Theodosia Hawkins-Magill (1743 – 1817), later Countess of Clanwilliam, was a great heiress and landowner in County Down

County Down

-Cities:*Belfast *Newry -Large towns:*Dundonald*Newtownards*Bangor-Medium towns:...

, Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

.

She was daughter and heir of Robert Hawkins-Magill (d. 10 April 1745), of Gill Hall, Dromore, County Down

Dromore, County Down

Dromore is a small market town in the Banbridge District of County Down, Northern Ireland. It is south-west of Belfast, on the A1 Belfast – Dublin road. The 2001 Census recorded a population of 4,968 people....

, by his second wife, Anne Bligh, daughter of John (Bligh), first Earl of Darnley

Earl of Darnley

Earl of Darnley is a title that has been created three times, twice in the Peerage of Scotland and once in the Peerage of Ireland. The first creation in the Peerage of Scotland came in 1580 in favour of Esme Stewart, 1st Earl of Lennox. He was created Duke of Lennox at the same time. See the latter...

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She married John Meade (21 April 1744 - 19 October 1800 St. Stephen's Green

St. Stephen's Green

St Stephen's Green is a city centre public park in Dublin, Ireland. The park is adjacent to one of Dublin's main shopping streets, Grafton Street, and to a shopping centre named for it, while on its surrounding streets are the offices of a number of public bodies and the city terminus of one of...

, Dublin) on 29 August 1765, son and heir of Sir Richard Meade, 3rd Bart., of Ballintober, co. Cork, by Catherine, daughter of Henry Prittie, of Kilboy, co. Tipperary. Sir John Meade, 4th Bart., was created Baron Gillford, of the manor of Gillford

Gilford

Gilford is a village in County Down, Northern Ireland. The village sits on the River Bann between the towns of Banbridge, Tandragee and Portadown. It covers the townlands of Loughans, Ballymacanallen and Drumaran. It had a population of 1,573 people in the 2001 Census...

, co. Down, and Viscount Clanwiliam, of co. Tipperary, on 17 November 1766, and Earl of Clanwilliam

Earl of Clanwilliam

Earl of Clanwilliam is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1776 for John Meade, 1st Viscount Clanwilliam. The Meade family descends from John Meade, who represented Dublin University and County Tipperary in the Irish House of Commons and served as Attorney-General for Ireland...

 on 20 July 1776; all in the peerage of Ireland. Previously he had been MP for Banagher

Banagher

Banagher is a town in Ireland, located in the midlands on the western edge of County Offaly in the province of Leinster, on the banks of the River Shannon. The name Banagher comes from its Irish name which translates to English as "the place of the pointed rocks on the Shannon"...

, 1764-66. Between them (hers being the far greater share) their estates in 1799 were said to be worth £14,000 per annum, which made them approximately the 11th largest landowners in Ireland.

She was born 5 September 1743 and died at Brighton 2 March 1817. When young she was painted by both Reynolds

Joshua Reynolds

Sir Joshua Reynolds RA FRS FRSA was an influential 18th-century English painter, specialising in portraits and promoting the "Grand Style" in painting which depended on idealization of the imperfect. He was one of the founders and first President of the Royal Academy...

 and Gainsborough

Thomas Gainsborough

Thomas Gainsborough was an English portrait and landscape painter.-Suffolk:Thomas Gainsborough was born in Sudbury, Suffolk. He was the youngest son of John Gainsborough, a weaver and maker of woolen goods. At the age of thirteen he impressed his father with his penciling skills so that he let...

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• (Theodosia's aunt, Lady Theodosia Bligh, who married William, 2nd Lord Brandon
  Earl of Glandore
  Baron Brandon, in the County of Kerry, was a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1758 for Sir Maurice Crosbie, who had previously represented County Kerry in the Irish House of Commons for over forty years. He was succeeded by his son, the second Baron. He was a member of the Irish...
  
  , in 1745, was known as Titty, this may also have been a name used for her).

She lived at Gill Hall and at Burrenwood

Burrenwood

Burrenwood is a country house and estate near Castlewellan, County Down, Northern Ireland.-History:The ornamental wooded and cottaged demesne at Burrenwood was conceived by Theodosia Hawkins-Magill , the Countess of Clanwilliam, a great Ulster heiress and landowner, the daughter and heir of Robert...

; a cottage ornée put up near Castlewellan

Castlewellan

Castlewellan is a village in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is beside Castlewellan Lake and Slievenaslat mountain, southwest of Downpatrick. It lies between the Mourne Mountains and Slieve Croob. It had a population of 2,392 people in the 2001 Census....

 on some land half way between her mother's house* (*Mrs Pendarves/Mary Delany

Mary Delany

Mary Delany was an English Bluestocking, artist, and letter-writer; equally famous for her "paper-mosaicks" and her lively correspondence.-Early life:...

 of Bernard Ward and the former Lady Anne Hawkins-Magill: 'He wants taste and Lady Anne is so whimsical that I doubt her judgement') at Castle Ward

Castle Ward

Castle Ward is an 18th century National Trust property located near the village of Strangford, in County Down, Northern Ireland. It overlooks Strangford Lough and is 7 miles from Downpatrick and 1.5 miles from Strangford....

 (the mother had married (December 1747) Bernard Ward

Viscount Bangor

Viscount Bangor, of Castle Ward, in the County Down, is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1781 for Bernard Ward, 1st Baron Bangor, who had previously represented Down in the Irish House of Commons. He had already been created Baron Bangor, of Castle Ward in the County of Ward, in...

 after the early death of her first husband , Robert Hawkins-Magill (d.1745)), the Greenore

Greenore

Greenore is a small town, townland and deep water port on Carlingford Lough in County Louth, Ireland. The population of Greenore and the surrounding rural area was 898 in the 2002 Irish census....

 Ferry, Rathfriland

Rathfriland

Rathfriland is a village in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is a hilltop Plantation of Ulster settlement between the Mourne Mountains, Slieve Croob and Banbridge. It had a population of 2,079 people in the 2001 Census.-History:...

, and her ancestral seat at Gill Hall.

Burrenwood is comparable with the Swiss cottage

Swiss cottage, Cahir

The Swiss cottage is located at Kilcommon near the town of Cahir, South Tipperary in Ireland. It was built around 1810 and is a fine example of cottage ornée, or ornamental cottage. It was originally part of the estate of Lord and Lady Cahir, and used for entertaining guests...

 at Cahir

Cahir

Cahir is a town in South Tipperary in Ireland. The town is best known for its castle and the Swiss Cottage. It is in the barony of Iffa and Offa West.-Location and access:...

 (Tipperary); Derrymore, Bessbrook

Bessbrook

Bessbrook is a village in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It lies about three miles northwest of Newry and close to the main Dublin–Belfast road and rail line...

, Co. Armagh (National Trust, of Northern Ireland); and the Petit hameau

Petit hameau

The Hameau de la Reine |Hamlet]]) is a rustic retreat in the park of the Château de Versailles built for Marie Antoinette between 1785 and 1792 near the Petit Trianon in the Yvelines, France...

 de la Reine at Versailles.

Burrenwood stands between the forest parks of Tollymore

Tollymore Forest Park

Tollymore Forest Park was the first state forest park in Northern Ireland, established on the 2 June 1955. It is located at Bryansford, near the town of Newcastle. Covering an area of at the foot of the Mourne Mountains, the forest park offers panoramic views of the surrounding mountains and the...

 and Castlewellan, beside the Mourne

Mourne

-Places:*Mourne Abbey, a small parish just south of Mallow, County Cork, Ireland*Mourne , a barony in County Down, Northern Ireland*Mourne Mountains, a granite mountain range located in County Down in the south-east of Northern Ireland...

 mountains and just inland from Dundrum bay at Newcastle

Newcastle, County Down

Newcastle is a small town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 7,444 people recorded in the 2001 Census. The seaside resort lies on the Irish Sea coast at the base of Slieve Donard, one of the Mourne Mountains, and is known for its sandy beach and the Royal County Down Golf Club...

.

Gill Hall, near Dromore

Meanwhile Gill Hall had become one of the most haunted houses in Ireland and was home to the Beresford ghost story.

This took place 14 October 1693 when John Power, 2nd Earl of Tyrone

Earl of Tyrone

The Earl of Tyrone is a title created three times in the Peerage of Ireland.It was first created as part of the Tudor attempt to establish a uniform social structure in Ireland by converting the Gaelic kings and chiefs into hereditary nobles of the Kingdom of Ireland...

 (1665-1693) told his friend, (the sister-in-law of Sir John Magill (d.1700)), Nichola Sophia (1665/6-1712/13), youngest daughter of Hugh, 1st Lord Hamilton of Glenawly, wife to Sir Tristram Beresford, 3rd Bt.

Marquess of Waterford

Marquess of Waterford is a title in the Peerage of Ireland and the premier marquessate in that peerage. It was created in 1789 for George Beresford, 2nd Earl of Tyrone.-Family history:...

, (1669-1701) and mother of Sir Marcus Beresford, 4th Bt and 1st Viscount Tyrone, of his own death that day thus showing, as arranged, that there was life on the other side.

Part of the stable block remains but the house was destroyed over thirty years ago.

Descent of Gill Hall:

• Captain John Magill (McGill
  Clan Makgill
  Clan Makgill is a Lowland Scottish clan.-Origins:For some time people have quoted Dr. George F. Black's The Surnames of Scotland...
  
  ), was granted fairs at Loughan in 1669, and who died in 1677, via his only child, Susanna, to her son;

• Sir John Johnston, Kt (dsps 1701), aka Sir John Magill, 1st and only Bt.

Johnston was High Sheriff 1660, changed his named to Magill, an MP, was given an Irish Baronetcy in 1680. In February 1689 he was colonel of a company of volunteers. His first wife Elizabeth Hawkins was his sister's sister-in-law. His widow, his second wife, sister of Lady Beresford, having remarried, died in 1708 and is buried in Westminster Abbey

Westminster Abbey

The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...

.

Sir John Magill's only daughter (born 1684): 'by the negligence of a servant was killed when an infant, by a fall from a scaffold at Gill Hall' (another possible ghost source).

Renowned Dublin silversmith Robert Calderwood (c1706-1766), was a nephew. (Magill's sister was Calderwood's mother). Accordingly, Calderwood (Dublin Goldsmiths Company, Warden: 1733-36, & Master: 1736-37) was patronised by his Gill Hall cousins.

Magill left Gill Hall to his elder sister's son (and his first wife's nephew);

• John Hawkins (1675-5 September 1713), who also accordingly (in 1701, as instructed in his uncle's will) changed his name to Magill or Hawkins Magill. His father was granted a fair/market in Rathfriland in 1682, having been High Sheriff in 1675. His father was also an elder half-brother to Ulster King at Arms
  Norroy and Ulster King of Arms
  Norroy and Ulster King of Arms is one of the senior Officers of Arms of the College of Arms, and the junior of the two provincial Kings of Arms. The current office is the combination of two former appointments...
  
  , William Hawkins. Two sons and a daughter (John, Hugh and Arabella Susanna (b&d 1698) died young. His surviving son:

• Robert Hawkins Magill (1704-1745 at Seaforde
  Seaforde
  Seaforde is a small village in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is within the townland of Naghan, one mile north of Clough on the main Ballynahinch to Newcastle road. It is part of the Down District Council area....
  
  , 'during a great hunting party'); High Sheriff 1732; MP (1724-1745); Trustee of the Linen Board for Munster 1736-1745; foundation member of the Dublin Society 1731; his first wife (who he married in 1728) was Rachael (d.13/14 April 1739), daughter of Clotworthy (Skeffington), 3rd Viscount Massereene
  Viscount Massereene
  Viscount Massereene is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1660, along with the subsidiary title of Baron Loughneugh. From 1665 to 1816 the Skeffington Baronetcy of Fisherwick was attached to the viscountcy and from 1756 to 1816 the Viscounts also held the title of Earl of Massereene...
  
  , and granddaughter of Sir Edward Hungerford, KB, (after whom today's Hungerford Bridge
  Hungerford Bridge
  The Hungerford Bridge crosses the River Thames in London, and lies between Waterloo Bridge and Westminster Bridge. It is a steel truss railway bridge—sometimes known as the Charing Cross Bridge—flanked by two more recent, cable-stayed, pedestrian bridges that share the railway bridge's...
  
   is named) she was the widow of Randal (Mac Donnell), 4th Earl of Antrim
  Earl of Antrim
  Earl of Antrim is a title that has been created twice, both times in the Peerage of Ireland and both times for members of the MacDonnell family, originally of Scottish origins. This family descends from Sorley Boy MacDonnell, who established the family in County Antrim...
  
   (1680-1721);

left it to his daughter, by his second wife (Anne Bligh);

• Theodosia Hawkins Magill, aka Countess of Clanwilliam.

Heraldic Note

• Hawkins of Rathfriland (Alderman Hawkins (d.1680): per chevron argent and vert three hinds trippant proper.

crest: a falcon rising proper, belled or, perched on a lure gold.

motto: providence with adventure (also for Hawkins' in Scotland).

• Magill (for John Mac Gill, died 1677): azure three doves argent.

(cf. Makgill/M'Gill/Mac Gill (of Kembach/Rankeillour, Fife): gules three martlets argent.

motto: In Domino confido. crest: a martlet argent).

• Hawkins Magill (for John (formerly Hawkins) Magill 1701): quarterly 1st and 4th, azure three pewits argent (for Magill), 2nd and 3rd per chevron argent and vert three hinds trippant (for Hawkins).

crest: a falcon standing on a hawk's lure both proper argent and vert.

• Meade (of Ballintobber): gules, a chevron ermine between three trefoils slipped argent;

crest: an eagle displayed with two heads sable, armed or.

motto: Toujours prest.

• Meade (of Earsham and Burrenwood):

quarterly, 1st and 4th, grand quarters, gules, a chevron ermine between three trefoils slipped argent (Meade); 2nd and 3rd, grand quarters, quarterly 1st and 4th, azure, three peewits argent (Magill); 2nd and 3rd, per chevron and vert, three hinds trippant proper (Hawkins) a crest for difference.

Mantling: gules and argent.

Ancestors

Some of Theodosia's ancestors

Theodosia Hawkins Magill	Robert Hawkins-Magill (1704-1745). MP.	Paternal Grandfather: John Hawkins Magill (1675-5 Sept. 1713) MP County Down 1703-13.	John Hawkins, of Rathfriland Rathfriland Rathfriland is a village in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is a hilltop Plantation of Ulster settlement between the Mourne Mountains, Slieve Croob and Banbridge. It had a population of 2,079 people in the 2001 Census.-History:... . High Sheriff 1675. Son of Alderman (William) Hawkins (d.1680) of London then Dublin.
			Mary, daughter of Lt. William Johnston, (by his wife Susanna only child of Captain John Mac Gill of Gill Hall (d.1677)), & sister of Sir John Magill, Bt. (d.1700)
		Paternal Grandmother: Rose Colvill. They married 17 August 1697.	Sir Robert Colvill (1625-1697), of Newtown Newtownards Newtownards is a large town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies at the most northern tip of Strangford Lough, 10 miles east of Belfast, on the Ards Peninsula. Newtownards is the largest town in the Borough of Ards. According to the 2001 Census, it has a population of 27,821 people in... , Co. Down and Mount Colvill (Galgorm), Ballymena Ballymena Ballymena is a large town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland and the seat of Ballymena Borough Council. Ballymena had a population of 28,717 people in the 2001 Census.... , co. Antrim. He bought the Abbey of Kells Abbey of Kells The Abbey of Kells is a former monastery located in Kells, County Meath, Ireland, 40 miles north of Dublin. It was founded in the early ninth century, and the Book of Kells was kept there during the later medieval and early modern periods before finally leaving the Abbey in the 1650s... . MP. Rose Leslie was the third of his four wives.
			Rose, daughter of William Leslie, of Coleraine, and of Prospect, Co. Antrim. MP & a Deputy-Governor. He was third son of Bishop Henry Leslie Henry Leslie (bishop) Henry Leslie was a Scottishman who became the Church of Ireland Bishop of Down and Connor from 1635 to 1661 and briefly Bishop of Meath from January to April 1661.-Life:... .
	Lady Anne Bligh. (aka Viscountess Ward).	Maternal Grandfather: John Bligh, 1st Earl of Darnley Earl of Darnley Earl of Darnley is a title that has been created three times, twice in the Peerage of Scotland and once in the Peerage of Ireland. The first creation in the Peerage of Scotland came in 1580 in favour of Esme Stewart, 1st Earl of Lennox. He was created Duke of Lennox at the same time. See the latter...  (1687-1728)	Thomas Bligh (1654-1710), of Rathmore, Co. Meath.
			Elizabeth Naper, of Loughcrew Loughcrew Loughcrew is near Oldcastle, County Meath, Ireland. . Loughcrew is a site of considerable historical importance in Ireland... , Co. Meath
		Maternal Grandmother: Lady Theodosia Hyde, suo jure Baroness Clifton of Leighton Bromswold	Edward Hyde, Viscount Cornbury, 3rd Earl of Clarendon Edward Hyde, 3rd Earl of Clarendon Edward Hyde, 3rd Earl of Clarendon , styled Viscount Cornbury between 1674 and 1709, was Governor of New York and New Jersey between 1701 and 1708, and is perhaps best known for the claims of his cross-dressing while in office.-Career:Born The Hon...  (1661-1723)
			Catherine O'Brien, suo jure Baroness Clifton of Leighton Bromswold (1673-1706). Of Cobham Hall Cobham Hall Cobham Hall is a country house in Cobham, Kent, England. There has been a manor house on the site since the 12th century. The current building consists of a pair of Tudor wings built for William Brooke, 10th Baron Cobham in the 16th century and a later classical central block, and a kitchen court... , Kent. Granddaughter of George, 9th Seigneur d'Aubigny Duke of Aubigny The Scottish Dukes of Aubigny had their origins in Aubigny-sur-Nère, France, from the 15th century, which was an important honour throughout the Auld Alliance and Ancien Régime...  (k. 1642), and niece of Charles, 6th Duke of Lennox Duke of Lennox The title Duke of Lennox has been created several times in the Peerage of Scotland, for Clan Stewart of Darnley. The Dukedom, named for the district of Lennox in Stirling, was first created in 1581, and had formerly been the Earldom of Lennox. The second Duke was made Duke of Richmond; at his... (d.1672).

External links

• Ulster Museum's 1765 Reynolds portrait of Theodosia Magill.
• Art Fund's superior reproduction of the above painting.
• Ulster Museum's 1765 Gainsborough portrait of Theodosia Magill.
• The Beresford ghost story, October 1693.
• Gill Hall, old photo of it.
• 1775 Ewer in the Ulster Museum, bearing the arms of Clanwilliam.