings; which service all the undermentioned persons did perform except Capt EAMES, who was betrayed and imprisoned and was like to be hang'd; the names of the persons employed were Capt John EAMES, Lieut Rob't FOULKE, Capt Rob't TOWNESEND, & others dep't doth not remember, only Lieut Thos GILBERT; the last mentioned was to repair to Castlemawne, County Kerry, and acquaint Cornet John JOANES, then Gov'r, to prepare the place with provisions, and hold said castle until L'd-Lieut CROMWELL would send forces thither, but the return said GILBERT gave was, that the Cornet was put out of the castle by Inchiquin, at which the Cornet was much troubled."
["The Council Book of the Corporation of the City of Cork, 1609-43 and 1680-100," Edited by Richard CAULFIELD, Billings and Son, Guildford, Surrey, 1876, Appendix B, pages 1164-65. Cited in part in an item by C.H.E. CARMICHAEL in Notes and Queries, 6th Series, Volume II, 21 August 1880, page 150.]
Again in 1654, and as cited by J.P. PRENDERGAST ["The Cromwellian Settlement of Ireland," Notes and Queries, 9th Series, VI, 8 December 1900, page 47], PHAIRE, along with others (probably the above-mentioned commission), was given powers to set aside lands in Orrery, Condon and Duhallo, and other baronies in County Cork, in satisfaction of arrears due to troops being named in the schedule annexed to the commission; and in one of the orders authorizing partial disbandment of certain regiments, Captain CARTARETT's Company of Colonel PHAIRE's Regiment is mentioned as acquiring lands in County Wexford - this appears to be one of the less scrupulous ways in which PHAIRE may have acquired extensive estates, by "purchasing" or otherwise acquiring the arrears vouches of their ordinary soldiers who did not wish to take up properties in Ireland when their companies were disbanded.
"24 March 1654 - Coll Robert PHAIR, now Governor of Cork, aged thirty-five, about the latter end of August 1649, presently after the landing of Lord Lieutenant CROMWELL, knew divers prisoners of his old acquaintance who were in the Lord Inchiquin's army, and taken at the route before Dublin, which he knew to be honest hearted towards the English interest; and some of these stayed, by his advice, in Inchiquin's army on purpose to serve such interest; and therefore this exam't made it his request to L'd-Lieutenant CROMWELL and Lord IRETON, that such of the prisoners as he should choose might have paroles to come down to Munster to procure their ransom and exchange, which was only a disguise for their employment thither in County Cork, and had instructions to several well-effected persons to inform them of the Lord-Lieut's design to redeem the English inhab's of said county and parts adjacent from the bondage that Inchiquin had brought them under - said persons to return within a month to give an account of their proceedings; which service all the undermentioned persons did perform except Capt EAMES, who was betrayed and imprisoned and was like to be hang'd; the names of the persons employed were Capt John EAMES, Lieut Rob't FOULKE, Capt Rob't TOWNESEND, & others dep't doth not remember, only Lieut Thos GILBERT; the last mentioned was to repair to Castlemawne, County Kerry, and acquaint Cornet John JOANES, then Gov'r, to prepare the place with provisions, and hold said castle until L'd-Lieut CROMWELL would send forces thither, but the return said GILBERT gave was, that the Cornet was put out of the castle by Inchiquin, at which the Cornet was much troubled."
["The Council Book of the Corporation of the City of Cork, 1609-43 and 1680-100," Edited by Richard CAULFIELD, Billings and Son, Guildford, Surrey, 1876, Appendix B, pages 1164-65. Cited in part in an item by C.H.E. CARMICHAEL in Notes and Queries, 6th Series, Volume II, 21 August 1880, page 150.]
Again in 1654, and as cited by J.P. PRENDERGAST ["The Cromwellian Settlement of Ireland," Notes and Queries, 9th Series, VI, 8 December 1900, page 47], PHAIRE, along with others (probably the above-mentioned commission), was given powers to set aside lands in Orrery, Condon and Duhallo, and other baronies in County Cork, in satisfaction of arrears due to troops being named in the schedule annexed to the commission; and in one of the orders authorizing partial disbandment of certain regiments, Captain CARTARETT's Company of Colonel PHAIRE's Regiment is mentioned as acquiring lands in County Wexford - this appears to be one of the less scrupulous ways in which PHAIRE may have acquired extensive estates, by "purchasing" or otherwise acquiring the arrears vouches of their ordinary soldiers who did not wish to take up properties in Ireland when their companies were disbanded.
A BUSINESS VENTURE - THE ENNISCORTHY IRON-WORKS.
Robert PHAIRE was back in London, where on 8 July 1657 he met by appointment with Thomas YATE (later Principal of Brasenose College, Oxford) and secured agreement for a company, comprising YATE, John CUTLER, Edward HEATH, Robert CLAYTON (later Governor of the Bank of England), Didier FOURCHANT, Bethiah ABBOTT and John CHAPMAN, to establish and operate an iron-ore mine and a smelting furnace at Enniscorthy, County Wexford; as PHAIRE was returning to Ireland, he was overtaken at Gloucester by Timothy STAMPE, who had been appointed Agent for the company, and together they completed the journey; STAMPE inspected the Enniscorthy site, and advised his principals that they had insufficient funds for complete purchase, and induced PHAIRE and other owners to accept shares in the company as part payment; from this starting point, the PHAIRE family had, by 1730, become the sole owners of the works.
This arrangement came about after the lands of Monart, in County Wexford, were granted to PHAYRE and several other officers, as explained by T.C. BERNARD ["An Anglo-Irish Industrial Enterprise: Iron-Making at Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford," Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, Volume 85C, 1985, at page 108], who wrote:
"The lands around Monart had before 1641 belonged to Dudley COLCLOUGH. In the 1650s, COLCLOUGH's estates had been confiscated on account of his alleged role in the rebellion of the previous decade, and had been granted to a group of army officers in partial recompense for their military service. Several of the officers, of whom the most important was Colonel Robert PHAIRE, had already settled, or would soon settle, permanently in Ireland. Even so, they were willing to sell Monart and agreed to do so at a price of 8,500 pounds. STAMPE had undertaken to pay the purchase price as his considerable stake in the partnership. But when the initial payment had to be made, STAMPE lacked the ready cash. Instead, he produced a letter-of-credit from Dr YATE. This letter, together with the high commercial standing of the partners whom SYAMPE represented, reassured PHAIRE, and the sale went ahead. By the beginning of 1658, thanks to STAMPE's activities, the partners enjoyed the use of the Monart estate and could proceed to build their first forge there. Unfortunately, PHAIRE soon repented of the trust which he had placed in STAMPE who, unable to pay the instalments of the purchase money which he had promised, mortgaged the property back to PHAIRE. As a result, PHAIRE strengthened his legal lien over Monart and undermined the title of the partners to an essential part of their lands."
On 15 October 1657, Colonel PHAIRE wrote from Rostelane, County Cork, to Henry CROMWELL, and the original letter (British Museum, Lansdowne Manuscripts, 281, folio 220) has the signature, "Rob't PHAIER," which is deemed, by those who have seen both, to have been identical to the signature on the 1642 deposition concerning the despoiling of Kilvalide.
And which, if correct, also suggests that we have the spelling of the name wrong!
During the Cromwellian inter-regnum, there was shown a considerable degree of religious tolerance towards non-established sects, in particular the Quakers, and new forms of diverse sects arose. PHAIRE was observed attending Quaker meetings in Cork, as mentioned by Maj-Gen Henry CROMWELL in his letter dated at Dublin on 6 February 1655[-56]:
"Our most considerable enemy now in our view are the quakers, who begin to growe in some reputation in the county of Corke: their meetings are being attended frequently by Col. PHAIRE, Major WALLIS and most of the chief officers thereabout. Some of our souldiers have bin perverted by them, and amongst the rest, his highness cornet of his iron troop is a professed quaker and hath writte to mein their stile. Major HODDER, Governor of Kinsale, is I feare going their way: he keeps one of them to preache to his souldiers.I think their principles and practices are not very consistent with civil government, much less so with the discipline of an army. Some think they have noe designe, but I am not of that opinion. Their counterfeit simplicitie renders them the more dangerous."
[Cited by W.W. C---K in Notes and Queries, 6th Series, 5 November 1881, page 371.]
CROMWELL clearly spoke his mind - but he would have known that it was not beyond PHAIRE's responsibilities as Governor of Cork was to keep an eye on groups like the Quakers, and attending meetings would have been an integral part of that surveillance - although we now know that PHAIRE was at least sympathetic to their causes.
Indeed, some believed that PHAIRE had become one of that Society of Friends; however, the records kept by the Quakers were both detailed and extensive, and none of the surviving records mention him as being a member. He did, however, join the Muggletonians (see further below).
THE RESTORATION - SECOND ARREST AND IMPRISONMENT.
Upon the Restoration, Colonel PHAIRE was arrested in Cork, and on 29 May 1660 was escorted to Dublin by 50 troops, of whom it has been said that they offered PHAIRE a chance to escape, but that he chose to proceed voluntarily with them, and to his judgement.
From Dublin, PHAIRE, together with Colonel HUNKS, Captain William HOWLETT and Counsellor John COOKE, under the guard of Captain Hugh CLOTWORTHY, was conducted through Chester to London, and there, by Order of the Council, dated 13 June 1660, committed to the Tower.
But Robert was not put on his trial as a Regicide; and on 28 February 1662 he was paroled for 3 months for the recovery of his health into the care of his second and recently acquired father-in-law, Sir Thomas HERBERT (he had been rewarded by the new King with a Baronetcy for his dutiful service to his late father, the executed King, as a Groom of the Privy Chamber), then residing in Petty France (later York Street) in Westminster; on 6 June 1662 his parole was extended by another 2 months; and then, on 22 June, the Council at Hampton Court ordered that he be released on his own surety to appear in Dublin on 24 August 1662, there to render himself to the Lord Lieutenant, James BUTLER, the Duke of Ormonde.
Before being paroled and released, PHAIRE's name was removed from the list of Regicides, on the recommendation of the Duke of Ormonde, and apparently by the hand of the King himself; but when he was brought before the King's Council, he was requested to provide evidence against the other Regicides, which he is said to have declined, resulting him being returned to the Tower; and then again, for a second time; finally, after Ormonde offered to be bound for him, he was requested to take the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy, after which his pardon would be made out; he said he would take the first and keep it religiously, but could not take the second, as he believed that only Christ could be the head of his church; fortunately for PHAIRE, the King's brother, the Duke of York, cracked hardy over this last response, evidently declaring: "Would my brother have Colonel PHAIRE swear that he is the head of the Church of Christ - I swear by God he is not!"; and when the King apprehended the cause of the ensuing laughter, saw the humour in it, and gave PHAIRE his pardon.
This event, recorded by the Colonel's son Alexander Herbert PHAIRE in a letter dated 1742, would have undoubtedly precipitated the Council's release order of 22 June 1662.
It is highly likely that Thomas HERBERT's family grew up at Court - Grooms of the Privy Chamber were on full-time duty, and were lodged, with their families, in the Palace grounds; and so it is likely that Charles (II) and his brother were acquainted with Elizabeth HERBERT during their childhood, and perhaps well acquainted if she, like her predecessors, was regarded as one of the "Maids of Honour" (such as Queen Elizabeth had to entertain her Court before the rule of King James I and VI, Charles II's grandfather). A very handy wife for PHAIRE to have recently acquired!
HIS PAROLE, PARDON, AND RETURN TO IRELAND.
But PHAIRE was late for his Dublin appointment with his surety, the Lord Lieutenant, the Duke of Ormonde. He cited being held up in County Devon, on the journey over - which has been interpreted to indicate a perhaps likely relationship to the PHAYRE family which had continued connections in that County.
Thereafter, PHAIRE was restored to his estates in the counties Cork and Wexford, kept the peace, and so had quiet enjoyment of them; and although suggestions were made of his implication in a disturbance in June 1663, no evidence was forthcoming, and he continued to live unmolested by the authorities, despite his being "...a marked man."
One of his detractors was Roger BOYLE (the 3rd son of Richard BOYLE, 1st Earl of Cork), the former Baron of Broghill (1628), and later the Earl of Orrery (1660), who arrested PHAIRE in 1663, committed him to imprisonment in the King's Citadel in Limerick, and reported the fact to the His Majesty. It had earlier been alleged, perhaps by BOYLE himself, that PHAIRE had stacked juries in property cases heard during the inter-regnum by Justice and Regicide John COOKE (with whom PHAIRE had remained on very good terms), and which were often adjudicated to BOYLE's disadvantage.
PHAIRE was again accused of plotting against the government in Munster in 1666, but again he escaped censure and without penalty, it is said by the intervention of Lord Clancarty [Notes and Queries, 5th Series, XII, 18 October 1879, pages 311-2].
In late 1669, William PENN Junior, the future founder of Pennsylvania, visited Ireland to sort out property arrangements (leases, etc) in Munster for his father, William PENN Senior, the former Cromwellian Admiral who had transported PHAIRE on the prisoner exchange over to Bristol in 1648; and while he was at it, PENN Junior also took his opportunities to plead for persecuted Quakers in the Kingdom.
PENN's diary of his visit ["My Irish Journal" - viewable on the www.ucc.ie web-site] makes many mentions of Colonel PHAIRE (without the E), and some of his relations, as follows:
24 November 1669 - Thomas GOOKIN, Colonel PHAIR and Priest ROULES dined here [in Dublin].
25 November 1669 - ...from thence to Colonel PHAIR's lodgings where I met Sir St John BRODERICK, where we discussed PHAIR's matters...
26 November 1669 - ...Colonel PHAIR came to see me...
27 November 1669 - Sir Amos MEREDITH, Colonel PHAIR, Lt-Col WALKER dined with me at my lodging [still in Dublin].
PENN left Dublin on 30 November and travelled via Rathcool, Carlow, Clonmel and Tallow, arriving at Cork on 6 December.
6 December 1669 - I left Colonel BENT's and went to see Colonel PHAIR's wife...
12 December 1669 - ...went to see Colonel PHAIR's wife...
20 December 1669 - We went to Colonel PHAIR's. We supped there; lay at Colonel PHAIR's.
23 December 1669 - Went about admeasuring P. WALKHAM's land... So to Colonel PHAIR's, who has come home.
25 December 1669 - ... and I went to Cork by Colonel PHAIR's, where first we dined.
11 January 1669-70 - Colonel PHAIR came to see me; we went to GALE's.
18 January 1669-70 - Colonel PHAIR and SAPH and their wives...GALE and John PHAIR came to see me...
19 January 1669-70 - I went to Colonel PHAIR's with Capt GALE; lay there.
20 January 1669-70 - Colonel PHAIR and I went to Garrett FITZGERALD's of Lisquinlan to view Clonmain.
21 January 1669-70 - I went and Colonel WALLIS to Colonel PHAIR's about the reference... To Colonel PHAIR's servant 1s.
1 February 1669-70 - Major FARMER and Major WOODLEY came to Capt BENT's; I spoke to them, from thence we went to Cork, Capt BOLES being with us. We met Colonel PHAIR, his wife and several of his family.
2 February 1669-70 - From Cork we went to Kinsale. I was at the Fort, was visited by GOOKIN and others. George WEBBER and George GAMBLE came to see me about the burying place, bought of Jo. GALWAY.
11 February 1669-70 - George GAMBLE and I came to Colonel PHAIR's, and so to Capt BENT's, where we dined.
17 February 1669-70 - Capt (sic) PHAIR and I ended PRIGG's and GALE's business.
7 March 1669-70 - Retired to Colonel PHAIR's, supped there, then to Colonel BENT's.
27 April 1670 - Valentine GREATRAKES, Colonel PHAIR, etc, dined here. Capt ROUS and Capt WAKEHAM...
25 May 1670 - Capt GALE had his lease finished. Colonel PHAIR came and his wife to see us.
HIS RELIGIOUS AFFILIATIONS.
However, there is no documentary evidence of his ever having been a member of the Society of Friends, and their records are sufficiently comprehensive for us to presume that he never did join them formally (see above).
But he is recorded as having become a member of a much smaller "sect" known as the Muggletonians.
This detail can be found the writings of the founder of the sect, Ludowicke MUGGLETON ["Acts of Witnesses," 1699, Volume IV, page 3 - as cited by V.H.I.L.I.C.I.V. in Notes and Queries, 6th Series, Volume IV, 26 November 1881, page 431], as follows:
"Also there was one Robert PHARE, he was Governor of the City of Corke in Ireland, he was inclineable to be a Quaker; but after he saw me, and had read our Writings, he became a true Believer of this Commission of the Spirit, and so did the Lady his Wife; she became the chief Champion in this faith of all the Women in that nation. Also he had Four Sons and Daughters that were true Believers. He was the cause of many Persons of Value in that Kingdom of Ireland that truly did Believe, as one Captain MOSS and his wife, and Doctor MOSS his son; and Captain GAILL, and Major DENSON, and Mr George GAMBLE, and Mr ROGERS, Merchant."
His first encounter with MUGGLETON may have occurred as early as 1662 in London - PHAIRE's second wife Elizabeth HERBERT, "...the Lady his wife," is said to have met MUGGLETON in 1662 at her father's house in London, and thereupon joined the Muggletonians. It would be interesting to know if PHAIRE was then still in the Tower, and whether he was already a member; or joined after his release, perhaps after Elizabeth was already a member?
On 9 August 1675, Ludovicke MUGGLETON, wrote from Postern, London, to "...his loving friend" Colonel Robert PHAIRE in Ireland, and wishing to be remembered to "...his son-in-law George GAMBLE and your dear daughter his wife, and to Dr MOSS..."
Several of MUGGLETON's letters to PHAIRE were delivered in person by Valentine GREATRAKES, the celebrated "Stroaker"; he cured PHAIRE of "...an acute fever in a few minutes" by stroking, as described by PHAIRE's son Alexander Herbert in his letter of 29 February 1743-44:
"My father, who had the least implicit faith of any man, was in a violent fever, and Mr GREATRAKES turned it away in two minutes. He had another time a terrible ague [fn] which when a fit struck him Mr GREATRAKES cured in a minute, by holding him by the wrists, and he never had a fit after. Mr GREATRAKES also cured a sister of mine of the King's Evil by stroking."
"Footnote - In his letter to Robert BOYLE, Mr GREATRAKES describes his visit to Colonel PHAIRE of Cahirmoney, County Cork, on Thursday 6 April 1665, when he took away his ague by stroking."
[British Museum, Dr BIRCH's Collection, Add MSs No 4291, pages 311-12. As cited by WELPLY.]
HIS DEATH, BURIAL AND WILL.
Robert PHAIRE was recorded as having died at Grange in the autumn of 1682, aged 63, "...peaceably near Cork and was buried in the Anabaptist burying yard of that city" [SMITH's "History of Cork," Volume i, page 206].
There is some indication that he may have died on 19 September 1683, aged 62, as the result of a stroke - a letter written by Paul CUDMORE, PHAIRE's Solicitor, who had just travelled from Dublin to PHAIRE's house in Cork, wrote that PHAIRE "...was ill at the time and died soon after having been for some days before his death speechless" [unsourced quote by Barbara PHAYRE, "Cromwell's Legacy," page 30].
PHAIRE's son Alexander Herbert wrote in 1750, after SMITH's "History" had been published - "As to the place of burial he assigns my Father, It was not thot. of 50 years after his death, being built about 20 years ago."
As far as I am aware, no evidence of his grave has ever been located.
PHAIRE signed his will on 13 September 1682; he made a codicil for which the date has not survived, but given that he died on 19 September, the codicil may have been made later on the day he signed it; and it was proved on 13 November in the same year. WELPLY made an abstract of it before it was destroyed in the Four Courts fires in 1922, as follows:
"PRER. WILL of Colonel Robert PHAIRE: sgd 13 September 1682.
"PROBATE granted to Onesipherus PHAIRE 13 November 1682.
"I, Robert PHAIRE of Grange, County Cork, Barony of Barretts.
"ITEM: To my wife Elizabeth £1,000 to be first paid hereout of the money payable on my account out of the ironworks and lands etc in County Wexford, Barony of Scarawalsh. Also I give and bequeath to her my farm of Grange where now I live, with Killhumery, Clasheganiff and the Glebe, and the issues and profits thereof for so many years as she shall live, and after her decease I devise said lands to my son Onesipherus PHAIRE. Also I give unto my said wife and my son Onesipherus all my stock to be equally divided between them; all my gold plate, jewells, household goods, to my wife.
"ITEM: To my son Onesipherus the inheritance of my lands of Dromore and my wood thereunto belonging and also my leased lands in the Barony of Barretts via Ballygronans in the present possession of my cousin Robert PEARCE, and East and West Fergus and Claramore in the Barony of Duhallow, and also all the lands which I hold by lease from Alderman Erasmus SMITH in the County and Town of Tipperary; my son Onesipherus allowing to my cousin Ensign William JEWELL one shilling a day for life.
"ITEM: To my son-in-law Richard FARMER £1,000 to be equally divided betwixt his children by my dau Eliz FARMER.
"ITEM: Daus Frances, Lucy, Elizabeth, sons Thomas, Alexander, [WELPLY did place this comma here] Herbert, John, £1,000 each. To my dau Mary GAMBLE ['s] husband George GAMBLE £1,000 similarly for her children. All these portions to be paid out of the issues and profits of the ironworks etc in County Wexford. £30 to cousin Robert PEARSE. £100 to cousin Mary WALKHAM one year after the day of her marriage. £20 to Nathl ROLES. £5 p.a. for life to Dorothy, wife of Wm LADY, ditto to Nurse STACY. After payment of all legacies, residue of benefit of ironworks to go one moiety to Onesipherus PHAIRE and the other moiety to wife and all my children.
"WITS: Robert PEIRCE, Wm (RENAST ?), Abm MORRIS, Geo GAMBLE.
"In a CODICIL: £100 to George GAMBLE Jr, £20 to Charity and £20 to Jane GAMBLE, children of George GAMBLE Senior by his first wife, and £125 each to Mary GAMBLE and Elizabeth FARMER. The GAMBLE legacies to be conditioned on George GAMBLE securing unto his wife the house and lands he now lives on being half the plowland of Monagourney. Abraham MORRIS to be an overseer and to have £10. £20 to 'my cos. Ruth HUBARD.'
"WITS: Robert PEIRCE, Jos ENOCK."
["O'Kief, Coshe Mang, Slieve Lougher and Upper Blackwater in Ireland," Compiled by Albert Eugene O'CASEY, Alabama, 1968, Volume XIV, page 659. See further will abstracts at the end of this blog.]
HIS FIRST MARRIAGE.
Robert PHAIRE made two marriages. The identity of his first wife is not known, and details of the marriage have not been found.
Family folklore has suggested that she may have been a GAMBLE, but as this is based on a presumption that she was buried in Gloucester, and that that is where the GAMBLE family is believed to have originated, the grounds for this speculation do not appear to be too substantial.
Another line of speculation suggests she was a daughter, or a sister, of Onesipherus HOUGHTON of Ballingarry, County Cork. That PHAIRE gave the name Onesipherus to his son and heir suggests it may have been from his mother's side, but in the absence of any evidence for that, it perhaps instead came from the family of his wife and Onesipherus's mother; and WELPLY has argued that as the name Onesipherus did not appear in the GAMBLE family until after Mary PHAIRE became George GAMBLE's second wife, then it is unlikely to have come from that family connection.
The marriage would probably have taken place about 1648-50, as there is mention by Colonel John JONES, in a letter dated 29 July 1653, of PHAIRE's "...wife and her babies" [see WELPLY, 1925, above].
HIS FIRST FAMILY.
By this first marriage, Robert had issue:
1. Onesipherus PHAIRE, perhaps born about 1649, the eldest son; of Grange; Defendant in a Court of Chancery Bill, entered 10 November 1686, jointly with Elizabeth PHAIRE alias HERBERT, George ROGERS, Richard WAKEHAM and Abraham MORRIS, the Bill prosecuted by Plaintiff Charles FENWICKE as guardian of Alexander Herbert PHAIRE [Court of Chancery Bill Books, Findmypast]; ditto, 15 November 1686, jointly with George ROGERS, Richard WAKEHAM, Abraham MORRIS, George GAMBLE, Richard FARMER, Edward ROGERS, Charles FENWICK and Clement MILLER, the co-defendants - the Plaintiffs being Bartholomew PURDON, Esq, and his wife Elizabeth; Onesipherus was Plaintiff in another Court of Chancery Bill, entered on 11 May 1688, jointly with Elizabeth PHAIRE, Widow (inevitably his step-mother) - the Defendants being Elizabeth Countess Dowager of Anglesey, Thomas PIERSON, John WILSON and Charles CARTHY; Onesipherus remained in Ireland during the trials of 1698, observing the eviction by Lord Kilmallock of his step-mother Elizabeth and her family from the family estate at Grange, and the duress she was subjected after being let back in; he died in June 1702; married about 1670s, Elizabeth ALDWORTH, daughter of Richard ALDWORTH of Newmarket, County Cork; they had issue:
a. Elizabeth PHAIRE, born about 1675; died before 1758; married firstly, 1692, Major Edward ROGERS of Templeshannon, County Cork; he died in 1711; she married secondly, before 1722, her cousin Onesipherus GAMBLE; by Edward ROGERS she had issue:
i. Elizabeth ROGERS, born 1693; died at Templeshannon, July 1778, aged 85; married before 1722, as his 2nd wife, Richard DONOVAN.
ii. Edward ROGERS Junior; named in his uncle Aldworth PHAIRE's will, 1758.
b. Robert PHAIRE, born about 1670's; of Grange; died 3 October 1712; he married his cousin Anne GAMBLE (she died before 1727, having married secondly Emanuel PIGOTT of Chetwynd, Cork); issue:
i. Robert PHAIRE, born 1701; adm Wadham Coll, Oxon, 22 October 1718, aged 17; said to have died in 1742, without issue; married 1720, Margaret PATRICKSON.
ii. Onesipherus PHAIRE, born about 1711; of Templeshannon, near Enniscorthy; died on 23 September 1757; married by M.L.B. dated 18 November 1736, Frances HENDERSON, daughter of Rev Dr John PATRICKSON, with issue. See [A] below.
iii. Elizabeth PHAIRE, born 1702.
c. Aldworth PHAIRE; of St John's Manor, Enniscorthy, County Wexford; he died in 1762, without issue; his will, dated 7 July 1758, was proved 12 May 1762 (see abstract below).
a. Jasper FARMER; of Ardevolane, County Tipperary; but as he was executor of his father's will in 1691, and presumably therefore of age, perhaps issue of an earlier marriage? He died in 1715, having married Elizabeth ROGERS, daughter of George ROGERS of Ashgrove, County Cork, by his 1st wife Anne ATKINS (and whose 2nd wife, Mary WAKEHAM, was Colonel Robert PHAIRE's relation, and mother by George of Lucy ROGERS, 1st wife of Emanuel PIGOTT of Chetwynd, County Cork); issue:
i. Richard FARMER; died 1730, unmarried.
ii. Anne ROGERS; named in her grandfather George ROGERS' will, 1709.
b. Robert FARMER, born 1677; of Fergus, County Cork, and Thurles Beg, County Tipperary; Army Major; died 1743; married 1700, Grace HOVELL, of Mount Hovell, County Cork; she died 1763, aged 80; issue:
i. Hovell FARMER.
ii. Edward FARMER; Capt, Royal Marines; died 1784; married 1stly, 1738, Katherine OATES formerly ST BARBE; married 2ndly, 1772, Frances ROBERTS of Clover Hill, County Cavan; issue both marriages.
iii. Richard FARMER.
iv. Grace FARMER; married Hon Richard HILL of Beare Forest, County Cork.
v. Elizabeth FARMER; married John BEARE of Cork.
vi. Jane (Joan) FARMER; married William WAKEHAM of South Hill, Cork; he made his will on 17 October 1716, of Little Island, County Cork, naming his wife, son John, daughter-in-law Anne BENNETT, brothrt Robert WAKEHAM alias PYNE, and brother-in-law Samuel FARMER.
vii. Hannah FARMER; died 1798; married William KEYES.
c. John FARMER, born 1678; M.D.; of Ardra, County Cork, 1699, when named as surety in the M.L. Bond of his uncle John PHAIRE's marriage to Mary WHITBY; he married Lucy WILKINSON; issue:
i. Lucy FARMER.
ii. Jasper FARMER; married 1stly, Mrs LASHER; married 2ndly, Grace FARMER, daur of his cousin Hovell FARMER; issue by 1st marriage.
d. Elizabeth FARMER; married 1706, John BROOME; died before January 1714; issue:
i. Mary BROOME; married 1734, Joseph TURGIS.
a. Edith GAMBLE; married in 1695, probably aged about 16, James PEIRCE of Curran; his will dated 1712, proved 1719; issue:
i. Robert PEIRCE; under age in 1712; married with issue.
ii. Elizabeth PEIRCE; married 1stly, Samuel HENDERSON, who died in South Carolina, with issue a daughter Edith HENDERSON; Elizabeth married 2ndly, in South Carolina, before 1760, Bernard LASSERRE.
iii. Sarah PEIRCE; named in her uncle Onesipherus GAMBLE's will, 1760, unmarried; married Jasper FARMER.
iv. Ann PEIRCE; married 1727, Thomas ROYCROFT, with issue.
b. Onesipherus GAMBLE, born 13 December 1680; of St John's Manor, near Enniscorthy; died on 29 February 1762; his will dated 15 April 1760, proved 22 July 1678, named his niece Elizabeth LASSERRE and her daughter Edith HENDERSON, niece Sarah PEIRCE, John GAMBLE the illegitimate son of his late brother John, brother-in-law Aldworth PHAIRE, aunt Mrs Mary PHAYRE of St John's, the widow TURGIS, and cousin Charles HILL; Onesipherus married in 1712 his cousin Elizabeth, widow of Edward ROGERS, and daughter of Onesipherus PHAIRE of Grange; evidently without issue.
c. Anne GAMBLE; as she was not named in George GAMBLE Senior's will, she may instead have been a daughter of his son George GAMBLE Junior by his first SACHWELL wife; she married firstly her cousin Robert PHAIRE of Grange; she married secondly, 23 May 1722, as is second wife, Emanuel PIGOTT of Chetwynd, County Cork; issue by first husband, as shown above.
WELPLY did record further issue of George and Mary GAMBLE, but as they were not named in George Senior's will in 1694, they were perhaps instead of another but probably related George GAMBLE, associated with Antigua.
Details of this first wife's death and burial are also unknown, but she probably died in or before 1657.
HIS SECOND MARRIAGE AND SECOND FAMILY.
Robert married secondly, at St Werburgh's (C. of I.), Dublin, on 16 August 1658, Elizabeth HERBERT, the second daughter of Thomas HERBERT of Tintern, County Monmouth (created a Baronet in 1660 for his service in the Privy Chamber to the executed King Charles I) by Lucy ALEXANDER (her father William was created 1st Earl of Stirling).
WELPLY reminds us that there were was another Thomas HERBERT, also from Monmouth, a Colonel in the Army, and Clerk to the Council in Ireland, who was created a Knight 1658 in Dublin. He was almost certainly related to the Baronet, and Elizabeth may have been visiting his family in Dublin at the time of her marriage to PHAIRE.
By this second marriage, Robert had further issue:
5. Thomas PHAIRE; of Mountpleasant; Lieutenant in a Regiment of Foot commanded by Christopher FLEMING (Lord Baron of Slane) or Slane's Regiment, on the Irish Establishment, since its founding in 1700, and resigned his commission, September 1709, in favour of his son Robert; probably named in Quaker records, dated 3 2mo (May) 1710, with Robert PHAIRE, both to be informed that legal opinion had been obtained, concerning exceptions made for burials in the Quaker burying ground in Cork by George GAMBLE which were now deemed to be void, and therefore "...that there may be no dependence for burying in ye ground for ye future" [Quaker Congregational Records, Findmypast.co.uk]; Thomas died about 1716; his will, dated 13 December 1715, was proved 21 June 1716; he married in October 1692, his brother-in-law's sister Alicia PURDON (daughter of Bartholomew PURDON Senior by Alicia JEPHSON of Mallow); on 23 January 1722, she and her son Robert brought a complaint against Robert PHAIRE of Grange, Gent (just lately come of age), Onesipherus GAMBLE and his wife Elizabeth alias ROGERS, and Richard DONOVAN, concerning money owed to them under the terms of Colonel Robert PHAIRE's will; she apparently made ends meet in raising her younger children by conducting the business of a Maltster in Cork; she was bequeathed 5s 5d per week "...to be paid every Monday morning" in her brother Bartholomew PURDON's will, 1737; and she had £10 a year in her son Thomas PHAIRE's will, 1747; Alicia PHAIRE died on 27 5mo (July) 1756, and was buried in the Society of Friends burial ground, Cork, "...not a Friend" [Quaker Congregational Records on Findmypast.co.uk].
Thomas and Alicia had issue:
a. Robert PHAIRE, born about 1693; of Dunmaine, County Wexford; commissioned Lieut in Lord Slane's Regiment, September 1709, to succeed his father, but this was cancelled even as he was on board ship waiting for fair winds to take them to Spain; as a result of an error by the War Office, he was subsequently appointed Riding officer on the Coast of Waterford from Tramore to Monk Church; resided at the residence of Stephen WORTHEVALE, whose daughter he married; J.P. for Co Waterford, and High Sheriff, 1722; in September 1734, he was arrested at Red Cross, County Wicklow, by his brother-in-law John Jervis WHITE on a charge of bigamy, lodged in Wicklow Gaol, tried on 29 August 1735 and sentenced to 7 years transportation to the American Colonies, but pardoned on appeal due to legal irregularities in the prosecution case; but his career was "ruined" and he rejoined the army, serving as Adjutant in Colonel Edward TRELAWNY's Regiment in the Garrison on Rattan Island, Bay of Honduras, 25 December 1743; details of his death have not yet been found.
Robert wasmarried firstly to Mary WORTHEVALE; she is said to have died in 1724 (but if so, there appear to have been no grounds for the accusation against PHAIRE of bigamy); and they had issue:
i. Robert PHAIRE.
ii. Stephen PHAIRE.
iii. Nancy PHAIRE.
Robert was married secondly, 29 September 1726, to Elizabeth WHITE (born 1702, daughter of John WHITE of Ballyellis, County Wexford), the widow of Cornelius GROGAN, by whom she already had five children; she left PHAIRE in September 1734, taking the children with her, resuming the use of her GROGAN surname; she died in 1754; by her Robert PHAIRE had further issue:
iv. Elizabeth PHAIRE, born Dunmaine, about 1732; named in the will of Overtsreet GROGAN, February 1748, as "...the daughter of my mother by Captain PHAIRE"; married 1stly, in 1748, John BURKITT; she married 2ndly, James MOORE.
v. four other children who died young.
b. Herbert PHAIRE, born in 1697; succeeded his brother Robert, about 1717, as an officer in the Revenue (perhaps as Riding Officer on the Waterford Coast); Vintner in Cork, with his brother-in-law Richard CHINNERY, and providing "entertainments" to the Corporation of Cork, 1 August and 29 October 1726, 15 November 1727 (Coronation of King George II), the King's birthday, 1729, and September 1731 (an Admiralty Court at Blackrock); he hosted at his house in Cork the installation of Lord Kingston as Grand Master of the Masonic Order in Munster, 1729; named in the 1728 Deed of his brother-in-law Richard CHINNERY (see next below); Herbert moved part or all of his business to Dublin; enrolled as Freeman of Dublin, 1733, Cooks and Vintners Guild; provided entertainments for a "...Meeting of Munster Gentlemen" at Stationer's Hall, Cork Hill, Dublin, December 1735; resided at Castle Street, Dublin, April 1736; apparently visited London in 1736; he probably buried his wife Mary in Dublin in November 1745; he was bequeathed £10 in his brother Thomas's will, 1747; Herbert returned to Cork, where he was Senior Warden, Masonic Lodge No 1, Cork, in 1749; acted as surety at a baptism in St Peter's Cork, 1751; advertised on 18 December 1753 the opening of a Porter-house, next to the Sign of the Boot, in Cross Lane leading to Fishamble, Cork City; residing in a house at North Strand, opposite the Brick Hills, Cork City, 1755 [Cork City Directory - see the McDONNELL transcription on the www.corkpastandpresent.ie web-site]; vacated that house in North Strand, Cork City, shortly before 8 May 1760; details of his death not yet found, although WELPLY thought that he may have moved out to Brook Lodge and started a Paper Business there, which seems unlikely (see notes on Francis PHAIR, the Papermaker, below).
Herbert married Mary; she was probably buried at St Andrew's (C. of I.), Dublin, 15 November 1745; possible issue:
i. John PHAIRE, born about 1730; Gent of Dublin, 18 September 1761, when he made a Deed of Lease with John SHEARER of Dublin, Linen Weaver; of the City of Dublin, Dealer, 8 April 1771 (Chancery Suit vs Edward GAMBLE); possibly married with issue Jane PHAIRE and George William PHAIRE, bapt at St Andrew's (C.of I.), Dublin, 1761 and 1764 resp.
ii. George PHAIRE; possibly married Jane DEMPSEY, with issue (see Dublin PHAIRS above); unless he instead married Diocese of Clogher, 1805 (M.L.B.), Esther PORTEOUS.
c. Elizabeth PHAIRE; bequeathed £20 in the will of her brother Thomas, 1747; married by M.L.B. of the Diocese of Cork and Ross, 26 September 1719, Richard CHINNERY, Vintner in Cork City; by a Deed dated 3 May 1728 [Memorial 38328, Book 57, Page 257], Richard CHINNERY, of Curraghmore, County Cork, Gent, and his wife Elizabeth, assigned all their Right, Title and Interest in the Woods, Lands and Iron Works of Enniscorthy (which was theirs by virtue of the will of Thomas PHAIRE of Mount Prospect, Deceased) unto Herbert PHAIRE, Elizabeth's brother; Richard and Elizabeth had issue:
i. George CHINNERY; bequeathed £10 in his uncle Thomas PHAIRE's will, 1747.
ii. St Leger CHINNERY; ditto, £20, ditto, 1747; Headmaster of Bandon School; died 1785; married 1766, Elizabeth SKEYS of Cork, with issue.
iii. two other children each with £10 in their uncle Thomas PHAIRE's will, 1747.
d. Alicia PHAIRE, a minor in 1717; married George GRAHAM of Cork; he was bequeathed £50 in his brother-in-law Thomas PHAIRE's will, 1747; issue:
i. Harriett GRAHAM; died without issue; married Falkiner HERRICK.
e. Thomas PHAIRE, a minor in 1717; died at Enniscorthy where he had farms, unmarried; will dated 1747, proved 28 April 1749, naming his mother Alicia, brothers Herbert PHAIRE and George GRAHAM, cousin John GAMBLE, and other relations.
f. Frances PHAIRE, a minor in 1717; married Arthur HARDY, of Ballybar, Co Carlow.
However, if this marriage is not appropriate, and Francis was instead a male child, could he have been the Paper Maker of Brook Lodge? See below.
g. Onesipherus PHAIRE, a minor in 1717; of Broomfield, Co Wexford; sole executor to his brother Thomas's will, 1747; married Elizabeth Mary HENDERSON; issue:
i. Thomas PHAIRE; married in 1773, Ruth WHEELER (M.L.B., Diocese of Ferns), with issue.
ii. Frances PHAIRE.
iii. Harriett PHAIRE.
iv. Alice PHAIRE; married in August 1786, Thomas CONNOR of Dublin.
v. (?) Robert PHAIRE, born about 1725 (if age at burial was recorded correctly); a Doctor in Trinity, Newfoundland, during the 1790s; died September 1798, and buried at St Paul's C. of E., Trinity Bay, 16 Sep, by his brother-in-law Rev Dr John CLINCH, abd 73; he was married at St Paul's, Trinity, 20 September 1787, to Elizabeth HART (her sister Hannah HART was Rev John CLINCH'd wife) - although some sources record this, improbably, as the date of his burial; recorded by Rev John CLINCH in his register as having been the "...son of On'e PHAIR of Broomfield, Esq, Co Wexford, Kingdom of Ireland" with two "vide marriage" dates, partly obscured, for "May 12, 18??" and "September 27?, 1787" (the former was probably his widow Elizabeth HART's 2nd marriage to Thomas NICHOLS on 12 May 1801). If the birth sequence of Thomas's family is as shown, and Onesipherus was the youngest of three under-age children in 1717, then he would have been born about 1700, and if this lineage is correct, aged 25 when Robert was born. Lack of any mention in PHAIRE family wills remains unexplained. Two other related Robert PHAIRs of about the right age, one of whom was said to have "emigrated", are probably ruled out by CLINCH identifying Robert's father as On'e PHAIR.
a. one daughter, born about 1684; she died in the same year as her mother, aged 2.
a. Roger FENWICK; probably married Sarah COX, with issue.
b. Elizabeth FENWICK; died without issue.
c. Robert FLOWER.
d. John FLOWER.
e. Phaire FLOWER; died before 1733.
f. Deborah FLOWER.
g. Elizabeth FLOWER
a. Elizabeth PURDON.
b. Margaret PATRICKSON (unless ? instead another daughter of her father's first marriage); married Robert PHAIRE of Grange. See above.
c. William PATRICKSON; died young, before 1717, named on his mother's M.I.
d. Alxander PATRICKSON; died ditto, 1717, ditto (M.I.).
e. Thomas PARICKSON; of Grange; will dated 25 March 1774, proved 29 March 1775; married 1732, Mary HULEAT; issue:
i. Margaret PATRICKSON; inherited her father's interest in Grange, 1775; married 1757, John LOVEKIN.
ii. Martha PATRICKSON; unmarried in 1774.
iii. Sarah PATRICKSON; married 1767, Richard LOVEKIN; both living 1774.
John was married on 21 September 1699 to Mary WHITBY of St Mary's Shandon (sureties were his nephew John FARMER of Ardra, and Roger HUSE, Innkeeper); she was named as "...my aunt Mrs Mary PHAIRE now of St John's" by Onesipherus GAMBLE in his will, dated 15 April 1760; her own will, dated 15 April 1762 (a widow), was proved 24 January 1763; they had issue:
a. Robert PHAIRE; bequeathed 30 in his mother's will, 1762; apparently emigrated; he had illegitimate issue by Margaret CONNELL:
i. a son; referred to, without being named, in his grandmother's will, 1762.
b. John PHAIRE; named in his uncle Alexander's letter, 1741, as "...young Jack"; probably married in 1727, Alice PIERCE, with issue:
i. a daughter Ann PHAIRE; (named in her grandmother's will, 1762).
Perhaps this John was the Dublin Dealer, plaintiff in the Chancery Suit vs Edward GAMBLE, 8 April 1771?
c. Onesipherus PHAIRE; bequeathed 30 in his mother's will, 1762; apparently also emigrated.
d. Henrietta PHAIRE; probably married DRAPER.
The birth order of the children above is notional, and for want of birth details, is based on sequences in both parent's wills.
HIS SECOND WIFE'S WILL.
Elizabeth PHAIRE died in about 1698; she was probably, as she directed, buried with her late husband; her will, signed on 27 January 1697 and proved on 7 November 1698, was also abstracted by WELPLY ["O'Kief, Coshe Mang, Slieve Lougher and Upper Blackwater in Ireland," Compiled by Albert Eugene O'CASEY, Alabama, 1968, Volume XIV, page 659], as follows:
"CORK WILL of Elizabeth PHAIRE, sgd 27 January 1697; pr 7 November 1698. 'I desire my friends to bury my body neare my dearly beloved husband Coll. Robert PHAIRE deceased. Son Thomas PHAIRE a bond of £200 I lent my son-in-law Bartholomew PURDON, dau Lucy FLOWER, dau Elizabeth PURDON, £80 [my copy hard to read, possibly instead £30] due to me from ye Lady Mary BOYLE, son Alexander Herbert [no comma between these names this time], son John, £20 due to me from my cosen James PEIRCE. Profits from iron-works to be equally divided amongst my children.
"EXECUTOR: son Thomas.
"OVERSEERS: Abraham MORRIS of Cork and Robert PEIRCE of Ballygromans.
"To my son John PHAIR a bond of £5 due to me from Coll. Teige McCARTHY.
"PROVED: 7 November 1698 by Thomas PHAIRE.
"WITS: E. WETENHALL, Ben TARTARAIN."
____________________________________________
By this first marriage, Robert had issue:
a. Elizabeth PHAIRE, born about 1675; died before 1758; married firstly, 1692, Major Edward ROGERS of Templeshannon, County Cork; he died in 1711; she married secondly, before 1722, her cousin Onesipherus GAMBLE; by Edward ROGERS she had issue:
i. Elizabeth ROGERS, born 1693; died at Templeshannon, July 1778, aged 85; married before 1722, as his 2nd wife, Richard DONOVAN.
ii. Edward ROGERS Junior; named in his uncle Aldworth PHAIRE's will, 1758.
b. Robert PHAIRE, born about 1670's; of Grange; died 3 October 1712; he married his cousin Anne GAMBLE (she died before 1727, having married secondly Emanuel PIGOTT of Chetwynd, Cork); issue:
i. Robert PHAIRE, born 1701; adm Wadham Coll, Oxon, 22 October 1718, aged 17; said to have died in 1742, without issue; married 1720, Margaret PATRICKSON.
ii. Onesipherus PHAIRE, born about 1711; of Templeshannon, near Enniscorthy; died on 23 September 1757; married by M.L.B. dated 18 November 1736, Frances HENDERSON, daughter of Rev Dr John PATRICKSON, with issue. See [A] below.
iii. Elizabeth PHAIRE, born 1702.
c. Aldworth PHAIRE; of St John's Manor, Enniscorthy, County Wexford; he died in 1762, without issue; his will, dated 7 July 1758, was proved 12 May 1762 (see abstract below).
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. John PHAIRE, perhaps born about 1651; bequest of £200 "...for his trouble" in the will of George WEBBER, dated March 1673, and executor of same (so clearly of age, and therefore born before March 1652); named in William PENN Junior's Diary, entry dated 18 January 1670, as "...GALE and John PHAIR came to see me..."; died 1677; probably unmarried.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
3. Elizabeth PHAIRE, possibly born before July 1653; living 1691; married 1676, Richard FARMER of Arderack, County Cork (his mother was a GAMBLE); he died in 1691, his will dated 1 January and proved 28 March same year; issue:a. Jasper FARMER; of Ardevolane, County Tipperary; but as he was executor of his father's will in 1691, and presumably therefore of age, perhaps issue of an earlier marriage? He died in 1715, having married Elizabeth ROGERS, daughter of George ROGERS of Ashgrove, County Cork, by his 1st wife Anne ATKINS (and whose 2nd wife, Mary WAKEHAM, was Colonel Robert PHAIRE's relation, and mother by George of Lucy ROGERS, 1st wife of Emanuel PIGOTT of Chetwynd, County Cork); issue:
i. Richard FARMER; died 1730, unmarried.
ii. Anne ROGERS; named in her grandfather George ROGERS' will, 1709.
b. Robert FARMER, born 1677; of Fergus, County Cork, and Thurles Beg, County Tipperary; Army Major; died 1743; married 1700, Grace HOVELL, of Mount Hovell, County Cork; she died 1763, aged 80; issue:
i. Hovell FARMER.
ii. Edward FARMER; Capt, Royal Marines; died 1784; married 1stly, 1738, Katherine OATES formerly ST BARBE; married 2ndly, 1772, Frances ROBERTS of Clover Hill, County Cavan; issue both marriages.
iii. Richard FARMER.
iv. Grace FARMER; married Hon Richard HILL of Beare Forest, County Cork.
v. Elizabeth FARMER; married John BEARE of Cork.
vi. Jane (Joan) FARMER; married William WAKEHAM of South Hill, Cork; he made his will on 17 October 1716, of Little Island, County Cork, naming his wife, son John, daughter-in-law Anne BENNETT, brothrt Robert WAKEHAM alias PYNE, and brother-in-law Samuel FARMER.
vii. Hannah FARMER; died 1798; married William KEYES.
c. John FARMER, born 1678; M.D.; of Ardra, County Cork, 1699, when named as surety in the M.L. Bond of his uncle John PHAIRE's marriage to Mary WHITBY; he married Lucy WILKINSON; issue:
i. Lucy FARMER.
ii. Jasper FARMER; married 1stly, Mrs LASHER; married 2ndly, Grace FARMER, daur of his cousin Hovell FARMER; issue by 1st marriage.
d. Elizabeth FARMER; married 1706, John BROOME; died before January 1714; issue:
i. Mary BROOME; married 1734, Joseph TURGIS.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
4. Mary PHAIRE; named as executrix of her husband's will, 1694; probably named in the will of Richard WAKEHAM of Ballylogan, County Cork, May 1710; she was married about 1678, as his third wife, to George GAMBLE of Maryborough, County Cork; he was a Quaker, and imprisoned in 1655; later a Muggletonian; his will, dated 28 November 1694, was proved 26 January 1695; he already had three children by his first wife Sarah LANE, as mentioned in the will of her father Richard LANE of Cork, proved 23 February 1662-63 [Notes and Queries, 12 ser, XII, 17 March 1923, page 203]; he was married secondly, in May 1664, to Elizabeth SACHWELL, by whom he may have had three daughters (Elizabeth, married WHEDDON; Charity, married BURNS; and Jane, married FULLER) - but it appears likely that these were probably instead the children of his first wife Sarah LANE; by Mary he had further issue:a. Edith GAMBLE; married in 1695, probably aged about 16, James PEIRCE of Curran; his will dated 1712, proved 1719; issue:
i. Robert PEIRCE; under age in 1712; married with issue.
ii. Elizabeth PEIRCE; married 1stly, Samuel HENDERSON, who died in South Carolina, with issue a daughter Edith HENDERSON; Elizabeth married 2ndly, in South Carolina, before 1760, Bernard LASSERRE.
iii. Sarah PEIRCE; named in her uncle Onesipherus GAMBLE's will, 1760, unmarried; married Jasper FARMER.
iv. Ann PEIRCE; married 1727, Thomas ROYCROFT, with issue.
b. Onesipherus GAMBLE, born 13 December 1680; of St John's Manor, near Enniscorthy; died on 29 February 1762; his will dated 15 April 1760, proved 22 July 1678, named his niece Elizabeth LASSERRE and her daughter Edith HENDERSON, niece Sarah PEIRCE, John GAMBLE the illegitimate son of his late brother John, brother-in-law Aldworth PHAIRE, aunt Mrs Mary PHAYRE of St John's, the widow TURGIS, and cousin Charles HILL; Onesipherus married in 1712 his cousin Elizabeth, widow of Edward ROGERS, and daughter of Onesipherus PHAIRE of Grange; evidently without issue.
c. Anne GAMBLE; as she was not named in George GAMBLE Senior's will, she may instead have been a daughter of his son George GAMBLE Junior by his first SACHWELL wife; she married firstly her cousin Robert PHAIRE of Grange; she married secondly, 23 May 1722, as is second wife, Emanuel PIGOTT of Chetwynd, County Cork; issue by first husband, as shown above.
WELPLY did record further issue of George and Mary GAMBLE, but as they were not named in George Senior's will in 1694, they were perhaps instead of another but probably related George GAMBLE, associated with Antigua.
Details of this first wife's death and burial are also unknown, but she probably died in or before 1657.
HIS SECOND MARRIAGE AND SECOND FAMILY.
Robert married secondly, at St Werburgh's (C. of I.), Dublin, on 16 August 1658, Elizabeth HERBERT, the second daughter of Thomas HERBERT of Tintern, County Monmouth (created a Baronet in 1660 for his service in the Privy Chamber to the executed King Charles I) by Lucy ALEXANDER (her father William was created 1st Earl of Stirling).
WELPLY reminds us that there were was another Thomas HERBERT, also from Monmouth, a Colonel in the Army, and Clerk to the Council in Ireland, who was created a Knight 1658 in Dublin. He was almost certainly related to the Baronet, and Elizabeth may have been visiting his family in Dublin at the time of her marriage to PHAIRE.
By this second marriage, Robert had further issue:
5. Thomas PHAIRE; of Mountpleasant; Lieutenant in a Regiment of Foot commanded by Christopher FLEMING (Lord Baron of Slane) or Slane's Regiment, on the Irish Establishment, since its founding in 1700, and resigned his commission, September 1709, in favour of his son Robert; probably named in Quaker records, dated 3 2mo (May) 1710, with Robert PHAIRE, both to be informed that legal opinion had been obtained, concerning exceptions made for burials in the Quaker burying ground in Cork by George GAMBLE which were now deemed to be void, and therefore "...that there may be no dependence for burying in ye ground for ye future" [Quaker Congregational Records, Findmypast.co.uk]; Thomas died about 1716; his will, dated 13 December 1715, was proved 21 June 1716; he married in October 1692, his brother-in-law's sister Alicia PURDON (daughter of Bartholomew PURDON Senior by Alicia JEPHSON of Mallow); on 23 January 1722, she and her son Robert brought a complaint against Robert PHAIRE of Grange, Gent (just lately come of age), Onesipherus GAMBLE and his wife Elizabeth alias ROGERS, and Richard DONOVAN, concerning money owed to them under the terms of Colonel Robert PHAIRE's will; she apparently made ends meet in raising her younger children by conducting the business of a Maltster in Cork; she was bequeathed 5s 5d per week "...to be paid every Monday morning" in her brother Bartholomew PURDON's will, 1737; and she had £10 a year in her son Thomas PHAIRE's will, 1747; Alicia PHAIRE died on 27 5mo (July) 1756, and was buried in the Society of Friends burial ground, Cork, "...not a Friend" [Quaker Congregational Records on Findmypast.co.uk].
Thomas and Alicia had issue:
a. Robert PHAIRE, born about 1693; of Dunmaine, County Wexford; commissioned Lieut in Lord Slane's Regiment, September 1709, to succeed his father, but this was cancelled even as he was on board ship waiting for fair winds to take them to Spain; as a result of an error by the War Office, he was subsequently appointed Riding officer on the Coast of Waterford from Tramore to Monk Church; resided at the residence of Stephen WORTHEVALE, whose daughter he married; J.P. for Co Waterford, and High Sheriff, 1722; in September 1734, he was arrested at Red Cross, County Wicklow, by his brother-in-law John Jervis WHITE on a charge of bigamy, lodged in Wicklow Gaol, tried on 29 August 1735 and sentenced to 7 years transportation to the American Colonies, but pardoned on appeal due to legal irregularities in the prosecution case; but his career was "ruined" and he rejoined the army, serving as Adjutant in Colonel Edward TRELAWNY's Regiment in the Garrison on Rattan Island, Bay of Honduras, 25 December 1743; details of his death have not yet been found.
Robert wasmarried firstly to Mary WORTHEVALE; she is said to have died in 1724 (but if so, there appear to have been no grounds for the accusation against PHAIRE of bigamy); and they had issue:
i. Robert PHAIRE.
ii. Stephen PHAIRE.
iii. Nancy PHAIRE.
Robert was married secondly, 29 September 1726, to Elizabeth WHITE (born 1702, daughter of John WHITE of Ballyellis, County Wexford), the widow of Cornelius GROGAN, by whom she already had five children; she left PHAIRE in September 1734, taking the children with her, resuming the use of her GROGAN surname; she died in 1754; by her Robert PHAIRE had further issue:
iv. Elizabeth PHAIRE, born Dunmaine, about 1732; named in the will of Overtsreet GROGAN, February 1748, as "...the daughter of my mother by Captain PHAIRE"; married 1stly, in 1748, John BURKITT; she married 2ndly, James MOORE.
v. four other children who died young.
b. Herbert PHAIRE, born in 1697; succeeded his brother Robert, about 1717, as an officer in the Revenue (perhaps as Riding Officer on the Waterford Coast); Vintner in Cork, with his brother-in-law Richard CHINNERY, and providing "entertainments" to the Corporation of Cork, 1 August and 29 October 1726, 15 November 1727 (Coronation of King George II), the King's birthday, 1729, and September 1731 (an Admiralty Court at Blackrock); he hosted at his house in Cork the installation of Lord Kingston as Grand Master of the Masonic Order in Munster, 1729; named in the 1728 Deed of his brother-in-law Richard CHINNERY (see next below); Herbert moved part or all of his business to Dublin; enrolled as Freeman of Dublin, 1733, Cooks and Vintners Guild; provided entertainments for a "...Meeting of Munster Gentlemen" at Stationer's Hall, Cork Hill, Dublin, December 1735; resided at Castle Street, Dublin, April 1736; apparently visited London in 1736; he probably buried his wife Mary in Dublin in November 1745; he was bequeathed £10 in his brother Thomas's will, 1747; Herbert returned to Cork, where he was Senior Warden, Masonic Lodge No 1, Cork, in 1749; acted as surety at a baptism in St Peter's Cork, 1751; advertised on 18 December 1753 the opening of a Porter-house, next to the Sign of the Boot, in Cross Lane leading to Fishamble, Cork City; residing in a house at North Strand, opposite the Brick Hills, Cork City, 1755 [Cork City Directory - see the McDONNELL transcription on the www.corkpastandpresent.ie web-site]; vacated that house in North Strand, Cork City, shortly before 8 May 1760; details of his death not yet found, although WELPLY thought that he may have moved out to Brook Lodge and started a Paper Business there, which seems unlikely (see notes on Francis PHAIR, the Papermaker, below).
Herbert married Mary; she was probably buried at St Andrew's (C. of I.), Dublin, 15 November 1745; possible issue:
i. John PHAIRE, born about 1730; Gent of Dublin, 18 September 1761, when he made a Deed of Lease with John SHEARER of Dublin, Linen Weaver; of the City of Dublin, Dealer, 8 April 1771 (Chancery Suit vs Edward GAMBLE); possibly married with issue Jane PHAIRE and George William PHAIRE, bapt at St Andrew's (C.of I.), Dublin, 1761 and 1764 resp.
ii. George PHAIRE; possibly married Jane DEMPSEY, with issue (see Dublin PHAIRS above); unless he instead married Diocese of Clogher, 1805 (M.L.B.), Esther PORTEOUS.
c. Elizabeth PHAIRE; bequeathed £20 in the will of her brother Thomas, 1747; married by M.L.B. of the Diocese of Cork and Ross, 26 September 1719, Richard CHINNERY, Vintner in Cork City; by a Deed dated 3 May 1728 [Memorial 38328, Book 57, Page 257], Richard CHINNERY, of Curraghmore, County Cork, Gent, and his wife Elizabeth, assigned all their Right, Title and Interest in the Woods, Lands and Iron Works of Enniscorthy (which was theirs by virtue of the will of Thomas PHAIRE of Mount Prospect, Deceased) unto Herbert PHAIRE, Elizabeth's brother; Richard and Elizabeth had issue:
i. George CHINNERY; bequeathed £10 in his uncle Thomas PHAIRE's will, 1747.
ii. St Leger CHINNERY; ditto, £20, ditto, 1747; Headmaster of Bandon School; died 1785; married 1766, Elizabeth SKEYS of Cork, with issue.
iii. two other children each with £10 in their uncle Thomas PHAIRE's will, 1747.
d. Alicia PHAIRE, a minor in 1717; married George GRAHAM of Cork; he was bequeathed £50 in his brother-in-law Thomas PHAIRE's will, 1747; issue:
i. Harriett GRAHAM; died without issue; married Falkiner HERRICK.
e. Thomas PHAIRE, a minor in 1717; died at Enniscorthy where he had farms, unmarried; will dated 1747, proved 28 April 1749, naming his mother Alicia, brothers Herbert PHAIRE and George GRAHAM, cousin John GAMBLE, and other relations.
f. Frances PHAIRE, a minor in 1717; married Arthur HARDY, of Ballybar, Co Carlow.
However, if this marriage is not appropriate, and Francis was instead a male child, could he have been the Paper Maker of Brook Lodge? See below.
g. Onesipherus PHAIRE, a minor in 1717; of Broomfield, Co Wexford; sole executor to his brother Thomas's will, 1747; married Elizabeth Mary HENDERSON; issue:
i. Thomas PHAIRE; married in 1773, Ruth WHEELER (M.L.B., Diocese of Ferns), with issue.
ii. Frances PHAIRE.
iii. Harriett PHAIRE.
iv. Alice PHAIRE; married in August 1786, Thomas CONNOR of Dublin.
v. (?) Robert PHAIRE, born about 1725 (if age at burial was recorded correctly); a Doctor in Trinity, Newfoundland, during the 1790s; died September 1798, and buried at St Paul's C. of E., Trinity Bay, 16 Sep, by his brother-in-law Rev Dr John CLINCH, abd 73; he was married at St Paul's, Trinity, 20 September 1787, to Elizabeth HART (her sister Hannah HART was Rev John CLINCH'd wife) - although some sources record this, improbably, as the date of his burial; recorded by Rev John CLINCH in his register as having been the "...son of On'e PHAIR of Broomfield, Esq, Co Wexford, Kingdom of Ireland" with two "vide marriage" dates, partly obscured, for "May 12, 18??" and "September 27?, 1787" (the former was probably his widow Elizabeth HART's 2nd marriage to Thomas NICHOLS on 12 May 1801). If the birth sequence of Thomas's family is as shown, and Onesipherus was the youngest of three under-age children in 1717, then he would have been born about 1700, and if this lineage is correct, aged 25 when Robert was born. Lack of any mention in PHAIRE family wills remains unexplained. Two other related Robert PHAIRs of about the right age, one of whom was said to have "emigrated", are probably ruled out by CLINCH identifying Robert's father as On'e PHAIR.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6. Frances PHAIRE; died in 1686; married on 11 January 1683, as his second wife, Edward ROGERS of County Cork (born at Dunmanway, Cork, in 1644, he appears to have managed the Ironworks at Enniscorthy, and married thirdly to France's cousin Elizabeth PHAIRE, who was herself re-married, to her cousin Onesipherus GAMBLE); issue:a. one daughter, born about 1684; she died in the same year as her mother, aged 2.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7. Lucy PHAIRE; married firstly, 1682, Charles FENWICK; married secondly William FLOWER; issue:a. Roger FENWICK; probably married Sarah COX, with issue.
b. Elizabeth FENWICK; died without issue.
c. Robert FLOWER.
d. John FLOWER.
e. Phaire FLOWER; died before 1733.
f. Deborah FLOWER.
g. Elizabeth FLOWER
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8. Elizabeth PHAIRE - the naming of two daughters with the same name is highly unusual - she died on 26 November 1717, and was buried at St Mary's churchyard, Parish of Faniobbus, Cork (M.I.); she married firstly, 1685, Bartholomew PURDON (son of Bartholomew PURDON Senior by Alicia JEPHSON); and 2ndly, as his 2nd wife, Rev John PATRICKSON (who already had two daughters Frances andMartha); she had issue:a. Elizabeth PURDON.
b. Margaret PATRICKSON (unless ? instead another daughter of her father's first marriage); married Robert PHAIRE of Grange. See above.
c. William PATRICKSON; died young, before 1717, named on his mother's M.I.
d. Alxander PATRICKSON; died ditto, 1717, ditto (M.I.).
e. Thomas PARICKSON; of Grange; will dated 25 March 1774, proved 29 March 1775; married 1732, Mary HULEAT; issue:
i. Margaret PATRICKSON; inherited her father's interest in Grange, 1775; married 1757, John LOVEKIN.
ii. Martha PATRICKSON; unmarried in 1774.
iii. Sarah PATRICKSON; married 1767, Richard LOVEKIN; both living 1774.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
9. Alexander Herbert PHAIRE; of St John's, Wexford; named in his mother's will 1697, as joint recipient (with brother John) of £20 due from her cousin James PEIRCE; died at Templeshannon, about 1752, unmarried; will dated 7 June 1751, proved 5 March 1752.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
10. John PHAIRE, probably born after 1677, when the first son of that name died; named in his mother's will, 1697 (ditto above); not well in October 1741, when his brother Alexander Herbert wrote to his nephew, Robert PHAIR of Grange, noting that "...my brother Jack is so troublesome to Wat GREEN and his wife (tho' they think he is almost gon) that they threaten to bring him here and leave him at the door" [see WELPLY above]; John appears to have resided for a time at Donegal Island, near Skibbereen, Co Cork; he lived at Cork City, 1749; and he resided at Templeshannon, July 1754; he probably died before September 1757, when his wife alone was named in the will of their nephew Onesipherus PHAIRE; certainly dead before April 1762.John was married on 21 September 1699 to Mary WHITBY of St Mary's Shandon (sureties were his nephew John FARMER of Ardra, and Roger HUSE, Innkeeper); she was named as "...my aunt Mrs Mary PHAIRE now of St John's" by Onesipherus GAMBLE in his will, dated 15 April 1760; her own will, dated 15 April 1762 (a widow), was proved 24 January 1763; they had issue:
a. Robert PHAIRE; bequeathed 30 in his mother's will, 1762; apparently emigrated; he had illegitimate issue by Margaret CONNELL:
i. a son; referred to, without being named, in his grandmother's will, 1762.
b. John PHAIRE; named in his uncle Alexander's letter, 1741, as "...young Jack"; probably married in 1727, Alice PIERCE, with issue:
i. a daughter Ann PHAIRE; (named in her grandmother's will, 1762).
Perhaps this John was the Dublin Dealer, plaintiff in the Chancery Suit vs Edward GAMBLE, 8 April 1771?
c. Onesipherus PHAIRE; bequeathed 30 in his mother's will, 1762; apparently also emigrated.
d. Henrietta PHAIRE; probably married DRAPER.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11. Robert (or Robin) PHAIRE; died about October 1681, on evidence contained in Chancery Bill: CUDMORE v. PHAIRE, 6 June 1685, citing an undated letter from Colonel PHAIRE to his Solicitor Paul CUDMORE, in which he states that he was "...sending his son Robin to he grave who died two days before," and another from PHAIRE's widow Elizabeth, dated 13 November 1685, stating that "...she cannot remember the precise time of her son Robert's death, but believes it may be a year before that of the father"; probably under age and almost certainly unmarried.The birth order of the children above is notional, and for want of birth details, is based on sequences in both parent's wills.
HIS SECOND WIFE'S WILL.
Elizabeth PHAIRE died in about 1698; she was probably, as she directed, buried with her late husband; her will, signed on 27 January 1697 and proved on 7 November 1698, was also abstracted by WELPLY ["O'Kief, Coshe Mang, Slieve Lougher and Upper Blackwater in Ireland," Compiled by Albert Eugene O'CASEY, Alabama, 1968, Volume XIV, page 659], as follows:
"CORK WILL of Elizabeth PHAIRE, sgd 27 January 1697; pr 7 November 1698. 'I desire my friends to bury my body neare my dearly beloved husband Coll. Robert PHAIRE deceased. Son Thomas PHAIRE a bond of £200 I lent my son-in-law Bartholomew PURDON, dau Lucy FLOWER, dau Elizabeth PURDON, £80 [my copy hard to read, possibly instead £30] due to me from ye Lady Mary BOYLE, son Alexander Herbert [no comma between these names this time], son John, £20 due to me from my cosen James PEIRCE. Profits from iron-works to be equally divided amongst my children.
"EXECUTOR: son Thomas.
"OVERSEERS: Abraham MORRIS of Cork and Robert PEIRCE of Ballygromans.
"To my son John PHAIR a bond of £5 due to me from Coll. Teige McCARTHY.
"PROVED: 7 November 1698 by Thomas PHAIRE.
"WITS: E. WETENHALL, Ben TARTARAIN."
____________________________________________
AN INFORMATIVE CHANCERY BILL.
On 10 June 1728, Richard WOLSELEY, Esq, entered his Bill in the High Court of Chancery in Dublin, as the Plaintiff; Messrs GEERING and DOBSON presiding; Richard MALONE, Attorney.
The Defendants were numerous, and appear to represent the entire PHAIRE family then living:
1. Robert PHAIRE.
2. Edward ROGERS, admin'r by Elizabeth GAMBLE alias ROGERS and Onesipherus GAMBLE the husband of the said Elizabeth, his guardians.
3. Onesipherus GAMBLE and Elizabeth GAMBLE alias ROGERS, the said Administrators of the said Edward ROGERS deceased.
4. William JACOB.
5. Robert PHAIRE. (Second of this name.)
6. John COOKMAN.
7. John ROGERSON.
8. Arundel BEST.
9. Robert, Lord Bishop of Killala.
10. Thomas MULLINEUX.
11. William WOLESLEY.
12. Robert PHAIRE. (Third of this name.)
13. Henry ARCHER Senior.
14. Robert FARMER.
15. John FARMER.
16. Mary GAMBLE.
17. Edith PIERCE alias GAMBLE.
18. William HENDERSON and Frances his wife.
19. Margaret PATRICKSON.
20. Thomas PATRICKSON and Martha.
21. William FLOWER and Lucy his wife.
22. Rogers FENWICK, Esq.
23. Robert FLOWER.
24. John FLOWER.
25. Phair FLOWER.
26. Deborah FLOWER.
27. Elizabeth FLOWER.
28. Alicia PHAIRE alias PURDON the older.
29. Richard CHINNERY and Elizabeth his wife.
30. Hubert PHAIRE.
31. Alicia PHAIRE junior.
32. Thomas PHAIRE.
33. Onesipherus PHAIRE.
34. Francis PHAIRE.
35. Aldworth PHAIRE.
36. Alexander Hubert PHAIRE.
37. Robert GAMBLE.
38. William JACOB. (Second of this name.)
___________________________________________
ONESIPHERUS PHAIRE AND FRANCES PATRICKSON.
Onesipherus PHAIRE (born about 1711; died in 1757) and his wife Frances HENDERSON, otherwise PATRICKSON, had issue:
1. Robert PHAIRE, born about 1737; probably admitted to Trinity College Dublin, 21 January 1754-55 (Socio Comitatis, Tutor Mr CHINNERY); he died in May 1786, "... at Daphne, near Enniscorthy, Robert PHAIRE, Esq [Freemans Journal, 1 June]; his will, dated 18 December 1780, was proved P.C.I., Dublin, 13 June 1786 "... of Daphne, County Wexford" [BETHAM's Abstract].
Robert was married on 27 July 1761 to Richards ANNESLEY (daughter of Richard ANNESLEY, 8th Earl of Anglesey, by his wife Juliana], and by Settlements dated 13 July [Memorial 158250, Book 246, Page 258, Dublin Deeds Registry]; she was of 87 Grafton Street, Dublin, 2 June 1789, when she advertised "... to be SOLD, a Life Annuity of Sixty Pounds per ann. payable half yearly out of the Estate of Robert PHAIRE, Esq, of Daphne, County Wexford" [Dublin Evening Post, 4 June]; her will, dated 12 September 1804, was proved P.C.I., Dublin, 30 November 1807, naming her brother the Right Hon Earl of Mountmorris, daughter Frances (wife of George BARCLAY), son Robert PHAIRE, daughter Mary Ann (wife of John BLENNERHASSETT) and their children Aldworth and Richard BLENNERHASSETT, appointing as Executors Sir Frederick FLOOD and William TURNER, and witnessed by Chris Job MATURIN and Robert FREEMAN - and stating that "... I have erased the name of my son Robert PHAIR's son out of my will on account of his undutiful conduct" [WELPLY's Abstract].
They had issue:
a. Robert PHAYRE, born in County Wexford, 1764-65; admitted T.C.D., 22 October 1782, aged 16 (son of Robert, Armiger); he evidently did not graduate; of Killoughram Forest, County Wexford, and later of Southampton; High Sheriff of County Wexford, 1787; he died on 10 January 1832, probably at Southampton; Prerogative Will of Robert PHAYRE of Killoughram Forest and Southampton, dated 19 May 1826 and proved in 1835, reciting a Deed of February 1811 (marriage settlements of Robert PHAYRE, his oldest son, and Sarah DRISCOLL), and naming his second son Maxwell PHAYRE, wife Ann PHAYRE, son Frederick Richard PHAYRE now aged 14 years, and George Annesley PHAYRE now aged 10, and appointing his wife Executrix - a codicil dated 9 October 1826 gives remainder "to my nephew Richard PHAYRE, son of my brother Richard PHAYRE" [WELPLY's Abstracts]; Robert was married firstly, at Ely Place, Dublin, 2 August 1787, to Amelia HOLMES, daughter of William Pomeroy HOLMES of Pallace, or Park, County Cork [Saunders Newsletter, 3 August]; she died "...at her lodgings, on the Parade," 23 November 1801, probably in Cork; the remains of Mrs PHAYRE, wife of Lieutenant-Colonel PHAYRE, Wexford Militia, were "... deposited in the family vault" at St Mary's Churchyard, Newtownbarry, on 20 March 1802 (?); issue:
ii. Maxwell PHAIRE, born Wexford, 1796; named as a defendant, along with his older brother Robert (both minors), and their father Robert PHAIR, Esq (with others), in a High Court of Chancery case, June 1808 [Dublin Evening Post, 2 March 1809]; admitted to T.C.D., 6 November 1815, aged 18 (S.C., Mr BEAHAN); B.A., Vern 1820; M.A., November 1832; Perpetual Curate of Overchurch, Cheshire, 10 October 1831; Perpetual Curate of Threapwood, Flintshire, 21 October 1839; at Threaspwood, 1851 Census, aged 56 (but born in Cornwall), with his second wife Ellen and niece Blanche PHAYRE; he died at Passy, Paris, 29 August 1856; his will, dated 3 April 1855, was proved 5 December 1856, sole beneficiary his wife Eliza; Maxwell was married firstly, at Horetown Church,County Wexford, July 1820, to Jane PIGOTT, second daughter of Lt-Col William PEMBERTON-PIGOTT of Slevoy, County Wexford; she died at Clifton, and was buried there on 9 July 1825; Maxwell was married secondly, to his first wife's sister Ellen Margaret PIGOTT; she was aged 50, born Ireland, with Maxwell in 1851; Maxwell was of Coleshill Street, when he was married thirdly, by License, at St George's Hanover Square, 3 February 1855, to Eliza WREN, of Reading, Berkshire, eldest daughter of the late William Wells WREN, Esq; she died at Wormhill, Derbyshire, in February 1893, and bequeathed a handsome communion rail to her parish church in memory of her late husband Rev Maxwell PHAYRE.
Robert PHAYRE was recorded as the father of Arthur KENNY, who was baptised at St Mary's, Newtownbarry, 17 November 1805, son also of Mary KENNY.
Robert was married secondly, by Settlements dated 13 September 1809, to Anne WHITMARSH of Bath, at Walcot, by License, 7 October, witnessed by Elizabeth Croth WHITMASH (sic), Mary HICKS and R'd PHAIRE [Somerset Marriage Index, Somerset Archives]; she was also later of Southampton; her will, dated 24 March 1836, was proved 5 July 1836; further issue:
iii. Frederick Richard PHAIRE, born about 1814; aged 14 in father's will, 1826; he died at Cheltenham, 2 May 1886, formerly of Appledore, parish of Northam, Devon, Lieutenant in H.M.'s 75th Regiment of Infantry, but late of Belle Vue Lodge, London Road, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, with probate to Mary Anne PHAYRE, of Highlands, Wolverhampton, Staffordshire, the widow and relict, Effects £2,059 12s 2d [National Probate Calendar]; he was married in 1833, to Mary Anne WILLIAMS of Bristol; she was at "Myrtles," Whitecross Road, Weston-super-Mare, 1901, with her son Annelsey; she died there, 19 June 1904, with probate to Blanche HOARE, wife of Charles Campbell Williams HOARE) and Alexander Ferrier CHURCHILL, retired Surgeon-General in H.M.'s Army, effects £8,099 12s 3d [National Probate Calendar]; with issue - Frederick Annesley Maxwell PHAYRE, baptized at St Andrew's, Plymouth, Devon, 9 June 1841; and Ellen Louisa PHAYRE, baptized same church, 22 May 1843 (born at Peats Hill, 13 May).
iv. George Annesley PHAIRE, born about 1816. See [###] below.
b. Richard PHAIRE, born about 1761 (according to his age at burial); Hon. East India Company Service; retired to Claremont Buildings, Shrewsbury, where a number of his younger children were born, and he himself died:
Richard was buried at St Chad's Parish Churchyard, Shrewsbury, 18 November 1830, aged 69 years; he was married at St James's, Piccadilly, 9 October 1806, to Maria RIDGEWAY, daughter of James Leech RIDGEWAY, Publisher of 169 Piccadilly, and his wife Caroline CARRINGTON; Maria died at 9 Hatherley Place, Cheltenham, 21 August 1860, and was buried at St Paul's Parish Churchyard, Shurdington, Gloucestershire, 28 August, aged 68; probate granted to Mary Ann PHAYRE and Alicia Harriet PHAYRE, both of 9 Hatherley Place, Cheltenham, Spinsters, the daughters, effects under £200 [National Probate Calendar]; they had issue:
i. Richard PHAIRE, born London, about 1806; Shrewsbury School, 1824; adm T.C.D., 18 October 1824, aged 17; B.A., 1830; M.A., 1862; Rector of East and West Raynham, Norfolk; probate granted at Norwich, to Geoffrey Phayre CHAMBERLAIN, of St Vincent's Priory, Clifton near Bristol, Esq, Barrister-at-Law, the nephew and sole executor [National Probate Calendar]; he died at West Raynham Rectory, 1 January 1886, aged 78;he was married at Brighton, on 5 January 1847, to Charlotte Laura WODEHOUSE; no issue.
ii. Maria PHAIRE, born London, about 1808; married at West Raynham, 20 May 1835, Rev John Robert Nathaniel KENCHANT of Knighton, Radnorshire.
iii. Frances PHAIRE, born London, at her father's residence, Upper Berkeley Street, London, 12 March 1811; married at West Raynham, 19 September 1833, Capt Frederick LOFTUS, Dragoon Guards, younger son of the late General LOFTUS.
iv. Arthur Purves PHAIRE, born Shrewsbury, Salop, 7 May 1812, and baptised at St Chad's, 17 July. See [QQQ] below.
v. Caroline Emily PHAIRE, born Salop, 1814; died 10 August 1908; married at Norfolk, 18 May 1857, William Henry Gage FITZROY, Commander, R.N.; issue.
vi. Mary Ann PHAIRE, born Uffington, Salop, 25 December 1815, and baptised at St Chad's, Shrewsbury, 5 July 1816; she died at 4 Oxford Buildings, Cheltenham, 15 December 1866, aged 50, and was buried with her mother at St Pauls, Shurdington; probate to Robert Dean CHAMBERLAIN, of Cheltenham, Effects under £300, re-sworn 1874, under £600 [National Probate Calendar].
vii. Lucy PHAIRE, born Shrewsbury, 6 March 1818, and baptised at St Chad's, 2 Sep; died at Walsingham, Norfolk, June qtr 1844, with Administration granted 9 July 1874 to Sir Arthur Purves PHAYRE, of Bray, County Wicklow, the brother, effects under £300 [National Probate Calendar].
viii. Robert PHAIRE, born Shrewsbury, 22 January 1820, and baptised at St Chad's, 4 Oct; See [K] next below.
ix. Eliza PHAIRE, born Shrewsbury, 22 February 1822; she died at Cheltenham, 5 March 1845, with Administration granted 9 July 1874 to Sir Arthur Purves PHAYRE, of Bray, County Wicklow, the brother, effects under £300 [National Probate Calendar].
x. Jane Hill PHAIRE, born Shrewsbury, 22 December 1824, and baptised at St Chad's, 21 June 1825; died at Cheltenham, 16 February 1858, with Administration granted 9 July 1874 to Sir Arthur Purves PHAYRE, of Bray, County Wicklow, the brother, effects under £300 [National Probate Calendar]..
xi. Georgina Catherine PHAIRE, born Shrewsbury, and baptised at St Chad's, 13 February 1827, a twin; died 1827, an infant.
xii. Alicia Harriet PHAIRE, born Shrewsbury, and baptised at St Chad's, 13 February 1827, the other twin; she died at Uppingham, Rutlandshire, 7 June 1862, late of Othorpe House, near Market Harborough, County Leicester [National Probate Calendar]; she was married at Llanrair, Waterdine, Co Salop, 19 February 1861, Capt Robert MILLER of Slawston, Leicestershire.
xiii. Georgina PHAIRE, born Shrewsbury, & bapt at St Chad's, 23 October 1829; died at Cheltenham, June qtr 1868, aged 38; married at Cheltenham, 1858, Robert Dean CHAMBERLAIN; issue.
c. Frances PHAIRE; of Enniscorthy, when she was married firstly, April 1790, to Higatt BOYD, Esq, of Dublin [London Chronicle, 8 April]; he died in 1797; she married secondly, George BARCLAY; he died in 1806; she married thirdly, Richard de Courcy IRELAND.
d. Arthur PHAIRE; died 1797, intestate.
e. Richarda PHAIRE; died young.
f. Mary Anne PHAIRE; she was married by M.L.B., Diocese of Dublin, 10 January 1794, to John BLENNERHASSETT of Greenville, Blackrock, County Dublin, with issue:
i. Goddard BLENNERHASSETT, born 1802; T.C.D.; B.A., 1821; married 1821, Sarah KING, with issue.
ii. Aldworth BLENNERHASSETT; Captain, 73rd Regiment; Battle of Waterloo; married Lucy with issue.
iii. Richarda BLENNERHASSETT.
g. Aldworth PHAIRE; Lieutenant, 87th Regiment of Foot; died 1797; will proved 21 June 1719, Lieutenant, 35th Regiment.
2. Aldworth PHAIRE.
3. Polly Ann PHAIRE; married in 1758, Henry NIXON of Newtown, County Wexford, with issue.
4. Elizabeth PHAIRE; named in Aldworth's will, 1758, as Mrs NIXON's sister Betty; died unmarried; administration, 8 November 1781.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[K] Robert PHAIRE, born Shrewsbury, 22 January 1820; at Shrewsbury School, 1836; Honorable East India Company Service; Ensign, Bengal Native Infantry, 1839; Deputy Assistant Quarter-Master-General, Kurrachee, 1848; Captain, 25th Regiment, Bengal Native Infantry, 1849, 1853; Lieutenant-Colonel, Bombay Army, 1860; distinguished Military career in India, the Scinde and Afghanistan; Aide-de-Camp to Queen Victoria; General; G.C.B.; he died at St George, Hanover Square, London, 28 January 1897, aged 77 years; late of 64 St George's Square, Pimlico, County Middlesex, G.C.B., probate granted at London, 1 March, to dame Diana Bunbury PHAYRE, Widow, Effects £1,255 2s 11d, re-sworn March 1898 at £905 2s 11d [National Probate Calendar].
Robert was married at Kurrachee, Bombay Presidency, 9 June 1846, to Diana Bunbury THOMPSON (daughter of Arnold THOMPSON, Paymaster, 81st Regiment); she was at 7 Cambray Place, Cheltenham, 1861 Census, aged 40, wife of Colonel PHAYRE in Bombay, with her seven children; she was at 23 Cambray, Cheltenham, 1871 Census, aged 50, with son, four daughters and two grandchildren; she returned to India shortly after May 1874, having left the family Bible, with family birth details, with brother-in-law Rev Richard PHAYER at West Raynham, Norfolk; she died at 9 Prince's Building, Clifton, Gloucestershire, 13 May 1904, Widow, with probate to Richard PHAYRE, retired Lieutenant-Colonel, effects £1,270 3s 4d [National Probate Calendar]; issue included:
a. Arnold PHAYRE, born 11 July 1847, and baptized at Kurrachee, 1 August; buried at Kurrachee, 14 September 1848, aged 1 year.
b. Caroline Emily PHAYRE, born 26 April 1849, and baptized at Kurrachee, 10 May; aged 11, with her mother, 1861; aged 21, with her mother, 1871, Married, with her two children; she was married at Kirkee, Bombay Presidency, 20 August 1868, to James Raymond Johnstone DEWAR; with issue:
i. Arthur Robert Johnston DEWAR, born 11 October 1869, and baptised at Hyderabad, Bombay, 25 November; aged 1, with mother and maternal grandmother, 1871.
ii. Sybella DEWAR, born at Sea, 1870-71; aged 4 and-a-half months, with mother and maternal grandmother, 1871.
c. Anna Maria PHAYRE, born in India, 28 August 1850; aged 10, Scholar, with her mother 1861; aged 20, with her mother, 1871.
d. Robert PHAYRE, born at Belgaum, Bombay Presidency, India, 28 August 1850, and baptized privately at Phonderghal, 15 February [British India Office Births and Baptisms, Findmypast.co.uk]; aged 8, Scholar, with his mother, 1861; Rugby School; entered the India Civil Service, 1871; he was appointed, in November 1885, Deputy Commissioner, Minbu District, Upper Burma; he was killed near Padien, Burma, 8 June 1886, aged 34, and was buried at Mingu (sic) [Stained-glass window Memorial, St Patrick's Church, Clannaborough Church, Devon]; he was married at Weston-super-Mare, 1885, to Edith MARGARY, daughter of General H. MARGARY; she died at Islington, , London, 24 June 1946, and was buried at St Petrock's, Clannaborough, Devon; they had issue an only child:
i. Robert Bernard PHAYRE, born at Government House, Rangoon, 2 January 1886, and baptised at Rangoon, Bengal, 26 January; he died 23 April 1966, and was buried at St Petrock's Churchyard, Devon, aged 80 [Memorial 239496980, Findagrave]; he was married to Joan Margaret HENSLEY; she died 26 March 1977, aged 86 [Memorial 239496991, Findagrave].
e. Richard PHAYRE, born in India, 31 October 1853, and baptized at Belgaum, 5 December; aged 7, Scholar, with his mother, 1861; aged 15, Scholar, with his mother, 1871; Major, Yorkshire Regiment; Afghan War, 1880; D.L. and J.P. for Surrey; O.B.E.; he was at Belgaum, Heathside Road, Woking, 1901 Census, aged 49, Lt-Col Retired, with wife and five children; at Belgaum, Woking, 1911 Census, aged 57, Army Pensioner, with wife and two daughters; he was at Belgaum Road West, Woking, 1939 Register, with wife Frances; he died at Belgaum, Park Road, Woking, 26 April 1940; probate in London, 1 July, to Frances anne PHAYRE, widow, Effects £8,533 15s 6d.
Richard was of 13 Selwood Terrace, Major 2nd Yorkshire Regiment, when married at St Peter's Church, South Kensington, 20 December 1887, to Frances Ann BAYLY, of Park House, Farnborough (daughter of John Jasper Lee BAYLY, of Alderley, Gloucestershire, Gent, deceased); they had issue:
i. Richard Herbert PHAYRE, born at Farnborough, Surrey, 31 March 1890; Repton School; R.M.C. Sandhurst; Yorkshire Regiment, 1909; Lieutenant, April 1911; at Yorkshire Regiment Barracks, Fulford Road, York, 1911 Census; killed at Ypres, 26 October 1914.
ii. Charles Frederick PHAYRE, born in India, 26 May 1891, and baptised at Bangalore, 16 July; aged 9, with parents, 1901; Repton School; R.M.A., Woolwich (Sandhurst Company); 2nd Battalion, Royal Munster Fusiliers, October 1910; at Jellalabad Barracks, Hampshire, 1911 Census; Lieutenant, April 1914; killed during the retreat from Mons, Western Front, 27 August 1914.
ii. John Ernest PHAYRE, born at Park House, Farnborough, 14 May 1892, and baptised at Farnborough St Peter, 1 July; R.N. Colleges, Osborne and dartmouth; aged 8, with parents, 1901; Commander, R.N.; at Downsway Cottage, Downsway, 1939 Register, Commander R.N., Admiralty, with wife; he died at Minehead, Somerset, 23 November 1953; he was married at Woking St Peter, 30 September 1933 to Kathleen Mary RITCHIE (daughter of Charles Foster RITCHIE, Barrister); she died at Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, 2 August 1986; no issue.
iv. Frances Marion PHAYRE, born at Woking, Surrey, about 1893; aged 7, with parents, 1901; aged 17, with parents, 1911; V.A.D. Volunteer, British Red Cross Society, as Cook, Beechcroft Military Hospital, Woking, March 1915 to October 1916; she was married in 1916 to Cecil W.G. INCE, Duke of Wellington's Regiment; M.C.; O.B.E.; with issue.
v. Annie Rachel PHAYRE, born at Woking, 6 April 1896; aged 4, with her parents, 1901; aged 14, with parents, 1911.
f. Arthur PHAYRE, born in India, 23 February 1856, and baptized at Poona, 5 March; aged 5, Scholar, with his mother, 1861; aged 15, Scholar, with his mother, 1871; Cheltenham College; Jesus College, Cambridge, admitted Pensioner, April 1876; 2nd Lieutenant, 11th Foot (Devonshire) Regiment; served in Afghanistan, 1878-80, and later in India; A.D.C. to Lord REAY, Governor of Bombay, 1885-90; Captain, 3rd Bombay Cavalry, 1891; Major, 1897:
e. Richard PHAYRE, born in India, 31 October 1853, and baptized at Belgaum, 5 December; aged 7, Scholar, with his mother, 1861; aged 15, Scholar, with his mother, 1871; Major, Yorkshire Regiment; Afghan War, 1880; D.L. and J.P. for Surrey; O.B.E.; he was at Belgaum, Heathside Road, Woking, 1901 Census, aged 49, Lt-Col Retired, with wife and five children; at Belgaum, Woking, 1911 Census, aged 57, Army Pensioner, with wife and two daughters; he was at Belgaum Road West, Woking, 1939 Register, with wife Frances; he died at Belgaum, Park Road, Woking, 26 April 1940; probate in London, 1 July, to Frances anne PHAYRE, widow, Effects £8,533 15s 6d.
Richard was of 13 Selwood Terrace, Major 2nd Yorkshire Regiment, when married at St Peter's Church, South Kensington, 20 December 1887, to Frances Ann BAYLY, of Park House, Farnborough (daughter of John Jasper Lee BAYLY, of Alderley, Gloucestershire, Gent, deceased); they had issue:
i. Richard Herbert PHAYRE, born at Farnborough, Surrey, 31 March 1890; Repton School; R.M.C. Sandhurst; Yorkshire Regiment, 1909; Lieutenant, April 1911; at Yorkshire Regiment Barracks, Fulford Road, York, 1911 Census; killed at Ypres, 26 October 1914.
ii. Charles Frederick PHAYRE, born in India, 26 May 1891, and baptised at Bangalore, 16 July; aged 9, with parents, 1901; Repton School; R.M.A., Woolwich (Sandhurst Company); 2nd Battalion, Royal Munster Fusiliers, October 1910; at Jellalabad Barracks, Hampshire, 1911 Census; Lieutenant, April 1914; killed during the retreat from Mons, Western Front, 27 August 1914.
ii. John Ernest PHAYRE, born at Park House, Farnborough, 14 May 1892, and baptised at Farnborough St Peter, 1 July; R.N. Colleges, Osborne and dartmouth; aged 8, with parents, 1901; Commander, R.N.; at Downsway Cottage, Downsway, 1939 Register, Commander R.N., Admiralty, with wife; he died at Minehead, Somerset, 23 November 1953; he was married at Woking St Peter, 30 September 1933 to Kathleen Mary RITCHIE (daughter of Charles Foster RITCHIE, Barrister); she died at Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, 2 August 1986; no issue.
iv. Frances Marion PHAYRE, born at Woking, Surrey, about 1893; aged 7, with parents, 1901; aged 17, with parents, 1911; V.A.D. Volunteer, British Red Cross Society, as Cook, Beechcroft Military Hospital, Woking, March 1915 to October 1916; she was married in 1916 to Cecil W.G. INCE, Duke of Wellington's Regiment; M.C.; O.B.E.; with issue.
v. Annie Rachel PHAYRE, born at Woking, 6 April 1896; aged 4, with her parents, 1901; aged 14, with parents, 1911.
f. Arthur PHAYRE, born in India, 23 February 1856, and baptized at Poona, 5 March; aged 5, Scholar, with his mother, 1861; aged 15, Scholar, with his mother, 1871; Cheltenham College; Jesus College, Cambridge, admitted Pensioner, April 1876; 2nd Lieutenant, 11th Foot (Devonshire) Regiment; served in Afghanistan, 1878-80, and later in India; A.D.C. to Lord REAY, Governor of Bombay, 1885-90; Captain, 3rd Bombay Cavalry, 1891; Major, 1897:
Major A. PHAYRE, 3rd Bombay Cavalry.
Photo by GREGORY, of HUDSON and KEARNS.
Published in the "Navy & Army Illustrated," 10 December 1897, page 105.
Arthur served in the South African War, 1898-1901; China Expedition, 1900 [Mentioned in Despatches; China Medal]; Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel, 1900; one of three British Officers sent to London for Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee; Commander, 9th or Secunderabad Division, 1914, 1917; Colonel, 17th Poona Horse; he retired in 1919.
Arthur arrived back in England on the S.S. Ormonde, April 1919, aged 63, with his two daughters Misses M. and C. PHAYRE (aged 23 and 22); he was at Park House, Bridge End, Warwick, 1939 Register, Retired Soldier (General), with his married daughter's STANDRING family; he died at Park House, Warwick, 11 December 1940, and was buried at Warwick Cemetery, aged 84; Probate granted at Birmingham, 1 February 1941, to Henry W. and Evelyn M. STANDRING, Effects £4,267 17s.
Arthur was married at the Parish Church, Clevedon, Somerset, 7 July 1891, to Catharine Mary ANDERSON, aged 23, Spinster (daughter of Horace Searle ANDERSON, Major-General, C.B., Bombay Staff Corps); she arrived in England on the ship Egypt, 30 September 1900, from Bombay, aged 37, a wife, with her two daughters Evelyn (4 and a half years) and Marion (2 and a half); she was at 7 Boyn Hill Avenue, Maidenhead, Berkshire, 1901 Census, aged 33, born India, with her three children, her aunt Alice HEPTINSTALL (aged 63, unmarried) and her FORBES nephew and niece, Arthur (aged 7) and Margery (6); she was at Paignton, Wimblehunt Road, Horsham, Sussex, 1911 Census, aged 43, Married for 19 years, Private Means, with three surviving children (of four born), niece Marjorie FORBES, and Uncle and Aunt Sambrook and Mary HEPTINSTALL (aged 64 and 70 respectively); Catharine returned to India; she died at 3 Avenue Road, Bangalore, 26 June 1917, and was buried at Bangalore, Madras Presidency, 27 June, aged 49 [M.I., Agram Cemetery, Bangalore]; of Lushington Hall, Ootacamund, India (wife of Sir Arthur PHAYRE); Probate was granted at London, 28 June 1918, to Marion Harriet FORBES (wife of Arthur William FORBES) and Jane Heath DUIGAN (wife of William DUIGAN), Effects £2,390 14s 7d [National Probate Calendar].
Arthur and Catherine had issue:
i. Arthur Horace PHAYRE, born 27 July 1893, and baptised at Deesa, Bombay, 2 September; he died before 1911.
ii. Evelyn Mary PHAYRE, born 13 April 1896, and baptised at Simla, 28 May 1896; aged 14, Student, with her mother, 1911; she was at Park House, Bridge End, Warwick, 1939 Register, with her father and her husband Henry W. STANDRING; she died at Church Farm House, Sherbourne, Warwickshire, 7 July 1978; she was married at St Andrew's Church, Oxford, 6 December 1927, to Henry Woolf STANDRING, aged 26, Bachelor, of 54 Shorncliffe Road, Kolkstone, Land Agent.
iii. Marian Catharine PHAYRE, born in Somerset, 24 October 1897, and baptized at Christ Church, Clevedon, 8 December; aged 13, Student, with her mother, 1911; she was married at Oxford, 3 September 1933, to Philip Eustace HILL, and went with him to live in Moree, N.S.W.
i. Arthur Horace PHAYRE, born 27 July 1893, and baptised at Deesa, Bombay, 2 September; he died before 1911.
ii. Evelyn Mary PHAYRE, born 13 April 1896, and baptised at Simla, 28 May 1896; aged 14, Student, with her mother, 1911; she was at Park House, Bridge End, Warwick, 1939 Register, with her father and her husband Henry W. STANDRING; she died at Church Farm House, Sherbourne, Warwickshire, 7 July 1978; she was married at St Andrew's Church, Oxford, 6 December 1927, to Henry Woolf STANDRING, aged 26, Bachelor, of 54 Shorncliffe Road, Kolkstone, Land Agent.
iii. Marian Catharine PHAYRE, born in Somerset, 24 October 1897, and baptized at Christ Church, Clevedon, 8 December; aged 13, Student, with her mother, 1911; she was married at Oxford, 3 September 1933, to Philip Eustace HILL, and went with him to live in Moree, N.S.W.
iv. Robert Arthur PHAYRE, born at Maidenehead, Berkshire, 4 January 1901; aged 10, Student, with his mother, 1911 Census; a distinguished Army career, rising to the rank of Brigadier, and with a D.S.O.; he also played cricket, for Minor Counties, Oxfordshire, 1922 & 1923, and whilst in the Army, for Straits Settlements v. Federated Malay States, 1924, for Malaya v. Shanghai, and Hong Kong, then two first class games in India, 1929, and two final matches for Oxfordshire in 1930 [Wikipedia]; he died at Camberley, Surrey, 31 December 1993.
g. Innes Bunbury PHAYRE, born about 1857; aged 24, Spinster, when she was married at Mhow, Bengal Presidency, 11 April 1882, to Charles Alexander CUNNINGHAM, aged 40, Widower, Major, Bombay Staff Corps, witnessed by Alice Marion PHAYRE and Diana B. PHAYRE.
h. James B. PHAYRE, born Cheltenham, about 1857; aged 3, with his mother, 1861; aged 13, Scholar, with his mother, 1871. Perhaps instead Innes?
j. Alice Marion PHAYRE, born 5 March 1860, and baptised at Malcolm Peth, Bombay, 5 April; aged 1, with her mother, 1861; aged 11, Scholar, with her mother, 1871.
h. James B. PHAYRE, born Cheltenham, about 1857; aged 3, with his mother, 1861; aged 13, Scholar, with his mother, 1871. Perhaps instead Innes?
j. Alice Marion PHAYRE, born 5 March 1860, and baptised at Malcolm Peth, Bombay, 5 April; aged 1, with her mother, 1861; aged 11, Scholar, with her mother, 1871.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[***] Robert William PHAIRE, born at Ely Place, Dublin, 29 July 1789, and baptized (as Robert George Maxwell) at Upper Averley, 16 June 1792; the elder son; named as a defendant, with his younger brother Maxwell (both minors) and their father Robert PHAIRE, Esq (with others), in a High Court of Chancery cause in June 1808 [Dublin Evening Post, 2 March 1809]; of Killoughram Forest, County Wexford, Esq, 1811 [Marriage Settlements]; possibly at 1 Chester Place, Regents Park, London, 1841 Census, aged 49, independent, born Ireland, and residing with the family of Francis LEE (aged 37, Law), his wife Ellen (32) and daughter Ellen (1 year 3 months); he died at Anglet, near Biarritz, Basse Pyrenees, France, 6 August 1863, aged 74 years, of Killoughram, County Wexford [Bath Chronicle, 13 and 20 August; and Evening Freeman, 17 August], and was buried at St mary's Churchyard, Newtownbarry, County wexford; his will was proved at the Principal Registry, Dublin, 6 February 1864, by William RUSSELL, Farmer, of Bloomfield, County Wexford, one of the executors, Effects under £450.
Robert was married, by License of the Prerogative Court, Diocese of Dublin, dated 1 February 1811, to Sarah DRISCOLL (daughter of Timothy DRISCOLL, of Dublin, Barrister-at-Law, probably by his wife Catherine CAMPBELL) - a Deed of Marriage Settlements, with a marriage portion of £1,000, was dated 12 February [Memorial 434227, Book 626, Page 328, Deeds Registry, Dublin]; an Indented Deed of Separation, dated 23 December 1823, was made between Robert William PHAIRE, late of Saint Germain, France, but then residing in Ireland, and Sarah PHAIRE otherwise DRISCOLL, the wife of the said Robert William PHAIRE, of the second part, and Thomas DRISCOLL, of Harcourt Street, Dublin, one of H.M.'s Counsel at Law of the third part, and which recited "... that certain unhappy differences had taken place between the said Robert William PHAIRE and Sarah his wife, and that the said Robert William PHARIRE had an anxious wish to live separate and apart from said Sarah during their lives, and that said Sarah had agreed thereto", subject to payment of certain annuities to her of from £100 to 250 per annum, raised out of his estates near Enniscorthy, Sarah having arrived back in Ireland on 6 September 1822 [Memorial 532528, Volume 787, Page 393]; Mrs PHAIRE was enumerated in the 1841 Census at the Star and Garter Hotel, Richmond Hill, Petersham, Surrey, aged 35+, Independent, born Ireland, in the retinue of the Prince (Carlo BORBONE) and Princess (Penelope SMITH of Cork) of Capua, she "... for many years acted as duenna to the Miss SMITHs (Penelope and Gertrude)" in France and Italy ["The Life of Sur Richard BURTON," by Isabel BURTON, 1893, page 46], and who, after falling on hard times in Naples, was seen carefully off back to England with Gertrude, where Gertrude was married to Lord DINORBEN, with whom Sarah continued to reside [Ibidem, and at page 78]; she took action in Chancery, January 1845, with Thomas FAGAN, "... her next friend," Plaintiffs, against her husband Robert William PHAIRE and others, which resulted in a Decree, dated 31 January, concerning an annuity on her husband's lands in County Wexford, which may have been her Jointure; she died before 2 December 1867; issue, but evidently not by Sarah (and perhaps therefore illegitimate?):
1. William PHAIRE, born about 1830, son of Robert William PHAIRE (so recorded on his marriage registration); possibly at Rev J.B. HILDEBRAND's Grammar School, School Lane, Kibworth Beauchamp, Leicestershire, 1841 Census, as William PHAIRE, aged 11, School Boy, not born in County; Ensign, Native Infantry, 20 January 1851 [HART's Army List, 1875]; Lieutenant, 47th or 54th Native Infantry, 31 January 1854 [HART, ditto]; Lieutenant, late 54th Bengal Native Infantry, and Assistant Commissioner of Assam, residing at Seetapur, 1860, 1862 (when his children were baptised there); Captain, 20 January 1873 [HART, ditto]; Major, 20 January 1871 [HART, ditto]; Major, Bengal Staff Corps, 1873 (when he buried his wife there); promoted Lieutenant-Colonel, Bengal Staff Corps, 20 January 1877 [London Gazette, 27 March]; Cantonment Magistrate, No 26 Fyzabad Cantonment, Bengal, 1881; he died there on 2 June 1881 and was buried at Fyzabad on 3 June 1881, aged 51 years; his will was proved in the Principal Registry, Dublin, 13 May 1889, by Charles TAYLOR, of the Castle of Wexford, Solicitor, one of the Executors, Effects £340, William being described as "... formerly of Daphne Castle, County Wexford, and late of Tyzabad Oude (sic), India, Lieutenant Colonel H.M. Bengal Staff Corps."
William was aged 25 years (son of Robert William PHAIRE), and Lieutenant, 47th Regiment, when he was married at St Matthew's Church, Moulmein, Bengal Presidency, 5 April 1855, to Cornelia Lydia KINCAID (daughter of Engenio KINCADE); she died on 23 February 1873, and was buried at Fyzabad, same day, aged 32 years; they had issue:
a. Amelia Eliza Annie PHAYRE, born about 1856-57; died 8 August 1859 and was buried at Barrackpore, Bengal, aged 2.
b. Eugene William Onesiphorus PHAIRE, born in 1858-59; died 1 August 1859 and was buried at Barrackpore, 2 Aug, aged under 1.
c. Ethel Ada PHAIRE, born 22 July 1860, and baptized at Gwalior, Bengal, 30 March 1861; at a boarding school, Annesley House, Queen's Crescent, Portsea, Hants, 1871 Census, aged 10, with he four younger siblings, all scholars; in the care of Mrs PENNINGTON, Vernon Cottage, Maini (?) Tad, India, when her late father's death was investigated by Military Authorities (for the purpose of allocating his pension amongst his orphaned children), 1881; she was married at St Peter's Church, Fort William, Calcutta, Bengal, 11 April 1882, to William GRIERSON-JACKSON, Bengal Civil Service; he died in 1901; issue:
i. William Evelyn GRIERSON-JACKSON, born at Bournemouth, 1 May 1883; died at Mussoree, India, 22 June 1885, aged 2.
ii. Ethel Maude Dorothy GRIESON-JACKSON, baptized at Bengal, 18 August 1884; a Nurse.
iii. Edward Evelyn GRIERSON-JACKSON, born 18 May 1888, and baptized at Allahaban, West Bengal, 7 Jun; married Winifred Kitty BURRIDGE.
iv. Henry Charles GRIERSON-JACKSON, born Bournemouth, 1890; died 1949; married Dorothy SHEKLETON.
v. Laura E. GRIERSON-JACKSON, born Bournemouth, 1893.
d. Edith Maude PHAIRE, born 28 February 1862, and baptised at Seetapore, Bengal, 1 January 1864; aged 9, with sister Ethel, 1871; in the care of Sir Arthur PHAYRE, 12 Goldsmiths Terrace, Bray, County Wicklow, when her father died in 1881; at school at 2 St James's Road, Kingston (Surbiton District), 1881 Census, aged 19, Scholar, born E. Indies, with three siblings; she died on 7 May 1916 (as annotated on her father's pension file, British India Office Pension Register).
e. Robert Annesley Valentia PHAIRE, born 6 May 1863, and baptised at Seetapore, Bengal, 1 January 1864; aged 7, with sister Ethel, 1871; with his sister Edith, 188, aged 17, Scholar, born E. Indies; he died at Newmarket, Cambridgeshire, June quarter 1918, aged 56 years [Volume 3B, Page 521].
f. Arthur Purvis PHAIRE, born India, 24 August 1864; aged 6, with sister Ethel, 1871; with his sister Edith, 1881; enlisted in the Royal Artillery, at Colchester, 16 April 1886, as a Driver; transferred to the army Reserve, Section C, Driver, 24 February 1892; ditto, Section B, 13 April 1893; first Discharge, 12 April 1898; Recalled to Army Service under Special Army Order of 20 December 1899; Driver, 2nd Battery, Royal Field Artillery, Boer War; transferred to 5 Depot, R.F.A., 5 June 1901; seecond Discharge, 18 May 1902; at Claybury Hospital, Woodford Bridge, Essex, 1911 Census, aged 45, Married, Carman, Lunatic at age 43; at Leavesdon Hospital, Abbots Langley, Hertfordshire, 1939 Register, born 1866, Incapacitated; he died in 1947, aged 80 years; he was married at St Phillip's, Stepney, Tower Hamlets, 13 October 1899, to Caroline Charlotte EVANS.
g. Norah Evelyn PHAIRE, born in India, 8 December 1865; aged 5, with sister Ethel, 1871; with her sister Edith, 1881; £49 10s until 7 December 1883, and £150 when married; she died at Myzapore, Uttar Pradesh, India, 20 October 1886, aged 20nyears 10 months, accidentally drowned.
h. Herbert Percival PHAIRE, born 8 December 1868; £44 per annum until 21, and £105 "when struck off"; Balance of his share of his father's pension paid on 17 April 1887, "... gone to settle in Texas" with date of departure for New York on 21 April 1887; Photographer, 99 Genesee Street, Auburn, Cayuga County, New York State, 1902; at Seward Avenue, Auburn, 1915 and 1925 State Censuses, with his wife Ida, Studio helper (1915) and Helper at gallery (1925); he died at Auburn, 9 November 1938, and was buried at Fort Hill Cemetery [M.I.]; he was married in 1896 to Ida E. MOSSMAN (born in Canada, 1874); she died at Auburn on 25 November 1938, and was buried with her husband; they do not appear to have had issue.
__________________________________________________________
[###] George Annesley PHAYRE, born about 1816; aged 10 in his father's will, 1826; enlisted in the Royal Navy, 6 June 1836; Lieutenant, R.N., September 1843; Captain, R.N.; Commander, H.M.S. Basilisk, July 1856; he was at 1 Winifred's Dale, Walcot, Bath, 1861 Census, aged 45, Commander, R.N., born Wexford, with his wife and four children; at Ormonde Lodge, Walcot, 1871 Census, aged 54, Retired Captain, R.N., with his wife and five daughters; he died at Ormonde Lodge, Bath, Somerset, 16 May 1879, Captain R.N., J.P. for Bath [Bath Chronicle, 17 May].
George was of Park Street, Lieutenant in the Navy, when he was married at Walcot St Swithin, Bath, 16 June 1947, to Mary Ann FORD, the only daughter of Captain (Matthew Randle) FORD, of Lansdown Place East, Bath [Church Register; Bath Chronicle, 17 June]; she was born at 11 Lansdown Place, Bath, 11 July 1822, daughter of Matthew Randle FORD, Esq, and his wife Ann, and baptised at Walcot St Swithin, 20 November; she was at Lansdown Place East, 1851 Census, aged 27, wife of 1st Lieutenant R.N., with her two children; she was at Ormonde Lodge, Lansdown, Walcot, 1881 Census, aged 60, Land, Houses, etc, with her four daughters; she died on 2 March 1907, late of Ormonde Lodge, Bath, Widow, Probate granted at London, 1 June, to Emily Sarah PHAYRE, Spinster, Effects £1,319 6s 8d [National Probate Calendar].
George and Mary Ann had issue:
1. George Randle Robert PHAYRE, born at Farmley, County Wexford, October 1848 [Bath Chronicle, 19 October]; aged 2, with his mother, 1851; aged 12, Scholar, with his parents, 1861; he died at Cork, 16 March 1888 [Morning Post, 17 May], at the Eglinton Asylum, late of Woodview, Cloyne, with Administration granted at Cork, to Annie Alice PHAYRE, widow, Effects £899 4s 3d in England [National Probate Calendar].
2. Elizabeth Anne Richarda PHAYRE, born at Bath, 1850 [Volume XI, Page 22]; aged 1, with her mother, 1851; aged 11, with her parents, 1861; aged 18, Scholar, with her parents, 1871; aged 37, with her mother, 1891; she died on 22 December 1928, and was buried at Locksbrook Cemetery, Bath; she was of full age, spinster, and residing at Grafton Place, Park Lane, when she was married at Bath Holy Trinity, by Banns, 14 October 1909, to Arthur John STEPHENS, of full age, bachelor, Planter (Ceylon), residing at Bayswater, London, son of John STEPHENS (deceased), Planter; he died at Paddington, Middlesex, 19 February 1915, late of Cooroondoo, Watte, Gampola, Ceylon, with Administration (with will) in London, 13 August, to Elizabeth Anne Richarda STEPHENS, the widow, effects £1,632 15s 10d, resworn at £2,942 13s 6d [National Probate Calendar].
3. Edith M. PHAYRE, born at Bath, about 1855; aged 5, with her parents, 1861.
4. Catherine Frances PHAYRE, baptised at Bath St Swithin, 2 April 1856; as Catherine Jane, aged 15, with her parents, 1871; she was married firstly, at Weston Church, near Bath, 9 September 1874, to Stanley Bartholomew SMITH [Bath Chronicle, 10 September] - the ceremony assisted by her cousin, Rev Richard PHAYRE, Rector of Paynham, Norfolk; they had issue.
5. Emily Sarah PHAYRE, born at Bath, December quarter 1860; aged 10, with her parents, 1871; with her parents, 1861, as Emily A.R. PHAYRE, aged 20, born Cawnpore, India; as Emma SARAH, she died at 8 Chelsea Road, Bath, 6 March 1929.
6. Maude Frances PHAYRE, born about 1860; she does not appear in Census returns with this family; she was married at Newington, Surrey, 1 June 1884, to Thomas Chapman HUMBY; he was married secondly, as a Bachelor, 1 February 1887, to Hannah HUNT.
? Amy PHAYRE, born at Bath, 1862; died at Bath, 1863?
7. Frances (Fanny) Langford PHAYRE, born at 8 Upper Church Street, Bath, 11 June 1864 [Bath Chronicle, 23 June], and baptised at Walcot, Bath, 20 July; aged 6, with her parents, 1871; aged 16, with her mother, 1881.
8. Antonia Mary Annesley (Dolly) PHAYRE, born at Ormonde Lodge, Bath, 25 June 1866 [Bath Chronicle, 28 June]; aged 4, with her parents, 1871; aged 14, with her mother, 1881; she died at Ormonde Lodge, Weston Road, Bath, 9 November 1893 [The Standard, London, 13 November]; Administration granted at London, 24 January 1908, to Elizabeth Ann Richarda PHAYRE, Spinster, Effects £2,557 4s.
______________________________________________________________________________
A TRANSCRIPT OF AN IRISH LEGAL CASE, 1722.
The following is a copy of a typed abstract in my notes on Emanuel PIGOTT, but which notes have now separated from the context of its origin - probably, if my at times increasingly faulty memory serves, a photocopy made in the Library of the Society of Genealogists in London in about 1982:
A.D. 1722 PHAIRE v. PHAIRE, GAMBLE, ROGERS, DONOVAN.
The joint and several answers of Robert PHAIRE Esq, Onesipherus GAMBLE Gent, Eliz'th GAMBLE al's ROGERS his wife, Richard DONOVAN Esq and Eliz'th DONOVAN al's ROGERS his wife, to the bill of compl't of Alicia PHAIRE one of the ex'ors of Thomas PHAIRE, Gent, dec'd.
Say they heard and believe that Col Rob't PHAIRE, in bill named father of the said Thomas, did make his Will at the date in bill, and soon after died, but whether he appointed Onesipherus his son and Elizabeth his wife to be his ex'ors these def'ts cannot set forth.
Believe that the said Col. Robert PHAIRE did by his Will devise to his son Thos: PHAIRE £1000-0-0 to be paid out of the woods and ironworks at Enniscorthy - - -
Believe that the said Robert PHAIRE did by his Will devise to his said wife Elizabeth and her six children then living one moiety of the said lands, woods and ironworks, but these Def''ts Robert PHAIRE, Onesipherus GAMBLE and Elizabeth his wife have heard that the said Col Robert PHAIRE devised one moiety of his share in the said lands to his wife Elizabeth and to all his children, as well those by a former wife as those by his then wife Elizabeth - - -
Heard that Eward ROGERS was agent for the said ironworks, lands and woods - - - and that he married Frances one of the daughters of Colonel Robert PHAIRE, but they do not believe that he acquired a great fortune by his management of said lands, ironworks and woods, save what he was entitled to in right of his wife Frances, his second wife, and in right of his third wife Elizabeth PHAIRE now GAMBLE, daughter to Onesipherus PHAIRE son of the said Colonel Robert PHAIRE.
- - - Heard that the said Thomas PHAIRE did pass a bond to said ROGERS. - - -
And the said Onesipherus GAMBLE for himself answering saith he heard that said Thomas PHAIRE was arrested in Dublin at the suit of Mathew DEANE, Knt, and remained in custody for some time until the said Thomas and the compl't Alicia applied to Edward ROGERS for the money affirming to him that her brother Bartholomew PURDON of Ballyclogh Co Cork Esq had in his hands a large sum of her money.
- - - Thomas PHAIRE paid his bond for £130-0-0, but Bartholomew PURDON refused utterly to pay the same - - -
- - - The said Ed. ROGERS and the said Thos. PHAIRE are both dead. - - -
These def'ts deny all confederacy with Robert PHAIRE Esq son of the said Thomas PHAIRE and one of the ex'ors of his Will - - - The def't Robert PHAIRE heard and believes and Onesipherus GAMBLE and ELiz'th his wife, Rich'd & Eliz'th DONOVAN and Nath'l HUSON confess that since the death, judgemnet has been revived and execution taken out on the bond in bill against the goods of Thomas PHAIRE. - - -
The def't Robert PHAIRE for himself answering saith he knows not what fortune hath been made out of the lands, woods and ironworks aforesaid, and that (he) believes that said Edward ROGERS accounted with Thomas PHAIRE in his life-time for his £1000-0-0 legacy part of which was paid by Clement MILWARD, agent and manager of said lands & woods before the said ROGERS, but for more certainty these def'ts Onesipherus GAMBLE & Elizabeth his wife, Richard DONOVAN & Elizabeth his wife, Nathaniel HUSON refer themselves to an account in a schedule affixed to their former answer to a bill of compliant of Alicia PHAIRE and Robert PHAIRE, ex'ors of the said Thomas PHAIRE.
- - - These def'ts believe that Col Robert PHAIRE's debts being paid sometime before the 18th May 1714 that the said Thos. PHAIRE and he rest of the children of Col. Robert PHAIRE became entitled to a dividend of the s'd ironworks and that Capt John COOKMAN who succeeded ROGERS as manager of said ironworks pay to the said ROGERS a balance of £88-8-0 - - -
These def'ts confess that Ann PIGOTT al's PHAIRE the widow of Robert PHAIRE and not of Onesipherus, now the wife of Emanuel PIGOTT Esq, mother to def't Robert PHAIRE of Grange - - - they do not believe she took on herself the management of said ironworks etc.
- - - Robert PHAIRE of Grange says he has lately come of age - - -
- - - 23rd January 1722.
The "- - -" punctuation marks are set out as found in the typed transcript - I do not know whether some or all are indications of text left out by the transcriber, or text unable to be deciphered, or the usual filling in of empty space before a new paragraph to prevent later insertions being made unlawfully.
Emanuel PIGOTT would shortly (in 1725) purchase the ancient PIGOTT family estate of Dysart, in the Queen's County, from the hereditary proprietor, his 2nd cousin Robert PIGOTT (ca 1668-1730), who was an uncle of my presumed ancestor, Captain John PIGOTT (1704-1763) of Antigua, London, Dublin and Stradbally.
Thereby arises my second but "indirect" relationship to one or other of the Irish PHAIRE/PHAYRE families.
The Dysart estate was originally granted in 1562 to Captain John PIGOTT (ca 1530-1570); it was at one time rich in deposits of iron ore, in the early days much of it in deposits at or near the surface, and most of which was smelted by the COOTE family at Mountrath.
It has not yet been established whether the PEMBERTON-PIGOTTS of Slevoy, Co Wexford, are related to the Dysart PIGOTTs; two daughters of William PEMBETON-PIGOTT were the successive wives of Rev Maxwell PHAIRE (born about 1796), 2nd son of Robert PHAIRE of Killoughram by his 1st wife Amelia HOLMES-POMEROY.
Emanuel PIGOTT (1684-1762) was of Chetwynd, in the South Liberties of Cork City, and the M.P. for Cork City, 1735-60; by his first wife Lucy ROGERS (daughter of George ROGERS of Ashgrove, Co Cork) he had issue a son George PIGOTT (1710-1773), ancestor of the Baronets of Knapton.
Emanuel married secondly, by M.L.B. dated 22 May 1722, at St Finbarr's, Cork, as her second husband, Anne PHAIRE, the widow of Robert PHAIRE, and the daughter of George GAMBLE, both of County Cork, by whom (she died before June 1724) he had no further issue.
Emanuel married thirdly, on 12 June 1727, Judith WARBURTON (daughter of Richard WARBURTON of Garryhinch, King's County), with further issue.
______________________________________________________________________________
ARTHUR PURVES PHAYRE.
[QQQ] Arthur Purves PHAYRE was born at Shrewsbury on 7 May 1812; Shrewsbury School, 1826; Cadet, Hon East India Company Service, 1827; said to have been made Ensign, 4th Bengal Regiment, 13 August 1828 [Homeward Mail, 4 February 1878 - hereafter HM].
[Portrait of Arthur Purves PHAYRE.
The British Library, Shelfmark WD540 (105), Item number 540105.
Image courtesy of Wikipedia.com]
Arthur arrived at Fort William, 3 February 1829 [YULE's Obituary, Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society and Monthly Record of Geography, Volume 8, February 1886, pages 103-112]; Ensign, 30th Regiment, Native Infantry, Mirzapore, 3 March 1829 [Military Appointments, The Asiatic Journal (London), 1 October 1829]; transferred to the 7th Bengal Native Infantry, Midnapore, 3 June 1829 [ditto, The Asiatic Journal, 1 November 1829]; he was removed from the 7th to the 13th Native Infantry by order of H.Q., Simla, dated 17 August 1831 [The Oriental Literary Observer, 18 September 1831]; by further order, of H.Q., Camp, Kurnal, dated 22 October 1831, "Major General PINE's Division Order of the 9th inst, directing Ensign A.P. PHAYRE, of the 13th Regiment, to continue doing duty with the 7th Native Infantry until it reaches Dinapore, and then proceed to join his regiment, is confirmed" [The Oriental Literary Observer, 13 November 1831]; but this order was then cancelled, by a further order of H.Q., Camp, Ferozabad, dated 20 February 1832 - "The removal of Ensign A.P. PHAYRE, from the 7th to the 13th Regiment of Native Infantry, published in General Orders of the 27th August last, is cancelled at his own request, and he is to be re-appointed to the former Regiment, in the situation he stood previous to his removal." [The Oriental Observer (Calcutta), 18 March 1832]; he served with the 7th N.I. at Gorakhpur, and spent some time at a civil out-station at Azamgarh, about 50 miles away [YULE]; and it was here, as L.S.S. O'MALLEY observed, that "Sometimes the administration (in India) was entirely in the hands of Military Civilians, as for instance in Arakan, where they were most successful in introducing settled government after its annexation in 1826. It was here that Sir Arthur PHAYRE first made his reputation between 1834 and 1848, after he had acquired valuable experience in civil work in Assam" [Indian Civil Service: 1601-1930, London, 1931, page 51].
Arthur was transferred to Moulmein in 1835, having been nominated in 1834 by his C.O., Colonel ANDRÉ, upon a request from Colonel BENSON (Military Secretary to Lord William BENTINCK) for "... some young officer of promise for employment in the Burmese provinces" [YULE]; the Talaing (Mons, of Pegu) were to be recruited to replace European and sepoy Guards at Jails in Tenasserim housing principally Indian prisoners who had been sent to Burma (presumably as convict labour), as they presented a cheaper option; of this venture, which was advocated by Commissioner BLUNDELL, J.S. FURNIVAL (in his paper "The Fashioning of the Leviathon") wrote - "Probably the Government in India was less confident than Mr BLUNDELL of the political advantages; they were bound to proceed cautiously in such a project. And they were certainly unwilling to pay more for untrained Talaings than for trained sepoys. Captain BUDD, after lingering for some months in Moulmein in command of a non-existent regiment, returned to India... He was followed shortly afterwards by Ensign PHAYRE." [Journal, Burma Research Society, Volume 29, Number 1, 1939, page 90].
Arthur again spent time back in India; as Ensign A.P. PHAYRE, 7th Regiment N.I., he was appointed "... to do duty with Assam Light Infantry" on 25 January 1836 [The Asiatic Journal and Monthly Register for British India, Volume 20, July 1836, page 176]; in October of the same year, a pronouncement was made at Fort William, that "Ensign A.P. PHAYRE, of the 7th Regiment N.I., doing duty with the Assam Light Infantry, is, at his own request, permitted to resign his appointment and rejoin his corps" [Calcutta Monthly Journal and General Register, 31 October 1836, page 98].
He was recalled to Burma, having been appointed as Senior Assistant to the Commissioner of Arakan, 30 June 1837 [YULE], published in the Naval and Military Gazette, etc, 25 November 1837, under "BENGAL. Judicial and Revenue Appointments... Ensign A.P. PHAYRE, 7th N.I., to be Sen. Assist. to the Com. of Arakan"; Lieutenant, 9 July 1838 [HM]; mentioned in a later letter (dated 8 October 1844) by H. HOPKINSON, Junior Assistant Commissioner, Akyab, to Captain BOGLE, the Commissioner of Arracan, at Akyab, concerning the Teak of Arracan, who wrote that "... Capt PHAYRE in a communication to you as far back as 1839, notices the fact of teak being found near the Oothalong..."
Arthur was mentioned in the diary of Rev Mr ABBOTT, in an entry dated 21 December 1842 - "Left Sandoway with my family last evening, in a government boat which Mr PHAYRE, the senior assistant commissioner, gives us for the trip. Put to sea at daylight, and with a favouring breeze, have been sailing down the coast through the day. Many thanks to Mr PHAYRE for his kindness. We are much more comfortably situated than we could be in a native boat" [Self Support: Illustrated in the History of the Bassein Karen Mission from 1840 to 1880, by C.H. CARPENTER, unpaginated pdf on-line]; mentioned in a letter dated at Ramree, 12 June 1843, of Captain D. WILLIAMS, Assistant Commissioner, Arracan, to the Asiatic Society of Bengal, concerning old coins - "There are eight in a good state of preservation, and many pieces, four of the former I must send to Lieut PHAYRE, the Assistant Commissioner of Sandoway, according to my promise. Lieut PHAYRE is a good Birman scholar, and his information regarding the 'Drummasat' would be very valuable to you. He is now compiling a list of the Kings of Arracan of the Mug dynasty, and of governors of the Province under the Burmese rule, from a valuable collection of coins in his possession" [Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Volume XII, January to June 1843, at page 620]; Brevet Captain, 13 August 1843 [HM]; Captain, Bengal N.I., at Sandoway, 2 December 1844, when he wrote to a Mr TORRENS, concerning a treatise on Burmese Astronomy by a local Missionary, and mentioning indecipherable inscriptions on coins; Senior Assistant Commissioner of Arracan, 27 December 1844, when he wrote from his station, Sandoway, to Major A. BOGLE, the Commissioner of Arracan, at Kyouk Phyoo, concerning the finding of some 100 teak trees on the bank of the Thaddé Stream; mentioned again in the diary of Mr ABBOTT, Missionary in Arracan, in an entry dated 23 February 1845 - "Returned yesterday after an absence of a month. Went in company with Capt PHAYRE in a government vessel. He put me on shore at Onkgyoung,where I remained for six or eight days... over the country to Baumee... down the Baumee River, stopped at Magezzin several days... Capt PHAYRE came along from the south. I accompanied him to Goa (Gwa?), and he gave me his vessel to Sandoway, he returning by land" [The Baptist Missionary Magazine, Volumes 25-26, 1845, page 101]; Captain, 7th Bengal Native Infantry, June 1845, when he was appointed "... principal assistant at Akyab" [Limerick Chronicle, 11 June]; Captain, 16 May 1849 [HM]; appointed assistant to the Commissioner of the Tenasserim Provinces, 17 December 1846 [HM].
He was recalled to Burma, having been appointed as Senior Assistant to the Commissioner of Arakan, 30 June 1837 [YULE], published in the Naval and Military Gazette, etc, 25 November 1837, under "BENGAL. Judicial and Revenue Appointments... Ensign A.P. PHAYRE, 7th N.I., to be Sen. Assist. to the Com. of Arakan"; Lieutenant, 9 July 1838 [HM]; mentioned in a later letter (dated 8 October 1844) by H. HOPKINSON, Junior Assistant Commissioner, Akyab, to Captain BOGLE, the Commissioner of Arracan, at Akyab, concerning the Teak of Arracan, who wrote that "... Capt PHAYRE in a communication to you as far back as 1839, notices the fact of teak being found near the Oothalong..."
Arthur was mentioned in the diary of Rev Mr ABBOTT, in an entry dated 21 December 1842 - "Left Sandoway with my family last evening, in a government boat which Mr PHAYRE, the senior assistant commissioner, gives us for the trip. Put to sea at daylight, and with a favouring breeze, have been sailing down the coast through the day. Many thanks to Mr PHAYRE for his kindness. We are much more comfortably situated than we could be in a native boat" [Self Support: Illustrated in the History of the Bassein Karen Mission from 1840 to 1880, by C.H. CARPENTER, unpaginated pdf on-line]; mentioned in a letter dated at Ramree, 12 June 1843, of Captain D. WILLIAMS, Assistant Commissioner, Arracan, to the Asiatic Society of Bengal, concerning old coins - "There are eight in a good state of preservation, and many pieces, four of the former I must send to Lieut PHAYRE, the Assistant Commissioner of Sandoway, according to my promise. Lieut PHAYRE is a good Birman scholar, and his information regarding the 'Drummasat' would be very valuable to you. He is now compiling a list of the Kings of Arracan of the Mug dynasty, and of governors of the Province under the Burmese rule, from a valuable collection of coins in his possession" [Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Volume XII, January to June 1843, at page 620]; Brevet Captain, 13 August 1843 [HM]; Captain, Bengal N.I., at Sandoway, 2 December 1844, when he wrote to a Mr TORRENS, concerning a treatise on Burmese Astronomy by a local Missionary, and mentioning indecipherable inscriptions on coins; Senior Assistant Commissioner of Arracan, 27 December 1844, when he wrote from his station, Sandoway, to Major A. BOGLE, the Commissioner of Arracan, at Kyouk Phyoo, concerning the finding of some 100 teak trees on the bank of the Thaddé Stream; mentioned again in the diary of Mr ABBOTT, Missionary in Arracan, in an entry dated 23 February 1845 - "Returned yesterday after an absence of a month. Went in company with Capt PHAYRE in a government vessel. He put me on shore at Onkgyoung,where I remained for six or eight days... over the country to Baumee... down the Baumee River, stopped at Magezzin several days... Capt PHAYRE came along from the south. I accompanied him to Goa (Gwa?), and he gave me his vessel to Sandoway, he returning by land" [The Baptist Missionary Magazine, Volumes 25-26, 1845, page 101]; Captain, 7th Bengal Native Infantry, June 1845, when he was appointed "... principal assistant at Akyab" [Limerick Chronicle, 11 June]; Captain, 16 May 1849 [HM]; appointed assistant to the Commissioner of the Tenasserim Provinces, 17 December 1846 [HM].
Arthur rejoined the 7th N.I. in Punjab, 1848-49.
He returned to Burma, as Commissioner of Arakan, 20 April 1849; Commissioner of the Province of Pegu, 30 April 1852; Major, 7th Bengal Native Infantry, June 1854 [Inverness Courier, 29 June]; sole Envoy to the Burmese Court of Ava, at Mandalay, July 1855, accompanied by Secretary Captain H. YULE (Bengal Engineers), Superintending Surgeon J. FORSYTH, four Military Officers, and three other British Gentlemen [London Evening Standard, 18 September]; went on a home visit to England, arriving between 11 and 25 July 1857, [Homeward Mail, 1 August]; he was posted to the newly raised 6th European Infantry, 1858; Lieutenant Colonel, 4th European Regiment, 22 January 1859; transferred to the 4th European Infantry, 21 October 1859; transferred to the Bengal Staff Corps in 1860 [HM]; elected as a corresponding member of the Zoological Society, June 1862 [John Bull, 21 June]; Chief Commissioner for the newly formed Province of British Burma, 31 January 1862 [Homeward News, 17 March] until 16 February 1867, and re-appointed for a further 2 years, 16 March 1867 [HM]; created Companion (Civil Division) of the Order of the Bath, 30 March 1863; Brevet Colonel, 18 February 1866 [HM]; appointed Colonel, Staff Corps, Bengal Army, 2 August 1866 [Morning Post, 4 August]; he appears to have returned home to England about 1867; created a Knight Commander of the Most Exalted Order of the Star of India, 24 May 1867; Major-General, 9 August 1870 [HM].
He returned to Burma, as Commissioner of Arakan, 20 April 1849; Commissioner of the Province of Pegu, 30 April 1852; Major, 7th Bengal Native Infantry, June 1854 [Inverness Courier, 29 June]; sole Envoy to the Burmese Court of Ava, at Mandalay, July 1855, accompanied by Secretary Captain H. YULE (Bengal Engineers), Superintending Surgeon J. FORSYTH, four Military Officers, and three other British Gentlemen [London Evening Standard, 18 September]; went on a home visit to England, arriving between 11 and 25 July 1857, [Homeward Mail, 1 August]; he was posted to the newly raised 6th European Infantry, 1858; Lieutenant Colonel, 4th European Regiment, 22 January 1859; transferred to the 4th European Infantry, 21 October 1859; transferred to the Bengal Staff Corps in 1860 [HM]; elected as a corresponding member of the Zoological Society, June 1862 [John Bull, 21 June]; Chief Commissioner for the newly formed Province of British Burma, 31 January 1862 [Homeward News, 17 March] until 16 February 1867, and re-appointed for a further 2 years, 16 March 1867 [HM]; created Companion (Civil Division) of the Order of the Bath, 30 March 1863; Brevet Colonel, 18 February 1866 [HM]; appointed Colonel, Staff Corps, Bengal Army, 2 August 1866 [Morning Post, 4 August]; he appears to have returned home to England about 1867; created a Knight Commander of the Most Exalted Order of the Star of India, 24 May 1867; Major-General, 9 August 1870 [HM].
Arthur retired to England; he is said to have been at home for seven years prior to his next Colonial appointment (in 1874); he visited Ireland, and sojourned at the Breslin Royal Marine Hotel, Bray, October 1870 [Newry Telegraph, 12 November].
Arthur was recalled to Colonial Service, as Governor of Mauritius, from 14 November 1874 until 31 December 1878; Lieutenant-General, 1 October 1877 [#]; created a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George, 12 December 1877, for his Colonial services; in February 1879, he "... arrived in Pietermaritzburg, and is daily expected at Cape Town" [Aberdeen Evening Express, 1 March].
[A later portrait of Sir Arthur PHAYRE -
a frontis-piece to"The Dalhousie-Phayre Correspondence," Edited by D.G.E. HALL, London, 1932,
a frontis-piece to"The Dalhousie-Phayre Correspondence," Edited by D.G.E. HALL, London, 1932,
opposite page 32.]
Arthur again returned home; he attended a complimentary dinner in his honour, June 1879, held at the Crystal Palace, by a number of former residents in British India, "... on his return from abroad" [Aberdeen Evening Express, 17 June].
Arthur appears to have retired finally into Ireland; he was living again at Bray, County Wicklow, 1881, when he was named as having the care of the five youngest children of his relation Lieutenant-Colonel William PHAYRE, Bengal Staff Corps, Fyzabad; he had his "History of Burma: including Burma Proper, Pegu, Taungu, Tenessarim and Arakan, from the Earliest Time to the end of the First War with British India" published in London in 1883.
Arthur died at 12 Goldsmith Terrace, Queensborough Road, Rathdown Union, Bray, 15 December 1885, aged 73, a Bachelor, of Apoplexy, the death informed by Charles WALLIS, Occupier of Goldmsmith Terrace [Civil Records on www.irishgenealogy.ie], having been "... found dead in his bed at his lodgings in Bray near Dublin" [Northern Evening Post, 17 December]; he was buried at St Patrick's Churchyard, Enniskerry, County Wicklow [Memorial 236970453, Findagrave]; probate was granted to Sir Robert PHAYRE, of 6 Park Street, Grosvenor Square, County Middlesex, Lieutenant-General in H.M.'s Army, K.C.B., the brother and next-of-kin, Personal Estate £16,566 15s 6d [National Probate Calendar]; unmarried.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The following entries will progressively be reprocessed into the above notes.
1843 - Letter read to the Asiatic Society of Bengal, from Captain D. WILLIAMS, Assistant Commissioner, Aracan, dated 12 June:
"My Dear Sir...
"I have sent to Chedooba for the coins...There are eight in a good state of preservation, and many pieces, four of the former I must send to Lieut PHAYRE, the Assistant Commissioner at Sandoway, according to my promise. Lieut PHAYRE is a good Birman scholar, and his information regarding the 'Dummasat' would be very valuable to you. He is now compiling a list of Kings of Arracan of the Mug dynasty, and of Governors of the Province under the Birmese rule, from a valuable collection of coins in his possession; its perusal will no doubt be enjoyed by your Society. I forward to Lieut PHAYRE the copy of the Dummasat and your letter, requesting he will communicate with you his opinion" [Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Volume 12, Part 1, page 620].
1843 - Meeting of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, at the Museum of Economic Geology:
"We have received from Lieut. PHAYRE, Sandoway, a set of clays... His letter is as follows:
"My dear Sir, - I have pleasure to sent you a box, containing specimens of the clays and earths of this district. All the brick clays are from the immediate vicinity of this town: I send also a specimen of Tobacco soil from the best Tobacco district here... There is no pottery of any kind made here, I am sorry to say. The white clay is said to be that from which the well-known Pegu pottery is made; it was brought from Bassein. Will you have the goodness to apply on board H.C.S. Amherst for the box to your address. A.P. PHAYRE" [Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Volume 12, Part 2, at page 63].
27 December 1844 - Letter of A.P. PHAYRE, Senior Assistant Commissioner, Province of Arracan, dated at the S.A.C. Office, Sandoway, and addressed to Major A. BOGLE, Commissioner of Arracan, at Kyouk Phyoo:
"Sir, - I have the honor to report that there exist a few teak trees on the bank of the Thadde Stream, not far from the site of the Allaygyan thannah which was removed last year.
"2. These trees are of a larger size than those of Tougoup reported in my letter of the 1st ultimo. I should not however consider them indigenous though I could learn nothing as to when they were planted; there are about one hundred of them. Were it required to cut them down, they could easily be floated down the Thadde Stream in the rainy season.
"3. While upon this subject, I regret having to report that the whole of that hill country bordering on the Yoma mountains east of this town is becoming depopulated, and while I was there a few days ago the last remnants of the Burmese mountaineers talked of emigrating to the plains. I regret this much, as they are the only people remaining to keep up our knowledge of, and connection with, an extensive tract of mountainous country containing many paths into Burma; but if they find it for their advantage to leave the higher hills, of course, I shall be very glad to see them better their condition.
"4. Since the devastations of Thaioo, the dacoit, some years back, these hills have gradually become deserted by the population, and unless any of the former people who emigrated to the Burmese dominions should again return, I much fear that in another year or two, these mountains will present nothing but, as far as human inhabitants is concerned, a deserted waste, (signed) A.P. PHAYRE." [Journal of the Agricultural and Horticultural Society of India, Volume 4, page 50].
20 January 1845 - Meeting of the same Society at the Museum:
"Read, the following extract of a letter from Captain PHAYRE, B.N.I., to the Secretary, dated Sandaway, 2nd Dec'r 1844.
"My Dear TORRENS, - I hope, before long, that I shall be able to offer a treatise on Burmese Astronomy, from the pen of the Rev Mr STILSON, a Missionary here, who is fully competent to the task. I am sorry the coins (the Persian part of them) are indecipherable; the fact is, the inscriptions must have been cut by some ignorant person in Arakan, with a few Persian letters scrawled for the name of the thing. Are the gold coins (Elephant type) from Cheduba?" [Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Volume 15, Part 1, page xii].
23 February 1845 - Journal of the same Rev Mr ABBOTT, dated at Sandoway:
"Returned (to Sandowny, from an earlier entry) yesterday after an absence of a month. Went in company with Capt. PHAYRE in a government vessel. He put me on shore at Ongkyoung, where I remained for six or eight days... went over the country to Baumee... came down the Baumee River, stopped at Magezzin several days... Capt. PHAYRE came along from the south. I accompanied him to Goa (sic - probably in error for Gwa), he returning by land" [The Baptist Mission Magazine, Volumes 25-26, 1845, page 101].
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Correspondence for the years 1825-26 to 1842-43 (full citation reference yet to be established - sighted in a snippet search result):
"Appointment of Ensign A.P. PHAYRE, to Civil employ.
"...(next date following) 7 April 1835..."
1835 - a snippet result from "Historians of South East Asia," by Daniel George Edward HALL, 1961, page 289:
"PHAYRE received his first chance when his C.O. was asked to nominate a young officer for duty in Tenasserim with a 'Talaing Corps' which was being raised for local defence. PHAYRE spent a few months in 1835 in Moulmein; the Corps was not a success, and on disbandment, PHAYRE returned to his regiment; but not before he had gained favorable notice from BLUNDELL, the Commissioner, and others."
Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Volume 5, April 1836, Page 248:
"Meeting of Wednesday evening, 4 May 1836...
"Museum and Antiquities...
"A Burmese musical instrument was presented by Ensign PHAYRE."
April 1838 - A letter from Assistant Surgeon J.T. PEARSON to Doctor HELFER, on the Zoology of Tenasserim and the neighbouring Provinces:
"In compliance with the commands of the Rt Hon the Governor-General, I have much please in offering the following remarks upon the points to which your attention may be usefully directed during your expedition to the coast of Tenasserim...
"Of the Pachydermata...
"But one animal, though infinitely less in size than the hippopotamus... I allude to the mole...
"... my own journeying in India having been confined to a small portion of Bengal, Behar and Orissa, where I may venture to say the mole does not exist. But I have made many inquiries of men more likely to have observed it if present, whose marches have been extensive, and whom I have requested to enquire into the subject.
"Among these, Ensign PHAYRE of the 7th Regiment N.I. has travelled through a great part of India from Midnalore to Goruckpore, the Terai, the Kingdom of Oude, and Assam; and he informs me that he never met with, or heard of this animal, or any of its affinities, though he enquired of intelligent natives of those countries, and made careful observations himself...
"To return the Pachydermata; Ensign PHAYRE during his residence in Assam, met with a single specimen of an animal which appears to unite the genera Sus and Dicotyles, possessing the incisor of the hog and the molar teeth of the Peccary..." [Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Volume 7, April 1838, page 358].
The foregoing entries will progressively be reprocessed into the above notes.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
There are some suggestions that he may have fathered an illegitimate daughter by a Burmese woman, but conclusive evidence is not yet forthcoming, may never be found, and if so, may prove otherwise. If he did, then it is possible that she was the following:
MARY PHAYRE OF BURMA.
Mary PHAYRE was born in Burma about 1838; it is widely believed that she was a daughter of Arthur Purves PHAYRE, Lieutenant Colonel in the Army and Chief Commander for Burma (see above); there is also a school of opinion that her mother was a daughter of Mindon Ming, King of Burma.
I find no direct evidence to support either theory, and suspect PHAYRE may simply have "adopted" Mary, who may have been a daughter of one of Arthur's domestic servants, or otherwise placed into his household care by someone else.
Indeed, PHAYRE was not in Burma until 1835, when he spent a short time in Moulmein; he returned to Arakan, in June 1837, and spent time in Sandoway, Mary's probable birth-place, towards then end of this period (he was there there from at least 1842).
I find no direct evidence to support either theory, and suspect PHAYRE may simply have "adopted" Mary, who may have been a daughter of one of Arthur's domestic servants, or otherwise placed into his household care by someone else.
Indeed, PHAYRE was not in Burma until 1835, when he spent a short time in Moulmein; he returned to Arakan, in June 1837, and spent time in Sandoway, Mary's probable birth-place, towards then end of this period (he was there there from at least 1842).
Mary PHAYRE was aged 24, Spinster, of Rangoon, "... father not known, a Burmese, resident of Landowny" (probably in error for Sandoway), when she was married by License, at Rangoon, 21 May 1862, to Edward RICHARDSON, aged 23, Bachelor, Clerk in the Chief Commissioners Office, son of David RICHARDSON, the marriage witnessed by A.P. PHAYRE, Lt Col, and T.P. SPARKS, by L. POYNDER, Chaplain [India Office, Marriage Records, Findmypast]; how she came by the surname PHAYRE is unclear, but if all of the information in the registration is correct (and I have no reason to suspect it may not be), she evidently did not acquire it through her Burmese paternity; she is recorded on several on-line family trees as having died at Mandalay in 1915 [no burial found in India Office Records].
Mary and Edward had issue [India Office, Baptism Records, ditto]:
1. Arthur Phayre RICHARDSON, born at Rangoon, 4 April 1863, and baptized there 6 March, father a Clerk in the Chief Commissioner's Office, mother Mary his wife; he died at Rangoon, 16 December 1870, aged 7 years 8 months, of Croup.
2. David Lester RICHARDSON, born on 16 May 1864, and baptized at Rangoon, 13 July, father of Rangoon, mother Mary his wife.
3. Alice Lucy RICHARDSON, born at Prome, 30 July 1865, and baptised at Rangoon, 29 October, daughter of Edward RICHARDSON and Mary PHAYRE his wife; recorded on a RICHARDSON family tree on Ancestry as having married Ignazio, son of Carlo CALDERARI, of Magenta, Milano, Lombardia; she died there on 12 March 1940; with issue:
a. Charles Edward CALDERARI, born in 1892; died in 1965.
4. Edward James RICHARDSON, born at Prome, 6 March 1867, and baptised at Thayet Myo, Burmah, 24 March, father Extra Assistant Commissioner, mother Mary PHAYRE his wife; he died on 22 November 1868, aged 1 year, of Bronchitis, probably at Moulmein.
5. Jane Joanna RICHARDSON, born at Prome, 7 July 1869, and baptised there, 12 October, father Assistant Settlement Officer, mother Mary his wife.
6. Purves Martyn RICHARDSON, born on 13 September 1871, and baptized at Moulmein, 27 February 1872, father Assistant Revenue Settlement Officer, mother Mary; recorded on a RICHARDSON family tree on Ancestry as having did at Mandalay, 12 October 1975; he is said to have had issue:
a. Joseph Dunn RICHARDSON, born in 1894?
b. Purves Martyr RICHARDSON, born in 1902; died in 1915.
Purves was married by License, at All Saints Church, Shwebo, 2 April 1904, to Grace Ma Sein YU, aged 30, Spinster, of Shwebo, daughter of Mnng Ba JUN; with issue:
c. Mary Phayre RICHARDSON, born at Myitta, 17 August 1906, and baptized at Mandalay, 11 January 1909
d. David Lister RICHARDSON, born at Myitta, 11 November 1908, and baptized at Mandalay, 11 January 1909.
7. Arthur Sage RICHARDSON, born about 1873 (6 March in another family tree on Ancestry); he is said to have died at Moulmein in 1965 (RICHARDSON tree on Ancestry); he may have had issue by his wife Maud Ma MAY:
a. Catherine Mabel RICHARDSON, born at Rangoon, December 1895, and baptised at St John's College, 30 December 1900, father Arthur RICHARDSON of Marrawaddy, A.S.P.
Arthur Sage was aged 30, Widower, Inspector of Police, Moulmein, when he was married secondly, by Banns, at St Augustine's Church, Moulmein, 6 March 1903, to Lily Mah PYER, aged 26, Spinster [European and/or Eurasian Register]; they had issue:
b. Dorothy RICHARDSON, born at Moulmein, 28 January 1906, and baptised at St Augustine's, 6 August, father of Moulmein, Burma Police.
c. Vera DorothyRICHARDSON, born at Moulmein, 22 September 1907, and baptised at St Augustine's, 3 November.
d. Hugh William RICHARDSON, born at Moulmein, 8 September 1910, and baptised at St Augustine's, 2 December, father of Paan, Inspector of Police.
8. Frances Mary RICHARDSON, born at Prome, 24 July 1875, and baptized at Thayet Myo, 12 September, father Senior Extra Assistant Commissioner, mother Mary; the RICHARDSON tree on Ancestry records her as having been married at Mandalay, 4 July 1902, to Donald Andrew ALLEN; with issue.
9. Mary Phayre RICHARDSON, born about 1877; recorded as having died at Mandalay in 1925 (RICHARDSON tree on Ancestry); she was aged 30, Spinster, of Mandalay, when she was married at St Mary's Church, Mandalay, 16 January 1907, to William LAW, aged 31, Bachelor, Subdivisional Civil Service, Mandalay, son of William Ogilvie LAW.
______________________________________________________________________________
AN IDENTIFICATION, PERHAPS IN ERROR, WHICH MAY BE RELEVANT TO THE FAMILY OF PAPERMAKERS.
From Notes and Queries, 6th Series, Volume II, 21 April 1881, page 150.
COL. ROBERT PHAIRE, THE REGICIDE (5th Ser. xii, 47, 311; 6th Ser. i, 18, 84, 505; ii, 38, 77).
Some facts concerning Col. PHAIRE, which are mentioned in the Council Book of the Corporation of Cork, 1609-1643, and 1690-1803, edited by Richard CAULFIELD, LL.D. (1876), seem to have been unknown to, or at least unnoticed by, MINIVER and H.B. In the work cited, p.1164, App. B, "Abstracts of Depositions of CROMWELL's Adherents, City of Cork, taken 1654," I find a deposition from which I extract the following, as a sufficient indication of the general tenor of the remainder:
"March 24, 1654. Coll. Robert PHAIR (sic), now Governor of Cork, aged thirty-five, about the latter end of August 1649, presently after the landing of Lord Lieutenant CROMWELL, knew divers prisoners of his old acquaintance who were in the Lord Inchiquin's army, and taken at the route before Dublin, which he knew to be honest hearted towards the English interest."
To Col. PHAIRE's name is appended a genealogical note, of which I proceed to reproduce the substance, throwing it into as compact a shape as I can. Col. Robert PHAIRE (sic in note), Governor of Cork, ob. 1682. He was twice married, a fact which does not appear from the accounts given of him by your previous correspondents. I regret to say that the first wife's name is stated to be "unascertained."
The children of the first marriage were Onesiphorus of Grange, married Elizabeth --- (ob. 1702), and Elizabeth, who married Richard FARMER, and Mary, who married George GAMBLE.
Onesiphorus had issue (1) Robert of Grange, who died in 1712 (having married Anne GAMBLE, by whom he had Robert of Grange, ob. 1742; Onesiphorus of Temple Shannon, ob. 1757; and one daughter, Elizabeth); (2) Aldworth of Enniscorthy, ob. 1762; and (3) Elizabeth, who married Edward ROGERS of Temple Shannon.
Onesiphorus PHAIRE of Temple Shannon, second son of Robert of Grange the elder, married Frances, daughter of Rev Dr John PATRICKSON, and, dying in 1757, left issue by her (1) Robert of Killoughram, who married, in July 1761, Lady Richarda ANNELSEY, daughter of Arthur, first Earl of Mountmorris, and had issue Robert, born 1764, ancestor of the PHAIREs of Killoughram; (2) Aldworth of Garr; (3) Polly Anne (sic), who married, 1758, Henry NIXON of Newton; (4) Elizabeth, wife of Robert HILL.
The issue of Col. PHAIRE's second marriage, with Elizabeth HERBERT, is given as follows: (1) Thomas of Mountpleasant, ob. circa 1716, having married Alicia, daughter of Bartholomew PURDON of Ballyclough, senior (descended from Sir Nicholas PURDON, M.P. for Baltimore); (2) Alexander Herbert, ob. 1752 (as to whose names it may be worth noting that he mother of Elizabeth HERBERT is stated to have been "Lucy, daughter of Sir William ALEXANDER," by which description is intended the first Earl of Stirling); (3) John; (4) Frances; (5) Lucy (the repetition of which name affords fresh confirmation of the existence of Lucy, daughter of the first Earl of Stirling, a peer as to whose ancestry and descendants alike no little controversy has been rife - Cf the "Genealogist," vol.ii, for 1878, pp.196-200). Lucy PHAIRE married William FLOWER, and had three sons, Robert, John and Phaire, besides two daughters; (6) Elizabeth, youngest daughter of Col. PHAIRE's second marriage, became the wife of Bartholomew PURDON, junior, whom I suppose to have been son of Bartholomew PURDON of Ballyclough, previously named "senior," and whose family had been settled in Ireland since the reign of Henry VIII.
Thomas PHAIRE, the eldest son of Col. PHAIR's second wife, had five sons, Robert Thomas, Herbert, Onesiphorus and Francis, besides two daughters, Alicia and Elizabeth, wife of Richard CHINNERY.
C.H.E. CARMICHAEL."
I do not know how reliable Mr CARMICHAEL's sources were, but other sources do suggest that this fifth son named Francis was probably instead a daughter named Frances, said to have been the wife of Arthur HARDIE.
But, if instead Francis, then clearly of an age to have been the Paper Maker of Brook Lodge.
See this family information in the next blog, at this link:
http://pigott-gorrie.blogspot.com.au/2014/04/the-phayre-disapora-from-ireland-to.html
8. Frances Mary RICHARDSON, born at Prome, 24 July 1875, and baptized at Thayet Myo, 12 September, father Senior Extra Assistant Commissioner, mother Mary; the RICHARDSON tree on Ancestry records her as having been married at Mandalay, 4 July 1902, to Donald Andrew ALLEN; with issue.
9. Mary Phayre RICHARDSON, born about 1877; recorded as having died at Mandalay in 1925 (RICHARDSON tree on Ancestry); she was aged 30, Spinster, of Mandalay, when she was married at St Mary's Church, Mandalay, 16 January 1907, to William LAW, aged 31, Bachelor, Subdivisional Civil Service, Mandalay, son of William Ogilvie LAW.
______________________________________________________________________________
AN IDENTIFICATION, PERHAPS IN ERROR, WHICH MAY BE RELEVANT TO THE FAMILY OF PAPERMAKERS.
From Notes and Queries, 6th Series, Volume II, 21 April 1881, page 150.
COL. ROBERT PHAIRE, THE REGICIDE (5th Ser. xii, 47, 311; 6th Ser. i, 18, 84, 505; ii, 38, 77).
Some facts concerning Col. PHAIRE, which are mentioned in the Council Book of the Corporation of Cork, 1609-1643, and 1690-1803, edited by Richard CAULFIELD, LL.D. (1876), seem to have been unknown to, or at least unnoticed by, MINIVER and H.B. In the work cited, p.1164, App. B, "Abstracts of Depositions of CROMWELL's Adherents, City of Cork, taken 1654," I find a deposition from which I extract the following, as a sufficient indication of the general tenor of the remainder:
"March 24, 1654. Coll. Robert PHAIR (sic), now Governor of Cork, aged thirty-five, about the latter end of August 1649, presently after the landing of Lord Lieutenant CROMWELL, knew divers prisoners of his old acquaintance who were in the Lord Inchiquin's army, and taken at the route before Dublin, which he knew to be honest hearted towards the English interest."
To Col. PHAIRE's name is appended a genealogical note, of which I proceed to reproduce the substance, throwing it into as compact a shape as I can. Col. Robert PHAIRE (sic in note), Governor of Cork, ob. 1682. He was twice married, a fact which does not appear from the accounts given of him by your previous correspondents. I regret to say that the first wife's name is stated to be "unascertained."
The children of the first marriage were Onesiphorus of Grange, married Elizabeth --- (ob. 1702), and Elizabeth, who married Richard FARMER, and Mary, who married George GAMBLE.
Onesiphorus had issue (1) Robert of Grange, who died in 1712 (having married Anne GAMBLE, by whom he had Robert of Grange, ob. 1742; Onesiphorus of Temple Shannon, ob. 1757; and one daughter, Elizabeth); (2) Aldworth of Enniscorthy, ob. 1762; and (3) Elizabeth, who married Edward ROGERS of Temple Shannon.
Onesiphorus PHAIRE of Temple Shannon, second son of Robert of Grange the elder, married Frances, daughter of Rev Dr John PATRICKSON, and, dying in 1757, left issue by her (1) Robert of Killoughram, who married, in July 1761, Lady Richarda ANNELSEY, daughter of Arthur, first Earl of Mountmorris, and had issue Robert, born 1764, ancestor of the PHAIREs of Killoughram; (2) Aldworth of Garr; (3) Polly Anne (sic), who married, 1758, Henry NIXON of Newton; (4) Elizabeth, wife of Robert HILL.
The issue of Col. PHAIRE's second marriage, with Elizabeth HERBERT, is given as follows: (1) Thomas of Mountpleasant, ob. circa 1716, having married Alicia, daughter of Bartholomew PURDON of Ballyclough, senior (descended from Sir Nicholas PURDON, M.P. for Baltimore); (2) Alexander Herbert, ob. 1752 (as to whose names it may be worth noting that he mother of Elizabeth HERBERT is stated to have been "Lucy, daughter of Sir William ALEXANDER," by which description is intended the first Earl of Stirling); (3) John; (4) Frances; (5) Lucy (the repetition of which name affords fresh confirmation of the existence of Lucy, daughter of the first Earl of Stirling, a peer as to whose ancestry and descendants alike no little controversy has been rife - Cf the "Genealogist," vol.ii, for 1878, pp.196-200). Lucy PHAIRE married William FLOWER, and had three sons, Robert, John and Phaire, besides two daughters; (6) Elizabeth, youngest daughter of Col. PHAIRE's second marriage, became the wife of Bartholomew PURDON, junior, whom I suppose to have been son of Bartholomew PURDON of Ballyclough, previously named "senior," and whose family had been settled in Ireland since the reign of Henry VIII.
Thomas PHAIRE, the eldest son of Col. PHAIR's second wife, had five sons, Robert Thomas, Herbert, Onesiphorus and Francis, besides two daughters, Alicia and Elizabeth, wife of Richard CHINNERY.
C.H.E. CARMICHAEL."
I do not know how reliable Mr CARMICHAEL's sources were, but other sources do suggest that this fifth son named Francis was probably instead a daughter named Frances, said to have been the wife of Arthur HARDIE.
But, if instead Francis, then clearly of an age to have been the Paper Maker of Brook Lodge.
See this family information in the next blog, at this link:
http://pigott-gorrie.blogspot.com.au/2014/04/the-phayre-disapora-from-ireland-to.html
_________________________________________________________________________
SOME OF WELPLY'S "CELEBRATED" WILL ABSTRACTS.
William WELPLY made abstracts from a large number of wills lodged in the Public Record Office in the Four Courts, Dublin, before their destruction in 1922. Many of these abstracts were of Munster wills. In addition to the two reproduced above, for Colonel Robert PHAIRE and for his second wife Elizabeth, are those of a number of their children and other relations.
A typed manuscript of the abstracts has been reproduced in a compilation by Albert Eugene O'CASEY in his "O'Kief, Coshe Mang, Slieve Lougher and Upper Blackwater in Ireland," and published at Alabama, 1968 - in particular in Volume XIV, and commencing at page 639.
These abstracts now, of course, have achieved the status of "primary source" material.
Among them we find the following, in order of signing; with usual abbreviations - Prer (Prerogative); sgd (signed); pr (proved); wits (witnesses); marr sett (marriage settlements); MLB (Marriage License Bond):
Prer. Will of Richard WAKEHAM, Ballylegan, Co Cork; sgd 20 May 1710; pr February 1710 (sic - prob 1710-11). To be interred in graveyard of Cork at discretion of overseers as near as can be to body of beloved friend Onesipherus PHAIRE. To grandson John TOOKER estate in fee, viz Ballindinish and Carrageens in South Liberties of Cork with lease of 999 years made to George GAMBLE by Alderman WEBBER... If John TOOKER should die without isue premises to devolve on Wm WAKEHAM son to Wm WAKEHAM, then to Robert WAKEHAM, then to Ones. GAMBLE, then to Robert FARMER, then to heirs-general at law. Three grand daus Katherine, Dorothy, Edith TOOKER. To cousin Eliz. PEIRCE als FARMER £60. To cousin Mary GAMBLE Sr £60. To Wm WAKEHAM Jr son of Wm WAKEHAM £100. To Robert WAKEHAM £60. To Ones. GAMBLE £30. To John son of George GAMBLE 10. To grandson Richard PARKER £40. To Maurice HICKEY one in-calf heifer. To Richard SMITH £40. Executor grandson John TOOKER. Trustees two friends Robert FARMER, Ones GAMBLE. Wits: John MITCHELL, John DIXON, Wm DIXON.
Cork Will of James PEIRCE of Curran; sgd 1 January 1712; pr 22 January 1719. Bequeaths to his wife the interest "in ye works." Son Robert "as soon as he is 21 years. My daughters." Executors "my dear father Robert PEIRCE" (see next abstract). Overseers: "my bro Siff GAMBLE and my bro. John BROOM." Wits: Alex'r Herb't PHAIRE, Robert FARMAR, Edward WISEMAN. NOTE: (1) Curran or Corran is in Co Cork, Barony of E. Carbery, parish of Dunderrow. (2) MLB (Cork) James PEIRCE and Edith GAMBLE, 1695. (3) MLB (Cork) John BROOME & Frances PEARCE, 1713.
Cloyne Will of Robert PEIRCE of Ballygromans, Co Cork; sgd 27 February 1712; pr 17 July 1721. To be buried in "Caragrohan as near my relations as possible," Wife Elizabeth... "for the use of her and my children." My dear mother MILLS. Wife sole executrix. Overseers Robert FFARMER and John BROOME. My cousin Ann PHAIRE to be adviser and controller to my wife. To my grand dau Mary PEIRCE the sum of £10. Wits: Edward WISEMAN, John WISEMAN, Onesipherus GAMBLE. [Page 639.]
Prer Will of Aldworth PHAIRE, St John's; sgd 1 July 1758; pr 12 May 1762. Edw'd ROGERS son of my late sister and Edward ROGERS both dec'd. Aldworth PHAIRE son of my late nephew Onesipherus PHAIR, niece Eliz. DONOVAN wife of Captain Richard DONOVAN. Ester REYNALS wife of Charles REYNALLS. Aunt Mary PHAIRE. Polly Ann NIXON, Mrs Betty PHAIRE sister of Polly Ann. £50 each to Eliz LASSEURE, Edith HENDERSON, Sarah PEIRCE of St John's. Nephew Robert PHAIRE. Executor Ones. GAMBLE. Wits: Walter GREEN, Richard HAMPTON, Sam RALPH. NOTE: Ones. GAMBLE died before he took probate of this will and admon was granted to Eliz. DONOVAN.
Waterford Will of Edward PHAIR; sgd 12 December 1784; pr 30 March 1786. Wife Elizabeth. Son Francis. Younger children. Brother William. Sister-in-law Ann PHAIR, widow of my bro. Robert. Sisters - Jane PHAIR, Mary now wife of Lawrence CORBON (sic - prob CORBAN)) of Kilworth, and Eliza CASEY. Mrs John SEWARD. Mr Robert HARDEM (sic - prob HARDUM). Sole executor my brother William. Wits: ---DOYLE, Thos DELANDRE, John SEWARD, John LANDERS.
Prer. Will of Right Hon. Lady Richarda PHAIRE; sgd 12 September 1804; pr 30 November 1807. Bro. Right Hon Earl of Mountnorris. dau Frances wife of George BARCLAY, son Robert P., dau Mary Ann wife of John BLENNERHASSETT and their children Aldworth and Richard B. Executors: Sir Frederick FLOOD, Wm TURNER. Wits: Chris Job MATURN, Rob't FREEMAN. "I have erased the name of my son Robert PHAIRE's son out of my will on account of his undutiful conduct."
Cork Will of Elizabeth PHAIR of Millview; sgd 17 December 1824; pr 30 June 1825. Grand daus Elizabeth, Catherine, Mary BARRY. Dau Mary BARRY. Daus-in-law - Elizabeth PHAIR, Mary PHAIR. Other children. Son William. Wits: Lau'ce McOBOY, Ab'm ELLIS.
Prer. Will of Robert PHAYRE of Killoughram Forest and Southampton; sgd 19 May 1826; pr 1835. Recites a Deed of February 1811, marr. sett. of Robert PHAYRE, his oldest son, and Sarah DRISCOLL, 2nd son Maxwell PHAYRE, wife Ann PHAYRE, son Frederick Richard PHAYRE now aged 14 years and George Annesley PHAYRE now aged 10. Executrix wife. Wits: John BARNEY of Southampton, Jas FISHER late Lieut. Col. 62nd Reg't, Henry MILWARD, Major, Southampton. Codicil 9 October 1826 gives remainder "to my nephew Richard PHAYRE, son of my brother Richard PHAYRE."
Cork Will of William PHAIR of Brooklodge, Co Cork; sgd 1 December 1831; pr 30 November 1833. Mother Mary Eliza PHAIR. Brother James Casey PHAIR. Six sisters - Eliza, Mary, Martha, Catherine, Hester & Anna Maria PHAIR. Executrix - mother. Wits: John CASEY, John AHERN, John BRENAN.