Chapter 7 - The Charleys of Northern Ireland

 

Chapter 7

The Charleys of Northern Ireland

When the author’s niece from Charley of Stafford was cycling through Chester in 1942 and needing a bed for the night, she called at the Girls Friendly Society and was welcomed by the warden who commented on her name. She told Jean that Mrs. Paige Cox, then in her 85^th year living in Abbey Green, Chester, widow of the late Archdeacon of Chester, was a Charley from Belfast. A letter to Mrs. Paige Cox brought a thrilling reply in which she wrote: “My branch of the family is said to be descended from the family of Chorley in Lancashire and that was the original spelling. For taking part in the Jacobite Rebellion of 1715 Richard, the head of the family, was beheaded and his son died in prison in Liverpool of jail fever. Some of the family fled to the north of Ireland and changed the o to a, the surname then becoming Charley. They bought land outside Belfast and for generations had bleach greens in the district. Later a house named Finaghy was bought which in my young days I often visited. It was enlarged by a cousin John Charley who died in 1878. His brother was Sir William Thomas Charley, M.P. for Salford and Common Sargeant of London. There was another brother Matthew and some sisters. My father and his eldest brother John owned Seymour Hill and Mossvale bleach greens. The former died in 1868 and William carried on the linen business. Seymour Hill and my home Conway House are about 7 miles out of Belfast. The former had been lived in by several generations of Charleys but my father built the latter. It is now occupied by Sir Milne Barbour, M.P., D.L., deputy Prime Minister of the Northern Ireland parliament. Our crest in a hawk’s head on a cap of maintenance (the latter is to denote eminence) and the motto is ‘Justus esto et non metue.’ (Be just and fear not) – motto to be proud of I think and to be followed. I have told you all I can at the moment, and you will see there is some sort of connection between all the Charleys.”

Mrs. Paige Cox died in 1950. She had correspondence with Colonel Harold Charley of Dunmurry, N. Ireland, until just before her death.

The next strange coincidence was through the writer’s brother Dr. Vernon Charley, then of Hewelsfield, Glos. He wrote an article on fruit juices in ‘Picture Post’ and this was read by Colonel Harold Charley of Dunmurry who wrote to Vernon asking “Who are you?,” A question asked by anyone who bears the name of Charley and meets another so named. Vernon was going over to the New Forge Factory near Belfast the following day and was invited to Warren House, Dunmurry, to meet the Charley family. This was the first personal connection with the author’s branch of the family and the Charleys in Northern Ireland. This happy link opened up a correspondence with Colonel Harold Charley and herself and it is due to his interest that such family history has been unfolded. What has not yet been discovered and probably never will be is the name of the Chorley who fled to Northern Ireland from Chorley in 1716, or earlier and changed his name to Charley.

Burke’s Landed Gentry of Ireland gives John Charley of Belfast as the first of the line born circa 1659 died 1743. It further says that the family settled in Ulster in the 17^th Century, suggesting that a branch of the Chorley family had settled there before the Rebellion in 1715. It may well be that the descendents of Richard Chorley fled to Ulster and were given a home by relatives who had settled there earlier. One source states that the Charleys of Saxon origin, came to Ireland in 1642 and resided in Co’s Donegal and Antrim. Perhaps they were members of the armies which came over to quell the Ulster Rebellion of 1642-42.

The name John has appeared repeatedly in a branch of the family in Rainhill Lancashire. The family does not appear to have been as wealthy as the Chorleys of Chorley. In the records supplied by Gillian Chorley the daughter of Lord Chorley who is also investigating her branch of the family, the occupation sometimes given is shopkeeper, or haberdasher, etc. There were also Aldermen and Burgesses. It is known that John Chorley of Rainhill was a member of the Society of Friends. As the Chorley entries in the records of Chorley Registers cease in 1721, after a daughter of Richard Chorley, who was beheaded, was buried there, it seems likely that the family then disappeared to Ireland and that the link between Chorley and Ireland may never be established. However, as the family crest is the same in Ulster as it was in Chorley, this seems to be a deciding factor proving that the link exists. The Charleys of Seymour Hill entry in Burke’s Landed Gentry of Ireland 1958 (4^th Edition) and amended to 1969 is included in Appendix VIII.

It seems appropriate, in order to describe the author’s own memories of the Charley family in N. Ireland, that she should recount a visit to Warren House, Dunmurry, Co. Antrim when Colonel Harold Charley introduced her to the various Charley homes and other associations. First of all, Finaghy near Belfast, an imposing mansion bought in 1727 by Ralph Charley from Richard John Woods. This is the first recorded home of the Charleys. In the upper walls are two plaques of the Charley crest. The house had six reception rooms and twelve bedrooms, with all appropriate ancillaries; a remarkable feature being a revolving fireplace between the dining room and morning room. The windows are of thick bevelled glass, the like of which she had never seen before. The house once stood in a large park but a modern housing estate has now encircled it. There are extensive outhouses and stables. It is now an Old Peoples Home and when the purchase was made it was said that in this house linen was first bleached white with chlorine. A condition of purchase was the handing over of the Charley crests when the family wished. She then went to Woodbourne House, which was lived in by Matthew a son of John Charley, in 1820. This also is a handsome house, now a hotel, standing in extensive grounds with gardens and outhouses.

A diversion here to mention an interesting link with this old house. Canon Hughes, C.B., C.B.E., M.C., T.D., Chaplain General to the Forces in the Second World War, late Dean of Ripon, married Dorothy Mackenzie Meade whose grandmother, Letitia Charley, lived in Woodbourne as a child. She has written her memoirs, see Appendix IV, which describe in a delightful way the life in the home of her youth. It is noted with particular interest the reference to Lord Derby sending peacocks from the lawn of Knowsley Hall Cheshire. This seems to suggest that his interest in the former residents in Chorley where his family were overlords remained a personal one.

When in July 1950 H.M. Queen Elizabeth went to Belfast, Canon Hughes was in attendance. They dined in Woodbourne House and he told the Queen about his family connections. Canon and Mrs. Hughes loaned the memoir from which these extracts are taken.

The school near Woodbourne House was built by John Charley. Near by is Suffolk House once owned by the McCance family, connected with the Charleys by marriage. It is now a factory making cultured pearls and the pearls embroidering H.M. Queen Elizabeth’s wedding dress were made here.

Her next visit was to Drumbeg church and the Charley vaults. The names of all the members of the family buried there are inscribed on the memorials which are surmounted by the Charley crest. A drive through beautiful parkland densely wooded by majestic trees brought one to Mossvale, a Charley home which was surrounded years ago with bleach greens. The river Lagan flows through and the sites of the water races are still to be seen. Colonel Harold Charley as a small boy fell in owing to the carelessness of his nurse and the race became known as the Little Harry.

The road leads to the mills once in the possession of the Charleys and still operating under the name of I. and W. Charley & Co. Dunmurry, Co. Antrim. Nearby is Seymour Hill, the seat of the Charleys which was bought by William Charley in 1825. Mossvale Bleach greens and Mossvale House were also bought by this William in 1834 from James Agnew. The river flowing through the estate is the Derriaghy which rises on the Collin Mountain. The house itself is delightfully situated on the main road from Lisburn to Belfast. It is a spacious oblong building, two storeys high, coloured cream, and slated. It stands on an eminence commanding a beautiful prospect of wide extent over the counties Down and Antrim. A large garden is enclosed by a stone wall. The estate covered nearly four hundred acres, there was stabling for twelve horses and other outhouses. Old box hedges and stones from the Giant’s Causeway gave an unusual character to this garden. The drive from the main road was entered by wrought iron gates and a porter’s lodge. Thousands of daffodils border the drive in the Spring. The house was built by, and was formerly the residence of Robert Johnson. It was in this Park that Captain Arthur Charley was felling trees with his men in 1944 and a tragic mishap caused his death. Seymour Hill was furnished with fine antique furniture and there was much old china and silver. On the wall were oil paintings of many of the Charley family. There was one in particular which it would be good to know is of old Richard Chorley, the martyr of 1715. The costume worn makes this a probability. The old Dublin to Belfast road used to run through the estate contiguous to the main road today. This estate has now been bought by the Northern Ireland Housing Trust and is a vast housing estate. Seymour Hill has been divided into four flats. The upper and lower stabling yards are now well designed and comfortable mews dwellings. The mews design won a Civic Trust award in 1960.

An old description of the Bleach Green in 1862 reads: “The buildings occupied in the bleaching business are extensive and are built of stone and lime and are all slated. One of the engine houses, a drying room, washmill, boiling house and crisping house is two storeys high. The offices, blueing house and others are one storey. There are two iron water wheels: the diameter of each wheel is 20 ft. The breadth of each wheel is 4 ft 8 in, the fall of water to each being 1 ft 6 ins. At the Green there is a goodly supply of spring and river water at all seasons. The linen is put through all processes of bleaching and is made ready for the market. In this place from 20,000 to 25,000 webs of linen are bleached annually and 20 acres of ground are occupied by the business. A foreman bleacher is employed at £100 a year, a mill carpenter and one other at £50 a year each and the average of 40 men at 7s per week.” These figures are taken from a book ‘On Flax’ by William Charley published in 1862 which remains a classic today.

For some years before 1825 when bought by William Charley, the buildings were falling down. These were rebuilt and other substantial buildings, water dams and machinery were added. This cost nearly £5,000. During the writer’s visit to Dunmurry after the Second World War Colonel Harold Charley took her over the old mill where she saw the girls “finishing” linen for export to America. Miss McCombe, the Secretary of the then company of J. & W. Charley, Ltd. showed them round and from the bottom drawer of a desk in the office she took 3 copies of a foolscap sheet mimeographed in flawless copper-plate handwriting. It was headed “The Chorley Family” with a note “The Pretender’s friends were defeated at Preston. Richard Chorley of Chorley was taken prisoner and put to death in 1715.” There are 13 stanzas describing the last hours of this famous Chorley before he left Chorley Hall to help the Pretender. The whole poem, which can be sung to the tune of The Mountains of Mourne, is reproduced in Appendix I. Copies were given to her and Colonel Harold who had not seen the poem before.

At the time of their visit to the mill the girls were “finishing” linen in a long upper room. Sets of luncheon mats were being ironed, tied with ribbon and packed into boxes for export to America. The linen was brightly coloured, browns, greens, yellows, etc. because the American housewife apparently favours such shades. That morning a new shade had been required called “Flamingo,” a flaming reddish orange.

In former days this mill produced superfine linen sheets and pillow cases. An interesting story centres round a visit Mrs. Phyllis Charley paid with her mother to a London shop when she was buying her trousseau prior to her marriage to Colonel Harold. They were shown linen of very fine quality and when Mrs. Hunter, her mother, asked if this was the best made the assistant said “No” and produced sheets made by J. and W. Charley of Dunmurry. Mrs. Clare Charley, widow of Arthur Charley who last managed the mill, remembers in her early married days going with her husband in a pony trap to take supplies of sheets and handkerchiefs to the women in the cottages who would do the necessary drawn thread work. These would be collected in the same way the following week.

Mrs. Clare Charley also told an interesting fact about the serious condition of the Irish during the potato famine. She said Lord Derby sent money to relieve the distress but the people, being used only to the system of barter, did not make full use of it and much of his financial help was wasted. Note: Lord Derby in the picture again. Mrs. Charley also described a visit with her husband by car to the extreme west of Ireland. They went into a primitive cottage swarming with children who were afraid of the “cart without a horse.” The mother served potatoes, their main food, without plates on bare tables and the family ate with their fingers. There was a jug of green colour milk on the table, the colour being due to the cows eating a seaweed known as carigreen which was, in some cases the only green food available for animals. The people often ate this seaweed too.

An interesting note in “On Flax” (see later) describes the use of this seaweed or algae, its botanical name is Chondrus crisus, for dressing linen. Considerable quantities were collected on the Irish coasts for the linen trade. The author says “We often hear of the poor Irish peasants devouring seaweed to mitigate the pangs of hunger, but it is not perhaps generally known that this carigreen, boiled with a little milk makes a most nourishing jelly, and when nicely made forms a blancmange fit for any gentleman’s table. William Charley was an outstanding authority on the production of flax and as a land owner did much to stimulate the farmers in the district to cultivate the crop.

His chapter dealing with the chemistry of soil and the best conditions for flax growing shows his wide knowledge and foresight which was unusual at that time. There is much discussion in the book about the mechanisation of the linen industry and comparisons are made with the changes then being effected in Lancashire in the cotton mills. The book is a balanced discourse, though there are indications that the author was not altogether convinced that the new methods put forward by a Mr. Lea, by which flax could be treated without ‘watering’ were right or would benefit the industry. He notes that the celebrated Louis Crommelin, a Huguenot said in 1705, “flax may be prepared without wetting or watering by grassing it until such time as the straw corrupts, yet it is better to water it where this can be done without much inconvenience.” Interesting references are made to inventions for improving production. A weaver named Bullock invented a peculiar kind of catchwheel with a lever ending in a fork which was so arranged that the weft yarn must gently touch it in passing. If it failed to do so the catchwheel stopped the loom. The author mentions that one of the best weavers of sheeting has earned as much as 29s a week at a piece of sheeting 3 ¼ yards wide, taking four consecutive weeks. This is fully double the wages generally realised for ordinary widths. A first class weaver generally earned 15 s to 20 s a week. Apprentices earned 4 s to 5 s a week. He mentions that the handloom weavers are reputed to be fond of a race to stretch their legs and they are great patrons of the harriers or fox hounds kept by the country gentlemen. This has given rise to the old saying “to run like a weaver.”

The activity of the Royal Flax Society of Ireland, established in 1841, is discussed and also the history of the old Linen Boards and the Royal Flax Improvement Society. In all this work William Charley was an active participant.

At this juncture it may be appropriate to describe the development of linen manufacture in N. Ireland.

It must be remembered that as in England, the arrival of Huguenot refugees from France following the repeal of the Edict of Nantes in 1699, stimulated the development of textile manufacture in Ireland. A few French exiles had reached Northern Ireland in 1686 in the reign of Louis XIV. Rene Bulmer was one of these. A sturdy Fleming, a vet and cunning in the devices of the anvil, he settled at Lambeg near the celebrated blanket factory which John Wolfenden, a Yorkshire manufacturer, had established there some time before. There were church services in French in Lisburn and Lambeg up to the mid-nineteenth century.

Louis Crommelin, together with other refugees, fled from France at this time and settled in Lisburn. It is interesting that within sight of Warren House, Dunmurry, there is a row of poplar trees marking the hamlet called Poleglass where Huguenots settled and planted them, no doubt for nostalgic reasons, and because of a longing to see the familiar poplar trees so characteristic of the French landscape.

It must also be remembered that the Charleys were now of the Protestant faith, having learned, no doubt, that adherence to the Catholic faith had brought ruin to the Chorleys of Chorley and had decided to change their religion in consequence. This fact would bring about a closer bond between themselves and the Huguenots who also had fled from religious persecution. The first reference to a Charley in the linen industry appears in William Charley’s book “On Flax” when he records that at a meeting of the linen trade in Belfast in 1822 a committee was appointed to examine and report on the whole subject. Their names were R. Williamson, J. Charley, E. Curteis, J. Sinclair, J. McCance, A. Stewart and J.S. Ferguson. No doubt this is John Charley of Finaghy House. In the same year John Charley, as a representative of the linen merchants, was called before the Linen Board in Dublin to confer with them on the subject of new legislation to be introduced for the better regulation of the linen trade.

“On Flax” describes, in delightful Victorian English, the technical side of linen production and deals also with the economic and administrative sides of the industry. The author points out that in 1767 spinning by machinery began. Two years later Arkwright’s invention enabled the cotton spinners to produce yarn strong enough for warp. At this time “calicos’ in England were made with linen warp, the weft only being cotton. Both were hand spun. Material called ‘unions,’ half cotton and half linen, were also made in considerable quantities in Waterford for export. When, however, the union of linen and cotton ended, a rivalry began at once between the divided pair. The cotton and linen industries henceforth became centralised in Lancashire and Ireland respectively. William Charley describes the introduction of the Jacquard loom, a French invention by which the weaving of damasks and diaper was possible. At Lisburn, Co. Antrim the development of this high class material was highly successful, the Huguenots no doubt playing an important role. William Charley was Juror and Reporter, Class 14, at the Great Exhibition held in Hyde Park in 1851 and later for Class 19 in 1862. It will be remembered that the Prince Consort suggested the holding of this Exhibition in London to draw attention to the industries of this country. He visited Belfast with Queen Victoria in 1849. Buyers from all over the world were attracted to the Hyde Park Exhibition. Among many other awards, J. and W. Charley won the Gold Medal for linen at an Exhibition held in Paris in 1867. At the Great Exhibition in 1851 the specimens from Ireland were very creditable and spun by Jane Magill, aged 84, being the first (760 leas) and by Ann Harvey (600 leas). They each received £100.

An interesting comment in the book concerns the appointment of Mr. H.S. Tremenheere who was sent by the Government as Commissioner in 1856 to report on the propriety of placing bleach works under the Factory Acts. As an employer Mr. Charley indicates his objection to this. He says Mr. Tremenheere could find only one bleach yard out of 47 examined where criticism was justified yet he recommended that they should be placed under these Acts together with the cotton bleach works of Lancashire. Mr. Charley writes “Unless a serious risk or some abuse exists the State should not interfere with the ordinary hiring of servants.” He was of the opinion that “such interference impedes trade, and harasses the employer with restrictions. In a business of a healthy character such as the linen trade, bleaching or linen weaving, State interference would be an innovation quite absurd and contrary to the common sense of the country.”

We wonder what Mr. Charley would say today!

Continuing, he says “I cannot believe the employers of labour in Great Britain are the tyrants and despots described by interested parties. Let anyone who wishes to discover the simple truth inquire for himself. And at least as far as Ireland is concerned. I shall be greatly mistaken if he does not report that the masters are not only not devoid of religious feeling and good principles, but on the contrary, may perhaps excel their detractors in generosity and kindness of heart; and that instead of being arbitrary tyrants they in general possess the affection and respect of their workpeople, who often in the difficulties and dangers of life look to them for counsel and support.”

A striking paragraph sums up the changing industrial situation at this time. “So long as man’s labour could be had at the hand loom in Ireland for a shilling a day, it was felt no power loom could work much, if at all cheaper, but when wages began to advance and the population to decrease instead of increase, it was admitted that the power loom as at last required.” In 1860 a deputation from Belfast waited on the English Government to discuss the question of tariffs. Mr. Charley was an impressive spokesman and his reports make interesting reading.

Mention must be made of a famous Charley of Finaghy, William Thomas, later Sir William Charley. He was Tory Member of Parliament for Salford and became Recorder and Common Sergeant of London. His home was at East Grinstead. In his maiden speech in the House of Commons on March 16^th 1869 he dealt with the “assimilation of the hours of toil of women and children employed in print works and the hours of work of women and children employed in factories.” This point is of particular interest to the writer because of her work in industrial nursing and her interest in the welfare of the industrial worker through the years.

Other Acts for which Sir William was responsible were the Infant Life Protection Act 1872, the Bastardy Law Amendment Act 1872 and the law dealing with London’s cabs and omnibuses. His speeches dealt with the employment of children in occupations tending to destroy health; e.g. silvering mirrors by mercurial processes. He was also concerned with the life of children on the canal boats. These Acts which interest the writer very much were due to the liberal opinions held by this Charley and his efforts for the improvement of child labour. A fine oil portrait of Sir William Charley is in the home of Mrs. Phyllis Charley in N. Ireland.

When on one of her visits to Belfast for the Royal College of Nursing she heard of a Hannah Carley who was the first nurse to train as a Queen’s nurse in N. Ireland. This was later confirmed with the Queen’s Institute of District Nursing. She then corresponded with Miss Logan, The Queen’s nurse who nursed Miss Charley until her death, who said she was very tall, with masses of hair of which she was very proud. It was long and wavy and still a natural brown. She lived at Bienvenue, Rostrevor with Miss Carleton but with the shortage of labour their latter years were not very comfortable. In the hall at Bienvenue was a large oil painting of Miss Charley’s grandparents, a branch of the Finaghy Charleys. Each Saturday morning Miss Charley could be seen making her way to the church with her basket of flowers to beautify the altar for Sunday. Their garden was open to the public in aid of the funds of the Queen’s Institute for District Nursing. Miss Charley died in 1949 and was buried in Dunmurry churchyard.

The following notes were from June Charley of Northern Ireland in 1951 when she was at University College Hospital London and her mother was staying with the writer. June died in May 1954. Mrs. Ann Jane Stevenson and Miss Emily Charley, the daughters of William Charley 1790-1838 lived at Huntley, Co. Antrim, and were well known for their philanthropic work. They built the Charley Memorial School in memory of their parents at Drumbeg and the Stevenson School at Dunmurry, also several church halls and rectories. They were much respected in the district. It was their custom to call in the morning and make the excuse that they could not stay because it would keep the coachman waiting! It was usual for the Charleys at Seymour Hill to walk to Huntley every Sunday afternoon.

June said that her grandfather William Charley 1826-90 was one of the founders of the Royal Agricultural Show of Belfast. He and Dr. Gibson organized the first Show in a field off the main Belfast road, still known as the Show field. Edward Charley, the second son of this William Charley of Seymour Hill, was a leader of the Orangemen in Ulster and his portrait is on one of the Orangemen’s banners. Seymour Hill was often the scene of the 12^th July celebrations. Every twelfth of July the Belfast Orangemen walk to the Field at Finaghy for their annual parade. This field was granted to the Orange Order in perpetuity for this day by the Charleys of Finaghy House who at one time owned it, the “rent” being that the Lesson should always be read from the ‘Charley Bible’ at the religious part of the ceremony. June remembered having her photograph taken on the steps of Seymour Hill surrounded by Orangemen decorated with sashes and carrying drums. From a historical point of view this fact is significant. The question must be asked over and over again in this story, when and why did the Charleys adopt the Protestant faith? Seymour Hill had four grass courts and tennis parties were remembered by the wonderful teas which were served. Bowls of peaches were always on the table. Miss Elizabeth Charley was at that time living with her unmarried brother Edward. The bridge in the glen at Seymour Hill is interesting as the chains came from the first cable ship to cross the Atlantic.